CVS Group plc (CVSGF) Discusses Capital Investments in Facilities, Clinical Equipment and Technology to Drive Returns Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to CVS Group's investor presentation. I'm Richard Fairman, CEO, and presenting alongside me today are Robin Alfonso, CFO; Paul Higgs, our Chief Veterinary Officer; and Ben Avery, our Australia MD. And whilst not presenting, Charlotte Page, our Head of Investor Relations, is also present. Following this presentation, we will answer questions from analysts. And if time permits, Charlotte will then pose any questions from investors. I'm especially delighted to introduce Ben, who joined CVS in February this year. Ben lives in Sydney and has a wealth of operational health care experience through his previous roles in both human and veterinary health care, and Ben will provide a fuller introduction later. We are holding this presentation today to provide additional clarity on our long-standing and unchanged capital allocation policy, which we first set out in our Capital Markets Day in November 2022, and to give additional color on the returns we have generated from our investments. So in this presentation, we will cover the following. I will kick off by discussing the favorable veterinary market dynamics and explain why CVS is well positioned within the sector. I will then