Novozymes A/S ($NSISB)

Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Novonesis 2026 Annual General Meeting. My name is Cees de Jong, and I'm the Chair of the Board of Directors of Novonesis. And on behalf of the Board of Directors, I'm pleased to once again welcome all of you to our innovation campus here in Hoersholm, where it's a privilege to receive everyone here where our dedication to biology and science comes to life and brings answers for today and the future. I would also like to welcome everyone joining us via webcast. Today, we will take you through how we've successfully delivered on our targets for 2025 and how we're using biology to transform the way the world produces and consumes. On the screen behind me, you can see the other directors. The Board includes Heine Dalsgaard as the Vice Chair; Lisa Kaae, Monila Kothari, Kassim Kutay, Kevin Lane, Morten Otto-Alexander Sommer and Kim Stratton. And our employee representatives are Robert Noddeskov Jensen, Lars Bo Koppler, Preben Nielsen and Frederikke Rose Spenner. Now I would like to present the executive leadership team with Ester Baiget as our President and Chief Executive Officer; Rainer Lehmann as our Chief Financial Officer; Tina Sejersgard Fano, Executive Vice President, Planetary Health Biosolutions; Claus Crone Fuglsang, Chief Scientific Officer; Anders Lund, our Chief Operating Officer; Henrik Jorck Nielsen, Executive Vice President, Human Health Biosolutions & Strategy; Morten Rasmussen, the Executive Vice President, People & Stakeholder Relations; and Andrew Taylor, who is the Executive Vice President, Food & Beverages Biosolutions. The company's auditors are Ernst & Young, and they audit both our financial and our sustainability reporting. And pursuant to Article 8.1 of the company's Articles of Association, the Board of Directors has again this year appointed Anders Orjan Jensen, Attorney at Law to chair the Annual General Meeting. And I'll now hand over to him.

Thank you, Cees. And I'll start off with a few formalities. First of all, relates to the convening of the meeting. I have reviewed the convening notice and all the material that has been presented on the company's homepage and concluded that they satisfy all the requirements on the articles and the Companies Act. And therefore, I've concluded that the meeting today is lawfully convened. When it comes to the agenda for the meeting, we have here on the slide behind me all the required items for an Annual General Meeting at Novonesis. There's also 4 proposals from the Board of Directors, 3 of them are customary for Annual General Meetings and then we have one that relates to -- is a technical amendment of the articles that relates to a name change of the region where general meetings are held, a very technical point. On the agenda, there was also a proposal from Michael [indiscernible], shareholder. However, he has not been able to participate in the meeting today, and he has informed us that he, therefore, withdraws his proposal, and I'll get back to that later. All proposals here on the agenda can be adopted by a simple majority, except the 2 that requires a change to the articles, which is 10a and 10d. Those proposals require approval by 2/3 majority and also that 2/3 of the total number of votes in the company are present at the meeting today. And I can confirm and that requirement is satisfied and that therefore, the meeting here today can pass final resolution about all the proposals on the agenda. Before moving on to the agenda, I will just mention a few points regarding the attendance here today. So a total of 278 have asked for admission cards for the meeting. And just before the meeting here today, about 100 or so were present. There might be a few more now and more than half of that are shareholders. In addition to those that are here physically, the company has received a large number of votes via proxy and other voting instructions. And in fact, it's actually 99.9% of all votes represented here today that have been submitted in this fashion. So that means that based on these votes, we can already now conclude that all the proposals carry sufficient support to be approved. But it doesn't mean, of course, that we cannot have a good debate here and there can be questions and comments regarding all of these proposals. So let's turn to the agenda. As is customary here at Novonesis, we have the first 4 points presented in conjunction. So Cees will start off to give the Board's report. And after that, Ester will take the floor to present the annual report and certain strategic highlights. After that, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. And here -- that happens from up here. And Anna, who is sitting up here, will be able to take down your names, and she will then convey that to me, and I'll pass the word on to you in the right order. You are able to ask questions in both Danish and English, but it will be responded to in English. So as a last point of order, please check that your mobile phones are off, and then I'll give the floor to Cees.

