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mINING seRVICes

Austin salutes 50 years

and plans to drive on

he insatiable appetite for a cleaner, EBITDA of $24-28 million to be
Tgreener world and the trend towards achieved this financial year.
electrification and renewable energy has Forsyth’s reign as manag-
Austin Engineering Ltd managing direc- ing director started three years
tor Peter Forsyth feeling good about the ago and since then there has
future. been a “laser-like” focus on
After a lean few years, Austin’s op- reducing debt and improving
erational cash flow of $13.8 million for cash flow through strategies
FY2019 was the highest reported since such as discontinuing opera-
FY2013 and easily surpassed last year’s tions not contributing value to
operating cash flow of $1.2 million. the business.
Austin, based in Brisbane, is largely The result has been a re-
exposed to iron ore, copper and coal; duction in the debt-to-EBIT-
commodities which experienced strength DA ratio to less than one (net
in pricing in the last financial year. debt down to $19.8 million in
And, Forsyth is confident the short- FY2019), and Austin is now
to-medium-term outlook for those com- better placed to absorb the
modities will remain strong despite is- ebbs and flows in commodity
sues between China and the US causing prices.
concern in global markets. “The business we are in –
“I do tend to look more at the macro supporting miners and con-
trends in terms of the commodities that tractors in a commodity-driv-
we work with our customers [iron ore, en business – over a period
coal, copper]. If you look at the macro of time will have peaks and
trends, you look at where copper is go- troughs and the key to hav-
ing to go in the next 10-20 years, it is just ing a successful business is
a relentless trend towards electrifica- making sure you have an ac-
tion and renewable energy,” Forsyth told ceptable return in the trough.
Paydirt. By getting our debt down to a
“Copper production is going to go very manageable level and our
through the roof, so the long-term trends cash flow up, we are going to
for copper, even thermal and met coal for ensure that we are profitable Peter Forsyth
installed capacity, is very strong. Gen- in the peaks as well as in the
eration capacity for base load power in troughs, but also getting back to focus- by the engineering and innovation teams
South East Asia; met coal is going to be ing on what we do and doing it very well,” in Perth and Wyoming for their ability to
strong so is iron ore. The day-to-day fluc- Forsyth said. customise and develop bespoke solu-
tuations – as in prices and trade nego- Austin is the largest non-OEM provider tions, which keeps the company at the
tiations – are not things I focus on. We of bucket solutions in the world, with For- front of the pack.
look more at the longer term trends and syth applauding the accolades received Forsyth pointed to new products like
given uncertainty in the US/China “ We want to leverage as innovations which catered for
the two-piece excavator bucket and
where our customers are going to
ultralight weight Ultima Dump Body,
be placed in the next year or so.”
Austin’s outlook for FY2020 is
safety and efficiency.
for a mixed bag of results through-
the facilities we have
Austin’s people are also exposed
out its core business competen-
to working at heights, in confined
cies, as miners take a cautious
around the world, we see
approach to growth ambitions
to be handled carefully, making safe-
ty the number one focus for Forsyth.
relationship. probably growth coming two spaces and with materials that need
ways; better coverage in
Therefore, as miners grapple “Safety is a state of conscious
with capex and budget increases, some of the areas we unease,” Forsyth said in relation to
Austin has reported delays for historically haven’t what keeps him awake at night.
orders which will essentially curb “A lot of the stuff we are doing, we
the company’s growth rate. participated in, Africa for are not only concentrating on safety
Austin – a supplier of custom- example, there are certainly in our manufacturing business but
ised equipment to large global we are also combining safety in our
mining clients, mining contractors big opportunities there. products; we are coming at it from
and OEMs – expects underlying a different angle. For instance, the
Page 108 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT