5/8/2026

speaker
Silvia Reyes
Head of Investor Relations

Good morning or good afternoon, everyone. This is Silvia Reyes speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Provial's conference call to discuss the company's operating results for the first quarter of 2026. I am joined here today by our CFO, Ernesto Lopez-Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation were made available on our website yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. Separately, we note that the company's 2026 investor presentation on Factbook is expected to be available on the company's website shortly after this conference call concludes. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. You will have the opportunity to ask questions live. In order to do so, you will need to join the call through the conference call channel and press Start 5 on your phone keypad. If you prefer, you can send questions to the forum included in the webcast, and I will be reading them out loud at the end of the Q&A session. Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation, and please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. so as our figures may differ. During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and in our website. With all this, I will hand over to Ernesto. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Silvia, and good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first quarter of 2016. Starting, I mean, overall, the first quarter was a solid start to the year with a strong growth across our core businesses, particularly in North American highways. Also, continued progress at the new Terminal 1 at JFK, stable construction margins despite higher upfront bidding and IT investments to support future growth, and from a financial perspective, net debt excluding infrastructure projects was reported as negative net debt or net cash, amounting to 1.2 billion euros. The primary sources of cash included a construction operating cash flow of 144 million euros. On the other hand, the principal cash outflow consisted of treasury shares purchases totaling 162 million euros. On a consolidated basis, revenue grew 10.2% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15%, also like-for-like, and adjusted EBIT grew 10.6% like-for-like as well. Let's move now to the 407 ETR. The asset delivered another strong quarter. Traffic increased by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by the continued use of targeted driving offers. as well as an increase in mobility and rush hour commuting from a higher percentage of on-site employees. This was partially offset by unfavorable winter weather. Revenue grew 20%, with toll revenues growing by 22.1% in the quarter, reflecting a combination of higher toll rates that were effective since the 1st of January, 2026, and higher traffic volumes. As a result, EBITDA increased by 25.4% versus the first quarter of 2025, including a Schedule 22 provision of 8.1 million Canadian dollars, significantly lower than the one we recorded in the first quarter last year. On the other hand, operating costs were higher, driven by higher customer operations, also higher highway operations that are related to worse traffic, weather requiring higher winter maintenance, and higher system operations that increase with more segmented promotions implementation. When looking at the monthly traffic performance compared to 2025, as shown in the graph, it is important to bear in mind that in the first quarter of 2026, traffic performance reflects three months of targeted promotions compared to the first quarter of 2025, where promotions started in March on a broad basis. So it was only one month, and this has an impact on the traffic comparability. I will also highlight that the demand segmentation strategy continues to work really well. It is helping us to balance pricing, traffic distribution, and service levels, while maximizing EBITDA, which remains the key financial performance metric for the assets. This more segmented approach could distort the traffic comparison going forward, since promotions last year were broadly based. Regarding dividend distribution, no dividends were paid in the first quarter, but the board approved a $500 million Canadian dollar dividend to be paid in the second quarter of 2026. Now we move to Dallas-Fort Worth, and here the managed lanes posted double the revenue per transaction growth, significantly outperforming U.S. inflation. And this was despite the negative impact on traffic from adverse weather, particularly in January, including more managed lanes closures than in the first quarter of 2025. Let's look at each of the assets. At NT, traffic declined 3.6%, reflecting the impact of capacity improvement construction works and adverse weather, particularly in January. These works are expected to be completed by year-end, except for two additional ramps that began construction last year. Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 13.1% in the first quarter, and adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.2%, including the accrual of $2.4 million of revenue share in the quarter. Regarding LBJ, traffic declined 1.5% due to construction works in adjacent corridors and weather impacts. Revenue increased by 9.8%, and adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.9%. At NT35W, traffic increased 1%, and this also despite adverse weather and congestion at certain entry and exit points, as well as the finalization of capacity restrictions linked to construction works on competing nearby road 121. Revenue increased by 18.3%, adjusted EBITDA grew by 18.1%, and this includes $7.5 million of revenue sharing accrued in the quarter. Looking at the revenue per transaction, all assets increased well above inflation. NT revenue per transaction was up 18.3%, LBJ up 11.5%, and NT35 West up 17.3%. This was driven by several factors. a favorable traffic mix with higher heavy traffic volumes thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition implemented throughout 2025 and 26, with this improved vehicle classification and higher overall commercial and heavy vehicles. Also, we had a higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE 35 West. Let's go now to the I-66 and I-77. Our management is in Virginia and North Carolina. At I-66, we saw a very solid quarter. Traffic increased by 8.3% compared to first quarter last year, showing a strong resilience despite adverse weather. This was supported by the growth in mobility across the corridor and our ability to capture value through dynamic pricing. Revenue per transaction grew close to 5%, 4.9%. in the quarter, and revenue in the quarter grew in total 13.6% versus last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.1% in the quarter. At I-77, traffic declined by 5.6% versus last year, mainly due to adverse weather, together with the exceptional performance in the first quarter last year. Remember that then alternative routes remained partially closed following hurricane-related events. Despite the traffic decline, revenue per transaction increased 14.2%, reflecting higher toll rates. Adjusted EBITDA declined 11.9% compared to the first quarter last year. This was negatively impacted by the step up in the revenue share band from 25% to 55% revenue share. This is largely a first-year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First quarter of 2026, Adversity BIDA included the accrual of $8 million of revenue share. Regarding airports, starting with the new Terminal 1 at JFK, the project continues to progress through a crucial year for construction and integration. In terms of the schedule, as we explained in the full year 2025 earnings, the contractor has communicated an updated target where the completion date for the first phase falls in the fall of 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, the first operational readiness and airport transfer trials began during the quarter, and the project reached 87% construction progress. Airline engagement continues against a challenging backdrop. We have secured commitments with 30 airlines, including 21 executed agreements and 9 letters of intent. As of March 2026, total equity invested stands at 978 million euros, and we have 64 million euros pending that are expected to be injected in 2026. At Dalaman, the first quarter... reflects the typical off-peak season. Domestic traffic supported performance and traffic increasing by 9.8%, while the international volumes were affected by geopolitical challenges in the Middle East. On a full-year basis, the airport remains predominantly international, with the peak season starting in late March and is expected to be affected by instability in the Middle East. Moving to construction, Margins remained stable year-on-year, while there were higher bidding and IT costs aimed at supporting future growth, as we have explained in past quarters. Regarding the operations in the different geographies, Budimex maintained stable margins at 6.5% EBIT, despite lower volumes due to adverse weather. Weber delivered higher margins, benefiting from increased production and operating leverage. Ferrovial construction margins were slightly lower due to higher investment costs related to bidding and IT, with revenues remaining stable. The order book remained at an all-time high of €17.6 billion, up 0.5% on like-for-like versus December, excluding approximately €1.3 billion of additional projects not yet included because they are pending award or financial close. The composition of the order book remains very healthy, given the lower weight of large design and build projects with non-group companies. And almost half of our backlog is in our core U.S. and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth. The operating cash flow at construction, excluding tax and dividends, amounted to 144 million euros in the quarter, mainly driven by advanced payments and compensations received in U.S. and Canada. Now, moving to the net debt position and cash flow, net debt excluding infrastructure projects was negative, or let's say net cash, 1.2 billion euros at the end of first quarter of 2026. Assuming the bridge, dividends from projects are small, including some dividends from IRB in India and Silver Town Tunnel in the UK. Remember that dividends also come later in the year in the managed lanes, in June and end of the year, and also along the year in the 407. We also had a solid cash flow from construction that I just mentioned in the previous slide that reflects the payments received together with the compensations and in general the good performance of the operations. Tax payments are mostly related to Linux. In terms of investments, These are mostly related to construction and equity invested in energy projects, while the investments are largely related to services, business, sales, earnouts, and so on. Additionally, we repurchased treasury shares for a total amount of 162 million euros in the quarter. Lastly, the other cash flows from or used in financing activities reached 421 million euros. This included the issuance of a 500 million euro bond that took place in March. Well, we did not include any slide with the script dividend, but I'm sure you all got the information. We announced also yesterday the first script dividend for an amount of 400 million euros. Okay, so thanks for your attention, and I now hand back to Silvia to open up the Q&A session.

