PZ Cussons plc Annual Report and Accounts 2026

PZ Cussons plc Annual Report and Accounts 2026

About Us

BRAND-BUILDING

SINCE 1884.

We are a listed consumer goods business headquartered in Manchester and

employ 2,000people across the PZ Cussons Group.

Retaining the pioneering spirit of our founders, we are focused on building winning

portfolios of locally-loved brands in our lead markets of the UK, ANZ, Nigeria

Summary of Financial Performance

STRATEGIC REPORT

GOVERNANCE

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

3.70p

1 Alternative performance measures are explained and reconciled to the most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with IFRS on pages 180 to 182.

PZ Cussons at a Glance

PERSONAL | HOME | BABY

THREE CORE CATEGORIES

We are building winning portfolios of locally-loved brands in four

lead markets in the UK, ANZ, Indonesia and Nigeria.

With a balance between developed and emerging markets and

building our competitive advantages of go-to-market capabilities

and manufacturing scale, we are targeting double-digit total

shareholder return through the cycle.

INDONESIA

INDONESIA

Leading brands in Home Care and Baby Care.

Leading positions in Personal Care and Baby Care, with

strong distribution and in-house manufacturing.

17%

A Word from our Chair

This has been a year of good progress for the Group, underpinned

by an improved financial performance and by a clearer strategic

direction, focusing on where we have the most attractive

competitiveadvantages.

The Group has delivered adjusted operating profit of £59.5 million,

and I am particularly pleased to note that this represents a materially

better result than we had indicated to investors at the beginning of the

year. This reflects strong underlying execution across the business

and a more favourable macro-economic backdrop in Nigeria, where

brands, attractive markets and a more focused portfolio.

Non-Executive Chair

5 August 2026

Chief Executive’s Review

INTRODUCTION FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

FY26 was an inflection point for PZ Cussons. We concluded a

Nigeria and Indonesia with a portfolio of locally-loved brands,

balanced between developed and emerging markets.

At our Capital Markets Event in February 2026, we set out our

competitive advantages of:

1. our winning portfolios of locally-loved brands;

2. our go-to-market capabilities; and

3. our manufacturing scale and agility.

Combined, these advantages provide us in each of our four lead

markets with both the scale to compete with our larger, global peers,

and the focus to compete with smaller, local players. It is these

volume. This performance has been supported by a £3.5 million

increase in marketing investment – representing the most we have

invested in marketing in recent years – while delivering cost savings

of £8.5 million. As a result, we have delivered operating profit of £86.8

million and adjusted operating profit of £59.5 million, representing

growth of 8.4%, or 24.5% excluding the contribution from the PZ

Wilmar joint venture in FY25, providing early evidence that the actions

we have taken to reshape the business are beginning to come through

inperformance.

The sale of our stake in the PZ Wilmar joint venture, combined with the

In December 2025, we concluded our strategic review of Africa.

The Board took the decision during the year to retain our African

business, having announced the sale of our 50% stake in the non-core

PZ Wilmar joint venture. This decision reflects the strength of the

operations we have in the region and the Board’s view of the long-term

opportunities in the market. Our business demonstrated its underlying

resilience as we navigated a period of volatility and is well-placed

given the greater stability in the Nigerian economy and currency

throughout the year, further benefitting from the guardrails we have

been embedding to mitigate downside risks and limit the impact of

team. Our priority in FY26 has been on transitioning to the new

operating model in the US, and we are pleased that the business

returned to growth of 6.9% in North America after two years of double-

digit declines. Although the brand has yet to return to growth in the

UK and Europe in the year, we are confident in its future prospects

globally, building on the refreshed ‘Life is better in St.Tropez’ brand

positioning launching this summer, strengthened New Product

Development (NPD) for this year and next and the recent launch of

St.Tropez on TikTok Shop in the UK.

Building brands is central to our strategy: creating consumer demand

by better understanding and addressing consumer needs and

desires, driving brand equity and in turn supporting pricing power

andvolumegrowth.

