New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited ($NZK)

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the New Zealand King Salmon Half Year Results Announcement. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Carl Carrington, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Today, we are presenting New Zealand King Salmon's First Half '26 financial results and the progress we are making on performance recovery and growth. The key message for investors is that the first half shows a meaningful improvement in biological performance, financial outcomes, and confidence in the near-term outlook. We will cover 3 themes as we go. First, the turnaround in fish performance and profitability. Second, how that is flowing through into sales and cash generation. And third, how our growth infrastructure is now becoming tangible, including the Wellboat and Blue Endeavour pilot. We can move to the next slide. Okay. I won't spend time on this slide other than to note that today's presentation should be read alongside our half year market release and other NZX materials, and it includes both NZ IFRS and non-GAAP measures such as pro forma EBITDA and pro forma EBIT. We will refer to guidance and forward-looking comments. Those remain subject to normal risks and uncertainties. Joining me today are Katie Bennett, our CFO. Grant Lovell, GM Aquaculture and Andrew Harrison, our GM Strategy and Performance. I'll frame the overall result and strategic direction, and my colleagues will add detail on the financials, farming performance and growth plan where appropriate. Getting to the executive summary. At the top line, the 6 months to 31st March '26 delivered a GAAP net profit after tax of $13.8 million compared with a net loss of $20.8 million in the comparable first half '25 period. Our preferred measure, pro forma EBITDA improved to $17.2 million from $5.7 million. That improvement is fundamentally a fish performance story with better biology supported stronger sales, lower mortality expense, improved cost of fish and stronger processing efficiencies from better harvest quality. This was not just a short-term earnings uplift. We also progressed the growth agenda. Blue Endeavour pilot infrastructure has been installed. The Ronja King Wellboat arrived in late April. RAS design work continues, and we received government funding support for the future farming program. Our balance sheet remains strong with net cash on hand at about $43.2 million at 31 March, and that gives us flexibility to keep investing in growth while maintaining financial discipline. Pro forma EBITDA guidance range for the year-end, 30 September has been revised upwards to $23 million to $29 million from the prior guidance of $19 million to $27 million. Similarly, the pro forma EBIT is revised to $13 million to $19 million. This next section is about demonstrating that the operating recovery is visible in the numbers and is supported by underlying improvements in the business. So turning to the operational highlights. Revenue for the half was $100 million and harvest volume was 2,838 tonnes. Importantly, profitability improved sharply across all the headline measures shown here. GAAP NPAT was $13.8 million. Pro forma operating EBITDA was $17.2 million, and pro forma operating EBIT was $12.3 million. Geographically, revenue remains well diversified. China represented 4% of revenue, North America at 37%, with Australia 15%, and New Zealand 38%. However, don't read too much into the market share changes between this half and the prior year. For example, North America being down from the low 40s and New Zealand and Australia significantly up as this was driven largely by seasonality difference with the change in year-end date has meant higher Southern Hemisphere, Christmas peaks are included in the numbers, and it also reflects market preferences for size and quality grading as we rebuilt biomass. There is no visible impact to us of tariffs in North America slowing sales. And we expect by year-end, both North America and China share numbers will have lifted. The message I would emphasize is that stronger biology has restored both operational leverage and commercial momentum. We are seeing better fish, better harvest outcomes and better processing outcomes all reinforcing one another. Turning to the specific sales performance. Sales have entered what we describe as a market rebuilding phase following constrained supply through FY '25. Our core markets of New Zealand, Australia, North America and China have responded well as fish size have increased, and as we progress through the year. In North America, demand remains steady, although as mentioned earlier, the mix has been influenced by smaller fish size and availability at the start of the year. In New Zealand, growth has been driven by fresh salmon sales, while ready-to-eat has been consistent with the prior year. Australia has performed strongly with channels that suit mixed fish sizes. China is particularly important for us. And as fish size normalizes, demand there is strengthening because that market clearly prefers larger fish. And the rest of the world results reflect our product allocation strategy. Turning to brands. While biology and execution are the immediate drivers of the result, our brands also continue to strengthen and underpin long-term value. Ora King continues to generate strong global visibility, particularly in the U.S. and Australia, and marked a 10-year ambassador partnership milestone. Event-led digital reach and engagement also more than doubled around key industry moments. Regal delivered strong seasonal visibility in New Zealand, supported by chef-led storytelling and innovation, while also building momentum in China through chef advocacy and high-profile trade and cultural moments. In New Zealand retail, Regal continues to lead the salmon category and awareness and preference conversion. Omega Plus is building targeted messaging in niche pet food segments reinforcing its premium positioning. The investor message here is that we are not just recovering supply. We are also continuing to invest in demand, brand equity and market premiumization. I'll hand now to Grant for fish performance.

