Nufarm Limited ($NUF)

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Nufarm Limited 1H '26 results. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Rico Christensen, CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Ashley. Good morning and thank you for joining us today for Nufarm's first half FY '26 results. With me today, I have our CFO, Brendan Ryan; our Group Executive for Portfolio Solutions, Beth Lorsbach; and our General Manager for the Hybrid Seeds business, Rachel Palumbo. Over the past year, we have been very deliberate in sharpening our focus to improve earnings quality, strengthen the balance sheet and increase capital discipline. Today's presentation reflects good progress on that journey. I'll walk through the first half performance. Brendan will then discuss the financials in more detail. And lastly, I will talk about our strategy refresh and close with our outlook commentary. Before we begin, I encourage everyone to read the important notices on the next page regarding forward-looking statements and non-IFRS measures. As always, our comments today are subject to market conditions and the risks outlined in this presentation. I'm pleased to report that we have delivered a strong result with 18% growth in EBITDA and 35% growth in NPAT over prior corresponding period. We also delivered a significant improvement in free cash flow of $193 million, reducing our leverage to 3.6x net debt to underlying EBITDA, which is not only better than last year, but also on par with the first half of FY 2024. Revenue was lower year-on-year, reflecting a deliberate focus on improving mix and prioritizing margin over volume. Gross profit increased 7% and reached a margin of 33.1%, which is the highest gross profit percentage Nufarm has reported in the last 20 years. Later in the presentation, we will provide more detail on the strategic choices we have made to change our margin profile and our focus going forward. Pleasingly, this overall performance gives us the confidence to reaffirm our outlook for the full year in regards to strong growth in underlying EBITDA and 2x leverage. Last November, we outlined our priorities for FY 2026. They were to focus on cost and capital discipline, drive profitable growth in Crop Protection and deliver on our reprioritized seed strategy. We have done what we said we would. We improved cash flow and reduced leverage to 3.6x, and we kept our operating expenses flat. In Crop Protection, we delivered profitable growth and improved margins. We grew our EBITDA by 6% in constant currency. Hybrid Seeds EBITDA grew by 8%, and we significantly improved performance in Emerging Platforms. We had a good Crop Protection result with growth driven by underlying regional strength, partially offset by currency translation and weather impacts. While performance differed by region, what has been consistent is our emphasis on focusing resources on areas where we can generate sustainable margins and returns. That discipline is increasingly reflected in earnings quality and cash outcomes and result in an increase in EBITDA by 6% in constant currency. Europe was the standout contributor, with EBITDA up 17% on prior corresponding period in local currency, reflecting improved product mix and lower operating costs following the implementation of the performance improvement program. North America EBITDA increased 11% on prior corresponding period in local currency. Turf & Ornamental and Canada grew strongly. Volumes in U.S. Crop Protection reflected a continued focus on higher value products. Longer regulatory approval processes impacted the timing of new product revenue. APAC EBITDA declined 15% on prior corresponding period, primarily reflecting dry weather conditions in Australia and currency headwinds. In Asia, underlying EBITDA grew strongly in constant currency, with Indonesia a key contributor. We are very pleased with Seed Technologies. The EBITDA grew 8%, driven by growth in Hybrid Seeds and a materially improved result in Emerging Platforms. Hybrid Seeds performed well across all crops, with expansion and scale-up in South America, strong Australian canola growth and successful new product launches. In Emerging Platforms, we expanded our offtake agreement with bp to 2050. It positions carinata to grow at scale under a disciplined capital-light investment model. In omega-3, we reduced cash cost and capital. We are repositioning omega-3 to lower cost of production in North America. Europe and China deregulation are on track for 2028. Overall, Seed Technologies is delivering higher quality earnings with improved margins and lower capital intensity. Now I will hand over to Brendan to take us through the financial results in detail.

