Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the Glanbia 2026 Half Year Results Call.

During today's call, the directors may make forward-looking statements. These statements have been made by the directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of the Glanbia half year 2026 results announcement.

Due to inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business risk factors underlying such forward-looking information, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The directors undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made on today's call, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

I'm now handing the call over to Hugh McGuire, CEO, Glanbia plc.

Thank you, Liam. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Glanbia half year 2026 results call and presentation.

I'm joined on today's call by Mark Garvey. I will provide an overview of our performance for first half, and Mark will then cover the financials and outlook.

At the end of our prepared remarks, we will be happy to take your questions. Overall, we delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year, with adjusted earnings per share of 81.24 cents, representing constant currency growth of 30% versus the prior year.

This was driven by strong growth across all three of our operating segments, with very good demand for our better nutrition brands and ingredients. The group delivered revenues of $2.1 billion, representing an increase of 7% on a constant currency basis.

In Performance Nutrition, we saw continued momentum across our protein portfolio, with like-for-like revenue growth of 16.9%, driven primarily by our number one sports nutrition brand, Optimum Nutrition, which delivered double-digit volumes and strong pricing growth. In Health & Nutrition, we also continued to see good momentum, driven by demand in our core end-use markets, and saw like-for-like revenue growth of 12% in the period.

In Dairy Nutrition, we also saw strong growth in protein solutions, translating to EBITDA of $92.3 million within DN, an increase of 28.2% on the prior year. The group delivered pre-exceptional EBITDA of $275.4 million, representing an increase of 14.1%, and EBITDA margins of 13.2%, representing an increase of 80 basis points, with margin expansion across Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition, while margins in Performance Nutrition were broadly in line with the prior year as we continue to navigate record whey protein costs.

We continue to progress our strategic agenda and have made good progress in our group-wide transformation program, and as a result, we're increasing our target annual savings from $60 million to $70 million by 2027. We expect to deliver approximately 40% of savings by the end of this year.

This improvement has been driven primarily through the implementation of our new global supply chain structure and our digital transformation. We continue to identify significant opportunity across the group to optimize our capacity across our blending footprint for both our B2B and B2C businesses, and deliver above-expected savings through operational efficiency, procurement effectiveness, and supply planning.

Our digital transformation is progressing well with the implementation of our new IT operating model, laying the foundation for greater automation, AI-enabled support, and enhanced service delivery. In addition, we have a focused set of AI deployments and agentic solutions working across innovation, planning, and consumer and customer journey as we continue to expand AI usage.

We continued our strong track record of delivering returns to shareholders by raising the interim dividend by 10% and returning approximately $100 million to shareholders via our share buyback programs. As a result of the strong performance across all three segments, we are today pleased to upgrade our full-year adjusted earning per share guidance to 17% to 20% constant currency growth.

Mark will provide a detailed update on changes to segmental guidance. For Performance Nutrition, like-for-like revenue increased by 16.9%, driven by a 9.3% increase in volume and a 7.6% increase in price.

The volume growth was driven by strong category and velocity growth, coupled with increased distribution, innovation, and some shipment timing in quarter two and lapping of a weaker comparative in the prior year. We implemented double-digit price increases in quarter two globally, and we've started to see some early signs of elasticity, concentrated in specific channels and pack sizes.

Due to underlying consumer demand, the higher income skew of our shopper, and Optimum Nutrition's brand strength, consumption remains strong. In a recent survey we conducted in the US, Optimum Nutrition demonstrated the highest resilience to pricing out of all brands tested.

We'll continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly as we implement further price increases in quarter three on our protein brands, which is supported by promotional efficiency, product mix, and price pack architecture. From a regional perspective, PN Americas, which represents 58% of revenue, grew like-for-like revenue by 9.2% versus last year due to strong growth in Optimum Nutrition, somewhat offset by declines in other portfolio brands.

Our global brand footprint continues to be a key strength, and our international business, which represents 42% of revenue, delivered like-for-like revenue growth of 29.6%, with strong volume and pricing growth in the Optimum Nutrition brand across priority markets, particularly in the UK, Oceania, China, and India. For Isopure, we continue to see double-digit US consumption growth in online and FDM channels as we grow household penetration, and we continue to gain market share in the protein powder category, growing ahead of the category.

This was somewhat offset by declines in the club channel. Isopure is our premium high-protein, low-carb brand grounded in purity.

This brand allows us to target an incremental consumer from Optimum Nutrition, with the consumer affluent and predominantly female that values high-quality and great-tasting solutions that they can incorporate into their daily nutrition regime. EBITDA in the first half of the year increased by 7.4%, with an EBITDA margin of 12.6%, which is broadly in line with the prior year.

While elevated whey input costs continue to create headwinds for margins during the period, we were able to partially offset this by a range of decisive actions, including revenue growth management initiatives, marketing spend effectiveness, and our group-wide transformation program. We carefully manage our cost base to ensure we're efficient, and adjust our marketing investment appropriately to ensure we prioritize spend on brand-building initiatives.

