Smiths Group''s FY''24 conf call has just concluded; key takeaways include... Order trends: Despite previously disclosing order growth for Detection and John Crane for as far back as H1 19 and as most recently as H1 24, Smiths did not want to provide specific disclosure this time around and steered away from doing so when questioned on the call. Instead, it noted that order book levels at John Crane, Detection and Flex-Tek were at very healthy levels and noted that orders had grown strongly across all three division in the year. Further, Interconnect''s orders have continued to show QoQ grow. However, what is not clear to us is how orders specifically developed in H2''24, particularly at Smiths largest divisions - John Crane and Detection. The lack of colour naturally leads some investors to fear that the slowdown in order growth in John Crane and Detection may have been steep. Strategy: Smiths has launched another large restructuring programme; the benefits of the programme will largely flow through in FY''27 with a small portion to come in FY''26 (likely c25%). The costs associated with the programme will be taken below the line and will provide ammunition for those that are more cautious to question the quality of Smiths'' headline profit in the years to come. Moreover, the fact that Smiths is not increasing its mid-term margin, or growth targets if the savings are to be reinvested, has meant that the plan has underwhelmed investors. Essentially, on face value it reads as if Smiths is investing more to arrive at the same destination. Capital allocation: Net debt to EBITDA for Smiths was 0.3x at the end of FY''24. After taken into consideration the two small bolt-on announced, this is more like 0.4x on a PF. Despite this Smiths noted on the conference call that it would be not yet be initiating the second tranche of its buyback (only cGBP50m). This second tranche if executed would only increase leverage by c.0.1x. As such, the move by Smiths...