Genus H2 2026 Earnings Report

Genus EPS Results

• Actual EPS: GBX 110.30
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Genus Revenue Results

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

Genus Announcement Details

• Quarter: H2 2026
• Date: 9/10/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, September 10, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 4:00AM ET

Genus (LON:GNS) operates as an animal genetics company in North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Asia. The company operates through three segments: Genus PIC, Genus ABS, and Genus Research and Development. It sells breeding pigs and semen to breed pigs with various characteristics for pork production under the PIC brand. The company also sells bull semen and embryos to breed calves with various characteristics for milk and beef production under the ABS, Genus, and Bovec brands. In addition, it offers technical services to farmers. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Basingstoke, the United Kingdom.

Genus H2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: FY 2026 results were strong: adjusted profit before tax and adjusted EPS each rose 35%, while free cash flow increased to £62 million and leverage fell to 0.4x.
• Positive Sentiment: Genus announced a £60 million share buyback for FY 2027 and recommended a 10% increase in the full-year dividend to 35.2 pence per share, reflecting confidence in cash generation and future growth.
• Positive Sentiment: PIC delivered broad-based growth, including 52% royalty-revenue growth in China and market-share gains, while the new China joint venture is expected to support further expansion in the world’s largest porcine market.
• Positive Sentiment: PRP regulatory progress continued with approvals or favorable determinations in Argentina, Canada, Uruguay, and Peru; commercialization is now beginning in selected Latin American markets, although approvals in Mexico and China remain pending.
• Negative Sentiment: Management expects FY 2027 underlying adjusted profit before tax to be only moderately higher, with growth weighted toward the second half due to weak agricultural markets, North American disease pressures, lower Brazilian growth, depressed dairy conditions, and higher PRP and product-development costs.

Presentation

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Good morning, everybody. It is 9:00, so let's get started. Welcome to our presentation of the Genus FY 2026 results. My name is Jorgen Kokke, and I am Genus CEO. I am joined by Andy Russell, Genus CFO, and together, we will be taking you through our excellent results for FY 2026. This is the usual disclaimer. I would encourage you to read it separately. Let me start with a brief overview of Genus and the key highlights from the year. I will then hand over to Andy, who will take you through the financial results in more detail before I return to take you through our strategic progress. Before turning to the results, this is a slide as a brief reminder of what Genus does and the value we create for our customers and for society.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

The key takeaway is that our products improve farmer productivity and profitability while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of animal protein production. Turning now to the key highlights. FY 2026 was a year of excellent progress across the group. From a financial point of view, adjusted profit before tax and adjusted earnings per share both increased by 35%. We also generated GBP 62 million of free cash flow, substantially ahead of prior year. In relation to our novel PRP technology, in the year, we secured approvals or favorable determinations in Argentina, Canada, Uruguay, and Peru. We are also now beginning the process of commercializing PRP in selected Latin American countries. We also successfully formed our porcine joint venture in China. This platform, backed by a large state-owned entity, accelerates PIC's long-term growth opportunity in the world's largest porcine market, while also crystallizing significant value for Genus shareholders.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Our balance sheet has been materially strengthened through our strong free cash flow and from the proceeds of our China JV. In line with our capital allocation framework, we are therefore announcing a GBP 60 million share buyback, which we expect to be completed in FY 2027. The buyback reflects the group's strong balance sheet, the strong sustainable cash generation, and the board's confidence in the future growth prospects of the business. I am also pleased to report that the board is recommending a 10% increase in the full year dividend. Let me now hand over to Andy to take you through the financial results.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Thanks, Jorgen, and good morning, everyone. I will take you through the group's financial performance, the main drivers within PIC and ABS, our cash flow and balance sheet, and the implications of the PIC China joint venture for future comparability. Starting with the headline group financials, FY 2026 was a very strong year. Revenue was GBP 658.1 million, 2% lower in actual currency, primarily reflecting the deconsolidation of PIC China following formation of the joint venture. Adjusted profit for tax increased by 35% to GBP 100.2 million, and adjusted earnings per share also increased by 35% to 110.3 pence. These figures include the GBP 5.6 million milestone receipt from BCA that we recognized in the first half. Free cash flow increased to GBP 62 million, representing cash conversion of 94%. This reflects strong underlying trading, increased dividends from joint ventures, and lower exceptional cash payments.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Our balance sheet also strengthened substantially as a result of our very strong free cash flow and proceeds from the JV formation. Leverage reduced from 1.5 times at June 2025 to 0.4 times at June 2026. Our balance sheet strength gives us strategic optionality, and as Jorgen referenced earlier, having reviewed our capital allocation options, we have decided to return GBP 60 million of capital via a share buyback program. This is in addition to 10% growth in our full year dividend. The share buyback program will commence immediately, and we expect it to complete in the second half of FY 2027. Finally, return on invested capital also improved materially, reflecting higher profit and disciplined capital management. Moving to the next slide, the group result was supported by continued momentum in both business units. In PIC, sorry. Here we go. Sorry, we got a We are good now. Okay.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

