De Longhi Spa

Good afternoon. This is the Corusco conference operator. Welcome and thank you for joining the de' Longhi first quarter 2026 consolidated results. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Fabio de' Longhi, Chief Executive Officer of de' Longhi. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining the de' Longhi Group conference call for our first quarter 2026 results. With me on the call today are Nicola Serafin, Group General Manager, Stefano Biella, CFO and Samuel Acchioletto, investor relations director and M&A manager. I'm pleased to announce that we have consolidated our recent action results with a solid start to the year, driven by exceptional momentum in the professional division and positive organic growth in the household segment. Despite the market environment characterized by volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, we remain fully confident in the group agility and responsiveness. which have allowed us to navigate recent challenges effectively. The resilience is reflected in our consistent track record marked by significant revenue expansion and a steady improvement in profitability. Moreover, over the years, we've been able to further strengthen our global leadership copy by successfully capitalizing on the structural growth and premiumization of both the home and professional markets while simultaneously seizing strategic opportunities in key categories such as nutrition and irony. Starting with the auto for the professional division, the strategic combination of Lamar Zocca and Eversys continue to generate exceptional value, delivering outstanding performance and increasingly reaffirming the rationale behind the deal. As the market shifts toward premiumization and specialty coffee, Our portfolio is perfectly aligned to capture these structural trends. This positioning has enabled the professional division to maintain its impressive momentum, steadily delivering revenue growth in excess of 40% for three consecutive quarters, all while sustaining superior profitability. During the quarter, Avesis completed the acquisition of its Dutch distributor, a strategic move designed to elevate service standards and provide an integrated experience for our local partners and customers. This initiative aligns with the evolving European coffee landscape, where Eversys and La Marzocco remain key players and where we aim to accelerate regional growth through an expanded direct presence. The household division delivered positive organic growth for the period, with trends improving after the absorption of excess market inventory during the opening weeks of the year. Excluding January, the division would have achieved solid mid-single-digit growth at constant exchange rates, driven by positive performance across coffee and nutrition categories. Over recent quarters, The new social media hub has become a strategic pillar of consumer engagement, ensuring maximum impact for all communication initiatives and supporting all marketing activities through an integrated paid and earned media ecosystem that is driving significant engagement across the entire consumer journey. Our participation in Milan Design Week offered and Excellent Opportunity execute this strategy, expanding our reach and deepening the connection between the coffee industry and the world of design and lifestyle. The smallest coffee shop at home, in original collaboration with miniaturist Simon Weisse, transformed five de' Longhi machines into iconic coffee shops from all around the globe, from Paris to Tokyo. The results of over 1500 hours of meticulous craftsmanship. This activation captured global attention, turning the miniature coffee pop-up into a viral media moment, with a combined reach of over 200 million people. Now, let me focus on the results. The first quarter of 2026, the group growth at constant exchange rates was broad-based across all geographic regions, with a significant contribution from the Americas and Asia-Pacific. In more details, Europe recorded a 1.4% increase in revenue during the period. The professional division achieved a double-digit growth, while the household segment was essentially flat. Within the latter, stronger expansion in markets such as Poland, Benelux, and the Bergen Peninsula offset weakness in some areas, such as Germany, which were impacted by the reabsorption of market excess inventory during the period. The MIA region, Middle East, India, and Africa, achieved 4.2% growth at constant exchange rates, driven by significant expansion in the professional division. Conversely, the household division recorded a decline in revenue. weighted down by the market unfavorable exchange rate effect and microeconomic challenges in the Gulf countries. The Americas region recorded 18.2% growth at constant exchange rates, supported by the robust performance of the professional division and amid single-digit organic growth of the household segment. Regarding the latter, the excellent performance of the coffee machines more than offset the contraction of the blended market. Finally, the Asia-Pacific region achieved an 8.7% increase in revenue, despite a significant negative current impact, plus 17.2% at constant exchange rates. Specifically, the professional division delivered an excellent performance across nearly the entire region, while the household segment maintained a growth trend at constant exchange rates. consolidating the strong results of the previous year. The professional division demonstrates broad-based growth, with a widespread