Australian Agricultural Company Limited

Good morning and welcome to the Australian Agricultural Company's year-end presentation for the financial year 2025. My name is Dave Harris, Managing Director and CEO of AACO, and joining me on the call today is our Chief Financial Officer, Glenn Steadman. Before we begin, AACO's properties are the traditional homes of many First Nations peoples, and we acknowledge them and offer our respects to their elders past and present. We recognise their culture and honour their deep connection to the land, waters, animals and skies, especially across the places where we have lived and worked for our two centuries of operation. As a food and agricultural company, there is much to learn from their approach to community and their knowledge and care for country. I will start our presentation this morning by running through a few of the company's highlights for FY25. One of those is the progress we've made in both our strategy refresh, as well as renewing the company's purpose, vision and values. I'll share more information about how our brands are performing around the world. Then I'll hand over to Glen to take us through the financials in more detail. After which I'll finish with an update on our current operating environment. And with that, let's begin our presentation on slide five. As our 200th year of operation, FY25 was significant for several reasons. It's a rare milestone, one that no other Australian agricultural company has celebrated. And as such, it became an opportunity to reflect on the experiences that have brought us to where we are today. They are numerous, interwoven into the histories of towns, cities and properties across Australia. and connected to thousands of families and people who have been associated with the business for over two centuries. It was an honour to hear from many people throughout the year and see the company's past come to life through their stories. Whether it was previous employees who worked with the company for many decades, relatives of company founders or representatives of community and industry, Every interaction and experience gave me a new appreciation for this company, its impact on the agriculture sector and its place in Australian history. It was also the right moment for us to look to the future and consider what the Australian Agricultural Company would be and what it should look like into the future generations. And we'll get to that shortly. This year can be viewed as a bridge between the old and the new. The past and the future. The company we have been and the company we are striving to become. It was appropriate, as you will see by today's results, that AA Co was able to lean on its strengths and the foundation that has been built in recent years to deliver a pleasing outcome in FY25. It was particularly positive when placed against a backdrop that includes various challenges. with dynamic markets, evolving trade conditions, price pressures in some of our key regions, supply and demand constraints, and a global economy and consumer sentiment still recovering after a number of years of high inflation and low confidence. Over several years, AATO has been able to demonstrate its resilience through its ability to weather challenges like these. We have a sophisticated, controlled value chain, effective management and teams, a balanced and stable herd and a suite of brands that are delivering quality and consistency in markets around the world. It's a privilege to be leading this company as we move into our third century of operation. And I trust you will recognise the hard work of our people in producing today's result. And with that, let's take a closer look at some of the key highlights on slide six. FY25 is AACO's highest operating cash flow, and second highest operating profit since 2017, showcasing the resilience I just spoke about earlier. The operating profit of $58.4 million, which is up 7.3 versus PCP, is also the third consecutive year now where our full year result is above $50 million. Both the operating profit result and the operating cash flow of $27.1 million were achieved by using higher sales volumes to offset some of the challenging global meat sales and market conditions, supported by a disciplined approach to managing costs across the supply chain. It highlights the different ways that AECO is able to deliver its objectives, either responding to market conditions if required or when pursuing new opportunities. It's only been achievable through years of planning by management and our teams, including with the supply chain expansion that we've spoken to you about in recent periods. This is the first full year that we have had the complete access to that expansion, which shows the substantial opportunity and benefits that will come through that investment. Significantly, the increase in volumes came off a largely sustained herd, with cattle numbers staying consistent in FY25 at close to 456,000 head. The increase in volumes was also largely behind a $52 million uplift in total revenue versus PCP to almost $388 million. Meat sales revenue increased by 25.2 million versus PCP, and cattle sales revenue rose by 26.6 million. with higher branding rates and greater productivity in previous years, helping drive that outcome. The higher operating cashflow also allowed for ongoing business investment, totaling $31.7 million this year. That money was spent in a range of activities across the supply chain, including upgraded station facilities, a program to optimize IACA's substantial fleet of vehicles and machines, improved connectivity and infrastructure across our remote properties, and the completion of the Solar Boar Program. We've highlighted that Solar Boar Program in recent years as a key sustainability initiative, and it's pleasing to reach the end of a multi-year project. It has required a significant financial investment, but the benefits are substantial, with each upgraded bore reducing the amount of emissions produced by several tonnes. In addition to the saving on diesel that will occur over that time. The registration of our first soil carbon project was also a sustainability highlight. It's our second carbon project alongside the beef cattle herd management scheme and continues our efforts to have a positive impact on nature and the environment that we operate in. In addition to the sustainability benefits, both projects will earn the company future ACCUs. And as I mentioned earlier, IACO's strategic refresh was a key feature in the period, and I can share more with you as we turn to slide seven. IACO Chair Donald McGeachy and I first raised refreshing our strategy in our FY24 results and annual general meeting as we looked to the company's future. We spoke about leveraging our world-class assets and extensive skill base. to build on what we already do well and to expand the opportunities that we have. The refresh progressed through FY25 alongside our business as usual activities with three key strategic focus areas identified. The first of those is better