Bertina Engelbrecht
CEO & Executive Director

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining the webcast of our Interim Results for the 6 months ended 28th February 2026. I'm Bertina Engelbrecht, Chief Executive Officer of the Clicks Group. I am joined by Gordon Traill, our Chief Financial Officer, who is in a completely different time zone. Gordon and I will take you through the presentation of our interim results, and we'll respond to any questions you may have after the conclusion of our presentation.

This slide sets out the outline of our presentation. I will, as usual, kick off with a review of our performance of the past 6 months. Gordon will then present an overview of the financial results. I will walk you through the trading performances of our operating business units, starting with Clicks, followed by UPD. And I will then close with the outlook for the group.

Please feel free to submit any questions you may have via the webcast platform during or after the conclusion of our presentation. Sue Hemp will read out your questions to which Gordon and I will respond.

I will now take you through the review of the period. It has been a tough 6 months. Despite some interest rate relief and signs of a slow recovery in the economic environment, trading conditions remain constrained, especially for middle-income households. Competition intensified as new players entered the market. Traditional players extended into health and beauty categories, giving rise to heightened levels of promotions aimed at capturing a greater share of the consumer's wallet.