In PIC, adjusted royalty revenue grew by 5% in constant currency. Adjusted royalty revenue is defined as PIC's royalty revenue plus PIC's share of joint venture royalty revenues. It is a metric that better illustrates PIC's performance because joint venture royalty revenue is not otherwise consolidated. Given the increasing size and significance of PIC's joint ventures, we believe this is an important metric with which to consider group performance. As you can see, every PIC region delivered growth, with particularly strong contributions from Southeast Asia and our joint ventures. PIC adjusted operating profit increased by 17% to GBP 130.8 million, including the GBP 5.6 million BCA milestone, and the adjusted operating margin increased by 330 basis points to 30.9%. In ABS, sexing volumes increased by 2% to 8.8 million units.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Adjusted operating profit increased by 17% to GBP 22.9 million, and the margin improved by 130 basis points to 7.5%, driven principally by benefits from the Value Acceleration Program. Moving to group adjusted operating profit, the year-on-year growth was broad based. Group adjusted operating profit, including joint ventures, increased by 25% to GBP 116 million. The largest contribution came from PIC, including strong performance in China and Latin America, as well as the GBP 5.6 million BCA milestone, compared with a GBP 3.7 million milestone reported last year. ABS also delivered good profit growth, predominantly through VAP benefits. Group adjusted operating margin increased by 380 basis points to 17.6%. Excluding the BCA milestones in FY 2025 and FY 2026, the margin increased by 350 basis points to 16.8%, demonstrating the strength of the underlying improvement.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Looking now at PIC in more detail, adjusted operating profit increased by 17% to GBP 130.8 million, and the margin increased to 30.9%. Excluding the BCA milestones in both periods, profit grew by 16% and the margin was 29.3%. Latin America performed very strongly, supported by high breeding stock sales, while Southeast Asia and China also delivered good growth. This was partially offset by customer disease challenges in North America during the second half. Excluding the milestones of GBP 5.6 million in FY 2026 and GBP 3.7 million last year, underlying PRP costs increased by GBP 1.5 million as we continued to invest ahead of commercialization. Global production also benefited by around GBP 5 million from non-recurring favorable input costs in the first half and a farm sale in the second half. Foreign exchange also provided a GBP 1.3 million tailwind in the year.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Given the increasing size and significance of PIC's joint ventures, we wanted to provide additional color on the performance of these JVs. On this slide, you will see the performance of Agroceres PIC and PIC China laid out. We have a 49% equity share in both. The top row shows the performance of 100% of each joint venture entity. Agroceres had an extremely strong year, with adjusted operating profit increasing by 56% to GBP 38.9 million, partially driven by strong breeding stock sales. Genus' share of Agroceres profit increased to GBP 19.1 million. China also performed strongly. For the full entity, volumes increased by 71%, royalty revenue increased by 52%, and adjusted operating profit increased by 81% to GBP 15.2 million. Genus' reported share of PIC China adjusted operating profit was GBP 12.2 million, reflecting seven months of full ownership, followed by five months at our 49% joint venture interest.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

These results demonstrate the strength of our partnership in these two incredibly important porcine markets. Turning now to ABS, adjusted operating profit increased by 17% to GBP 22.9 million, and the margin improved from 6.3% to 7.5%. VAP continued to be the principal driver of the improvement. We realized GBP 9 million of benefit in FY 2026, comprising GBP 2 million from the annualization of phase 2 and GBP 7 million of in-year phase 3 benefits. Phase 3 exited the year at the targeted GBP 9 million annualized run rate. Our sexing business continued to grow, although this was offset by challenging dairy-related genetics volumes amidst weaker market conditions.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Bovine product development costs increased by GBP 3.6 million as expected, principally due to higher depreciation associated with prior period investments. We are pleased with the continued progress in ABS and remain focused on achieving a double-digit margin over the medium term.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Research and product development remain central to Genus' competitive advantage and long-term growth. Looking at the top left chart, total research and product development spend, excluding the BCA milestone, was GBP 73 million in FY 2026, equivalent to approximately 11% of group revenue. The year-on-year decrease primarily reflected favorable commodity effects within porcine product development and planned lower research expenditure. Moving to the bottom left, lower research expenditure in FY 2026 represents a base level, and we expect research costs to grow in FY 2027, albeit remaining below 3% of group revenue. With porcine, lower product development spend in FY 2026 was primarily due to the commodity favorability.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Underlying PRP investment increased after adjusting for the BCA milestone receipt, and we expect underlying PRP costs to increase further in FY 2027 as commercialization activity builds. Bovine product development increased, driven by higher depreciation on earlier investments and the impact of the De Novo minority acquisition.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Moving now to our statutory income statement. As a reminder, we consistently measure and report adjusted results as we think these give a better view of the group's underlying performance. Our statutory results are affected by non-cash items, in particular IAS 41, which can give a misleading picture of the group's underlying performance. The net IAS 41 movement was a GBP 12.8 million increase, primarily driven by porcine, compared with a GBP 13.3 million decrease in the prior year. Exceptional expenses reduced to GBP 5.8 million from GBP 11.4 million last year as expected.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Within other gains and losses is a GBP 204 million gain arising on the deconsolidation of PIC China following formation of the joint venture with BCA. This is the main reason why statutory profit before tax increased to GBP 310.5 million. Net finance costs reduced to GBP 15.8 million, reflecting lower borrowing and lower average interest rates.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Lastly, our adjusted tax rate was broadly stable at 27.2%, and you will see from our technical guidance in the appendix that we expect a broadly similar tax rate in FY 2027 as well. Turning now to cash flow. We generated GBP 62 million of free cash flow in FY 2026, compared with GBP 40.9 million last year. We saw strong positive contributions from higher adjusted EBITDA and a GBP 10 million increase in dividends from joint ventures. The substantial increase in JV dividends was driven by a larger than usual catch-up dividend from Agroceres. The year-on-year working capital movement was negative, largely because FY 2025 benefited from a very strong improvement in bovine inventories and receivables. We are pleased to have held on to the majority of these gains, but the year on year is therefore a negative.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

