Libstar Holdings Limited (LBR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Annual Results Presentation of Libstar Holdings Limited for the Year Ended 31st of December 2024. A special word of welcome to our Board members, the investment community and media as well as those within the organization joining us via the webcast this morning. The presentation will follow a familiar format, where I'll start with an overview of the results and strategic progress before I hand over to Terri Ladbrooke, our CFO, to take us through the detailed financial review. Thereafter, Executive Director, Cornel Lodewyks, will unpack the category performances before I conclude with the group outlook. The group's results reflect both promising and sustainable successes achieved from the execution of Libstar's strategy, but also the material impact of a limited number of challenges. As a management team, we are disappointed by the mixed group result. However, given the positive momentum achieved in various areas of the business, including the Ambient category performance, we firmly believe the path towards an improvement in earnings quality remains intact. Placing this year's set of results into context, the group has shown strong progress in executing its 3-pronged simplification, growth and sustainability strategy. Whilst Libstar has demonstrated positive performance across multiple areas of the business, it also faced challenges. The most notable of which is the loss of beef volumes in our value-added meat subcategory. The Ambient Products super-categories results shown on this slide reflect an outperformance within the portfolio, driven by a stellar performance from our wet condiment and dry condiment subcategories. However, as also shown on the slide, most of our challenges were faced in the Perishable Products category, where we're not only contended with the loss of beef volumes, I mentioned earlier, but we also navigated the impacts of a significant inflow of unprocessed raw milk, owing to higher national production numbers as well as the effects of foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the Eastern Cape province. We are pleased to have delivered on our leverage target for the year, demonstrating an improvement in cash conversion and interest cover, aided further by the proceeds from the exit of the Chet Chemicals HPC division. Looking at the results in summary. Group revenue increased by 3.1 percentage points, driven by a volume decline of 3.2 percentage points and a price mix contribution of 6.3 percentage points. That volume decline should be contextualized against the backdrop of a halving in beef production volumes in the Perishable Products category and the implementation of a direct importing model by a major retail customer in the Ambient Products category. Gross profit margins were maintained in the Ambient Products category. However, lower Perishable Product category margins impacted the group, resulting in an overall decline from 21.3% to 21%. The group's normalized EBITDA was in line with the prior year, a resilient result bearing in mind that the decline in beef volumes had a 5% adverse impact on the group's bottom line. Normalized headline earnings declined by 6.5% to ZAR 0.534 share as lower net finance charges were offset by higher depreciation charges to be unpacked by Terri later in the presentation. The group's underlying cash generation remains strong, demonstrated by an improvement in the cash conversion ratio to 80%, which was also aided by a reduction in capital expenditure and the proceeds from the Chet Chemicals disposal. As such, the gearing ratio improved to 1.5x, in line with our 2024 targets. The improvement in return metrics delivered by the Ambient Products category was more than offset by lower returns from the Perishable Products category, resulting in a lower return on invested capital of 8.6 percentage points. The Board resolved to maintain the annual dividend at ZAR 0.15 per share. Although these results don't meet management's expectations, there are notable successes that I wish to highlight in the following slides, which support our confidence in the underlying resilience and the prospects of the portfolio. The building blocks of our strategy comprises the simplification of our portfolio and operating model, the growth of our categories, channels and people as well as the sustainability of our operations and cash flows. Our first steps were to simplify the structure into 2 super-categories and to revisit the strategy of each subcategory together with the optimal operating structure to support its growth. Whilst a lot was done to simplify and more will be done in the new year, it was encouraging to see the growth of our export and food service offerings outside of QSR as a direct consequence of these changes. To the simplification theme and 2024s main strategic building block, we reduced our exposure to underperforming categories. On the left-hand side of the slide, the disposal of the Chet Chemicals was completed on the 30th of December and raised proceeds of ZAR 53 million, contributing to the achievement of our leverage target. Earlier in the year, we exited our beverage subcategory by closing our Chamonix Spring Water facility with effect from the 31st of August 2024. We remain resolute in our efforts to exit our remaining nonfood business, Contactim, and to reduce our exposure to the underperforming Denny Mushrooms fresh business. Although the latter process has taken significantly longer than envisaged, we are confident that the matter will be brought to finality in the coming quarter. On the right-hand side of the slide, our Perishable Products and Ambient Products super-categories were established during the year. In the Ambient Products category, the Khoisan bulk tea business and Cape Herb & Spice were integrated, delivering notable cost