Thanks, Rico. As Rico highlighted, this is a strong first half with improved earnings, cash flow and reduction in leverage. The financials I'll walk through now demonstrate that this has been driven by an improvement in earnings quality and capital discipline, reflecting deliberate actions taken over the past 12 months to reshape the business. Turning to the profit and loss. While revenue was lower year-on-year, reflecting our deliberate focus on improving mix and prioritizing margin over volume, gross profit increased 7%, and margins expanded by 3.7 percentage points to 33.1%. This reflects improved Crop Protection mix, strong Hybrid Seeds growth and improved performance in omega-3. Importantly, this margin expansion, combined with disciplined cost management, is now translating into strong operating leverage across the P&L, with margin gains flowing through to earnings. Operating expenses were broadly flat, with the benefits from the cost savings program offsetting inflationary pressures. As a result, underlying EBITDA increased 18% to $243 million, and underlying EBIT increased 32% to $136 million. We also delivered strong growth in underlying net profit after tax of 35% to $52 million, demonstrating the earnings leverage now embedded in the business. Overall, this reflects an improvement in the quality and the resilience of our earnings profile, which is increasingly translating to cash. Turning to the balance sheet. We are now seeing a clear inflection from the cyclical peak in working capital seen in the first half of financial year '24. And this improved balance sheet efficiency is supporting stronger cash generation. Average net working capital reduced by 12%, with a 2.1 percentage point improvement in net working capital to sales, reflecting disciplined working capital management. At the same time, capital expenditure has reduced materially as we transition from a period of peak investment to a lower, more sustainable level. Combined with stronger profitability, this has driven a meaningful reduction in net debt and leverage. Net debt reduced 10% year-on-year, notwithstanding $190 million higher opening net debt position entering financial year '26. Leverage declined from 4.5x to 3.6x, a reduction of around 20%. Overall, the balance sheet is strengthening with improved working capital efficiency, and the business is positioned to continue to deleverage, driven by earnings and cash generation. On net operating expenses, we are on track to deliver 2025 cost savings program, with the full period benefit of $50 million captured by this financial year-end. As you can see on the slide, we have achieved $32 million of cumulative savings in operating expenses to the first half of the year. This has offset inflation. Importantly, a significant portion of these savings is now embedded in the current earnings base, contributing directly to underlying EBITDA expansion. These savings have been driven by targeted actions across the business, including performance improvement initiatives in Europe, reduced commercial and support spend, and headcount is 115 lower than the prior year. Overall, this program is supporting ongoing improvement in margins, cash flow and returns. Turning now to cash flow. Free cash flow in the half reflects the typical working capital build in the first half. We have delivered 133 -- sorry, $193 million year-on-year improvement in free cash flow, reflecting materially stronger underlying cash generation and disciplined capital management. This improvement has been driven by stronger profitability, improved working capital outcomes contributing to $103 million and lower capital expenditure. Importantly, this represents a strong lift in underlying cash generation and positions us well for positive free cash flow for the full year as working capital unwinds in the second half. On net working capital, we delivered a further year-on-year improvement as we continue to deliver sustained improvement from the cyclical peak in the first half of financial year '24. Average net working capital reduced by 7%, with a 6-day improvement in the cash conversion cycle driven primarily by lower receivable days, resulting in lower funding requirements and improved capital efficiency. As a result, net working capital to sales reduced by 2.1 percentage points and is now comfortably within our 35% to 40% target range. This improvement reinforces the progress we are making in embedding capital discipline across the business, and working capital will continue to be a key lever supporting free cash flow generation. On capital expenditure, the reduction in our capital expenditure this year reflects our transition from a period of peak investment to a lower, more sustainable level of spend. It also reflects our more focused strategy, which requires less capital intensity and increased discipline around capital allocation. This includes lower spending across manufacturing, a more focused Crop Protection R&D portfolio, and reduced investment in the omega-3 platform. We are targeting capital expenditure this year of less than $200 million, down from $246 million last year. As you can see, the weighting of spend will be in the second half due to timing of project delivery. The more sustainable capital profile of the business will support improved free cash flow generation over time. On net debt, we've delivered $135 million reduction year-on-year, notwithstanding a higher opening debt position and some benefit on currency translation, with leverage declining by approximately 20%, from 4.5x to 3.6x. This reflects the combination of stronger earnings, disciplined working capital management and lower capital expenditure. Importantly, deleveraging is now being driven by improved earnings and cash generation rather than balance sheet actions alone, marking a clear shift in the financial profile of the business. Our funding position remains strong with a diversified covenant-light capital structure. Liquidity remains solid after supporting the seasonal working capital build. Now to some information to help you with your models, giving guidance on some key line items for the full year of financial year '26. Depreciation and amortization, approximately $218 million. Net interest expense, approximately $100 million. Foreign exchange hedge expense, second half expense expected to be below that of the first half. Underlying income tax expense, we expect the $20 million to $30 million range reflecting country mix. Overall, this result demonstrates an improvement in earnings quality and materially stronger cash generation and a stronger balance sheet. This supports our confidence in delivering the full year outlook. We are now building a more resilient financial profile with improving operating leverage and cash conversion. This provides a strong foundation for continued deleveraging, sustained free cash flow and improved returns over time, and demonstrates that the strategy is already translating into financial outcomes. I will now hand you back to Rico to cover the strategy refresh and outlook.

