Conference Call Participants
Guy Stebbings – BNP Paribas, Research Division
Benjamin Toms – RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
Benjamin Caven-Roberts – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Andrew Coombs – Citigroup Inc., Research Division
Amit Goel – Mediobanca – Banca di credito finanziario S.p.A., Research Division
James Frederick Invine – Rothschild & Co Redburn, Research Division
Christopher Cant – Bernstein Autonomous LLP
Pui Mong – BofA Securities, Research Division
Nicolas Payen – Kepler Cheuvreux, Research Division
Alvaro de Tejada – Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Edward Hugo Firth – Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc., Research Division
Sheel Shah – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Presentation
Charles Nunn
Group Chief Executive & Executive Director
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I’m delighted to welcome you to our 2026 half year results and strategy update presentation. Today represents an important milestone as we approach the end of our current five-year plan and announced an ambitious new strategy to take us through to the end of 2030. We’ve got a lot to cover this morning, so let me start with a brief overview of the agenda and key messages.
I’ll begin with a look back on our progress to date. We have successfully executed our 2022 to ’26 strategic plan and are on track to deliver our 2026 financial targets. This lays strong foundations for the next phase. William will then cover our first half results that show sustained strength in financial performance. We are today announcing a significant step-up in our ordinary dividend with a 30% increase in the interim, alongside a share buyback of GBP 1 billion. We will then shift focus to our new