Cranswick H2 2026 Earnings Report

Cranswick EPS Results

• Actual EPS: GBX 301.70
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Cranswick Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $2.98 billion
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Cranswick Announcement Details

• Quarter: H2 2026
• Date: 5/19/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 5:00AM ET

Cranswick (LON:CWK) is a leading and innovative supplier of premium, fresh and added-value food products with revenues of more than £2.7 billion. The business employs over 15,400 people and operates from 23 well-invested, highly efficient facilities in the UK. Cranswick was formed in the early 1970s by farmers in East Yorkshire to produce animal feed and has since evolved into a business which produces a range of high-quality, predominantly fresh food, including fresh pork, poultry, convenience, gourmet products and pet food. The business develops innovative, great tasting food products to the highest standards of food safety and traceability. The Group supplies the major grocery multiples as well as the growing premium and discounter retail channels. Cranswick also has a strong presence in the ‘food-to-go’ sector and a substantial export business. For more information go to: www.cranswick.plc.uk At Cranswick, it is second nature for us to protect and nurture our environment while supporting people and communities to thrive. Guided by our sustainability strategy, Second Nature, we have seamlessly integrated our sustainability commitments into the core of our business model, which in turn shapes our decision-making, culture, and actions. For more information on our Second Nature strategy, please visit: www.cranswick.plc.uk/sustainability

Cranswick H2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: The company reported a strong FY2026, with revenue up 9.5%, adjusted profit before tax up 11.2%, and adjusted EPS up 10.4%, all driven by continued volume growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted operating margin improved to 7.9%, supported by capacity utilization, automation, poultry farming performance, and tight cost control. Management also highlighted record free cash flow of GBP 268.4 million.
• Positive Sentiment: The board proposed a 12.5% increase in the final dividend, extending the company’s record of 36 consecutive years of dividend growth. The full-year dividend rose 11.4%.
• Positive Sentiment: Cranswick announced a GBP 56 million investment to expand its Eye poultry facility, lifting capacity by 25% by summer 2027. The company said the site will eventually process more than double the birds originally planned in 2019.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commercial momentum remained broad-based, with poultry revenue up 13.9%, gourmet revenue up 15.3%, and pet products revenue up 29.8%, while management noted a volatile input-cost backdrop and ongoing inflation pressure.

Presentation

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Yeah, morning everybody, welcome to our 2026 results presentation. I'm delighted to welcome you all here today in another hall this time, at Butcher's Hall. Alongside myself is Mark, Jim, when he gets his water down here, also several more members of our Senior Leadership team, which most of you will be familiar with. Please grab hold of them at the end of the presentation if there's any burning questions, there's the three of us here as well. Hopefully we'll be able to cover any questions that you may have after the formal presentation's been completed.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

If you can just turn your attention to the agenda to begin with, I'm gonna comment on the progress throughout the year, Mark, as usual, on the financials, and then Jim will give you his usual incisive information regarding the commercial environment that we're facing into, and then we'll open it up to Q&As at the end of that procedure. First of all, turning to page three on the agenda. This is a slide we dwell on quite a lot, and now having entered our 36th year of unbroken dividend growth, one that we want to continue to dwell upon, hopefully for some years to come. On page four, on the highlights, we've delivered a strong strategic year of growth and financial progress.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

This reflects the proven business model that you'll be familiar with, and the disciplined execution of the long-term priorities. We've increased revenue by 9.5%. This has been underpinned by volume growth of more than 8%. In the U.K. food business, this was complemented by a record Christmas trading period that delivered revenue growth across all our product categories. Adjusted operating margin increased to 7.9%, reflecting a strong contribution, particularly from the poultry farming operations, investment in our automation, excellent capacity utilization, and tight cost control. Investment across the asset base has continued at record levels, with GBP 163 million spent throughout the financial year. We continue to deploy capital at record rates while still maintaining the ROCE at 18.5%.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Just flicking onto the next slide, we've achieved these results through very strong operational performance, which is very much a signature of ours. This reflects the enduring strength of the customer relationships that we have, the quality and scale of the asset base, and the increasing competitive advantage of the vertically integrated supply chain that we operate. All this is complemented by the sheer quality of our colleagues across the business. Across our core categories, demand for the products remain strong. We're in two of the most versatile and value-driven proteins in the marketplace. This is supported by close alignment with our strategic retail partners and an unrelenting focus on the quality, service, and innovation. We're announcing today two key developments for our poultry processing business. The first one is the extended relationship that we have grown with Morrisons. This is now a 10-year agreement.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