Thank you, Brendan. I will now discuss our strategy refresh before covering outlook. When I think about Nufarm and talk to farmers and channel partners across the world, what stands out is the instant brand recognition and respect that people have for our business and the depth of the relationships we have built over more than 100 years of doing business. We are known for our solutions and our commitment to being easy to do business with. We are a leader in key geographies in core crops and key product segments. We are known and respected for our innovations across crop protection and seeds, and supporting customers with solutions as the agricultural industry continues to evolve. Our strategy refresh will see us take the best of what we have and what we do and apply more focus to drive better returns for our shareholders. Over time, our industry has evolved into an everything for everybody business model. We are choosing a different direction. What we are articulating is not only choosing what we will do but also what we will not do. We are sharpening the focus on where we can win and applying greater discipline to how we allocate capital and resources accordingly. First, we are prioritizing capital more effectively, reallocating toward markets where we have a track record of strong returns and a competitive advantage. This also means exiting assets and portfolios when they don't align with our strategy and returns discipline. Second, we are improving the quality of earnings and returns in Crop Protection. This is about narrowing our focus on crops and markets. And as has been evident in this result, we are placing a greater emphasis on margin over volume. Our portfolio renewal will continue to come from partnerships that deliver innovation in a capital-light model. Third, in Hybrid Seeds, we have a high-quality business with a clear path for growth. In Emerging Platforms, we have a unique position with technologies that are sought after and supported by strategic partners such as bp. Here, we have taken a more disciplined approach to investments to support growth and group returns. Overall, this refresh is designed to support stronger cash flow and improved margins and ROFE over time. In FY '26, we remain focused on disciplined delivery, completing the previous $50 million cost savings program announced in FY '25, resetting our CapEx target to below $200 million and continuing the path toward lower leverage. The strategy refresh creates the basis for additional efficiencies. In April, we announced further cost savings of $50 million and expect to achieve the run rate by the end of FY '27 and the full benefit in FY '28. In FY '27, we expect to sustain CapEx at a similar level to FY '26. Beyond that, our objective is to sustain positive free cash flow, continue improving ROFE and operate the business within a leverage range of around 1.5 to 2x. Collectively, these objectives reflect the financial discipline embedded in the strategy refresh and our focus on improving returns and cash generation across the cycle. I want to share a bit more detail on the new cost savings program. The focus in the FY '26 program is centered around two areas. The first is the rationalization of assets and portfolio, and the second is around operational efficiency and changes in our operating model. The anticipated cost savings are spread across reductions in internal cost of goods and SG&A. I want to emphasize that we're not relying on external reductions in cost of goods to achieve the savings target. The FY '26 program is expected to have cash implementation cost of $15 million weighted towards FY '27. We expect to achieve the run rate savings by the end of FY '27, with the full benefit coming through in FY '28. In our Crop Protection business, we have taken several actions as a result of the strategy refresh. First, we are narrowing our portfolio focus around fewer crops and reprioritizing capital toward markets where we can consistently earn returns above our cost of capital. Second, we are actively rationalizing assets to better align the footprint with that portfolio. This includes the closure of the Wyke Butyrics facility and closure and sale of the Kwinana site. Further footprint options are being assessed. We are also rationalizing the portfolio in North America to prioritize higher-margin products. In doing that, we are deliberately foregoing some revenue in the short term and focusing on growing higher-margin products as evident from our first half results. Third, we are driving ongoing operational efficiency, reducing fixed cost, capital intensity and complexity. Collectively, these actions are designed to redeploy capital to higher-returning activities and deliver more resilient margins and returns over time. In Seed Technologies, we are also taking action to improve capital discipline and returns while preserving the long-term upside. We restructured the portfolio into 2 distinct operating models, reflecting very different routes to market, customer archetypes and capital profiles. In Hybrid Seeds, the focus is on scaling our highest returning platform with a strong Southern Hemisphere bias. It is a traditional business-to-retail model where we influence grower decisions at the farm gate. Actions underway include streamlining the European sunflower business through a licensing model and expanding in South America, both aimed at improving margins and returns while capitalizing on the rising global demand for plant-based oils. Emerging Platforms is a business-to-business model relying on selected and unique strategic partners. Here, we are taking a deliberately more disciplined approach. In carinata, growth is being supported through our expanded partnership with bp under a capital-light model. In omega-3, we have reset to a lower cash spend and are undertaking a staged approach with production and deregulation progressing in a measured way while keeping the long-term growth prospects intact. Together, these actions are designed to sharpen returns while maintaining strategic optionality. This brings us to our strategic priorities that continues to be cost and capital discipline, drive profitable growth in Crop Protection and deliver on the reprioritized seeds strategy. To help us do that, we have listed some specific actions which we are working. The first is the additional cost savings program of $50 million, which we have provided detail. We've also made really good progress on resetting our CapEx to a healthier level and reallocating it towards our chosen markets. It also remains a continued focus to improve our earnings quality and lift free cash flow. In Crop Protection specifically, we are shifting portfolio mix towards higher-margin products. In the U.S., we built a solid plan to improve returns and now in the early stages of execution. In Europe, we saw really good progress in improving our margins and returns this first half, and now we are focused on maintaining that momentum. In Seeds, we are building out the new operating model around the 2 distinct businesses while at the same time, expanding our Hybrid Seeds business across the Southern Hemisphere. We are aligning our investments to a returns-based focus without losing sight of the long-term growth prospects in Emerging Platforms. This brings me to our outlook for FY '26. We are reaffirming our outlook for this year, expecting strong growth in EBITDA. We are targeting a net debt leverage of 2x by the end of FY '26, which compares to 2.7x by the end of FY '25. We also expect positive free cash flow driven by the normal seasonal unwind in working capital, and we are targeting capital expenditure of less than $200 million. In Crop Protection, we are expecting continuing growth in EBITDA, improving on the first half growth rate, driven by continuing margin improvement and cost savings. In Seed Technologies, we are expecting strong growth in EBITDA from Hybrid Seeds and a $40 million improvement in EBITDA from Emerging Platforms, resulting from our expanded offtake agreement with bp and improved omega-3 performance. With that, Brendan and I, together with Rachel and Beth, will be happy to take questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question today comes from Owen Birrell with RBC Capital Markets.

