Cranswick plc ($CWK)

Earnings Call Transcript · May 19, 2026

LSE GB Consumer Staples Food Products Earnings Calls 38 min

Highlights from the call

In the fiscal year 2026, Cranswick plc reported a robust revenue increase of 9.5% to GBP 2,982.5 million, driven by strong volume growth across its product categories, particularly in poultry and gourmet segments. Adjusted profit before tax rose by 11.2%, with adjusted earnings per share increasing by 10.4%, reflecting effective capital deployment and operational efficiencies. Management maintained a positive outlook for the upcoming year, citing strong early trading and a commitment to further investments, including a GBP 56 million expansion of poultry processing capacity, which could enhance future revenue streams.

Main topics

  • Revenue Growth: Cranswick achieved a revenue increase of 9.5%, reaching GBP 2,982.5 million, with like-for-like growth at 6.8%. Management noted, 'U.K. food volumes increased by 8.3%, supported by new business wins and another record Christmas trading period.'
  • Margin Improvement: Adjusted operating margin improved to 7.9%, up 35 basis points year-on-year, reflecting strong operational delivery. Mark Bottomley stated, 'Targeted capital deployment and operational execution have continued to drive margin progression across each of our key metrics.'
  • Capital Expenditure: Cranswick invested a record GBP 163 million in FY '26, focusing on capacity expansion and efficiency improvements. The company plans to invest an additional GBP 56 million to increase poultry processing capacity by 25%.
  • Dividend Growth: The final dividend was increased by 12.5% to 85.5p per share, extending the company's record of consecutive annual dividend growth to 36 years. Mark Bottomley highlighted, 'We are proposing to increase the final dividend by 12.5% to 85.5p per share.'
  • Acquisition Strategy: The integration of recent acquisitions, such as Blakemans, is expected to enhance operational capabilities and expand market reach. Adam Couch mentioned, 'The acquisition of Blakemans enables us to more effectively serve the identified white space in the food service sector.'

Key metrics mentioned

  • Revenue: GBP 2,982.5 million (vs GBP 2,726 million est, +9.5% YoY)
  • Adjusted EPS: 301.7p (up 10.4% YoY)
  • Adjusted Profit Before Tax: GBP 220 million (up 11.2% YoY)
  • Free Cash Flow: GBP 268.4 million (up 25.7% YoY)
  • Adjusted Operating Margin: 7.9% (up 35 basis points YoY)
  • Net Debt: GBP 240.8 million (up GBP 68.4 million YoY)

Cranswick's strong performance in FY '26, characterized by solid revenue growth and margin improvement, reinforces its investment thesis. The company's commitment to capital investment and strategic acquisitions positions it well for future growth, although analysts will be closely monitoring inflationary pressures and market competition as potential risks.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Adam Couch