beef. IACO already has a world class herd built from quality genetics. We have consistently sought for improvement over our history. And we aim to accelerate this work to grow revenue, margin, and brand equity. Secondly, partner and invest, which will drive our approach to solving problems for the business and innovation, building relationships with partners to solve these problems and embed future value, building on our market-leading position. And lastly, unlocking the value of the land. Here we aim to leverage our world-class pastoral properties and assets to pursue new opportunities and revenue streams. They are focus areas that align with the company's existing strengths and build towards new opportunities. The early stages of implementing against these focus areas are now underway. AECO's investment in the Zero Net Emissions Ag CRC is a good example of how we are partnering to innovate for the future. and the registration of our first soil carbon project in this financial year is one way that we're able to unlock the value of the land. We anticipate and look forward to sharing more of these activities with you in the future. In addition to the strategy, IACO refreshed its purpose, vision and values, and these were launched internally in recent months. As a business, IACO will go forward with renewed purpose. And that is reimagining Australian agriculture to share with the world. This purpose reflects AECO's desire to think beyond what is possible today. To challenge assumptions. And to create a real difference to the world of agriculture. Our vision for the future. is to be the leading food and agricultural company delivering nature-led solutions at scale. This vision defines our ambitions to leverage our scale to innovate and to lead with a continued focus on nature and sustainability across our entire supply chain. There is something unique about working for AECO. We have always had a strong authentic principles And so we felt it was appropriate that our values came from the people within the organisation. We asked them what it meant to work for our ACRE and the values that drive how they show up and contribute to the business. Our three new values are to be curious, be generous and to own your impact. We will be a purpose-led and values-driven organisation as we continue to unite across the company to achieve our vision and embark on the next stage of our growth. The Better Beef focus area is seen each day through our commercial activities and the progress we are making in our markets. I'll share more about that with you now as we turn to slide nine. We spoke to you at our half year results about market factors from FY24 that were persisting into this year. We sustained challenging broader economic conditions that put pressure on prices in some regions. AECO's suite of brands Westhome, Darling Downs and now 1824 combined with our strategic approach to product allocation are effective tools for responding in these circumstances. Our approach targets specific regions with the offerings and value propositions that most closely align with consumer and market expectations. We balance anticipated demand with evolving market conditions while protecting the position of our brands in key regions. It's now a longstanding feature of our market strategy with clearly demonstrated results. It's becoming even more influential when conditions are shifting, allowing us to stay agile. Of course, it doesn't insulate the company from price pressures entirely, as we saw this year with an overall reduction in our weight you meet sales price per kilogram. It does, however, put us in the best position to respond when conditions improve. That's something we saw towards the end of the year when both the prolonged liquid herd liquidations sorry in the US and the increased local supply in Korea started to ease. Notably, most of the decreasing weight year prices occurred in the first half of the year before an improving second half. Our in-market commercial team responded with focused brand building initiatives while supporting existing and developing new partnerships that will position the company for further growth. New menu placements in notable restaurants this period offerings in gourmet marketplaces show that Aeco's Wagyu continues to be desired by chefs and consumers. Let's take a closer look at our brands, starting with West Home on slide 10. West Home's new positioning, nature-led Australian Wagyu, was launched during the first half and quickly resonated with customers and consumers globally. It reflects our desire to keep nature as the foundation of AACO's premium beef production, anchoring the branding quality, provenance, and practices that set it apart in the global marketplace. Consumer sentiment and behavior has been impacted by inflationary tensions over recent periods, putting pressure on food service pricing. However, even with those conditions, West Home achieved a 17% increase in sales value, thanks in part to increased volumes. As indicated earlier, though, we were able to allocate those volumes globally in a way that maintains West Home's elevated status in key regions. Our commercial team that is embedded in those priority markets is able to provide personalised support, including educating chefs and wait staff about the brand, its heritage and quality. Turning now to Darling Downs on slide 11. The brand defied pricing pressures from the local Hanwoo beef product to expand its reach in South Korea, helping achieve an overall 11% increase in sales value for the year. Distribution across its tiered premium Wagyu product range is now available in 134 EMART locations, a true testament to the brand's quality and presence in this key region. where it remains a household name. The brand also took further steps to expand its footprint across other parts of Asia and into Australia, a clear demonstration of delivering a better beef opportunity for discerning global customers. While increased local supply did have an impact on price, those impacts were reduced through our higher volumes and broader market expansion. supported by targeted promotions and loyalty building programs to increase brand presence. Our refreshed 1824 brand achieved substantial growth, as you can see on slide 12. 1824 honours AACO's 200 year history, celebrating the year the company was formed. 2025 was the first full year since the brand's relaunch in January 24. So it's worth keeping in mind that the results are being measured against only a partial period. Even taking that into consideration, a price increase of 9%, supported by sales value and volume increases of close to 450%, demonstrate the market demand and the potential of 1824, both in Australia and overseas. 1824 captures demand in markets and from consumers outside of West home, and Darling Downs. I'm excited to see the continued development of the brand and the important role it will play in driving improved returns for the company. And with that, I'll now hand over to Glenn, who can take you through our financial performance in more detail.