Rico, I wanted to draw you out on one of the comments you made around the U.S. Crop Protection market, where you've said you've got a plan to improve returns, and that's currently being executed. I'm wondering if you can give us a bit more color around what the strategies that you've implemented in that North American market?

Yes, thanks for that question. It comes back to what we talked about during the presentation, which is really around focusing on our portfolio. So we're changing the crop strategy and our portfolio strategy. So in doing that, we are rationalizing the portfolio we have in the U.S. market and leaning them towards more higher-margin products. That's going to change the margin profile of the U.S. Crop Protection business.

Are you able to give us a sense of some of those products that you're leaning into?

Maybe there's a long tail of products in our portfolio in the U.S. And I think the -- what we're looking at are really the products that are more commoditized -- some products that were -- that have become more commoditized over the years and have lost their relevance in the market. Those would be the ones that we're looking at. But I'll also ask maybe Beth to help explain a little bit about what we're doing on our portfolio and crop strategy.

Thanks, Rico. Maybe just a little bit more detail on our crop strategy. Our focus is aligning our crop strategy around 3 key markets: cereals, soybeans, and tree nuts and vines, globally to drive growth and margin improvements by concentrating resources on those key groups. This represents the most treated end market value within Crop Protection. It also leverages our strength in post-patent solutions and value-added mixtures across the regions, with particular emphasis on cereals and soybeans in major markets like Europe, North America, APAC and LATAM. Most of our current pipeline sales are linked to these 3 crop groups, highlighting their importance, and focusing on these crop groups allows sharper portfolio prioritization, streamlined registrations, better ROIs and concentrated R&D efforts. Specifically, our manufacturing footprint in phenoxies is equally important to us supporting these key crops. So it's a key component of many cereal and soybean products currently on the market. So even when prices sway, acreage stability in these key 2 crop segments provides -- supports base volumes, which improves asset utilization and manufacturing and overhead.

That's excellent. Just one last question from me around the cost-out programs. The '26 cost-out program, $50 million. '27, another $50 million. I'm just wondering, is this a sort of, I guess, line in the sand that we should think about going into the future as a cost-out target required to continually offset inflationary pressures?

