Libstar Holdings Limited (LBR) Earnings Call Transcript

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the interim results presentation of Libstar Holdings Limited for the 6 months ended 30 June 2026. A special word of welcome to our Board members, the investment community, media and our colleagues joining us via the webcast this morning. Today's presentation will follow the agenda shown on the screen. We will begin with the salient features of the period, covering the market context, our response and the key performance highlights before reviewing the strategic progress made across the group. Our CFO, Terri Ladbrooke, will then take you through the financial performance in more detail, after which our COO, Cornel Lodewyks, will provide an update on the performance of our ambient and perishable products super categories. I will conclude with our outlook for the remainder of 2026, including the key priorities, value creation drivers and opportunities that we believe position Libstar for future growth. We will pause briefly at the end of the presentation before opening the line for questions. Before turning to the results, it's important to place the reporting period in context. Consumer conditions remained constrained and low food inflation limited value growth across several categories. At the same time, muted revenue growth coincided with inflationary pressure in packaging and distribution costs. Against this backdrop, our priorities remained on channel diversification, category leadership, operational simplification and pricing discipline. Retail and wholesale remained resilient with revenue up 3.2% and its contribution to group revenue increasing to 57.8%. Food Service continued to grow across hospitality, restaurants and QSR customers, increasing 11.2%, led by value-added meats and select products. Exports declined 9.6%, reflecting weaker demand for dry condiments in Australia and Japan and reduced competitiveness from a stronger rand against the U.S. dollar, which represents our predominant export currency. Industrial and contract manufacturing revenue declined 17% following the loss of a contract within Dickon Hall Foods. Excluding that impact, revenue in the channel declined 4.7%, reflecting lower tomato paste, salad dressings and unbranded butter sales. These results reinforce the strategy we outlined at our Capital Markets Day earlier in the year. We remain focused on growing our presence in higher growth channels, strengthening our category positions, leveraging our manufacturing capabilities and continuing to simplify the business. The first half was shaped by 4 principal headwinds: consumer pressure, low food inflation, constrained sector value growth. A stronger rand and weaker offshore demand affected export competitiveness and profitability. Petroleum-linked inputs and higher distribution costs placed pressure on margins. Finally, the Dickon Hall Foods integration created temporary disruption, cost under-recovery and lower industrial and contract manufacturing volumes. Importantly, our response remained focused on the matters within our control. We expanded participation in retail and wholesale, as well as Food Service, maintained pricing discipline, advanced operational efficiency initiatives, completed the integration of Dickon Hall Foods into Montagu Foods by August 2026, progressed the Cape Herb & Spice consolidation and continued to apply a disciplined ROIC-led approach to capital allocation and shareholder returns. As communicated in our trading statement on 20 August, earnings were affected by concentrated underperformance in Dickon Hall Foods and dry condiments despite resilience across several categories. Importantly, our strategy remains unchanged. The projects addressing these pressure points are progressing to plan and are expected to strengthen the underlying performance of these operations over the medium term. Against the aforementioned backdrop, the H1 2026 performance fell short of expectations with the underperformance concentrated predominantly in Dickon Hall Foods and the dry condiment subcategory. However, most core categories delivered resilient performances, while historically underperforming subcategories, including snacking and baking, showed encouraging improvement. Revenue increased by 0.7%, supported by positive underlying volume growth. Gross profit margin moderated to 21.5%, reflecting input cost pressures, export weakness and integration-related disruption. At the March Capital Markets Day, we shared our H1 expectation of a flat to slight decline in profitability. Against this expectation, normalized EBITDA declined by 4.3%, while normalized HEPS from continuing operations declined by a more contained 2.4%. The difference between basic HEPS and normalized HEPS is the impact of non-recurring, non-trading and non-cash items, which highlights the