speaker
Silvia Reyes
Head of Investor Relations

Thank you very much, Ernesto. So let's start now with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, we'll now begin the Q&A session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 5 on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star 5 again. Please ensure that your device is annuitant locally before proceeding with your question. Our first question comes from Christian Nadelku from UBS. Please go ahead.

speaker
Christian Nadelku
Analyst, UBS

Thank you very much. Maybe I'll ask three questions, if you allow me. The first one on Texas lanes. You mentioned the building blocks for the price increases. Technology, vehicle mix, mandatory modes. Could you give us a bit more color on the contribution from each of these blocks? And if... if the tailwinds are sustainable into second quarter and third quarter. The second one, again, for the U.S. lanes, if we zoom in on the last couple of months, when gasoline prices in the U.S. is up 30 to 50 percent, could you tell us a bit more how does traffic look like in the context of that and You know, any color you could give us is traffic off-peak, suffering, or leisure traffic a bit weaker, or any other changes in behavior of the users. And the last one, please. The ETR 407, you talk about the introduction of a loyalty program going forward. Could you elaborate a bit on the start date, the rationale behind introducing it, and any details on how it will work? Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Okay, thanks, Christian. Well, let me see what kind of color, without giving really the numbers I can give you. Regarding the, let's say, the revenue per transaction performance, technology has been implemented still, I mean, a little bit remained, but mostly done in technology to better identify cars. That was the main driver. It started last year. As I said, also this quarter as well. That is the main driver. But in second place, as we've seen, underlying better performance of heavy sand and commercial. It's not to the same scale, but it has contributed. And then the third one would be mandatory modes. Please allow me not to give you the split here. These things tend to be commercially sensitive. The first one, yes, will, let's say, diminish the impact in the coming months. The rest we'll see. We have to monitor the economy, and this is related to the second question. I mean, yes, gasoline prices have been going up. We haven't identified any significant movement. Always, of course, when gasoline prices go up, they affect, but people tend to do the trips they have to do. We'll have to see a sustained situation of higher prices to maybe see a different development. So we'll have to monitor that. But so far, we haven't seen anything really significant. It's also true that the The economy is something that is important that has kept performing, right? So no news yet. We'll keep monitoring that. Regarding the 407 ETR, I mean, there's no details I can share on loyalty schemes, but usually this kind of schemes is about providing – value in terms of trips to people that reach some levels of consumption, things like that. But, I mean, this is still being designed and also, let's say, commercially sensitive. We will update more when we launch and we will keep updating other quarters. But that's kind of the basics is what I mentioned.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our next question comes from Elodie Roll from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

speaker
Elodie Roll
Analyst, J.P. Morgan

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. So I have three, I think. First of all, on the U.S. managed lanes in Q1, we saw traffic. I mean, you mentioned traffic has been impacted by one-offs in Q1. So maybe you could help us understand the impact. that those one-offs had on Q1 traffic and revenue. Second, could you give us an update on your U.S. managed lane pipeline and bidding process? And third, related to that second question, I was wondering if your shareholder written policies is dependent on any managed land wins, and therefore we need to wait until you have more visibility on that, until we have an update on your shareholder return policy, which I think the last time you gave it on that was at the last CMD for 24-26. So basically the question is when are we going to get an update, Are you planning to do something at the end of this year, maybe beginning of 27? And is this dependent on the win of any new projects? Thanks a lot.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Okay, so thanks, Elodie. So I cannot give much detailed numbers on whether January was worse. I mean, we don't provide this specific detailed, but it was part of the drop in traffic. It was most relevant in the construction works that really affect the overall corridor, right? So, yes, it affected negatively, but, I mean, if I were to hide identity and LBJ, it's more affected by the either in the corridor or on the adjacent corridors. Regarding the bidding process, we expect to have news on the awards, and this is, I guess, public information from Tennessee in late August. and from Atlanta in October, mid to late October. That's the expectation at the moment for the awards. And then regarding the, let's say, the future strategy, yes, we are finalizing 2026. It was the last one provided. And yes, the strategy of growth and remuneration are linked. We're not talking only about these projects, but growth in general. So we'll shape our distribution in line with the growth we expect in the different business and perspectives. When will we update that? Just probably would have to be not this year, but... early next year. But this has to be decided. And, yes, we will have to see how we balance growth and remuneration.