savings. The Retailer Brands division, which was a loss-making division last year, delivered a complete turnaround in profitability, aided by the sharing of resources with the wet condiments cluster and the simplification of its leadership structures. Finally, our food service team was strengthened, and we also managed to successfully launch an expanded range of baking aids and condiments into that channel. The Ambient Products category outperformed the remainder of the portfolio, achieving revenue growth of 5.4% at a maintained margin and EBITDA growth of 12.2%. This performance was attributable to the successes that we achieved from our simplification efforts as well as the growth of the export and food service channels, which delivered volume growth of 8.1% and 4.2%, respectively as shown towards the middle of the slide. On the left-hand side of the slide, the wet condiment subcategory delivered revenue growth of 9.4% and normalized EBITDA growth of 48.5%. This was supported by higher contract manufacturing volumes, a simplified management structure, procurement and production efficiencies from improved capacity utilization as well as improved service levels and distribution, the latter resulting in a sustainable turnaround in our Retailer Brands baking aids division. On the right-hand side of the slide, the dry condiments subcategory generated revenue growth of 11.1% and normalized EBITDA growth of 22.1%. The group's continued efforts to expand its own-branded Cape Herb & Spice offerings yielded positive results, delivering a 53% increase in revenue from new listings with Migros in Switzerland and Tesco in Ireland and U.K., expansion into new territories, including Poland, Brazil, Mexico and Denmark as well as the new launches of rubs and chili seasonings. In the Perishables Products category, revenue increased by 1.2% at a reduced margin of 16.1%, contributing to negative operating leverage and a normalized EBITDA decline of 13.7%. In terms of highlights, the convenience meals subcategory delivered a resilient result, bolstered by the national listing of our dine-in brand and 48 new fresh and frozen product launches. Improved yields at the fresh mushroom production facilities of Denny could not detract from the fact that the returns from this asset remains suboptimal. As such, we impaired that asset to what we deem to be its realizable value. On the left-hand side of the slide, our value-added meat subcategory benefited from new contract manufacturing arrangements and notable growth in its fresh and frozen chicken product offerings. However, the loss of beef volumes resulted in the underrecovery of fixed costs, leading to significantly reduced margins and profitability. Although this was a major setback to our growth ambitions for the business, we continue to develop opportunities in the retail, wholesale and export markets. On the right-hand side of the slide, higher national milk production resulted in a significant inflow of unprocessed milk to dairy processes in the sector, leading to elevated inventory levels, intensified competitive dynamics in the retail channel and margin compression. Furthermore, the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Eastern Cape added close to ZAR 10 million in unplanned transportation costs and losses of production yields. Notwithstanding these challenges, the Lancewood brand extended its brand leadership in the natural cheese categories in which it participates, as we expect more balanced supply-demand dynamics in the coming year. Amidst the significant yet necessary changes effected during 2024, it remains a personal priority for the leadership team and I to implement a high-performance culture that ensures accountability for the delivery of sustainable profitable growth. In doing so, we have revitalized our focus on the identification and the retention of top talent, the training of our skilled and unskilled workforce as well as the upskilling of our people in important areas such as category management and human resources. Before I hand over to Terri, the sustainability of our operations, cash flows and business practices remains an important third pillar to our strategy. At the top left-hand side of the slide, we remain prepared for intermittent electricity and water interruptions with most facilities having access to generators and 2- to 3-day water supply backups. Our solar installation projects have continued with 5 of our 29 manufacturing sites having access to alternative energy sources. At the bottom of the slide, the group's cash generation and balance sheet remain strong, showing improved cash conversion owing to lower capital expenditures following a number of years of higher capital investment. This also resulted in an improved interest cover ratio, which, together with the proceeds from our Chet Chemicals disposal, resulted in the achievement of our gearing target, which is now moving towards the lower end of our stated 1 to 2x preferred range. Operating in a newly established super-category structure, we also have increased our emphasis, as shown on the right-hand side of the slide, on the implementation of common efficiency measures and standardized best practices with more to follow in 2025, especially in relation to our ICT, HR and finance functions. For the first time, our KPIs now also include detailed water and electricity saving targets, helping the group move closer to achieving our environmental goals. Finally, annual savings of ZAR 12 million were realized from the first 2 procurement projects launched in 2024, with further projects to follow in the new year. In conclusion, the changes effected through implementation of our revised strategy has been embraced within the business and will support our 2027 ambition to deliver an improvement in the quality of the group's earnings. With that, I hand over to Terri.

