ICL Group Ltd

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the ICL First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call International. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Peggy Riley-Tharp, Vice President of Global Investor Relations. Peggy, please go ahead.

Thank you. Hello, everyone. I'm Peggy Riley-Tharp, Vice President of Global Investor Relations for ICL Group. I'd like to welcome you and thank you for joining us today for our earnings conference call. This event is being webcast live on our website at icl-group.com, and there will be a replay available a few hours after the live call, and a transcript will be available shortly thereafter. Earlier today, we filed our reports and our presentation with the securities authorities and the stock exchanges in both Israel and the United States. Those reports as well as the press release and our presentation are also available on our website. Please be sure to review the disclaimer on slide two of the presentation. Our comments today will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. The company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed on this call at any time. We will begin with a presentation by our CEO, Mr. Anad Aronson, followed by Mr. Avraham Anahav, our CFO. After the presentation, we'll open the line for a Q&A session. I would now like to turn the call over to Anad.

Thank you, Peggy, and welcome everyone to a review of our first quarter 2026 earnings. We delivered a strong start to the year with sales of $2 billion, up 14% year-over-year, as you can see on slide three. ICL delivered solid sales growth for each business segment in the first quarter and reported a 26% increase in adjusted net income. We also reported a 15% increase in adjusted EBITDA and an improvement in adjusted EPS of 22%. This successful performance was achieved as the company demonstrated exceptional execution and operational resilience. We also benefited from our distinctive global presence with regionally diversified operations. In the first quarter, we continued to execute against our strategy to drive growth in specialty crop nutrition and specialty food solutions. We completed the acquisition of approximately 50% of biotech ingredients, and we established our first specialty fertilizer production facility in India. For the first quarter, we delivered good growth across key financial measures. Adjusted net income was $139 million, which translates to 11 cents of earnings per share. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $412 million improved year over year. This growth was despite higher costs for raw materials and more than $20 million of impact from currency exchange fluctuations. As a reminder, as a dollar-dominated company, a stronger shekel makes it more costly for our operations in Israel. Operating cash flow of $195 million improved 18% on an annual basis, and free cash flow was $61 million in the first quarter. While we benefited from higher prices for bromine, potash, and commodity phosphate, we also had to manage higher raw material costs mainly for sulfur, but also for other inputs used by our specialty fertilizers. Let's review some of these pricing benefits and cost impacts in relation to our business segments and begin with industrial products. On slide four, you can see first quarter sales of $349 million were up slightly year over year, while EBITDA of $86 million was up 13%. Bromine prices had their best quarter since the end of 2022, even as some end markets, such as building and construction, remained soft. For flame retardants, overall sales increased. Bromine-based products benefited from higher prices and improved electronics and market demand. Sales of phosphorous-based flame retardants were impacted by continued softness in the construction end market. Sales of clear brine fluids which are used by the oil and gas industry during well completion, decreased, as some activity in the Gulf of America shifted from the first quarter to the second. Specialty minerals, which includes magnesium, calcium carbonate, and salt products, delivered higher sales year over year. This growth was due to increased demand from the food and pharmaceutical end markets. Significant winter weather in North America in both the fourth quarter of last year and first quarter of this year resulted in strong deicing sales for the season. Turning to our potash division on slide five. For the first quarter, sales of $503 million were up nearly 25% year over year. EBITDA of $172 million was up more than 45%. Our average potash price for the first quarter was $362 SIF per ton. This amount was up more than 20% year over year and up 4% sequentially. Potash production volumes came in at 1,177,000 metric tons in the first quarter and were up 11% versus the prior year. These gains were achieved at both the Dead Sea and our operations in Spain as we continue to improve equipment availability and shorten downtime amongst other efforts. During the first quarter, we continued to maximize our potash sales by prioritizing the best global markets. We also benefited from higher prices in the quarter. While potash remained much more affordable than nitrogen and phosphate, farmers require all three nutrients. Now turning