AmRest Holdings SE

Hello and welcome to today's AMREST first half 2026 results call. My name is Seb and I'll be the operator for your call today. If you'd like to ask a question at the end of the presentation please press star 1 on your telephone keypad or you can submit a written question using the Q&A chat box. This is located in the top right hand corner of the presentation screen. I will now hand you over to Lukasz Wolczakow from Wood & Co to begin Please go ahead when you're ready.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Łukasz Wachewko. As was said, I'm presenting Wooden Company. And I have again the pleasure of moderating the quarterly call with AMRES, the company represented by CFO, Mr. Eduardo Zamarripa, and IR and Strategic Planning Director, Mr. Santiago Camarera Aguilera. With no further ado, guys, the mic is yours.

Thank you, Lucas. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining. We appreciate your time and your continued interest in Ambrose. I'm Eduardo Zamarripa, and I'm joined today by Santiago Camarero, our Head of Strategy and Investor Relations. Before we begin, I would like to frame the first half of the year in a simple way. Thank you very much. In several markets and performance across our portfolio is uneven. We are not satisfied with every element of the results. However, this should not hide the progress we are making in the areas that define the group's financial capacity, cash generation, capital disciplines, and portfolio quality. So let's please turn to slide two. Ambrest is a leading listed restaurant operator in Europe and a trusted operating partner for some of the world's most reputable and iconic global brands. June 30, 2026, we operated 2,133 restaurants across eight brands and 22 countries, supported by more than 44,000 employees and serving approximately 30 million customers every month. Our portfolio is diversified across four complementary restaurant categories. Quick service restaurants represent 48% of the portfolio, coffee 21%, fast casual 17% and casual dining 14%. This provides exposure to different consumer locations, price points, and channels. But scale alone is not the investment case. The strategic value lies in the operating infrastructure behind this footprint. Restaurant development, supply chain, digital and delivery capabilities, brand management, and local teams with deep market experience. Our objective and effort is to utilize these platforms more effectively, directing growth towards the brands and geographies where we can demonstrate attractive economic and sustainable returns. This is a large and diversified platform, but our decision framework is increasingly focused on returns rather than a scale for its own sale. Moving to slide three, This slide summarizes the financial performance for the first half of the year. Revenues amounted to more than 1.2 billion euros, excluding the effect of business deconsolidation in the previous year. SEM revenue decreased by 0.7% year over year. EBITDA reached 177.7 million euros, representing a margin of 14.2%. However, the most important positive development was cash generation. Operating cash flow decreased by 27 million euros. At the same time, investing cash outflow decreased by almost 31 million euros. Nonetheless, we have also maintained the development of the portfolio with 29 openings in the first half of the year and 85 openings over the last 12 months. Finally, leverage remains at approximately two points times EBITDA. The key message for me is that while the P&L reflects concentrated pressure in selected markets, cash generation and financial flexibility are moving in the right direction. This distinction matters because it demonstrates the underlying capacity of our platform. Moving to slide four, please. Here we can find the reported first half performance into context. Revenue, excluding the SEM business they consolidated last year, declined by 0.7%. EBITDA amounted almost 178 million euros, and the margin was 14.4%, compared with 15% in the first half of 2025. However, the downside was highly concentrated. Excluding Chequia and the disposal, revenue increased by approximately 2% on the same basis. A VITA margin increased 0.4% to a VITA margin of 14.9%. Chequia is an important market and we are fully focused on restoring the business. Purpose is to show the isolated effect of this market. Most of our core platforms remain healthy and continue to demonstrate their earnings capacity. If we now go to slide five, please. This slide brings together four strategic developments that support our investment thesis. First, free cash flow evolution is moving into the right direction, supported by both the stronger operating cash flow and less intensive investment effort. We continue to apply a more selective approach to capital allocation with greater focus on execution, cash generation, and investment returns. Third, shortly after the reporting period, we completed the innovation, amendment, and extension of our syndicated financial agreement. Materiality increased our financial flexibility. And fourth, and the last point, We expanded our brand portfolio by announcing the launch of Taco Bell in Poland. This is not growth for growth. It is our commitment for a disciplined introduction of a new leader global QSR brand in our largest market, using infrastructure and capabilities that we have already in place. All these aspects are our key support, the group's future growth, and our long-term value creation objectives. Moving to slide six, we have information that is central to our message today because it shows the financial conversion already taking place. Free cash flow, the finance operating cash flow, excluding least payments, less investment cash flow, improved from negative 26.2 million euros in the first half of 2025 to positive 25.6 million euros in the first half of 2026. This represents a year-on-year improvement of almost 52 million euros. The improvement reflects a stronger working capital discipline, better cash conversion, and disciplined capital expenditures. Many things are moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, the