Thank you, Charl, and good morning. In our interim results presentation, we noted our transition to new auditors in 2024. Ahead of this transition, the group performed an extensive analysis of account classifications across all business units. This resulted in the reclassification of accounts in the income statement, balance sheet as well as the cash flow statement. These restatements had no impact on profit before tax, earnings per share, headline earnings per share, net assets or net cash flows. The successful sale of the Chet Chemicals division in 2024 has resulted in the operation being disclosed as discontinued with the comparative information being restated to reflect this. Additionally, the group have made an enhancement to the face of the income statement, removing capital items from operating expenses, other gains and losses and other income to reflect on its own line. Moving to the face of the income statement and as noted by Charl, revenue is up 3.1% on the prior year, with price/mix improvements of 6.3% and volume declines of 3.2%. The group's gross profit margin reduced by 0.3 percentage points from 21.3% to 21% in the current year. Capital items, include gains and losses on the disposal of property, plant and equipment, insurance proceeds and impairments. The prior year expense is reduced by the insurance proceeds of ZAR 120 million relating to the Denny Mushrooms fire. Impairment charges of ZAR 143 million relating to Denny Mushrooms and Khoisan Gourmet were also recognized in the prior year. The current year capital items expense includes impairments of ZAR 549 million. An impairment to goodwill of ZAR 400 million was recognized against the division Finlar Fine Foods, driven by reduced beef volumes owing to the supplier diversification implemented by a major food service customer. An additional impairment against Denny Mushrooms of ZAR 135 million was raised in order to recognize the division at its recoverable value. Lastly, the reassessment of carrying values of customer contracts resulted in a ZAR 14 million impairment impacting both Dickon Hall Foods and Cape Herb & Spice. Operating expenses increased by 7% on the prior period, driven by higher consulting fees, reflecting the costs associated with the strategic initiatives and fees for divestment advisers. Additionally, salaries and wages increased ahead of CPI driven by the filling of vacant positions. The group's normalized operating profit decreased by 6.3% on the prior year. We note the reevaluation of the estimated useful lives of assets with 0 book values, which resulted in a reduction in depreciation of property, plant and equipment in the prior year. The normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization remained in line with the prior year at ZAR 974 million. Net finance costs decreased by 1.6%, driven by a decrease in the group's average lending rate during the period. And the group's effective tax rate of 10.7% was impacted by the impairments of intangible assets. The effective tax rate, excluding the impact of these impairments is 24.3%. Moving now to the balance sheet. The net working capital information on the left-hand side of the slide is shown for continuing operations across all periods for comparability. Net working capital increased by 5 days to a total of 73 days. As a percentage of revenue, this increased from 18% to 19.1%. The increase was driven by a significant inflow of unprocessed milk in the dairy subcategory as well as increased stockholdings to mitigate the continued port inefficiencies. The increase in the group's target from the interim results is driven by the impact of the income statement restatement. This decreased revenue and, therefore, has a 1% increase impact on the net working capital as a percentage of revenue calculation. Therefore, we have increased the target from between 15% to 17% to between 16% to 18%. Moving to the right-hand side of the slide. While the group continued its focused capital allocation strategy, the timing of projects also had an impact on the reduction in spend of 19.6%, with the total investment of ZAR 196.7 million being below the group's target range of between 2% and 3% of revenue. Capital projects included a ZAR 93 million investment in capacity-enhancing projects consisting of ZAR 17.6 million on an effluent plant and a new natural cheese slicing line in the dairy subcategory, ZAR 16.7 million on tea packing machines and dry condiments and ZAR 9.5 million on facility upgrades and new lines to increase chicken capacity in value-added meats. ZAR 72.5 million was invested in replacement and maintenance projects, with a further ZAR 30.2 million spent on quality and improvement projects. Looking at our key ratios and as noted by Charl, the group's gearing ratio improved from 1.6x to 1.5x, which remains below the group's target of below 2x. The interest cover ratio also improved from 4.9 to 5.4, which is well ahead of the internal target of greater than 3.5. However, the group's return on invested capital reduced from 9.8% to 8.6%, driven by the group's reduced operating profit in the period. The group's cash conversion ratio improved to 80%, significantly ahead of the internal target of above 65%. This was assisted by the reduction in capital expenditure and the proceeds received on the sale of Chet Chemicals. I will now hand over to Cornel to take us through the category performance.