Executives
#1

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to our 2026 results presentation. Delighted to welcome you all here today in another hall this time at Butcher's Hall. Alongside myself is Mark, Jim, when he gets his water down here and also several more members of our senior leadership team, which most of you will be familiar with. Please grab hold of them at the end of the presentation if there's any burning questions, but there's three of us here as well. So hopefully, we'll be able to cover any questions that you may have after the formal presentation has been completed. If we can just turn your attention to the agenda to begin with, I'm going to comment on the progress throughout the year, Mark, as usual, on the financials. And then Jim will give you as usual incisive information regarding the commercial environment that we're facing into, and then we'll open it up to Q&A at the end of that procedure. First of all, turning to Page 3 on the agenda. This is a slide we dwell on quite a lot and now having entered our 36 year of unbroken dividend growth, one that we want to continue to dwell upon, hopefully, for some years to come. But on Page 4, on the highlights, we've delivered a strong strategic year of growth and financial progress. This reflects the proven business model that you'll be familiar with and the disciplined execution of the long-term priorities. We've increased revenue by 9.5%. This has been underpinned by volume growth of more than 8%. And in the U.K. Food business, then this was complemented by a record Christmas trading period that delivered revenue growth across all our product categories. Adjusted operating margin increased to 7.9%, reflecting a strong contribution, particularly from the poultry farming operations, investment in our automation, excellent capacity utilization and tight cost control. Investment across the asset base has continued at record levels with GBP 163 million spent throughout the financial year. And we continue to deploy capital at record rates while still maintaining the ROCE at over--at 18.5%. Just looking on to the next slide. We've achieved these results through very strong operational performance, which is very much a signature of ours. This reflects the enduring strength of the customer relationships that we have, the quality and scale of the asset base and the increasing competitive advantage of the vertically integrated supply chain that we operate. And all this is complemented by the sheer quality of the--our colleagues across the business. Across our core categories, demand for the products remains strong. We're in two of the most versatile and value-driven proteins in the marketplace, and this is supported by close alignment with our strategic retail partners and an unrelenting focus on the quality, service and innovation. We're announcing today two key developments for our poultry processing business. The first one is the extended relationship that we have grown with Morrisons. This is now a 10-year agreement. This covers our facility at Eye. It also covers our two value-added facilities Hull, and that's been complemented by investment that's been completed in those two sites over the last year as well. And secondly, and most importantly, we're now committing to a further GBP 56 million investment at the existing facility in Eye. This will lift capacity by a further 25% by the summer of next year. And once complete, we will have the capacity to process double the number of birds that were originally envisaged back in 2019. I'll come back to that later on in the presentation. I've already mentioned the record GBP 163 million investment across the business. And this included within this is a significant progress on the major pipeline of product in capital projects undertaken. During the year, we completed the GBP 30 million expansion of the two added value facilities and GBP 27 million at our Worsley facility near Manchester on Hummus and fit out of that facility. The GBP 100 million investment in our flagship whole port primary processing site is progressing to plan with a highly automated on-site cold store facility now fully operational. And we spent GBP 40 million across our farming and feed milling operations to expand and strengthen our vertically integrated supply chain. Both the Blakemans and the JSR Genetics businesses continue to perform ahead of our initial expectations. And I'll cover the benefits of these acquisitions in more detail later in the presentation. As we enter the new financial year, I'm encouraged by the continued development of the business and the robust demand for the product ranges. And trading in the early part of the current financial year has been in line with expectations. I'll now hand over to Mark, and then Jim will cover Mark afterwards, but Mark will cover the financial details in more detail. Thank you.

