I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Vikesh Ramsunder, Managing Director and CEO. Please go ahead.
Good morning. I am Vikesh Ramsunder, the Chief Executive of Sigma Healthcare, welcome to our half-year results presentation for the six months ending December 2025. I am joined here today by Richard Murray, who began as Group CFO in October, and Gary Woodford, our Head of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations. In terms of today's agenda, I will start with some of the key highlights for the half. Richard will then take you through the financial performance in more detail. I will then provide some of our operational highlights and outlook before we open the call for questions. Firstly, the complementary nature of both the Sigma and CW business is beginning to be seen in our outputs. We delivered a strong first half performance, reflecting the resilience and scalability of the company.
Revenue for the half grew 15%, supported by strong network demand and consistent execution across our markets. Sales in the Chemist Warehouse branded Australian network was up 17%, with like-for-like sales up 15%. In addition, growth in international markets accelerated, with network sales up 24.5% and like-for-like sales up 11%. Normalized EBIT is up 18.7% and normalized NPAT, almost 20%, reflecting solid operating momentum and cost management. Our supply chain delivered 5% higher volume growth, while distribution costs remained flat, demonstrating the benefits of scale and fixed cost absorption. The integration program is tracking to plan, and we've achieved AUD 13 million of synergy benefits in the first half. The balance sheet remains strong, which gives us the capacity to continue funding growth while delivering returns to shareholders.
The board has therefore declared a dividend of AUD 0.02 per share, representing a payout ratio close to 60%, which is within our guided range of 50%-70%. Overall, this is a pleasing set of results that reinforces the strength of our business model, the momentum we are carrying into the second half, and the longer-term value creation opportunities. Let me now give you more color on the first half. The results we have delivered thus far are an outcome of our four strategic growth pillars. In our domestic network, CW branded store sales were 17.2%, which is a reflection of our value proposition, increased usage of GLP-1 medicines, and moving our online distribution directly from store.
We added 13 new CW branded stores during the half, consistent with the long-term network growth rate, and have commenced our program to reinvigorate the Amcal and DDS brands. The international operations continue to scale and are delivering encouraging momentum. We opened nine new stores in New Zealand and three in Ireland during the half, and have advanced plans for further store openings in the UAE. Total international retail network sales exceeded AUD 800 million, and we achieved 11% like-for-like sales growth across those markets, which are scaling well and validating the strength of our model offshore. In our product strategy, we launched over 400 new own and exclusive label products in the half, which now represents close to 10% of CW branded store sales.
Whilst Chemist Warehouse will always remain a house of brands, our own and exclusive label initiatives are an important vector for growth. Operational leverage is being achieved with total expense growth below revenue growth. On integration, we have begun the consolidation of our distribution centers and completed a detailed work plan of activities to be achieved over the next three years. Overall, the first half demonstrates that our growth strategy is being well executed. With that overview, I will now hand over to Richard to discuss the financial results in more detail.
Thanks, Vikesh. Good morning. Having joined Sigma in September, I'll start with a few short observations from my time so far. First, the execution capability from wholesale to retail is exceptional, reinforcing the strength of the combined business. Secondly, the business model is exceptional, with a clear customer value proposition and strong mix of staple and discretionary products. Thirdly, we continue to grow our store network, both domestically and internationally. The traction already achieved in international growth is at a positive marker for future growth. Our New Zealand operations are a clear proof point of our strategy delivery. We have built a billion-dollar business in only a few years, with more to come. All that is contributing to the financial performance we are delivering today. We saw strong financial momentum and disciplined execution in the first half.
Revenue growth was 1.5 times operating expense growth, driving operating leverage. Normalized EBIT of AUD 582.9 increased 18.7%, resulting in EBIT margins expanding 34 basis points. Free cash flow was AUD 284.6 million, enabling us to reduce debt by AUD 117 million. CapEx for the half was just AUD 13.7 million, and net debt leverage improved to 0.61 times EBITDA from 0.85 times at 30 June. We have a conservative balance sheet, which provides flexibility to underpin our growth ambitions and deliver dividends for shareholders. Turning to the P&L, what is pleasing is that there's been strong performance in the half in all key financial metrics. Revenue is up 14.9%, outstripping expense growth, which was up 10.4%.
Revenue is supported by continued growth across the Chemist Warehouse branded network, contributions from recently opened stores, international growth, as well as growth in wholesale sales. Our gross profit margin was consistent at 18.3%, benefiting from scale efficiencies, mix, and improved supplier support. This growth in sales and GP dollars, supported by operating leverage, translated into strong earnings growth, noting that the first half is usually stronger than the second half. Normalized EPS at AUD 0.034 per share grew strongly, up 19.4% for the half, supporting the board's decision to declare a fully franked dividend of AUD 0.02 per share. Overall, the first half demonstrates that the merged group is scaling effectively, delivering both revenue and margin growth, and building a strong base as we move into the second half.
Turning to Slide seven, and operating expenses, is where you see the real benefits of the leverage we are beginning to unlock. Total operating expenses increased 10%, well below the 14.9% growth in pro forma revenue. That gap is important. It shows the benefits of scale now flowing through the business. Our warehouse and distribution costs were essentially flat, despite processing 5.1% higher volumes, reflecting the early gains from consolidating our supply chain. Marketing and sales costs increased in line with the growth in international store network, where we own the stores. Admin and general expenses also stepped up to support both domestic and international expansion. We incurred AUD 18.3 million of integration and PPA costs, which is in line with our expectations. This is excluded from our normalized results.