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be with you today to take you through our FY25 results, beginning with some of our key performance indicators on slide 14. Australian Agricultural Company moves into the next stage of its growth well positioned thanks to a pleasing four year operating outcome and renewed drive for excellence guided by the company's refreshed purpose, vision and values. Our second highest operating profit and highest operating cash flow in eight years are particularly notable. The manner in which we achieve them is also worthy of recognition. as our teams were able to gauge the evolving market conditions and be intentional about the best way to address them. Growth in meat sales volumes into our global markets was a key driver of the result, as we were able to fully utilise the expanded supply chain for the first time. The statutory net loss of $1.1 million was a $93.5 million improvement on the prior year. it was impacted by the unrealized mark to market value of the herd, which declined 4.7 million compared to $149.4 million decline in the prior period. As we've indicated in previous periods, fluctuations in mark to market value of the herd are largely unrealized. They are generally outside of our control and have limited connection to our day-to-day operating performance. So while the statutory performance was a significant improvement on the period, The result further supports AECO's focus on operating results as the key measure of our performance. The improved statutory performance combined with the $449.5 million uplift in property values contributed to a 2% increase in net tangible assets versus the prior period to $2.55 per share. The cost of production per kilo increased 5% versus PCP which is a result of inflationary impacts on imports, minimized through increased productivity and tight fiscal controls, as well as having a high proportion of cattle moving through the finishing stages of the supply chain where costs are higher. Moving now to slide 15. As Dave mentioned earlier, the company reported total sales revenue for the year of $387.9 million. This represented a 15% increase on the prior year. The growth was achieved through greater meat, cattle sales and cattle sales volumes, whilst the herd size and quality was maintained. Our meat sales were up 21%, driven by the full year benefit of the supply chain expansion, limiting the impact of the challenging global price dynamics. Cattle sales volumes were up 38%, driven by stronger brandings in prior years due to improved pastoral conditions and supported by more favorable market forces compared to recent periods. Our operating profit improvement is a testament to our ability to increase volumes and maintain costs, a resilient performance given global market conditions. Turning now to slide 16. Our operating cash flow result reflects the flow-on effect of greater meat and cattle sales volumes. Our receipts are significantly higher, and whilst payments to suppliers are also up, this was proportionally below our increased production volumes, reflecting our continued disciplined approach to managing costs. Investing cash outflows reflect our continued focus on investment in optimisation programs to enhance the quality, safety and performance of our assets. and this normalized in FY25, contributing to a $23 million year-on-year improvement in our free cash flow. It was pleasing to see a positive movement at the same time as we continue to invest heavily in supply chain, delivering on commitments the company made in previous years to build long-term resilience and strengthening the business for the future. Key highlights that Dave mentioned earlier include upgrading our station facilities, completion of our solar ball program, further optimization of our fleet, and enhancements to our connectivity infrastructure. Each year, our capital outflows are strategically and stringently allocated to ensure funds are distributed where needed the most. AACO will continue to make investments in the future, in line with our new strategic focus areas, which will impact cash flow movements. On slide 17, our balance sheet continues to strengthen, supported by our quality property portfolio. In FY25, we recognise property valuation improvements of $45.9 million, reflecting their quality, market sentiment and recognition of the continued investment in our pastoral properties and on-station infrastructure. Our livestock holdings represent the second largest asset on our balance sheet, And as Dave mentioned earlier, the closing herd headcount was stable year on year with a fair value of $596 million. Our debt facility headroom and gearing levels continue to provide flexibility for future growth and innovation as we seek to pursue opportunities in line with our strategic refresh. I'm proud of the outcomes we have achieved this year, made possible by the commitment and collaboration of our people across our integrated supply chain. As we look to the future, I remain confident in our ability to adapt, evolve and excel, together driving continued growth and performance of our extraordinary assets. I'll now hand back to Dave to take you through the company's outlook for its operating environment and closing remarks.