We also continue to look to broaden our product mix from whey protein to include other protein sources such as collagen, milk, and plant protein, while also driving non-whey innovation such as within our energy category, primarily driven by creatine innovation and distribution gains globally. EBITDA margins are expected to increase in the second half of 2026 as the full impact of price increases flows through.

Whey protein has remained elevated due to continued strong demand, and the group is contracted for substantial supply through early quarter two 2027. We have seen new supply of high-end whey come on stream as expected, which has been taken up by demand.

We continue to engage with our suppliers for longer-term supply commitments, and supply continues to increase, and as we mentioned previously, we're also investing in our own WPI capacity within our joint venture, which will come on stream in early 2027. In terms of brand performance, Optimum Nutrition, our largest brand at 79% of Performance Nutrition revenue, delivered like-for-like revenue growth of 25.2%, with strong volume growth and increasing pricing growth following recent pricing actions.

Optimum Nutrition US consumption grew by 23.5% in the 13 weeks to the 4th of July 2026, with double-digit growth across FDMC and online channels, growing ahead of the category and gaining market share. The protein powder category is growing strongly, part of the general shift in consumers seeking health and wellness solutions, with the value proposition resonating well with consumers.

We also continue to see new consumers enter the category as they see powders as an attractive and clean source of protein, where Optimum Nutrition is a number one driver of category growth across protein. I'm pleased to see ON delivered double-digit growth in household penetration and TDP in the US, with distribution gains across FDMC in particular.

We are also seeing strong consumption growth across international regions, with double-digit measured sellout in our priority growth markets, and we continue to increase our retail distribution, with distribution gains for Optimum Nutrition across major food, drug, mass retailers in the UK and Continental Europe, continued success in e-commerce channels across multiple markets, and continued market share gains. We have a world-leading portfolio of high-quality products within the Optimum Nutrition brand, and we continue to focus on innovation, in particular by expanding our usage occasions.

We've launched a number of products in the first half of the year across our protein and energy offerings, including expansion of our creatine range, Clear Whey, electrolyte hydration powder, and additional small pack sizes addressing affordability through opening price points. We are particularly pleased with the performance of ON creatine, which is delivering very strong growth globally, with continued expansion of flavored offerings, new pack sizes, as well as launching creatine gummies and creatine stick packs in the US earlier this year.

We continue to invest behind Optimum Nutrition, and our focus is on driving recruitment and conversion and broadening the brand's appeal through increased campaign reach and education. During the first half of the year, we launched our global Optimum Advantage campaign, which reinforces the brand's premium position and deep connection with elite athletes, such as McLaren Formula One star Lando Norris and US Women's NBA star Cameron Brink.

Early results from the campaign show ads rank in the top 2% of ads in the category, and we're seeing growth in both aided awareness and consideration across our top four markets. In India, for example, we launched the Optimum Advantage of Champions through our partnership with the RCB cricket team, with ON positioned as the team's official sports nutrition partner for the 2026 Premier League season.

Our sports partnership in the US is anchored in football, leveraging our long-standing partnership with iFLAG and high-impact activations such as our successful activation with NFL standout Cooper DeJean, which together strengthens Optimum Nutrition's credibility, cultural relevance, and connection to the next generation of athletes. This year, Optimum Nutrition celebrates its 40th anniversary, marking four decades of trusted quality, innovation, and category leadership in nutrition.

As protein and energy consumption continues to become more mainstream, our continued investment in brand building, innovation, and consumer engagement is helping us strengthen category leadership and capture the accelerating growth in performance and active nutrition. Turning to our Health & Nutrition segment, which comprises the Premix Solutions and Flavors platforms, and focuses on priority high-growth end-use markets such as active nutrition, functional beverages, and vitamin, mineral, and supplements.

This segment delivered a very strong performance in the first half, delivering like-for-like revenue growth of 12%. This was driven by a 14.3% increase in volume and a 2.3% decrease in price.

Total revenue increased by 15.6% as a result of a 3.6% increase from the acquisitions, Sweetmix and Scicor, which we completed in August 2025 and January 2026 respectively. The integration of both acquisitions is on track.

We're very pleased with the strong performance in the quarter, which was driven by good growth across our end-use markets, supported by strong underlying category momentum in protein and broader health and wellness trends. A key driver of growth has been customer-led innovation, and we're collaborating closely with customers to support innovation pipelines, with the codevelopment translating into incremental growth.

We saw some benefit to revenues in quarter two pipeline fill as some of our customers expanded into new regions. Regionally, we saw strong growth, particularly in EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Pricing was negative 2.3%, primarily as a result of tariff refunds provided to customers in the second quarter. This was a one-time effect, and we expect pricing to revert to broadly neutral in the second half of the year.