Overall, this disciplined approach to cost control, combined with the efficiencies we're building into the business, underpinned EBIT growth of 18.7% and improved margins. Turning to Slide eight, cash flow in the first half '26, we delivered operating cash flow of AUD 317 million. Before we get into the details, I'll call out in this table the comparison that some line items where comparative period are not like-for-like. The prior period represents CW pre-merger, and today's results clearly reflect the combined Sigma Group, with both wholesale and retail operations. These operations have different levels of capital intensity and margin. This lack of comparability between first half '26 and first half '25 numbers is obvious in the inventory line. The change in working capital this half shows a cash outflow of AUD 218 million.
This number reflects strong revenue growth, but also includes inventory for the retail and wholesale operations. The comparative period largely reflects CW as a retail franchisor operations. To provide more color on working capital, the days inventory for the combined Sigma business has been consistent throughout the first half at 49 days. Given the seasonal buildup of inventory going into Christmas trading from a wholesale perspective, keeping the 49 days consistent in December is a positive. Capital expenditure was AUD 13.7 million. This supports new store openings, supply chain infrastructure, technology investments, and business integration. Income tax paid in the half reflects a timing difference that will normalize over the next 12 months. As you can see, our effective income tax rate is 29.4%.
Cash dividends of AUD 149 million were paid in the half, and we also reduced our gross borrowings by AUD 97 million, demonstrating disciplined capital management while continuing to fund strategic priorities. Overall, our free cash flow continues to provide the flexibility to support growth and shareholder returns. Finally, turning to the balance sheet, where we remain in a strong and flexible financial position. Net debt has reduced to AUD 635 million, down from AUD 752 million at year-end, reflecting continued disciplined capital management. We took the opportunity to reduce the size of the debt facility while still maintaining headroom. We have achieved a reduction in both the overall cost of maintaining our facility and the margins on our drawn debt.
Our net debt to normalized EBITDA ratio is now just 0.6 times, down from 0.85 at the full year, highlighting our conservative leverage and capacity to fund growth. Trade receivables and inventories increased in line with business expansion. Overall, our balance sheet provides the financial resilience and headroom necessary to support ongoing investment, integration activity, and the medium-term growth opportunities ahead. With that, I will now hand back to Vikesh.
Thank you, Richard. A reminder that Sigma's growth is driven by four strategic pillars. Firstly, we have the opportunity to compound growth in our home market. Secondly, to expand and grow our footprint in international markets. Thirdly, to differentiate our product offer by our own label and exclusive lines where it makes strategic sense. Finally, to drive efficiencies from scale. The strategy is supported over the long term by defensive characteristics in Australia. We have an aging population, which supports our wholesale and dispensary business. We have a relatively young population. This supports the beauty and personal care categories. We trade in a highly regulated industry. This creates a strong moat for the organization, and our business model is scalable and value-focused, capturing all segments of the market. I will now talk through our strategy in more detail.
Starting with our core domestic growth pillar, where the opportunity in Australia remains substantial. With over 5,900 community pharmacies nationwide, and around 10% currently operating under the Chemist Warehouse franchise, our addressable market continues to be both under-penetrated and highly attractive. This provides a long-term scalable pathway for disciplined network expansion and sustained earnings growth. The revitalization of Amcal and Discount Drug Stores brands adds further scope to our growth profile. Through the second half of FY26, we expect to add 9 Chemist Warehouse stores to the network. We anticipate 18 CW stores will complete a refurbishment, further supporting like-for-like sales growth. A key milestone this half was the full conversion of all My Chemist stores to Amcal and DDS, simplifying our brand portfolio.
Work on uplifting the performance of the Amcal and DDS network continues and is a multi-year journey, with progress already being made on product assortment and marketing. Our domestic targets remain ambitious and achievable as we pursue 900 Chemist Warehouse stores, 300 Amcal pharmacies, and more than 150 Discount Drug Stores over the long term. This disciplined expansion, supported by a proven value model, is set to drive sustained revenue growth, operating leverage, and long-term value creation. The strength of the Chemist Warehouse branded store network is clearly visible in the graph on the left, which demonstrates sustained growth and durability over two decades. This long-term performance isn't just about footprint growth, it's underpinned by a strong consumer brand proposition that has contributed to a 12% CAGR in network sales to FY25.
Looking at the graph on the right, you can now see the global scale and potential that is being built with 957 retail stores across all brands and markets. Domestic growth remains our core, but the international network is growing in prominence, which I will now turn to. The second strategic pillar is international growth, which continues to build momentum for the group, and as seen on this slide, is growing in relevance. In the first half, we opened 12 new stores in our core offshore markets, taking our international network to 89 stores across New Zealand, Ireland, and Dubai. Our retail footprint in New Zealand now exceeds 70 stores, with sales in the half up 22.4%. With the strong like-for-like sales growth and plans to open an additional 4 stores in the second half, we expect this momentum to continue.