Thank you, Anders. 2025 was another strong year for Novonesis. We delivered on our promises for the year. And thanks to the strong foundation that we've built in Novonesis, we're well positioned to continue delivering growth and strong margins in 2026. Novonesis is a pure biology player with deep scientific expertise in microbiology. With a single technology of industrial fermentation, we deliver tailored biology-based solutions to more than 30 industries, ranging from food and nutrition to agriculture, household care and energy. We are helping the world transform the way we produce and consume. Every day, our biosolutions reach more than 2 billion people around the world. Our unique position as a leader in biosolution is built on 3 capabilities: a deep understanding of our customers' needs, biotech innovation leadership and a world-class scale fermentation. This position enables us to navigate ongoing macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty while continuing to deliver value to our customers, shareholders, society and the planet. This strength and stability are foundational for the quality of our performance, showing the resilience of our business model. In 2025, we delivered 7% organic sales growth and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 37.1%. Throughout the year, we increased and narrowed our full year organic sales growth guidance twice, and we firmly delivered on that guidance. We also finalized the acquisition of the dsm-firmenich animal feed enzyme business. We launched 33 new innovations, sourced 100% of our electricity from renewable sources. And just after the summer of last year, we shared our 2030 targets, our strategy that focuses on growing our core business and making investments to secure long-term growth. In addition, and just 2 years after the combination of the former Novozymes and Chr. Hansen organization, we already achieved 100% run rate of our cost synergies, and that is one year ahead of time. Sales synergies contributed around 1 percentage point to the overall group organic growth in 2025. And most importantly, we stand strongly united as one Novonesis with excellent engagement among our employees. All of this was achieved on the backdrop of a global market in constant change. And as volatility has become the new norm, our business model has shown its resilience repeatedly. Now biosolutions continue to gain relevance. Today, there is a strong pull for our products driven by the expanding markets for more sustainable alternatives to more conventional approaches. According to the recently published Value of Biosolutions report, the industry could globally create close to EUR 900 billion in economic value and more than 5 million jobs by 2035. At the same time, there also is a broader societal impact where our solution enable healthier food, more sustainable farming, build energy resilience and develop local economies. Our solutions, they offer homegrown answers and they build resilience, creating local jobs and boost economic growth. And Novonesis is strongly positioned to capture this potential. So our solutions help customers increase yields, save energy, reduce chemical usage and get more out of their raw materials. Our products usually represent only a small share of our customers' cost of goods sold, yet they deliver significant value for the end users. Novonesis is leading this green transformation with 3 distinct capabilities: customer centricity, innovation leadership and world-class scale. We work closely with our customers, both globally and regionally to deeply understand their needs. Building on our biological expertise, we translate those needs into specialized solutions based on biology. And that gives us a clear focus and the right to play in the fastest-growing segments in the strategic markets where we can make the most impact like protein, cleaner label and solutions that decouple from fossil-based inputs. With a library of now more than 100,000 strains and more than a century worth of expertise in microbiology and industrial fermentation, we continue to innovate our biosolutions. These solutions are protected by more than 10,000 patents and further improved with AI and advanced technology. And we do all of this while also navigating highly regulated markets. This specialized capability puts us ahead in terms of translating specific market and customer needs into innovative biosolutions. Our production is solely rooted in fermentation. We have a global fermentation footprint that allows us to commercialize and scale across markets and regions. It also provides flexibility, size and built-in supply chain resilience. Novonesis offers affordable value-adding local solutions with the stability of a global company, and that serves as a natural hedge for market volatility. These distinct capabilities fueled by our talented employees uniquely position us to continue expanding the market and to deliver sustainable, profitable growth, both today and in the future. And as we grow, we continuously invest in these capabilities. In 2025, we increased our CapEx spend to 11.3% relative to sales, building our production capacity. In 2026 to support future growth, we are again significantly stepping up our CapEx investments where we will invest in production capacity. All of this fortifies our strong foundation for growth. At the end of 2025, Novonesis had approximately 100,000 shareholders and around 70% of our B shares were held by investors outside of Denmark, primarily institutional, and that is reflecting sound global ownership and also continued confidence in our company and strategy. Now global markets were volatile in 2025, and the Danish market index had another difficult year. With that said, our relative performance stood out. We firmly delivered on our financial outlook, even raising our guidance for organic sales growth throughout the year. While our total shareholder return of 1.6% was modest, it was significantly better than our ingredient peer group, which declined 25% over the same period. The Danish OMXC20 Index experienced a similar decline, and we outperformed our direct peers, specifically, thanks to our strong performance. So while overall market sentiments are not within our control, we continue to focus on execution and delivering on our promises. And we believe that appropriate focus eventually will return to high-quality growth companies such as Novonesis. Novonesis is committed to paying annual dividends of between 40% to 60% of adjusted net profit. Novonesis paid an interim dividend of DKK 2.25 or EUR 0.30 per share in August of 2025. The share price performance, combined with those dividends payments made during the year, resulted in a total shareholder return of 1.6% for the year. Today, we're seeking shareholder approval for a dividend of DKK 4.25 per share or DKK 0.57 per share. For a total dividend related to the 2025 results of DKK 6.5 or EUR 0.87 per share and that is approximately EUR 405 million in total, and it equals a payout ratio of 58.4% of the 2025 adjusted net profit, which is at the higher end of the targeted payout ratio. Looking ahead, we remain committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders through a steady execution of our strategy and a balanced approach to capital allocation. Next, I will share the remuneration of the Board of Directors and executive management for 2025 as well as the Board evaluation conducted last year. The Board of Directors' remuneration is based on a fixed fee and is not incentive-based, and that ensures that we will safeguard the company's long-term interest independently of incentive-based consideration. The Board of Directors' fees are set at a market competitive level that reflects the competencies and the efforts required for the role. And last year, the Annual General Meeting in April, the shareholders approved a 3.5% increase in the base fee for Board members up to EUR 75,700. In 2025, the Board of Directors received a total remuneration of EUR 1.7 million compared to EUR 1.8 million in 2024. And the decrease was the result of a decrease in the number of shareholder elected Board members from 9 to 8 as well as the closing of the Interim Integration Committee. The individual Board members fees and their shareholdings can be found in the Novonesis' remuneration report 2025. The remuneration of the executive management in 2025 was aligned with the scope of the remuneration policy, and that policy was unchanged from 2024. The total remuneration of the executive management in 2025 amounted to EUR 8.9 million compared to EUR 9.7 million in 2024. And here, the decrease in total remuneration relates to one-off payments made in the previous year that did not recur in 2025 as well as adjustments to the long-term incentives. The short-term incentive program is based on targets typically set by the Boards of Directors in connection with the review of the business plan. In 2025, the targets for the short-term incentive included organic sales growth, adjusted EBITDA margin, cash conversion, employee engagement scores and individual performance targets. Now following the strong results in 2025, all targets for the short-term incentive program were either met or exceeded. And this resulted in a payout between 100% for target performance and 150% for maximum payout with targets for sales performance and culture implementation, both achieving maximum payout. And to maintain a strong focus on continuous growth and profitability, the next short-term incentive program for 2026 will use the same target structure as the 2025 program. The Board of Directors also annually issues long-term incentive grants with overlapping 3-year performance periods. The long-term incentive program covering '23 to '25 was finally allocated in '25. As previously reported, the targets of this long-term incentive program were changed due to the combination. As you will remember, the '24-'25 targets no longer reflected the newly combined business. And as such, the Board of Directors concluded the '23 part of the program completed and set new targets for '24, '25, reflecting the performance ambitions of Novonesis. The performance over the full period has now resulted in 87% of the maximum allocation being awarded. The long-term performance program for '25, '27 consists of 100% performance shares, the same as the LTA program for 2024-2026. The program has been structured to align with our strategic priorities with organic sales growth making up 50% of the targets and adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted ROIC and sustainability targets making up the remaining 50%. And the Board believes that this remuneration framework ensures Novonesis can attract and retain the right talent while also maintaining a strong link between pay and performance. Annually, the Board of Directors conducts a Board evaluation facilitated by the Chair. Every 3 years, the evaluation is led by an external third-party facilitator, and that, of course, is in line with the Danish recommendation on corporate governance. In 2025, the evaluation was conducted internally. And the evaluation comprised a 2-step process with the Board members and the executive leadership team completing a structured questionnaire, followed by individual interviews with each of the Board members and each of the executive leadership team conducted by me. And I'm happy to share that the results of this 2-step process underline a well-functioning Board and good collaboration between the Board and the executive leadership team. To become even better, our key focus areas in 2026 are strengthening our AI and digital competencies, further structured management succession planning and increasing the Board's exposure to customer perspectives and customer interaction. In just a minute, I'll give the word to our CEO, Ester. But before I do, I'd like to extend a wholehearted thank you on behalf of the Board of Directors. A thank you to our more than 11,000 employees across the globe as you continue to be the driving force of this organization. Your belief in and commitment to our purpose is reflected in our results and the impact Novonesis makes in this world every day. A thank you to our customers and business partners as it is a privilege to work in close partnership to innovate biosolutions that address some of the world's most present needs. And a thank you to you, our shareholders. You continue to believe not only in the potential of biosolutions today, but more importantly, you see the long-term value and the impact our biosolutions can have in the future. Now please welcome our CEO, Ester Baiget, who will speak about our performance in 2025 as well as our focus and direction in the years to come.

