Applied Nutrition Plc (APN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hi. I'm Thomas Ryder, Founder and CEO of Applied Nutrition. And we're here today to cover our half year '26 results. I'm joined by my COO, Steven Granite; and CFO, Joseph Pollard. Today, I'll be going through Applied Nutrition at a glance, overview, snapshot and key messages, while Joe does the financials and Steve does market opportunity. Then I'll close with strategy and outlook. Starting with an overview of Applied Nutrition and what we believe makes us different with a growing brand in a growing market. We operate a robust and global B2B model, trading in over 85 countries. We have a wide range of products that appeal to a wide range of consumers. And I'm proud to say that 85% of our products are formulated, designed and manufactured within our Knowsley-based in-house manufacturing facility where today, we have over 300 team members, but the real differentiator is our market-leading NPD and innovation. Moving on to key messages for the period. Half 1 has seen multiple upgrades to FY '26 market expectations, with really strong trading in the early part of the half. This is alongside the increased importance of health and wellness in everyday life. An example of this is the listing of our pre-workout ABE in Tesco. When we launched this product in 2016, I could never have imagined seeing the product on the shelves of a huge national grocer, but it's a clear example of how far the industry has evolved from appealing to a niche market all the way to a mainstream audience. Becoming a PLC has significantly enhanced the credibility of the brand above and beyond what we had actually hoped for at the time of IPO. Our trust profile has significantly increased with current and potentially new partners. This is feedback that I regularly receive at expos and global events. Half 1 has also seen us strengthen our relationships with existing partners, added new partners, new channels and new markets with NPD driving excitement, relevance and growth in new and existing markets. Looking ahead, we entered H2 with great momentum. We are continuing to invest, and I'm proud to announce we have broke grounds on Phase III of our production facility, which will see us increase our production capacity to approximately GBP 300 million. As you will have seen in the RNS this morning, we continue to monitor the evolving situation in the Middle East. Whilst we are well diversified globally, we are cognizant of the current disruption to shipping routes and purchasing activities within the region as well as the uncertainty around how long these conditions may persist. Importantly, we have managed similar disruption in the past, such as the supply chain caused by COVID and the challenges within the Red Sea. As we are an agile and nimble business. In this instance, we are working closely with customers to adapt our routes into the region and logistical arrangements to safeguard continued supply to those customers. For example, we are looking at an alternative route over land from Turkey. Although we expect some reduction in volumes into the region during the second half, at this stage, there is no change to the FY '26 guidance of revenues of GBP 140 million. I'll now pass it over to Joe, who will cover the numbers.