Mark Bottomley

Executives
#2

Good morning, everybody. Thanks, Adam. I'll now take you through the group's FY '26 financial performance and how we've effectively allocated and deployed capital over the last 12 months. And starting on Page 7 of the slide deck. FY '26 was another year of strong volume-led growth with record results and further strategic progress across the group. Revenue increased by 9.5%. Adjusted profit before tax rose by 11.2% and adjusted earnings per share and dividends per share were ahead by 10.4% and 11.4%, respectively. Cash generation remains a clear strength with free cash flow of GBP 268.4 million, up 25.7% year-on-year. And consequently, net debt, excluding leases, increased by only GBP 25.3 million in the year despite record CapEx of GBP 163.4 million and GBP 32.1 million of cash deployed on M&A. Turning then to Page 8 and looking at the financials in a little bit more detail. As I mentioned, reported revenue increased by 9.5% to GBP 2,982.5 million with like-for-like growth of 6.8%, reflecting continued strong volume momentum across the group. Adjusted operating profit increased by 14.5% to GBP 237 million, with adjusted operating margin strengthening to 7.9%, up 35 basis points year-on-year and well ahead of our medium-term target. Adjusted profit before tax of GBP 220 million was 11.2% ahead of the prior year, reflecting strong operational delivery and continued discipline across the business. Adjusted EPS increased by 10.4% to 301.7p, driven by growth in adjusted profit before tax, partly offset by a modestly higher adjusted tax rate. And we are proposing to increase the final dividend by 12.5% to 85.5p per share. And this, together with the interim dividend of 27p per share gives a full year dividend of 112.5p, and that's up 11.4% year-on-year. And as Adam mentioned, extends our record of consecutive annual dividend growth to 36 years. Return on capital employed was maintained at 18.5%, demonstrating our ability to deploy capital at scale while sustaining attractive returns. Turning now to the revenue bridge on Page 9 and looking at that in more detail. Reported revenue growth of 9.5% was underpinned by strong volume performance. U.K. food volumes increased by 8.3%, supported by new business wins and another record Christmas trading period. And in fact, U.K. food volumes accelerated from 7% in H1 to 9.5% in H2. Growth was broad-based with both volume and value expansion across all product categories. Jim will come back to category performance in more detail, but there are three points I'll just highlight here. Poultry revenue increased by 13.9% with strong performance across fresh, prepared and cooked poultry, reinforcing the category strategic importance to the group. Gourmet revenue was up 15.3%, reflecting both strong consumer demand for premium added value ranges and the positive contribution from Blakemans, which has broadened our offer, expanded customer reach and generated cost synergies. And finally, Pet Products revenue grew by 29.8%, reflecting the successful expansion of the Pets at Home relationship, improved sales mix and continued development into an adjacent growth category. Now from sales and looking at margin on Page 10. Targeted capital deployment and operational execution have continued to drive margin progression across each of our key metrics with margin improvement now delivered for five consecutive half year periods. And compared to H2 FY '25, gross margin increased by 62 basis points to 16.2%. EBITDA margin increased by 73 basis points to 11.6% and operating margin was 49 basis points higher at 8.2%. This sustained margin progression reflects structural and operational strength across the business, including the strong contribution from our integrated pig and poultry supply chains, strategic acquisitions, capital investment, excellent capacity utilization and, of course, disciplined cost control. Now looking -- moving on to Page 11 and looking at our cash flow. We delivered strong free cash flow with record investment. Net debt increased by GBP 68.4 million to GBP 240.8 million, including lease liabilities of GBP 175.8 million. Strong EBITDA-related inflows of GBP 336.4 million were absorbed by investment in working capital and biological assets of GBP 26 million, including investment in long-term strategic partnerships. Tax paid of GBP 47.3 million, which was GBP 5.8 million higher than FY '25, reflecting the step change in profit. Record net investment of GBP 194 million across CapEx and acquisitions, which I'll come back to later in the presentation; and dividends of GBP 55.1 million, up GBP 5.6 million year-on-year, reflecting the increase in the FY '25 final and FY '26 interim dividends. Employee benefit trust share purchases were GBP 22.1 million, and we made lease payments of GBP 26.5 million. So lease liabilities increased by GBP 43.1 million, primarily to support growth in fresh poultry as we transitioned to lower stocking densities and continue to add capacity. Importantly, we retained our an investment-grade balance sheet throughout this period of our elevated investment program with net debt, excluding lease liabilities of just 0.2x EBITDA, preserving substantial financial flexibility. And looking at cash generation over the long term on Slide 12. Our cash generation has been consistently strong over the long term with nearly GBP 1.4 billion of free cash flow generated over the last 8 years. That cash flow has been allocated in a disciplined manner, balancing