to a review of phosphate solutions division on slide six. For the first quarter, sales increased 18% to $679 million. Higher commodity phosphate prices helped drive sales growth, while specialties results were in line with market dynamics. First quarter EBITDA came in at $131 million and was impacted by higher raw material prices, especially for sulfur, which was up more than 100% in the quarter. For commodity phosphates, demand varied by region with significant price volatility as the escalation of the Middle East conflict accelerated price momentum. For specialty phosphates, customers in all regions focused on secure and reliable global supply chains. This is something ICL can uniquely provide as we have specialty phosphate production in six key regions. For our growth engine, specialty food solutions, sales increased in the first quarter, reflecting the addition of new customers, continued growth in China, and the acquisition of Bartek ingredients. In North America, specialty food sales were strong in the first quarter. These were led by our Dairy Plus products, with growth driven by new business conversions which were up double digits. We continue to target higher growth food specialty products and to focus on plant and protein-based beverages in key regions. We also launched a new digital marketing campaign targeting high protein dairy and dairy alternatives. For emerging markets, especially Asia, we also saw good growth. In China, we saw improvement in the processed meat category and an overall increase in sales of our specialty food solutions. For our YPA joint venture in China, sales increased year over year on higher prices. We also saw improved efficiencies with reduction in fixed costs. This brings us to our growing solutions business division on slide seven. Sales for the first quarter increased 11% to $551 million. EBITDA of $49 million was up 4% versus the prior year, even as higher raw material costs impacted most regions. Sales of specialty fertilizers increased on both higher volumes mainly in China and India and higher prices. In Europe, overall sales and profitability increased on higher prices and volumes, driven by continued mixed optimization. For Asia, results were robust with growth from all major products. Sales growth was driven by higher prices and volumes and favorable exchange rates. Gross profit, however, was flat. For North America, profitability was stable versus prior year. However, due to a slow start to spring planting, sales were flat in this region with higher prices and lower volumes. For Brazil, global uncertainty and market competition impacted results. Sales decreased on lower volumes and gross profit also declined with a less profitable product mix. As I mentioned earlier, In India, we opened a new specialty water-soluble fertilizer facility. With 30,000 metric tons of annual capacity, these operations will help to expand our local manufacturing capabilities. This new facility also support growing market demand and strengthen our supply chain. Finally, the sales process of our BulBee operation in the UK remains ongoing. Before turning to slide eight, I would like to provide a brief update on the situation in the Middle East. While we faced some operational challenges in the first quarter, which were caused by the war, our efforts to minimize disruption and maintain good production levels were successful. Now for some first quarter key takeaways. We delivered a strong start to the year, with good growth across all key financial metrics. This success was despite events outside of our control. Nonetheless, we swiftly navigated changes in market conditions and demonstrated operational resilience with exceptional execution. We also focused on what we could control and made production improvements to help drive efficiencies across our operations. While the teams have made great strides, some of this success is being masked by exchange rate fluctuations. In addition to currency headwinds, which could potentially linger throughout 2026, we have seen high raw material costs across several of our business segments. We will continue to manage these inputs and, if necessary, work to offset any impact through efficiency efforts. Now, before turning the call over to Aviram, I would ask you to turn to slide nine and the review of our guidance for 2026. After a successful first quarter that benefited from higher bromine and potash prices, which are expected to remain elevated, we are raising our guidance by $100 million. For 2026, we now expect consolidated EBITDA to be between $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion. For potash sales volumes, we continue to expect this amount to be between 4.5 million and 4.7 million metric tons as we continue to benefit from the operational improvements made at the Dead Sea and in Spain in 2025. Finally, we expect our annual adjusted tax rate to be approximately 30%. For 2026, we plan to remain on our current path. to operate with resilience, execute against our plans, and deliver shareholder value. In addition, we will continue to monitor the exchange rate between the shekel and dollar and higher raw material prices. And with that, I would like to turn the call over to Aviram for a brief financial overview.