group's underlying operating performance. In this period, those normalization adjustments predominantly related to impairments, additional retrenchment costs and unrealized foreign exchange losses incurred. Importantly, the group maintained a strong financial position. Gearing improved to 1.2x, 12-month rolling ROIC increased to 10.3% and cash conversion remained healthy at 70%. Overall, these results demonstrate the underlying strength of the business, supported by a sound financial position and continued progress across several core categories. Turning now to strategic progress. At our Capital Markets Day, we set out a clear road map under the simplify, grow and sustain strategic themes. During the first half, we made tangible progress against this road map, including the delivery of key projects across the group. Let me take you through that progress in more detail. Our first major project is the integration of Dickon Hall Foods into Montagu Foods, a significant milestone in the execution of our operational simplification strategy. The integration was successfully completed post period and within Board-approved budget, bringing the wet condiments manufacturing footprint together into a larger, more efficient and scalable operating platform. By consolidating production, we are able to leverage greater manufacturing scale, simplify the operating structure, improve service capability and reduce complexity. The integrated platform is also expected to improve labor productivity, lower the cost base and unlock further manufacturing efficiencies. Importantly, the expanded capability provides greater scope for product innovation, allowing us to respond more effectively to customer needs and pursue growth across both existing and adjacent product categories. The first half included operational disruption and cost under-recoveries associated with the move. With the integration now complete, our immediate priority is to optimize output and service levels to progressively unlock the benefits of the new platform. This project represents an important step forward for wet condiments, creating a stronger foundation for innovation, improved service, margin recovery and sustainable growth from 2027. The Cape Herb & Spice consolidation is the second major project and remains on track. Its purpose is to bring manufacturing, warehousing and support activities together into a single integrated facility. Finished goods inventory has already been relocated from third-party storage into the consolidated facility, and construction planning for the relocation of manufacturing equipment is currently underway. Completion remains targeted for the first half of 2027. Once completed, operational benefits will include lower complexity, better inventory management, improved service levels and the removal of duplicated costs. Financially, the project is intended to improve cost competitiveness, strengthen our export capability, enhance the returns profile and provide a scalable platform for growth. This project addresses the fragmented operating structure we highlighted at our Capital Markets Day and will help strengthen our competitiveness, particularly in light of the export and currency pressures experienced during the first half. Our progress extends well beyond the 2 major consolidation projects that I just highlighted. Post period, we continue to simplify and strengthen the portfolio. The disposal of the Phesantekraal property was completed on 31 July 2026, with the ZAR 65 million of proceeds received after the reporting period, while the intended disposal of Contactim continues to progress. These actions support our focus on building a more streamlined, higher-return business. From an operational perspective, we achieved net annualized procurement savings of ZAR 10 million, while our renewable energy wheeling arrangements entered into their final contractual stages. At Lancewood, George, the water recovery and effluent treatment project remains on track with Phase 1 scheduled for completion in November this year. We also continued to invest in our people and our leadership capability through the EDGE leadership development program. Turning to capital allocation. We enhanced our dividend policy, resulting in a significantly increased dividend payout this year and repurchased ZAR 62 million worth of shares. An additional ZAR 21 million worth of shares were repurchased during the close period under a nondiscretionary mandate and further repurchases will resume from today. These actions reflect the strength of our financial position, our confidence in Libstar's future and our commitment to delivering sustainable value to our shareholders. Together, these achievements demonstrate our simplify, grow and sustain strategy in action across the group. I will now hand over to Terri to take you through the financial results in more detail.