reinvestment, value-accretive acquisitions and shareholder returns. We've reinvested more than GBP 800 million in capital expenditure and over GBP 200 million in acquisitions, strengthening the business and extending our competitive advantage. We've also returned nearly GBP 300 million to shareholders through our progressive dividend policy. And on the right-hand side of that slide, you can see that following a successful refinancing process earlier in the financial year, we now have a GBP 360 million revolving credit facility through to July 2029 with the option to extend for a further 2 years and to access a further GBP 90 million on the same terms. This gives us substantial headroom to support our growth strategy. Now as I mentioned, coming back to CapEx and looking at that in more detail on Slide 13. We invested a record GBP 163 million across our asset base in FY '26, in line with our framework of investing around 50% of EBITDA to support capacity expansion, efficiency improvement and long-term growth. This included GBP 40 million in farming and GBP 123 million across our industry-leading operating asset base. And as Adam mentioned, we're announcing today a new GBP 56 million commitment at our fresh poultry facility in Eye to increase capacity by a further 25% by summer '27. And again, Adam will come back and comment on this in more detail in a moment or two. We also made significant progress across our pipeline of earnings-enhancing capital projects. And highlights on this slide include the GBP 100 million multiphase expansion of our Hull Fresh Pork primary processing facility, which is progressing well and will substantially increase site capacity alongside a newly highly automated on-site cold store, which is now fully operational, completion of the GBP 30 million expansion of the two value-added poultry sites and that GBP 27 million fit-out of the Hummus Dips facility in Worsley. Turning now to Slide 14 and looking at return on capital. Return on capital was maintained at 18.5% for a third consecutive year and ahead of our long-term average despite a GBP 283 million increase in average capital employed over that 3-year period. This reflects a proven track record of disciplined capital deployment while sustaining attractive returns and remains a core part of our investment case. Turning to Slide 15. This slide provides a useful reminder of how our guiding principles, strategic enablers and established growth strategy combined to create value. We continue to execute consistently against this model. And in FY '26, again delivered ahead of each of our medium-term targets, reinforcing our long-term value creation credentials. Turning now to Slide 16. It is a busy slide, but I'll just pick out a couple of points here. This chart illustrates the strength of our business model and strategy and how they continue to support sustainable long-term compounding growth. Over the last 5 years, we've delivered 9.5% compound annual revenue growth and improved operating margin by almost 100 basis points. Consistently strong cash generation has enabled us to invest at pace in our asset base and in targeted M&A, including this year, Blakemans and the Fridaythorpe feed mill. And we've sustained a return on capital employed in the high teens, well ahead of our weighted average cost of capital. The resilience of our business model has been proven repeatedly, supporting continued investment, strong cash generation and that 36 consecutive year of dividend growth. These strengths underpinned by this resilient business model and our industry-leading asset base continue to differentiate Cranswick and position the group well for further development in the current year and beyond. Now turning to Page 17 and looking at our capital allocation framework. Our resilient business model is supported by a clear and disciplined capital allocation framework, which remains central to long-term value creation. As a reminder, we will continue to invest in the business to support our growth strategy with medium-term CapEx guidance of around 50% of EBITDA to add capacity, capability and automation. As I mentioned, in FY '26, we invested GBP 163 million, and we continue to see a strong forward pipeline. We will continue to pursue complementary bolt-on M&A with returns ahead of group WACC. During the year, this included, as I mentioned, the GBP 32 million acquisition of Blakemans and the purchase of the Fridaythorpe feed mill. We will maintain a progressive dividend policy with cover of at least 2.5x -- in FY '26, that cover extended to 2.7x despite that 11.4% increase in the dividend. And we will maintain an investment-grade balance sheet with targeted leverage, excluding leases of less than 2x EBITDA. So to summarize, we delivered revenue growth of 9.5% with U.K. food volumes of 8.3%, adjusted profit before tax of 11.2% and adjusted earnings per share up 10.4%. Cash generation remains strong, and our balance sheet continues to provide substantial resilience and flexibility. We are investing at record levels across our asset base to expand capacity, enhance capability and drive efficiency gains. And of course, we're continuing to increase our dividend. Our business model remains robust, cash generative and disciplined in its deployment of capital, positioning the group to continue delivering sustainable growth and attractive returns to shareholders over the long term. I'll now hand you over to Jim, who will talk you through the commercial performance in more detail.