Thank you very much, Cees, and thank you all for being here today. Novonesis is on a remarkable journey. And it's my pleasure to be here with you and share our achievements in 2025, but more importantly, the untapped potential and opportunities that still await us ahead of us. We live in a pivotal moment. Today, businesses are writing the growth story of the century and biosolutions, tiny microbes and enzymes are important building blocks for that story. Biosolutions are the answers of many of the world's greatest challenges. Biosolutions offer sustainable economic growth and offer care of our planet. 2025 was a strong year for Novonesis. In a year that was marked by significant macroeconomic volatility, we delivered a strong 7% organic sales growth, 6% by volume and 1% from pricing. Our growth was broad-based. It was across all industries, and it was across all markets with emerging markets performing particularly well. We also delivered a strong earnings with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 37.1%. Free cash flow before acquisitions was EUR 770 million, corresponding to an increase of EUR 103 million compared to 2024. The Feed Enzymes Alliance acquisition impacted the net cash flow negatively by EUR 1.5 billion in 2025. All these results, they add another dot, another point on our streamlined growth trajectory. All these results, they underline our real ability on delivering on our promises. If we go into the individual businesses, Food & Health Biosolutions delivered 8% organic sales growth. Food & Beverages delivered 8% organic sales growth. Growth was driven by a strong momentum in dairy, stemming from greater penetration, greater conversion on cheese, adoption of innovation and an increasing demand for high-protein solutions, not only from GLP-1 users, but across the whole broad-based market. Our baking, meat and plant-based solutions also saw strong growth due to innovation and also by penetration. Human Health delivered 10% organic sales growth. Our performance was supported by a strong development across the regions and the subcategories in dietary supplements with North America leading the way. In Advanced Health & Nutrition, growth was driven by Advanced Protein Solutions and human milk oligosaccharide, we also call them HMO. Planetary Health Biosolutions delivered 6% organic sales growth. Household Care delivered 7% organic sales growth, and this strong growth was driven by greater market penetration and by innovation. In addition, emerging markets across laundry and dishwash delivered also a strong growth. Agricultural, Energy and Tech delivered sales growth of 6%. Growth was driven by energy and supported by both agricultural and tech. In Energy, we saw strong growth in Latin America and India, driven by an increase in capacity. We also saw a strong growth in North America, driven by innovation and increased ethanol exports. Growth in agricultural was driven mostly by plant across regions and in tech, growth came from bioprocessing, including solutions for biopharma production. As Cees so nicely mentioned, we acquired the dsm sales -- firmenich sales and distribution activities in the Feed Enzyme Alliance. This was a significant milestone in our effort to unlock the full potential of Novonesis in animal biosolutions and strengthen with that our leadership position in a growing and attractive global market. And we already see now the positive responses from customers, confirming the strength of the value proposition when combining these solutions in one. Our biosolutions toolbox and innovation capabilities are key enablers of our growth. In 2025, we launched a total of 33 new innovations. We also opened 2 state-of-the-art application centers, a dairy facility here in Denmark and a baking and beverages facility in South Africa. In collaboration with our customers, these facilities allow us to replicate, allow us to put a real production from product design to scale up. It's where we play with our customers and we bring our solutions to life. Last year, we invested 11% sales -- of our sales in research and in development. And that investment continues to prove valuable growth. In 2025, 25% of total sales were generated by solutions that they are less than 5 years old. This is well above our ambition of 20%. And at the same time, 85% of our products that we launched in 2025 were protected by intellectual property through 89 new patent filings. So looking ahead, our innovation pipeline has more than 200 projects across industries and markets. And we're also planting the future seeds for growth. We see positive traction across our portfolio within exploration efforts. For example, in 2025, we saw the first third-party license agreement for PET recycling facility based on our enzymes based on enzymatic technology. We also see positive traction, including the commercial sales of biosolutions processing aids in the biopharma industry, contributing already to growth. Today, artificial intelligence or what we call AI is an important player. It plays an important role in our day-to-day on how we deliver and how we deliver on our purpose. For Novonesis, AI is a powerful tool. It's a tool that strengthens our relationships, it's a tool that strengthens the leadership that we have in biosolutions. With an extensive proprietary library of more than 100,000 strains, with more than 15 million enzyme structures, with extensive data that we have collected over decades of history behind across applications, across production, across R&D. With all this in place, AI is enabling us to develop new biosolutions and to do that faster and to do that with greater accuracy. We have spent in our history years embedding machine learning. We have spend and we have the capability and the top-tier data structure. And it is this data, data that only we can access, the ones that gives us a competitive edge relative to others who only have access to public information to public available data. And with our own proprietary data, we work with top partners. We work with Cradle. We work with AlphaFold. We work with [ Uantify ]. We train their models. We use their AI models and with our powerful library of our biosolutions performance, we create powerful models for our own use. That's what makes us unique. This is why AI for us is a tool that puts us even further away from competition. And we're already seeing the great benefits of these efforts. AI has allowed us to move from idea-led candidates to solutions faster with much less experimental activity, shortening this particular step of the cycle from years to just months. And as a pure logic player, AI is helping us to amplify the impact of our innovation leadership. Today, we are able to create efficiencies, increase what we call goals per shot and open the door to breakthrough developments that they were unimaginable until now. Strong, sustained financial performance like the one we have, like the one that Novonesis continues to deliver, can only be realized when the organization is totally engaged and rallied around one purpose. At Novonesis, our employees are united around a strong purpose, around a meaningful direction. This last year, we achieved an employee engagement score of 8.6. This is on a scale of 10, placing us on the top 10% of companies using the same measurement framework. We see this number, 8.6, as a clear indicator of the strong integration journey. We see this number as a strong sign of our colleagues' belief in their commitment to Novonesis' purpose with better [indiscernible] with biology. And we aim to leave a positive impact on the people and the planet within everything we do. Our biosolutions, our tiny microbes, our enzymes, our ideas, our cultures, our proteins are today already enabling healthier lives and a healthier world. I am very proud also to say and to share with you that we have achieved all 6 of our sustainability targets. In 2025, we reached also an important milestone in our decarbonization journey where we now source 100% of renewable electricity for our plants. We enable greenhouse savings equal to 60x the amount we emit. We reduced our absolute greenhouse emissions from Scope 1 and 2 by 67%, while also growing revenue 33% by the same period. Every day, we are proving that planet stewardship and growth, they are just 2 sides of the same coin. There's no conflict. They just go hand-in-hand and actually even stronger when they go together. We continue our efforts within water and circularity, where we restored more than 20 billion liters of water. We improved our freshwater withdrawal by saving and recycling 8.4% more water and maintaining 100% of circular biomass. I'm also very proud to share that we reached our safety target of a lost time injury achieving 1.4. The safety of our people is paramount, and we continue to build a strong safety culture. Also, in 2025, the gender split across senior management positions was 36% women and 64% men, well in line and moving firmly to our 2030 target. As Cees mentioned, this summer, right after summer, we shared our growth strategy. Growth strategy focusing on driving a strong growth today, while at the same time, investing for long-term sustainable growth. Our strategy guides us how to prioritize, so increase the value for our shareholders and for the society. With grow, we set ambitions 2030 targets. We aim to deliver 6% to 9% organic sales growth year-on-year. Let me put this growth target into perspective. It means a 50% revenue higher than today, a $6 billion company in 5 years. 6% to 9% CAGR during the strategic period, becoming a $6 billion company in 5 years. We are building on a position of strength. We outgrow the markets we are present. We are outperforming the underlying end market volume of 1% to 2% that we play in. And because our solutions usually account for 1% to 5% of the cost of goods sold by our customers, but at the same time, they provide significant value for both for our customers and for the consumers and also for the planet. We also aim to deliver around 39% EBITDA margin and to double adjusted ROIC to 16%, excluding goodwill from a 2024 pro forma baseline. We also reaffirm our long-term sustainability commitments, including reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 75% and achieving a minimum of 40% of the underrepresented gender in senior management by 2030. So with a good start to 2026, we expect to continue to deliver sustainable growth. Demand for our solutions remains strong. In the 2026, the full year outlook for organic sales growth is expected to be 5% to 7%. This outlook includes a contribution from sales synergies of around 1 percentage point and a positive contribution from pricing of 1 percentage point. In terms of earnings, the outlook of an adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 37% to 38%, higher than 2025. This includes headwinds of around 0.5 percentage point from currency. In 2026, we continue to invest in our future with investments in CapEx and operating expenses to support growth in markets and regions, offering customers solutions, service and scale that no other organization can. Today, our solutions, our biosolutions are already silently touching more than 2 billion people every day. They are already there, making your lives better. They're already there, enabling healthier lives and a healthier planet. They enable sustainable farming practices. They support resilient food systems. They enable the shift to healthier sources of protein. They contribute to cleaner energy. They allow countries to decouple from fossil. They are already touching you every day. But this is not the end. By 2035, the biosolutions industry is expected to create over 5 million new jobs and generate close to EUR 9 billion in economic value growth. I would like to say a big thank you. A big thank you to our colleagues around the world. Your incredible work and your commitment to our purpose, it's evident. Our results just simply show it. And for that, I'm very thankful. Our purpose is very clear, to better the world with biology. The potential of biosolutions is immense, and we're just getting started. And with that, I will leave the word to Anders. Thank you very much.