Health & Nutrition EBITDA was $67.9 million, up 9.5% constant currency. EBITDA margins were 18.4%, decrease of 110 basis points versus the prior year, as a result of increased raw material costs, which are expected to persist in the second half of the year.

Sweetmix and Scicor integrations are progressing well. We opened our new customer collaboration center in Montreal in the first half of the year, and our capacity expansions in the US, Europe, and China are well underway and progressing well, with new capacity expected by early 2027.

Dairy Nutrition combines our US Cheese and Dairy Proteins portfolios, and is largely one integrated manufacturing footprint, and is also the route to market for our joint ventures' supply of whey and cheese ingredients. This business provides a leadership position in dairy as a leading producer of whey protein isolate and American-style cheddar cheese in the US.

We continue to see sustained demand for our high-quality whey and non-whey protein solutions, driven by global trends in active nutrition and everyday wellness. Our differentiated capabilities in protein science and manufacturing, combined with a proven track record to deliver consistent quality, functionality, and taste, position us as a trusted partner for customers' growing demand for premium protein solutions.

In the first half of the year, Dairy Nutrition delivered like-for-like revenue growth of 3.8%, driven by a 4.6% increase in volume and a 0.8% decrease in pricing. Our Protein Solutions business had double-digit volume and pricing growth, supported by favorable consumer trends and strong demand, particularly within the active nutrition end-use market of high-protein ready-to-eat and healthy snacking categories.

The overall pricing decline was due to negative cheese markets as cheese revenue represents approximately two-thirds of the revenue within Dairy Nutrition. We continue to optimize our product mix towards higher-value protein solutions, leveraging the group's manufacturing expertise, customer relationships, and innovation capability, and saw good growth in existing and new customer wins in the first half of 2026.

With that, I will hand over to Mark to take you through the financials.

Thanks, Hugh, and good morning to everyone on the call. Group revenue for the half year was $2.1 billion, up 7% on a constant currency basis.

On a like-for-like basis, reported revenues are up 10.7%, with volumes up 8.2%, driven by a strong performance across all three segments. Price is up 2.5%, driven by strong pricing in Performance Nutrition, somewhat offset by negative pricing in Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition.

The acquisitions of Sweetmix and Scicor added 0.6% to revenue growth, while the disposals of non-core brands reduced group revenues by 4.3%. Group EBITDA pre-exceptional charges for the first half was $275.4 million, up 14.1% constant currency, driven by strong EBITDA growth across all three segments.

Dairy Nutrition EBITDA growth was particularly strong, up 28.2% in the half, driven by Protein Solutions growth. Performance Nutrition EBITDA was up 7.4%, and Health & Nutrition EBITDA was up 9.5%.

Group EBITDA margin was 13.2%, compared to 12.5% in the prior year, primarily due to stronger EBITDA margins in Dairy Nutrition. Adjusted earnings per share for the half year was 81.24 cents, an increase of 30% on the prior year, as a result of strong segment EBITDA growth, higher joint venture profit after tax, and some accretion resulting from share buyback activity.

Operating cash flow conversion for the 12 months ending July 4th was 95.1%, with operating cash flow of $507 million generated during the trailing 12-month period. The group had net debt of approximately $731 million at the end of the half, and has $1.35 billion in committed debt facilities, with a weighted average maturity of 2.2 years, with no facility due for renewal prior to late 2027.

Net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.4 times, marginally higher than prior year. At year end, following another year of strong operating cash conversion, we expect net debt to EBITDA will be approximately one times, subject to M&A activity.

Investment in capital expenditure for the first half was $50 million, of which $32 million was invested in strategic capital projects, with investments in ongoing capacity enhancement, business integrations, and IT investments to drive further efficiencies. For the full year, capital expenditure, both strategic and sustaining, is expected to be between $100 and $110 million, which will include spend related to the expansion of our Health & Nutrition facilities in US, Asia, and Europe, as Hugh has mentioned.

We continue to focus on a consistent approach to shareholder returns, and the board have approved a 10% increase to the group's interim dividend, from 17.2 euro cents to 18.92 euro cents. We are committed to a progressive annual dividend with a target payout ratio range of 30% to 40% of adjusted earnings per share.

In February, we announced authorization for a €100 million share buyback program. This program was completed in two €50 million tranches.

The first €50 million by way of our regular share buyback program, which completed in July, and the second €50 million in June through a directed share buyback with Tirlán, our largest shareholder. In total, the group repurchased and canceled approximately 4.9 million shares at an average price of €20.49, and this completes our share buyback program for this year.

As Hugh mentioned, we've upgraded our savings target for our group-wide transformation program from $60 million to $70 million of annual savings by 2027. The upgraded savings are primarily as a result of initiatives in our global supply chain related to optimization of blending capacity and procurement effectiveness.