Thank you, Terri, and good morning, everyone. Starting with our underlying margin performance of our Libstar categories against their respective 2024 and 2025 targets. The Ambient Products category's EBITDA margin improved to 12.1% to reach the midpoint of our target range. This was driven by growth in the wet and dry condiment subcategories and the food services channel. Margin-enhancing initiatives aligned with our strategy contributed to this performance, with further simplification and growth initiatives planned for 2025. We, therefore, retain our 11% to 13% target. The EBITDA margin for Perishable Products improved slightly from the first half, closing in the second half of the year at 6%. However, it remains below the 9% to 11% target range. Factors such as reduced beef volumes, which resulted in cost underrecovery in the value-added meats category and slower-than-expected progress from our Middle Eastern expansion plants led to the revise of our short-term target downwards to 7% to 9% for 2025. While the value-added meats and dairy categories face near-term changes, strategic initiatives are expected to contribute to long-term recovery and margin improvement. These include the development of retail, wholesale and export opportunities for beef and chicken products as well as continued focus on our value-added dairy offerings. Finally, the Household and Personal Care category delivered an EBITDA margin of 6.8%, in line with the target range. These figures reflect Contactim performance and exclude the Chet business unit. The target range has been adjusted upwards to 7% to 9% to reflect the higher margin mix of remaining business. Shifting focus to the Ambient Products category, which accounts for 50% of total group revenue. On the left-hand side of the slide, the strong revenue growth of wet condiments was a highlight, while dry condiments sales via the export channel increased by 8.1%, supported by an expanding private label and branded presence in international markets. The food service channel recorded a 4.2% volume increase, supported by a broadened product range and a newly established support structure. Certain challenges were encountered as noted on the right-hand side of the slide as strong as our currency, higher global shipping costs and rising peppercorn prices affected margins in the export channel. Additionally, a key retail customer's direct import strategy impacted volumes in the meal ingredient subcategory. While operational challenges in snacking caused some setbacks in H1, steady improvements has shown since Q4 and into the current period, supported by a stronger technical and new product development's team. Overall, as shown in the bottom of the slide, the Ambient Products category delivered 5.4% revenue growth while maintaining a gross profit margin of 25.5%. Normalized EBITDA increased by 12.2%, reflecting the positive operating leverage and outcome from our strategic emphasis on simplification and operational efficiencies. RONA increased by 0.6 percentage points to 16.1%. Looking at the subcategories of our Ambient Products super category. The wet condiments subcategory recorded a 9.4% revenue increase and a 48.5% rise in normalized EBITDA. This was supported by a more efficient management structure, enhanced procurement strategies and improved production efficiencies, a turnaround in baking aids, growing ahead of the category, gaining 1.1% share, increased demand in retail industrial channels and improved service levels and distribution reach. The meal ingredients, snacking and spread subcategory saw muted revenue growth of 0.4%, with EBITDA declining by 1.6%, primarily due to the performance of the snacking subcategory in H1. The food services channel, as previously mentioned, grew by 4.2% in volume, and the meal ingredient subcategory delivered resilient performance despite the lower retail channel volumes, arising from the direct implementation as explained earlier. The dry condiment subcategory recorded an 11.1% revenue increase and a 22% increase -- 22.1% increase in EBITDA, supported by expansion of the Cape Herb & Spice brand, new international listings, market penetration into new territories and the launch of new private label products. The baking subcategory recorded revenue growth of 4.3% and an EBITDA growth of 2.6%, driven by strong retail channel performance. Now looking at the Perishable Products category, which contributes 49% of total group turnover. Highlights on the left-hand side of the slide include sales growth within hard cheese, soft cheese and in yogurt as well as value-added chicken products. The Lancewood retail brand maintained its market-leading position in the natural cheese category while gaining market share in soft cheese and in yogurt. The convenience meal subcategory launched 48 new products, contributing to an 11% (sic) [ 10% ] volume increase and 15.5% value growth. Value-added chicken volumes grew by 18.2%, supported by strong growth in both QSR and retail channels. Challenges shown on the right-hand side of the slide include reduced beef volumes due to a key customer diversifying its procurement sources, impacting operating leverage negatively. Cyclical pressures in dairy, including increased national milk production led to an influx of unprocessed milk, leading to higher inventory levels and competitive activity. The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the Eastern Cape adversely affect the transportation costs and production yields at our Swellendam facility. In summary, as shown on the bottom of the slide, revenue grew by 1.2%, but the gross profit margin declined by 0.6 percentage points to 16.1%. As a result of this, normalized EBITDA decreased by 13.7%, ending the year at ZAR 344 million. RONA declined by 2.1 percentage points to 8.5%, impacting overall group results. Focusing on the Perishable Products subcategories. The dairy subcategories turnover increased by 5.7%, though cyclical pressures resulted in a 4.4% EBITDA decline. In value-added meats, reduced beef volumes led to cost underrecovery, resulting in a 35.9% EBITDA decrease, with revenue contracting by 9.6%. The convenience meal subcategory recorded a 15.8% turnover growth and 11.7% EBITDA increase, driven by new product launches across fresh and frozen segments. Fresh mushrooms recorded 16.4% EBITDA increase, supported by improved production yields, though performance remains suboptimal. Category revenue increased by 1.2%, while EBITDA declined by 13.7%. Reviewing the Household and Personal Care, HPC category, which accounts for 1% of group turnover. Revenue declined by 7.9%, reflecting increased competitive activity in our product range. EBITDA margin declined by 7 percentage points, mainly as a result of lower GP margins. RONA decreased by 23 percentage points to negative 3.1%. An improvement in revenue and EBITDA is expected in the current year as we add new retail channel customers to the business and benefit from improved margins from strategic purchasing initiatives executed in H2 of 2024. In conclusion, strong performances were recorded in the Ambient Products category, particularly within the dry and wet condiment subcategories while the food services channel showed growth, supported by strategic initiatives and a simplified operating model. Conversely, the dairy and value-added meats categories faced challenges that impacted our performance and our operating leverage. As we advance, efforts will be directed at leveraging growth within the export and food services channels while implementing strategic cost management and efficiency measures to address these challenges. Restoring margins remain a key focus, especially within the dairy and the convenience meals categories. I will now hand over to Charl to guide us through the group outlook.