Thanks, Glenn. Now let's move to slide 18. AECA's operating environment remains active. It is influenced by a range of factors and while many, such as seasonal conditions and some trade barriers, are outside of our control, the company has put measures in place to best respond to these potential impacts. Though we don't give forward guidance, I'm able to share with you some of the insights that we received from various expert analysts, which we hope gives you a better idea of the conditions that we're currently operating in. Global beef supply and demand, will remain extremely dynamic over the coming period. Market reports indicate that local beef supply is expected to contract in some of AACO's key markets, particularly the US, where the drought-fuelled herd liquidation appears to be reaching its conclusion. Demand for Australian beef may increase in response. Volatile global trade policy, including, for example, the US tariffs, may certainly influence some of these conditions. As with any type of trade mechanism though, potential changes to trade in one market usually have flow on impacts in others. For example, assuming a consistent global beef supply, increasing exports in one location will create gaps or what we prefer to think of as opportunities in other regions. AACO's integrated supply chain and global distribution network will continue to keep AACO well positioned to take advantage where possible. Our program of aligning stocking rates to property conditions under what we call our sustainable stocking model has created more resilient pastures and improved land condition. That's had a direct and positive impact on cattle productivity and is a key to us providing quality and consistency. Being able to achieve that at scale is an area where AACO stands apart from the global marketplace. We will aim to further boost productivity through targeted investments in supply chain infrastructure that are aligned to our strategy and our focus areas. Further resilience will continue to be built into AECO's supply chain through investments in sustainability, including the Zero Net Emissions AECRC, which is expected to commence its first major projects in FY26. I'd like to thank you for joining us today. and to thank the board and the management team at Ayako. I'm proud to be leading this company, but it takes a team to run our value chain and to achieve the results that we have shared with you today. They reflect the hard work of hundreds of people across our operations. I mentioned earlier that this is the third consecutive year now we have posted an operating profit above $50 million. We feel that is a significant achievement and a first for Ayako. We have navigated through the various challenges and headwinds of recent years with clarity and purpose. We have done everything we said we would do, delivering against our strategy. We have built our people, built capacity, built a resilient value chain, and I hope we have built your trust. Now we look ahead with renewed purpose and vision and the new strategic focus areas that we shared with you today. We're extremely confident in our future and will continue striving for more as we move into our third century of operation. That's the end of today's presentation and we're now happy to take questions.

Thank you. Thank you. If you wish to ask a question via the webcast, please type it into the ask a question box and click submit. Your first question comes from Nick O'Brien from Sarah's Capital who asks, With gearing levels at lower end of the company's target range and the stock trading at a 43.5% discount to NTA, has a buyback been considered?