direction is clear. The combination of operational cash flow discipline and lower investment intensity is translating into substantially better free cash flow. For us, This is a strategic shift. Growth will continue, returns are attractive, but free cash flow and value creation per euro invested are critical in our decision metrics. Moving to slide seven, please. You can see the continued normalization of the investment intensity. CapEx as a percentage of sales declined for almost 10% to 5.3% by the end of the second quarter of 2026. At the same time, our gross opening trajectory of equity stores has remained broadly stable, while the number of renovations has moderated following the elevated post-COVID catch-up program. This is not simply a reduction in investments. It's a transition towards better investments where we are most selective in new development, prioritizing projects with the strongest risk-adjusted returns, and using portfolio optimization as an active capital allocation tool. Moving to slide eight. Following the reporting period, we strengthened the group's financial profile of the group through the innovation of our syndicated financial agreement. The new agreement increases the revolving credit facility up to 100 million euros, changes repayments from quarterly to semiannual and introduces a two-year grace period. It extends final maturity to June 2031, with two optional one-year extensions subject to lenders' approval and reduces the applicable interest margin. It also mends selected financial covenants and provides the possibility to establish additional accordion facilities. The agreement is supported by eight bank partners across five countries. It provides a longer and more efficient maturity profile Lower Funding Costs and Greater Liquidity Hedges This addition of flexibility should not be interpreted as a change in our financial discipline. It is value that gives us the capacity to manage volatility, execute portfolio actions, and finance selective opportunities without compromising a prudent leverage profile. Slide 9 Here we show how the portfolio has evolved and how we think about short-term future growth. At the end of June, Ambrose operated 2,133 restaurants consisting of 1,891 equity restaurants and 242 franchise restaurants. Over recent years, we have combined organic development with strategic adjustments, including investments in Pizza Hut Russia, Pizza Hut Germany, Pizza Hut France, The sale of KFC Russia and other businesses with no restaurant count as SEA, but no less important from the strategic perspective. This action demonstrates that the perimeter is not static. We have been taking significant strategic decisions by actively reshaping the portfolio We are creating the capacity to introduce new, fresh, attractive businesses with stronger growth potential and compelling long-term economics. We will grow where returns are attractive, renew restaurants where investment supports customers' experience and cash generation, and optimize our exit activities where long-term value creation is limited. The planned launch of Taco Bell Poland fits this framework. The first restaurants are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. Poland is our largest market, and we can leverage existing development, supply chain, digital, delivery, and operating capabilities. Our approach is control initial exposure, close monitor of unit economics, and expansion based on proven returns. This gives us meaningful upside potential while maintaining capital efficiency. With this, let's jump to slide 10, and let me share with you some of the commercial flavors from our brands. In a cautious consumer environment, our brands stay relevant through a balanced mix of innovation, value, and consumer engagement. At KFC, we combine product innovation with clear value. Double Down returned us a distinctive chicken-led platform, while the new protein shake expanded the brand into new consumption occasions. At the same time, offers such as Orient Box, Tuesday Bucket, and selected 50% promotions supported affordability and traffic across the market. At La Tagliatelle, we reinforced streaming positioning through an exclusive collaboration with Michelin star chef Pepe Dominguez. The partnership brought together the brand's Italian heritage and contemporary culinary creativity, helping refresh the proposition and strengthening customer interest. At Starbucks, the brand delivered strong results from its spring and summer beverage platforms. Protein Lattice launched in April, added close to three percentage points to the beverage sales mix, with no visible cannibalization of existing promotional activity. The Starbucks rewards also continued to build momentum, reaching more than 15% of Transactions. Together, these results show the value of relevant innovation supported by a stronger loyalty engagement. Moving to slide 11, the same formula of innovation, value, and local relevance supported progress across the rest of the portfolio. Sushi shops show a clear improvement in second quarter led by France and supported by a stronger execution across most European markets. The Adrian Cachotte collaboration became the brand's best-performing chef partnership to date. Switzerland and Luxembourg markets remained strong while Spain and Belgium improved sequentially. At Blue Frog, we launched Flavors of China, combining regional Chinese inspiration with the brand's Western casual dining identity. The platform strengthened local relevance and gave customers fresh reasons to engage with the brand. In Pizza Hut, we focused on two clear customer needs, value and excitement. But Box's offered an accessible, complete meal with a K-Wave menu using Korean and Spanish flavors to encourage trial. Both initiatives were brought together on the defeat of good times. Reinforcing Pizza Hots as a brand that combines good food, convenience, and shared locations. And finally, at Burger King, we continue to sharpen its value proposition together with attractive collaboration as it has been successful premier of the Mandalorian. With this, Santi, if you can cover the financial main highlights, please.