Good morning, welcome to all to this shareholders' meeting. My name is Lino Saputo, Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. In this capacity, I will be presiding over today's meeting. I am thrilled to welcome our shareholders to our annual meeting. Whether you are attending in person or online, thank you for being with us here today. I am joined today by Carl Colizza, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maxime Therrien, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, who will serve as Secretary for this meeting, and Lydia Pham, Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs, who will serve as our moderator. Before we begin, just a few words on the general run of the meeting. This meeting will be conducted primarily in French with simultaneous interpretation. The procedure for asking questions during the meeting is described in the proxy statement.
Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxies present in the room may ask questions at one of the microphones when invited to do so. You must identify yourselves and confirm your status as a shareholder or proxy holder prior to asking your question. Online participants must have logged in using their access number in order to ask questions during the meeting. In order to ask a question, please click on the questions icon. You can choose to type your question or enter your phone number in the text box. If you provide your phone number, please indicate which agenda item your question refers to so that it may be addressed at the appropriate time. If you do not specify the agenda item, your question will be addressed during the question and answer session at the end of the meeting.
In any case, an operator will call on you when it is time to ask your question. If you prefer to submit your question in writing, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible and we will address it at the appropriate time. Online participants who have logged in as guests will not be able to ask questions or vote. In order to ensure fairness with other participants, please be concise when you ask your question. If we are not able to answer questions within the allotted time, we will post answers on the investors section of our website. We reserve the right to modify or reject questions that substantially duplicate the content of a question asked by another participant, that are deemed inappropriate or unrelated to the meeting, that concern non-public information regarding Saputo, or that serve the personal or commercial interests of a shareholder.
We may make statements today that contain forward-looking information within the meaning of the applicable securities laws. These statements are based on assumptions and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially. I refer you to the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements contained in our annual report on our website displayed on the screen. I would now like to appoint Ms. Martine Gauthier and Ms. Teresa De Luca of Computershare Trust Company of Canada as scrutineers of this meeting. The scrutineers have provided a report on attendance, and I can confirm that shareholder quorum, either present or represented by proxy, is reached. The items on the agenda for today's meeting are set forth in the proxy statement dated June 4th, 2026.
The company has used the notice and access system to make all documents available and sent a notice containing all relevant information in this regard to all shareholders on or around June 23rd, 2026. The proxy statement, notice of meeting, and annual report are available to shareholders on our website. Additional copies are also available at the registration desk here today. For online participants, you can access these documents by clicking on the documents icon on your screen. All these documents are also available on the company's profile on SEDAR+. I will therefore omit the reading of the notice of meeting. Our transfer agent, Computershare, has confirmed that the applicable meeting documents were duly sent to shareholders in accordance with the Canada Business Corporations Act and the company's bylaws. I therefore declare that this meeting is duly called and constituted to conduct business of the company.
I move to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the annual meeting held on August 8th, 2025 and deem them to be adopted, carried. The minutes will be kept in the company's books and may be inspected or consulted at any time by any shareholder. We will now proceed with the voting instructions. Voting will take place by secret ballot for all motions under consideration today. Each shareholder of the company is entitled to one vote per share held. For people present in the room, registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have not already submitted a proxy or who have revoked their proxy, were given ballots upon entry. Representatives from Computershare will collect the ballots after the final motion.
For those participating online, registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have logged in using their access code may vote on all items on the agenda immediately. Shareholders who have already submitted a proxy, it is not required to vote again at this meeting unless you wish to change your vote on a motion. A shareholder or proxy holder authorized in writing who wishes to change their vote must immediately revoke their proxy, either by visiting the Computershare desk at the entrance if you're in the room, or by clicking on the voting icon if you are participating online. As chair of the meeting, I move all motions and none will need to be seconded. Once discussion on all agenda items has concluded, a short period of time will be dedicated to voting. Preliminary results will be announced before the end of the meeting.
The first item on the agenda is the presentation of financial statements. A copy of the company's financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31st, 2026 is available on our website and on SEDAR+. I would like to invite Max to make a few comments on our results for the fiscal year 2026 and the first quarter of 2027. Carl will then present our achievements from the past year and provide an overview of our strategic priorities. Max, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Lino, and thank you to all of you for joining us here today. Fiscal year 2026 was marked by solid progress in our results and strong earnings growth. This performance reflects the strength of our business momentum, which supported organic volume growth as well as profits in our investments and operational efficiencies, thereby improving our cash flow generation.