I am pleased that exceptional cash payments were lower, partly offsetting the working capital movement.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Cash conversion remained strong at 94%. Looking ahead, we expect FY 2027 free cash flow to also be strong but lower than FY 2026, principally due to the China joint venture formation and because of a modest increase in net capital expenditure. Strong free cash flow generation and proceeds from the China JV formation have significantly strengthened the group's financial position. Net debt reduced to GBP 71.8 million at 30 June 2026, and leverage fell from 1.5 times at the start of the fiscal year to 0.4 times at year-end. Return on adjusted invested capital improved to 18.4%, compared with a restated 15% in FY 2025.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

The prior year figure has been restated to remove biological asset fair value uplifts in joint ventures, providing a more consistent measure of underlying returns. The board is proposing a full-year dividend of 35.2 pence per share, an increase of 10%, and a return to sustainable growth.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

This represents a payout of 32% of adjusted earnings per share and is consistent with our progressive dividend policy. Moving to the next slide, we wanted to take you through the normalization of FY 2026, given the substantial number of moving parts in the year. Starting with our reported FY 2026 results, we have laid out the impact of firstly removing PIC China from the full year, which reduces adjusted PBT by GBP 12.2 million. Secondly, adding back a full year of 49% of PIC China, which increases adjusted PBT by GBP 7.5 million. Next, we remove the BCA milestone of GBP 5.6 million, and lastly, we adjust for the impact of the JV proceeds and hedging, which increases PBT by a further GBP 5.1 million. This gets us to a pro forma FY 2026 PBT of GBP 95 million compared to our reported GBP 100.2 million.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

We have then isolated the GBP 4.7 million of one-off production benefits in PIC relating to non-recurring input cost benefits of GBP 2.8 million and a farm sale of GBP 1.9 million. This then gets us to a normalized FY 2026 PBT of GBP 90.3 million, which equates to 24% growth over the FY 2025 equivalent of GBP 72.8 million. We believe GBP 90.3 million is the appropriate base to consider as we look ahead to FY 2027. For FY 2027 itself, we then flagged the key considerations, the annualization of ABS VAP Phase 3 benefits, higher bovine product development costs, higher porcine product development and PRP expenditure, and the benefit of lower average net debt. Let me now lastly turn to our capital allocation framework and deployment during FY 2026. We continue to target through the cycle leverage of between one and two times net debt to EBITDA.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

At 0.4 times, the year-end position is below that range, giving us significant strategic flexibility. Our first priority remains investment in compelling organic growth opportunities. In FY 2026, we invested approximately GBP 76 million in research and development. Our second priority is a progressive ordinary dividend. The proposed full-year dividend of GBP 0.352 per share represents 10% growth and a 32% payout ratio. Third, we will continue to assess inorganic opportunities against strict financial and strategic criteria. We are monitoring the market, but we will remain disciplined. Finally, where capital is surplus to these priorities, we will return it to shareholders. In line with that framework, we are announcing a GBP 60 million share buyback, which we expect to complete during FY 2027.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

The buyback maintains a strong balance sheet whilst delivering an additional return to shareholders and reflects the board's confidence in the future growth prospects and cash generation of the business.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Post the buyback, I would expect that with another year of good free cash generation, our leverage by the end of FY 2027 will be around the bottom end of our targeted range of one to two times. With that, I will hand back to Jorgen to discuss our strategic progress and the outlook.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Thank you. Thank you, Andy. Let me now take you through the strategic progress we made during FY 2026. Firstly, our three strategic priorities remain clear and unchanged. Our first priority is continued growth in porcine and accelerating PIC's long-term growth in China. During FY 2026, PIC delivered solid royalty revenue growth and strong profit growth. As for China, as Andy highlighted, we achieved 52% royalty revenue growth in the largest porcine market in the world. Of course, we successfully formed our strategic joint venture there. Our second priority is successfully commercializing PRP and generating attractive returns from our R&D investments. Many of you will know that PRP is our game-changing new technology, and during the year, we secured further approvals in the Americas, with the commercialization process now beginning in selected Latin American markets. Our third priority is driving greater value from bovine.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