Yes. Thanks, Owen. Brendan here. On the 2026 cost-out program, as you can see from what we presented today, we've made very good progress in the delivery to date, and that was largely focused around the SG&A, and we're on plan to deliver the remaining of that benefit in the second half. In regards to the additional $50 million that Rico mentioned as part of the strategy refresh, that is more broader base in terms of going across the value chain. As Rico indicated, some of that benefit will be coming through in terms of cost of goods or manufacturing conversion costs as well as in our SG&A. There will be some reduction in our fixed cost base. We'll continue to drive the efficiency in the cost base that we have. Some of those benefits will be offset by inflationary pressures. That's an element that's hard to predict, but will be present, I guess, on the go forward. So overall, from a cost perspective in terms of a theme in the strategy refresh is controlling the controllables in terms of cost management, being disciplined around where we spend our money in terms of the benefit and the returns it provides, and we continue to be focused on our continuous efficiency right across the cost base as we go forward.

Your next question comes from William Park with UBS.

Can I just ask about the trends that you've seen across different geographies in the first 2 months of second half to date, particularly around sort of the weather-related impacts and I guess the farm economics there?

Thanks, Will. So as we mentioned, we are seeing good momentum in April and May in our business across all regions and businesses. In terms of the weather update, we've seen -- obviously, we don't have that elusive normal year as we always talk about. There are always a mixed picture of things happening here and there. But largely speaking, the weather conditions have been normal to that extent. So in Europe, we've seen a little bit of late spring in parts of Europe and then flooding in a couple of southern markets. And in North America, we also had a late spring this year. So we're probably running 3 or four weeks behind from a normal season there. And then in APAC, we've seen also dry weather impact in the beginning of the year. And now in the last couple of months, including in March, we saw some good rainfalls at the right time of the season from our perspective and also in the right geographies.

Can I just also ask about your strategy? I mean you've talked about how you're now chasing -- I guess, you're not chasing revenue, but you're more focused on earnings quality. If I sort of look across your global peers, they're talking about somewhat muted sort of revenue growth in the Crop Protection space driven by volume. And I'm not sure -- I mean it's kind of ties in with my first question around farm economics. I mean given the cost inflation and diesel prices and all these things that are sort of outside of their control, is there a risk that there is a flight to kind of lower price, more commoditized products versus some of the premium products or higher priced products you're talking to?

I don't think so. I think what's happening around the world is that, yes, there is a concern among farmers around rising cost of fuel and fertilizer costs, particularly. I think most farmers, they have options to reduce some of their fertilizer applications if they have done their work in their previous years. So you can skip for a year or reduce in a year without a significant impact on yield. So they're doing that. They also have other options to reduce their cash spend on farm. And they're going through all those different obstacles just as we do when we are running a business, they're looking at cash flow also. What they do not seem to be compromising on is the quality of the yields that they use to deliver on farm. So farmers continue to be focused on delivering high yields, which means that they are investing in seeds. They are investing in crop protection to help protect their crops, because once the investment is made, you planted your crop. You need to ensure that you can harvest it and get those yields you're looking for. So I don't think we see -- we're not seeing a radical change in how farmers are spending on crop protection and seeds.

And then just in terms of how you're thinking about, I guess, your COGS in the Crop Protection business, if I look at some of the recent moves in the ag chem prices coming out of China that there's been a pretty meaningful improvement there. Just how you're sort of thinking about benefits of the prices moving upward flowing through to the business?

Yes. So a lot of that change we're seeing out of China is obviously driven by the conflict in the Middle East that has an impact on their energy costs. What we've not really seen is a short-term impact on our business. And traditionally, we've been very good at translating those cost increases into higher prices of our products. And we'll continue to manage that development coming out of China, not just this year, but also next year.

And then just one last question from me. How should we be thinking about -- I mean I've noticed that the licensing revenue in the half has jumped. How should we be thinking about sort of the licensing revenue profile going forward?

The licensing revenue is year-on-year, but there has been some movement. It primarily relates to our Emerging Platforms segment of the business. That will trend in typical to what you see in the first half going forward. That's [indiscernible].

Your next question comes from Ramoun Lazar with Jefferies.

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just want to start with on the growth platforms. Could you just give us an idea of the initiatives to reduce those breakeven costs for omega-3? And where do you see that -- those new costs relative to a breakeven price? If you can maybe talk around that.