I'd like to present a few key elements of our performance, including our division results, but also operational work that underpins all this and the measures that we took to drive long-term value creation. For fiscal year 2026, consolidated revenues from continuing operations totaled CAD 17.55 billion, down 1.5% from the previous fiscal year. This decrease primarily reflects lower market prices for dairy products in the U.S. This said, higher sales volumes, particularly in North America, and higher selling prices in domestic and international markets for cheese and dairy ingredients, had a positive impact on revenues. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations totaled CAD 1.66 billion, up 10.4%. Our adjusted EBITDA margins increased by more than 100 basis points to reach 9.5%, reflecting the quality of our execution and the benefits and the profits resulting from our operational initiatives.
Combining adjusted EBITDA from continuing and discontinued operations, the total reached CAD 1.78 billion, up 13.6%. Adjusted net income from continuing operations came in at CAD 751 million, or CAD 1.82 per share, an increase of 18% compared to the prior fiscal year. Net income from continuing operations totaled CAD 690 million. This result compares to a net loss for the prior fiscal year, which included non-cash impairments, charges related to goodwill and intangible assets associated with our U.K. dairy division.
We also generated net operating cash flows from continuing operations of CAD 1.51 billion, up 26%, driven by rigorous management of our inventories and working capital items. Let's turn to results by segment. In Canada, our experienced team once again delivered results that exceeded historical levels. Revenues increased by 5% to reach CAD 5.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 7.7% to reach CAD 697 million, while the margin reached 12.9%.
This performance reflects volume growth across several categories. It also reflects the returns of our investment in automation and our packaging initiatives which continue to improve our cost structure. Overall, results in our Canada segment demonstrate the strength of our business, driven by the strength of brand, sustained demand in our key categories, and continued growth in our value-added segments. The U.S. segment, our team made significant progress during fiscal 2026. Adjusted EBITDA came in at CAD 672 million, up more than 9%, and margins improved to reach 8.1%. These results reflect growing revenues and profits derived from our network optimization initiatives, particularly in Wisconsin. Over the course of the year, we completed the closure of our Green Bay facility. We continued to increase production at our Franklin plant and commissioned our Caledonia distribution center.
Our investment of CAD 180 million in Waupun also allowed us to increase our high-protein ingredients capacity by approximately 35%. This investment strengthens our position in ingredients with higher margins and supports our growth in value-added segments. Finally, the new federal milk pricing formula, which took effect in June 2025, resulted in cost savings in line with our expectations. With regards to our international segment, which now consists solely of our dairy products division Australia, adjusted EBITDA reached CAD 162 million, up 20%, and the margins improved to reach 6.3%. This performance reflects the favorable impact of higher prices in international cheese and dairy ingredients markets, which was, however, partially offset by higher milk costs. Performance also reflects growth in our high-protein ingredients, lactoferrin, cream cheese, particularly in Asian markets. On the domestic Australian market, growth was driven by gains in private label segments.
In spite of reduced milk availability in the country, our strategy of optimization, both in terms of costs and product mixes, enabled the division to deliver solid results. On the European sector side of things, adjusted EBITDA came in at CAD 128 million, up 21%, and the margins increased to reach 10.1%. Initiatives implemented over the past fiscal year have begun to yield expected results. Consolidation of our cheese packaging operations in Newton, combined with the strategic discontinuation of certain functional dairy ingredients, contributed to generating operational efficiencies starting in the second half of the year. The division also improved its cost structures through active management to optimize inventory levels. These initiatives are in line with our goal of building a more focused platform that is well-positioned to support our long-term growth. In terms of capital allocation, we maintained our balance and discipline approach. Capital expenditures totaled CAD 339 million.
