Financial position T he ma jor changes in the Gr oup s fnancial position during the y e ar r e f er summarised balanc e shee t belo w w er e the r esult o f e xpansion and div ersifca tion o f t echnical servic e ca pabilities thr ough ac quisitions in f ood pharmac eutical en vir onmen t al and c ommodities inspec tion in mainland Eur ope and Nor th and South America f or a t o t al c onsid er a tion o f 663 mil lion which w er e fnanc ed fr om cash holdings onmark e t shar e buyback ac tivit y o f 246 mil lion t o da t e and t o t al cash dividend pa ymen ts t o shar eholders o f 975 mil lion T he o v er al l e f f ec t o f these tr ans ac tions w as an incr e ase in ne t deb t o f 1223 mil lion in t angible as se ts incr e ased t o 10460 mil lion and t o t al equit y decr e ased b y a ne t 188 mil lion T he Gr oup r emains c ommitt ed t o its s tr a t egy o f main t ain ing a s tr ong balanc e shee t thr oughout ec onomic c y cles as e videnc ed b y the ge aring 364 per c en t 2018 311 per c en t and le v er age 18 times 2018 17 times me asur es no t ed belo w In mil lions o f A UD C onsolida t ed No t e 2019 2018 T r ade and o ther r ec eiv ables 2a 3141 2783 In v en t ories 2c 718 758 Other curr en t as se ts 431 352 T r ade and o ther pa y ables 2d 2004 1698 T o t al w orking capit al 2286 2195 C ash and cash equiv alen ts 3a 1482 1872 L oans and borr o wings 3c 7801 6971 F air v alue deriv a tiv es non curr en t 23 26 Ne t deb t 6296 5073 Pr oper t y plan t and equipmen t 2e 4384 4000 In t angible as se ts 2g 10460 9806 Ne t de f err ed t a x as se ts 6b 156 125 Other as se ts 584 509 Emplo y ee bene fts 597 533 Other liabilities 148 55 Ne t as se ts held f or s ale 203 246 15042 14098 Ne t as se ts 11032 11220 T o t al equit y 11032 11220 Ge aring Ne t deb t t o Ne t deb t E quit y 363 311 L e v er age Ne t deb t t o EBITD A 18 times 17 times R e f e r e n c e s a r e t o N o t e s t o t h e F i n a n c i a l S t a t e m e n t s E B I T D A E a r n i n g s b e f o r e i n t e r e s t t a x d e p r e c i a t i o n a n d a m o r t i s a t i o n a n d i m p a i r m e n t l o s s e s T h e c a l c u l a t i o n o f E B I T D A i s u n au di t e d C ash fo w T he Gr oup s oper a ting cash fo w w as char ac t erised b y a solid c on v ersion o f e arnings in t o cash with w orking capit al being closely monit or ed and managed A t 937 per c en t the FY2019 r a tio o f cash fr om oper a tions be f or e in t er es t and t a x t o EBITD A w as in line with e xpec t a tions c onsidering the gr o w th the C ompan y is pr esen tly e xperiencing within its ma jor oper a ting segmen ts and within an en vir onmen t wher e clien ts ar e also seeking t o e xt end pa ymen t t erms EBITD A in t er es t c o v er w as 109 times 2018 113 times C apit al e xpenditur e o f 1089 mil lion ac quisitions o f 663 mil lion onmark e t shar e buyback ac tivit y o f 246 mil lion and dividends t o shar eholders 975 mil lion dr o v e in v es ting and fnancing outfo ws during FY2019 In mil lions o f A UD C onsolida t ed 2019 2018 Ne t cash fr om oper a ting ac tivities 2188 1858 Ne t cash fr om in v es ting ac tivities 1661 171 Ne t cash fr om fnancing ac tivities 930 2270 Ne t mo v emen t in cash and cash equiv alen ts 403 583 C ash and cash equiv alen ts a t 1 April 1872 2489 Ef f ec t o f e x change r a t e fuc tua tions on cash held 13 34 C ash and cash equiv alen ts a t 31 M ar ch 1482 1872 C ash c on v ersion C ash fr om oper a tions t o EBITD A 937 942 In t er es t c o v er EBITD A t o Ne t fnanc e e xpense 109 113 E B I T D A E a r n i n g s b e f o r e i n t e r e s t t a x d e p r e c i a t i o n a n d a m o r t i s a t i o n a n d i m p a i r m e n t l o s s e s T h e c a l c u l a t i o n o f E B I T D A i s u n au di t e d 18 ALS LIMITED AND IT S SUBSIDIARIES A NNU AL F INANCIAL R EPOR T F OR THE Y EAR E NDED 31 M AR CH 2019 F INANCIAL REPOR T D IRE CT ORS REPOR T F INANCIAL POSITION