The rapid expansion of the New Zealand business has triggered a review of our supply chain requirements, and we have almost finalized plans for a new distribution center in Auckland. Ireland and Dubai are progressing well. In Ireland, we are focused on strengthening the operational backbone of the business through improved supply from our own distribution center, enhanced supply partnerships, and more effective marketing. We now have 17 stores in Ireland, with a further four stores expected to open in the second half. In Dubai, we are establishing a platform from which we can scale sensibly over time. Our existing two stores have proven popular in that market, and we will shortly open a further three stores. As previously announced, our China strategy will be focused on only online, where sales are up 3.3% for the half.
We expect to complete the physical store closure program by FY29, with a minimal financial impact to the company. Further international store openings are planned for the future as we build a diversified and scalable global network. The third pillar is focused on product differentiation. Our product strategy continues to be a powerful driver of margin growth and customer engagement. In the first half, owned and exclusive Swift label lines grew 16%, with strong volume growth and increasing customer preference for our differentiated offer. Own and exclusive label now represents close to 10% of CW retail sales. Our brands, including Wagner Generics, which now makes up 39% of our recommended generics range, enhancing value for customers while strengthening franchisee and Sigma profitability. As I have stated previously, Chemist Warehouse is and will remain a house of brands.
Our own and exclusive label strategy is important to strengthen our market position, deepen our supplier partnerships, deliver value for customers, and drive margin enhancement. This discipline focused on innovation, category leadership, and brand development is delivering tangible results and will remain central to our long-term growth plans. Turning to the fourth pillar of our strategy, operating leverage. The TuiKi program has delivered AUD 13 million in the half and is on track to achieve the AUD 100 million target by FY29. The program is focused on three verticals. First, supply chain efficiency. We recently closed our ePharmacy DC in Preston, started to consolidate our transport networks, and announced the closure of CWC in South Australia and Western Australia, which will be completed by the end of this calendar year. Second, rationalizing our technology systems and applications.
A detailed transformation roadmap has been developed, and execution will take place over the next three years. This will result in a simplified IT environment, which will reduce risk and deliver savings over the long term. Third, consolidating CW supplier relationships and franchising services to support the growth of Amcal and DDS. The program has begun, but we will only make meaningful progress in the new fiscal year. Importantly, AI is being enabled across the business to support the delivery of operational efficiencies. Finally, let me turn to our execution priorities and the outlook for FY26. The first seven weeks of the second half has seen our momentum sustained.
The Australian CW branded stores continue to perform well, with the year-to-date sales up 16.6% and like-for-like sales up 14.4% as we begin to cycle GLP-1 sales from the prior year. Pleasing growth continues in our international markets. This reinforces the resilience of our company and the defensive nature of our business model. We plan to open 9 CW domestic stores, 15 Amcal stores, and 11 international stores in half two, which is ahead of our historical run rate and continues to underpin medium-term growth. From a capital and capability perspective, we are executing targeted investments that support scale and efficiency. This includes the potential establishment of a distribution center in New Zealand and enhancing the Ireland DC operations to improve execution capability in these markets.
On synergies, the integration program is progressing in line with expectations, and we reaffirm our target of AUD 100 million of annual synergies by FY29. As previously guided, this is weighted towards year three and four. In closing, the operational and financial performance provides a solid base for earnings momentum into the balance of FY26. We are delivering consistent underlying growth, expanding our markets, progressing integration with discipline, and unlocking synergies in line with our plans. Our business is highly cash generative, with a strong balance sheet to support our growth ambitions and returns to shareholders. Thank you for listening, and we will now take your questions.
Thank you. We will now take questions. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star, then two. If you are on a speakerphone, as a reminder, please pick up your phone and your handset to ask your question. Today's first question will come from Tom Kierath with Barrenjoey. Please proceed.
Morning, Vikesh. Welcome back, Richard. First, first question I've got is just on the equity account profit line. New Zealand, I understand, is in there, grew sales pretty strongly, but that profit line actually decreased year-over-year. Can you maybe just explain why that decrease was in there, please?
We've got two elements. There's the share of profits of associates, which is the 31st of December, 2025 number of AUD 17.2, compared to PCP at AUD 15.7. That share of profits from associates and joint ventures, which is a lot majority of that, is our New Zealand store performance, where the in joint venture with our partners there, which is different to Australia. It's the other income line, which is the AUD 9.7 in the AUD 9.7 and the AUD 6.7, which is in page eight of the financials. That other income line. Sorry, that was the stat number I just gave you. I should have given you the normalized of AUD 13, AUD 9.8 versus AUD 13, is down AUD 3.2.
That AUD 3.2 million or the, I guess, the other income line is made up of a bunch of things. The prior year reflected some closing out of commercial arrangements with our suppliers. We put one-off through the other income line to sort of indicate that's non-core. Hopefully that's clear enough. Apologies. That was.
Yeah. Okay.
9 in total, 28.7% in PCP normalized, that's down 1.8% overall. The other income line is 3.2% of that. The New Zealand line's up 1.4%. In summary.
Okay.
The New Zealand business continues to do really well.
Yep. Okay, great. Thanks. Just a second one, just the admin and general expense was up about AUD 30 million. I think it was like 17%. Yeah. What's kind of driving that? I had thought that might have been a bit lower in terms of growth rate in that, in that expense line.