Thanks, Tom. As an overview for our half 1 FY '26 results, the business has seen strong growth during the period, and this has resulted in increasing management guidance twice during the period. Revenue has increased by 57% as we saw strong growth across all geographies, as I will cover in a later slide. Gross profit and adjusted EBITDA saw similar percentage increases to revenue with both increasing by 56%. This resulted in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 28.9%, which is in line with business performance since IPO. During half 1 FY '26, there were no adjustments to EBITDA. Earnings per share has continued to increase and the performance in the period was 6.2p on both a basic and diluted basis. Net cash at the end of the period was GBP 26.4 million, leaving the group in a strong net cash position and with the ability to use its balance sheet strength going forward. Overall, total group half 1 revenue was strong, delivering GBP 74.5 million. This is up 57% on half 1 FY '25 and up 24% on half 2 FY '25. As noted in communication during the period, we anticipate to see a more half 1 weighted revenue profile compared to previous years for several reasons. A very strong January health, fitness and well-being trading period accelerated demand for several half 1 FY '26 product launches. As we consider the geographic split of revenue, growth in the U.K. was supported by additional listings, deeper distribution and expanded product ranges. Europe also saw significant growth across key territories, particularly in Spain and Germany. Rest of World sales continued the momentum from half 2 FY '25 driven by expanded listings amongst key distributors, including a significant increase in sales to Latin America, which rose by 110% compared to half 1 FY '25. Gross margin was in line with the same period in the prior year despite higher whey prices. However, the group's diverse product range meant that this impact was muted, and we continue to carefully manage our exposure to whey prices. Carriage logistics and import duty costs provided a small tailwind as a result of shipping prices from China being low in the period. Staff costs provided a small headwind in the period as we increased salaries last April to remain competitive without a corresponding increase to sale prices. Overall gross margin for the period remained higher than all years between FY '22 and FY '25 and in line with FY '25 half 1. Our product mix continues to be well balanced and outside of whey protein, we did not see significant raw material volatility. The significant diversity and balance in product mix provides the group with a level of protection against gross margin volatility and means we are not overly reliant on any 1 product or product group. We continue to see strong growth in non-whey protein products with sales up 83% compared to the same period last year. The intra-workout category also saw significant growth as we see increased recognition of traditional sports nutrition products such as creatine, recognized for wider benefits and appeal to a new audience. Foreign currency wise, the group continues to have exposure only to U.S. dollars and euros at a material level. In terms of administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue increased slightly compared to FY '25 as a whole, but was at a similar level to the same period last year. Spend on marketing, advertising and partner incentives increased 60 basis points compared to the same period last year as we reinvested additional profits generated in additional marketing spend. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 28.9%, which was in line with both FY '25 as a whole and half 1 FY '25. All adjustments to FY '25 related to costs of the IPO process, and we did not have any adjustments to EBITDA to present in half 1 FY '26. Cash flow generation in the period was GBP 7.9 million with the largest effects being caused by EBITDA of GBP 21.5 million, a GBP 10.9 million increase in working capital, which I will cover in more detail shortly, tax paid of GBP 2.3 million, CapEx of GBP 0.2 million, and as Steve will discuss later, the CapEx spend for the year is expected to be half 2 weighted. The group's working capital usage at the end of the period was GBP 44.4 million compared to GBP 28.4 million at the same point last year, with the increase in working capital usage being in line with the increase in turnover showing that working capital usage has not grown quicker than the business has generally grown. Our capital allocation policy remains unchanged. We have raised market guidance for FY '26 in the period twice. While dividends or share buybacks will be considered at the appropriate time, we continue to guide investors that we do not expect such action to be taken during the current financial year. In our recent full year update, we provided a view of new investment initiatives to ensure we are well invested for the envisaged growth we have started this year. Steve will shortly provide an update on those. As noted earlier, our cash position of GBP 26.4 million at the period end maintains our strong balance sheet. We also continue to assess earnings accretive opportunities where it makes sense to do so, including potential M&A opportunities. I'll now hand over to Steve, who will cover the details of some of those investment initiatives.

We are delighted to announce that construction of our new global distribution facility and head office has now commenced. This new facility will enable us to consolidate all our pallets currently stored offsite in this 1 facility, which will help improve efficiency and reduce order lead times. Whilst this is a leased facility, the company will invest GBP 3.5 million to GBP 4 million in the fit-out and machinery required to operate this world-class facility. We expect the new site to be operational from February 2027. Additionally, we have now commenced construction on Phase III of our production facility. We expect this to be live late summer 2026 and will increase sales capacity to around GBP 300 million. This investment will be circa GBP 2 million. We've decided not to invest in an effervescent tablet line, which was earmarked to be a further GBP 2.5 million investment. This takes our total CapEx to GBP 5.5 million to GBP 6 million related to the production, warehouse and office expansion which will settle the business for future growth. As we've shared before, part of our strategy has been to tap into a larger pool of consumer, which is a health conscious. This is a much bigger pool than our core consumer, which is the elite gym goer and fitness enthusiast. Sports Nutrition, Health and Wellness now goes beyond the gym and into everyday life. We have positioned our offering, branding and route to market to reflect this change in consumer base and capitalize on the market opportunities. The world is changing. 84% of people surveyed said that wellness was seen as a top priority to them. 64% of Swap's social activity is to invest in health. Applied Nutrition is well placed globally to capitalize on this macro shift in consumer habits. I'll now pass it over to Tom, who will cover our strategy.