During the year, we were pleased with the expansion of our gifting

programme in the UK, with Christmas gift pack sales up over 30%,

growing from our initial focus on Sanctuary Spa. We are now applying

these learnings to broaden our gifting ranges across other brands and

occasions throughout the year. We see a multi-year opportunity to

Australia, we introduced consumer-preferred 1 litre pump packs on

Original Source and our Morning Fresh Auto Dishwash proposition has

continued to strengthen, with shares peaking at up to 10% when on

promotion in customers where the brand is listed, leveraging Morning

Fresh’s position as the market’s leading washing up liquid brand.

Partnerships have been another source of growth, helping to

strengthen brand relevance and extend reach. These included Original

Source’s partnership with social media influencer Spencer Matthews

as part of our sponsorship of HYROX London, building on the use of

well-loved animated characters including Bluey, Zog and The Gruffalo

investment and funded through the reduction in overheads, total

marketing investment increased by £3.5 million versus FY25,

representing the Group’s highest level of investment in recent years.

We have continued to improve the way we serve consumers by

increasing both the depth and quality of our distribution, ensuring

the right products are available in more stores. In Nigeria, this has

been an important driver of performance for several years. During

FY26, we increased both the number of stores served directly and

the number of Golden Outlets by more than 40%. These are the

Elsewhere, we are strengthening our ability to serve consumers in

the channels where they increasingly choose to shop. In Indonesia,

e-commerce, including ‘quick commerce’ grew by more than 50% and

now represents 14% of total revenue. This is supported in part by our

expanding live-streaming platform and strong execution across TikTok

Shop and Shopee. TikTok is increasingly important elsewhere too;

inthe UK, we launched St.Tropez on TikTok Shop.

Finally, our partnership with The Emerson Group has helped secure

in-store listings for Childs Farm in US Walmart stores in June 2026,

following the successful launch on Walmart.com earlier in the year.

venture as well as the disposal of a number of surplus, non-operating

assets in Africa and Asia, generating proceeds of £27.6 million during

the year. Together, these actions have strengthened the balance

sheet, reduced our holdings in non-core assets and enabled greater

focus on our core categories of Personal, Home and Baby Care.

the wider UK business. We have also simplified or streamlined a number

of business processes through the use of AI tools and data analytics.

Key Performance Indicators

HOW WE MEASURE

OUR PERFORMANCE.

1

2025

2025

Reduce operational water intensity by 30%.

3

1 Alternative performance measures are explained and reconciled to the most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with IFRS on pages 180 to 182.

2 Refer to pages 25 to 27 for further details on our sustainability targets.

Financial Review

FY26 was a strong year financially, with broad-based growth across each

• gross margin expansion; and

• overheads growth limited to below that of revenue.

Revenue in FY26 increased by 5.8% on a LFL basis, while improvements

in gross profit and cost savings of £8.5 million resulted in adjusted

operating profit increasing by nearly 25%, excluding the contribution

from the PZ Wilmar joint venture. We have also increased marketing

investment by £3.5 million supporting a strengthened longer-term

innovation pipeline. Results also included non-recurring gains of

£5.4million related to the revaluation of liabilities in Nigeria as a

resultofthe strengthening of the Naira.

this backdrop we delivered continued growth in pricing and volume in

ofliabilities within Nigeria, compared to losses in recent years.

Looking ahead however, the guardrails we have been embedding,

including the reduction in intra-group loans and third-party liabilities,

mean that our sensitivity to Naira movements has greatly reduced.