Looking at the South African macro, consumers are expected to remain under pressure in the short to medium term, notwithstanding some improving macroeconomic indicators. Within this context, Libstar remains resolute in the execution of its simplification, growth and sustainability strategy. In the coming year, the group's operating model will be further simplified within the Ambient Products category, where a shared services structure will be created in the wet condiments subcategory. This new structure will consist of Montagu Foods, Dickon Hall Foods, Retailer Brands and Cecil Vinegar Works, with the goal of improving operational capabilities while preserving the unique market positions of each one of these business units. Furthermore, as part of the group's ongoing commitment to optimizing our operational execution, the divisions of Rialto, the retail division; Ambassador Foods, the snack division; and Cape Coastal Honey, the spreads division will be integrated in the coming year. The integration of these divisions into a newly formed subcategory of the Ambient Products category better positions the business for growth and improves customer alignment. The integration will furthermore strengthen the category's leadership structure and succession planning while simultaneously advancing technical and product development capabilities. The new financial year marks a special milestone for the group as Libstar celebrates its 20th anniversary, a testament to the dedication, innovation and resilience of the company. Forming part of its revised business strategy, Libstar's key focus for the year will be on the achievement of category and channel growth, the development and upliftment of our people and the continued strength of our One Libstar culture. Within the Perishable Products category, Libstar will continue to develop markets for its quality, value-added meat products. The group anticipates a more balanced supply-demand dynamic in the dairy subcategory as industry-wide production and pricing pressures start to normalize. However, cost inflation in key inputs such as feed, logistics and costs related to disease outbreaks remains a risk, requiring continued focus on operational efficiency and procurement strategies. The group will continue to invest in higher-margin categories, expanding its soft cheese and yogurt offerings in the new year. The Ambient Products category remains well positioned to benefit from the continued growth of its export and food service offerings, supported by the operating model simplification aforementioned. Although Libstar faced isolated challenges in 2024, the group's broader performance and resilient balance sheet reflects the strength of its strategy, and we remain confident in our long-term growth strategy. In light of this, the Board believes the timing to be optimal for Libstar to assess further potential strategies through which to deliver meaningful value unlock for stakeholders alongside the continued execution of the group's ongoing operational and strategic initiatives. The evaluation of potential strategic options remains at an early stage, and shareholders will be kept informed as the company progresses this assessment as appropriate and to the extent required in terms of the applicable regulations. In conclusion, as a management team, we remain resolute in our efforts to continue to drive the outcomes that we set to achieve when the strategy was conceived in 2023, being the improvement of our cost competitiveness, earnings quality and return on invested capital. It's been a good start to the new year, and we're looking to continue to build this positive momentum into the remainder of 2025. With that, thank you for listening, and please stay on the line for our Q&A session.