Thank you to Ester, and thank you to Cees. We will now open up for questions and comments regarding the first 4 items on the agenda. I have already received notices from 4 of you who wants to speak. So I mention you in the order that I invite you to the podium here. First, it is Mark Jessen from ATP. Secondly, is [ Jansky ] from Danish Shareholders' Association. Then we have Karen Kang from NorthStar Asset Management. And then fourth, Bjorn Hansen. And if any others wish to speak, please do speak to Anna, who's sitting up here, and she'll take your name down. So Mark, you will be the first one on the podium. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I'm Mark Jessen. I represent ATP. And as usual, when I'm here, I'll continue in English. So. [Interpreted] Thank you for the great report on the developments during 2025. I have 3 topics I would like to touch upon: firstly, the performance in 2025 and the new 2030 targets; second, KPIs in the annual bonus scheme; and third, the agriculture business. Let me start with the 2025 performance. According to a recent analyst report, the organic growth was 3.6% on average in the industry. Novonesis realized the double. The EBITDA margin in the industry was around 20%. Novonesis almost the double. And that even despite significant currency headwinds during the year. In other words, compared to the industry, the 2025 results speak for themselves. Building on the strong results in recent years, Novonesis announced 2030 targets in August. The organic sales CAGR was raised from 6% to 8% to 6% to 9%, and the EBITDA margin target is now 39%. Both growth and EBITDA margin are way above industry average. With performance and targets outperforming the industry, I've often been asked why we do not see it reflected in the share price. And of course, every shareholder would like to hope for increase in the share price, but the industry has not been in favor the last year as we also saw earlier, several peers have seen share prices drop between 20% or 30% and Novonesis share price has performed much better than that. So the outperformance has resulted in a premium to the peers, justified by the better performance and higher long-term targets. This brings me to my second topic, the KPIs in the annual bonus scheme. Back in '24, Novonesis renewed the remuneration policy, increasing the annual grants. At ATP, we voted for the new update. But at the AGM, I underlined the need for very ambitious KPIs. This was confirmed, as I recall, by the company. Despite the -- despite outperforming peers in 2025, the performance was within the original guidance for the year. One of the KPIs in the annual bonus scheme is the EBITDA margin, which was granted above target despite realized in the low end of the guidance. Given the strong performance culture in Novonesis, we would like to -- we would appreciate a bit more clarity on how the EBITDA margin KPI is calibrated with the guidance range. Our intention is simple to ensure that the ambition level remains fully aligned with the targets communicated to the market. Moving to my last topic for today, the agriculture business. We have several times stated our clear support to the making of Novonesis. This is unchanged. Across divisions, we are seeing scale benefits and are getting more confident in knowledge sharing across the company. We recognize that the agriculture business operates in a landscape with some very large and well-established players. This makes the acquisition of the Feed Alliance last year even more relevant. But despite having more scale, the company is still fighting against some heavyweight champions in the agriculture industry. My last question today is, if the company sees a clear path from here to unlock the huge potential in a very conservative industry. With that, I wish everyone at Novonesis all the best in '26. Thank you.