We expect 40% of savings from this transformation program to be achieved by the end of this year, and at least 50% of the savings will be reinvested to drive future growth. We expect total charges related to this program will be approximately $110 million, previously $100 million, and to date, we have incurred approximately $85 million of those charges.

The group incurred exceptional items net of tax of $21.6 million in the first half of the year. It's primarily related to the group-wide transformation program.

In addition, there was a remeasurement of contingent consideration as a result of the strong performance of the Sweetmix business post-acquisition. The joint venture performance increased by $9.3 million versus prior year, primarily related to improved dairy market dynamics and some benefit from the Federal Milk Marketing Order change in the US in June last year.

Net finance costs were $15.9 million, up approximately $2.3 million compared to prior year, primarily due to higher average net debt. For the first half of the year, the effective tax rate was 15%, in line with the prior year.

For the full year, we expect the effective tax rate to be between 14% and 16%. Now I will walk through the components of our updated guidance for the full year.

We are ambitious for growth, and we outlined our medium-term growth algorithm through 2028 at our Capital Markets Day last November. Given the strengths we are currently seeing in the categories in which we operate, expectations for 2026 are now above our medium-term guidance algorithm.

Following the strong performance in half one, Performance Nutrition like-for-like revenue growth is now expected to be in the range of 12% to 14% for the year, which assumes some volume elasticity in the second half following Q2 and Q3 pricing actions. The revenue growth of Performance Nutrition during the first half of the year was strong, due to our category leadership, accelerating consumer demand, increased distribution and innovation, and the lapping of a weaker comparative.

There was also a benefit from some shipment and promotional timing. Pricing sequentially increased, resulting from the Q4 2025 and Q2 2026 pricing implementations.

Although volumes in the first half have remained resilient following these recently introduced price increases, we are now seeing initial signs of limited elasticity in some markets, which we are monitoring closely. We are executing further price increases in Q3, given continued whey inflation, and while we are confident that underlying consumer demand will continue and the Optimum Nutrition brand will perform well, we are pragmatic in expecting some volume elasticity as the second half progresses, as consumers adapt to higher prices on shelf.

As a result, half two revenue growth is expected to be pricing led, with assumed elasticity impacting volumes, coupled with a tougher comparable due to the lapping of some distribution gains in Q3 of last year. We continue to manage whey costs through forward procurement, and at this point, we have procured all of our whey needs for 2026 and our anticipated needs through early Q2 2027.

Based on procurement to date, we are seeing higher costs in 2027 over 2026, and consequently, we expect to increase prices further in late '26 or early '27. We expect Performance Nutrition EBITDA margins will be higher in the second half compared to the first half, as a result of executed pricing actions, and for the full year, we expect some margin progression over the 2025 13% EBITDA margin.

We continue to offset higher whey costs with revenue growth management initiatives, marketing spend effectiveness, transformation program, as well as the benefit from the sale of non-core brands last year. Should volume trends in half two prove to be significantly better than our current expectations, this would utilize additional higher-cost whey to meet demand, and as a result, have some short-term impact on EBITDA margins until future pricing actions take full effect.

Health & Nutrition delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year, with some benefit from timing of orders from certain customers in the second quarter. As a result of the strong first-half performance, we now expect like-for-like revenue growth of 8% to 10% for the full year, volume led.

Growth is expected to be good across both Premix and Flavor Solutions businesses as we are seeing strong category momentum in our end markets. Half one benefited from some pipeline fill by certain customers as they expanded into new regions, and we therefore expect half two revenue to moderate to more normalized levels, albeit still at the upper end of our medium-term guidance range.

We continue to expect Health & Nutrition EBITDA margins to be in the range of 17% to 19%, with increased costs in the second half resulting from supply chain disruption ongoing from the conflict in the Middle East. The strong performance in Dairy Nutrition in the first half of the year was driven by pricing and volume growth in Protein Solutions, serving the high-protein ready-to-eat and healthy snacking categories.

Following the strong first half, we now expect Dairy Nutrition EBITDA to be in a range of $170 to $180 million for the full year. We also expect profitability growth for the joint venture, and now expect profit after tax to be approximately $20 million for the full year.

Operating cash flow conversion is expected to exceed our 85% target for the year. Therefore, as a result of the strong top-line performance in Performance Nutrition and Health & Nutrition, and continued strength in Dairy Nutrition EBITDA and joint venture profit after tax, we are pleased to upgrade our expectations for 2026 adjusted earnings per share growth to a range of 17% to 20% constant currency.

With that, I will hand it back to Hugh.

Thank you, Mark. Just to close, today's results reinforce our confidence in Glanbia's growth opportunity.

Our purpose is delivering better nutrition, and we're operating in exciting, high-growth categories supported by powerful consumer trends. As we outlined at our Capital Markets Day, we've a focused strategy for the next stage of growth.

We've made strong progress in the first half of 2026. We've strengthened our business through our transformation program and sharpened our focus on our key growth engines of Performance Nutrition and Health & Nutrition.