This covers our facility at Eye. It also covers our two value-added facilities in Hull, and that's been complemented by investment that's been completed in those two sites over the last year as well. Secondly, and most importantly, we're now committing to a further GBP 56 million investment at the existing facility in Eye. This will lift capacity by a further 25% by the summer of next year, and once complete, we will have the capacity to process double the number of birds that were originally envisaged back in 2019. I'll come back to that later on in the presentation. I've already mentioned the record GBP 163 million investment across the business. This included within this is a significant progress on a major pipeline of product in capital projects undertaken.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

During the year, we completed the GBP 30 million expansion of the two added value facilities and GBP 27 million at our Worsley facility near Manchester on hummus and fit-out of that facility. The GBP 100 million investment in our flagship Hull pork primary processing site is progressing to plan with a highly automated on-site cold store facility now fully operational, and we spent GBP 40 million across our farming and feed milling operations to expand and strengthen our vertically integrated supply chain. Both the Blakemans and the JSR Genetics businesses continue to perform ahead of our initial expectations, and I'll cover the benefits of these acquisitions in more detail later in the presentation. As we enter the new financial year, I'm encouraged by the continued development of the business and the robust demand for the product ranges.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Trading in the early part of the current financial year has been in line with expectations. I'll now hand over to Mark. Jim will cover Mark afterwards. Mark will cover the financial details in more detail. Thank you.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

Good morning, everybody. Thanks, Adam. I'll now take you through the group's FY 2026 financial performance and how we've effectively allocated and deployed capital over the last 12 months. Starting on page seven of the slide deck, FY 2026 was another year of strong volume-led growth with record results and further strategic progress across the group. Revenue increased by 9.5%, adjusted profit before tax rose by 11.2%, and adjusted earnings per share and dividends per share were ahead by 10.4% and 11.4% respectively. Cash generation remains a clear strength with free cash flow of GBP 268.4 million, up 25.7% year-on-year. Consequently, net debt, excluding leases, increased by only GBP 25.3 million in the year, despite record CapEx of GBP 163.4 million and GBP 32.1 million of cash deployed on M&A. Turning to page eight and looking at the financials in a little bit more detail.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

As I mentioned, reported revenue increased by 9.5% to GBP 2,982.5 million, with like-for-like growth of 6.8% reflecting continued strong volume momentum across the Group. Adjusted operating profit increased by 14.5% to GBP 237 million, with adjusted operating margin strengthening to 7.9%, up 35 basis points year-on-year and well ahead of our medium-term target. Adjusted profit before tax of GBP 220 million was 11.2% ahead of the prior year, reflecting strong operational delivery and continued discipline across the business. Adjusted EPS increased by 10.4% to GBP 3.017, driven by growth in adjusted profit before tax, partly offset by a modestly higher adjusted tax rate.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

We are proposing to increase the final dividend by 12.5% to GBP 0.855 per share. This, together with the interim dividend of GBP 0.27 per share, gives a full year dividend of GBP 1.125, and that's up 11.4% year-on-year and as Adam mentioned, extends our record of consecutive annual dividend growth to 36 years. Return on capital employed was maintained at 18.5%, demonstrating our ability to deploy capital at scale while sustaining attractive returns. Turning now to the revenue bridge on page nine and looking at that in more detail. Our reported revenue growth of 9.5% was underpinned by strong volume performance. UK food volumes increased by 8.3%, supported by new business wins and another record Christmas trading period.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