double-digit momentum across our key regiographies and primary product categories, recording €139 million off sales, a 40% increase compared to 2025. The premium positioning of Evesys and Lamarzocco supported by a robust product portfolio enabled the group to capitalize effectively on the espresso premiumization trend, meeting the demands of consumers increasingly focused on premium quality. Reflecting this, the Marzocco consumer segment continues to drive significant expansion. Increased volumes combined with premium positioning allow the division to protect and strengthen profitability for both brands. The household division achieved a turnover of €641 million, representing a slight decline of 2.4% on a reported basis, but an increase of 0.8% at constant exchange rates. Home coffee recorded low single-digit growth at constant exchange rates, driven by manual machines and espresso products, alongside significant expansion in coffee accessories. Nutrition The low single-digit contraction and constant exchange rates is mainly attributable to the stocking activity recorded in January. Net of this effect, the segment showed a positive trend in the subsequent months. Conversely, Cambodian brand kitchen appliances showed a significant acceleration in performance compared to the same period last year. Other categories, the comfort segment, portable heating and air conditioning, recorded mid-to-high single-digit growth year-on-year, while Homecare maintained moderate growth at constant exchange rates. The first quarter of 2026 delivered a further improvement in the group margins, driven by volume growth and a favorable sales mix underpinned by the excellent performance of the professional segment. In details, in the quarter adjusted EBITDA amounted to €126 million, or 16.2% of revenues, an improvement of 80 basis points compared to the previous year. This improvement was mainly supported by strong growth of the professional division, which carries margin above the group average. As for the household division, the price-mix contribution was slightly negative due to selective price repositioning aimed at increasing market support. while investment in media and communication remained stable as a percentage of total group sales. During the quarter, we experienced a slightly negative impact from additional tariffs in the US market, approximately 4 million euros, while not in effect during the previous year. As of March 31, 2026, the group net financial position was 721 million, a significant improvement over the 483 million reported in the prior year period. Regarding cash generation, free cash flow before dividends, share buyback and acquisitions was a negative 44 million for the quarter. This was driven by the typical seasonality in net working capital, specifically the restocking of inventory following sales in quarter four. On a trading to a month basis, free cash flow before dividends Share buybacks and acquisitions reached $464 million, a remarkable achievement that allows us to maintain a flexible and attractive capital allocation strategy. In summary, our first quarter results reinforce our long-term trajectory of growth and margin expansion, overcoming market uncertainty. While the geographical landscape requires us to remain vigilant regarding potential inflationary pressures on costs and consumer behavior, underlying business trends have remained resilient over the recent months, and we remain focused on rigorous cost management to navigate these external factors. Regarding the professional segment, we are leveraging our strong and unique proposition to expand the consumer market and tackle the out-of-home area. achieving above market results. To drive this performance, we are further strengthening our product portfolio, highlighted by the recent launches of Eversys Plus, which has allowed us to target the convenience store and coffee service segments, and the introduction of new colors in the La Marzocco home line, including cream, blue, and brushed steel. We also continue our extensive communication activities and participation in trade shows and lifestyle events, further strengthening engagement with our community and partners. On the House of Proms, we are currently benefiting from recent launches such as Elekta Woolter & Coffee, the large portfolio of Kenwood food preparation, and Brown's Ironing. We are advancing our new product launching designed to align with evolving consumer desires and investing in strategic marketing campaigns to draw global attention to our brands, supported by an integrated social media strategy. Furthermore, we are driving the group towards a technological frontier by intensifying investment in key strategic projects across various fronts as presented in the business plan. These include operational excellence, where AI-enabled Customer Service has moved beyond the first two pilot geographies and is now being prepared for a potential extended rollout. Talent acquisition with a new social officina in London, scaling up our social media capabilities and digital transformation, where we completed the implementation of a global Salesforce e-commerce platform, which is now fully operational across markets. In light of our progressive improvement during the first quarter, confirmed by a favorable start to the second quarter and normalization of exchange rates, we reaffirm our full-year 2026 forecast. We expect revenue growth at the mid-single-digit rate and have adjusted the BDA in the range of 640 to 660 million. We now welcome your questions. Thank you.

