Aurubis Ag Unsp/Adr

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the analyst call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode. The floor will be open for questions following the presentation. Let me now turn the floor over to Elke Brinkmann, Head of Investor Relations.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Q2 2025-26 conference call. We will walk you through the results for the six months of our fiscal year. With me on the call are our CEO, Toral Park, and CFO, Stefan Hoffmann. After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions. If you would like to ask a question during the Q&A session, please use the nine-star key tagline. Before we start, let me draw your attention to our disclaimer. We will make forward-looking statements today. These are based on current plans and expectations and are subject to risk and uncertainty. Actual results may differ naturally. That being said, let me now turn the floor over to Tuval Ha.

Thank you, Elke, and good afternoon from beautiful Hamburg. Before we dive into the details later in the presentation, let me provide you with a high-level overview of the performance in the first six months. Compared to the previous quarter, Rubus achieved a significant increase in earnings in quarter two of fiscal year 25-26. Operating EBT came in at 121 million euros, a 15% increase versus Q1. In the first half of 25-26, we delivered robust results, broadly on par with last year and in line with market expectations. Operating EBT came in at 226 million euros and operating EBITDA increased by 3% to 351 million euros. Net cash flow was 161 million euros and below last year's 190 million euros. This is mainly due to higher net working capital in connection with increased metal prices. Free cash flow before dividend improved to minus 63 million euros compared to minus 151 million euros last year, supported by over 100 million euros less cap expense. Operating return on capital employed was 8.1%, down from 10.2%, reflecting higher capital employed for strategic projects and lower earnings in previous quarters. In the recent quarters, key drivers of our business have developed in our favor. such as persistently high metal prices, improved recycling markets, as well as healthy copper product and sulfuric acid markets. Against this background, we have raised our guidance of the operating EBT in the current fiscal year to 425 million euros to 525 million euros. Let me now take you through the market environment. Sulfuric acid has certainly been an area of attention in the last quarter as Middle East shipping restrictions tightened the global sulfur market. As a result, sulfuric acid spot prices moved up sharply and even stayed above the already high levels. Supported by overall good physical demand, European spot copper premiums increased compared to the end of 2025. Still, premium levels remain volatile. European spot refining charges for scrap number two increased further, driven by high metal prices and hence better scrap availability. In contrast, spot TCRCs for copper concentrates stayed in negative territory, reflecting the still tight concentrate market. With regard to the price environment for key metals, gold and silver prices outperformed copper in Q2. In doing so, both precious metals once again reached new all-time highs before easing somewhat due to the conflict in the Middle East. The copper price was always stable at historical high levels. The strong performance of these key metals supported our metal result, as we will see later on. The EURUSD exchange rate was broadly stable versus Q1 and therefore had limited effect on our Q2 results. On a general note, please bear in mind that there is no direct one-to-one relation between the price development shown here and our P&L. As we hedge parts of our earnings, some of the effects will only become visible with a time lag. I would now like to provide some color on the Middle East situation and the effect on Arubus, since this is a frequently discussed topic in many calls and meetings. As we do not receive concentrate from the region and purchase only limited scrap volumes there, our exposure from a sourcing point of view is very limited. On the sales side, we also have no major exposure to the Middle East, for metal products or sulfuric acid. Direct risks are therefore low in the short term. Indirectly, higher oil and gas prices do impact energy and freight costs, but this is manageable. At the same time, sulfur supply disruptions and potential export restrictions support sulfuric acid markets as production of sulfuric acid from burning of elemental sulfur remains the largest source of sulfuric acid. A disruption of cathode exports from Iran and potential disruptions of SXEW production in consequence of the lack of sulfur supply could support global premium levels. Overall, from today's perspective, we anticipate more medium-term opportunities than risks for a ruse. In light of the current geopolitical situation, I would now like to provide a deep dive on sulfuric acid. Until 2030, global sulfuric acid demand is expected to grow further by about 3% annually, mainly driven by fertilizers and metals. At Aruvist, we produce more than 2 million tons annually and sell it to a diversified customer base. This base spends fertilizers, metals, and chemicals with a focus on Europe, Turkey, and North Africa. Around 85% of our sulfuric acid is sold under large annual contracts with quarterly or semi-annual pricing. About 15% is sold on the spot market, mainly to overseas customers, giving us exposure to spot prices. In 2024-25, sulfuric acid contributed roughly 125 million euro to the gross margin with a high conversion to EBT. Before I hand over to Steffen, let me give you a brief update on the U.S. tariffs, where an updated ruling was published on April 2nd. The updated U.S. tariff regime continues to bolster domestic copper recycling and therefore our over-switchment. A key change is that duties on copper semis and selective derivatives now apply to the full customer value, not just the copper content. More importantly, however, U.S. origin copper that is smelted and cast in the U.S. but refined elsewhere and re-imported to the U.S. can now qualify for a reduced 10% rate. While strict traceability requirements need to be fulfilled, this ruling creates access for U.S. origin copper to a WUBIS European smelter network. In this respect, our smelter network adds flexibility and enhanced supply security to U.S. customers as well. And now, let me hand over to Steffen Hoffmann, who will take you through the details of our financials.