These investments focused on projects designed to support the execution of our operational priorities and strengthen our business. Over the course of the year, the financial year, we also repurchased, redeemed CAD 19.2 million in shares for approximately CAD 679 million as the normal course issuer bid, which was renewed in November 2025. We also paid CAD 329 million in dividends. Our balance sheet remains strong. At the end of the fiscal year, in March 2026, our net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 1.7%. As of today, this ratio, this debt ratio, stands at 1.47%, well below our long-term target of 2.25%. Yesterday, we announced our results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. Adjusted EBITDA came in at CAD 427 million, up nearly 8% from the prior fiscal year. Adjusted net income from continuing operations totaled CAD 199 million, or CAD 0.49 per share.
All of our operating segments reported improvements in profitability compared to the first quarter of the prior fiscal year, contributing to strong earnings growth. These results reflect the impacts of our recent investments aimed at expanding and strengthening our production capacity, combined with strong business momentum and operational efficiency gains, which supported margin expansion in spite of persistent inflationary pressures. With revenues up 1.5%, adjusted EBITDA up 8%, adjusted net income up 13%, and adjusted earnings per share up 17%. We are entering fiscal year 2027 in a strong position with a solid financial profile, increased margins, low debt, and the financial flexibility needed to support our strategic investment priorities.
The operating environment in which we operate is a dynamic one. We are in a tremendously excellent position to navigate uncertainties that persist due to various geopolitical developments, dairy market conditions, particularly those in cheese, as well as the broader inflationary environment. Our enviable financial position gives us the means to achieve our growth ambitions. Yesterday, our board of directors reviewed the dividend policy and increased the quarterly dividend to reach CAD 0.21 per share. This is an increase of 5%. The quarterly dividend will be paid on September 25th to shareholders of record as of September 15th, 2026. Subject to TSX approval, we also plan to increase our share redemption program to approximately 24 million shares, the maximum authorized, and continue to actively redeem shares thanks to the solidity and the strength of our balance sheet.
Before concluding, I would like to thank our teams for their discipline, their diligence, their commitment, and all throughout this fiscal year. To our colleagues listening in, your work, your passion, both continue to be reflected not only in our results, but also in our ability to build a more efficient, more agile company that is better positioned for the future. I would now like to invite Carl to present an overview of our strategic priorities. Thank you for your attention.
Good morning, dear shareholders, members of the board of directors, and guests. Thank you for joining us here today for our annual shareholders meeting. Fiscal 2026 was a year of progress. The results that we delivered testify to the character of our team and the strength of our company. Our performance also demonstrated that decisions that we have made are now paying off and that our strategy continues to generate positive momentum. I'm very proud of what our teams have accomplished over the past year, but what makes me even more enthusiastic is what I foresee for Saputo's future. I'd like to take a moment to talk about the opportunities before us and how we are positioning ourselves to capitalize on each of them. Around the world, consumers are rethinking about what is on their plates. They are focusing on three sustainability priorities: nutrition, protein, well-being, and value.
Dairy products naturally meet each of these expectations. The underlying trends supporting our category show no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, they are in acceleration. Let's think of protein, whether it be milk, cheese, fermented dairy products, snacks, or beverages. Protein is transforming consumer habits. It's influencing how restaurant operators are designing their menus and driving innovation among our ingredients customers. I can assure you that at Saputo, we are not just watching these things evolve, we are contributing to shaping this evolution. In Canada, Armstrong has become a flagship brand in its category, attracting new consumers and expanding the role of cheese in active, well, focused lifestyles. In the U.S., our snack brands continue to drive growth in on-the-go cheese consumption, a category which virtually didn't exist a generation ago and in which Saputo is now leader.
In the U.K., Cathedral City is further strengthening its leadership by reaching new consumers. The brand continues to expand its presence into additional consumer occasions and opportunities, thanks to licensing partnerships and innovation in refrigerated meals. In Australia, Devondale, a brand built over decades through long-standing partnerships with dairy farmers and consumer loyalty, remains one of our most trusted brands on the store shelves.
These are not just brands. They are platforms, strong enough, trusted enough to grow well beyond the traditional categories and into new occasions, new formats, and new customers. The demand picture beyond our retail brands is equally compelling. Food service operators are seeking partners who can innovate with them at speed. Ingredient customers are looking for functional, high-protein, high-value solutions. Both are areas where Saputo is structurally advantaged through our scale, our R&D capability, and the breadth of our portfolio.