Yeah. Again, there are a few one-offs in there, and as we grow the international business, there's certainly money in there for the international business and the support offices, supporting that growth, for lack of a better way to put it. There is continued investment in IT, you know, costs of becoming a public company, et cetera. We note the increase. I, like you, would like to see it slow a little bit, and that's an objective in the year ahead. It all makes sense what's in there. It's a lot of little one-offs.
Okay, great. Thanks, Richard.
The next question comes from Shaun Cousins with UBS. Please proceed.
Great. Thank you. Good morning, Vikesh and Richard. Just a question regarding GLP-1, some questions around that. Just in terms of how important was this to drive first half 26 sales growth, maybe percentage of sales, and then maybe just sort of how is the company planning on cycling this? Is this something where it's a one-time blip, or will ongoing adoption see this sort of continue to support sales growth? If you could just touch on what the impact is from a margin perspective, I guess, both at a Sigma level and then also at a pharmacist level.
Shaun, I think you've had three questions in there, right?
Yes, I know.
Yeah. Really, I think, without a doubt, right, GLP-1, and I've been transparent about this, has helped boost, half one sales. You would expect that it's a new category. There's great adoption of it in the marketplace. To lead into your second question, I'd say I believe this is enduring. You know, this is not a rack test or anything like that. People that go on to this see the benefits of this. You've got to use it over the long term, and there's further innovation coming in this category or this medicine category with regards to oral dosages, et cetera. My view is that this category is enduring, it's here to stay, and it will actually increase the market size over time, right, as it becomes cheaper.
The other advantages you have is because it's predominantly around weight loss, so the advantages of someone taking this isn't just about weight loss, right? There's other products that you then purchase in line with that. One of the side effects, as an example, is muscle mass loss, so that helps then the purchasing of protein, the protein category. We see this actually as a growing market that will not just benefit us, right? It'll benefit all pharmacies, and if it helps improve the health of our nation, we think that's a good thing. From a margin perspective, obviously, percentage margins are kinda lower because it's a very expensive drug, but we think it's absolutely fine because it's over the long term, it'll just boost growth, right? It'll grow the market size.
Therefore, I don't think analysts should be subtracting this or trying to work out what the difference is between GLP-1s or not. Actually, just look at the total growth, and that's actually what's gonna help the whole market in the years to come.
Fantastic. Thanks, Vikesh.
Your next question comes from Adrian Lemme with Citi. Please proceed.
Good morning, Vikesh and Richard. I just wanted to ask a follow-up, please, on the GLP-1 question. I mean, Richard would appreciate this from his JB Hi-Fi days, but how is the actual selling happen in store to cross-sell those other products for these health-conscious customers that are filling the GLP-1s? Is that just them finding the products themselves or a pharmacist or other staff sort of helping them to convert these extra sales, please?
Well, that's why I think we can do a bit better, to be honest. I think at the moment it's a pharmacy product, right? You've got a patient coming in, dispensing the product, et cetera, and the patient may require other products and shop around our stores. I think that still remains an opportunity to cross support the needs of the patients. I'm sure our stores do today, but I would say that will remain an opportunity to the future.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Bryan Raymond with J.P. Morgan. Please proceed.
Thanks very much. Just interested in the mixed effects of GLP-1s as well. There's obviously a lot of focus on this area, but just trying to understand sort of the availability impacts. You mentioned it was a tailwind to first half 2026 in terms of top-line growth. Is that still the case in second half 2026, do you think, that it's accretive to growth? Then also just the gross margin implications. It was a broadly flat result. I'm sure there's lots of ins and outs there, but it'd be great to understand that line a little bit better and with respect to GLP-1 than anything else that's driving that gross margin line. Thanks.
Yep, without a doubt, I think GLP-1s will continue to drive our second half growth. I just want to say the laws of gravity eventually get you, right? As you start to cycle those sales from the second half last year, without a doubt, that will compress it. You're starting to see a little bit of that come through in the trading update I provided on the first, 16.2% to 16.6%. That, that's just a higher base coming through. The way I look at it, of course, it's a big category. The category will continue to evolve over time, and today's GLP-1, tomorrow may be something else.
The skill set is in execution, the ability of our buyers and our team members to continuously react and adjust, and be fluid on how we can protect the margin, you know, over time. You can see in the first half, even though GLP-1 sales continued, margin still remained strong, and that's really by the great work done by our buyers to sustain the margin over this period.
Thanks.
... your next question comes from Caleb Wheatley with Macquarie Group. Please proceed.
Morning, Vikesh and Richard. I just had a question on sort of the broader brand strategy, appreciate, obviously, the targets are now out there for the long-term targets on Chemist Warehouse, Amcal, and Discount Drug Stores. It does seem like there's maybe been a bit of an incremental focus towards the sort of non-Chemist Warehouse brand. Just, yeah, care for any updated views on how you're viewing kind of relative opportunities across the brands? How you're sort of thinking about the relative offerings and how they fit together as you start those long-term targets, please.
I think the, the targets we've put in on Amcal and DDS were effectively pre-merger. You know, those were in the market already. What the merger now does is allows us to have a portfolio of brands that we can offer customers. Not everyone wants to shop necessarily in a, in a Chemist Warehouse store, and a Chemist Warehouse brand may not be close to a customer at that particular time. What this does, it allows us to have a different brand portfolio for different segments of the market, which provides even greater opportunity for the merged group. That's how we actually look at it. The way you've got to think about it in its brand positioning is Chemist Warehouse is the big box discount pharmacy.