Thank you. This is the Chorus Call Conference operator. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 under touch-tone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and 2. We kindly ask to use handsets when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and 1 at this time. The first question is from Nicola Storer Kepler-Chevreux.

Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Yes, we can, Nicolò.

Hi, hi, hi, good afternoon and thanks for taking my three questions. The first one is about your guidance. Last time we spoke, you said that your guidance for 2026 did not include any impact from the war in Iran. Now you're confirming basically the numbers, but are now these including any impact from the geopolitical chaos we are witnessing? The second question is about margin of pollution. I was trying to understand how much of the EBDA expansion was linked to the professional coffee performance and in particular you show in the EBDA breach a negative price mix impact notwithstanding the plus 40 versus plus one of professional versus household so this probably implies a very negative price mix on household products if you can discuss a bit about this and very last is about the stocking actions that you have mentioned taking place in January I was wondering if these were basically affecting both the food preparation products and coffee, or if they were just limited to food preparation products. Thank you.

Your question? First one about the guidance. Yes, we confirmed the guidance. In our guidance, we take into account what's happening in the Gulf, but we expect a rather quick solution still. I mean, we think that if the solution will happen in, let's say, I don't want to say next month, but in the next two or three months, we are able to confirm our year-end guidance. Only if the situation gets worse, Then we have to reconsider. But for the moment, we think that we can confirm guidance, as said. The second is, yeah, before moving to the second question, I think that the trends in the underlying business have remained resilient after January. So, as I said, January was a bit tougher. We spoke about overstocking at trade level in particular. I think that the trend is getting better and also for the household division, in particular for the household division, and also April will be positive for the household division. We think that now we are back on track after a week January and we are back on track to meet our year-end goals. With regard to margin, I would say that yes, the growth in the expansion of margin is thanks to professional. Margins were a bit weaker on household. I would say that almost entirely due to the tariffs that were not in place last year in the first quarter. and maybe slightly on a slight weakness in January, in particular on espresso, which was a bit overstocked, but again is back to growth in the following months. And just to summarize what maybe I've already touched on in the first two questions, stock probably has almost normalized. So now we feel comfortable that Seline Sellout will be aligned in the next months.

Thank you.

The next question is from Isacco Brambilla, Meteo Panca.

Hi, good afternoon everybody. Two questions. On my side, the first one is on Americas. Under a geographical standpoint, I would say the bright spot of the reporting Could you give us a bit more color on the drivers of the strong organic performance between volumes and prices? Second question is on household coffee. We are not used to see plastic strength for this segment. Could you help us better understand the underlying demand trends in fully auto machines and which are the drivers of the, say, temporary slowdown, whether this is a theme of timing of product launches, comparison basis or maybe any sign of down trading by customers you are recording across the market.

Thank you, Zako, for the question. USA is a strong professional, very strong professional. Quite strong coffee for household. A negative, unfortunately, on nutrition for Nutribullet, which has been obviously upsetting the positives of the household coffee. I don't know, Nicola, if you want to add maybe some color around the U.S. market, in particular maybe with coffee and...

The coffee trend overall in the... Also in the U.S. in the beginning of the year there was a bit of overstock, so the trend also in January was... was also for the U.S. a bit, let's say, below expectation. But overall in the quarter, the household coffee was positive, while the situation in nutrition and the market, in particular in blending for capital brands, is still weak. and obviously this is a bit putting in a negative trend overall the US for the household slightly negative while it's super positive for the professional but overall the trend is a bit reversing as we speak, so it's becoming stronger for coffee and it's normalizing also in nutrition, the current trading. So we have a more positive outlook. Obviously we are looking and a lot can depend on the next tax policy because as we speak this is still an element to consider.

So the second question was about household coffee, which has not growing for the first time in quarter one. I would say if we exclude January for a moment, February and March were pretty good with a high single digit growth auto for household coffee. I think that January has been more like a tail to last year, the end of last year, rather than signaling what is the potential trend for 2026. I think Robert and Mark, we had a pretty good year and a very strong year end last year. Black Friday was strong, indicating a strong also maybe end of December. In the end, end of December, sell-out was pretty weak. and the result in higher inventory that we have now managed in January. So I would say that, yes, visually, yes, there is no growth in coffee. If we go more and we dig in, we understand better the underlying trends with the stocking and then, let's say, sell-in, I would say I feel more comfortable from what I'm seeing in January and February, sorry, February and March and now also being confirmed by the results, the stage results in April.

That's helpful, many thanks.

Next question is from Andrea Bonfa, Banca Acros.

Hi, good afternoon. Fabio, congratulations again for the result. My question, some of my questions have actually been answered. Maybe if I can, sorry, to further in on the professional coffee performance. It seems that you mentioned the double-digit growth in Europe, but looking at the 40%, does it entail that most of the growth was from the U.S. or the rest of the world? If you can elaborate on that. and if you also can comment on the training environment in this very, let's say, precise moment from a geographical standpoint. We presume that the gulf countries are negative, but if you can elaborate more on the macro region, thank you very much.

