Princes Group PLC (AO) | Buy | Princes Group PLC

Research evidence excerpt

Princes Group PLC (AO) | Buy | Princes Group PLC

News comment

Release date: 15 May 2026

Håkon Nelson

Equity Research Analyst

Buy +47 23 13 9073Princes Group PLC hnelson@keplercheuvreux.com

United Kingdom | Food MCap: GBP939.6M

Target Price: 600p Bloomberg: PRN LN Reuters: PRN.L

Current Price: 384.00p Free float 14%

Up/downside: 56.3% Avg. daily volume (GBPm) 30.1

YTD abs performance -14.7% Market data: 14 May 2026

52-week high/low (GBP) 479.00/355.00

Q1 EBITDA strength supports FY confidence

Key points:

Princes reported a good Q1, with revenue up 6% YoY and adj. EBITDA up 17%, driven by Italian Products perimeter, synergy

delivery and continued margin discipline. Italian alone added +644bp to group margin expansion.

Net cash strengthened further to GBP344m (GYOYBP433m ex. IFRS 16), up from GBP311m at year-end, supporting M&A

optionality.

Management guided for at least one acquisition to close in the next couple of months and reiterated FY-26 expectations, with April

trading ahead year on year.

Results comment:

Q1 revenue of GBP506.6m was 24% of our 2026 estimate, while adj. EBITDA of GBP38.2m was 21% of our FY-26 estimate; no consensus

was provided.

Reported growth was largely M&A-driven, with Princes France, Newlat GmbH, Plasmon and Princes Retail (Carrefour Italy) lifting Italian

Products revenue 44%. Excluding perimeter, underlying trends were broadly in line with FY-25.

Drinks revenue fell 13%, with EBITDA down GBP2.8m (margin 6.4% to 3.4%) as the 2024-25 orange juice pricing tailwind unwound.

Group margin expansion was carried by Italian (EBITDA +GBP8.7m), with Foods broadly flat.

EBITDA margin expanded 70bp to 7.5%, underlying FCF conversion was 89%, and net cash rose to GBP344m (GBP433m ex. IFRS 16) from

GBP311m at year-end.

Table 1:Q1 revenues