James Brisby

Executives
#3

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. So in the usual format, I'm going to focus on the commercial developments of the group, looking at the broader market context before outlining our progress in '25, '26 and then concluding with the outlook for the current financial year. So just moving on to the slide of the retail and consumer trends. And the U.K. retail market obviously remains extremely competitive. But the key point I would point to is where fresh and chilled growth is actually running at 5.7%, so considerably ahead of the read on total grocery. The growth in the recent year has been led by Sainsbury's and Tesco, up 7.4% and 7.3%, respectively, so very much leading the charge for the larger format retailers. And this has been at the expense of Asda, where we're continuing to see decline down 2.4% and Morrisons actually growing at 2.8%, but behind the market and therefore, losing share. M&S are continuing their growth, very much fueled by their premium focus, but also by products kind of going viral and appealing to that younger TikTok generation. And the discounters, of course, remain a really important part of the market landscape, Lidl leading the charge here, up 13.2%, the fastest grower of all retailers and Aldi up 7%. So once again, returning to growth following a period of underlying volume decline. And I think when you look at this chart, reflecting on it, it's worthy of note that Aldi is now bigger than Asda and actually, M&S in food isn't far behind Morrisons. So quite a far cry from the old days of the big four. And I think it'd be quite interesting how this chart looks in a year or maybe 2 years' time. I think it could be rather different. From a category perspective, protein is central to the consumer diet and pork has actually been the standout performer. Pork is now the fastest-growing protein, leveraging its value credentials and sales of pork mince were actually up 31% year-on-year as it substituted for beef mince at literally twice the price. Chicken growth, of course, continues to increase with its affordability and health credentials. And if you look at overall beef demand, it remains there, but price inflation has really started to affect accessibility for many households, impacting volumes they're down 8.9%. So these are some pretty stark figures that we wouldn't be used to. Clearly, no growth coming from meat substitutes with volumes in significant retreat with the ultra-processed connotations, poor health, poor taste and also expensive. And volumes are holding up well, though overall in the marketplace and meat consumption continues to grow as that key source of protein in a healthy diet that I mentioned. So moving over the page and obviously, inflation and price flows have once again been key. So over the last financial year, this has been very much about the continued rise in increases in both living wage and national insurance costs very much weighing down on employers. We did successfully manage these headwinds through our open book structured price mechanisms that we have in place with all our key customers. And really, this disciplined and transparent approach allows us to recover cost inflation and keep our margins stable. Looking on to this year, I think we're once again in a year of volatility with input costs, and we certainly see this as an ongoing feature of our market. Pig price has actually been reducing in the U.K. and now we're showing one of the larger gaps to the EU pig price. There are actually a lot of pigs available right now in the U.K. marketplace due in some part to productivity gains, but also some quiet expansion of the herd by independent producers. And this will be leading to some excess pigs in the market over the next year. Feed prices were actually reducing, but they're starting to tick up again post the conflict in the Middle East. And that conflict is, of course, impacting the current year, mainly at the minute in the impact on fuel prices. Packaging prices are about to move up imminently. And of course, we're seeing those elevated fertilizer prices as well, likely to lead to impact on base agri commodities further in the future. We're tracking all the impacts of this closely and in consultation with our key retailer partners on a weekly basis. So we have a strong level of confidence of managing these and getting them through the next model reset. The other point with this, when you look at the overall affordability despite the inflationary pressures is that pork and chicken prices have inflated way behind all of the proteins. So it compounds that proposition of pork being the best value proposition in the protein category. So moving on the page and in terms of our commercial performance for last year. So pork sales were up 3% year-on-year. Retail sales very much driving the growth, particularly with that performance in Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S. The overall volume actually was up 5%, reflecting that reduction in pig and feed prices year-on-year. Sales in convenience were up 7.3%, with volume up 1.8%, reflecting a change in product mix and towards more premium and value-added ranges. We had an excellent performance in the Gourmet business, up 15.3%. Again, the premium ranges outperforming, coupled with that integration of the Blakeman sales ledger into the group. And sausage and bacon within that did particularly well with volumes at record levels over that key festive trading period. Our poultry business up 13.9% with increased numbers processed at up to peaking at 1.6 million birds a week, but also new value-added ready-to-eat chicken volumes with a premium retailer. And at Cranswick Pet products, sales were up 29.8%, reflecting a better quality sales and price value mix as we delivered the first year -- or the first full year, I should say, of our initial Pets at Home volume. And we've recently actually onboarded the AVA range, which now gives us sole supply of the dry kibble range across dog and cat food. From a channel perspective, retail sales were up 9%, ahead of group and ahead of market. And even as our biggest channel is taking