@daicosisgodI can't say that I have any greater clarity as to...

@daicosisgod
I can't say that I have any greater clarity as to what the future holds than anyone else, but the MD (RS) and CFO (CM) are highly aligned with shareholders and have a very good track record of value creation (notwithstanding the existential VET crisis, which ASH got out of, unlike many other listed competitors).

In terms of free cashflow- it has historically closely aligned to the NPAT (and slightly better in recent years- I recall they took some upfront provisions eg. on leases from defunct VET business, which hit the P&L upfront but actually have a slight cashflow benefit over the last couple of years)- the difference is almost always due to working capital (and is clearly so in the FY21 accounts). A build up in working capital actually is encouraging for future profitability- and reading the commentary at the results- shows a very strong second half. If you want to really believe it- there was a loss of a large low margin Action workforce contract 4-5 halves ago, leading to a fairly quick unwind of this working capital and subsequent dramatic improvement in cashflow.

@pCap knows the business very well and may be able to expand.