Henkel Ag & Co Kgaa S/Adr

Good morning and welcome to Henkel Conference Call. For the duration of the call, you will be in listen only. If you would like to ask a question during the Q&A session, please press star and 1 on your telephone keypad. If at any time you need assistance, please press star and 0 and you will be connected to an operator. I would now like to turn the conference over to Leslie Iltgen, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.

Thank you, good morning and a warm welcome to everyone joining Henkel's half-year 2026 results conference call today. I'm Leslie Iltgen, Head of Investor Relations at Henkel. Today I'm joined by our CEO Carsten Knobel and our CFO Marco Swoboda. Carsten will begin with an overview of the key developments in the first half. Marco will then follow with a more detailed review of the company's financial performance. As always, following the presentation, we will open up the lines and Carsten and Marco will be happy to take your questions. Before handing over to Carsten, please let me remind you that this call will be recorded and a replay will be made available on our Investor Relations website shortly after this call. By asking a question during the Q&A session, you agree to both the live broadcasting as well as the recording of your question, including salutation, to be published on our website. Also, please be reminded that this presentation contains the usual formal disclaimer in regard to forward-looking statements within the meaning of relevant US legislation. It can also be accessed via our website at Henkel.com. As always, the presentation and discussion are conducted subject to this disclaimer. With this, it is my pleasure to hand over to our CEO Carsten Knobel. Carsten, please go ahead.