Thank you, Mark, and thank you also for your introduction, which is almost like an excellent summary of some of the things we said. On the [indiscernible] targets and EBITDA in there, let me start by saying that transparency is something we take very seriously, and we consider that a core part of how we engage with our shareholders. The decision not to disclose specific [indiscernible] targets, we also reflects a deliberate change in our approach. Disclosing those targets can, in some cases, work against the very objectives that we are trying to achieve, both commercially and operationally and also in the interest of our shareholders. We still set clear goals. We measure performance against them, and we report openly on what was achieved once the year is complete. And then when we reflect on the organic sales growth, I know you didn't mention it, but I want to go there first. When we look at 7% organic sales growth, as you said, we have to add in all fairness, 1 percentage point because we withdrew from certain countries. But then more specifically on EBITDA, with 37.1%, where we have been absorbing very significant currency headwinds. We're still outperforming our closest peer with 10 percentage points and most of our peers with 15 percentage points. So that has been the background to us awarding a maximum payout. I hope that answers your question. And then when it comes to fighting heavyweight champions in agriculture, I'll leave that to Ester.

Thank you so much, Cees. And thank you, Mark, for your thoughtful comments. And yes, I agree with you. 2025 results speak by themselves. It was an extraordinary year. And as I said, we're just starting. This is not the last good year. To your question of agricultural and what are we doing here to untap the extraordinary potential in a world of need of more with less. There is an increasing need of protein. Protein demand is going to double, and it's not going to be at the expenses of bringing more arable land. So it's more about getting more of the existing arable land, but also it's about increasing the efficiency through the whole value chain. It is where the beautiful acquisition that we've made in animal makes its imprint by now going to the market with enzymes and microbes together and being a better partner for our customers to unleash more yield, more efficiency, more productivity and translate those precious sugars and corn from the arable land into valuable protein in a more effective way. So that's one of the areas that we're doubling up on the strategy on capitalizing on the growth synergies with a stronger now with a full biosolutions portfolio of enzymes and microbes and scaling up across the world, bringing and capitalizing on the momentum we see in place with already very good momentum and very good traction from our customers. We also see a growing demand from our solutions in BioAg, agricultural, as we say, where we bring higher yields, higher efficiencies, higher resilience and also enabling to use -- decrease the use of fertilizers while without compromising the performance of the field. Here, we -- our strategy is also very clear, continue to invest on being closer to the customer, continue to invest on the proximity to being the partner of growth for our customers. And you will see us capitalizing on the momentum, particularly in emerging geographies on the penetration of our solutions. You will see us investing also in innovation, innovation of close proximity to the market. And you will see the animal and agricultural segment being a contributor and a driver of growth for our business. Thank you very much.

So the next speaker will be [indiscernible] and in English. Next speaker, [indiscernible] from Danish Shareholders' Association.

[Interpreted] Well, I'm able to speak only this odd little language called Danish. So you will have to live with that. I know that few and few people understand it. But nevertheless, I'm [indiscernible] and I represent the Association of Danish Shareholders. The Danish Association of Shareholders has about 16,000 members taking care of the interest of small and medium shareholders. We work to develop a healthy investment share holding culture in Denmark. I'm a shareholder now of Novonesis. Yes, you heard me. And I've been following the company with great interest over the past year. Today, the company is centrally placed worldwide within biosolutions. It has a very important role, but also a difficult role in green transition in the future years. We find the development plans of Novonesis very interesting and very relevant scene from a shareholder perspective. We find as earlier that the description of risk elements in the yearly report is very useful and very detailed, and we find it important that the yearly report also speaks about what the company plans to do about the risks listed. We have a few questions which are to do with international competition, which today affects a company such as Novonesis very much. So we have chosen a few questions, which -- well, no, I don't really think so, but they may be difficult to reply to. The first question is about Novonesis and raw materials. How will Novonesis ensure a stable influx of raw materials at stable prices from, for instance, South America? That must be surely an important competitive parameter. My second question is about the share price. And we have a small problem there because the Chairman and the CEO explained how well things have been going. I bought -- and now this is just as a curiosity, I bought this share because I was asked to do so. And now it's lost 28% of its value since then. The share price has not been what I expected. And I'd like a more in-depth explanation of why things have been going so poorly towards the end of '25 and the beginning of '26? Accounts are important, yes, but how many large companies to they have large investments from foundations, which can affect the share prices and how is that what's the effect on Novonesis? I'm not thinking about the Novo Foundation. I'm thinking about the remaining share capital. My third question is about the fact that business developments look so positive. And in spite of this, unfortunately, the share price has dropped. But as Ester said, it looks very positive. But there are risks, but what risks are faced by Novonesis? We have seen other companies, which all of a sudden found themselves in a storm of problems in spite of a potentially very exciting development. And now finally a question which has a bit been overtaken by this book because I don't think that Novonesis is very good at communicated with people like myself who are not experts in biosolutions, small shareholders who don't understand all the difficult words. You don't communicate very much very well with people such as me. Now I've seen this book on the table, and that's a great step forward. But perhaps you could be talked into sending information in Danish to newspapers and to shareholders, and this might lead to interesting articles about how -- well, how interesting your work is in Danish, which might also reflect itself in the share price. Now to end, I'd like to wish all of you, shareholders, management and all of us a good 2026.