speaker
Elodie Roll
Analyst, J.P. Morgan

Okay. Thanks very much.

speaker
spk05

Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Chevrolet. Please go ahead.

speaker
Luis Prieto
Analyst, Kepler Chevrolet

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking our questions. First of all, apologies if you've already covered my questions. I have some technical issues. But my three questions are the following. Can we read anything, Ernesto, into the significant increase in dividends for the 407 ETR versus last year? Can we extrapolate for the rest of the year? The second question is if there are any penalties associated to the contractors' delayed completion of the NCO projects. I mean, penalties or basic payments to you. And the final question is, the average revenue per transaction on the I-66 was below the other assets in terms of year-on-year growth. Can you provide some light on the drivers behind this? Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Okay, thanks, Luis. So, yes, the 407 had a higher dividend, both related to performance and performance and better financing, let's say additional debt. This is something that we have discussed in other conference calls. The 407 has some leeway that we will have to see a long time, how we are optimizing that. So please forgive me for not providing guidance for the dividends for us. for this year but clearly has started higher and that performance is very good so uh looking forward to remainder of the year we'll see how it finalizes and then uh the uh um sorry the uh the yeah the second um question was yeah on ntl right with uh any um potential um Penalties, I guess, is to us, not the contractor. I mean, if it's to us, I mean, it would have to be a huge delay to start having some sort of penalties, right? So it would have to be beyond June 2027 to get some sort of small penalty for us, so not expected to happen. to happen. Yes, the contractor, we can apply LDs if there's no fulfillment. That's something that, of course, has to be settled a long time. And then, regarding the I-66, it has a lower revenue per transaction. I wouldn't try to read anything regarding elasticity. I mean, we've seen more widespread traffic along the day. That area is having more business activity during the midday. So, yeah, I mean, I think that the performance of the asset is positive, and we shouldn't read into this kind of slowing down in revenue per transaction. We have to keep looking at it going forward.

speaker
Luis Prieto
Analyst, Kepler Chevrolet

Excellent. Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you. Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

speaker
Graham Hunt
Analyst, Jefferies

Yeah, thanks very much. Just two questions from me, I think. First one, I'm just trying to get my head around a little bit of these sort of bottlenecks and congestion zones around the Texas lanes and how much they might be impacting traffic. I don't know if there's any additional color you can give on just some of the adjacent activity that's going on, which is impacting your assets there in Texas and any timing that you're seeing on the ground when that might happen. alleviate which obviously would be sort of negative from your perspective or or just a bit more sort of i guess on the ground color as it seems like there's a number of different sort of factors going on there and just that's affecting performance positively today um and the second question is just on the managed lane market beyond what you've already mentioned in the report i think Maryland's PPP market seems to be warming up after being very cold for a long time. Pennsylvania mentioned other airports. Any color on just project pipeline that you're seeing beyond what's kind of announced that might be adding into the funnel further up would be interesting. Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Okay. Let me... see what I can tell you here. Well, really, trafficking in G is directly affecting the corridor, right? It's true that also, I mean, at peak time we could have mandatory modes that are related to, I mean, less width or capacity at the at the road, right? So when it opens, yes, the corridor should come back, and it has declined in an important manner in the last three years, right? So we'll have to see how that balances out. Regarding the 35 West, yes, you have some limit in your capture due to these bottlenecks, It's also true that congestion is higher, so you have some mandatory modes, right? So we don't have visibility on when there will be a solution to this bottleneck. We'll update as soon as we have. Regarding LBJ, we have different... roads that should affect LVA throughout 2026. These are roads that are not, let's say, controlled by us. So, yes, the expectation is that they will be completed around 2026. It's an opening 2027. But, I mean, that's information that is provided by the grantor. We'll have to... to see if it materializes. But 2026 should definitely be still affected, right? So I don't know, Graham, is that covered? What we were addressing? Sorry, I cannot give more specific details.