We are pleased to upgrade our guidance today, reflecting the momentum across all three segments and the continued strong consumer demand for our better nutrition brands and ingredients. With that, I would like to hand it over to the operator for questions.

Thanks. Morning, everyone.

A couple of questions for me on Performance Nutrition, if that's okay. Firstly, just on the Q2 print, I guess, incredible kind of volume momentum in the quarter despite the price increases you took.

I know you've mentioned some elasticities have crept in already, but maybe you could just kind of elaborate on where you're seeing those elasticities and in terms of the consumer reaction to the price increases, have you seen any shifts in kind of buying patterns during the quarter or so far in Q3? Then my second question is just around I guess the moving parts of Optimum Nutrition growth during H1 and Q2.

Maybe you could just unpick how much that's driven by category growth versus distribution gains. You've mentioned increased shipments.

Maybe you could just give a little bit more color there. I guess, how much are you benefiting from some of your competitors, I guess, not being able to source supplies as consistently as you guys can?

Thanks.

Morning, Patrick. How are you?

Maybe I'll start with the first question. In terms of very happy with obviously quarter two and half one performance.

Very strong growth. I think what we're seeing generally, what I would say is very strong category growth.

We're clearly benefiting from the positive trends generally in health and in wellness, whether that be just interest in protein, interest in additional fortification, or interest in energy. Definitely a positive category trend that we're benefiting from.

When I look at elasticity, no, look, we've seen some limited elasticity to date. It's kind of been in certain markets and certain channels and certain SKUs.

Some of it will be where competitors haven't quite moved yet on some of the price increases, but certainly in half one, as you can see from our numbers, we've seen continued very strong consumer demand. We continue to see that demand as well as we look out into half two.

I suppose what we're just being very pragmatic on is the cumulative effect of pricing post the price increase late last year, price increase in quarter two, and additional price increases in quarter three. That's obviously being prudent as we look ahead.

In terms of ON growth, look, very very happy. What I'd say is a lot of it will be velocity.

As I said, we're clearly benefiting from general category growth in all markets, not just in the US and in all of international markets as well. Also, I think we're showing clear category leadership as well in terms of our investment behind the brand.

Our marketing now is more effective, better creative, more efficient, better consumer targeting. I think the cautiousness we've taken or the pragmatic approach to pricing strategy and RGM, being very thoughtful on opening price points, making sure we give value to the consumer, whether that be a single-serve, a 10-serve, or an 80-serve product offering.

We certainly see the benefit of that in terms of bringing in new consumers to our brand franchise, new consumers into the category. That's a clear benefit.

Lastly, in a digital world, it's always been a key focus for us. We are the most reviewed, most awarded, most recommended brand.

As the world increasingly moves digital and AI in search, we're benefiting from that. We do regular audits, and we continue to see Optimum Nutrition is the number one recommended brand, and that's a key focus for us.

If I summarize it all up, we're seeing very good category growth in health and wellness demand, and then we're seeing very good performance from our protein brands, Optimum Nutrition and Isopure, but particularly driven by Optimum Nutrition. In terms of shipment, it's very small.

Look, that's primarily Middle East, as we navigate the conflict in the Middle East, obviously our inventory levels are higher there as getting stuff into our markets there takes a little bit longer. There was a little bit of quarter three to quarter two with Amazon Prime as well.

Lastly, look, the competitor question you asked, not really. We're competing against scaled players now.

I don't think supply is necessarily an issue there. Maybe for some of the smaller suppliers, we certainly see that within our Dairy Nutrition business.

Worth remembering that within the protein category, we're not only competing against dairy proteins, we're competing against a broader protein category, which is includes plant protein, collagen proteins, etcetera. Very pleasing to see our brand do well across the broader protein category.

Very clear. Thank you.

Good morning, Hugh and Mark, and congratulations on a very strong set of results. Just three questions.

Firstly, on reformulation, which you mentioned. How do you see reformulation to other sort of protein sources playing out across your portfolio?

In particular, given your flagship products is whey on the front, I'd be interested to know how you see that working across your offering. The second one is also on Performance Nutrition, and notably, the Healthy Lifestyle brands portfolio.

Back in the start, this was still down quite a bit in the quarter, similar to last quarter. Maybe you can give us some color there, and also, we note that RTE and RTD like-for-like was down for PN overall in the half.

Any color there would be appreciated. Then just lastly, on the PN margin, is it still the ambition to target the 50 basis points that was mentioned at the beginning of the year in terms of margin expansion, or when you're thinking about pricing, is it still really about maintaining margin or protecting absolute profits, just given there's this immense top-line tailwind from price?

Thanks very much.

Good morning, David, and thank you. I'll answer the first two questions, David, and Mark will address the margin point on PN.

When we talk about reformulation, it's primarily around new innovation, in reality. Look, you said it rightly, Gold Standard Whey is a big brand for us, that whey in the brand name.

