GWA Group Limited

GWA Group Limited

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Feb 15Next Earn

Q2 FY2026 · Earnings Call TranscriptFebruary 15, 2026

Operator

I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Urs Meyerhans, MD and CEO.

Please go ahead.

Urs Meyerhans

Thank you, Amy. Good morning, everyone.

We appreciate you taking time to join us on today's webcast or conference call, as we walk through the GWA's half-yearly results to 31st of December 2025. I am Urs Meyerhans, GWA's Managing Director and CEO.

Joining me today are Calin Scott, our Group CFO, and Craig Norwell, our Group Executive Sales. We appreciate your time and interest, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with many of you over the coming days and weeks.

I will begin with an overview of our group results and key themes, including progress and update on our continued commitment to safety. Calin will discuss the group financial results for the half, including P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet.

Craig will then provide an overview of our business performance across our end markets, including our major Australian merchant partners. I will close with an update on our strategic progress, highlighting advances in our new product development pipeline and sharing details of an exciting new business pilot that leverages our market-leading expertise in water technology, before concluding with a summary and our FY26 outlook.

As always, we're happy to answer your questions at the end of the presentation. Turning to slide 5.

I will start with a summary of the half, highlighting the key results and developments. GWA delivered a resilient result in what remained a demanding market environment.

Despite some continued headwinds across our end markets, we delivered volume, revenue, and earnings growth. That reflects the continued disciplined execution of our Customer First and profitable volume growth strategic priorities.

It also demonstrates our internal commitment to controlling the controllables. 'Win the Plumber', our number one strategic priority, continues to drive results with over 11,000 technical interactions during the half, up from 7,300 for H1 in FY25.

That led to a 6% increase in sales of our plumber bundles and spares. Our Customer First priority continues to resonate well in the market.

DIFOT performance remains above 90% across all our markets, with a continued improvement in our Net Promoter Score from customers. We continued to generate strong cash, with a cash conversion ratio of 92% for the half.

Our balance sheet remains strong, with net debt and credit metrics all towards the lower end of our target range. This has supported a 6.7% increase in the interim dividend to 8 cents per share, fully franked.

As previously communicated, we are actively progressing our on-market share buyback, which is supporting improved earnings per share. We're strengthening the core of the business while developing new growth opportunities, ensuring GWA is well positioned to benefit as market conditions recover.

Moving to slide 6. As always, I want to reaffirm our ongoing commitment to operating a safe business.

Our injury severity rates remain low, and the total injury frequency rate of 6.7 improved from 9.8 in the prior corresponding period. I will now hand over to Calin to go through the group financial results.

Calin Scott

Thanks, Urs. Turning to slide 8.

This slide presents the results first on a normalized basis, which excludes significant items, and then on a reported basis, which includes significant items. After-tax significant items were $300,000 for the half and relate to investment for digital initiatives, which compares to $2.3 million in the prior corresponding half.

Group revenue for the half was 2% up, reflecting sales and volume growth across all markets. Volume in Australia was up 4.8%, with sales growth of 2%.

We saw a recovery in New Zealand, with an increase in revenue of 1% and 2.4% in local currency and volume 11%. Our sales were up 7% in the UK, or 2.2% in local currency, with volume increasing by 4.9% on the prior period.

Craig will detail the key components of revenue by market in his section. Normalized EBIT was up 3%, a solid result where we continued to experience some market headwinds.

Those earnings have come through at a slightly improved EBIT margin, reflecting operating leverage down the P&L and continued cost discipline. With the reduction in significant items compared to the prior corresponding half, statutory EBIT was up 11% and statutory net profit after tax up 14.9%.

Moving to slide 9. This slide includes the waterfall chart we typically present to set out the key drivers of earnings over the period.

As always, this is presented on a normalized basis. Looking at volume, group volume growth of 4.9% reflects solid growth across all our geographic markets.

Turning to price/mix, we experienced some pricing pressure during the half and an anticipated mix shift driven by increased sales of product ranges targeted at multi-residential and volume home builders. Looking at foreign exchange, the average Australian dollar-U.S.

dollar exchange rate for the half was 65 cents, which compares to 66 cents for the prior period. This impacts stock purchases and balance sheet revaluations.

Looking at other, this bar includes higher cost of goods sold linked to increased revenue and a minor increase in SG&A expenditure, reflecting continued disciplined investment across the business. Normalized group EBIT margin was up by 0.2 percentage points to 18.5%.

Turning to slide 10. We continued to generate good cash with operating cash flow of $43.6 million for the period.

The change in working capital reflects a planned increase in inventory ahead of Chinese New Year in February/March 2026. Cash conversion remains strong, with a cash conversion ratio of 92% for the half.

Capital expenditure was $1.7 million and in line with the prior period. Full-year capex is expected to be $4 million to $5 million and remains focused on growth initiatives to drive revenue opportunities and cost efficiency.