speaker
Graham Hunt
Analyst, Jefferies

No, that's helpful. Thank you. Thank you. And then just on the pipeline, I guess.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, the pipeline, well, the pipeline, the... I mean, what I can say is that in general, there's more support for P3s. We'll see how that materializes, accelerates. But yes, the background is better. I think that really Tennessee and Atlanta are bringing some projects that others are watching. And the fact that you can ease pressure on them on government or state finances with much needed infrastructure through P3. It's a practice. So the only thing I can say is that there's some momentum, but we don't have visibility on them coming to the market finally or dates or so that we will keep updating.

speaker
Graham Hunt
Analyst, Jefferies

Understood. Thanks very much.

speaker
spk05

Appreciate it. Thanks.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our following question comes from Harishankar Ramamurthy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

speaker
Harishankar Ramamurthy
Analyst, Deutsche Bank

Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple of them, if that's okay. You've provided the breakup of traffic by months for 407 EDR. That's very helpful. Would we be getting something similar for the U.S.-managed names, please? And second, when I look at the 407 ETR traffic performance, obviously you mentioned that because the base did not have the promotions that the fact and fact flowing through. But if you kind of strip that out, then would you see traffic uh growth more or less in line with what you see with march or what's what's the underlying um momentum uh being for say transfer than march thank you okay so um thanks for the questions um no we we won't be providing more granularity on on the managed lanes um

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

I know this could be a little bit frustrating, but, I mean, it's commercially sensitive for the different things that we've mentioned, from lights, heavies, and also mostly traffic. So, no, we don't have plans to provide that information as in the 407. Regarding the 407 traffic, please bear something in mind. I mean, last year, We had promotions that were very broad, like people were getting the same kind of promotions that didn't really address segmentation properly. Now we have promotions that are targeted, and that could distort traffic comparisons. Really, we have to focus more on the revenue growth, on the total revenue growth specifically, So that could come with not necessarily higher traffic, right? So just bear in mind that that comparison will be distorted. I'm sorry we cannot provide more information. Also, this is commercially sensitive. But traffic is not going to be a driver. I mean, the segmentation is different this year.

speaker
Harishankar Ramamurthy
Analyst, Deutsche Bank

No problem, Ernesto. Thanks. I was just trying to get to any potential color on, you know, how the – fuel price at the pump might have impacted traffic. Are you seeing anything of that sort with March exit rates?

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

I mean, not really that we could differentiate. There's always some negative elasticity. Really, that sometimes happens with an economy that is performing and they turn to a to wash out. So far, the economies where we operate have been okay, so we will have to see if this lingers, I mean, how it could affect. But, I mean, nothing that we can really highlight in the first quarter.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

speaker
Dario Maglione
Analyst, BNP Paribas

Hi, Ernesto. I have three questions. Sorry to come back to this point. If I understood correctly, you mentioned that you didn't see much of an impact of higher fuel prices on the U.S. express lanes. Can you maybe comment on the 407 ETR, given the 1% traffic route in March? The second question is on NTO. The construction, you mentioned that the operational readiness trials have started. This sounds like a positive message. So I'm just wondering whether you now feel more confident that the timeline for opening this terminal will be the fall of 2026? And the third and last question, a bit technical, on the tax expense on the P&L. It was 60 million positive for the full year 2025. What should we expect for 2026? Thanks, Ernesto.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Okay, so thanks, Dario. Regarding fuel prices, I mean, what I said is that when you have higher fuel prices, You have some negative elasticity. I mean, in the short term, if the economy is performing, I mean, the economic performance tends to wash out to compensate for that, and people make the trips that they have to make. I mean, we will have to see if this takes longer. Yes, it could affect. So far, we don't have any evidence yet. of any impact in the first quarter, right? But we have to keep monitoring that. That is similar in the 407 in Toronto. So there has been higher mobility with higher return to the office. It's true that in terms of economy and heavy construction and trucks related to... to car parts movements and that kind of business has been slower, but the overall economy has seen higher mobility. When we talk about traffic regarding the 407 and March, I will again refer to the explanation I've been giving throughout the call. promotions are very different this year, right? So last year they were broadly based. Now they are more segmented, right? So maybe we have a situation where we are growing our revenues handsomely, but traffic doesn't grow that much or even falls, right? So traffic has been clearly affected by promotions. It's something that we manage and we target, right? So throughout last year we got a lot of experience Right now they are more targeted, and we should really focus more on the financial result because segmentation is going to bring different traffic patterns. Then the question regarding NTO, yes, the contractor has provided that finalization for Phase A date in the fall of 2026. It can be done with the right resources. It's not under our control. I mean, we push for this. Eventually, I mean, we need the contractor to deliver with their resources. So, yes, we expect it to happen there. And if there's any slippage, I mean, not to be a long one. So, yes, when we talk about finalization of construction, we also talk about the start of operations. I mean, that's something... that goes hand-in-hand because we do the operational readiness, I mean, the months before, right? And we're not talking about civil wars. We're talking about the whole construction and operations starting, not having, let's say, any lead time between construction finalization and the start of operations. So that's the idea. The expectation is for 2026, as we mentioned. And then regarding... Regarding taxes, well, I mean, last year the accounting number that you mentioned is related to some one-offs. Really, when we focus into the cash component, the efficiency of the tax groups means that while we are developing new projects, I mean, we don't expect any really impact in the U.S. We pay taxes in Canada and Poland mainly and slightly in Spain, right? I mean, while we are developing business in the U.S., this is not happening, right? So I cannot provide you any guidance, just this kind of framework for any model you may be doing.

