KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (KNKZF) Q4 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our analyst and investor call for the fiscal year 2024-25. I'm very pleased to share how KWS has delivered in a changing agricultural environment with a robust operational performance and a number of deliberate strategic choices that set us up well for the future. Before we begin, as always, a brief reminder. Today's remarks include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and you will find the full disclaimer on this slide. And with that, let me take you through the highlights. Over the past year, we navigated a weaker agricultural market condition with resilience, and we delivered our full-year targets in line with the latest guidance. Two signals stand out. a strong increase in free cash flow, and a low net debt position. Both underline KWS earnings power and balance sheet strength. We also sharpened our focus. We streamlined the portfolio. We repositioned the corn segment as we also anticipated and communicated earlier and set a new financial framework designed to drive sustainable, profitable growth. As a leading seed specialist, this means targeted long-term investments in growth areas and in our innovation pipeline and continue to help to address the real challenges facing agriculture. At the same time, we want our shareholders to participate in the company's long-term success. We are aiming for a higher payout ratio while maintaining a strong commitment on dividend continuity. And looking ahead to 2025-2026, we are confident and the resilience and the trajectory of our market-leading businesses. So even if market headwinds unfortunately won't disappear overnight, we expect to stay on our growth path and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders. Let's now take a look at our key perf...