Prior to the reduction in liabilities, a 100 Naira movement compared to

the US Dollar (representing a c.7% move at today’s rates) would have

equated to a more than £7 million change in Group operating profit

repatriation from Nigeria to the UK. Our adjusted net debt/adjusted

EBITDA ratio is now 0.7x, strengthening our financial position and

Overall, FY26 represents an important step forward in improving

the quality, resilience and consistency of the Group’s financial

performance. While we are mindful of macro-economic uncertainty,

we enter FY27 with a significantly stronger balance sheet and greatly

reduced exposure to Nigerian foreign exchange volatility, with a better

funded innovation pipeline, providing a solid platform from which to

Revenue grew 0.9% on a LFL basis, with overall price/mix growth of

1.2% and volume decline of 0.3%. Growth across our larger brands

was offset by a decline in performance in St.Tropez in Europe and our

the overall washing and bathing category growing 5.0%. Sanctuary

Spa was the biggest contributor to growth, driven by a highly

successful Christmas gifting period and the full year benefit of the

Aqua Serenity NPD. Carex continued to benefit from the partnership

with Magic Light Pictures to use the Zog and The Gruffalo animated

characters on key products while Original Source’s performance

was driven by its ‘Nature Hits Different’ campaign and partnership

to sponsor the London HYROX event. Imperial Leather delivered

continued growth launching the ‘Right Royal Lather’ campaign

towards the end of the year. Childs Farm gained market share with

revenue declined following strong growth in FY25 which was driven

byvery strong online orders towards the end of that year.

Outside of our lead market of the UK, revenue grew 3.8%. This comprised

primarily growth of 6.9% in St.Tropez North America where we started

to deliver the benefits from our partnership with The Emerson Group,

established in June 2025, and the refreshed strategy for the brand.

This growth was offset by a decline in continental Europe.

Europe and Americas adjusted operating profit was broadly flat as

Revenue grew 3.9% on a LFL basis, with overall price/mix growth of

3.5% and volume of 0.4%. On a reported basis, revenue declined

0.2% reflecting the depreciation of the Indonesian Rupiah and

promotional activity from competitors but this was more than offset

by a very strong performance from our Auto Dishwash NPD which

took two percentage points of share of the segment. Rafferty’s Garden

grew strongly driven in part by early successes of a relaunch into New

Zealand and strong share gains in Australia, while Radiant maintained

share in a growing category. The launch of the 1 litre Original Source

product provided a step-change for the brand in Australia.

In our lead market of Indonesia, revenue grew 10.2% to £60.5 million

driven by growth in Cussons Baby with improvements in both price/

number of affiliates used to market the brand and optimising ‘always-

on’ promotional activity during key trading dates.

Elsewhere, revenue declined in a number of our smaller, lower-margin

markets in Asia and the Middle East, driven by a strategic focus on

higher margin revenue streams.

Adjusted operating profit declined by £1.3 million to £23.9 million.

This reflected increased marketing investment in our Auto Dishwash

NPD and Cussons Baby re-staging and depreciation of both the

relating to intercompany debt relief following conclusion of the Africa

strategicreview.

EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic adjusted EPS decreased 2.7% to 7.14p per share. This reflects

growth in profit before tax offset by increased minority interest arising

from the growth in profitability in Nigeria, particularly in our Electricals

business where our share ownership is lower. On a statutory basis,

EPS was 4.70p, compared to (1.38)p in the prior period.

BALANCE SHEET AND CASH FLOW

Net debt as at 31 May 2026 was £25.0 million, compared to

at 31May2026. Our adjusted net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio as at

31May 2026 was 0.7x, compared to a target range of 1.0-1.5x.

Net assets increased by £28.6 million to £242.1 million

(2025: £213.5 million), primarily reflecting statutory profit for the

year and favourable FX reserve movements, offset by dividends paid.

31 May 2025.

In June 2026, the Group refinanced these facilities, entering into a new

£225.0 million Revolving Credit Facility maturing in June 2030. Further

details on this refinancing are provided in note 19.

The movement of Sterling against our other currencies resulted in a

£1.5 million reduction to FY25 revenue as set out below.

2

The rates of the Nigerian Naira used in recent reporting periods are

summarised below.

1 A final £3.4 million was received in July 2026 resulting in total proceeds of £51.2 million.

People and Culture

which we take the Company: For Everyone. For Life. For Good.

• ‘For Everyone’ in the sense that we want to serve more consumers

• ‘For Life’ in the sense that our products make people and things

• ‘For Good’, because we want our business to endure as we

We worked with colleagues across our business to define the five

big reasons that people join PZ Cussons and commit to delivering

our brand-building strategy and goals. This helps us to tell our

story succinctly in our recruitment and in a way that aligns with our

purpose, values and leadership framework.

to prospective and current employees through ‘Dare. Discover. Do.’