We have made deliberate, disciplined choices about where we will compete and how we will win. We are concentrating our energy, our capital, and our talent on a focused set of geographies, each with the scale, the brands, and the structural right to lead. We have meaningfully simplified our platform, exited businesses that no longer fitted our long-term growth strategy, and reinvested in the platforms that do. A more focused Saputo is a more agile Saputo, and in an industry being reshaped by consumer change, channel evolution, and technology agility, is increasingly the difference between leading and following. Focus also brings clarity to execution. It allows our regional teams to make decisions faster, to allocate resources with confidence, and to deepen the customer relationships that drive long-term growth. We are also running the business with a sharper commercial mindset than at any point in our history.
Everything starts with the consumer. Our innovation pipeline reflects that focus with targeted investments in protein, snacking, premium ingredients, food service partnerships, and value-conscious offerings that meet consumers where they are. We exited fiscal year 2026 with some of the strongest customer service levels in our history. That did not happen by chance. It is a result of operational discipline, investments across our network that are delivering results, and a culture that treats execution as a true competitive advantage. At the same time, we are embedding data, automation, and artificial intelligence more deeply into the way we forecast, plan, and serve our customers. This work I am personally engaged in through our Digital Advisory Committee, and we are already seeing tangible benefits in demand planning, supply chain visibility, and commercial decision-making. Together, these efforts are shaping the modern operating model of Saputo. Customer-led, data-driven, and disciplined.
It is paired with a renewed focus on talent. We are investing in a next generation of leaders, strengthening our leadership pipeline across every region and creating conditions for our people to do their best work. Foundational to all of this is our Saputo Promise. This is not a side initiative. It is how we operate. It is fundamental to how do we create long-term value. Fiscal 2026 marked the first year of our current three year Promise plan, and we delivered against every commitment we set out to achieve. Our climate trajectory in operations is on track against the Science Based Targets validated by SBTi. We are continuing to reduce energy intensity, expand renewable energy, electricity sourcing, and invest in efficiency projects across our network.
In line with consumers' priorities, more than 80% of our products now meet our Nutrient Profile Modeling criteria, reflecting our strategy and commitment to making nutritious food for households around the world. We are investing in our communities, supporting the farmers who supply us, and continuing to advance an inclusive culture across every region in which we operate. Long-term value creation depends on getting all of this right, and our employees take genuine pride in living our promise every day. Now, as we look to fiscal 2027 and beyond, our priorities are clear, consistent, and unchanged. First, we will capture the growth opportunities in dairy through targeted strategic investments and accretive M&A. The heavy capital cycle behind our network modernization is complete, and the returns are now compounding.
From here, we'll deploy capital where the growth is structural and the returns are most compelling, prioritizing value-added growth in cultured protein and functional segments where consumer demand is strongest and where our capabilities give us a clear right to win. Second, enhance our commercial strategy. We will continue to support our focus brands, deepen innovation partnerships with our key customers, and expand the global reach of our portfolio. These are the levers that turn category leadership into sustained, profitable growth and where our commercial discipline will continue to make the greatest difference in the years ahead. Third, drive operational and administrative efficiency. We will protect and extend our market competitiveness by continuing to invest in technology and automation, simplifying how we work, and taking costs out where it does not create value. Underpinning all three is a fourth non-negotiable commitment.
Operate with discipline to navigate whatever the environment brings while staying offensive on the opportunities that matter most. The market environment will remain dynamic. Trade policy, consumer sentiment, our input cost volatility are realities we will continue to manage with the same operational rigor you have come to expect from this team. Saputo is built to perform in good markets and in challenging ones. Our brands are stronger, our network is more competitive, our balance sheet gives us flexibility, our people are aligned around a clear plan, and our strategy is working. That gives me confidence, not just in fiscal 2027, but in the trajectory of this company for years to come.
To our employees from around the world, thank you for your passion, your expertise, your know-how, and your commitment. This is what is transforming this strategy into reality day after day. To our customers, our dairy farmers, our partners, thank you for choosing Saputo, and thank you for growing with us. To our board of directors, thank you to your support, your sound advice, and your candor. The greatest chapters in Saputo's history are not behind us. They are being written as we speak. What we are building today makes us more optimistic than ever when it comes to the future of our company. Thank you. I will now turn the floor over to Lino.