Thank you very much, Mr. [indiscernible], and I'll try to give color to answers and then to your questions and then also my perspective on what are we doing to continue to deliver in this extraordinary company that we are. To your first question regarding reliability of supply and how do we ensure we keep having access to the precious raw materials that we need in the world of today. We live in the same world that you see. We read the same news, and we are exposed to the same reality that all of us. But at the same time, we're building on a strong foundation. We have an extraordinarily robust global asset footprint. We have historical and remarkable relationships with suppliers through a diversified supply sourcing strategy. We have long-term partnerships. We have also continuous risk assessment across regions, including also Latin America, including Brazil, which is a strong component, not as a market also, but of where we produce. And so we don't depend on one single supplier. We have a broad range of suppliers and also across a broad range of geographies, which gives us the place of comfort to be in a place that we feel comfortable that we're going to continue to supply with a high level of quality, reliability and performance that our customers deserve. We have seen in the past the strength of our global resilient model. Not long ago, we were all talking about tariffs and the disruptions that it would create in the market. We saw the disruptions when the Canal Suez was blocked. In every single of these events, we've never compromised customer supply quality. We've not compromised it. And this is a really strong point of the resilience of our footprint, about the value of our global asset footprint, about the diversification of the way on the suppliers and the partners that we work with. And this is also a strong proof point of the caliber of the team that we have in. So I can guarantee you our commitment to move towards that direction. To your second point, which is also as a shareholder that I am very dear to me, I can say that as management, what we do is we focus on executing and on delivering on our promises. This is our job. And that's what we bring all our energy to every month, every quarter, every year, deliver on the promises that we put, that we deserve, you deserve to ask and to seek that we make that promises translate into reality. And that's what we have done in 2025. That's what we did in 2024, and that's what I can commit that we -- when -- you have my commitment that we will continue to bring in. It is true, as you also indicated, that the share price developments, they reflect not only the performance of the company, which it is strong. It also reflects a wide range of factors including the overall market conditions, the sector sentiment, the interest rates, the broader capital flows and then, yes, the company-specific performance. So I'm very pleased where we are as a company. I'm extremely confident on the future ahead of us. And then I can only ask you for your patience and support to continue to be on our journey from the amazing future ahead of us. And then your last comment that you mentioned, you just questioned, first, thank you for the appreciation of the book. We put a lot of care and a lot of pride on making it happen. I show you -- I hope you see on the book the amount of excitement and pride from whom we are and also how we see, how we contributed to the world. And that was exactly the intent, connect, bring that connectivity, bring that message to the world of the power of biosolutions. Because it's almost like the most best kept secret on this amazing capability that we have to transform the world, to decouple from fossil, to bring healthier nutrients, to bring better foods, to increase productivity in a way that is in respect with the planet, in a way that it's profitable, in a way that it drives jobs. So we recognize the importance of clear, accessible and ongoing communications with all shareholders and including also, of course, including the retail investors. We're committed to the transparency. I hope you see this as a proof one more of our journey here. But as always, we appreciate your voice on how we can continue to do better, how we can enhance and bring that dialogue stronger. And I'm also asking you to be an ambassador then of biosolutions, make it contagious. We will do our fair part, but please share it to the wall, share it with your friends, share it with your neighbors, bring the story of biosolutions on what -- whom they are and the terrific impact that we make to the wall and more importantly, the upped potential ahead of us. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ester. The next speaker is [indiscernible] from NorthStar Asset Management.

My name is [indiscernible], and I'm representing long-term shareholders of Novonesis at NorthStar Asset Management in Boston, Massachusetts. Thank you for allowing me to be here today, and we have 2 topics of questions for the company. Firstly, Novonesis corporate governance disclosures state that the Board has a gender diversity target requiring at least 40% female members. Yet as of December 31, 2024, shareholder-elected Board members were 33% female and 67% male. New targets aim to achieve gender parity of 45% women among senior management at the director level and above. How does the Board assess the company's current diversity performance? And what specific steps does it plan to take to accelerate progress towards the company's diversity target? And how is the Nomination and Remuneration Committee responsible for the Board and corporate diversity creating steps to achieve these goals? Secondly, in light of the Novo Nordisk Foundation's position at Novonesis and its recent exercise of influence over Board composition at Novo Nordisk, how does the Board define and manage the foundation's role in shaping Board composition and governance decisions at Novonesis? What safeguards or processes are in place to ensure transparency and alignment with the interests of all shareholders?

[indiscernible], thank you for these questions, and thank you for making it all the way here from Boston. For Novonesis, we have a target of at least 40% women in senior management positions by 2030. And we have a long-term aspiration for gender parity at 45%. Last year, we increased the number of women in senior management from 112 to 123. However, at 36%, we remain below our own target, and we're committing to closing that gap. And we're working towards that in several ways, and we've laid out a clear path to reach the 40% by 2030, and that includes defining the annual improvements needed, strengthening the talent pipeline for promotions, ensuring a shared accountability across the senior management team. And then we also maintain a strong focus to internal awareness campaigns, regional diversity groups, and that is all rooted in our cultural commitments. And diversity is further embedded in Board nominations and succession planning, ensuring accountability at the top. And specifically to your question, the [indiscernible] oversees all those actions on behalf of the Board. Then to your second question, let me first start by saying that Novonesis and Novo Nordisk are really 2 independent companies. And regarding Novonesis, we are in a strong position, clear focus on delivering sustainable growth and creating long-term value for all shareholders. And I would add that in Novonesis, the relationship between the Board and executive management is excellent as is the relationship between the Board and the Novo Foundation. I hope that addresses your question.

Thank you, Cees. Next speaker is [ Bjorn Hansen ]. And after that, if there are any others, let me know. I don't think we've heard from anyone else. So after the responses to Bjorn's questions, I think we might conclude the comments for the first 4 topics on the agenda.