Thank you very much, Carl. Look, it's very pleasing to be able to provide a positive update in the fish performance world here. So all metrics have improved in the first half of FY '26 for both low mortality and positive stable feed outs, which obviously has resulted in good growth and an uplift in harvest, particularly from the original budget. When you're looking at some of the specific measures, you can see significant improvements coming through in average weight, reduction in FCR, which obviously is the flow on from last year's feed-related issues being resolved and a really nice improvement in closing livestock biomass up significantly from the previous. The only other point to really call out is the cost of feed. This is obviously being influenced by the global instability at the moment, but that has also been influenced by our change to summer diets and the work that had been done on that previously, although that diet is more expensive, we have been seeing the outcome with that with better fish performance. And we are contributing the better fish performance to a range of initiatives. It's not just one, but it is the summer diet, increased grading of the stock, improved seal protection, and a real focus on the operational execution on the farms. I'll pass it over to Katie.

Thanks, Grant. As a primary sector organization, we recognize that the health of our environment and communities is directly linked to the sustainability of our business. During the first half of FY '26, our environmental footprint reduced with an 8% reduction in absolute emissions compared to the previous period. Although we no longer are considered a climate reporting entity, we believe it is important to continue to report on our Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions. The commencement of the Westshore Warehouse feed storage operations with Port Marlborough brings with it the ability for us to lower our feed transport emissions, this change reduces feed-related road transport between Nelson and Picton by over 90%. We also continue our focus on maximizing value from raw materials and reducing waste, including further investment into our own silage capability. From a certification perspective, we have maintained our BAP 4 Star certification and have continued to participate in the AQNZ A+ program. Pleasingly, the New Zealand salmon farming industry also continues to maintain the Monterey Bay Green Best Choice rating. Alongside environmental stewardship, supporting our local communities remains a strong focus for NZ King Salmon. We continue to invest in regional partnerships, education initiatives and community engagement programs aligned with our values as a [indiscernible] based company. Examples during the period include supporting Te Hoiere Bat Recovery Project, partnering with local schools and the NMIT scholarship program and continuing our involvement with the Moananui - Blue Economy cluster. Now moving on to the financial results for the first half of FY '26. As noted earlier by Carl, the first half of FY '26 has been positive, and this is reflected in the financial performance of the business. Before I get into the numbers, I will quickly clarify the periods being covered as due to our balance date change, the prior period is not directly comparable. With our new balance date of 30 September, this half year reporting covers the 6-month period from 1 October '25 to 31 March '26. Whilst the comparable period we described as 1H '25 September is for the 6 months period from 1 Feb '25 to 31 July '25. Now on to the results. Revenue has increased 6% to just over $100 million for the first half. This was driven primarily by the increased sales volume, with volume up 7% to 2,799 metric tons. Some of this increase can be attributed to the change in balance date with the domestic seasonal Christmas peak now occurring in the first half of the financial year. While revenue growth was positive, the product mix sold did impact the revenue line with a higher proportion of whole fish sales occurring during this period. As noted previously, whole fish generally carries a lower average selling price when compared with value-added products. However, it remains margin accretive due to the lower processing costs. Gross profit has improved substantially to $35.7 million on a GAAP basis. This reflects stronger biological performance, which has led to an overall fair value gain of biological assets of $7.1 million. Other drivers for this gross profit improvement includes lower mortality costs, improved fish quality and better processing efficiencies. On a pro forma basis, EBITDA was at $17.2 million, up from $5.7 million in the previous period. I'll cover this more on the next slide. Importantly, though, this first half has returned to a profit-making position, delivering a great net profit after tax of $13.8 million on a GAAP basis. Overall, these results demonstrate the ongoing focus on stabilizing the core business through strong operational performance and the benefits flowing through from improved fish performance, stronger biomass levels and greater production efficiency. Now moving to the bridge from the prior comparable period. Whilst we have seen a positive uptick in sales volume, this was slightly offset by our product mix impact being the higher proportion of whole fish sold. While seen as a negative against revenue, this increase in whole fish supports some of the cost of goods sold upside due to the lower processing costs compared to value-added products. The main driver of this operational leverage increase is driven from the improved biological performance, increased biomass levels at sea, better fish quality and scale benefit as production rebuilds. Mortality performance also improved materially, contributing a further $5 million benefit compared with the prior period. Corporate costs were slightly higher as we have continued to invest in capability and strategic growth initiatives across the business. Overall, pro forma EBITDA increased to $17.2 million, highlighting the operational progress achieved during the half and reinforcing the positive trajectory of the business. Our balance sheet strengthened during the period, supported by this improved biological performance and the continued rebuild in biomass. Closing live weight biomass increased to 4,858 metric tons up from 4,243 metric tons in September. This reflects the benefit of changes implemented across feed, fish health management and operational efficiency initiatives. The increase in biomass and improved biological performance drove a positive fair value uplift on the carrying value of our biological assets. Working capital remained well managed as the business supports growth in biomass and sales activity. Receivables have increased in line with the higher sales volume, while finished goods and work in progress inventory have reduced slightly as we have continued to focus on stock optimization. Unsurprisingly, feed inventories have increased to support that additional biomass. Payables have increased primarily due to the higher input costs associated with this increased biomass as well as the elevated freight costs, including feed pricing, foreign exchange impacts and fuel surcharges stemming from that Middle East conflict. Also, as we have now returned to a profit-making position, there is a tax payable liability required. Net cash on hand reduced modestly during the period, reflecting continued investment into biomass growth and strategic capital projects. We have invested approximately $12.7 million in CapEx during the half, including growth-related investment across Blue Endeavour, RAS and Cloudy Bay alongside other operational projects. I will now hand to Andrew to take us through our guidance update.