Thanks very much for the question. Look, in relation to the specific of a share buyback, that's one for the board and not for me today or not for management. But I think at this point in time, there is no doubt, as I mentioned in the presentation, presentation just there before that we've got a lot of opportunities within the supply chain to really invest in the business and get what we feel will be a great long term benefit for shareholders. And so at this point in time, we'll be reinvesting back into the business to develop those three business areas.

Thank you. Your next question comes from David Parkinson, who asks, What is the strategy for debt reduction and future dividend payments?

Thanks for the question. I'll throw that one over to Glenn.

Yeah, thank you, Dave. And similar to the answer given previously, with the refresh of the strategy, we have identified a number of areas where we'll be requiring future investment to achieve that strategy. So at this point in time, it unlikely to be debt reduction as we pursue some of those investment opportunities.

Thank you. Your next question comes from Lindsay Stubbs, a shareholder who asks, can you please advise how many franking credits AAC has? How much possible fully franked dividend per share does this represent? Why does AAC have a policy of not paying dividends and when is it likely a dividend may be paid? I think it is about time AAC paid a dividend of some sort to shareholders. Furthermore, I think it was in January when it was very hot that over 100 head of AAC cattle died because they were cut off from water when a tap was turned off by mistake. Can you explain briefly what happened, please, and what steps have been put in place to try to avoid this happening in the future?

Thanks for the question. In relation to the dividends, I think we've covered that off already. That's one for the board. In relation to the franking credits, now there is zero franking credits at this point in time. The second part to the question was in relation to the extremely unfortunate animal welfare incident we had earlier on in the year. Like I said, extremely unfortunate and very hard on everyone concerned. I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing more that the business takes seriously than the welfare of its staff and animals. And so it was, the failure of that water that the person noted there was that. Unfortunately, those cattle did perish through lack of water. We've done an investigation into that and there's a really good procedure being continued to be developed so that that is minimized and then likelihood of that ever occurring again is as minimal as possible. And like I said, I reiterate, certainly a very unfortunate

error and one that we will be trying very hard to never happen again thank you your next question comes from Lachlan Pike a private investor who asks what were the impacts if any of the heavy rain and northern Queensland floods in March how is the pasture since the floods yeah thanks for the question so the

The property that probably felt the greatest challenge from the floods was a property out of Windora called South Galway. That property certainly had the eastern portion of it and the channel country going to significant flooding of which was the highest on record for us. We don't feel at this point in time we've had any cattle losses. We didn't have a hell of a lot of cattle in that area as it was at the time. So for us, the minimal damage to fencing and maybe one or two boars is the specific of it for now. In general, across the whole portfolio, though, that March rain was extremely important to the portfolio. We had a reasonable start to the wet, but as most will know, through the middle was pretty average to pour. So that last March rain was extremely beneficial for us, but puts us in a really good shape for this season and so we're really comfortable with our stocking levels, grass levels and the season ahead across the entire portfolio.

Thank you. Your next question comes from David Fraser from MST Financial who asks, Post Liberation Day, what have you witnessed with respect to trade flows and pricing and how is AAC positioning itself given likely ongoing volatility?

Again, another great question. At this point in time, it's a lot of noise and so we're trying to focus on the things we can control. Working with different distributors and customers in each of our regions, understanding what's actually on the ground. Typically, these things play out a little bit differently on ground or there's lags in time and communication from from the high level things that you see in the media we'll keep working with our with our teams in all of those areas like we've also said in our presentation we have a really broad marketing opportunity so we send product all around the globe so we can opportunistically work through moving products through different markets depending on how things play out but largely we'll keep focusing on the things that we can control, making sure that we've got the right product in the right market, working with distributors, customers, to ensure that we get the best outcome for both our customers and also the business.

And Dave, I'll just add, while the tariffs were a very public item that people are focused on in our markets, there's various different economic and market conditions occurring all the time. And in the US, for example, they've been under a fairly heavy herd liquidation for a number of years now. So tariffs is a different matter. There's always different things that are happening in the market that we need to address from time to time.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr Harris for closing remarks.

Look, I don't have anything more to add for today. Thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate the questions. I hope you find the results indicating the work that's gone in from the breadth of the team. Thank you very much for joining us today.