We won't be changing that. We won't be changing the quality.

We won't be changing the formulation. We don't believe that there's any supply issue for that brand long-term.

Formulation is really around ensuring that we give the consumer choice, whether that be in a broader mix of proteins or a different price point. We have a number of innovation.

We've already started that where we've launched products that contain clear protein and collagen. We're launching milk protein innovation as well.

It's just a broader push towards having a broader selection of protein availability in under our brand. It's actually one of the drivers, as well, of our Dairy Nutrition business where it's not just dairy protein.

We provide proteins, great-tasting, high-quality protein solutions that work functionally. That's a mix also of whey, milk, and plant protein solutions as well.

It's an increasing area of focus for the group, which as a protein powerhouse, just to ensure we have a broad range of protein solutions. In terms of Healthy Lifestyle, yeah, if I look at Healthy Lifestyle, we've spoken about Optimum Nutrition, Isopure, very happy with performance in Isopure.

We're lapping a very strong performance in food, drug, mass. You can see that in our NIQ data.

We're just lapping a club channel delisting, which was margin dilutive. We'll lap that as we head into quarter four.

Then the other primary driver of that decline will be think!, which we've spoken about as well. That's just lost distribution from the tail end of last year, and with a major new relaunch of the think!

high-protein bar proposition at the end of this year, which we're excited about. We should see that trend change as we go into 2027.

Hi, David. On the margin point, we are still forecasting margin progression for this year, moderated a little bit from what I might have said earlier, primarily because we're seeing more volumes come through.

Demand is very strong, as you can see, and that's demand driven. That's causing whey prices to increase, and we are seeing some extra whey costs coming through in the P&L.

We expect to have progression. You'll see stronger second-half margin to the first-half margin.

Pricing, which will lap basically into the second half, will more than offset the cost increases. Also, the transformation savings that we're seeing come through, they'll come through more in the second half as well.

It's just the level of progression. It's hard to fully predict right now, but we expect progression, and clearly, that's our goal as we sort of look to '28 to continue to see margin progression.

Very clear. Thank you.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking the questions.

First, just around PN pricing. I wanted to clarify sort of your planned price increases from here.

Is it right to still assume a double-digit price increase in Q3? I think I picked up from your commentary.

Then Mark, I think you also mentioned potentially further pricing in late 2026 or early 2027. I was just checking if that was an incremental wave of pricing.

I suppose how are you thinking about that or how will you assess the magnitude of that relative to elasticity, and what are you seeing competitors doing around pricing or planned pricing and promotional activity? Then just maybe another one on the PN margins.

I understand in terms of the whey cost headwinds and sort of how much you've procured, but I was wondering why, given the strong demand, you didn't see in H1 or you don't expect to see better operating leverage associated with that? I heard you mention sort of marketing spend adjustments.

What are your expectations in terms of spend for marketing this year? Thanks.

Good morning, Nicola. I might quickly answer the marketing question, and then I'll go to the first question on pricing, and then Mark, you might answer the question on leverage and margin.

Look, marketing, what we said is we're more effective in terms of marketing spend, but we still continue to invest substantially behind the brand. There's no pull back in marketing spend.

It's just more focused, particularly given the growth of the category. It's really focused on recruitment of new consumers, driving brand awareness.

That's a key focus, particularly for us internationally. If I talk about pricing, look, you can imagine we are very considered and careful and lots of debate internally on ensure we navigate, as we call, the tightrope in terms of significant record protein price inflation.

We want to very good category growth, and we want to make sure we maintain our category leadership. Lots of debate and discussion.

You might remember we price increased at the back end of last year as we came into 2026, price increased in quarter two. That's in market now.

Price increase release in quarter two, that's implemented with customers. We start to see that hit shelf probably late August, early September.

It depends on how customers decide to put it through. We'll watch elasticity carefully.

As I said, it's been limited to date. I think category trends are very strong.

We'll watch that carefully. We are planning for price increases the back end of this year and early into 2027 as well.

That's always something we would keep under review as we watch raw material costs, as we watch elasticity, and as we watch demand. In terms of competitors, hey, look, everybody is moving on price, given the scale of the price increases, you have seen all our competitors move.

What we will often see is we are first to move, there may be a lag. That will sometimes cause a little bit of elasticity, but as soon as the competitors then have moved on price, we tend to see that elasticity wane.

A key focus for the business, Nicola, and lots of debate as we navigate this record inflation carefully.

Yeah. Hi, Nicola.

On the margin point, we are seeing operating leverage. We have our transformation savings coming through, and we obviously have pricing as well coming through with some benefit from the sale of non-core brands.

Currently, they're offsetting the COGS increase we've seen in the first half. You'll see those more than offset in the second half.

It will roll best through into the second half. In terms of my comments around procurement for '27, yes, we would expect to see more price increases come through towards the end of this year as we look to margin progression for next year.

