@Rick good summary, which stimulated a few thoughts......

I think their characterisation of the various industries in the outlook was a somewhat rose-tinted view.

For example, citing demand growth for iron ore in India alongside that of China, overlooks - in my view - the fact that India has been for many years and is expected to continue to be a net exporter of iron ore in the short to medium term. Of course, they have challenges in that most of their ore is lower quality, and will be challenged as their domestic steel industry transitions to DRI technology over the years and decades ahead, which favours higher grades - as I understand it. Fortunately, iron ore projects are a very small part of $LYL's portfolio. In the short term, with most of India's iron ore exports going to China, I imagine lower grades will see even more pricing pressure for Indian iron ore. India increased iron ore production by 14% FY23/FY22, so presumably, production will now be cut back, as a lot of this is much higher on the cost curve. Longer term (5+ years) is another story, as India hasn't yet gone through the infrastructure transformation that China has over the last 30 years. Perhaps its day lies ahead, even as China faces the prospect of long term seeing more muted growth, as the demographic timebomb starts to kick in? If I sound like I have a clear view, then that's not my intent. I think the true picture is quite complex. But one thing is clear, the 20-30 year Chinese infrastructure spree that has fuelled Australian iron ore development over the period likely looks very different over the next decade or two.

Of course, this is part of the attraction of $LYL, as iron ore is only a very minor part of their business.

On lithium, while the long term demand from electrification of all things is there, given the recent investment in bringing on new mines and facilities, it could take a while for the supply response to low prices to play out. So, presumably, there could be a fall off in their number of lithium projectsfor a year or two. That said midstream is not as over-supplied as the mining end, and $LYL do work on processing projects too.

I have no idea where gold is going, only that the strength of the gold price is no doubt good news in the short term for the flow of studies they will receive in that segment.

Copper and other critical minerals will definitely be beneficiaries of structural long term supply challenges and the focus on "friend-shoring" probably driving a good flow of a large number of smaller projects in this space.

So, I don't doubt the long-term need for their services nor the quality of the business, and I agree with your conclusion that the short term might see some pressure on the business.

Finally, another way of calculating ROE is to calculate average equity from YE and YE-1. (That's how I do it)

In conclusion, after having spent much of this year looking at engineers, I recently acquired a small initial position in $LYL, Being wary of the short term macro-outlook in commodities, and the inevitable impact this will have on the services sector, I am going to be patient with building a larger position in $LYL, which at this stage I would still like to do.

Still on the steep part of the learning curve for this one!