In fact, U.K. food volumes accelerated from 7% in H1 to 9.5% in H2. Growth was broad-based with both volume and value expansion across all product categories. Jim will come back to category performance in more detail, but there are three points I'll just highlight here. Poultry revenue increased by 13.9%, with strong performance across fresh, prepared, and cooked poultry, reinforcing the category's strategic importance to the group. Gourmet revenue was up 15.3%, reflecting both strong consumer demand for premium added value ranges and the positive contribution from Blakemans, which has broadened our offer, expanded customer reach, and generated cost synergies. Finally, Pet Products revenue grew by 29.8%, reflecting the successful expansion of the Pets at Home relationship, improved sales mix, and continued development into an adjacent growth category.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

From sales, looking at margin on page 10. Targeted capital deployment and operational execution have continued to drive margin progression across each of our key metrics, with margin improvement now delivered for five consecutive half-year periods. Compared to H2 FY 2025, gross margin increased by 62 basis points to 16.2%. EBITDA margin increased by 73 basis points to 11.6%. Operating margin was 49 basis points higher at 8.2%. This sustained margin progression reflects structural and operational strengths across the business, including the strong contribution from our integrated pig and poultry supply chains, strategic acquisitions, capital investment, excellent capacity utilization, and of course, disciplined cost control. Moving on to page 11 and looking at our cash flow, we delivered strong free cash flow with record investment.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

Net debt increased by GBP 68.4 million to GBP 240.8 million, including lease liabilities of GBP 175.8 million. Strong EBITDA-related inflows of GBP 336.4 million were absorbed by investment in working capital and biological assets of GBP 26 million, including investment in long-term strategic partnerships. Tax paid of GBP 47.3 million, which was GBP 5.8 million higher than FY 2025, reflecting the step change in profit. Record net investment of GBP 194 million across CapEx and acquisitions, which I'll come back to later in the presentation. Dividends of GBP 55.1 million, up GBP 5.6 million year-on-year, reflecting the increase in the FY 2025 final and FY 2026 interim dividends.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

Employee benefit trust share purchases were GBP 22.1 million, and we made lease payments of GBP 26.5 million. Lease liabilities increased by GBP 43.1 million, primarily to support growth in fresh poultry as we transitioned to lower stocking densities and continue to add capacity. Importantly, we retained an investment-grade balance sheet throughout this period of our elevated investment program, with net debt excluding lease liabilities of just 0.2x EBITDA, preserving substantial financial flexibility. Looking at cash generation over the long term on slide 12. Our cash generation has been consistently strong over the long term, with nearly GBP 1.4 billion of free cash flow generated over the last eight years. That cash flow has been allocated in a disciplined manner, balancing reinvestment, value-accretive acquisitions, and shareholder returns.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

We've reinvested more than GBP 800 million in CapEx, capital expenditure and over GBP 200 million in acquisitions, strengthening the business and extending our competitive advantage. We've also returned nearly GBP 300 million to shareholders through our progressive dividend policy. On the right-hand side of that slide, you can see that following a successful refinancing process earlier in the financial year, we now have a GBP 360 million revolving credit facility through to July 2029, with the option to extend for a further two years and to access a further GBP 90 million on the same terms. This gives us substantial headroom to support our growth strategy. As I mentioned, coming back to CapEx and looking at that in more detail, on slide 13, we invested a record GBP 163 million across our asset base in FY 2026.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

In line with our framework of investing around 50% of EBITDA to support capacity expansion, efficiency improvement, and long-term growth. This included GBP 40 million in farming and GBP 123 million across our industry-leading operating asset base. As Adam mentioned, we're announcing today a new GBP 56 million commitment at our fresh poultry facility in Eye to increase capacity by a further 25% by summer 2027. Again, Adam will come back and comment on this in more detail in a moment or two. We also made significant progress across our pipeline of earnings enhancing capital projects. Highlights on this slide include the GBP 100 million multi-phase expansion of our Hull fresh pork primary processing facility, which is progressing well and will substantially increase site capacity alongside a newly highly automated on-site cold store, which is now fully operational.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