Moving on to slide 11. Our continued strong balance sheet and cash flow enabled an interim dividend of 8 cents per share fully franked, up 6.7% on the prior half.

The interim dividend is scheduled to be paid on 9th of March 2026. Moving to slide 12.

GWA's financial position remains strong. Net debt as at 31st of December 2025 was $96.4 million, which compares to $85.1 million as at 30th of June and continues to be at the lower end of our target range.

The increase in net debt relates to the share buyback during the period. Our credit metrics remain strong and towards the lower end of our target ranges, with a leverage ratio of 1.2 times and a gearing ratio of 20.1% as at 31st of December 2025.

We maintain firm bank facilities of $205 million, with significant headroom of $109 million. I will now hand over to Craig to discuss our performance by market.

Craig Norwell

Thanks, Calin. Good morning, everyone.

In my section today, I'll provide some further context to our revenue by market and for Australia, by state and key segments. Turning to slide 14.

This is the consistent slide we present to represent our revenue from our key end markets. I'll start with Australia, our largest market, representing 83% of group revenue.

As Urs and Calin have already mentioned, we continued to deliver sales and volume growth in Australia. Our localized sales force is focused on their state markets, working closely with local customers to identify mutual opportunities and execute solutions in partnership.

During the half, our focus on 'Win the Plumber' and renovation and replacement drove solid sales and volume growth in the majority of states, with New South Wales returning to growth. I'll talk about our states shortly.

Revenue in New Zealand was slightly ahead, however, in local currency terms was 2.4% ahead of last year, stemming the recent decline in sales. We simplified and right-sized our New Zealand operations to better align with the local market conditions and refreshed our Methven product range.

Sales in the UK were up 7.3% or 2.2% in local currency, reflecting sustained growth with new customers. Turning to slide 15.

This slide details our Australian sales by state. We delivered strong performance across three states, with growth across segments led by 'Win the Plumber' and renovation and replacement.

New South Wales returned to growth following a reset of our go-to-market plan, with positive momentum across most segments. Performance was led by merchants, renovations and replacement, and 'Win the Plumber'.

In Victoria, we lapped a very strong prior corresponding half last year, which included two major hospital contracts. Notwithstanding the broader economic climate in the state, we're seeing some early signs of improvement across renovation/replacement, plumbers, and residential.

Queensland also lapped a strong prior corresponding half. Like other states, we had growth in merchant, renovation and replacement, and plumbers, but these were offset by weakness in the commercial and residential sectors.

Over in the west, we continued to achieve solid sales growth with sales up 9%, driven by residential, plumbers, and renovation and replacement. In South Australia, we also continue to grow with sales up 6% from solid growth in merchant, R&R, and plumbers.

Turning to slide 16. This slide details sales performance through our key merchant customers in Australia.

This is a pleasing result, with continued momentum across merchant and plumber channels delivering 8.2% growth in sales across the overall merchant segment. We achieved growth with two of our top four merchant partners, supported by our Customer First approach and a strong focus on identifying and executing local sales opportunities with key customers.

We have a solid pipeline of opportunities within the merchant segment, particularly in multi-residential. I will now hand you back to Urs.

Urs Meyerhans

Thanks, Craig. Over the next slides, I will discuss our NPD and innovation pipeline.

Moving to slide 18. We continue to launch new products with a number of key introductions targeting the residential and care markets.

In summary, our NPD activities during the half supported portfolio renewals and customer engagement, including launch of Methven Maku 2 range of tapware and showers, strengthening our premium tapware and shower offering in New Zealand; expansion of LeVante 2 range into showers and accessories, enhancing our mix to premium bathroom portfolio; expansion of entry-level ranges into new product types, increasing competitiveness in value segments; expansion of our heated towel rail products, driving higher margin accessories growth; and customer collaboration on exclusive ranges, deepening key account partnership and securing differentiated shelf space. NPD remains a core focus for the group, and we have a strong pipeline of product launches planned for the near future.

Moving to slide 19. I am pleased to provide an update on an exciting new offering which leverages our technology and expertise in water solutions.

We are piloting a new business opportunity which builds on our proven Caroma Smart Command capability: an AI-enabled leak detection and protection solution for the residential sector. Water leaks remain a significant issue.

Every year, around 1 in every 100 Australian homes will experience a significant water leak, with an average insurance claim of $15,000 that does not include the disruption and the inconvenience to the residents. In fact, approximately 20% of all household insurance claims relate to water leaks.

To support this, we have partnered with Phyn, a global category leader in AI-enabled leak protection, to pilot a smart system that monitors the residence for leaks, alerts the homeowner in real time, and can automatically shut off the water supply to prevent costly water damage and disruptions. The system also tracks water usage down to fixture level and provides detailed insights through the app, helping consumers conserve water, identify unusual usage, and potentially lower water bills.