[Interpreted] My name is Bjorn Hansen. I represent private shareholders. I participated in these shareholders' meetings at Chr. Hansen and Novozymes for about 15 years. One shareholder, lady who was very excited about Novozymes and bought shares through [indiscernible], but she still has a few Novozymes shares, which are now converted to Novonesis or whatever it's called. But unfortunately, she can't buy 1,000 shares at a time. It's a pity, but there's a reason for it. She likes to have it in Danish, although she was born in Chicago, and she's fluent in English and American, but the technical language is beyond it. Now I don't know if there's anybody here who speaks Danish at all apart from the -- what does the payout ratio mean in Danish for the past 3 years? Now a previous speaker spoke a little about the share price. I think that's very useful. The bank told us that the share price had increased by about 6% over the past 52 weeks, that is through last year and the beginning of this year. I don't know how you're going to tackle that based on what we just saw. But of course, if -- well, on December 31, it may have been slightly higher. Now my second or maybe third question, who -- where in the report or perhaps in the Articles of Association, the constitution of the company, so to speak, I don't know where it says anything about that in Danish. Now I've been working with import and export for many years. And I did a lot of trade with Spain even during the reign of Franco when he was alive. And there was an agreement between the European Union, the economic space and Spain, meaning that we could get goods in and out of Spain at quite reasonable prices. And I must say that when I visited Spain and participated in auctions and then purchased for [indiscernible] supermarket. Well, I didn't see any text in English. No, it was all in Spanish. So unless you knew the local language, you could not buy the goods, I managed to buy. I know that things have changed quite a lot, but I still have links with Spain. So now I ask you, is it possible to receive these questions in Danish? Is that possible? I mean, if Novonesis is a Danish company, it been taken over by Novo Nordisk [indiscernible] or somebody else. I don't know. But maybe we can get an explanation on the 26th when we will attend the shareholders' meeting of Novo Nordisk. And the foundation will -- I hope that even these -- although even if these foundations have been drained I hope that they can survive because 2 great companies have been merged. I mean, 2 really, really good companies. They have all sorts of interesting patents. I still want to know more about that. I've seen an interesting new little dairy down here, and we should taste their projects. And now there's a new book here, and I ask, do we have it in Danish and Swedish? No, it's only in English or an American. I don't know. So I would like some information in Danish if there are any Danish here. Of course, everybody is American, well, then we should have it in America, of course. Now the number of shares -- now it's a large number being shown, but it does not correspond with banks and artificial intelligence. Now I see -- I see that part of the report, the accounts have been produced by AI. So is there a reason for the negative development of share prices? Is that to do with AI? You see with [indiscernible] or Danske Bank, I mean, the number of their shares, well, it's precise, extremely precise. But if you look at accounts produced by AI, you see a divergence of 1.3 billion shares for Novo Nordisk, not for Novonesis, fortunately. And for a shipping company, I saw discrepancy of DKK 2 billion, not DKK 2, but DKK 2 billion. And the Chairman of the Board spoke a very clear Danish and he telephoned me on Saturday, and it has been corrected. Now the Articles of Association, I'd like to see those as well. Do we have -- can we print only the old articles of association? They used to be in Danish. Now my next question, how much maize expressed in Danish kilo is needed to produce 1 liter of bio gasoline? Now it's diesel and diesel or that's an awful thing. It's -- that's what's pushing the whole world forward and making sure that we can get our goods from Asia. Well, it's difficult, of course, these days because the Hormuz Strait has been closed and there's a small island controlling everything. But how many kilos does it take to produce 1 liter of biofuel? I mean I understand that there's still a large part of the United States being used to grow maize for bioethanol. And has that been done away with or has it been expanded now that energy prices are increasing 20% to 40% rapidly? And to end, I'd like to know about the market plans for India. What are the plans for India? Because after the free trade agreement with the European Union, what are the plans? And what was resolved in India last year? And have you applied for support for programs, support from the EU? I mean these are big figures, something really useful. We've also noticed -- and again, [indiscernible] back on the 11th of March, Novo has a loan, bonds. That's a big loan to pay out of the old loan. I don't know what the interest rate was for the old loan, but I'd like to know. But well, it's pretty high interest rate. It may be okay. And especially if the interest rate is fixed, it may be actually useful, especially in these energy times. So we don't find ourselves with a doubling all of a sudden.

Thank you for your many questions, Bjorn. We'll only comment on Novonesis today. There's another meeting on Thursday. You asked about the owners and the Articles of Association. Our ownership structure and governance framework are clearly disclosed in the annual report and the Articles of Association, and that's all available online. The articles are not only fully compliant with Danish law, they're also available in Danish online. The Board and executive management are present at today's AGM and always available for further dialogue with shareholders. Then I'm going to leave a couple of questions for Ester. She's more of an expert when it comes to how many kilos of biofuel are made from maize. But the number of shares actually was disclosed in the notice to convene of this meeting. and it's a very large number. I'm not going to try and pronounce it, but you can look in the notice to convene. I think if I read here, we have 936,597,292 shares. It's in the notice to convene. And I can that end, so I apologize for the English. And we always are transparently disclosing the number of shares, and we reconcile that also in the annual report. In the annual report, you will find it on Page 52, and that is the baseline of the number of shares. Now Ester, maybe you will take the other questions.

Thank you, Bjorn, for 2 questions that they are dear to my heart and 2 items that they are strong on our minds in the management team. One is bioenergy, particularly in the moment that we're living today, it's clear now more than ever that the need for decoupling from fossil fuels, it is a must. That the need for countries to seek for optionality on how to bring alternatives to only the heritage of the past, which is mainly based on fossil fuels, it needs to expand. And where biology and biosolutions are going to be a stronger answer of the future. And biosolutions in energy, it's much more beyond biofuels and bioethanol. It is solutions for biodiesel for bringing waste oils into biodiesel that also is a precious feedstock for [indiscernible] solutions for biogas from waste that is fermented with our precious biosolutions and then bringing alternatives to LNG, another item which is very much on everybody's top heads these days. And then to your question, also the impact that we bring in. You know that we don't produce biofuels ourselves. We produce enzymes, microbes, [indiscernible] and our customers are the ones that make the biofuels, the ethanol and the biodiesels and also the biogas. Typically, our solutions, they are 1% to 5% of the cost of the goods sold of our customers and bioenergy is also, in many cases, within this range. And we're very pleased to contribute on the -- continue to bring in not only alternatives that drive a better planet by enabling CO2 emission reduction by replacing fossil fuels, but also by enabling geopolitical stability, by enabling local jobs and allowing decreasing the amount of imports. Also another area which is important to mention on biosolutions in bioenergy, it is it's not any longer anymore food versus fuel. We enable food and fuel with our solutions with the high value-added [indiscernible] that they use as a precious feedstock for animal nutrition. So it's much more -- I've answered your question with making it much more complex that it's not any more fuels. It is also precious high-protein solutions that they are used in animal feed, what we bring with our technology in place. In gasoline also, we do gasoline. Okay, you got more than what you asked then. And then with the other question on India, it's -- and your question on how is it going to look in the future. It's going to continue to grow. Just to put it in perspective, emerging geographies grew 9% last year. They have been a stronger contributor of growth on 9% on double-digit growth, and they're going to continue to be contributing stronger to the growth of the company. Today, emerging geographies where India is in, they represent 1/3 of our company. and they're going to grow -- outgrow their portion in the future because they're going to outgrow the average of the company. And India is going to be a driver of that. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We have not received any further questions or anyone else asking to speak. So with that, I'll conclude the debate for the first 4 items on the agenda and just quickly run through the 4 items here. First of all, we had the presentation from the Board. Secondly, we had the presentation of the annual report. There is a statement from the auditors on Page 192 to 199. There's also under Item 3, the proposal to declare a dividend, ordinary dividend of DKK 4.25 adding to the interim dividend from last year. And then number four, approval of the remuneration report, where Cees presented some of the highlights from that during his speech. If there are no further comments or questions, I'll conclude on these 4 items and conclude that they have been approved. Thank you for that.