Well done, Carl. I loved it.
Well done, Carl.
It's an optimism.
My mom likes it, too.
Our next item on the agenda is the election of directors. The board is nominating all current directors, with the exception of Annette Verschuren, who will not be standing for re-election this year, as well as Carl Colizza, who is running for the position of director for the first time. Their biographies can be found in the proxy statement. I, therefore, nominate the following 11 individuals for election as directors of the company, who will serve until the next shareholders' meeting or until their successors are elected. Olu Beck, Carl Colizza, Victor Crawford, Anthony Fata, Annalisa King, Karen Kinsley, Linda Mantia, Diane Nyisztor, Franziska Ruf, Stanley Ryan, and myself, Lino Saputo. All candidates have confirmed that they are eligible to serve as directors if elected, and that they are willing to do so. We'll now take questions on this agenda item.
We'll first answer questions from the floor and follow up with online questions. If you are in the room and you would like to ask a specific question on this item specifically, please come to the microphone and identify yourself as a shareholder or proxy holder before asking your question. Over to you. I'm not seeing questions in the room. Lydia, do we have any online questions on this item?
No, we do not have any online questions.
Thank you for that, Lydia. We can now move to the vote. To vote online, please select the applicable voting options on the voting panel appearing on your screen. Participants in the room who have received their ballots may also vote. The next item on the agenda concerns the appointment of the auditor.
I move that KPMG be appointed as the company's auditor until the next annual meeting of shareholders and that the board of directors be authorized to set the firm's compensation. Are there any questions from the room on this item now? No questions from the room. Lydia, do we have any questions online?
No. No online questions.
Thank you, Lydia. I invite you therefore to vote on this item. The next item on the agenda is the adoption of an advisory and non-binding resolution regarding the company's approach to executive compensation. I move that in an advisory capacity and without diminishing the role and responsibilities of the board, the shareholders approve the company's approach to executive compensation as described in the proxy statement for the 2026 annual shareholders meeting. Do we have any questions from the floor on this item? Seeing none, are there any questions, Lydia, online?
No.
Okay. Thank you, Lydia.
I invite you to vote now on this item. We will now move on to shareholder motions or proposals. We have received two from the Mouvement for Shareholder Education and Advocacy, the MÉDAC. We have been told that no MÉDAC representative is here today. The MÉDAC proposals and the reasons why the board recommends that shareholders vote against each of those proposals are set forth in the proxy statement. Are there any questions from the floor on this item? No questions from the room. Lydia, have we received any online questions?
No .
Okay, no questions. All right. Well, this is turning to be quite efficient. I now would like to invite you to vote on these items. Online voting will close in just a few moments.
If you have not yet submitted your online vote, please do so now I ask participants in the room to raise their hand so that tellers can collect the completed ballots. Are there any in the room? Okay. Thank you to all. I therefore declare voting closed. Scrutineers confirm the following preliminary results based on the results of the proxy votes received. At least 96% of the votes were cast in favor of each of the 11 directors nominated in the proxy statement. Carl, I think you have an in. Approximately 99% of votes are in favor of appointing KPMG as the auditor. The advisory resolution on executive compensation has been approved with approximately 95% of the votes cast in favor. The shareholder motions submitted by the MÉDAC have been rejected.
More than 99% of the votes cast were against proposal number one, and approximately 92% of votes cast were cast against proposal number two. Shortly after the meeting, we'll file a report on SEDAR+, presenting the final voting results for each item put to a vote. In addition, we will report on the election of each director in a press release. We will now move on to the question and answer session. We are very pleased to answer any of your questions. We would like to remind you that registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have logged in online using their access number, may ask questions by clicking on the question icon. We will first take questions from the room, from the floor, before moving on to online questions. I'd like to invite participants in the room to come to the microphone.
Please identify yourself, confirm that you are indeed a shareholder of the company or a duly appointed proxy holder. You can ask your question.
Yes. Hello. I've got a couple of questions.
Yes, your name?
Maurice Gauthier. I am a shareholder. Okay, great. Thank you. My first question is particularly in the U.S., about the U.S., because the dairy price fluctuates more. How are you minimizing the impact of these commodity price fluctuations, particularly like I said in the U.S., and how are you going to increase your margins when it comes to the sector given fluctuations?