Completion of the GBP 30 million expansion of the two value-added poultry sites, and that GBP 27 million fit out of the hummus and dips facility in Worsley. Turning now to slide 14 and looking at return on capital. Return on capital was maintained at 18.5% for a third consecutive year and ahead of our long-term average, despite a GBP 283 million increase in average capital employed over that three-year period. This reflects a proven track record of disciplined capital deployment while sustaining attractive returns and remains a core part of our investment case. Turning to slide 15. This slide provides a useful reminder of how our guiding principles, strategic enablers, and established growth strategy combine to create value.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

We continue to execute consistently against this model, and in FY 2026 again delivered ahead of each of our medium-term targets, reinforcing our long-term value creation credentials. Turning now to slide 16. It is a busy slide, but I'll just pick out a couple of points here. This chart illustrates the strength of our business model and strategy, and how they continue to support sustainable long-term compounding growth. Over the last five years, we've delivered 9.5% compound annual revenue growth and improved operating margin by almost 100 basis points. Consistently strong cash generation has enabled us to invest at pace in our asset base and in targeted M&A, including this year, Blakemans and the Fridaythorpe feed mill. We've sustained a return on capital employed in the high teens well ahead of our weighted average cost of capital.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

The resilience of our business model has been proven repeatedly, supporting continued investment, strong cash generation, and that 36-consecutive year of dividend growth. These strengths, underpinned by this resilient business model and our industry-leading asset base, continue to differentiate Cranswick and position the group well for further development in the current year and beyond. Turning to page 17 and looking at our capital allocation framework. Our resilient business model is supported by a clear and disciplined capital allocation framework, which remains central to long-term value creation. As a reminder we will continue to invest in the business to support our growth strategy with medium-term CapEx guidance of around 50% of EBITDA to add capacity, capability, and automation. In FY 2026, we invested GBP 163 million, and we continue to see a strong forward pipeline.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

We will continue to pursue complementary bolt-on M&A with returns ahead of group WACC. During the year, this included, as I mentioned, the GBP 32 million acquisition of Blakemans and the purchase of the Fridaythorpe feed mill. We will maintain a progressive dividend policy with cover of at least 2.5x. In FY 2026, that cover extended to 2.7x despite that 11.4% increase in the dividend. We will maintain an investment-grade balance sheet with targeted leverage, excluding leases, of less than 2x EBITDA. To summarize, we delivered revenue growth of 9.5% with U.K. food volumes of 8.3%, adjusted profit before tax up 11.2%, and adjusted earnings per share up 10.4%.

[Mark Bottomley, CFO at Cranswick]

Cash generation remains strong, and our balance sheet continues to provide substantial resilience and flexibility. We are investing at record levels across our asset base to expand capacity, enhance capability and drive efficiency gains, and of course, we're continuing to increase our dividend. Our business model remains robust, cash generative and disciplined in its deployment of capital, positioning the group to continue delivering sustainable growth and attractive returns to shareholders over the long term. I'll now hand you over to Jim, who will talk you through the commercial performance in more detail.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Thank you, Mark, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. In the usual format, I'm gonna focus on the commercial developments of the group, looking at the broader market context before outlining our progress in 2025-2026, and then concluding with the outlook for the current financial year. Just moving on to the slide of the retail and consumer trends. The U.K. retail market obviously remains extremely competitive. The key point I would point to is where fresh and chilled growth is actually running at 5.7%, so considerably ahead of the read on total grocery. The growth in the recent year has been led by Sainsbury's and Tesco, up 7.4% and 7.3% respectively. Very much leading the charge for the larger format retailers.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

This has been at the expense of Asda, where we're continuing to see decline down 2.4%. Morrisons actually growing at 2.8%, but behind the market and therefore losing share. M&S are continuing their growth, very much fueled by their premium focus, but also by products kind of going viral and appealing to that younger TikTok generation. The discounters, of course, remain a really important part of the market landscape. Lidl leading the charge here, up 13.2%, the fastest grower of all retailers, and Aldi up 7%. Once again, returning to growth following a period of underlying volume decline. I think when you look at this chart reflecting on, it's worthy of note that Aldi is now bigger than Asda, and actually M&S in food isn't far behind Morrisons.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Quite a far cry from the old days of the Big Four. I think it'd be quite interesting how this chart looks in a year or maybe two years' time. I think it could be rather different. From a category perspective, protein is central to the consumer diet, pork has actually been the standout performer. Pork's now the fastest growing protein, leveraging its value credentials, sales of pork mince are actually up 31% year-on-year as it's substituted for beef mince at literally twice the price. Chicken growth, of course, continues to increase with its affordability and health credentials. If you look at overall beef demand, you know, it remains there, but price inflation has really started to affect accessibility for many households, impacting volumes there down 8.9%.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