Thanks, Katie. Following on from strong half year results, guidance for the full year is a range of $23 million to $29 million EBITDA up from a range of $19 million to $27 million in April. EBIT guidance follows EBITDA. However, harvest guidance remains unchanged. The increase in guidance reflects the reduced impact of risk relating to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that were factored into the previous guidance range. The main risk to our business from this conflict is the potential for supply chain disruptions and an inability to get product to market. And while oil prices remain high, suppliers are still managing to get -- suppliers are still managing to maintain existing supply routes. With this reduced downside and ongoing strong biological performance, we're increasingly confident that we will be in the upper range of this guidance range. Looking further ahead, FY '27 harvest guidance remains unchanged. However, FY '28 guidance has increased by 300 tonnes to a range of 8,500 to 9,000 tons. As we capitalize on increased feed discharge and the benefits of having a Wellboat. To support this growth, there are several key initiatives being undertaken across the business. Grant will talk further to the Wellboat and Blue Endeavour, but we're really seeing some of the volume uplift in the harvest forecasts for FY '27 and '28. Katie has already touched on our new feed warehouse at Port Marlborough that supports the feed needed for this volume uplift while also providing significant supply chain efficiencies. Work to develop our key growth markets is also ongoing and can be seen in the half year numbers, with Australia up significantly and while China growth is less evident, the end run rate for this market is significantly up on the average for the half. The design and build of our first RAS units continues down at our hatchery at Tentburn and planning for our new processing facility is gaining momentum as volume growth gets ever closer. I'll now hand to Grant to talk through Blue Endeavour and Wellboat.