VAP Phase 3 has achieved its targets, and VAP overall has transformed ABS into a leaner and more efficient business. As we transition to life after VAP, our ambition remains achieving double-digit operating profit margins over the medium term. Starting with our first priority, royalty revenue is a fundamental driver of the earnings quality as well as the resilience of our business. Our royalty model aligns PIC's economics with the value delivered to customers. It incentivizes customers to update genetics more frequently, deepens long-term relationships, and generates recurring revenue that is relatively independent of commodity price movements. Adjusted royalty revenue, including our 49% share of the joint ventures, reached GBP 197 million in the year, representing a four-year CAGR of about 6%.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

The four-year compound growth rates shown on the slides are healthy across the portfolio, 4% in North America, 8% in Latin America, 6% in EMEA, 12% in Asia, and 12% across our joint ventures. This broad-based growth demonstrates both the strength of our genetics and highlights the opportunity in both developing as well as in mature markets. Growing royalty revenue remains one of our most important long-term value drivers. Turning to China, PIC delivered strong growth in FY 2026 despite declining pork prices and weak producer profitability. Royalty revenue increased materially, as I mentioned before, while strong breeding stock activity supported non-royalty revenue growth. We also had a positive and collaborative start to our joint venture relationship with BCA. Together, we are building a strong platform for growth, and we are continuing to win new royalty customers.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

We estimate that PIC's market share increased from 3.4% in FY 2025 to 5.4% in FY 2026. This demonstrates that customers continue to recognize the economic value of our genetics, even in a challenging market. We remain very excited about the long-term opportunity. China is the world's largest porcine market, and our current share leaves substantial room for growth. Moving to our second priority, PRP. FY 2026 was another year of meaningful regulatory progress for the PRRS-resistant pig. Following earlier determinations in Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and U.S. FDA approval, we secured the green light in Argentina, Canada, Uruguay, and Peru. This expands the potential commercial footprint for PRP and represents important validation of the technology and our regulatory approach.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

The Canadian approval is an important step towards North American commercialization. As you all know, PRP is the first mainstream gene-edited livestock product, and as such, regulatory timelines are difficult to predict.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Mexico, Japan, and China remain in process, and we continue to engage constructively with the relevant authorities. Importantly, I'd like to flag that the commercialization process is beginning in selected Latin American countries. Our goal is to establish operational and customer foundations for long-term adoption. Importantly, this will provide real-world experience and data to support commercialization elsewhere in the world. Turning now to ABS. The Value Acceleration Program has delivered substantial progress since it began in FY 2024. Phases one and two focused on creating unified global leadership, improved pricing governance, selective globalization, and better product allocation and mix management. Together, they delivered approximately GBP 21 million of adjusted operating profit benefit. Phase three has focused on reshaping the go-to-market model and ensuring we better recover our service cost. VAP3 delivered GBP 7 million of benefit in FY 2026 and achieved an annualized run rate of GBP 9 million.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

We are now targeting the VAP program to complete during the first half of FY 2027. However, the focus on productivity established through VAP will continue and is now part of the way ABS operates rather than a standalone transformation program. As we are wrapping up VAP, I wanted to highlight the strength of the ABS business. ABS is a leading bovine genetics player. It has deep customer relationships, leading dairy genetics, best-in-class beef genetics, and is one of only two industry players with a commercial sexing technology. Building on this strength, we are pursuing two primary strategies to achieve our double-digit operating margin goal. First, we will drive our top line through commercial excellence, building a higher-performing commercial organization, creating leverage through repeatable processes and systems, resulting in profitable volume growth.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Second, we will drive our margin through operational excellence, expanding gross margins sustainably by embedding lean principles and continuous improvement, and using intelligent automation and AI-enabled process improvements to enhance customer value and eliminate waste. We have recruited two experienced new leaders from outside of our industry to lead commercial and to lead operational excellence and drive these broad-based value creation initiatives throughout ABS. We remain excited by the opportunity ahead and committed to achieving a double-digit ABS operating margin over the medium term. Let me now conclude with our outlook for FY 2027. First, FY 2026 was a year of strong profit and cash generation, combined with significant strategic progress. We formed a strategic joint venture in China, secured further PRRS regulatory milestones, and are ready to begin the commercialization process in certain Latin American markets.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