Yes, thanks for that question. So we've also talked about that in previous settings, and what we're doing is really two things. The first one, maybe start by saying it's not only about reducing cost of goods, it's also about reducing the CapEx spend. So what we did last year was we took a hard look at the CapEx spend and also OpEx spend we have around the Emerging Platforms, and we took action on that, and we saw some of that also happening last year. In addition to that, we also decided to relocate production to South America. And in doing that, we expect to see a lower cost to produce because of that decision. And then lastly, we also are awaiting the deregulation in China, which will provide an additional cost savings to the omega-3 products.

Okay. Any idea you can give us on that breakeven price relative to where it's been previously, given those initiatives?

We don't normally disclose the breakeven price. We obviously have competitors in the market that are also listening to these calls, so we don't normally talk about it.

Okay. Second question, just on the leverage guidance for the full year around that 2x net debt to EBITDA. It does imply a significant net working capital unwind in the second half. Maybe if you can help us bridge that unwind in the second half, the key drivers and how to think about leverage heading into the new year as well.

Yes. Thanks. Brendan here. So we've confirmed in terms of leverage for the end of financial year '26, that we'll be at 2x EBITDA. The drivers of the ability to achieve that leverage is from the net working capital. And as you mentioned, on the capital -- the net working capital unwind in the second half. That's typical to what we've seen in past years, which is largely driven by cash collections, effectively the reduction in receivables from the sales made in the first half. There will be some inventory improvements also. And as you can see from the first half, we've driven some working capital efficiency with a reduction in the cash conversion cycle. It'll be also supported by a lower level of CapEx year-on-year. The weighting of that is to the second half. That's largely is the reason of the project delivery, and it'll also be supported by your stronger earnings relative to last year also. In terms of looking beyond this current financial year, look, what our message is around the focus on the continued commercial levers around driving better cash conversion in the business, sustaining the lower level of capital expenditure, continuing the improvement pathway that we have now sustained over approximately 2 years in driving lower working capital for the business and better cost control and lower cost profile. So that's important, I guess, overall, in terms of the strategy refresh. We're building a better quality business with a stronger balance sheet, which will be leading to continued deleveraging over time.

Okay. One other one, just on the CapEx. That's now more aligned with D&A around that $200 million level. Is that a sustained level -- is it a sustainable level, you think, for the business for the foreseeable future, just given, I guess, some of the initiatives you've talked about in terms of rationalizing product SKUs and the focus on more efficient capital deployment in the seeds businesses?

Yes, we believe so. Maintaining a lower sustainable level of spend of less than $200 million is what we see for the business. Relative to the prior periods, which was following a period of sustained investment, particularly around the manufacturing asset base, that's passed in terms of the requirements there. We've also looked at the Emerging Platforms and communicated there will be lower investment, particularly around omega-3, as we've repositioned that business.

The next question comes from John Purtell with Macquarie. We will move on to the next question. Your next question comes from Ollie Ridge with Citi.

I was just wondering if you might comment on channel inventory balances across the supply chain. We're hearing these have been drawn down given the input cost inflation. I was wondering if you'd also just touch on how you guys are managing inventory with the risk that the tariff floor was opened and this could see AI prices fall sharply.

Yes. So we are also seeing that inventories are being drawn down across the world. Obviously, people are hesitant to replenish their inventories with the cost we see out of China. So that's -- we're also doing the same. We're seeing the same in the channel partners that they are looking also at inventory management.

Okay. And could that have benefited your margins in the first half?

Sorry. Could you repeat that? I couldn't really hear it.

You're drawing down this lower cost inventory. Could that have driven your margins in the first half, or is the timing not quite there?

No. The change in the margin in the first half is more related to our decisions around rationalizing portfolio. We also had a little bit of change in portfolio mix driven by some of the delays we saw in North America in the season.

Great. Just the last one. So the U.S. Crop Protection, you're going through the portfolio rationalization there. Australia is also quite a big market, and it is also quite competitive here. Is there further rationalization you're doing in other geographies?

So we've been pretty disciplined in rationalizing the portfolio in Australia over the last few years. So on a global level, on any given year, we typically rationalize around 10% of our SKUs. So that's the normal rate. That number is going to be higher this year, probably even closer to 20%, mostly driven out of what we are seeing in North America.