Thanks, Andrew. So I was going to talk a little bit around our focus on fish performance. And our farming improvement program is a multilayered program. It includes diet, fish health, breeding and freshwater initiatives. And I think one of the key points I'd like to make here is that we consider these fish performance initiatives, BAU, these are ongoing work that would carry out into the future and will never end. Just to touch base on a few of these specifically and around the summer feed. The summer feed is an outcome of our trial facility at Ruakaka farm, which has really now started to pay for itself. We run trials here twice a year and it allows us to undertake trials in a commercially relevant environment without putting significant numbers of fish at risk. And this has really proven to be a significant investment and one that was well and truly worth making. And the summer feed over the last summer has performed as expected. If we move on to some of the other fish health initiatives, we look at things such as vaccine development and vaccine trials. We're currently doing work with our friends at Cawthron on the next stage of our vaccine development. And we're also doing work with regards to having therapeutic availability and optimizing our smolt production and the Wellboat, which I'll talk about more. The picture we see there is actually the RAS pilot design for our Tentburn Hatchery. This is ongoing work, and we are expecting to break ground on that later this year with fish being entered into that facility sometime in 2027. And lastly, around the breeding program work and thermotolerance as well as genomics. So thermotolerance is one key part of our breeding program. I would classify that as both thermotolerance and resilience traits. We're looking at both, the ability of fish to improve their resilience to the temperature, but also all the other aspects that exist in the open ocean environment or the inner-ocean environment. And then lastly, the genomics, that's all around us focusing in on those gains to improve them in the long term. Before I move over to the Wellboat, which is, without a doubt, probably my favorite topic to talk about, this here arrived into the country in late April 2026 and it's really exciting to make the comment here that we will actually be doing its first fish transfers later this week. Currently scheduled for the end of the week. So operational in May 2026. And we have talked a little bit around its primary benefit here and what pays the bills is that it allows us to increase our inshore volume by approximately 2,000 metric tons and that's essential to pay for its bills. But from an aquaculture perspective, this is transformational for our operation in terms of the additional benefits that it brings. It enables the grading site following a single year class operation of our farms. It eliminates the manual towing risk that we have had for the year-to-date. It actually has -- it actually simplifies our farming operation for the majority of our farms by having dedicated grow out farms and is a nonnegotiable part of their open ocean expansion. For other parts of the business, the ability of all of our fish having a count halfway through the cycle means that we will stabilize our forecast and our planning and this is before we even start to look at the future opportunities that it may bring with regards to smolt transfers. One of these vessels is the equivalent of 40 smolt tankers and options in and around future harvest strategies such as a centralized harvest site. Lastly, if I bring on to Blue Endeavour. It's really exciting to point out that open ocean finfish aquaculture is now active in New Zealand. We have our 2 Blue Endeavour pilot pens out on site. The Mooring Grid is fully installed and fish will be relocated to this site at the end of this week and the start of next week to start our very first phase at Blue Endeavour. It's an incredibly exciting time for us to start this part, and it is a real crucial part of our longer-term growth. I think the key focus for us in this pilot phase is really taking those learnings and going through that to make sure that we develop this and scale this in the most appropriate and sensible fashion in the coming years. But some really exciting developments from the aquaculture phase here as we continue and start a period of growth. I'll now hand back to Carl.

Thank you, Grant. In closing, I'd reinforce 3 points. First, the first half result shows a real recovery in operating and financial performance. Second, that the recovery is being driven by tangible improvements in fish performance and operational execution. And third, the infrastructure for the next phase of growth is now arriving and being put to work. So we are rebuilding confidence in the core business, while putting the foundations in place for disciplined long-term growth. So now we'll move to questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question on the phone today is from Guy Hooper with Jarden.

Well done on a strong result. Can I start by just asking around the costs implied for the second half and then perhaps how they step into FY '27? If I have a look at the guidance you provided around EBITDA and sales, it looks like there should be a step-up in revenue from the additional sales volume, but the second half weighting for EBITDA is quite a lot lower. Can you just talk me through what's actually the moving parts, I guess, with the costs and perhaps what the impact of the leased boat is expected to be in there?

Yes. So I can take that, Guy. We have factored in the increase in cost related to the Wellboat in the second half, but most of that is actually capitalized to the balance sheet. So we won't see the true impact of that come through to FY '27. In terms of H2, we do usually see like with the change in balance date, I guess we'll now have a stronger -- we used to have a stronger H2. We will now have a stronger H1 just with the timing of sales. As I said in the presentation, we do think we will come in at the upper end of that guidance range. And so that sort of reflects that stronger belief given our H1 performance. I think looking ahead to '27, we're still working through those numbers at the moment, and we'll provide an update on those at -- hopefully at the completion of Q3.

Yes. I guess even if I put at the top end of the guidance range for EBITDA, you're still looking at, I mean, it depends what you get for price on the second half weighted volume. Are you still looking at quite a material step up in OpEx? Like what's the drivers behind having other than, I suppose, volume, is there a reason why costs would be seasonally higher in the first half -- sorry, would margin would be seasonally higher in the first half?