I think, overall, once we see stabilization of the whey dynamic with the pricing dynamic, you're going to see upside obviously in the margin progression that we would expect.

Thanks for taking my question, and first of all, congratulations on good set of numbers. Just to get some more color on the pricing power of the category, historically, whey inflation has been seen as a headwind for sports nutrition, and this cycle, however, demand has remained strong despite higher pricing.

Has this changed your view on the structural resilience and the pricing power of the category? My second question around the Dairy Nutrition dynamics versus Performance Nutrition, where can you help us think about the group's earnings bridge?

If the whey remains high, the Dairy Nutrition clearly benefits from the higher whey prices, but the PN margins face pressure. Net-net, is highway still positive for group earnings or does it become more of a constraint over time?

My third question is regarding the earnings upgrade. On the guidance upgrade, how much of the improvement should we think of as structural rather than any cyclicality into it?

Are we seeing a step-up in Glanbia's medium-term earnings power or is this part of simply the benefit of the current whey environment? Yeah.

Good morning, Setu. Thank you for the questions.

Your first question I'll answer, and then Mark will answer your question on earnings. Look, you can see it in the category growth.

Certainly, category, as I said earlier on, in terms of demand for health and wellness, demand for protein, demand for energy, demand for fortification is very, very strong. Your first piece in a generally increasing health and wellness, GLP-1 is certainly a tailwind.

The inversion of the food pyramid in the US is also a tailwind for us. I think growth rates we have in the category now are strong and are accelerating, and certainly not seeing any indication that they will come off or decline.

That's across all formats as well. It's not just the powder format where we substantially play in.

We know ourselves that the consumer benefits to our brand and product are very strong. Consumers tell us it's around the quality, it's around the mixability, it's around the versatility of powder.

I think the usability and the affordability are really important for our consumers as is the taste. I think then the Optimum Nutrition brand, as I said earlier on, is driving the category.

We're celebrating 40 years of the brand this year. Our heritage, our quality, our taste, and the most recommended brand plays to the strength of particularly for new consumers coming into the category.

We see that in pricing power. We've had to take a third round of price increases, and yes, we are watching carefully for elasticity.

I think there will be some elasticity this time with the cumulative effect, but the demand remains very, very strong. I think what I'd just say before I hand over to Mark on your question on the earnings bridge, which I'm sure we won't get into too much detail, but the business is unique, Glanbia, the strength of our portfolio, we're playing broadly across all three segments in health and wellness, which is a huge positive.

We have trusted, capable businesses. We are the biggest buyer of whey protein straight ingredients globally, and we work with all suppliers.

Then we're one of the biggest in whey protein solutions through our Dairy Nutrition business. Certainly, there is a natural hedge across those two businesses, and it is a unique strength to our portfolio given the growth in health and wellness.

I would just add, Sethu, that, look, we have three very strong businesses, as Hugh has said. They stand on their own two feet in terms of how they're performing.

They're doing very well in terms of the categories that they're selling into. Yes, there's certainly a benefit that Dairy Nutrition is seeing now with high-protein markets, but Dairy Nutrition, since we've set it up as a separate business, has been doing very well operationally in terms of how it's been managed as well, I see a lot of strength coming through there in addition, frankly, to what we're seeing on the protein side.

If you think about the algorithm that we have, we're obviously very confident in the algorithm that we pointed out last November. We're ahead of that this year, and I would say, given the categories that we are currently playing in, momentum seems good to us as we head into next year as well.

Uh-huh.

Thank you. That's quite helpful.

I will be back in the queue.

Yes, good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for taking the questions.

I have, as expected, a question on pricing, but zooming out a bit, hey, the whey prices have been cyclical. Supply comes on stream and prices go down, but the way you talk about it, it feels a bit that this time could be a bit different.

Do you think that if you look back into three years' time that this uptick in the whey cycle is really going to reshape your PN industry a bit? Then the other thing is regarding marketing spend.

I think there's no longer a 10% to sales target with regards to marketing investments, but can you share what you've been investing behind incrementally, and how you've changed a bit how you invest? Because, yeah, effective and more efficient marketing spend is a perpetual goal, I guess.

What have you done differently? Thank you.

Morning, Karel. How are you?

Maybe on the whey, yeah, look, if you look back, it was probably one of the things that changed for us in kind of '24 into '25. We've always had a traditional cycle in terms of whey demand, increasing protein demand drives increasing supply, prices go up when supply is short, and then new supply comes on, pricing goes down.

We've certainly seen a fundamental shift in that and all driven by demand. Demand is very strong.

The additional supply that we forecast and that we work with suppliers to bring on stream across the broader protein market has come on stream, and that's all been soaked up by demand. That's an advantage.

We can see on both sides of the business, the demand. We're not seeing either at the consumer or at the customer level a lessening in demand for high-quality protein.

Might that change with elasticity, volumes come back? I think it's the demand generally for protein is very strong, and that looks like it's going to sustain.

