Befesa S.A.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first quarter 2026 results conference call. I'm Lorenzo, the chorus call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in listen-only mode and the conference will be recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and 1 on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and 0. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Rafael Pérez, CFO. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to the first quarter 2026 results conference calls of Befesa. I am Rafael Pérez, CFO of Befesa, and this morning I'm joined by our group CEO, Asier Zarraonandia. Asier will start with an executive summary of the period. Then I will cover the business highlights for the steel dust as well as aluminum salt slag recycling businesses. I will then review the first quarter financials by business. I will cover the evolution of commodity prices, our hedging program, and finally cash flow, net debt, leverage, and capital allocation. As here, we'll close the presentation providing an update on the outlook for 2026 and an update on our growth plan. Finally, we will open the line for a Q&A session. As always, this conference call is being webcapped live and you can find the link in our website. Now, let me turn the call over to our CEO. Sergio, please.

Good morning and welcome also from my side. Please move to page five with the financial and business highlights for the first quarter of 2026. We had a good start into the year despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. adjusted the BDA increased by 4% to $58 million, and the margin improved accordingly from 18% to 20%. This development was driven by both segments, steel, dust, and alu. Net income and earnings per share increased by a double digit rate, going up by 11% year over year. Both KPIs were driven by operational improvements as well as better financial results. At last year, Q1 was impacted by maintenance activities, resulting in overall steady steel dust volume against a volatile market backdrop. In aluminum, we are seeing signs of recovery, especially at the end of the first quarter, despite challenging business environment. Regarding 2026, we expect another year of earnings growth and we've adjusted the BDA ending the year between 250 and 270 million. We expect quarterly earnings to gain momentum as the year progresses, driven by lower maintenance and higher volume. I will comment on the outlook in more detail later. Moving on to page six, business highlights for the steel dust business. In Europe, total steel production remained on a declining trajectory in the first quarter. Production declined by 3% year over year, reflecting overall weaker demand. The EAF route was less affected by these pressures, and steel dust supplies remained stable, and deliveries continued at a solid pace in Europe. In the US, Steel production increased by 6% in the first quarter of 2026. Supported by overall solid demand, this trend is also reflected in the low factor, which rose to 63%. We are starting to process that for new EAF steel dust contracts gradually. In Asia, Turkey started the year with a soft steel production, while Korea sees business as usual with low factors almost similar to last year. Lastly, the situation in China has not changed. The market remains weak and low factors at low levels, remaining breakeven at PLN and cash flow. Moving on to page seven with the business highlights for the aluminum salt slag recycling business. Starting with salt slag, the year started softly, mainly due to lower secondary aluminum production in Europe resulting in an average capacity utilization of 82%. We have already started to see an improvement in business environment by the end of the first quarter going into the second quarter and are confident that capacity utilization will recover in the next quarters. Similarly, our secondary aluminum segment followed the broader European trend, resulting in a decline in volumes. However, Methods implemented in recent quarters, particularly a stronger focus on operational discipline and cost efficiency, enabled us to preserve profitability. Looking ahead, the Bermuda expansion will support further diversification of our customer base and market structure, starting already with the ramp-up in the third quarter. Now, Rafael will explain the financials in more detail.