We are returning surplus capital to shareholders via a GBP 60 million share buyback, which reflects our strong balance sheet, sustainable cash flow, and confidence in the future prospects of the business. As we look to FY 2027, we expect resilient underlying profit growth despite cyclical weakness in a number of agricultural markets. At the group level, we expect underlying adjusted PBT in constant currency to be moderately higher year on year, in line with consensus expectations. For PIC, we expect moderate adjusted operating profit growth from a normalized base, as Andy outlined earlier. For ABS, we also expect moderate adjusted operating profit growth as VAP benefits annualize and continuous improvement initiatives progress. Group PBT is expected to be second half weighted, noting that the first half of last year included the GBP 5.6 million BCA milestone and fully consolidated PIC China.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Lastly, we also expect FY 2027 to represent another year of strong free cash flow generation. With that, let me leave you with the high-level investment case for Genus. First, our end markets are growing and resilient, supported by increasing global demand for animal protein. Second, we have strong market positions and leading products. Third, there is significant white space. Even PIC, the clear global leader in porcine genetics, has less than 20% global market share. Fourth, we have two potentially transformative growth opportunities in PIC China and with the PRRS-resistant pig. Finally, our competitive position is protected by a highly defensible intellectual property portfolio. Together, we believe these strengths support resilient growth, attractive returns, and significant long-term value creation. With that, let me thank you for your attention. Andy and I are now happy to take your questions. Charles.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Charles Hall from Peel Hunt. Jorgen, obviously, you had really strong performance in both Brazil and in China in the JVs last year, as you highlighted. Both of those markets are facing pretty weak pig prices at the moment. Can you just give an update on how the businesses are performing against that backdrop?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yes. We have had a tremendously strong performance in Latin America over the last year. Latin America, and particularly Brazil, benefited from strong export markets and also strong domestic demand. That market is facing certain headwinds. As you noted, Charles, pork price in Brazil particularly has dropped. It is partially to do with the situation in the Middle East and also exports of poultry, not flowing into the Middle East, and that pushes down pork prices as well. I will come back to China. However, we have a strong business model with our royalty revenues protecting us against volatility in the underlying commodity. We are confident as it relates to the future. That being said, we are probably going to see lower growth in Brazil in FY 2027, and that is obviously baked into the outlook that we just shared.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Now, as it relates to China has been suffering from very low pork prices. Actually, during and throughout FY 2026, we saw the prices materially weakening during FY 2026. Given our low market share, we have been able to strongly grow our business in China. I note the more than 50% growth in royalty revenues. It certainly highlights the strength of our product. I would say in general, in the tough times and when markets are not good, customers really go to PIC for productivity savings. Obviously, our products help to produce more with less, so more protein with less feed, less water, potentially lower labor cost. As such, even in the bad times, PIC genetics tend to perform robustly. In China, we still have a lot of growth ahead of us.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

One other question, if I may. You highlighted disease incidence being higher in North America in the winter, higher PRRS rates. Can you just give some color on what that actually implies for royalty revenues in full year 2027?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yes. The disease season in North America has been particularly bad. PRRS particularly has been rampant in North America. That obviously has an impact on the sector. It probably helps with pork prices, but then the volumes go down because as a farm gets hit with PRRS, they may have to clear the farm or certainly productivity goes down a lot. That has an impact on our royalties because there are fewer piglets born and fewer piglets weaned, and so that has a bit of an impact on our royalty revenues. That has played out in the second half of FY 2026, that pattern. We are now in the summer season, so we are going to have to see what happens next winter. We would probably expect more normalization. If that happens, we will see a return to growth in North America in the second half of FY 2027.

[Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Great. Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Seb.

[Seb Jantet, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Yes.

[Seb Jantet, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Thanks. Seb Jantet with Panmure Liberum. Just two questions if I can. First of all, you called out that the BCA JV started well. I am just wondering, as you have now kind of got your feet under the table, what are you seeing in terms of changes with customers there? Has that helped you gain more traction with customers? Has it helped open some more markets?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yes, I would say that we have not seen a lot of change, and that is intentional. There has been no changes in the management team, which we believe is a really good thing. Our team is focused on working with customers and executing in the market. Both JV shareholders are aligned in our intention and our desire and our commitment to grow our business in China. While the partnership may help us down the road with getting access to certain SOE type of customers, we have not seen that as yet. I would certainly say that the joint venture has made a successful start. Again, I point to the 52% in royalty revenue growth. I also point to the growth in market share from about three to more than five. We certainly intend to continue on that path towards growth.

[Seb Jantet, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Okay, thanks. One other question, if I may. In the statement, you call out an Indian contract in ABS. I was wondering if you could give me a little bit more detail on that contract.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yes. We are very pleased with our position in India, which is a successful and profitable business for ABS. We have been able to secure a five-year contract with one of the largest states in India. It is a government contract. We have experience working with them, and we are now in the process of ramping up that contract. We are ramping up our production there, bringing machines into India. It has started well, and so we are very positive and pleased with the progress in India, which obviously is a sexing contract.

[Seb Jantet, Analyst at Panmure Liberum]

Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Thanks very much.

[Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg]

Adam Tomlinson from Berenberg. Just three questions, please. Just on China and that royalty rate growth there, you mentioned new customer wins.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah.

[Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg]

I suppose just any more color you can give on that, just the type of customer you are winning over there, and also is there more to do with the existing customer base as well? Is there more you can extract from that, is the first question. Second question is just on ABS. I noticed some M&A going on in the competitive environment there in the U.S. Just any comment on that and how that market dynamic might have changed? Then thirdly, just on cash flow, obviously noting that great growth this year in terms of free cash flow. Little bit of working capital movement over the past couple of years. Just any guidance, just from a modeling point of view, in terms of how we should think about working capital going forward? Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Okay. Thanks, Adam. I will give the cash flow question to Andy, but maybe I will take the China question first. Our growth in China is fueled by both new customers as well as existing customers. We have previously communicated the number of new customers won, but reflecting on that, we feel that the appropriate metrics are more market share and royalty revenue growth. The reason is that winning a customer could mean you win 2% of their market share, or it could mean you win 100% of the market share. But rest assured, our growth opportunity is both with existing customers as well as with new customers. With many of the large customers, we are really in the early innings. Meaning, we only have one of their farms, and they might have 100 farms, to give you a sense of it. So that is clearly our focus.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

As it relates to ABS, I think your question is whether I can comment on the competitive sort of merger activity, right? Well, I really can't say much about it. Of course, I read the newspapers as well, but there's two competitors. They're named STgenetics and Select Sires. They announced their desire or their plans to merge about three years ago. I note that it's taken them a very long time, navigating the regulatory hurdles that they have to go through. There are certainly rumors out there that they might be able to navigate that, but I can't really say more than that.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Yeah. On working capital, you're right. As part of the early VAP program, we had a focus on inventory and receivables within the bovine business within ABS. That led to quite a significant reduction in working capital in FY 2025. Through FY 2026, I think we've seen a return to normal working capital movements to support growth, but not losing those one-off benefits that we realized in FY 2025. I think as we go into FY 2027, as Jorgen pointed out, we continue to see growth, which is a good thing given the market backdrop, and I'd expect a normal investment in working capital to support that growth. But not seeing the reduction in working capital that we've seen in FY 2025, so back to normality, I'd say.

[Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg]

Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Jens.

[Analyst]

Yeah. Just on the share buyback, really, the GBP 60 million. If you could give us your thought behind that number. Why GBP 60 million, which is a relatively modest number in the grand scheme of things?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. Andy, you want to take that?

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Yeah. Thank you. So I would start off with the capital allocation framework that we set out in February, and importantly, referring to the leverage range of one to two times through the cycle is an important guide. Looking at the overall buyback itself, this is our first buyback that we have done. So I wanted to be cautious, and also looking at the net cash proceeds, which came through, which were around about GBP 98 million. Looking at the year ahead, where we expect to see continued free cash flow generation, which is a good thing, but also looking at where we think we will end the year within that leverage range. Like I said, all things going to plan, I would expect us to be at the bottom end of that range.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

I think importantly, we want to maintain that strong and strategic optionality in the balance sheet such that we are ready for investments as they appear. So, we have got identified organic investments which will continue to drive the growth, but it gives us that strategic optionality through the year. Come the end of FY 2027, we will continue that disciplined execution against the framework that we have set out.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Andrew? Him or him.

[Andrew Ford, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Thank you. Andrew Ford from Peel Hunt. Just thinking about North America, and mainly PIC, hearing a lot about the K-shaped economy, and I know Genus is one step or one or two steps removed from that. But I am just wondering, are your customers' customers and Genus' products fairly broad-based in terms of exposure to that U.S. end consumer? That first question. I will let you answer that and come back to the next.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yes. I would say yes, our products are very broad in terms of where they're used, and where they find their way, right? I would also point to exports from the U.S. The U.S. exports about 30% of its pork production. As we've discussed before, Mexico would be the number one export destination, but there's many more export destinations. But to your question, is it narrow, is it broad based? No, we would cover the entire pork industry, right? Our market share, I think, is well known. It's about 50%. We do business with 19 of the largest 20 producers, and our products find their way in food service, retail, across the entire spectrum and nationally for sure.

[Andrew Ford, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

Great. Thank you. The next one sort of on China and the market share growth, obviously really impressive this year. It's sort of following on from Seb's question, but the early signs from the BCA, what's your sort of expectations for market share growth sort of in the short term, next year, FY 2027, and maybe even beyond that, sort of both ex-PIC and then how much could, sorry, PRRS, how much could that sort of enhance it when we think a bit more about the medium-term opportunity there?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. I would say first also sort of building on Seb's earlier question, right? About the relationship with BCA. What they really bring to the table is connectivity with the government. So we do see benefit in that relationship in terms of navigating the PRRS regulatory process. I'm sure we'll talk about PRRS, right? But that's certainly an area where they have great strength. Our partner is partially owned by one of the largest state-owned entities active in the food sector. They are directly connected to the Beijing government. So that is definitely an important aspect that they bring to the relationship. But in terms of market share gains, yes, I'm not going to give you any specific numbers, as you probably know. But yes, we continue to pursue growth at the current sort of pace and at the current trend. Yeah, our partners have high expectations.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

We're certainly working towards double digits, right? Let's say, certainly not in FY 2027, but in future years. We won't stop at that. That's clearly when we talk about the opportunity, I think we're proving that we can capitalize on that opportunity. Of course, the Chinese pork market has always been large, right? But our market share has been low. So to gain two points in one year, is very encouraging.