GWA has an exclusive partnership with Phyn for the ANZ market for this product, and the pilot is now underway. We expect an initial investment of $1.5 to $2 million in the second half of FY26 to support the pilot and associated market entry activities.

While early in the process, we're excited about this new opportunity and look forward to sharing further details in due course. I will now provide a few comments about our continued strategic progress.

Our strategy continues to evolve, guided by customer needs, market dynamics, and our commitment to long-term value creation. Moving to slide 21.

Our overall market involves multiple decision makers and influencers across the value chain. Over the past few years, we have deliberately evolved our strategy to increase customer pull by engaging directly with plumbers as well as commercial and volume home builders.

Our objective is to influence pull, specifications, and product selection early in the value chain, while recognizing the critical role of our merchant partners who provide reach, fulfillment, and execution. Merchant relationships remain central to our strategy.

As part of this shift, we have significantly increased our engagement with end users, particularly plumbers and volume home builders. At the same time, we have strengthened our partnership through our push strategy with merchants, valuing our strong partnership by enhancing customer service levels and introducing new digital tools that make day-to-day interaction easier, faster, and more reliable.

This balanced approach, deep engagement with end users supported by strong merchant partnerships, has enabled GWA to drive increased pull through the channels. Despite challenging markets, our pull strategy has enabled GWA to deliver volume growth for three consecutive years.

We made good progress across the core area of our strategy in the first half. 'Win the Plumber': plumbers remain central to our strategy, and we continue to extend our reach and engagement throughout the period.

That's reflected in a 6% increase in sales of our plumber bundles and spares, which primarily target the maintenance plumbers. For Care, as Craig mentioned, we lapped a very strong prior period that included two hospital contracts in Victoria.

Health and aged care continue to be the priority segments for our sales efforts. Residential: while we delivered strong growth in multi-residential, this was offset by the decline in completions in the detached segment during the period.

Commercial: commercial new build remains subdued, and that continues to impact our performance in this segment. Finally, merchants: as Craig outlined, our Customer First strategy with individual plans for key merchant partners and strong focus on instore execution delivered a solid growth for the half.

Moving to slide 24. Let me summarize the key points from today's presentation before turning to the outlook for the full year.

Despite some headwinds, we delivered a solid first-half result: volume, revenue, and earnings growth at improved margin. Our financial position remains strong, supporting a 6.7% uplift in the interim dividend alongside $10 million of the $30 million share buyback.

Our focus on Customer First and profitable volume growth initiatives are delivering good strategic progress. We continue to develop new products and solutions, including launching our exclusive partnership with Phyn to bring in an AI-enabled leak detection and protection solution to the market.

Overall, we continue to build a stronger, more resilient business well positioned to capture opportunity as and when markets improve. Moving to slide 25.

Let me conclude with an outlook for FY26, beginning with a summary of our key geographic markets. In Australia, we anticipate a mixed demand environment in the second half.

Our ongoing emphasis remains on our key strategic priorities to drive revenue and strengthen our competitive position. In New Zealand, the outlook is also mixed.

While residential approvals are increasing, they remain below long-term averages and are somewhat offset by the continued decline in commercial approvals. We have a targeted launch of new products and plumber roadshows to support growth in the second half.

In the UK, conditions are challenging, with key lead indicators in building construction declining. In response, we continue to deepen strategic partnership with our key customers, targeting affordable and social housing.

Moving to slide 26. Moving specifically to Australia, our largest market, accounting for 83% of group revenue.

In commercial, we expect the market to remain broadly stable. Growth in education and aged care is likely to be offset by continued softness in office new build.

We will continue to prioritize healthcare and aged care projects and increase product specifications with existing builders and developers. In residential detached, we anticipate an improvement from late FY26 supported by the recent uplift in approvals.

We continue to target greater market share and tailor products for volume home builders, with sales and promotions focused on those regions with strongest approval momentum. Activity in multi-residential is also forecast to increase from late FY26, driven by build-to-rent sectors and social and affordable housing developments.

We continue to collaborate with property developers with relevant products and solution offerings. Finally, in repair and renovation, demand continues to be tempered by cost-of-living pressures, with consumer confidence likely to be impacted by the interest rate increase earlier this month and the uncertain economic outlook.

We will continue to implement our 'Win the Plumber' strategy with a clear focus on maintenance plumbers, and strengthen our relationship with merchants who value trusted long-term partnership. That concludes the formal part of the presentation.

Calin, Craig, and I looking forward to your questions.

Operator

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced.

If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question.

Your first question comes from Keith Chau at MST Marquee. Please go ahead.

Keith Chau

Good morning, gents. Thank you for taking the time this morning.

Firstly, just a question on the competitive dynamics and the pricing backdrop. No price increase announced this year, and I think there was an explicit mention of some pricing pressure.