[Presentation] Good morning, everyone. Thank you for staying online to join our Q&A session. We already have received some questions, and we'll do our best to get through as many of them as possible in the time that we have. [Operator Instructions]. We are ready to begin. Let's start with the first question. We've got [ Oweto ] from Risk Insights: Good day, [ Oweto ] here from Risk Insights. We rate Libstar Holdings on the ESG reporting. Whilst the company reported their emissions in the next years, does the company have plans to expand this reporting to include reporting on waste, waste recycled and energy consumption?

The group continues to enhance our reporting on environmental, social and governance matters in our integrated annual report. In 2024, we invested in systems at a site level across our business units in order to be able to monitor and manage our Scope 1 to Scope 3 emissions. And this will also enable us going forward to set Science-based targets. So we will continue to enhance our reporting going forward.

Thanks, Terri. Our next question is from Khanya from Infinite Partners. What is the reason for the supply diversification by the customer in the Perishables cluster? And second question, what steps are being taken across group to strengthen relationships with customers to avoid such revenue loss moving forward?

I'll take that question. Khanya, this particular customer has been serviced by the group since 1994. So I think that certainly speaks to the strength of our long-term relationships, both COVID and even before then, multinationals have implemented strategies that ensure that they don't have a single supplier concentration risk within their portfolios, and that's exactly what happened here. Nonetheless, as I mentioned in the presentation, we are focusing on maintaining the strong relationship that we do have with the customer and also growing that relationship, but then also diversifying our revenue streams in the retail, the wholesale as well as the export channels going forward.

Thank you, Charl. We've got another question from Nompilo from Business Day. What is Libstar's take on the VAT increase? And how might this affect the group?

I'll take that one as well. Nompilo, we're shy to comment on national matters of this nature. However, I did say in my closing remarks that customers and consumers are under pressure. And no doubt, the increase in the VAT rate over the next 2 years will put additional pressure on our consumers. So the -- I guess, from a company perspective, that leaves us with an obligation to continue to drive efficiencies so that we act responsibly when we price our products to the market.