[Andrew Ford, Analyst at Peel Hunt]

That's great. Thank you.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Right. They described it as-

[Christian Glennie, Analyst at Stifel]

Thank you. Christian Glennie with Stifel. I just, usual kind of question, as much as you can, anything we can glean around PRRS in Mexico and China. I know obviously there are no key updates here, but just anything in terms of anything further you can say around, obviously, there was a slightly change in administration in Mexico and things like that. Anything around that? Then on China, the status of PRRS in China, please.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. Thank you, Christian. I'll make the usual caveat, which I also highlighted in the presentation, is that this is a new technology, right? It's the first mainstream gene-edited protein or livestock product that goes through the regulatory process. I'd say that in almost any country, it's been very difficult to predict the timing. I'd say the U.S. is probably the country that has the clearest process laid out. But even there, it took, I would say, probably years longer than we had expected. Mexico isn't as clear in terms of how the process works, that's for sure. That being said, we have very constructive dialogue with the Mexican authorities. There is an organization called SENASICA, which is the local equivalent to the FDA. We find them extremely professional and supportive of the technology.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

I cannot give any timelines, but I can say that we have satisfied all their requests for information, and hopeful to complete the process. I would say in terms of China, it is a little bit different. China is the only country where we had to do local disease challenge studies. What does that mean? Well, it means that we brought PRRS-resistant pigs into China, and we exposed them to China-borne PRRS viruses. Actually, we did more testing in China than we did in the U.S., and we used the U.S. data for all other countries. That has now been completed on multiple generations of pigs, and that has been completed successfully, so that we are now in a position to pull our dossier together and proceed towards a submission. Our data will then be reviewed by an expert panel, so Chinese scientists.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Assuming that goes well, then they will make a recommendation to the Ministry of Agriculture. Again, we are pretty positive about that. Again, I do not want to give timing, but really good progress in China.

[Christian Glennie, Analyst at Stifel]

Thanks. Then a follow-up on ABS and the progression to the double-digit margin. You highlighted the combination of top-line growth, but also some further operational gains. What is the sort of rough mix of how you get to that, of those two component parts to how you get to that 10%? Is the 10% a midterm? Is it a three to five year?

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Yeah, sure. Maybe I will take that one. You are right. If you stand back from the ABS performance, we were at sub 5% margins just a couple of years ago. We have increased that to 6.2 last year, and now 7.5 this year. So there is a nice track record of margin expansion over the last three years, and VAP has been an important part of that. As we progress now over the next few years, there will be a slight mix in how that will impact the P&L, if you like. Commercial excellence is very much focused on getting the top line moving, so volume growth translating to revenues. We talk about operational excellence, and that is where I am looking at the gross margin line and that margin percentage, looking to improve off the back of some of that lean thinking, which Jorgen referred to.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

We continue to adopt the ABS way of looking at our cost base as well, to continually looking for efficiency. I see that margin expansion coming from multiple different parts of the P&L. You are right. This will be over the medium term. Whatever you translate that is going to be over the next few years without a doubt. There is a lot of hard work to do, but we are absolutely focused on it. It is the target.

[Gary Martin, Analyst at Davy]

Hi, it is Gary Martin here from Davy. Just a quick question just on the PRP commercialization in Latin America. Would it be possible just to get a bit of insight into some of the initial commercial terms? Do they rhyme with some of the terms that were outlined provisionally at the Capital Markets Day? Any additional insight would just be very helpful. Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. First of all, one of the first countries that we are targeting is Peru. That is one that I can mention. I am not going to comment on any other countries, but there are others, because we are in live negotiations and discussions with our partners and customers there, and it would not be right to talk about those countries while these are ongoing. The terms look certainly good. There are no surprises in that regard. They are in line with, for example, the prices that we outlined three years ago at the Capital Markets Day that I think many of you will remember, and that are outlined in some of the broker reports. Yeah, we are very pleased, and we are excited.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

We think it is very important. It has been a long time in the making, and so we are pleased that we are going to get real-world experience.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

It is an opportunity to establish our supply chain. We are going to be ramping up throughout the PRRS trait through the herds of our customers. There is also quite a bit of legal and contractual work around that. I would say what is extremely important is we are going to be generating data. The industry will be looking, and hopefully, we will be in a position to share that data in terms of improvements in productivity, lowering of mortality, lowering of the prevalence of PRRS, and so forth. I think a very important milestone.