Let me remind you of the investments that we have done in the U.S. over the past few years. Those have become quite substantially more effective. Those efforts, those investments are now found in our margins.
Yes, it's true that when it comes to what we call the block price, the price of milk compared to previous years, it does indeed have an impact on prices overall. All this said, over the past few years, we've experienced many different markets like I said earlier. Today, our facilities, our brands, our commercial strategies are stronger now than they have ever been, and when we combine all of that with what we're seeing with this protein strategy and trend, and specifically in the U.S., it's very strong, not just in production, but in the deployment and sales. What we're seeing is a U.S. platform that is extremely robust. You're not concerned about the price? We'll take what comes at us in terms of the block price and the milk price, but we have a platform with many options.
Our portfolio is a vast one. We have many options either for domestic markets, exports, et cetera. Okay. Thank you. Another question.
When you talk about M&A, mergers and acquisitions, do you have an ROIC target for the acquisition of that very specifically?
When we talk about using capital, generally speaking, and on a few opportunities, on a few occasions we've talked about this, we're very disciplined, we're very focused. The deployment of capital will happen different ways. First of all, we will continue to support our brands. We're investing in organic growth. We have a lot of ambitions when it comes to capital projects as well. We've got investments that we expect to make in our facilities to grow with consumers. When it comes to M&A, mergers and acquisitions as such, it's not a question of size, okay? That's for sure.
Our intentions to acquisitions are to support commercial growth and our portfolio. Often we find ourselves in situations where we think back and we think, "Okay, should we build? Do we have a brand? Should we invest in mechanics or are we better off acquiring to deliver on the market to support clients and consumers more quickly?" It's not a question of size right now. This said, we are actively thinking about how to deploy our capital in a very disciplined manner.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that.
Thank you for your question.
Michel Gauthier, shareholder. Kind of in line with what my son was just saying, in Australia, the international division is not particularly successful. That's my point of view. You're leaving Argentina a little bit, Australia a little bit. You're selling divisions. What are you learning from all that? Will this ultimately have an influence on future acquisitions?
Maybe I can just say something specifically about your comment about it's not going well internationally. That's a point of view. When we talk about Australia, what happened with the sale of the plant, you can't forget that it is one plant among others in Australia on our platform. I just want to remind you that we acquired Murray Goulburn, and it was a plant which had zero profits. Profits were weak, to say the least. The platform, the journey for this plant was not yet well-defined. Over the years where we picked that up, and we were in partnership with another entity, we took on the operational control of the plant. It took several years to bring it to where it is now, which is a platform.
What? A plant with a particular category of product that is profitable. We found ourselves in a moment in time with our partner, who was a majority partner. They wanted to go in a different strategic direction compared to us. We seized that opportunity. We assessed the joint venture, and we made the decision that the best thing that we could do was to sell our share. In fact, it's worth saying that we're very happy with the outcome because the money associated with the sale will allow us to reinvest in the Australian platform. We believe in it, for the quality of milk, for the market proximity with Asia, which is precious for us. For us, we see it as fresh air. We have an opportunity today to continue to build and refine our Australian platform.
When we look at other parts of the world, we're very, very comfortable with the U.S. and Australia. Those are markets from which we will serve international markets. Milk quality, milk price, those are two competitive elements, and we're very satisfied with these two sectors in our portfolio.
Okay. Thank you. Even if margins are low and weak at 6.3%, it's going in the right direction. Okay. It's still a good growth platform? Right? Is that what you're saying?
Yes, absolutely. It's a sector where we will continue and continue our efficiencies. It is a platform and will remain a strategic platform for us and in Asia, which is crucial to our platform.
Yes, I'd like to add something, Mr. Gauthier. Our 90% share in Argentina was not connected with the division as sub-performance.
The division is very efficient with top brands, number one choices in the country. This said, with growth objectives that we have to bring the division to a different level, the risks associated with additional investments were such that we preferred to leave the business. The business was ramped up throughout 2000, 2001, 2002, sorry, 2022 up until 2023. The performance is we've completed our work, leaving Argentina gives us opportunities, therefore we can invest in sectors where we see more growth. Okay. Right. That's what I was going to say in terms of Argentina, absolutely. We've completed the circle. 2003, we were in Argentina. We paid amounts. CAD 750 million were invested. We were in there for 20 years, and we had a tremendous EBITDA. I think the circuit was a good one, and we've done what we wanted to.