an ever-increasing share of our group revenue. Manufacturing sales actually in line up 9% Food service has been a challenging market, but our sales grew by 35%, onboarding the Blakemans acquisition while also actually being aligned to the best performing of the out-of-home brands, which has actually protected the downside from that point of view. Export sales declined by 1%, reflecting lower prices, particularly in China due to global supply of pig meat. So moving over on to Page 5 of innovation and obviously, one of my favorite slides, but really, this is a key driver of our growth, closely aligned to some of these evolving consumer trends and that desire for better, healthier and more convenient foods. Therefore, healthy, protein-rich and minimally processed product ranges are absolutely at the forefront of our product development plans. So one to call out would be our M&S -- just six ingredient sausages range, and they've been a standout success and really demonstrate our ability to lead in this space. This is a range that kind of went viral on TikTok, with six ingredient sausages, and they've now become the top-selling sausages in the M&S range. They're only containing store covered ingredients, no preservatives and no additives. In a similar vein, we actually removed all the ultra-process ingredients for M&S' roast poultry range as we onboarded that volume in the summer of last year. And we've just launched ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat versions of the -- just 6 Dinky sausages, again, with UPF-free ingredients completely removed. So I think you can expect more and more innovation from us in this kind of space. Moving on to premium. Of course, premiums are a huge part of our strategy and really that continued expansion we've done of premium and chef-led ranges across our range with our retail partners. These ranges are resonating really strongly with consumers seeking higher-quality restaurant style experiences in the home. An example of that would be Tesco Finest Chefs collection range, which showcased how far we can actually push the boundaries of quality within our chilled center-of-plate meals to deliver a true chefs quality. Our M&S Tom Carriage Brief Wellingtons for customer food to order, again spike media retention over Christmas, and we work with them on products such as also a Korean rib Rack and a Tom Carriage Steak and Kidney Pie from Yorkshire Baker. Super premium sausages and bacon really focusing on making the very best product we can with the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Discovery Gourmet sausages and the Tesco finest Woodall's Signature bacon pushing the boundaries of quality in this space. Our new premium Hummus Dips ranges highlight our authentic and premium production methodology, completely differentiating us from the competition. That Pickybits moment is not just about picnicking though, it also stretches into hot eating and sharing occasions in our Mezze and Tapas ranges from the Continental business. On to convenience, and we're capitalizing on some of these changing eating occasions, particularly the growth of sharing and grazing formats, that Pickybits I just mentioned a second ago, Mediterranean inspired dishes and convenient premium meal solutions are all areas where we continue to innovate and grow. One example might be our Halloumi Kebabs. We're already actually the U.K.'s largest importer of Halloumi in the U.K., but we're now looking to add value to these such as the new fire pit range in Tesco for Halloumi Kebabs. -- and Mediterranean grazing with convenient platter formats also helps customers discover these new combinations even when they're on the go, things like the taste of different snack platers I've got there are the Tesco Finest Caprese platter with Sicilian Nocellara olives, marinated Sicilian cherry tomatoes and mozzarella pearls along with bruschetta bites. Examples of all these ranges, as always, are available at the back of the room. And really, I think these now highlight the broad product range that the Cranswick Group has to offer, now very much a value-added food producer operating over many exciting growth categories. So moving on to Page 22 and the commercial outlook. we're looking in a place where all categories are well set up for growth. The outlook for this financial year looks positive with growth opportunities across all product areas based on that strategy of building on long-term consumer partnerships and leading innovation with iconic and differentiated product ranges. So in terms of Pig meat, the volume from the Sainsbury's 10-year deal has now been onboarded successfully, and we look forward to growing this volume with them in partnership going forward. We are driving innovation and further premiumization in pig meat and those healthy value-added ranges. We've also managed to secure some retail frozen volume with two retailers post the acquisition of Blakemans with that new capability for retail-ready frozen sausages as we integrate that business into the wider group. In poultry, we've onboarded some new premium breaded chicken lines over recent times and have actually just been notified of a single significantly large ready-to-eat chicken order with the U.K.'s largest retailer, which will actually onboard in the autumn of this year. In Continental, the business continues to grow with our exceptional innovation pipeline and an ever broadening product portfolio as well as the new Hummus facility now fully commissioned and delivering efficiencies. The Pet business is well placed to grow again with the award of sole supply contract for all of the dry pet food for pets at home, adding further volume to our 10-year partnership agreement. So in summary, we've delivered another year of strong commercial progress. We've grown volumes, strengthened our customer partnerships and continue to lead through innovation whilst maintaining margin discipline in a volatile and competitive environment. So I remain confident in the outlook and in our strategy to deliver sustainable long-term growth. I'll now hand back to Adam for the operating and strategic review. Thank you.