Your next question comes from Jonathan Snape with Bell Potter Securities.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Great. Look, first question, can I just ask around omega-3? Obviously, you've upgraded the guidance today on that equation. That looks like it's somewhere around about a couple of hundred bucks a tonne on pricing, if I remember the sensitivities, right? If I look at the market, I mean, when we were here in November last year, the pricing in Peru and Chile was around that $2,500, $2,700 a tonne. If I look at it today, it's around $4,600, $5,000 a tonne, and it just holds its fishing off the coast of Chile, they've halted it [ 30 days ] off the coast of Peru. So it looks like the backdrop's getting better than it was 6 months ago relative as well to the pricing that it looks like you're taking up. So I guess my first question is, am I right in the sensitivities around pricing that it looks like it has been incorporated to guidance? And I guess the second question is, you had a USD 90 million facility that you fully utilized at balance date last year, how are you finding the markets to actually selling through this stuff at the moment? And are you finding anyone more interested in doing longer-term offtake agreements?

Jonathan, Brendan here. In terms of the fish oil pricing that we actually said, we have seen an increase in the pricing from 6 months ago and a firming overall. And that benefit has flowed through in terms of the pricing for our product in terms of Aquaterra. We have sold some volume in the first half and plan to sell some more in the second half. There is a balance there in terms of optimizing between the short- and the longer-term opportunities. Overall, in terms of the quota prices, there is -- in terms of dollars, they are spot prices. They are somewhat volume dependent as well, but overall, no dispute in the fact that the fish oil pricing has been firming and has increased over the past 6 months. And in terms of our outlook lifting it from $30 million to $40 million on the Emerging Platforms, the predominant reason for doing that is related to that factor. In terms of the $90 million facility, we have been doing sales, and we plan to do some more sales in the second half. So that will support the ability for us to repay that loan, part of that loan, $45 million in September of this year, and then with the full maturity of that in September '27.

All right. Look, can I follow up some of the questions you've been around actives at the moment? If I look at -- I think about your business, you [ maxing ] that loan in March each year. Prices since March have probably rallied in active markets nearly 20%, in an Aussie dollar sense. So I guess a little bit more in U.S. dollar. I guess what people are trying to figure out is, is there almost like a free carry into the second half that, obviously, people would have been landing or would be landing now higher priced stock that is competing against lower priced stock. Obviously, you wouldn't have seen any in the first half. Are you seeing any benefit for that in the second half at all, in that you're effectively carrying lower cost inventory relative to where spot pricing is right now?

So as we talked about, there is a little bit of what we talked about earlier, which is that there is a little bit of an inventory unwind going on in the sense that people are hesitant to replenish cost. But I don't see -- certainly not in our case, we're not going out and doing what you could refer to as a predatory pricing, anything like that, taking advantage of the oil market situation by adding pricing. That's not what we're doing. What we actually are doing is what we talked about earlier is we're seeing the effects on the portfolio rationalization coming through in our margins by eliminating some of those low-margin products from our portfolio. That's really what's driving most of the margin increase. And then combined, as I said, we have a little bit of phasing going on from the delay in the spring in North America. That's also reflected in that change in margin. But it's -- that's really the situation we have.

Okay. Look, maybe just one last one, because I think I noticed in the accounts, I couldn't find the off-balance sheet facility utilization this time. Are you able to share what that number was in the first half? Is it a material contributor to cash flow or not?

Jonathan, that number was $62 million at the half. That is a financing facility available to our suppliers. And also effectively, I would classify it as neutral in terms of cash flow impacts.

Your next question comes from Belinda Moore with Morgans.

Great to see a strong improvement in the first half result. Just turning to the omega-3 price, can you say what your new assumption is in guidance versus the sort of the previous $2,600? Then can you sort of turn to the Crop Protection and just sort of talk about where you think sort of the most upside, what regions in the second half? And then how we should think about corporate costs? And then lastly, what are you expecting to realize from asset sales, please?

Belinda, Brendan here. I'll address your omega-3 question, corporate costs. So on omega-3, the position that we had at the end of this time last year, in September, to reflect effectively the current prices at that time. In terms of how -- where we position the Emerging Platforms and the omega-3 component of that within the platform, it reflects the current prices at this moment in time. In terms of corporate costs, they're broadly flat at the half, and we expect that to be the same result at the end of the year. I'll pass to Rico just around trends.