That brings us to Item 5 on the agenda, approval of the remuneration for the Board for '26. And here, the proposal is that the base fee is adjusted by 3%, corresponding to the average salary increase for Novonesis' employees here in Denmark from 25 to 26. The other components are effectively unchanged, meaning that the multiples for the Chair and the Vice Chair are unchanged 3x and 2x the base fee. And then for committee chairs, they received an additional compensation of 1x the base fee for the Chair role and other committee members, an additional fee of that half base fee for those assignments. In the remuneration policy, there's also reference to other expenses and certain benefits that the company covers. Question, are there any further questions or comments to this? If not, I will conclude that this proposal is also adopted. No questions. So that brings us to Item 6, 7 and 8, which regards the reelection to the Board of Directors. In the company's Articles of Association, they provide that here, the general meeting elects both the Chair, the Vice Chair and other shareholder-elected members of the Board. And I'll give the floor here to Cees to present the proposal from the Board.

And on the screen, you will see the proposed composition of the Board of Directors with the reelection of Lisa Kaae, Monila Kothari, Kasim Kutay, Kevin Lane, Morten Sommer and Kim Stratton for a 1-year term. And our employee representatives, they were elected last year, they will continue, and they include Robert Noddeskov Jensen, Lars Bo Koppler, Preben Nielsen and Frederikke Rose Spenner. Overall, the Board considers that the proposed composition of the Board of Directors in terms of competencies, executive and international experience, nationalities and gender provides for the necessary and relevant skills, experience and diversity to ensure effective Board work and address the challenges of a large company like Novonesis.

Thank you, Cees. So to cover each of the items separately. First of all, the proposal is to reelect Cees as Chair; second, to reelect Heine Dalsgaard as Vice Chair; and third, to reelect Lise Kaae, Monila Kothari, Kasim Kutay, Kevin Lane, Morten Sommer and Kim Stratton for the Board of Directors, and everybody is present here in the room today sitting in front. You can find more information about the candidates' backgrounds and other jobs and management positions in the convening notice. Any questions or comments for that? If not, I hope you will all join me in congratulating these candidates for their reelection. And just for completeness, I'll just put on the slide behind me here, you see the employee-elected Board members. They're elected by the employees, and they are appointed for a period until 2029. That brings us to Item 9, which is election of auditor. And here, based on the recommendation from the Audit Committee, the Board proposes reelection of EY as auditor. It covers both the financial reporting and the mandatory sustainability reporting. Any questions or comments regarding this proposal? If not, I think you can also congratulate EY on their reelection. All right. That brings us to Item 10, where we have 4 proposals from the Board of Directors. Three of them are customary for Novonesis' Annual General Meetings, and the fourth one is this question about the change of the region where we hold the general meetings. So I'll just quickly run through them because they are familiar to most of you. The first one, 10a is a renewal of the authorization to issue new share capital. There's a right to issue shares with preemption rights and without preemptive rights, but also a right to issue warrants. There's a cap limit to this authorization of 10% that is unchanged. And so effectively, the only change is that this authorization now applies until 30 April 2027. Moving on to 10b, that is the renewal of the authorization to acquire treasury shares. And also here, we have just a renewal of what is already in existence and what already applies, which is an authorization to buy a number of shares corresponding to 10% of the share capital. There's a holding limit of 10% and also an ability to deviate from the share price at the time of acquisition up up to 10%. All of that is customary. And that the change here is that it extends until April 30, 2027. Under 10c, we have the reaffirmation of the Board of Directors' authority to distribute extraordinary dividend. Under 10d, we have the change that I mentioned where some of the regions here in Denmark are changing their names are being sort of reformatted. So what was before referred to as the capital region of Denmark is merged into the region of Eastern Denmark with effect from 1st of January 2027. And in the articles, there is a reference to the capital region of Denmark. So we need to fix that and get the new name in there. So that is the proposal. So with all these 4 things, any questions or comments for that? If not, I think we can have them all approved. Thanks for that. That brings us to Item 11, proposals from shareholders. And as I mentioned in the beginning, there was a proposal there from Michael [indiscernible], and he was not able to be here, and he has informed us that he wants to withdraw the proposal. And he's allowed to do that, and that means that we will have no discussion around the proposal here. But I will have a good order refer to the Board's comments and recommendation in the meeting notice where the Board explains the position regarding the proposal and also that they recommend against the proposal. And I also mention that based on the votes that we have received in advance, 98% of the votes were cast against the proposal. Moving on to Item 12. That's an authorization to me to register the proposals, the resolutions that were adopted here today. I hope nobody is complaining. Thank you. And then that brings us to the last point, Item 13, which is in Danish and [indiscernible] India business. And it's not possible to propose something new, but you can ask questions or comments. If nobody is asking for that, so that means, Cees, we have completed the agenda, and I'll pass the floor on to you.

Thank you, Anders, and thank you, shareholders. Novonesis is built on a strong foundation, claiming a leading position as a pure biology player. With a good start to 2026, we're carrying meaningful momentum into the rest of the year. And with our growth strategy, our path is clear, our confidence is high. And when we grow, so does our impact for customers, shareholders and the planet. Once again, thank you for your confidence in and support of Novonesis. This completes the 2026 Annual General Meeting. And on behalf of the Board of Directors, thank you all for joining today. Thank you, Anders, for conducting a successful meeting. Thank you.