Thank you, Charl, and good morning. The group's first half performance reflects a mix of encouraging progress and areas where we continue to focus management attention. Perishable products delivered a strong performance, supported by continued operational improvements and disciplined execution across the portfolio. In ambient products, and as noted by Charl, performance was impacted by isolated integration disruptions and lower export demand, which weighed on profitability during the period. Before discussing the results in more detail, I would note that the H1 2025 comparative profit or loss has been restated as if Denny Mushrooms had been discontinued from the start of the prior year, providing a like-for-like comparison of continuing operations. Against this backdrop, I will take you through the group's financial performance for the 6 months ended 30 June 2026. Starting with the income statement. Revenue increased by 0.7% to ZAR 5.8 billion. While reported growth was modest, it was significantly impacted by the loss of a contract within Dickon Hall Foods. Excluding this contract loss, group revenue increased by 2.7% during the period. Reported revenue growth was driven by price and mix improvements of 4.5%, offset by volume declines of 3.8%. The volume decline was primarily attributable to a number of extraordinary items, namely the Dickon Hall Foods contract loss, reduced raw milk sales within dairy and increased bulk tea sales within dry condiments. Excluding these items, underlying group volumes increased by 1.1%, reflecting positive growth across the underlying portfolio. The group's gross profit margin decreased by 0.7 percentage points from 22.2% to 21.5%, with the improvement in perishable products more than offset by weaker margin performance in ambient products. Capital items include impairments, gains and losses on the disposal of property, plant and equipment and insurance proceeds. Capital items amounted to an expense of ZAR 33.2 million compared with an expense of ZAR 12.3 million in H1 of 2025. The current period includes the impairment of plant and equipment of ZAR 19.5 million in Contactim, a loss on the scrapping of plant and equipment of ZAR 11 million, primarily in Dickon Hall Foods for assets not transferring to the new mega sauce facility and the impairment of 3 customer contracts of ZAR 2.9 million in Cape Herb & Spice on the exit from the bulk tea subcategory. Group operating expenses increased by 4.3% to ZAR 1.09 billion, with the operating expense margin increasing from 18.1% to 18.8%. The increase was primarily driven by higher selling and distribution costs, reflecting increased petroleum-linked input costs as well as elevated retrenchment costs associated with the integration of the Dickon Hall Foods site into the new Montagu Foods facility. Excluding these items, operating expenses increased by only 0.3% on the prior year, demonstrating disciplined cost management and a well-controlled expense base. Normalized operating profit decreased by 10.9% to ZAR 273 million, with the margin reducing from 5.3% to 4.7%. Normalized EBITDA decreased by 4.3% to ZAR 453.2 million, with the EBITDA margin reducing from 8.2% to 7.8%. Net finance costs decreased by 22.4% to ZAR 77.1 million due to lower average debt levels and a marginal decrease in the average lending rate. The effective tax rate was 27.2% compared with 29.5% in the prior period, resulting in income tax of ZAR 19.4 million. Moving to the balance sheet and firstly, to net working capital, which is shown for continuing operations across all periods for comparability. Net working capital increased by 1 day to 71 days at the 30th of June 2026. As a percentage of revenue, this remained flat at 18.2% within the short-term guidance of below 18.5% from the Capital Markets Day. Inventory days reduced by 10 days, driven by the normalization of milk supply in dairy and the exit from the bulk tea subcategory within dry condiments. However, given the long-standing nature of these historically elevated inventory levels, the benefit of the inventory reduction was more than offset by the 13-day reduction in trade creditors. Moving to the right-hand side of the slide. Total capital expenditure increased by 73.6% to ZAR 145.3 million, representing 2.5% of revenue and in line with our expectations as guided in our Capital Markets Day. Capital projects included ZAR 51.1 million invested in capacity-enhancing projects, consisting of ZAR 20.7 million in warehouse equipment at our dairy operations in George, ZAR 16.1 million invested in property earmarked for future expansion, ZAR 10.1 million in facility upgrades to maintain and enhance