Alpek Sab De Cv Ord

Hi, everyone. We appreciate your interest in ALPEC and your participation in this webcast to review our second quarter results. I'm Alejandra Bustamante, IR Director. Here with me today are Jorge Young, our CEO, and Rodrigo Prieto, our CFO. Before we begin, please note today's discussion will include forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions. Subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. ALBEC undertakes no obligation to update these statements. We express our financial results in US dollars unless otherwise specified. For your convenience, this webcast is being recorded and will be available in the Investor Center section of our website. Today's agenda is as follows. Jorge will begin with a quarterly overview. Next, Rodrigo will discuss our financial performance in greater detail. Then, Jorge will delve into outlook for the remainder of the year and revise guidance figures. And finally, following management's remarks, we will be happy to take your questions. Jorge, I'll turn the call over to you.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Throughout the quarter, the Middle East conflict continued to impact global supply, leading to trade disruptions. This resulted in higher reference margins and ocean freight costs. While these industry conditions supported results, Altec's performance was further enhanced by its operational readiness. Notably, our business units were able to resolve All raw material supply challenges while growing and diversifying our customer base in key markets. Alpek's year-to-date performance also validates the successful execution of our multi-year strategy to strengthen our competitiveness and financial position. Through a more optimized asset base and disciplined capital allocation, We were well positioned to deliver significant comparable EBITDA growth and cash flow generation. I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank our employees across Alpec for their dedication and commitment. Their hard work and focus on execution were instrumental to our results. On behalf of the leadership team, thank you for your continued contributions and to our success. Moving forward, we're entering the second half of the year with a stronger and more resilient operating and financial position, allowing us to confidently navigate evolving macro, geopolitical, and industry landscapes. Accordingly, we're raising our 2026 EBITDA guidance, which I will come back to discuss in more detail after the financial results segment. With that, I will now turn the call Over to Rodrigo.

Hi, everyone. It's a pleasure to be with you today. Over the past quarter, I've had the opportunity to connect with many of you, and I look forward to continuing those conversations and getting to meet more of you in the future. Let's take a closer look at our financial performance. Reference margins increased throughout the quarter across our portfolio. Particularly, Chinese integrated P&T margins peaking in May at $336 per ton. Ocean freight rates to South America also increased sequentially throughout the quarter, reaching a high of $347 per ton in June. ALPEC effectually translated this into solid results. Maintaining a clear focus on cash generation and improving the balance shift. We generated 127 million in operating free cash flow, supported by higher EBITDA and a strategic capital allocation. This includes a 211 million investment in net working capital from improved volume and a higher pricing environment. This performance reflects our ability to reliably convert earnings into cash, achieving a 31% conversion rate during the period. CapEx totaled 19 million, including a 10 million recovery from the Beaver Valley asset sale. We further strengthened our balance sheet by reducing net debt by 103 million and improved our leverage ratio to 2.2 times, accelerating our deleveraging path ahead of schedule. Turning into earnings, comparable EBITDA increased 169% year over year, reaching $336 million and reported EBITDA total $407 million, a 300% improvement compared to the same period last year. This included a 66 million inventory gain associated with higher raw material prices. Volume for the quarter also improved, reaching 1.18 million tons, increasing 6% quarter-in-quarter and 5% year-over-year, as solid operating performance and strong demand was supported by customer diversification. Both business segments delivered their strongest quarterly results since 2022. Polyester achieved comparable EBITDA of 235 million, while plastics and chemicals delivered comparable EBITDA of 95 million. While this performance represents an important milestone, we remain committed to preserving financial strength and sustaining leverage within our target range of 2 to 2.5 times. I'll turn the call back to Jorge to discuss guidance and outlook for the remainder of the year.