Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited ($FCG)

Kia ora. Andrew and I are pleased to share our FY '26 interim results. We've had another strong first half, demonstrating continued momentum in our performance. Our total group revenue is $14 billion, which is an increase of $1.3 billion over last year. Profit after tax is $750 million with earnings of $0.45 per share, resulting in an interim dividend of $0.24 per share and a special Mainland dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents 100% of Mainland Group's FY '26 earnings well under Fonterra's ownership. Return on capital is 11.2%, up on this time last year and well within our target range of 10% to 12%. We've also lifted the forecast Farmgate Milk Price midpoint from $9.50 to $9.70 per kilogram milk solids. This change reflects an improvement in global commodity prices and our strong underlying margins and cost control. While significant volatility remains, particularly as the conflict in the Middle East continues, demand for our products remains strong, and our teams are focused on our plan to maximize returns through both the Farmgate Milk Price and earnings. Andrew will now take you through our performance for the first half of the year in more detail.

Thank you, Miles. Our normalized earnings shown here reflect the Co-op's strong underlying performance, excluding divestment costs. Mainland Group's performance improved during the first half of this year, primarily due to favorable commodity price cycle and some end market growth. Turning to our continuing business in more detail, you'll see that both our Ingredients and Foodservice businesses have delivered strong sustainable results. Overall, we've seen high milk flows during the first half of the year, and we've collected record volumes in the South Island. Alongside several significant weather events, this has put pressure on the operations of all New Zealand milk processors. Our network is resilient. So we've been able to navigate through these challenges, but it has resulted in slightly higher cost of production. Milk component costs, also outlined in core operations, shows the higher cost of protein and lower cost of fats versus what we saw in the first half of last financial year, and that's reflected in the Ingredients and Foodservice portfolios. Our manufacturing flexibility allows us to optimize our product mix across these high-margin, high-returning portfolios to deliver consistent, reliable returns. Our end market teams have delivered good results with continued strength of protein and ingredients and in foodservice recovery of the lift in butter and cream input costs that was seen last year. Overall, the performance we're reporting today clearly shows that we're consistently executing our strategy. We're growing the high-value parts of our business through optimal allocation of milk solids across our product mix, and that's driving strong returns for our shareholders and unitholders.

Thanks, Andrew. During the half, we've made significant progress on the divestment of Mainland Group to Lactalis for $4.22 billion. The transaction is unconditional and expected to complete at the end of March. Our focus is now firmly on executing our strategy to grow value for our farmers as a global B2B nutrition provider. And we do this through our high-performing global Ingredients and Foodservice channels. We're building new manufacturing capacity across our sites to help meet growing demand for our high-value proteins, butters and creams. As part of this, we've announced a $35 million investment into expanding our pastry butter sheet line at Edgecumbe. We've also completed construction of a $75 million protein hub at Studholme. Looking ahead, the conflict in the Middle East is impacting our supply chain and inventory levels as we head into the second half of the year. There's also potential for further volatility in global commodity prices. We're well versed at trading through these sorts of disruptions, thanks to our strong relationships with customers and supply chain partners, and we'll continue to monitor the situation closely. Given the strength of our first half results and our contracted commitments for the second half, we've adjusted our full year earnings guidance. Our forecast has lifted from $0.45 to $0.65 per share to $0.50 to $0.65 per share. As we move into the second half of the year, we remain focused on delivering on our strategic targets. Thank you.