Amcal is your everyday community pharmacy with more of a beauty focus over time. In Amcal, we can definitely put into a shopping center. I think that can represent us really well in there. Finally, there are multiple pharmacies, in fact, thousands of them across Australia, that provide convenience to their patients and consumers, and that is well positioned for the DDS brand. That's how we look at it from a brand portfolio perspective, which over the long term, further increases the opportunity for penetration.
Okay, thank you. Just in terms of the run rate as well across the brands, I think previously, sort of Chemist Warehouse was running at sort of 30-35 stores per annum in Australia. Does seem like there's been some moves over the most recent half. Yeah, any detail on sort of the movements over the most recent half, and then, yeah, how we should be thinking about kind of run rates given those long-term targets?
What I would say to you know, what we did this time in the reporting is we just pulled out the CW-branded stores. Previously, when it was 30-35, there were pipeline stores, prospective stores, optometry in there, et cetera, et cetera. We just made it crystal clear. If you really look at the average run rate of openings of CWs, around 20-22 a year. What the target does, effectively, it says there's another 15 years, right, roughly, of new store openings for the Chemist Warehouse brand. The Amcal brand, I mean, I ran it, by the way, the Amcal DDS brand. There's a lot of work to be done there. I'll be the first to put up my hand and say, this needs attention and needs work.
The team are very much focused on that and trying to probably deliver, you know, more effective results in terms of the proposition for both Amcal and DDS. I think that's a multi-year journey, by the way, 'cause there's the foundational elements that the teams have to still put in. It's not a material driver at the moment of our growth or our earnings, but it's certainly an opportunity.
Okay, great. Thank you for the color, Vikesh.
The next question is from Craig Woolford with MST Marquee. Please proceed.
Good morning, Vikesh and Richard. Two questions, if I can. The first one, just around the expenses, and how we should think about that. Firstly, just want to wrestle with the fixed and variable nature of those expenses. Richard, just your opening comments about the spread between sales growth and cost growth. Do you think there is quite a bit of variability in that cost line? How should we think about that over the next couple of years?
I guess, because we're a franchisor in Australia, we don't have the wages on our books, so you sort of got to exclude that. There is a higher proportion of our costs that are fixed across the business, particularly with the size of the Chemist Warehouse, sort of Australia operations in the context of the group and what this office at Preston does to support those stores across Australia. You've got the New Zealand stores where, you know, we're in joint ventures, so we bring in their wages, so their wages are variable. Obviously, as we've been aggressively rolling out stores in New Zealand, the wages will go up. Likewise, with Ireland, likewise with UAE. The wages element, I don't overstate that in the overall context of that number. That's a meaningful contribution to the growth.
The underlying business, like effectively, let's call it, the warehouses, you know, that's a great result for Aaron and the team, and, you know, we see continuing benefits in our synergies for that. Sales and marketing and admin costs, there are fixed elements, you know, particularly admin costs, fixed elements. As we think about the years ahead, every successful retailer is focused on its cost base. No retailer finds growing sales that easy, they'll have to take their eye off costs. And for those of us who have been drummed into retail over the years, it's non-negotiable. Vikesh and I are always keenly aware of our cost base.
Okay. Yeah, interesting. The admin cost growth, you called out in your earlier response that there were factors associated with international opening. Is there any other, not necessarily one-off, but unusually high levels of cost this year that may not repeat?
Look, at the moment, you can imagine we've got two IT systems. We've got many duplicate IT systems. We clearly would like to see less duplication. As Vikesh alluded to in his opening remarks, we've got an IT roadmap. You know, there's a lot of systems that, you know, as any large corporate has, there are a bunch of IT systems. To the degree that we can move the business onto one system and get rid of the second system, there's opportunities. As we've stated in our, you know, cost to achieve, you know, they are long dated in sort of years three and four because they are with our complexity. In the short term, we may have a few costs to help us get through these, you know, these transition periods.
You know, over time, we'd like to be seeing both those cost lines, you know, come down as a percentage of sales. I'm just not saying it's next year. Yeah. I think Vikesh would like it next year. I make that point next year. Yeah.
You've given yourself four years. I think that's reasonable.
Yeah.
because the synergies. Just on international, two parts. One, there wasn't a number called out around international like-for-like in the trading update. Not sure whether there's any reason behind that. More fundamentally, what's the timeframe for new countries to be announced as markets that you might enter internationally as Chemist Warehouse?
I think obviously, as we said, we'll continue to focus on our core markets, you know, which is obviously Ireland and New Zealand and Dubai. If we do make a strategic decision to enter new markets, and we believe that's appropriate, et cetera, we'll inform the entire market accordingly on that, where it's appropriate. For now, we're very confident in the markets we're in, and we'll advise, you know, everyone accordingly.
On the trading update?
Being transparent, Craig, on the international number, the systems there are not as easy to cut mid-month numbers. To ensure that there wasn't any lack of clarity, we just decided that we'd go with the Australian headline, which is obviously a massive portion of the business. In future periods, we'll see how the systems are going, whether we can give you more information, but really comfortable with the momentum and what we're doing in our international markets.
Thanks, Richard.
The next question is from Ben Gilbert with Jarden. Please proceed.
