NPAT swung to a $20.8m loss on a $31.2m biological asset write-down

Stripping that non-cash item is essential: pro-forma EBITDA still fell 54.0% to $5.7m and PBT growth was -417.9%, so the operating result was weaker even before the write-down.

Revenue fell 7.1% to $94.5m on volumes of 2,624MT, down from 3,178MT (-17.4%), partly offset by realised price. Operating cash flow rose 21.2% to $19.6m and cash on hand more than doubled to $57.4m, both flattered by a $14.3m (-40.2%) inventory drawdown. Capex stepped up 63.1% to $8.5m (9.0% of revenue), and no interim dividend was declared.

• The $31.2m biological asset write-down dominates the GAAP figures, yet pro-forma EBITDA of $5.7m is still less than half the prior $12.5m and well below the $17.2m implied second half of FY25. Lower harvest volumes — management attributes warmer water temperatures and a biomass rebuild — are the real economic issue.
• FY26 pro-forma EBITDA guidance of $1m-$7m, held at this result, implies a structural step-down. Against FY25 pro-forma EBITDA of $29.7m, even the top of the range is roughly a 76% reduction. With HY26 already delivering $5.7m, the guidance allows almost no second-half EBITDA contribution, which is a sharp departure from the second-half-weighted FY25 shape (HY25 was only 42.0% of full-year EBITDA).
• The balance sheet is the offsetting strength. Cash of $57.4m against gross borrowings of just $2.4m leaves net cash of $55.0m, up from $25.2m, and ROE moved to -11.4% from +3.1%. The cash position gives management runway to invest through the biomass rebuild, but it does not change the earnings trajectory.

Annualising HY26 revenue gives $188.9m, well below FY25's $211.0m, and the held FY26 EBITDA guidance of $1m-$7m signals management does not expect a normal second-half catch-up.

The release does not quantify when harvest volumes recover or what biomass position underpins FY26 guidance. The result therefore supports a near-term earnings reset narrative but leaves the timing of any return toward FY25-style EBITDA unresolved.

Operating cash flow of $19.6m and OCF/EBITDA of 342.6% (versus 129.8% prior) are mechanically inflated by the $14.3m inventory unwind and a $3.5m receivables release — both balance-sheet-driven rather than recurring. Free cash flow pre-lease was $11.1m, only marginally above the prior $11.0m despite OCF growth, because capex rose 63.1%.

This matters because the strong cash conversion this period is unlikely to repeat: inventory cannot be drawn down indefinitely, and rebuilding biomass should reverse some of that working-capital release in coming periods. The durable read is that EBITDA halved on lower volumes, FY26 guidance implies that pressure persists, and the cash and net-cash position — though genuinely strong — has been temporarily augmented by the same factors that signal weaker forward earnings power.

This briefing cannot assess the biological and environmental drivers of the biomass position, nor the forward harvest schedule that will determine whether FY26 guidance is conservative or realistic.