[Gary Martin, Analyst at Davy]

That makes sense. Then just maybe as a second question, just to go to the other side of the world, just in Southeast Asia, and just PIC more broadly. It has been a strong market. Would it be possible just for you to talk about the potential there and the moving parts as to the maturity of those markets and just the opportunity sets of the future?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. Certainly, and thanks for calling out Southeast Asia. That is indeed certainly a growth opportunity within PIC, and if you look at the performance in the last two years, it has been very strong. We have had very strong double-digit growth in Southeast. The region within PIC is actually called South and East Asia, so it does include Korea and Japan. The growth is really coming from Philippines and from Vietnam. I had a chance to make a trip to the Philippines and to Vietnam in April and meet with customers and potential customers and our teams. Andy Russell is going to make a trip to Philippines I think next week or the week after. So, I think it highlights the importance of that area.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

The Philippines, for example, is a market that is highly dependent on imports, and so there really is an imperative to produce more pork domestically, given that there is high consumption, and one of the highest consuming countries on a per capita basis of pork. So yeah, we think those are important markets, and we are aligning with large players. We see more and more Chinese companies actually play an important role in Southeast Asia, and so we see synergy with our Chinese business as well.

[Gary Martin, Analyst at Davy]

That makes sense. I will pass it on.

[Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg]

Thanks. Just one follow-up question. I suppose on guidance, really. I think with the outlook statement this morning, some of the market's probably been quite quick to pick up on the more negative aspects. I think you mentioned weak cyclical markets, second half weighted profit. I suppose a lot of those pressures were present last year, and you still managed to step forward your profit nicely, and you seem confident in doing that this year. Maybe just to comment on your confidence around that, and just bringing together a lot of the stuff we've already discussed this morning.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. Andy, do you want to take that?

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Yeah, sure. You're right. We've called out off that normalized base that I referred to, the GBP 90 million. We're calling moderate growth both in PIC and ABS, despite the weakening market sort of headwind that we see. If I start with PIC, we still expect growth, like we were talking about earlier, from both China, Southeast Asia. I think North America in PIC continues to be a headwind, particularly in H1. Whilst we saw that biting towards the end of Q3 last year through Q4, I think we expect that through H1 this year, with a potential recovery in the second half. We've also talked about Brazil. Brazil had incredible growth in FY 2026, a lot of that through high breeding stock sales. With lower prices, that part of the business does get impacted.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Again, we expect that to continue through H1, which was, again, less of an impact, probably more Q4 last year. So it's just a timing point there. On ABS, whilst we do see dairy prices being still depressed with no expectation of an immediate recovery, and whilst beef prices remain high, that dynamic has an impact on our sexing volumes, which then impacts our margins. So that's some of the thinking, particularly in the first half again, which is why we're referring to probably more second half weighted around where we expect to land. On top of that, there's the other points that I've called out around continued increased investment in product development in both species, the increase in PRP costs.

[Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg]

Thanks.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Are there any questions from the call?

[Operator]

There are, but it is almost time. I do not know if you want to wrap up here, and we can answer them after, or go ahead.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Maybe take one from the call.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. Is there one on the call? I did not hear.

[Operator]

There is quite a few.

[Company Representative at Genus]

There are no questions on the call, but there are a couple submitted written questions, if you would like to hear one of them.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. We are at the top of the hour. I do not know if people have to go, but I am happy to maybe take one question.

[Company Representative at Genus]

Okay. Our question is from Sophia from J.P. Morgan. "Could you provide any more color on how we should think about the phasing of growth for FY 2027? You have had a strong performance in Brazil in PIC in 2026. Could you provide more context on the anticipated weakness in this market and how you expect this development in 2027?

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Yeah. I suppose Andy actually just answered that question, huh?

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Yeah.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

You, yeah.

[Andy Russell, CFO at Genus]

Maybe a bit more on the phasing, and really how that phasing compares to FY 2026. So FY 2026, we had a very strong H1, and you will see that phasing is more weighted to H1, i.e., more than 50% in the first half, lower in the second half. I would say for FY 2027, it will be a very similar flip around in terms of the percentages from H1 to H2, largely driven by a lot of those headwinds that I just talked about with the question earlier. So that is how we should think about the phasing.

[Jorgen Kokke, CEO at Genus]

Okay. Well, I think with that, we close the meeting, and thank you very much for your

Participants

Executives

• Jorgen Kokke, CEO
• Andy Russell, CFO
• Company Representative

Analysts

• Charles Hall, Analyst at Peel Hunt
• Seb Jantet, Analyst at Panmure Liberum
• Adam Tomlinson, Analyst at Berenberg
• Analyst
• Andrew Ford, Analyst at Peel Hunt
• Christian Glennie, Analyst at Stifel
• Gary Martin, Analyst at Davy