operating capacity in the value-added meat subcategory. Additionally, ZAR 46.5 million was invested in replacement and major maintenance projects and ZAR 47.7 million was invested in quality and improvement projects. The group's key financial ratios continued their positive trajectory during the period. Gearing improved from 1.3x to 1.2x. Interest cover improved from 5.8x to 8.7x and return on invested capital increased from 9.3% to 10.3%. These improvements reflect continued financial discipline and a strong balance sheet position while providing the group with the flexibility to continue investing in growth opportunities and returning capital to shareholders. Cash conversion was 70% compared with 107% in H1 of 2025. While lower than the comparative period, cash conversion remains above the group's target of greater than 65%. The decline was primarily driven by increased investment in working capital during the period, particularly the movement in creditor days discussed earlier. Importantly, cash generation remained robust and comfortably within the group's target range. This slide summarizes our performance against the group's medium-term financial priorities, which were outlined at our Capital Markets Day earlier this year. The medium-term period covers 18 to 36 months from the 2025 financial base year. These metrics represent the key elements by which we measure the success of our strategic execution. At a group level, EBITDA margin was 7.8% for the first half compared to our medium-term target range of 9% to 10%. As discussed at the Capital Markets Day, our earnings profile remains weighted towards the second half of the year, and we expect margins to improve as we progress through the remainder of 2026. This same seasonality applies to both ambient and perishable products, which reported EBITDA margins of 10% and 7.1%, respectively, during the period. Return on invested capital improved to 10.3%, continuing the positive trajectory achieved over the past few reporting periods. We expect further improvement during the second half, although the achievement of our medium-term ROIC target will ultimately depend on the successful execution and returns generated from the group's capital investment program. Cash conversion was 70%, lower than the comparative periods as a result of increased working capital investment, but comfortably above the group's short-term target of greater than 65%. The group has historically achieved cash conversion in excess of 80% and remains focused on returning to these levels over the medium term. Gearing remains well controlled at 1.2x, comfortably within our medium-term target of below 1.5x. While the target range provides capacity to support future capital investment, the group expects to remain below this threshold. Net working capital of 18.2% of revenue remained within our short-term operating target of below 18.5%, while capital expenditure of 2.5% of revenue was at the lower end of our medium-term target range with investment expected to increase further during the second half. Overall, the group continues to make progress against its medium-term financial objectives, supported by improving returns, a strong balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation. Financial strength and disciplined execution support confidence in Libstar's outlook and future trajectory. I will now hand over to Cornel to take us through the category performance.

Thank you, Terri. Good morning, everyone. I will take you through the performance of our 2 super categories, starting with ambient products, followed by perishable products. Ambient products delivered a mixed first half performance with strong execution in certain businesses, offset by pressure in others. Select products performed well, supported by the recovery in snacking and continued growth in Food Service channels. Improved commercial and operational execution contributed to the result. In wet condiments, Montagu Foods and Retailer Brands achieved strong gains across their core product lines, supported by improved manufacturing efficiency. However, the loss of a key contract at Dickon Hall Foods, together with disruption and cost under-recoveries associated with the business closure, weighed on overall results. Our mega sauce facility and the integration of Dickon Hall into Montagu Foods are now complete. Focus has shifted to improving operations, customer service levels, efficiency and profitability. Dry condiments achieved double-digit growth in the Cape Herb & Spice brand. This was offset by lower private label exports to Japan and Australia as well as the stronger rand's impact on export competitiveness