Adam Couch

Executives
#4

Thank you, Jim. I'll just briefly recap on the strategy on the update of the recent acquisitions and the further expansion of the Eye facility and then quickly move on to Q&A. But the growth strategy continues to build on the strength of the business, as both Jim and Mark have alluded to. We continue to grow the cash-generative core range through the focus on quality, the affordability of the healthy proteins that we produce, and we continue to invest in the supply chain and across the asset base. We'll continue to diversify and strengthen the business through a focus on the innovation and complementary acquisitions that have become the hallmark of our growth and success. Over the last 10 years, we've delivered compound annual revenue growth in excess of 11% -- adjusted profits before tax, earnings per share and dividend per share are all comfortably in excess of the 11% over that period. With a continued focus on the strategy of consolidation, expansion and diversification, we're confident we'll continue to deliver strong and sustainable compound growth over the long term. Just briefly on to Page 26, recap on the three recent additions to the group as it demonstrate the successful onboarding and the delivery of this ambitious growth. The acquisition of JSR Genetics just over a year ago and the addition of dedicated pig genetics production has significantly enhanced the competitive advantage of our vertically integrated supply chain. Seamless Feedback from the downstream breeding, rearing and processing operations and enhanced genetic selection is driving the benefits across the farm productivity and product quality. This genetics is the leader in the marketplace by quite some distance. It drives the core business. It enables innovation in the pork products, and it strengthens the customer partnerships that have become a hallmark again of what we do. With the Blakemans acquisition during the first half of the year, this is a well-invested manufacturer of raw and cooked sausage. This acquisition enables us to more effectively serve the identified white space in the food service sector where Blakemans is focused. By bringing this into the group and the business into the group along with the colleagues, we've unlocked significant procurement synergies for the business and strengthen the strategic customer relationships. Blakeman's product range is in strong demand. It reflects very good value for money, and we've now secured its first ever retail listing with a frozen range for one of our leading retail partners. We're investing in automated pigs and blankets production at the site to further enhance our capacity as we anticipate continued growth for these products continuing. And finally, the Fridaythorpe Mill, the addition of this mill represents a step change in our feed milling operations. Alongside ongoing capacity expansion in the existing estate, Fridaythorpe significantly increases our self-sufficiency in pig feed milling. Through bringing this production capacity in-house and matching it with our demand, we can rationalize the ranges, rationalize the diets, maximize operating efficiencies whilst also capturing margin in the supply chain. Just turning to Page 27. As briefly mentioned, I'm very pleased today to announce today that we are now committed to a further 25% increase in the fresh poultry capacity at our existing facility in Eye. This is a GBP 56 million investment. When we first commissioned the site, it was designed for a capacity of 1 million birds. By the end of 2027, we will increase this to over 2 million birds per week. This will be achieved through the addition of second processing line and a small expansion of the site footprint. This new investment supports our ambitious poultry plans, giving us significant headroom for growth. I would also highlight that we're continuing to make good progress on the search for a suitable second location. We have the balance sheet and the management resources available to deliver this project, and there are a number of sites that we hopefully are getting close to succeeding on. On Page 28, over the last 12 months, we've delivered strong volume-led growth, strengthened our operating margin and the recent acquisitions are performing ahead of expectations. We have a substantial capital investment pipeline with major growth projects underway across our fresh and added value pork, poultry, Mediterranean food and farming operations and continue, as you will be aware, to deploy capital at pace across the business, generating strong associated returns and adding significant headroom for future growth. We've made a positive start to the new financial year with trading in early part of the year in line with expectations and robust demand for the product ranges continuing. And finally, before moving on to Q&A, I just want to give a good shout out to our colleagues. This is only -- our success is entirely down to the people that we employ within this business. They are quite amazing. And the success of this business is entirely down to them. The focus on the quality of the service and the operational excellence continues to distinguish and put clear blue sky between ourselves and the competition. And I'd like to thank them all for their outstanding contribution to the year. Thank you, everybody, for coming today. I really appreciate your attendance today. Well, thank you very much.

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