Good morning, team. Just on the trading update, it was obviously a very strong start to the year. A couple of your competitors have come out with some double-digit type growth as well. Just how do you see the market more broadly? Do you think that you're still taking share at a similar rate when you look through over the last quarter or so? If we just look at the next sort of six to 12 months, in terms of the puts and takes, so you've still got store maturation, larger stores coming through. How do you think about the potential impact from GLP-1 if we do see it going onto PBS in the near term? Is that a risk as we move through the second half?
What I would say, we do think about that, but if it goes into the PBS, right, my view, it just grows the market size for us. It's very difficult to predict what that will do in the future, Ben. I do know what we generally tend to do is adapt exceptionally well and very quickly, right, to any changing dynamics. Our ambition is always to ensure that we're providing value to consumers. I think today, GLP-1 sales, et cetera, what you're seeing coming into our network, it's private. The bulk of it is private, so we can continue to compete on price. If it goes PBS, it takes away that opportunity, but then it increases the market size.
I think, you know, we'll just see what happens, but we still remain confident of growth in our second half. The key thing really is just driving the comps that are coming through, right? There's a few hundred million dollars of comps from the previous year of GLP-1s that will come into our second half.
Market share, because anecdotally, the market sounds like it slowed in January and February, but it doesn't really send any evidence of that to your numbers. It seems like share, rate of share gains might actually be picking up again.
Well, it thinks if you think what slow means relative, right?
It's still a good number.
The market is growing, yeah, 5.5%, 6%, right? We're growing. You can just look at our numbers. We're growing above the market, so we expect to take share, you know, over the long term. That's our model is based on that.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Peter Marks with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed.
Good morning, Vikesh and Richard. Just a question on Wagner generics. I think it's now 39% of your generics range. Can that continue to increase over time in Australia? Is it also possible to take that over to New Zealand in the future as well?
It's our own brand, so the answer is yes. You know, you've got to register it in the relevant markets, et cetera. I'd say in terms of the range at the moment, we're happy with the, if I can use the word, the assortment, the bulk of the drugs within Wagner we have. There's still an opportunity to add, you know, a few more molecules, but then you start to tail off, right, in terms of volume, et cetera. Remember, today, we only sell Wagner within our own ecosystem, okay? It's a registered PBS product, so there remains the opportunity over the long term. Remember, we have commercial relationships with the supplier of that product, et cetera, et cetera. Wagner remains an opportunity for us, but, we're very happy with its current progress, right?
It's really within a year now, that we have Wagner. I think it's in its infancy. There's certainly opportunity for us to grow that over the long term.
Okay, that's great. Second one, if I can, just on the progress in Ireland, is that a profitable business for you now? Are the suppliers, I guess, getting behind you in that market? Does your experience there, I guess, influence your thinking in terms of expanding to further adjacent markets like the UK or others around there at all?
Yes. Our intention, of course, is to make the business profitable, but when you enter new markets, that's generally not your primary objective. The primary objective is obviously to kind of take market share, establish your brand with consumers, et cetera, and that's what we are focused on in Ireland at the moment. Of course, we'd love to be profitable, you know, but if you think it's only 17 stores at the moment, it's really not the primary driver. The primary driver is really how many more stores can we open? How much more penetration can we have? The growth is actually very strong. If you look at the growth of the existing stores in Ireland now, is really, really strong, and we have another four coming, the balance of this year.
Ireland's now starting to get momentum, but initially, as you can understand, when you enter any market, you've got to invest, and we continue to invest. Just on your question on the UK, I think if we do, it just makes natural sense, right? It's right there, it's close by, et cetera, but it is a different market with different regulations, et cetera. It won't be in like a small decision to enter that market. If we do, we're confident we'll be ready for it, and we'll inform everyone.
The only thing I'd add on Ireland is the sales per store are really pleasing when you, when you look at them compared to sort of the other stores in the group by region. They're, you know, really impressive what they're achieving over there.
Yeah.
Great. Thanks very much, guys.
Your next question comes from Tom Godfrey with Ord Minnett. Please proceed.
Good morning, Vikesh. Good morning, Richard. Thanks for taking my question. Just similar to the Ireland commentary, I was wondering if we could chat quickly about Dubai. You've had a few stores sort of sitting in the Coming Soon section on the website. Just wondering how site acquisition and rollout's going in Dubai, and if you can sort of talk through the performance of the two existing stores.
The fact that we want to open three more stores is a vote of confidence. That's how I would address that, Tom. I think we've actually seen good growth. Remember, they don't know us there, right? When with two stores, it's very hard to get penetration. What's good, it's an online market. You can start to advertise more online, et cetera, so it allows us to touch more consumers. We're starting to build confidence. It's very early. With two stores, you can't take a long-term view on a market, quite frankly, but we're starting to build confidence in that market, and therefore we've committed to another three this year.
Thanks, Vikesh.
The next question is a follow-up from Tom Kierath with Barrenjoey. Please proceed.
Thanks. I've just got a couple of quick ones. Just on seasonality, like, I think historically, Chemist Warehouse has been, like, 57% first half. Is that a reasonable proxy for the merged group? I know it's a bit different now, just the composition, but just getting a sense of the seasonality, first half, second half.