As we look into next year, we're certainly not planning for a decline in pricing for proteins given the demand we're seeing. If you look at marketing spend, primarily digital, Karel, while we've cut back in percentage terms, and that's as you can expect as we navigate very strong demand and ensure that we meet margin expectations as well, the spend still in dollar terms is substantial, and the primary investment there is a consumer recruitment, but also then digital, I think the brand Optimum Nutrition, Isopure, do particularly well in terms of investing in search, investing in engaging with consumers online, and that's been a key strength of the business now for probably 15 years.

All

right. Interesting.

Thank you.

Thank you. Morning, gents.

A few for me, please. Just firstly, on the sort of sustained category demand, I was just wondering, in your conversations with customers, particularly in the Performance Nutrition segment, whether you would expect to gain incremental distribution space within retailers over the coming years, given the strength of the backdrop, and if you could give any color on how those conversations are going with retailers, please?

The second one is following on from Karel's question around the sort of supply environment. I think historically you've spoken to sort of incremental 10% to 15% of incremental WPI coming into the market.

Can you sort of provide any update on whether that's still the right number, if there any more sort of supply-side investments adding to that? Just to confirm whether your own investment will be completely taken up by yourselves, i.e., it's not going to be sold to any third parties when that comes on stream in '27?

Then the final one is just on you've completed the buyback. I'm just wondering, you're obviously talking about retaining balance sheet flexibility for M&A.

I was just wondering if you could give any sense of what that pipeline looks like and whether the focus is still on the H&N part of the business, please?

Thank you, Damian. There are three quite varied questions.

If I start with the first one, in terms of I think I've spoken on the category growth, which is very strong, and yes, I think, without a doubt, we're seeing good distribution, particularly for ON, double-digit growth in TDPs, double-digit growth in distribution generally. We're seeing it in Isopure as well if you exclude the club channel.

We do see customers expanding shelf space both in terms of protein and creatine in particular. We know that our brand and these categories are drivers of foot traffic in store, and retailers know that as well.

You will be seeing increasing shelf space. Bluntly, these categories and products have become mainstream.

Turning to supply, yeah, the 10% to 15% we've spoken about has come on stream, demand has soaked that up. In fact, it's probably more than that has come on stream over the last 12 to 18 months.

There is more supply coming on stream next year. Given the pricing we're seeing, all of our suppliers are looking to increase their capacity of high-end whey proteins, and that's a positive.

If I look at our own supply, yes, that'll either go to Performance Nutrition in terms of supplying Optimum Nutrition or Isopure or go to our Protein Solutions business. It will remain within Glanbia.

Lastly, the M&A pipeline, yes, very active actually, very active and yes, primarily in Health & Nutrition.

Great. Thank you very much, Hugh.

Yes, good morning to all. I have two questions.

Could you elaborate more on Isopure growth in H1, and how did the rest of the brand portfolio in the same period, and how are your expectations for all of them going forward? The second question, could you provide some color on the raw material inflation seen in Health & Nutrition business during H1?

What were the main driver behind this inflation, and how do you expect it to evolve over '27? Should we expect more pricing to compensate next year?

Thank you.

Good morning, Fatma. I'll answer the Isopure question, and Mark will answer the raw material question.

In terms of very happy with Isopure growth in half one, as I said earlier and in our briefing, very good double-digit growth in food, drug, mass, convenience in the US. Isopure is primarily a US business for us.

The overall numbers are pulled back a little bit as we lap a club channel business, but strong growth in distribution in food, drug, mass, as I said, double-digit consumption, strong growth in household penetration as well. Very happy with that brand performance.

We will lap that lost distribution in club as we head into quarter four and certainly into 2027. As I spoke with the rest of the portfolio, look, the biggest brand there is think!

brand, that's suffering from lost distribution at the tail end of last year, with a major new relaunch of think! coming at the back end of this year as we go into 2027.

It is one of the top high-protein bars. It's 20 grams of great-quality protein in a bar, it's a priority for us, and that'll be relaunched at the back end of the year.

Good morning, Fatma. In terms of the cost increases we're seeing in Health & Nutrition, primarily coming through as a result of the Middle East conflict, which is causing some challenges in terms of petrochemical feedstocks feeding into manufacturing over in Asia, that's causing then some increases in costs that are coming through to us.

We're going to see that in the second half. We will look to offset as much of that as we can with our transformation savings, which obviously feed into Health & Nutrition business as well, but we're still very confident in our 17% to 19% margin overall for the business.

Thank you. For '27, next year, do you expect...

For '27, again, we'll see how long this process continues, obviously, if the conflict continues. We would expect to see higher costs, but then obviously, we'll look to pass those on in terms of pricing as well next year.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yes, folks, just to say thank you very much for all your questions. Delighted with half one performance, and look forward to sharing more with you over the coming days as we catch up.