This reflects our commitment to smart risk-taking (Dare), curiosity

andlearning (Discover) and delivering with accountability (Do).

OUR EMPLOYEE PROMISE &FIVEBIGREASONS

Last year, we developed a new leadership framework and this year we

high-performance. The framework is built around four pillars, aligned

‘show up’ every day and deliver outcomes through their teams:

• Pioneer

• Drive Performance

• Collaborate to Win

‘raisethe bar’ on the skills we require as a brand-building company

and the career pathways available to colleagues.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

At PZ Cussons, we believe our best ideas come from people who feel

seen, heard and valued. Our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is

focused on building a culture of belonging, where colleagues feel able

to be themselves and contribute fully. This commitment is reflected

across our markets and brought to life through our employee-led

networks and communities.

We continued to make progress on accelerating women into

brand’ event featuring a panel of senior leaders. The session was

hosted by one of the network’s lead members, who previously

completed our graduate programme, and was enriched by a keynote

from Non-Executive Director Kirsty Bashforth.

Our commitment to inclusion was also recognised externally, with

PZ Cussons named Large Organisation Winner at the 2026 Northern

Power Women Awards, recognising the progress we are making to

build a more inclusive workplace.

We remain committed to a Board and Executive Committee that reflects

the diversity of our workforce, consumers and the communities we

In support of our global activity, our business units have delivered a

series of local initiatives to strengthen employee engagement and

employee development.

in our leadership framework and directly connected to our employee

Shaun has enabled a culture of continuous innovation, launching new

products such as Morning Fresh Easy Squeeze and Morning Fresh

Auto Dish to expand usage occasions and drive incrementalgrowth.

Across the broader portfolio, Shaun has championed a ‘digital first’

approach to brand-building, accelerating recruitment of parents

for Rafferty’s Garden, and led the evolution of Radiant through

expansion into capsules and the strengthening of core product

lines. More recently, he has supported renewed momentum in

Original Source.

Prior to working at PZ Cussons, Shaun held senior marketing

sustainable, long-term growth.

In her first months, Siska prioritised listening to colleagues to

quickly pinpoint the real barriers to growth with support from

stop, continue’ approach following her experience working for an

entrepreneurial ‘start-up’ business, bringing fresh thinking, testing

what works and taking fast action.

Siska has also accelerated e-commerce as a growth engine

across channels, from marketplaces such as TikTok and Shopee to

partners’ digital platforms and the fast-growing reseller economy.

By building an in-house live streaming capability in our Tangerang

factory to sell our brands, the team improved return on investment

while maintaining healthier pricing and avoiding overreliance on

constant promotions.

Meet some of the people who bring the experience and judgement needed to support our strategy and culture.

external reporting, financial planning and analysis, management

accounting, transactional finance and finance transformation. She

oversees a team in multiple locations, with a significant proportion

based in our finance service centre in Indonesia, and she has

focused on strengthening connections across teams and building

consistent ways of working.

This year, Clare is proud of how the Group Finance team has come

together to simplify and strengthen core delivery. By bringing

previously separate responsibilities into one cohesive remit, the

team has further embedded the finance ‘set plays’ that underpin

is equally proud of the way the Group Finance team maintained strong

delivery through a leadership transition, working collaboratively to

ensure continuity and supporting Jan Bramall to join the Company as

our new Chief Financial Officer as PZ Cussons looks to the future.

Since joining the business in 2012, she has gained extensive

In the current fiscal year, Yetunde co-led the successful relaunch

of the Carex brand in Africa, delivering rapid distribution expansion

to 86% weighted distribution across supermarkets and achieving

early market share growth of 1.6% in a highly competitive category.

The relaunch has contributed approximately £2.0 million in

incremental revenue growth for PZ Cussons.

She has also played a key role in strengthening route-to-market

execution and accelerating channel growth. Under her leadership,

the Company’s Golden Outlet programme expanded significantly,

growing direct retail coverage from 500 stores four years ago to