It'll probably compress a little bit, but what I can say to you is the first half, because of Christmas, right, will certainly be higher than the second half. You know, saying that, Tom, though, who knows what's gonna happen over the winter months, you know, with cold and flu, et cetera.
Yep.
Normally the first half is higher.
Yep. Thanks. Secondly, you talk about, like, volume growth, in terms of the distribution side being 5%. Is that like... What metric is that? Is that trucks? I don't know. Is it pallets, units?
Just units. What we're providing you for the very first time is actually the consolidated, right? Because we don't separate kinda Sigma Wholesale anymore from the legacy Chemist Warehouse distribution centers, et cetera. We're putting all of the data together. What you're seeing is for the total supply chain of the consolidated group, right? Volume in units are up 5% and obviously costs are flat, you know?
Yep.
You're really getting the leverage come through there.
Yep. Great. Thanks, Vikesh.
The next question is a follow-up from Shaun Cousins with UBS. Please proceed.
Great. Sorry, just a few housekeeping questions. Just in terms of DNA, that seemed a little lower than consensus. How do you think about, Richard, maybe DNA for fiscal 26? Just any assistance there, appreciated.
I think we are not quite at a low point, you know, we've mentioned things like the New Zealand warehouse. I guess we just want you to be aware, in a model that in Australia is incredibly capital light, and when you see I don't think many people would see depreciation expense in a business like this at such a small number. You know, we've obviously nowadays, your IT systems are software as a service, so they're not going through depreciation. I think we are probably at a bit of a low point, and then just as we see the investments in the DCs, in New Zealand, and we, you know, Ireland, et cetera, you know, you'll see that depreciation tick up.
We're not talking about something that's gonna accelerate particularly. It's just, you know, probably in line with the business's growth.
Okay, my second question is, which you may have touched a little bit on it there, but just the outlook for CapEx again, that came in a little lighter. Aware of the New Zealand warehouse. Maybe just what's the timing of that? Is it a second half FY26 commencement of CapEx spend, or is that a fiscal FY27? Just in terms of, you know, again, how do you think about that AUD 23 million CapEx in the first half? Is that a seasonal, pardon me, a low point, on an ongoing ex New Zealand warehouse basis, please?
Two comments. One, the AUD 13 million of CapEx there, from a cash flow perspective, is slightly higher. There were some accruals. When I think about the warehouse, it's probably gonna be spread over the best part of two years, we're in the planning stages, yeah, maybe I think there's a conference in May. We could probably give you some more color once we've got it all locked away.
Okay. Fantastic. Thank you, Richard.
The next question is from John Hester with Bell Potter. Please proceed.
Good morning. Just turning to page 12 of the presentation and the store rollout. In relation to the movement in Chemist Warehouse Group stores, you went from 537 to 550 stores. How many of those were actually external add-ons as opposed to conversions of Amcal stores and other in-house brands, please?
I would say to you, none of them were conversions of either an Amcal or a DDS, 'cause Chemist Warehouse branded stores tend to be larger in size. There were pipeline stores that would have been available where a particular franchisee would have now opted, right, to become a Chemist Warehouse branded member, which would have been part of that. If I'm understanding your question correctly, you know, it's dependent in a way of which pharmacist wants to become a new franchisee, and that's really how this happens, you know, because the number of licenses in Australia tend to be pretty finite, so we can't just rock up and open a store.
What we have to do is plan for that, and pharmacists have to choose to become a branded store member.
Those 13 stores are genuine additions, in other words?
Yeah, yeah, they'll always be genuine additions. Yeah.
Okay, that's impressive. Question for Mr. Murray. You've got five and a half billion dollars worth of revenue across multiple businesses and only one gross profit margin number. Is it reasonable to expect you could expand on your analysis of margins across each of the business units? You did refer to a number of movements earlier on the call.
I think one of the strengths of a retailer is you keep things simple, so that's how we think about it at a high level. Then secondly, as a, you know, I think we are really proud of what we've delivered in the market, and we think a lot of that's the strength of our business is competitive. We will always challenge ourselves over time to think what we can do to help you guys understand the business better, but that won't be at the expense of our competitive market position. I think if you think about it, your gross margin is probably one of the most competitive outputs.
Okay, just as a follow-up, what's the difference in DNA between the statutory and the normalized result? 42.4 versus the 33.4.
That was normalizations of warehouse write-offs in South Australia, ePharmacy and WA, which go through the normalizations.
Okay. Finally, Vikesh, in relation to The Infinity Group in Queensland, I'm sure you're aware of the 90-odd assets that are up for sale there. What's your interest level in those?
Well, I think I've been publicly quoted on this, right? I mean, there's a process that's continuing in regard to that. As a group, we would not purchase the group. We can't buy the pharmacies, right?
Yes, I understand.
We can't own the pharmacies. What we've always said is, you know, we today have some sort of relationship where, through the wholesale business, we supply stock to all pharmacists, and we let that process continue. We're actively interested if there's any pharmacists there who wanna join our group, right? I think it's up to the administrators, and we wanna respect their process at the same time, you know. That's how I look at it, quite frankly. We're not gonna make a bid for The Infinity Group. I've said that publicly. We certainly, if there's pharmacists who wanna engage us on their stores, et cetera, in the process, we're welcome to accept that.
Bottom line is, would you expect to get some or at least some additional stores opening in Queensland, I mean, on the Gold Coast, for example?
