Evotec SE

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the EvoTech First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. I am Moira, the Chorus Call Operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in listen-only mode and the conference has been 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 Sara Faki, EVP, Head of Global Communications and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Moira. Good morning, good afternoon, and welcome to today's webcast and conference call. My name is Sara Faki, and I'm the Head of Global Communications and Investor Relations at Evotech. Please allow me to introduce today's speakers. Joining me on the call are Christian Wojcicki, Chief Executive Officer of EvoTech, and Claire Hinshawood, our Chief Financial Officer. Our Chief Scientific Officer, Cord Dorman, will be available for the Q&A session. Please note that this call is being webcast live and will be archived in the event calendar on our website. Before we begin, a few forward-looking statements. The discussion and responses to your questions on this call reflect management's views as of today, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. During this call, we will make statements and provide responses that state our intentions, beliefs, expectations, or projections regarding the future. These statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. They are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Evotech disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. For further information regarding these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our public filings and disclosures. With this, let me hand over the call to Christian.

Thank you, Sarah. Good morning and good afternoon to everyone. Thank you for joining today's call. In the first quarter of 2026, we advanced Evotech's value creation levers, most notably with the initiation of the Horizon Business Transformation, which calibrates the company across the three pillars of operational excellence, science leadership, and commercial execution. As communicated during our full year 2025 results on April 8, we expected a strong year-on-year comparison for the first quarter, considering one-time revenue in the previous year quarter as well as continued softness in the early drug discovery market. In addition, we have started execution of the Horizon Plan, which is designed to put Evotech on a path towards sustainable growth and greater profitability while navigating a still challenging market environment. As such, the quarter's major business highlights were characterized by a strong operational focus, important leadership enhancements, and positive commercial indicators that support the next phase of our transformation. Let me start with our Horizon initiative. During the quarter, we moved from announcement into implementation. We're making progress in the formal Works Council consultation processes across our European sites, as well as in the preparation for our footprint and organizational adjustment measures. These steps are laying the groundwork for a more focused operating model, improved cost discipline, and better alignment of our resources with strategic priorities. This operational progress was accompanied by targeted expansion of our leadership team to support execution. Following the appointment of Ashik Khan as Chief Commercial Officer last month, We further strengthened operational leadership with the appointment of Ingrid Müller to the management board as chief operating officer. Both roles will be instrumental in moving our transformation forward. On the commercial side, we see early signs of improvement in key leading indicators. Customer engagement has increased, and we have continued to build a pipeline of potential partnerships, which indicates our revamped commercial organization is already making an impact. Turning to the headline quarterly financials, group revenues came in at 156.6 million euros, while adjusted group ABDA was negative 21.9 million euros. As mentioned before, this was primarily due to a challenging prior year comparison based on a one-off license sale in that quarter. Continued softness in DMPD demand and significant foreign exchange headwinds further enhanced the year-on-year step down. We confirm our full year 26 guidance of 700 to 780 million euros or 730 to 810 million euros at constant exchange rates in revenues and zero to 40 million euros or 10 to 50 million euros at constant exchange rates in adjusted ABDA. We continue to expect an improvement in both revenue and profitability over the course of the year with performance weighted towards the second half. This improvement is driven by anticipated market and DMPD recovery, but also by increasing visibility across our strategic partnership pipeline. With respect to financial leadership, two weeks ago, we announced an orderly transition in the chief financial officer role. Paul Hitchin decided to step down from his position effective April the 30th, 2026, for personal reasons. I would like to sincerely thank Paul for his extraordinary dedication and the skill with which he helped set EvoTech on a path of strategic change during a period of transformation. As of May 1st, Claire Hintonwood has assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer. Claire is with us on the call today, and I would like to extend a very warm welcome. Claire will ensure continuity in financial leadership and provide stability as we continue to recalibrate the company. Before I move into the detailed quarterly review, I would like to give Claire the opportunity to briefly introduce herself. Claire, over to you.