I think they call that a grand slam. Okay, great. Are there other questions from the room? Okay, no more questions from the room. Lydia, do we have questions online?
No, we do not have any questions online.
Okay. Dear friends and dear shareholders, before closing this meeting, I'd just like to take a short moment not to revisit numbers that reflect our growth or all of the places we want to go on our strategy, but rather to think about who we have become together.
A year ago, I stood before you and said, "We know who we are. We know what we're capable of, and we know where we're going." 12 months later, I can say with even greater conviction, we are exactly where we said we would be. Fiscal 2026 was a year of affirmation. Affirmation that the foundations we spent years building are now bearing fruit. Affirmation that the tough decisions we made on our network, on our portfolio, on our cost structure were the right decisions, affirmation Saputo is now playing offense. In fiscal 2026, our adjusted EBITDA grew double digits. Our cash flow strengthened. Our balance sheet is among the most flexible it has been in years. This year alone, we returned over CAD 1 billion to our shareholders. Numbers reflect discipline. Success creates it. It is that discipline more than the numbers themselves that make me proudest.
We didn't chase volume for the sake of volume. We didn't pursue growth for the sake of scale. We grew where we win, we invested where we lead, and we exited where we could not create further value. The announced divestiture of a majority interest in Argentina is a powerful example of that discipline. It wasn't an easy decision. Argentina has been part of the Saputo story for over two decades. To our team in Argentina, [Non-English content] . You have been and will always be part of our family. Leadership, however, means making the choices that strengthen the whole, even when those choices are difficult. We are now a more focused, more agile, more concentrated Saputo with four leading platforms: Canada, the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom. Each with the scale, the brands, and the right to win.
I've been asked more than once, "At this stage of your career, what continues to drive you?" The answer is simple. It's legacy. Not my legacy, our legacy. The legacy of every Saputo employee, past and present, who have worn this name with pride and continue to have an immense attachment to our success. You see, behind every pound of cheese, every liter of milk, every innovation, there is a person, a Saputo person, someone who believes that doing things right matters more than doing things fast. That is who we are. That has always been who we are, and under Carl Colizza's leadership, that is who we will continue to be. Carl has now completed his second full year as President and CEO, we are seeing in execution, in commercial discipline, in strategic clarity, what I have seen all along.
Carl is the right leader at the right time. What excites me most is Carl's ambition for this company, his drive to grow, his discipline to build, and his determination to prove quarter after quarter Saputo's best days are still ahead of us. Carl is supported by a leadership team that is among the strongest in our industry, experienced, aligned, and energized. They are corporate warriors. They are builders, and they're not afraid to play offense. I'm proud Carl is standing for election as director of this board for the first time today. He has earned that seat. To our board of directors, thank you for your stewardship, your candor, and your unwavering support. In good times, you offered wisdom. In difficult ones, you offered calm. That steadiness through every storm has been invaluable.
I'd like to take this moment, and I'll try not to get too emotional here, to thank in particular, Annette. Annette, thank you for being here this morning. It really means a lot. Annette is not standing for re-election after 13 years of exceptional service on our board and audit committee. Annette, your wisdom, your courage, and your judgment have shaped this company. We are deeply grateful for the spirit you brought to every discussion. You're crying now, I'm going to cry. To Linda Mantia, who joins us this year, welcome, Linda. You arrive at a moment of momentum, and we look forward to your contributions. To our shareholders, thank you for your trust. Long-term sustainable value creation remains the heartbeat of everything we do. To our customers, our partners, and our dairy farmer suppliers, thank you for choosing Saputo. You remind us of why character matters.
To all our Saputo employees around the world, you are our strength, our pride, and our purpose. You are the promise that Saputo brings to its customers in action. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Allow me to close with this. The dairy industry is being reshaped. Consumers want more protein, more nutrition, more functionality, more value. Dairy, our dairy, is uniquely positioned to deliver all of it. The opportunity in front of us is enormous, and we are not just going to participate in it, we are going to lead it.
Thank you to all, have a great day, and let's keep building.