It'd be great to get a bit more color on this. I'm not sure if you've spoken about it earlier on the call.

Apologies, I was a bit late, but it'd be good to just understand the dynamics around this, please, in a bit more detail. Thank you.

Calin Scott

Keith, thanks. On the competitive pricing pressures, look, it's not necessarily broad-based.

We've seen it in some categories and it's starting to sort of materialize slightly. What we've been able to do is certainly look at our cost profiles and look at offset that through cost management, because if we look at our GP margin, it's actually held very consistent with the prior period.

Whilst we are seeing a little bit of pricing pressure, it's not significant and it hasn't impacted margins.

Keith Chau

Okay. Thank you.

The decision not to take a price increase this year, what was the key driver of that? Is that a currency-related strategic decision, or something else?

Calin Scott

Look, there's probably a couple of inputs there. We did actually announce price increases in both the UK and New Zealand markets.

Those are coming up in March and April. In Australia, to your point, we are having a look at our cost profiles, and we've always said previously that we would typically put price up to match any sort of cost imputs on the business.

At the moment, with the exchange rate where it is, we certainly are looking at that very closely.

Keith Chau

Thank you. Maybe it's an opportunity going forward, but probably a good segue into your FX hedging profile.

Given where the FX has actually tracked, which is obviously favorable, has there been a decision made to hedge more aggressively on the outlook or you just sticking to the same program that GWA's implemented previously?

Calin Scott

No, Keith, we're probably sticking to a tried and tested program that's helped the business in good stead for a couple of years. We've had some impact from FX come through, but through our hedging, have always managed to still maintain margins.

Look, we don't see any need to make any fundamental changes to our current policy and program.

Keith Chau

Okay. Thank you.

Maybe if I can, just one last one on the customer backdrop. We've talked forever and a day about Tradelink having new owners and then there's always been the old adage of some of these buying groups or co-ops trying to do private label.

I know it's a very broad question and probably requires more than 30 seconds of Q&A time, but can you give us a high-level view of whether you've seen any material changes in the space, particularly around the customer level?

Craig Norwell

Keith, good question. Look, the short answer is no.

I think as all three of us have talked to, the strategy's built around pull. Hence our focus for the short-term, I suppose, we're seeing results come through in both the 'Win the Plumber' focus and renovation and replacement.

That continues to still be a major opportunity for us to go after incremental share in that R&R and maintenance plumber sort of segment, which we know is significant, but takes time to unlock. Outside that, we've still got the same focus on the longer lead times across commercial, Care, and residential, albeit sort of lumpy, I suppose, at the moment, and not expected to change anytime soon.

The one that we, I suppose, worked more customer specific with is, as Urs talked about, the ability to differentiate. I think to Calen's point, as, I suppose, economic conditions become more challenging, the need to differentiate across our customer base to drive profitable volume growth certainly continues to increase.

We remain open-minded. If we can find opportunities that work for us and our key accounts, we continue having examples where we sort of follow through on those.

Keith Chau

That's great. Thanks very much.

I'll hand it over.

Operator

The next question comes from Dylan Adrian at J.P. Morgan.

Please go ahead.

Dylan Adrian

Morning Urs, Calin, and Craig. Thanks for taking my question.

Just very quickly, just on the working capital piece, can you quantify how much of that working cap outflow was due to the inventory build ahead of Chinese New Year? Should we expect that to unwind in the second half?

Calin Scott

Yes, look, it was in the order of $5 to $6 million. Yes, it is something that we would expect to see unwind in the second half.

Dylan Adrian

Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Ollie Burson at CLSA. Please go ahead.

Ollie Burson

Good morning, guys. Just regarding your volumes.

Just looking at the quarter-on-quarter, it looks like volume growth has actually accelerated in Q2 from Q1. I guess, can we expect Q2 volume growth to flow into the second half?

Just noting your planned price increases in New Zealand and the UK in March. Cheers.

Urs Meyerhans

Thanks for the question. As we don't give forecasts in regard to future performance.

I sort of refer back to our strategic priority: Customer First and profitable volume growth. Clearly profitable volume growth for us is important.

If you look at some of the movements, you would have seen that volume has grown faster than our revenue due some of that we saw coming through that with the depressed market conditions or the uncertain outlook, some customers probably focus more on the lower to entry-level products. As I think we discussed about two years ago where we started pushing quite actively to offer a product range from entry, good, better, best, and that has worked well for us.

Ollie Burson

Great, thanks for that. I'll pass it over.

Operator

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

Meyerhans for closing remarks.

Urs Meyerhans

Thanks, Amy. Again, thank you very much for your time and interest, and we are looking forward to catching up with many of you over the next few days and weeks.

Thank you and have a productive week.

Operator

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating.

You may now disconnect.