and margins. The site consolidation project remains on track with meaningful cost benefits expected from mid-2027. Baking also improved, supported by continued Food Services growth and steady demand across core categories. In summary, the pressure in Ambient was concentrated in export and the temporary effects of the Dickon Hall integration. Actions to address these areas are already underway and remain on track. Ambient products contributed 50% of group revenue. Revenue declined by 0.9% to ZAR 2.9 billion. On an adjusted basis, volumes were broadly stable, declining by 0.1%, while price and mix declined by 0.8%. By channel, retail and wholesale grew by 5.7%, while Food Service increased by 8.9%. This is encouraging and reflects continued progress in our priority growth channels. This growth was offset by weaker performance in exports, which declined by 11% and industrial and contract manufacturing, which declined by 22.2%. Gross profit margin declined by 1.7 percentage points to 25%. Normalized EBITDA decreased by 15.2% to ZAR 291.7 million. EBITDA margin reduced to 10% and RONA declined to 16.2%. It's worth noting that the category RONA calculation has been updated to exclude IFRS 16. This removes the effect of lease agreement cycles on net assets. Our immediate priorities are to optimize the integrated Montagu Foods mega sauce factory and complete the Cape Herb & Spice consolidation. Turning to the individual subcategories. Select products delivered a solid performance. Revenue increased by 7.9% and EBITDA by 7.2%. This reflects the continued improvement in the business following the commercial and operational actions implemented over the past year. Wet condiments had a more challenging first half. Revenue declined by 13.2% and EBITDA by 45.3%. This reflects the Dickon Hall contract loss and the closure. Dry condiments revenue declined by 1.4% and EBITDA by 25.5%, reflecting the export and currency pressures, as mentioned earlier. Growth in the Cape Herb & Spice brand was a positive feature in this result. Baking revenue increased by 7.5% and EBITDA by 6.2%. Turning now to perishable products. The category delivered improved margin performance, which led to earnings growth with positive contributions across its subcategories. Dairy was the largest contributor to improved profitability. The category benefited from favorable demand across hard cheese, soft cheese and yogurt subcategories. Lancewood's brand performance, disciplined pricing and various cost-saving initiatives supported margin expansion. Value-added meats delivered solid growth, supported by continued demand for value-added chicken products. We are reviewing manufacturing capacity to ensure that the business is well positioned to capture future growth opportunities in the demand for chicken. Convenience meals grew revenue, supported by the Dine-In brand and demand in the fresh subcategory. The business continued to invest in its brands and customer offerings during the period. Perishable products contributed 48% of group revenue and delivered a strong first half result. Revenue increased by 2.5% to ZAR 2.8 billion, supported by adjusted volume growth of 2.6%. Price and mix were broadly stable. By channel, Food Service was once again the standout performer, growing 12.3%, while retail and wholesale increased by 0.9%. This growth was partly offset by declines of 4.9% in exports and 9.1% in industrial and contract manufacturing. Gross profit margin increased by 0.4 percentage points to 17.3%. Normalized EBITDA grew by 13.5% to ZAR 198.4 million. This lifted the EBITDA margin by 0.7 percentage points to 7.1%, while RONA rose to 12.2%. Looking at the individual subcategories. Dairy delivered an excellent earnings performance, although revenue declined slightly by 0.5%. EBITDA increased by 17.8%, reflecting an improved sales mix and strong margin performance. Revenue trends improved meaningfully in Q2, reflecting better momentum as the quarter progressed. Value-added meats performed well. Revenue increased by 9.4% and EBITDA by 8.6% despite existing capacity constraints. The performance reinforces the reason for the capacity review currently underway. Convenience meals grew revenue by 2.9% with outperformance in the fresh subcategory. EBITDA declined by 16.1%, largely due to the timing of brand and promotional investment. Looking ahead, our focus remains on strengthening category leadership, growing higher return channels, protecting margins, simplifying operations and maintaining disciplined capital allocation. With that, I will hand back to Charl, who will take us through the group outlook and the opportunities ahead. Thank you.