speaker
Dario Maglione
Analyst, BNP Paribas

Thank you, Ernesto.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our next question comes from Jose Manuel Arroyas from Santander. Please go ahead.

speaker
Jose Manuel Arroyas
Analyst, Santander

Hello, Ernesto. I wanted to come back to two answers you provided earlier. First is on 407 EPR and the ability to deliver the asset. What's the extent of the opportunities and what are the metrics that you are looking at? Is it debt service coverage ratios? Is it net debt to EBITDA? Any color there would be helpful. And then on NTE, I wanted also to ask you about the clarification on the on the risk of mandatory modes diminishing next year once construction works end related to the expansion. Is that risk significant or moderate going into next year? Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Yes, thank you. Thanks for the question. Okay, let me see how I can address those. Well, regarding the 407 ETR, leverage is assessed on a debt service coverage ratio. But I've always mentioned that you shouldn't expect in the Fro7 big recaps just to optimize the structure along the different years, trending more to the LCR that don't have so much headroom, right? So that's the level. I don't provide a target. That's something that, well, right now is clearly above two times. but we cannot provide the level that we could be targeting in a long time. But yes, there's some headroom there, as you rightly pointed out. Please don't think of big recaps here. Then, regarding NTE, well, we have two effects once we open, right? I mean, one of them is there's going to be more capacity that lowers mandatory modes that Don't wait that much now. That's important to bear in mind. And it also comes with people that have left the corridor coming back to the corridor, right? And the fall in the corridor traffic has been substantial, right? So this... Two effects will play. We are not providing any guidance. The only thing, when we're talking about the risk of this, mandatory motion NT hasn't been that, let's say, relevant. They have played a role, but it's not the bulk of the revenue growth at all. It could be in the future, but not now.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Our following question comes from Marcin Wojtel from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

speaker
Marcin Wojtel
Analyst, Bank of America

Yes, good afternoon and thank you. So my first question, you are obviously continuing to roll out customer discounts for the 407 EPR, but is there any update on the possibility of rolling out some sort of discounts or incentives or loyalty programs for the U.S. managed lanes? And do you see a way for this to potentially allow you to optimize of these assets. Question number two, I mean, you mentioned technology enhancements helping your revenue per transaction on the U.S. managed rates, but are you referring to perhaps reducing toll evasion or perhaps some things being built correctly, or you're just more generally talking about improving your pricing mechanism and pricing algorithm? And if I can squeeze in one more very quickly question, Thinking about higher dividends and potential recaps of infrastructure assets, is the I-66 another asset on top of the 407 ETR where there is, in your view, some headroom in terms of the balance sheet and the possibility to distribute more generous dividends? Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Marcin. Thanks for all the questions. I mean, we are working. I mean, it's not something that is readily available, but we are working on the possibility of promotions and, therefore, more segmentation in all the U.S. highways. Yes, we are working on that. So, in the future, that could help, yes. But, I mean, we are not there yet. We will update the market later. We will update the market when we reach something. In terms of the technology, what it has helped is to identify commercial vehicles and heavies that were not properly identified before. Nothing to do with evasion. We don't face any, let's say, collectivity, collecting risk in the express lanes in Dallas forward. It has been about identification of commercials and heavies. And then the third question, yes, the I-66 has potential for recap, as was in the, let's say, big business plan that was submitted for reference. So it won't be this year nor the next. It's not far away, but it's not this year or the next that we will see a recap in the I-66. Okay.