Thank you, Charl. No other questions at the moment. We'll give it a few more seconds. Okay. We've got a question from Noluthando from Wesgro: Hello, everyone. Are there any plans to increase the manufacturing sites in Western Cape?

I think maybe I'll take a stab at that. It's been well documented that we face some infrastructural challenges within the Gauteng region, particularly in the south of Johannesburg, we've had a few instances of water disruptions, and there's a lot being written about the infrastructural changes. So we certainly do take the location into account when looking at our expansion plans going forward. At this point in time, no specific plans. However, we do look at these factors when we plan our expansion.

Thank you, Charl. We'll stay on line for short while longer. We've got another question from Bronwyn from [ Kenvue ]. What would you say is a key business differentiator compared to competitors that will support your ambition for the financial growth going forward?

Great question, Bronwyn. I think if you look at the portfolio of Libstar, it's quite unique in the sense that we have a strong branded as well as a private-branded offering within our stable, and we see a growth in both our branded offerings as well as the private label offerings into retail as well as export channels. So looking forward, we pride ourselves on our ability to manage categories for customers. And there's been an increased emphasis, particularly in retail on managing categories and category management as a whole. And I think that's where we shine in being able to support our customers in a category with both a strong branded offering as well as a private label. And we'll continue to drive that going forward.

Thank you, Charl. We've got a question from Lusani from Kela Securities. Given the divergence in terms of volume growth for retailers, Shoprite versus peers, how does that impact your bargaining power in terms of rebates with retailers?

Cornel, do you want to maybe take a stab at that?

Yes. I don't want to comment on rebates with customers. I mean we have a diversified portfolio of customers, and we work closely with our retail and food services customers. Charl mentioned that we're customer-centric and do invest heavily in insights. The reason why we do that is to grow categories for our customers, yes.

Thanks, Cornel. Our next question is from [ Chris ]. What is your cost of capital and do you expect your ROIC, which is currently 8.6% to beat it eventually?

I'll take this. Thanks, Chris. In the current year, our cost of capital was at 12%. So it was a reduction from the prior year. And our 3-year strategy is to beat our cost of capital by 2027 if not earlier.

Maybe just to expand on that. We saw a pleasant improvement in the return metrics of the Ambient category. However, as we noted in the presentation, those challenges in the Perishables category, that's what's really hurting the return on invested capital at this point in time. So both from a dairy and a value-added meats perspective, focusing on ways in which we can improve those return metrics because those will ultimately drive our ambition to get to that 12% and beyond.

Thanks, Charl. We've got another question from Nompilo from Business Day. The group mentioned supply diversification implemented by a major customer that affected beef volumes in the group's food service units. Please elaborate on that and the measures taken to ensure sustainability in the short to medium term.

Do you want to maybe take a stab, Terri?

Yes. So it's a similar question to I think one of the first or second questions that we got that Charl touched on. So around the COVID time, we saw multinationals were taking this approach of diversifying their supply so that they could mitigate the risk of having concentrated supply with 1 supplier. So this is what happened in that specific instance. Measures taken to ensure sustainability. We continue to build this relationship. And as Charl mentioned, this is a relationship we've had with the customer since 1994. So we do believe that is a strong relationship that we continue to build on, but we also look at diversifying our supply into other channels, exports and retail being a focus for value-added meats.

Also as Charl mentioned, we did investing capacity in chicken products within the Finlar business where in the past, we had a ratio of 50% on beef volume. Our target for this year is to be 75% chicken and 25% beef, yes. And that supports our growth ambition to improve volumes.

Thanks, Cornel. We've got a question from Karl from News24. Two quick questions. I understand your portfolio simplification continues, but how far or long is this or how much more runway? Also, if you could please expand a bit on what the strategic review will entail.