These are some pretty stark figures that we wouldn't be used to. Clearly no growth coming from meat substitutes with volumes in significant retreat with the ultra-processed connotations, poor health, poor taste, and also expensive. Volumes are holding up well, though, overall in the marketplace, and meat consumption continues to grow as that key source of protein in a healthy diet that I mentioned. Moving over the page, and obviously, inflation and price flows have once again been key. Over the last financial year, this has been very much about the continued rise in increases in both living wage and national insurance cost very much weighing down on employers. We did successfully manage these headwinds through our open book structured price mechanisms that we have in place with all our key customers.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Really, this disciplined and transparent approach allows us to recover cost inflation and keep our margins stable. Looking on to this year, I think we're once again in a year of volatility with input costs. We certainly see this as an ongoing feature of our market. Pig price has actually been reducing in the U.K. Now showing one of the larger gaps to the EU pig price. There are actually a lot of pigs available right now in the U.K. marketplace due in some part to productivity gains, but also some quiet expansion of the herd by independent producers. This will be leading to some excess pigs in the market over the next year. Feed prices were actually reducing. They're starting to tick up again post the conflict in the Middle East.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

That conflict is, of course, impacting the current year, mainly at the minute in the impact on fuel prices. Packaging prices are about to move up imminently. Of course, we're seeing those elevated fertilizer prices as well, likely to lead to impact on base agri commodities further in the future. We're tracking all the impacts of this closely and in consultation with our key retailer partners on a weekly basis, so we have a strong level of confidence of managing these and getting them through at the next model reset.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

The other point with this, when you look at the overall affordability despite the inflationary pressures, is that pork and chicken prices have inflated way behind all other proteins, so it compounds that proposition of pork being the best value proposition in the protein categories. Moving on the page and in terms of our commercial performance for last year. Pork sales were up 3% year-on-year. Retail sales very much driving the growth, particularly with that performance in Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S. The overall volume actually was up 5%, reflecting that reduction in pig and feed prices year-on-year. Sales in convenience were up 7.3%, with volume up 1.8%, reflecting a change in product mix and towards more premium and value-added ranges. We had an excellent performance in the gourmet business, up 15.3%.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Again, the premium ranges outperforming, coupled with that integration of the Blakemans sales ledger into the group. Sausage and bacon, within that did particularly well, with volumes at record levels over that key festive trading period. Our poultry business up 13.9% with increased numbers processed at Eye, up to peaking at 1.6 million birds a week, but also new value-added ready-to-eat chicken volumes with a premium retailer. At Cranswick Pet Products, sales were up 29.8%, reflecting a better quality sales and price value mix as we delivered the first year, or the first full year I should say, of our initial Pets at Home volume, and we've recently actually onboarded their AVA range which now gives us sole supply of the dry kibble range across dog and cat food. From a channel perspective, retail sales were up 9%, ahead of group and ahead of market.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Even as our biggest channel, it's taken an ever-increasing share of our group revenue. Manufacturing sales actually in line, up 9%. Food service has been a challenging market, but our sales grew by 35% onboarding the Blakemans acquisition, while also actually being aligned to the best performing of the out-of-home brands which has actually protected the downside from that point of view. Export sales declined by 1%, reflecting lower prices, particularly in China, due to global supply of pig meat. Moving over onto page five of innovation. Obviously one of my favorite slides, but really this is a key driver of our growth, closely aligned to some of these evolving consumer trends and that desire for better, healthier and more convenient foods. Therefore, healthy, protein-rich and minimally processed product ranges are absolutely at the forefront of our product development plans.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