speaker
Marcin Wojtel
Analyst, Bank of America

Thank you very much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, please be reminded that in order to ask a question, you must press star five on your telephone keypad. Our final question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

speaker
Nicolas Mora
Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Yes. Yes, good afternoon, guys. Just a quick one on the 47. Just if I understand correctly, so you're basically preparing us for potentially for software traffic sequentially, but for much higher capture of price rises that you've done in 25, 26. So it means basically lower, I mean, does this mean lower discounting on an absolute terms from here because it's more targeted? And does it also imply you're You know, with the current traffic levels, you're very comfortable where that traffic puts you versus the Schedule 22 risk.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Well, thanks, Nicolas. I mean, you are reading into what I said. I'm not confirming or denying. I'm saying that traffic shouldn't be comparable. And, yes, we could have lower traffic. but maybe we're doing better. But I mean, I'm not saying if it's going to be lower or higher, just that it's more important to follow the other metric, as you rightly point out. And yes, regarding the Schedule 22, we have provided for a number that takes into account all these effects that we were considering when we were budgeting. So yes, that's what we are expecting for Schedule 22 to reflect.

speaker
Nicolas Mora
Analyst, Morgan Stanley

All right, thank you. And if I may, last one on talking about the reopening or the end of the construction works on NT and maybe in the adjacent to LBJ into late 26, 27. Do you have a sense of how much traffic you might have lost versus trend and that you may recover once the asset go back to normal?

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Well, we're not providing figures on the... corridor because also that would mean we would be providing figures on our capture rate. We are on a commercially sensitive, I mean, ball game now. So, no, we're not providing that. I would say that NTE, just the traffic reduction in the past three years in the corridor has been important. Our capture rate has held well. So, I mean, that's all I can comment.

speaker
Nicolas Mora
Analyst, Morgan Stanley

All right. We have to try.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

Thank you very much.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

And our final question comes from Mark Ip from Citi. Please go ahead.

speaker
Mark Ip
Analyst, Citi

Hi. Thanks for the question. I've got one here just actually on the construction business. The EBIT margins, 3.1% in the first quarter. I'm just wondering how should we think about that in the context throughout the year and against your kind of long-term 3.5%. target. And then following that maybe on the construction business, can you give a little bit more color on what you've seen with the higher costs there and whether that will drive any sort of margin benefit in the later periods from that? Thank you.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Hi, thanks. Well, regarding construction margins, the only guidance we have is our let's say, standing long-term average 3.5% EBIT margin. As I said, it is an average. The backlog is healthy. We're not providing, let's say, guidance for margins this year. But, I mean, you can see from the cash performance or anything that the backlog is healthy. So our only guidance is long-term and that we stick to that. Sorry, what was the second question?

speaker
Mark Ip
Analyst, Citi

Just a bit more color on the program.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Regarding the cost, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, sorry. I mean, basically, all these costs are related to bidding. I mean, it's true that we bid like I need a year, but we also keep looking at all the developments. This year is going to be affected by this kind of bidding and IT costs. Going forward, it could be different depending on our successes.

speaker
spk05

Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Call Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to the Ferrovial team. Your line is open.

speaker
Silvia Reyes
Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Thank you all for your questions. There were a couple of questions in the webcast, but we understand that all of them have been already answered, so there are no more questions.

speaker
Ernesto Lopez-Mozo
Chief Financial Officer

Well, thanks a lot. Thanks for attending the call, and we're looking forward to meeting you shortly. Thank you.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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