No, I don't think we're seeing any particular seasonality to margin. I think the -- if we take the upper end of that guidance range being $29 million we'd probably see a split of $17 million and $12 million to that full year result. Again, I think we always have a good period around that December, January, Feb, and that's sort of -- that's now captured in our H1 split rather than our H2. In terms of OpEx increases, we are -- as with everyone, we're seeing increased fuel and freight costs from the conflict in the Middle East, which is baked into that guidance range. But I think given those 2 factors, it's -- yes, it's reasonable to say we would expect to be in the top half of that guidance range, but that's a fairly reasonable H2 for us.

Yes. Okay. And the step down in CapEx guidance versus the previous update, I think, late last year. Is that just the timing of projects? How should we think about it?

Yes. So that's predominantly timing. I think one of the big projects that has pushed out is our RAS project. And so that sort of pushed into H1 to H2 next year.

Okay. So no -- I guess no change. If you're thinking about it on a 2-year basis, there's probably no change to total capital spend is just a timing thing.

Yes, correct.

And the FY '28 uplift in volume guidance, I mean, what's giving you confidence to that? I know it's only a small uplift, but what are you seeing and what's factored into that?

Yes, I think the arrival of the Wellboat, and we've started incorporating that into our overall operations. And I think that's providing that additional confidence looking further out.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question is a webcast question from [ Pam Ha ]. This reads, is the Kai Hamana vessel still being used?

Yes, I can take that one. Yes, it is. That is our feed barge, which is currently operating at our Clay Point sea farm.

Thank you. Your next question is another webcast question from [ Hamish Hurley ] with [ BNZ ]. This one reads, congratulations on the good H1 results and rollout of Blue Endeavour pilot. Can you tell us how you're thinking about the likely change to El Nino weather system?

The El Nino, La Nina weather question, we're definitely expecting this one, probably sort of -- probably could have to put that in my update actually. Look, El Nino -- what La Nina actually is probably the one that creates a little bit more issues for us than El Nino. El Nino is characterized by probably a lot of dry weather on the land, but a more easterly flow. So you often get a bit of a cooler patch off the East Coast. So for us, what we'll be thinking is from a planning perspective, it's going to be El Nino. Our Takaka hatchery is going to be subject to a drought, whereas actually the East Coast is going to be a little bit cooler in terms of water temperatures, but dry on land. From a weather perspective, we always pretty much have to plan on the worst and hope for the best. We never get the ability to do it any other way.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question is a phone question from [ Jerry Felt ] with [ AS Alpha ].

Can you please remind us of the $12 million CapEx you had in the first half, what -- which part was kind of stay-in-business CapEx as opposed to growth CapEx? And can you please also remind us for, let's say, midpoint $22 million you're forecasting for the whole year, what the split will be?

I can take the CapEx bit there. I think the stay-in business was around $3 million of the $12 million and growth CapEx was $9 million, mainly targeted towards Blue Endeavour and the supporting activities.

Okay. And with regard to the full year guidance, will it be also 25% versus 75% roughly or different?

Sorry, it will be -- yes, sorry. Yes, it will roughly that split of stay in business to growth should continue into H2.

And one more, please. You mentioned to Guy that this year, you are expecting a stronger half year in the first and the first half year will be stronger than the second half year. Is that only going to be this year? Or is there something structural that happens so that we should expect the -- this kind of distribution also in '27 and beyond?

Yes, I think there is a structural thing around Christmas time. So we do have a ramp-up in volumes towards Christmas time. Looking out into future years, though, that will be somewhat offset by our general ramp-up in volumes. So as we ramp volumes that ramps throughout the year, which will provide a bit more of an uplift to H2, which will help to offset some of that seasonality that we see around Christmas time.

There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Carrington for closing remarks.

Very good. Well, thank you very much for joining the presentation this morning. I hope you can see that we talked about last year that management was becoming increasingly confident about the initiatives that we've been putting in place to support fish health. And they certainly played through this summer with a very strong fish performance that we've seen. Equally, we're very confident about market demand going forward. So I would just reiterate that message that we are increasingly confident about the underlying stability of the core business as we continue to work on building fish resilience, and we continue to invest in market development. So good first half of the year, looking forward to a strong second half and even better outlook for FY '27 and '28. Thank you very much.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.