Dole plc

Welcome to Dole PLC's first quarter 2026 results webcast. Today's webcast is being broadcast live over the internet and it's also being recorded for playback purposes. Currently, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to the head of investor relations with Dole PLC, James O'Regan.

Thank you, Derek. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining our results webcast. Joining me today is our Chief Executive Officer, Rory Byrne, our Chief Operating Officer, Joanne Linden, and our Chief Financial Officer, Jacinta Devine. During this webcast, we'll be referring to presentation slides to supplement our remarks, and these, along with our earnings release and other related materials, are available on the Investor Relations section of the WPLC website. Please note our remarks today will include certain forward-looking statements within the provisions of the Federal Securities Safe Harbor Law. These reflect circumstances at the time they are made, and the company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed earned-like due to a wide range of factors, including those set forth in our SEC filings and press releases. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may be found in our press release, which also includes a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measures. With that, I'm pleased to hand over to Rory.

Thanks, James. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us today as we discuss our results for the first quarter and give an update on the latest developments within the group. So firstly, turning to slide four for a review of quarter one in 2026. Well, we're very pleased to report a solid start to the year with positive momentum across the group being reflected in strong revenue growth of 12% year over year. We are seeing positive consumer demand for our products across all our key markets supported by evolving dietary preferences influenced by GLP-1 adoption and the broader health and wellness trends. Adjusted EBITDA of $100 million was in line with our expectations. This result was driven by strong performance in diversified Americas, as well as growth in diversified EMEA, partially offsetting a lower result in fresh fruit due to higher food sourcing costs. This result once again demonstrates the resilience of our business model, particularly in light of the additional complexity being seen in the operating environment due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. While our direct exposure to the region is limited, we are experiencing indirect effects, including elevated fuel costs as well as higher prices for other inputs such as fertiliser and paper. As announced in December, agreed to sell our port operations in guayaquil ecuador to terminal investments limited we are very pleased to update that regulatory approval has been received and we expect to complete this important transaction during the current quarter we continue to expect net proceeds after tax of approximately 75 million dollars so turning to slide five and focusing more on the team of capital allocation obviously our priority is to seek the best long-term returns for our shareholders We have identified several development opportunities throughout our operations which we believe can deliver good returns, particularly when benchmarked against the alternative expected return from share repurchases. These opportunities are spread across our value chain and are a combination of development investments and bolt-on acquisitions. Ensuring access to high-quality produce and diversifying our sourcing are essential elements of our strategy. To support this, we have made recent investments to increase the proportion of our own production in fresh fruit through an investment by one of our joint ventures. We have increased our own production and sourcing from Guatemala for both organic and both conventional and organic bananas, as well as plantains. In Diversified Americas, we continue to invest in the cherry category with a focus on securing high quality and stable product volumes. We've also invested in our packing operations for cherries, citrus and other products, with the investments being made both through our wholly owned operations as well as via our joint venture companies. In Diversified EMEA, our investment focus is on end markets and our distribution channels. Over the last number of years, we've made investments in our logistics and automation capabilities in Sweden, particularly in our third-party logistics company, No Waste Logistics. No Waste is delivering good returns and we continue to see further opportunities for similar future investments in this business. In addition to our third-party logistics operation in Sweden, we are exploring a strategic opportunity to further invest in automation, AI and innovative warehouse solutions to better serve our core customer base. We are working towards the finalization of a significant development investment in the order of approximately $100 million, which will provide us with a strategic platform for sustainable long-term growth. In Ireland and Spain, we are also investing to upgrade and expand our warehouse operations and infrastructure. Finally, given the fragmented nature of our sector, we are focused on identifying bolt-on acquisition opportunities that are complementary and synergistic to our existing businesses. In this regard, We are progressing a number of opportunities in Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, and we'll update further as these progress. Slide six outlines our capital allocation priorities. We invested $18 million in the quarter in routine capital additions and continue to expect full year investment of approximately $100 million. This covers routine profit maintenance investments across our farming, shipping, and distribution assets, as well as in IT. As I've just discussed, advancing the development of the group is a key strategic priority for us, which we will pursue through development, capital expenditure and targeted bolt-on acquisitions. And of course, generating and delivering good returns for our shareholders is a major component of our capital allocation strategy. We offer an attractive and consistent quarterly dividend, which we assess annually. In November, our board granted authorization for share repurchases, and we are using this authorization opportunistically, benchmarking the returns relative to those available from our portfolio of development projects. So turning now to the operational review and starting firstly with the fresh fruit division on slide eight. As expected, the elevated fruit sourcing costs experienced in 2025 continue to have an impact on fresh fruit profitability in the first quarter of this financial year. Positively, we continue to see strong category demand driving higher overall portfolio volumes. This was particularly evident in our sales of bananas in Europe this quarter. In North America, revenue growth was driven by higher year-on-year pricing across our categories. In Europe, along with higher banana volumes, we benefit from a favorable movement in the euro versus dollar exchange rate. Lower overall industry volumes have contributed to higher sourcing costs across the segment, and the continued appreciation of the Costa Rican colon is also impacting pineapple profitability. On the production side, We have rehabilitated our farms in Honduras. And as mentioned earlier, we've invested in production and sourcing capacity from Guatemala. We expect these investments to deliver benefits as the year progresses. We are closely monitoring developments related to the conflict in the Middle East. Input costs, including fertilizers, paper and fuel, have increased. For fuel specifically, we have variable surcharge in place with our North American customers, serving as a mitigant against rising fuel expenses, albeit with a time lag. Overall, while the unfavourable supply dynamic and recent developments in the Middle East are impacting our cost base, we remain confident positive demand trends combined with strategic investments and cost-saving initiatives will lead to improved profitability on a full year basis. Moving on to the diversified EMEA segment, this segment has had a solid start to the year with adjusted EBITDA up by 8%. We've seen continued revenue growth supported by favourable exchange rates from stronger European currencies against the US dollar and robust underlying organic growth of 4%. The Nordics have been a strong contributor in the first quarter, and we are seeing the benefits of REITs investments in our third-party logistics business in particular. Other notable contributions of the quarter were from our operations in Germany, driven by higher rate volumes. These positive factors helped balance out reduced profitability in the UK, caused by lower product availability from Southern Europe and North Africa during the quarter, as well as lower margins in the Netherlands and South Africa. This once again demonstrates the advantage of our diversified business model and strategy. Looking ahead, we are focused on executing on a number of internal and external investment projects across Ireland, the Nordics and Italy, while proactively identifying additional avenues for growth. In summary, we anticipate that the current positive momentum will continue throughout the remainder of the year. And lastly, turning to our Diversified America segment, this segment delivered another strong performance in the quarter, with adjusted EBITDA up by 29%. The result was driven by a positive end to the Chilean cherry season. The season was categorized by higher volumes to meet growing consumer demand, and we continue to invest in this category to take advantage of these positive demand dynamics. In addition to cherries, our Southern Hemisphere export business has experienced positive volume trends in several other categories. We also experienced increased activity in our North American imports and marketing operations, which compensated for lower avocado pricing. Furthermore, this part of the business is also seeing the operational benefits of the integration of Dole Direct North America with Oppie. Finally, our joint ventures in this segment have started the year and we expect to see the benefits of recent investments as the year progresses. So with that, I'll hand you over to Jacinta to give the financial review for the first quarter.