No, sure. I think as I noted in the presentation, from a portfolio simplification perspective, the immediate priority is to reduce our exposure to the remaining HPC division because we are in a food business and then also to reduce our exposure to the Denny fresh mushrooms business, which we have to be able to finalize in the next quarter, which has taken longer than expected. Other than that, within the portfolio, it's more around simplifying our operating model rather than specific business units at this point in time. From a portfolio perspective, we continue to believe in the quality and the resilience of our portfolio and the ability of this to drive our 2027 ambition. However, the underlying value of the business is not recognized in the market at this point in time, owing both to company-specific as well as sector-specific factors, such as liquidity and size. So looking at this going forward, our obligation is to close that valuation gap and deliver some value for our stakeholders. It's still at a very early stage. So we can't talk to what that may or may not entail. But we will keep the market informed as the regulations require and as appropriate.

Thank you, Charl. We've got a question from Lusani from Kela Securities. What are the risks of the trade war? And how does it impact your operations?

Thanks, Lusani. The U.S. and Canadian markets, European markets, Japan, Asia, those remain key markets for us from an export perspective. So the AGOA trade agreement does -- we do benefit from the inclusion of South Africa in that trade agreement. Should we be excluded, we would still be able to compete competitively within the markets in which we trade. However, the real question is, should there be tariffs that go beyond that, what impact that will be. At this point in time, I'm not speculating around that, but rather trying to develop our markets like the successes that we talked to in the Cape Herb & Spice brand, which was quite encouraging to see.

Thanks, Charl. We've got a question from Jotham from Ashburton Investments. The group achieved a Level 6 BBE rating. What plans are in place to improve this? And how does it affect the business with key clients in terms of their procurement frameworks?

I'll take that. So our Level 6 BEE rating was a step down from the previous year, which I agree is a disappointing result. However, we have a strategy on BEE, and we are on target for our '24 results to be an improvement, and we'll continue to work with our customers and our suppliers on this going forward. We have discussions and engagements with both our suppliers and our customers to improve this level, and we work with them on how we can get it lower going forward. I don't know if you want to touch on anything from the impact on the customer relationships?

Not so much, but we are aligned with those strategies of our customers. So yes, nothing to add.

Thanks, Terri and Cornel. We've got another question from Chris. Given the stagnant local economy and ROIC below your cost of capital, would it not pay to be part of a larger group?

Chris, I think that's a very valid question that I don't necessarily have all of the answers to. We've spoken about sector consolidation in the food manufacturing sector for quite a number of years. And it makes logical sense, but there are obviously other considerations, and we have an obligation as a management team to firstly drive the strategy and to be held accountable for driving the strategy that we've communicated and then as a Board to consider what options might be appropriate in order for us to deliver the ultimate value to the group. And because that's still in an early stage, I'm not really able to comment on whether it would be within a larger group of what that would look like.

Thank you, Charl. We've got 2 more questions from Nompilo from Business Day. Please elaborate on the group's strategy for the current financial year. Are there any divestment or expansion plans in the pipeline?

Do you want me to touch on divestment? So Charl did mention this earlier as well. So as noted in our presentation, our portfolio simplification does still require or cover the divestments out of HPC completely as we do want to be focused as a food producer, and then we are still looking at options on our Denny Mushrooms, our fresh mushrooms site, and we do hope to be able to provide some feedback on that in the next quarter.

Thanks, Terri. Last question from Nompilo. Just to wrap it up, what kept the executive up at night during the financial year in review? What was the biggest challenge in the group faced? And how was it handled?

As we noted in the presentation Nompilo, most of the challenges that we faced during the year were in our Perishable Products category. Firstly, handling that customer diversification and ensuring that we continue to serve our existing customers whilst also continuing to develop new markets for that business, that was certainly a challenge that we continue to face as I sit here. In the dairy category, similarly, balancing national milk production numbers with our intake with the market dynamics playing out, that takes careful navigation. And that certainly was a challenge for the team, although we start the year on a positive note in that regard, looking at most balanced supply-demand dynamics playing out in the market.

Thank you, Charl. We're just checking if there are any other questions. We'll give it a few seconds. Good. We think that's all the questions for now. Thank you, everyone, for submitting your questions. Thank you, Charl, Terri and Cornel. Thank you again to our audience for joining us this morning, and have a wonderful day and take care.