One to call out would be our M&S Just 6 Ingredients sausages range. They've been a standout success and really demonstrate our ability to lead in this space. This is a range that kind of went viral on TikTok, the six ingredients sausages. They've now become the top-selling sausages in the M&S range. They're only containing store-cupboard ingredients, no preservatives and no additives. In a similar vein, we actually removed all the ultra-processed ingredients from M&S' roast poultry range as we onboarded that volume in the summer of last year. We've just launched ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat versions of the Just 6 Dinky Sausages, again with UPF-free ingredients completely removed. I think you can expect more and more innovation from us in this kind of space.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Moving on to premium, of course premium's a huge part of our strategy and really that continued expansion we've done of premium and chef-led ranges across our range with our retail partners. These ranges are resonating really strongly with consumers seeking higher quality restaurant-style experiences in the home. An example of that would be Tesco Finest Chef's Collection range which showcased how far we can actually push the boundaries of quality within our sous vide center of plate meals to deliver a true chef's quality. Our M&S Tom Kerridge beef Wellingtons for customer food to order again spiked media attention over Christmas, and we worked with him on products such as also a Korean rib rack and a Tom Kerridge Steak and Kidney Pie from Yorkshire Baker.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Super premium sausages and bacon really focusing on making the very best product we can with the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Discovery Collection sausages and the Tesco Finest Woodall's Signature bacon pushing the boundaries of quality in this space. Our new premium hummus and dips ranges highlight our authentic and premium production methodology, completely differentiating us from the competition. That Picky bits moment is not just about picnicking though, it also stretches into hot eating and sharing occasions in our meze and tapas ranges from the continental business. Onto convenience, we're capitalizing on some of these changing eating occasions, particularly the growth of sharing and grazing formats. You know, that Picky bits I just mentioned a second ago. Mediterranean-inspired dishes and convenient premium meal solutions are all areas where we continue to innovate and grow. One example might be our halloumi kebabs.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

We're already actually the U.K.'s largest importer of halloumi in the U.K., but we're now looking to add value to these, such as the new Fire Pit range in Tesco for halloumi kebabs. Mediterranean grazing with convenient platter formats also helps customers discover these new combinations even when they're on the go. Things like the Taste the Difference snack platters I've got there or the Tesco Finest caprese platter with Sicilian Nocellara olives, marinated Sicilian cherry tomatoes and mozzarella pearls, along with bruschetta bites. Examples of all these ranges, as always, are available at the back of the room. Really, I think these now highlight the broad product range that the Cranswick Group has to offer. Now very much a value-added food producer operating over many exciting growth categories. Moving on to page 22 and the commercial outlook.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

You know, we're looking at a place where all categories are well set up for growth. The outlook for this financial year looks positive, with growth opportunities across all product areas based on that strategy of building on long-term consumer partnerships and leading innovation with iconic and differentiated product ranges. In terms of pig meat, you know, the volume from the Sainsbury's 10-year deal has now been onboarded successfully, and we look forward to growing this volume with them in partnership going forward. We are driving innovation and further premiumization in pig meat and those healthy value-added ranges. We've also managed to secure some retail frozen volume with two retailers post the acquisition of Blakemans with that new capability for retail-ready frozen sausages as we integrate that business into the wider group.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

In poultry, we've onboarded some new premium breaded chicken lines over recent times and have actually just been notified of a single significantly large ready-to-eat chicken order with the U.K.'s largest retailer, which we'll actually onboard in the autumn of this year. In Continental, the business continues to grow with that exceptional innovation pipeline and an ever-broadening product portfolio, as well as a new hummus facility now fully commissioned and delivering efficiencies. The pet business is well-placed to grow again with the award of sole supply contract for all of the dry pet food for Pets at Home, adding further volume to our 10-year partnership agreement. In summary, we've delivered another year of strong commercial progress. We've grown volumes, strengthened our customer partnerships, and continued to lead through innovation while maintaining margin discipline in a volatile and competitive environment.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

I remain confident in the outlook and in our strategy to deliver sustainable long-term growth. I'll now hand back to Adam for the operating and strategic review.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer at Cranswick]