Thanks, Steve. I'm now going to talk us through the progress we have made to our strategic pillars which we've categorized into 3 buckets. We've seen increased shelf space with existing customers, and we are now 1 of the fastest-growing sports nutrition brands in U.K. grocery and High Street Health with strong product expansion across multiple categories. This has been a big win for us. We've also been successful with introducing our NPD into current customers, bringing new products, new formats and exciting flavor collaborations and ensure that we keep them fresh and relevant. And we've also expanded into new channels in existing markets. A good example of this will be the penetration of the pharmacy channel in South America. We've entered into a number of new geographies with Latin America seeing the biggest expansion. And when looking at new customers in existing geographies, the U.K. and EU specialty channel has seen a big increase in new customers where we have led in with our new reformulated critical whey protein powder. Thirdly, direct-to-consumer. Whilst direct-to-consumer is a smaller part of the business, it's still a very important part where we have a great team and robust go-to-market strategy across all ecom and Amazon, importantly, while maintaining price integrity. H1 was a milestone in the sense that we launched our phased license out deal and an amazing partnership with Morrisons. This came about with Morrisons wanting to appeal to a younger audience and cater for consumers wanting a high protein and healthier convenience option. This has massively elevated our brand awareness and put our brands in supermarket aisles that we might never have been visible in. This range of products also reflects our focus on innovation as we were the first brand to launch the GLP-1 friendly low-calorie, high-protein, high-fiber meals. The reaction has been really positive so far, with strong early sales and positive customer feedback. NPD is the engine of Applied Nutrition. We have a deeply rooted team with great knowledge and insights across multiple markets on what's hot, what's not and what's trending. With our knowledgeable team and our vertical integration, we have the ability to bring our market-leading NPD and innovation to market at pace. We split our NPD into 3 pillars: firstly, keeping existing products fresh. Our latest flavor collaboration with Slush Puppie is a great example of this, where we have implemented the Slush Puppie flavor across ABE Powder and ABE carbonated drinks. Secondly, identifying and filling gaps within our range. Our recently launched 40 plus range is a great example where we have introduced products that target consumers of a specific age demographic with a solution-led range of products including sleep and joint support. And finally, assessing emerging trends. Identifying and introducing products at pace that cater for trends is massively important for Applied Nutrition. Creatine is a good example. Although creatine has been around for a long time, it's currently riding a global trend with a much wider audience than ever before. We have seen this trend and introduced more innovative creatine formats that appeal to new and existing customers, including creatine gummies, stick packs, effervescents and creatine chews. Moving on to our market. Our marketing strategy remains focused on building a trusted, performance-led brand that appeals to a wide range of consumers, enhancing visibility and credibility across the globe. I believe that a slide with [indiscernible] images does not properly reflect the scale, energy and excitement of some of the work we do. So the video you're about to watch is a good example of the market and we do across multiple continents. This covers product launches, sponsorships and fitness expos. The expos are massively important to Applied Nutrition as they give us the ability to get in front of tens of thousands of health and wellness consumers and showcase our brands, our products and our energy. They also support our regional partners, who see the knock-on effect of the brand momentum post expos. [Presentation]

On the back of a strong H1, we have confidently upgraded our numbers for the full year revenue to GBP 140 million. We have entered into H2 with strong momentum, a full NPD pipeline and new channel and geography expansion. And while we are cognizant of the current disruption to the shipping routes and purchasing activities within the Middle East region, at this stage, there is no change to our FY '26 guidance. We have committed to an important capital investment to see us build Phase III of our production facility, which we are hoping to be complete by early H1 '27 and the fit-out of our newly built headquarters which should be complete H2 '27. Overall, we are incredibly well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that lay ahead of us. So just to wrap it up, I would like to once more explain why people should invest in Applied Nutrition. Trust, Applied Nutrition is a trusted brand, trusted by retailers and customers all over the world. We have a scaled in-house, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which enables our nimbleness and speed to market whilst protecting our product margin. We have multiple pillars of growth across all channels in all geographies, and we truly haven't even scratched the surface yet. And we are a founder-led, very ambitious team with deep roots within the global Sports Nutrition, Health and Wellness industry. Thank you for listening. We're now ready to take any questions that you might have.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is, are there any upcoming product launches or innovations that you expect to be game changers?

Well, we like to think every single product we launch could be a game changer. But yes, we've got some good and exciting products that we should be bringing to market very, very soon that cater for specific consumers that we're hoping will be a bit of a dial mover, yes.

Thank you. Next, we have, congrats on a really strong period. What's actually driving that in simple terms? And can it continue?

I think what's driving it is growth in every single channel. So whether it's in specialty channel, within your traditional supplement stores, whether it's in grocery from your Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, et cetera, whether it's direct-to-consumer on our own website or direct-to-consumer on our third-party websites, it's the diversification into more convenience and vendor machines, global partners also increasing shelf space with new product development. It's a number of pillars that's driving the growth. It's not any one particular thing that we can pinpoint to.