Yes. So as we talked about in the script, and we saw a really good momentum in April and May, and those are big months for us. So that will also -- what gives us confidence that we can be reaffirming the outlook, that's one piece, but also that we are actually seeing an improving gross margin around improved earnings, I should say, around crop protection in the second half. And then also because we had the impact of the dry weather conditions in Australia in the first half, which we are not expecting to see in the second half. So that's what changes the result in the second half.

And just in terms of asset sales, how we should think about potential proceeds, please?

Potential what, sorry?

Potential proceeds. I guess just jumping on the asset sales and proceeds, it's too early to determine a value around that. You have the recent announcement in terms of the closure and sale of Kwinana. That closure is expected in May of next year. In regards of any other asset rationalization or proposed rationalizations, they are pending decisions that will become a due course.

Our next question comes from Scott Ryall with Rimor Equity Research.

Mine's hopefully a quick question. Rico, you talked to the impact of some customers and some of their cost increases that they're incurring. You talked about your ability to pass on the increase in price inputs. I'm wondering if you're seeing any potential shortages on the horizon for critical inputs into your products, please, and if you can talk to what you're doing to manage some of those risks, if you're not prepared to say which particular chemicals they are, but just talk more generally about what you're doing to ensure that you've got product. You're clearly doing a good job at passing through the cost increases, but just in terms of making sure that you're in production at all times, please.

Yes. Thank you. I think it's an interesting question. And if we go back and look at what happened when the conflict first broke out in the Middle East and the change they caused on supply chains, we saw very, very little impact. We had a little bit of some difficulties in sourcing packaging materials in a couple of markets. But all those short-term impacts we saw at that time, we've worked through that. And whatever impact there is on some of the raw materials that are based on petroleum and so on, that has already been mitigated, and it's also reflecting in the fact that we are reaffirming our outlook for the full year.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from John Purtell with Macquarie.

Hopefully you can hear us this time.

Yes.

Just had two questions. Thank you. Firstly, just on the broader ag chem industry, it has obviously been a very competitive space over the last few years. What are you now seeing in terms of a more rational environment or otherwise?

That's a really interesting question, John. As so as I said in the script earlier, we feel like the industry has evolved into an everything for everybody kind of model and -- which is possibly part of the reason why there has been these problems with generating results the last few years. We do see that some companies are beginning to act more focused. And I think that's going to be a positive trend for the industry overall. Nevertheless, there is, of course, still the question of the cost to serve, and I think that some companies are struggling in improving their cost to serve. I think we have been really focused on controlling what we can control in our business in terms of delivering the balance sheet but also reducing our cost to a more sustainable level, which is what we're focusing on right now. So I can't speak to exactly what are the decisions other companies should be doing, but as I said, we're focusing on what we can control and making sure that we are reducing our cost to serve and taking the right actions around our portfolio and be more focused on those parts of our portfolio and those markets where we know we have a right to win.

And just a second question for Brendan on FX. What are you assuming on FX in your second half earnings guidance? And also, obviously there was the $10 million FX hedging loss there in interest. Just a bit of color as to what that relates to.

Yes. Just in terms of the composition of net financing expense in the P&L, if we look at the breakdown, our external interest in terms of borrowings has reduced by a couple of million. And yes, as you point out, from an FX perspective, that has increased half-on-half. Look, it particularly got some more variable volatility around the commencement of the Middle East conflict, and that sort of has influenced the impact of that. So we still continue to have a consistent hedging policy in terms of managing exposures. In terms of the second half, we do see some stabilization, and therefore, we've moderated what we think the impact will be in the second half. Sorry, was there a second point to your question, John? No. That was the first point, FX.

Yes, it was just around what you're assuming in your second half earnings guidance re FX. So probably from an earnings translation viewpoint.

Yes. So we are expecting it to be less than what we -- the impact is on the first half, so you can take that to be approximately half of what the impact was in the first half.

And that's on the interest side, Brendan?

That's -- sorry, on the FX expense. And overall, in terms of net interest expense, we revised the financial year '26 number to be approximately $100 million.

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

Thank you, Ashley. So once again, just reiterate the results here. We're very satisfied with the result we've achieved this first half, and we're reaffirming our outlook for the full year. As said earlier, we stated those priorities for this FY '26 back in November, and we're delivering on those priorities in terms of improving free cash flow, reducing leverage and growing profitable products. So again, thank you for listening in. Also, thanks to our teams across the world who helped us deliver this result and thank you so much.

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