Thank you.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Thank you, Jim. I'll just briefly recap on the strategy, on the update of the recent acquisitions and the further expansion of the Eye facility, and then quickly move on to Q&As. The growth strategy continues to build on the strengths of the business, as both Jim and Mark have alluded to. We continue to grow the cash-generative core range through the focus on quality, the affordability of the healthy proteins that we produce, and we continue to invest in the supply chain and across the asset base. We'll continue to diversify and strengthen the business through a focus on the innovation and complementary acquisitions that have become the hallmark of our growth and success. Over the last 10 years, we've delivered compound annual revenue growth in excess of 11%.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

Adjusted profits before tax, earnings per share, and dividend per share are all comfortably in excess of the 11% over that period. With a continued focus on the strategy of consolidation, expansion, and diversification, we're confident we'll continue to deliver strong and sustainable compound growth over the long term. Just briefly onto page 26, recap on the three recent additions to the Group as it demonstrate the successful onboarding and the delivery of this ambitious growth. The acquisition of JSR Genetics just over a year ago and the addition of dedicated pig genetics production has significantly enhanced the competitive advantage of our vertically and integrated supply chain. Seamless feedback from the downstream breeding, rearing, and processing operations and enhanced genetic selection is then driving the benefits across the farm productivity and product quality. This genetics is the leader in the marketplace by quite some distance.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

This drives the core business, enables innovation in the pork products, and it strengthens the customer partnerships that have become a hallmark again of what we do. With the Blakemans acquisition during the first half of the year, this is a well-invested manufacturer of raw and cooked sausage. This acquisition enables us to more effectively serve the identified white space in the food service sector where Blakemans is focused. By bringing this into the group and the business into the group along with the colleagues, we've unlocked significant procurement synergies for the business and strengthened the strategic customer relationships. Blakemans product range is in strong demand. It reflects very good value for money, and we've now secured its first-ever retail listing with a frozen range for one of our leading retail partners.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

We're investing in automated pigs in blankets production at the site to further enhance our capacity as we anticipate continued growth for these products continuing. Finally, the Fridaythorpe mill. The addition of this mill represents a step change in our feed milling operations. Alongside ongoing capacity expansion in the existing estate, Fridaythorpe significantly increases our self-sufficiency in pig feed milling. Through bringing this production capacity in-house and matching it with our demand, we can rationalize the ranges, rationalize the diets, maximize operating efficiencies, while also capturing margin in the supply chain. Just turning to page 27, as briefly mentioned, very pleased today to announce today that we're now committed to a further 25% increase in the fresh poultry capacity at our existing facility in Eye. This is a GBP 56 million investment.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

When we first commissioned the site, it was designed for a capacity of a million birds. By the end of 2027, we will increase this to over 2 million birds per week. This will be achieved through the addition of second processing line and a small expansion of the site footprint. This new investment supports our ambitious poultry plans, giving us significant headroom for growth. I would also highlight that we're continuing to make good progress on the search for a suitable second location. We have the balance sheet and the management resources available to deliver this project, and there are a number of sites that we hopefully are getting close to succeeding on. On page 28, over the last 12 months, we've delivered strong volume-led growth, strengthened our operating margin, and the recent acquisitions are performing ahead of expectations.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

We have a substantial capital investment pipeline, with major growth projects underway across our fresh and added value pork, poultry, Mediterranean food, and farming operations. Continue, as you will be aware, to deploy capital at pace across the business, generating strong associated returns and adding significant headroom for future growth. We've made a positive start to the new financial year with trading in early part of the year in line with expectations and robust demand for the product ranges continuing. Finally, before moving on to Q&A, just want to have a good shout-out to our colleagues. Our success is entirely down to the people that we employ within this business. They are quite amazing, and the success of this business is entirely down to them.

[Adam Couch, CEO at Cranswick]

The focus on the quality of the service and the operational excellence continues to distinguish and put a clear blue sky between ourselves and the competition. I'd like to thank them all for their outstanding contribution to the year. Thank you, everybody, for coming today. Really appreciate your attendance today. Thank you very much.

Participants

Executives

• Adam Couch, CEO
• Jim Brisby, Chief Commercial Officer
• Mark Bottomley, CFO