Full Year 2021 Cochlear Ltd Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Steven David Wheen - Jarden Limited, Research Division - Analyst : I just wanted to talk to the guidance. In particular, the impact in FY '22 of commissioning the China plant and perhaps what that might look like in subsequent years. And then also within that guidance, the slowdown that you've been anticipating in some countries because of COVID. Could you just sort of talk to which countries they are that are showing that sort of slowdown at this point?

Question: Steven David Wheen - Jarden Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Sorry, Dig. Just on that slowdown, the U.S., just because the hospitalization rates have really ticked up. No sign of that having an effect in Cochlear implants?

Question: Steven David Wheen - Jarden Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. Okay. Great. And just on FX, you obviously are winding down some of your hedging contracts when COVID was hitting or impacting your sales. So can you just sort of talk to what you've done since then? And then in the context of what the Aussie dollar versus the U.S. has done, is that [74] REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 20, 2021 / 12:00AM, COH.AX - Full Year 2021 Cochlear Ltd Earnings Call to where it is today at [71.5]? Is that largely hedged? Or is there still some benefit that could come from that if they were to remain at that [71] type level?

Question: Steven David Wheen - Jarden Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Right. And last one for me. Just whether you're seeing any pressures in the supply chain given the step-up in your volumes, maybe even related to semiconductors. Just if you could cover off on that as well, that would be great.

Question: David Bailey - Macquarie Research - Analyst : I'll just follow on from John's line of thinking now around longer-term outlooks. That head to head drivers hearing aid. Just a bit more commentary there about number of patients. How long you think that might take to complete? And then thinking about when that might start to feed into reimbursement guidelines and which countries might be early adopters of that information to fit within the reimbursement criteria?

Question: David Bailey - Macquarie Research - Analyst : Yes. Okay. So do you the -- well, I suppose it's hard to tell, but do you think that would lead to an acceleration of uptake, so higher growth from FY '25, maybe if we're talking about a longer-term growth rate of [10%], maybe that steps up because it starts to ramp up on the back of this evidence?

Question: David Bailey - Macquarie Research - Analyst : Yes. Okay. And just 1 quick near-term one just in relation to outlook. Just interested in the phasing or your expectations of phasing for unit sales over fiscal '22. I think we're sort of a bit flattish in the first half and then increasing in the second half, your thoughts or expectations there. And then just some in relation to that NPAT margin commentary, should we be expecting something closer to FY '21? Or do we think we should be getting closer to the long-term target for fiscal year '22?

Question: David Bailey - Macquarie Research - Analyst : Are the midpoints reasonable?