I think the other thing worth keeping in mind is that we're part of a market that's generally growing 8% a year in the grocers, it's probably growing even more. We're seeing increased recognition of sports -- traditional sports nutrition products like creatine being used by non-sports nutrition users. So we're taking market share because we're growing quicker than the market, but the market is growing as well.

And are you seeing different buying habits from customers from supermarkets compared to gym or specialist channels?

What we are seeing, we are seeing more sports nutrition products become more mainstream, like what Joe just alluded to now with creatine, we are seeing that across other products as well. So we're seeing more mainstream -- really seeing sports nutrition products more appealing, hence why they are now becoming mass market list of products.

Our next question is, what's your biggest selling product right now? And why do customers choose it over competitors?

Yes. Funny enough, our #1 selling product right now, I think, is creatine, probably followed by our pre-workout All Black Everything in multiple formats. I think if you combine all the multiple formats of ABE, it would be ABE, right?

If you combine all...

Right. Yes. So our pre-workout All Black Everything, when combining all format of the product, whether it's canned format, short format, gel format, powder and then a non-stim powder, that's still our #1 product.

Our next question is, with social media and influencers able to change trends quickly, how easily are you able to pivot the business?

I think given the fact that we're vertically integrated, the fact that we've got a deep understanding of the industry, of the consumer, we all are consumers of sports nutrition, health and wellness products ourselves. Given we have a number of communities affiliated with the Applied Nutrition brands, whether it's the PT community, whether it's your general ambassador affiliate community, we do understand where trends are emerging, and we can -- given our vertical integration, we can adapt very quickly. We are nimble as a brand. We are growing, but we've not lost our nimbleness in any way, shape or form. So we do see something major, we can have a product to market in a matter of weeks.

Thank you. Our next question is, as you grow, should profits grow faster than sales? Or will you need to keep investing heavily?

What we've generally always said is where our margins improve over time, we will look to reinvest that for additional growth. So you can see that to an extent in this half year, where our spend on marketing and partner incentives grew by 60 basis points when you measure it as a percentage of revenue. So we'll continue to balance that over the long term. But that really is a decision that we're making rather than being forced.

Thank you. How do you see trends changing and products changing in the next 12 to 18 months?

We are seeing products -- friendlier formats of trended products. We are seeing more convenient formats of existing products becoming more necessary for the entry consumer, so new consumers entering into the health and wellness space. They are opting for more convenient format of products, more friendlier formats of products like a convenient format will be stick packs, a more friendlier format might be your gummies. And we're probably -- we think we're probably going to see that trend continue with existing products over the next 12 months. And that's part of our new product developments. We are looking to bring more and more formats that might be more convenient, more friendly for new and existing users.

Thank you. Our next question is, as a private investor, why should we be choosing Applied Nutrition over other companies?

I think you've just got to look at the rate of growth, the sustainable margins we've demonstrated over the last actually 10 years in terms of margins. It's high margins, high growth. It's innovative. It's a really simplified business model when we look at international expansion. It doesn't require a lot of CapEx as opposed to a lot of other investment opportunities, I think you look at. And it's a debt-free business as well. So it's -- there's a lot of strong indicators for this business financially. But then from a point of view of how we pitch the brand and the fact that we're basically integrated, we produce in-house, we have a lot of advantage over our competitors, and we're fast to market. So it's a very compelling opportunity, I think.

Thank you. Next, we have volume versus brand, which are you prioritizing?

Brand always. Always brands. Protecting the integrity of the brand is key always.

Great. Thank you. Our next question is, what's the long-term impact on whey inflation on your profitability? And how will you manage this?

So the whey prices are quite volatile, as everybody knows, and prices have been increasing for the last nearly 24 months now. Every quarter, there's a slight increase. We haven't passed the price increases on like other brands have. We're not as concentrated in whey protein as some of our competitors. However, it does come to a point where we do have to pass some of the price increases on. So the first of April, we will be doing a small price increase. But to put that into context, we haven't done a price increase since January '25. So it's way overdue. And like I said, we've -- we understand that margins are a little bit smaller or tighter on whey protein products, but we're well diversified in terms of our offering. We've got many proteins that we -- within our range. And you've got non-whey proteins, dairy-free, lactose-free, plant proteins. So we feel like when consumers get to a point where they can't pay the elevated whey protein costs, they will rotate into a different protein where we feel like we already cater for.