Thank you, Leslie, and a warm welcome also from my side to everyone joining our conference call today. As always, we do appreciate your interest in our company and we look forward to answering your questions. And after walking you through the key developments of the first six months, we will elaborate on Henkel's business performance and the full year outlook in more detail. So let me move now straight to the highlights of the first half 2026. In the first half, we delivered very strong performance on both the top and the bottom line. Organic sales growth showed a clear sequential acceleration in Q2 and came in at above 3% for the first half on group level backed by both business units with adhesive technologies clearly standing out. We saw both positive price and volume dynamics in our two business units. In adhesive technologies, the team was able to swiftly execute pricing initiatives to offset the significant raw material price increases. We also delivered a strong EBIT margin both on group level and in the business units despite an overall highly challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in which we are currently operating. This demonstrates the strength and the high quality of our businesses. In addition, EPS at constant currency grew strongly by 7% versus the prior year. Furthermore, we accelerated the execution of our M&A growth Strategy in both business units. Most recently, we have closed the acquisition of Olaplex. Overall, we expect first positive contributions from the acquisitions on both top and bottom line in fiscal 2026. And finally, turning to our updated full year 2026 guidance, we upgraded. Our top-line expectations for the group and adhesive technologies are on the back of the strong H1 performance, while our expectations for both the adjusted EBIT margin and the adjusted EPS growth at constant currencies remain unchanged. Overall, our strong business performance demonstrates that we have a clear strategy with our purposeful growth agenda, that we have the right priorities, and that we were able to accelerate the execution of our M&A growth strategy, thereby clearly strengthening our long-term competitiveness and position for future success. As you are all aware, we continue to successfully deliver on our M&A growth strategy, which is an integral part of our overall growth strategy in both business units. With the recently announced acquisitions, we are investing a total of roughly 5 billion euros Supported by future mid- to high-single-digit organic sales growth, which is clearly above average, the combined sales of the five acquisitions are expected to increase to €2 billion by 2030. To date, we have already successfully closed four out of the five transactions, whether it be La Roque and ATP adhesive systems in adhesive technologies, Not Your Mothers, and most recently, as mentioned before, Olaplex in consumer brands. We expect the style acquisition to be closed in the course of the second half of fiscal 2026. And for sure, Marco will later provide you with more details on the expected M&A contributions for 2026 and beyond. Let me highlight our most recently closed acquisition in consumer brands and adhesive technologies with the acquisition of the premium hair care brand Olaplex, adding around With 370 million euros in sales, we expand our global presence in the premium hair segment and are now ranked the global number two in hair professionals. The premium hair care market is a highly attractive market and is expected to continue its strong growth trajectory reflected in a CAGR of around 5% for the coming years. Olaplex is a well-established, globally active premium channel hair care brand offering a portfolio of science-led, high-performance products. We are highly confident that we can significantly grow this business by making use of cross-selling opportunities and leveraging on both specialty retail and salons at distribution channels. In addition, OLAPLEX proprietary technologies offer attractive innovation opportunities, unlocking new growth potential through enhanced capabilities and accelerating product development across the portfolio. Furthermore, OLAPLEX benefits from a global footprint. anchored by broad distribution in North America and supported by meaningful international reach. Overall, a promising and highly attractive asset that is now part of Henkel's consumer brands portfolio. In adhesive technologies, we closed the acquisition of ATP adhesive systems effective April 1st. The acquisition expands our portfolio into high-performance water-based specialty tapes. A highly attractive market growing at around 7% annually, with this acquisition we add tapes to our technology platforms, thus expanding beyond liquids. ATP strengthens our innovation capabilities, creates attractive cross-selling opportunities, and enhances our position as a new growth platform for sustainable bonding solutions. Water-based specialty tapes are gaining market share globally as a more sustainable alternative to solvent-based solutions. They deliver up to 90% lower volatile organic compound emissions and an up to 60% lower carbon footprint versus solvent-based solutions. A good example are zero-emission flooring tapes. They combine high performance with regulatory compliance and sustainability benefits. These solutions recorded an impressive growth of above 20% in the US in the first half of 2026. Another example from the automotive industry are customized tape solutions for advanced driver assistance systems including steering wheels with hands-off detection capabilities. This part of the business recorded growth of more than 10% globally. Also here overall, with the acquisition of ATP, we not only drive further profitable growth but also create additional value for our customers. Besides M&A, Innovations and investments in high-growth markets serve as catalysts for organic growth. Innovations drive an increase in the number of Henkel solutions per application, for example in consumer devices as shown here on that slide. In consumer electronics, innovation trends such as miniaturization, water resistance, and thermal management are driving demand for adhesives. As a result, the average number of Henkel solutions in a smartphone is expected to increase by 50% to more than 80% per device within 10 years until 2030. At the same time, we continue to invest in attractive high-growth markets such as aerospace, data centers, and protection and repair in infrastructure to further strengthen our platform for sustainable and profitable growth. To support growth in these attractive end markets, We also continue to invest in our manufacturing work, thus further strengthening innovation capabilities and customer proximity in key growth regions. A good example is our new smart factory in Yantai, China. With an investment of around 120 million euros, the site provides a strong backbone for future growth in the region and supports high growth industries such as electronics, automotive, medical and aerospace. and at the same time the facility sets new benchmarks in sustainability operating with net zero emissions from day one. The smart factory leverages state-of-the-art automation, digitized process control and intelligent warehousing to enhance productivity, inventory management and order fulfillment speed. Complementing this investment We have further expanded our customer and innovation capabilities with new application centers in Asia. Most recently, we opened our new electronics co-innovation and application center in India, further strengthening our ability to support customers in one of the world's fast-growing electronics markets. Together, these investments enhance our innovation capabilities, shorten innovation cycles, and position us well to benefit from long-term growth trends in key end markets. Moving to specific innovation examples in construction, where our technologies help customers address highly demanding technical and sustainability requirements. For one of the world's most iconic and technically demanding construction projects, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, we customized Loctite bonding solutions for the installation of large stone panels on the Basilica's central towers. Our solution enables the reliable bonding of stone and steel components under highly demanding conditions. Compared with traditional methods, our solution enabled the accelerated installation by a factor of 10 while providing exceptional strength. The project highlights our ability to combine deep engineering expertise with close customer collaboration to customize solutions for highly specialized applications. Another example is our cool roof technology. The waterproofing and coating solution help reduce rooftop temperatures, improving energy efficiency. By lowering cooling requirements and supporting lower carbon emissions, this solution contributes to more sustainable buildings. Turning now to consumer brands. Well, we see continued strong growth dynamics of our top 10 brands with above average growth of more than 4% driven by a balanced contribution from both price and volume. They account for around 60% of the business unit sales and provide a good representation of our portfolio with leading positions in both, laundry and home, and hair. Hair overall continues to be a highly attractive category, driven by trends such as the skinification of hair, hair protection, and hair repair. With tech-driven innovations we develop at Henkel, we can successfully address and shape these trends. A good example is the launch of our premium scalp care line under the Gliss brand. Addressing the growing skinification of hair trends, this trend applies Skincare ingredients, routines and principles to hair and scalp care, reflecting the belief that healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp. And as a result, while the hair market has been growing at a fast pace of around 4.5% over the past years, we have even been able to outperform the market, delivering organic net sales growth of above 6%. Turning to laundry care. We continue to actively shape our portfolio with an increased focus on the premium segment. As highlighted during our Q1 call, we see attractive growth and value creation opportunities in the premium laundry care market. This strategic focus is also reflected in our portfolio mix. The share of premium products has increased from around 45% before the consumer brands merger to around 55% today. With that, Bringing it well above the market average, looking ahead, we do also see further opportunities to expand our premium share in laundry care, supported by technology-driven innovations among our top brands, delivering with that superior consumer benefits. A good example here is Persil, our long-established premium brand. Here we continue to strengthen our offering through superior performance propositions and premium formats such as caps. addressing consumers' increasing demand for superior cleaning results. And turning to Pervol, where we are enhancing our premium positioning by focusing on specialized textiles and garment care solutions, fabric longevity and care benefits. Here, our product innovations support consumers' growing interest in preserving and extending the life of their clothes. Most recently, we launched a new Pervol version, specifically designed for light-colored garments, thereby further broadening the brand's formulation portfolio. The success of our strategy is also reflected in the numbers. Our top brands, Percil and Pervol, recorded a strong performance and together delivered around 5% organic sales growth in the first half. Taking a closer look at the attractive fabric care category, which continues to stand out, Here, we gained another 50 basis points market share in the first half of 26, a very strong development. And overall, we are confident that our focus on premium laundry care is translating into strong brand performance, market share gains, and further profitable growth. And now, turning to our full-year outlook. We upgraded. Our top line expectations for the group and adhesive technologies on the back of the strong H1 performance. For the group we now expect organic net sales growth of 1.5 to 3.5% and for adhesive technologies we are now looking for 2 to 4%. The outlook for the adjusted EBIT margin remains unchanged and is expected to come in between 14.5 and 16%. The same holds true for the adjusted EPS growth at constant currencies, where we continue to expect an increase in the low-to-high single-digit percentage range. And Marco will elaborate now in more detail on our updated outlook in his part of the presentation. And with this, let me hand over to Marco, who will lead you now through the key financials of the half year one. Marco, please.