Thank you, Cornel. The category review highlights the strength and balance of our portfolio. Perishables delivered strong profitable growth, while the challenges in ambient super category were concentrated in areas where targeted initiatives are already underway. It was also encouraging to see improved results from the snacking and baking subcategories. As we look ahead, our immediate focus is on building on the progress achieved during the second quarter and delivering against the priorities within our control. Let me now take you through our outlook for the remainder of 2026. Post-period trading improved relative to the first half, building on the momentum achieved during the second quarter. While performance benefited from additional trading days, the improving trend is encouraging as we entered the seasonally stronger second half. Consumer demand, however, remains subdued with low category inflation and continued cost pressures. We are, therefore, maintaining a measured near-term outlook and remain focused on disciplined pricing, operational efficiency and customer execution. At the same time, the initiatives shown on the right of the slide continue to advance, including the Montagu Foods integration, the Cape Herb & Spice consolidation and the ongoing optimization of our portfolio. While the operating environment remains challenging, our priorities remain unchanged. The improving trading trend and continued delivery against our strategic road map gives us confidence in the direction of the business and future prospects, which is underpinned by our simplification, growth and sustainability strategy. Beyond the immediate outlook, our focus is on strengthening the quality and returns profile of the business over the medium term. This is supported by 3 connected drivers of value creation. First, growth investments and portfolio optimization. The returns profiles of the Montagu Foods and Cape Herb & Spice projects remain intact with both projects expected to support margin recovery and improved performance. We are also evaluating further high-return opportunities, including the manufacturing capacity review in value-added meats. Alongside this, we are increasing our exposure to higher growth channels, innovation-led categories and own branded exports, while reducing our exposure to lower return commoditized and noncore activities. Second, operational excellence and improved returns. Procurement savings, manufacturing efficiencies and our One Libstar initiatives are strengthening our competitiveness. We remain focused on cash generation, capital productivity and improving return on invested capital with capital directed towards projects that enhance earnings quality and support sustainable growth. Third, disciplined capital allocation. Our ROIC-led investment criteria remains central to our decision-making. Asset disposals and disciplined debt management support the strength of our balance sheet while preserving flexibility for growth investment, dividends and share buybacks. This is the road map we presented at our Capital Markets Day. Our focus now is on consistent delivery and converting these initiatives into stronger earnings quality, cash generation and returns. The first half was challenging, but it also reinforced the underlying strength of Libstar and the importance of the actions we are taking across the group. We remain committed to our priorities and excited about Libstar's future. With a clear strategy and consistent direction, we are focused on delivering today while building a stronger Libstar for tomorrow. That concludes our presentation. Please remain online while we take a short break before the Q&A session. [Break]

Good morning, everyone. We will now open the session for questions. While we wait for some questions to come through, I think I will like to ask Charl maybe just to give us a little bit more detail on the benefits of -- or financial benefits on those 2 key projects that were covered in the presentation. If you can just maybe share some more detail on that for us.

Sure. It's going to be a slight repetition of the Capital Markets Day detail. But essentially, our Montagu Foods integration of Dickon Hall Foods into Montagu Foods, that project, excluding landlord contributions and the lease, which is replacing another lease, our total capital investment there is roughly ZAR 56 million, and we are targeting a 2- to 3-year payback on that investment. The Cape Herb & Spice consolidation, that will come online mid of next year. Our benefits there are between ZAR 12 million and ZAR 22 million next year, and that depends on our ability to exit existing leases. So it would end up on the higher end should we be able to exit leases sooner than originally anticipated, but a minimum benefit of ZAR 12 million next year in terms of bottom line.

Thank you, Charl. We've got 1 or 2 questions already. The first one is from Stephane. Could you elaborate on the loss of the Dickon Hall Foods contract? For how long did Libstar have this contract? And why was it lost?

Sure. So Dickon Hall Foods has been predominantly since its acquisition in 2006, it has been a contract manufacturer predominantly. The contract that is currently the subject of this discussion is a contract manufacturing arrangement to manufacture Mrs. Ball's Chutney for Tiger Brands. That agreement has been in place for many years, but a strategic decision was made by Tiger to in-house the production. Importantly, now that the facility of Dickon Hall Foods is integrated into Montagu Foods, it reduces the -- or it improves the basket mix between retail and wholesale, export, Food Service and contract manufacturing that we don't have these shocks if there are changes in contract manufacturing arrangements.

Thank you, Charl. We've got a question for Cornel from Dirk. Congratulations on your appointment to Chief Operating Officer. Where do you see the largest profit-enhancing opportunities within the group? I think I'll let you answer that one first, and then there's a second question as well.