I truly don't know, right? There's a, there's an administration process continuing here, which we're respecting. We'll just focus on what we're doing currently in terms of what we wanna do in Queensland to open more franchise stores.
Just the final question from me is, on that, again, on store networks, those you anticipate adding 15 franchisees to the network in the second half of 2026. Are they all conversions of Amcal stores, or are they genuine add-ons?
They're genuine, they're genuine add-ons. There'll be 15 Amcal DDS stores that pharmacists from other brands have agreed to convert to an Amcal and DDS, so they're real add-ons. Just to clarify, all the My Chemist stores have already been converted to an Amcal and a DDS. Anything we talk about in the second half will be brand-new additions.
... I'm just a little confused because obviously the Amcal and Discount Drug Stores are already in the network, and you're saying they're genuine add-ons, but they're really conversions, so I'm just not quite following you.
What Vikesh is saying is, within what used to be old Chemist Warehouse, sort of effectively, the graph you'll see on pillar one on slide 12, if you look at the prior year 1, well, you know, obviously the first question we get every day of the week is: What is the Chemist Warehouse branded stores? We've broken that out and made it super clear. There are stores that we partner with a pharmacist. It might be unbranded. It might take us a while to get the store next door that would turn into a Chemist Warehouse, but today that could also now might turn into an Amcal or a DDS, but that's what we call a pipeline. That's why we were pulling it out, 'cause those stores would materially change, and they're sort of in the holding pen.
Then when you get to the Amcals of the world and the DDSs, there are 6,000 pharmacies in Australia. So there's a range of conversations around joining which network you wanna join, and, you know. Like our competitors get some members from us, we get members from our competitors, and I think the 6,000 opportunity is what we focus on.
If you, if you're on clear, you can just pop Gary a question. We can help you through that. It's true additions.
Thank you.
The next question is-
You check that number with our likes for likes as well. Your likes for likes are always gonna hold you accountable on how you're seeing new stores roll through, or conversions.
The next question is from Adrian Lemme, with, Citigroup, as a follow-up. Please proceed.
Thanks. Just a quick one on private label. I noticed that it grew 15.7% in Chemist Warehouse. Last year was up over 20%. Is that just a natural maturation of that, or is anything slowing that down? Then just more broadly, is private label principally about margin enhancement, or is it about growing the marketplace?
I think it's both. I think, I think you just naturally, as you add more products, right, you'll get a compression taking place, and then you could have a really great product that accelerates the growth. It's about margin enhancement that you tend to do that. It's also about growing the market size, 'cause there may be gaps in particular categories that a supplier brand may not be dealing with as an example. That's where we look at the opportunity. As we say, if a supplier can't fill that gap, right, say in hydration or in vitamins or supplements or something like that, we then create a brand. We call it owned label, right? We create a brand that can fill that gap for consumers. Strategically, that's how we look at it.
That's why I keep on reinforcing the point that we'll always remain a house of brands. We really don't wanna compete with our supplier brands, but where they're unable to service the consumer in Australia, that gives us the opportunity to do so.
Thank you.
As a reminder, if you do have a question, please press star, then one. The next question is a follow-up from Bryan Raymond with J.P. Morgan. Please proceed.
Thanks for taking the follow-up. First one is just on synergies. AUD 30 million in the first half. How does that look in the second half and then into 2027, like, in terms of magnitude? Obviously, the 100 is a long-term number, but just keen to understand the shorter term progression there.
Well, I would say, we expect to get some level of synergies in the second half. It's very difficult to quantify. The reason why I say that is because there's an immense amount of different streams of work taking place at the moment, you know? The most important thing I would say is part of the synergy program, which is the consolidation of supply chain, is not to impact the day-to-day operations, okay? It's more important than anything else to maintain flow of stock into our stores. That's a primary objective. I think you'll see more of the benefits of consolidation coming in the second half. In the new fiscal year, that will start to flow through.
On synergies, right, we'll start to actually make some investments, because as I give the analogy, you're flying the airplane while you're changing the engine. You need some redundancy before you're gonna get the benefits. That's why we are allowing ourselves the four years. Again, over time, it's very difficult in a few years' time to work on what's the synergy, what's the continuous improvement in the organization, et cetera. That's really how I want to give you color around this, but I do feel very confident that the activities, right, will let us achieve our AUD 100 million in savings.
Okay, excellent. Just one other follow-up. Just on retail media, I mean, you guys, it's a big part of your business. It doesn't get split out directly, really, but just keen to understand how you're seeing the retail media landscape. How is that going in terms of being an earnings driver for you, and how suppliers are kind of investing in that space? Yeah, I just think that's an underexplored area in-
Yeah.
in, for Chemist Warehouse.
It's a very important part of our value generation. you know, it's... The way we look at it, retail media's revenue, et cetera, should be very much in line with our turnover growth, right? Our revenue growth, if I exclude medicines, of course, and the team have always focused on that. The main objective is to provide value to our suppliers, and the way they see value is growing turnover in the retail network, et cetera. Our numbers show that we continue to do that. You can de facto then make the, you know, the conclusion that our retail media income continues to perform well.
Okay, excellent. Thank you.
There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Ramsunder for any closing remarks.
Thank you to everyone for your questions and listening to our presentation. Really, goodbye, and thank you from Richard, Gary, and myself.