Genus reports strong FY26 profit growth, launches £60m share buyback

Genus plc (LON:GNS) has announced its preliminary results for the year ended 30 June 2026

SIGNIFICANT STRATEGIC PROGRESS AND £60M SHARE BUYBACK ANNOUNCED

Strong full year result; additional return of capital to shareholders

• Adjusted operating profit growth of 25% including JVs, driven by strong PIC growth, a £5.6m milestone payment from the Group’s Chinese partner, Beijing Capital Agribusiness (“BCA”), and Value Acceleration Programme (“VAP”) actions benefitting ABS
• Adjusted profit before tax (PBT) increased 35%; excluding BCA milestones received in both FY26 and FY25, adjusted PBT increased 34%
• Statutory PBT of £310.5m increased significantly year on year due to a £204.1m gain from the 51% disposal of PIC China to form a strategic joint venture and an increase of £12.8m in the non-cash fair value IAS41 valuation of biological assets
• Adjusted earnings per share increased 35%
• Strong free cash generation¹ of £62.0m (FY25: £40.9m)
• Final dividend increased 11% to 24.0p per share; full year dividend growth of 10% to 35.2p per share, representing 32% payout of adjusted earnings per share in-line with 30-40% payout policy
• Leverage reduced significantly to 0.4x¹ (30 June 2025: 1.5x), supported by strong free cash generation and £98m⁴ of net cash inflow from the 51% sale of PIC China into a joint venture
• Additional return of capital to shareholders; as announced separately today, £60m share buyback programme expected to be completed during FY27

Substantial strategic progress

• Porcine: Strategic Chinese porcine joint venture formed in January 2026 to accelerate the long-term growth opportunity for PIC in China
• PRRS⁵ Resistant Pig (“PRP”): Approvals and/or positive determinations secured in Argentina, Canada, Uruguay and Peru; commercialisation process beginning in selected Latin American countries
• Bovine: VAP Phase 3 completed, delivering £7m of in-year benefit and £9m of annualised benefit

Divisional headlines

• PIC – Strong trading across all regions with particular strength in China and LATAM
  • Total volume, inclusive of JVs, grew 12%
  • Royalty revenue growth of 1% to £179m; adjusted royalty revenue, comprising PIC ex-China royalty revenue plus PIC’s JV equity share of Agroceres PIC and PIC China’s royalty revenues, rose 5% to £196.9m
  • Adjusted operating profit including joint ventures increased 17%² to £130.8m, driven by strong trading in Agroceres and China, lower input costs and a £5.6m milestone payment from the Group’s Chinese partner BCA
• ABS – Significant adjusted operating profit improvement with VAP offsetting the impact of lower global dairy prices
  • Volume increased 1% with sexed volume growing 2%
  • Significant improvement in adjusted operating profit including joint ventures to £22.9m at a margin of 7.6%; VAP benefits of £9.0m, comprising £7m of in-year Phase 3 benefits and £2m of annualised Phase 2 benefits, were partially offset by softer customer demand and adverse product mix driven by lower global dairy prices

FY27 Outlook: In-line with market expectations

• Genus expects to deliver resilient underlying profit growth despite cyclical weakness in key agricultural markets
• Group FY27 adjusted PBT in constant currency is expected to be in line with consensus expectations⁶ and moderately higher than normalised⁷ FY26 adjusted PBT of £90.3m

• Genus PIC: expecting moderate adjusted operating profit growth in FY27 off a normalised base
• Genus ABS: expecting moderate adjusted operating profit growth in FY27
• Group FY27 adjusted profit before tax is expected to be second half weighted, reflecting first half disease-related challenges in North American pork production, low pork prices in Brazil and subdued global dairy prices

Commenting on the performance and outlook, Jorgen Kokke, Chief Executive, said:

“Genus achieved a strong performance in FY26. We formed our strategic porcine joint venture in China and received further global regulatory approvals for our pioneering PRP gene edit. Our balance sheet has also been significantly strengthened through another year of very strong organic cash generation as well as the proceeds from the formation of our porcine joint venture in China. As a result of our strengthened balance sheet, and in accordance with our capital allocation framework, we will be returning £60m of surplus capital to shareholders via a share buyback programme that reflects the Board’s confidence in the future growth prospects and cash generation of the business. We look forward to making further progress on our strategic priorities in the year ahead.”

Results presentation

Management is hosting an in-person results presentation and Q&A session for sell-side analysts at 09:00 at Peel Hunt’s London offices (100 Liverpool Street, London EC2M 2AT). Those unable to attend in person can also join remotely; please contact Tavistock for details: [email protected].