It's worth also add that the reason we haven't applied an increase since January '25 is that we relaunched our critical whey protein in September '25. So what we didn't want to do is relaunch our product and then put a price increase on straight away. So we wanted to get it launched, get people trying the new formula, get it into the market and then we impose a price increase as planned.

Thank you. Are there plans to expand internationally? And if so, in which regions do you see the biggest opportunities?

We're currently selling in over 85 countries. So we are an international brand, and we're going to continue to grow internationally.

If the question is related to where we have our own staff, that is currently confined to the U.K. and U.S. And the way we've set the business up doesn't necessitate staff generally being on the ground outside of those geographies.

Thank you. Our next question is, what impact do you anticipate from economic pressures such as inflation, currency fluctuations or consumer spending shifts?

Yes. I think generally, what we've seen is the sector that we're in is extremely resilient to those sorts of challenges. Like I say, the market has been growing 8% per year. It's been forecast to grow 8% per year. And really, that means we've not generally seen too much pressure on those specific points. And all the data and surveys we conduct have pointed to sports nutrition and health and wellness in general being an increasingly a part of people's lives and where they're directing more money to be spent.

Thank you. Our next question is, how does the Middle East conflict impact the business?

So right now, the Middle East issue is quite fluid. It's -- we're 21 days into an unpredicted war. But where we're seeing any kind of visible signs of stress is just on short-term shipping disruption. Containers that has been in the water prior to the war and unable to continue on their journey to specific ports because of closure, so they're being redirected. That's where we're seeing the biggest issue now. However, the shipping lines have created new shipping routes, which they say will be unaffected by the war. We -- the new shipping routes went live last week, and we've actually started shipping there already. So we feel that these problems are being mitigated with these new routes.

Thank you. And how are you managing cost pressures from raw materials and logistics?

So the only cost pressure that you'll see is on volatile ingredients, the likes of whey protein, which we explained before how we're mitigating that. And obviously, we're going to be putting a bit of a price increase through in April. But we're still -- we're the last company to do it, and we're still one of the most competitive companies of brands on the market. We're not seeing price volatility in any other ingredient really. Ingredient prices are quite stable. Shipping prices on inbound raw materials are very stable. So we're not seeing any fluctuations there.

And also on outbound shipping to customers like the likes of Middle East, the customers pay for their own shipping on all of our international deliveries. So we're not exposed to those increases.

Thank you. We are now moving on to our final question for today. If you have any further questions, please e-mail them to the team who respond to any questions that weren't covered this afternoon. So the last question is, how do you see Applied Nutrition differentiating itself in a highly competitive supplements market?

I think our innovation is the real differentiator, our new product development and our innovation. I don't think any other brand does it like us. We live and breathe the sports nutrition, health and wellness industry. It's something that we're deeply rooted within. And I think the fact that we're vertically integrated allows us to bring our ideas and our formulations alive. Like I said before, within a matter of weeks, we can bring them to market. I don't think nobody else moves as fast as us. we don't bring products to market to exist. We bring products to market to take over. So our products are, you would argue, the best formulation on the market for that particular product at a competitive price, at the best taste, with the best tested -- third-party testing and verification around our products. I think everything we do channels into why we're different from a lot of other brands and why we should be back to why consumers buy our brands.

That's all the questions that we have time for today. So I'll hand back over to the management team for any further closing remarks.

Yes. So guys, thank you for the support. Thank you for your time. I'd just like to say that half 1 was a great half for us, finishing on GBP 75 million. Our EBITDA was in line. Our new product development was better than we've ever -- or we dropped more new products than ever in half 1. That momentum has continued into half 2. And despite the problems that's going on in the world, we sit here very confident that the GBP 140 million we've guided to is what we will hit. And yes, thank you for your support, and we look forward to updating you again at the end of the year.

Thank you to the management team for joining us today. That concludes the Applied Nutrition investor presentation. Please take a moment to complete a short survey following this event. The presentation -- sorry, the recording of this presentation will be made available on Engage Investor. I hope you enjoyed today's webinar.