Yeah, okay. A professional actually was stronger. with the growth in Europe also around 30% with May above close to 50% and the Americas in the area of just below 40%. So I would say that the professional division performance has been really super strong across all regions, across all brands, and also strong in traditional bar equipment and home prosumer equipment. So second question is about the impact of the war, or second part of the question. Yes, problem Nia, now we need to consider that would be slower in the next months. But again, I said the region is about 6%, but more specifically, the Gulf countries represent only 3% of the total sales for the group.

Yeah, and if I may, a follow-up question on the professional. Can you comment on the performance between Eversys and La Marzocco? Was it more one of the two, or were they homogeneous from this standpoint?

This year, I would say that both performed extremely well, both. So they're pretty, pretty aligned. Maybe, I would say maybe Eversys is a bit stronger. Maybe you... We have to also... recall that last year, I mean, two years ago, it was a weaker year for Avesis. And the first quarter of last year was still, was improving, but still below expected results. This year, so probably Avesis has had better performance, also because it has an easier comparison versus La Marzocco, which has been expanding sales more consistently across the years and the quarters since the business combination. Okay, thank you very much.

The next question is from Alessandro Cecchini, Equita.

Hello everybody and thank you for taking my questions. The first one actually is on the prosumer Thank you very much. maybe internal plants, which can be the size of this business, can double, can triple. So just to understand your internal expectation for this part of the business that is, I mean, pretty new for La Marta Rocco but is extremely supportive. This is my first question. My second question is instead about M&A. You know that you are excluding any kind of consideration for your internal professional business, but looking around, you see other opportunities in the professional business, also given the sizable cash that you have in your balance sheet. and my third question is instead about the product launches in household coffee if you see an acceleration over the coming quarters and finally it's a small small part of the business but over the last two years was very negative and at least in Italy it seems sunny so probably If you can elaborate a little bit more on the air conditioning business that was, I mean, for two years very negative, and so this year probably you have the restocking effect. Thank you.

Yeah, okay, thank you, Alessandro.

First question, prosumer.

Long term, I believe that prosumer for La Mazzocco should become more relevant, more important, and the largest part of the business. At the moment, as you are correcting, referring to, 30% is more or less one-third of the Marzocco business is home, or prosumer. I was expecting a stronger also growth for this year in prosumer machines at La Marzocco, which is happening, which is happening, but also professionally so strong that probably this year the percentage of the incidence of prosumer on total at La Marzocco sales won't change just because it's an exceptional performance also within the bar equipment. But then in the long run, I expect that the bar equipment should normalize and progressively with Mazoco becoming more visible to consumers, the marketing initiatives, the events, the social media campaigns and activities, we support a strong acceleration of household Lamazoco which is already happening but will be more visible and will probably the trend will rebalance the weight of home on total Lamazoco says in going the direction that we are hoping where Home becomes more relevant than professional. Having said so, M&A, yet professional, there are some areas where we can perform M&A. Our priority probably will go now to see if there is an opportunity to buy out the minorities. I think that this is probably an area where we feel more comfortable with the performance of professionals and we know well the companies the companies are doing extremely well so probably this is an area where we can start focusing more and obviously looking into other alternatives in professional there are product segments where we are not present at the moment which are potential for us. And the third area where we are looking at is geographic expansion. Probably at the moment the U.S. market is very difficult because of the tariffs and all the complexity that has been caused by the tariffs and the pressure and margin. But this might result in opportunities that we want to look very seriously at. So I would say three areas, minorities, either acquisition in professional, and North America again, in household more specifically. With regard to household coffee and new products, we have a number of new products, and Nicola, maybe you can walk around and talk about what are the innovations for the year. That's also Italy.

In terms of products, definitely in coffee we have an unprecedented pipeline of new launches for the year. We have four new models of fully automatics. One just came in the market, it was launched in April, that is our premium model Ultrametal. and then we have three launches that will happen across the next month. It will be Magnifica Duo, Rivelli starting a second model of the Ultra range and more is coming also in the first half of next year. Definitely we have a robust pipeline, probably one of the strongest ever. and that is backed also from a couple of new launches also in the range of bean-to-cup more traditional machine. We have Specialista Duo that we launched across the summer and we have another compact solution of bean-to-cup that will come by late this year, early next year. About the air conditioning trend, obviously we need to acknowledge that air conditioning in this moment is more or less 3% of our business, but definitely we have a favorable outlook with definitely the last two years as being the worst years probably ever for the category, so we have expectation for a double digit growth of the category, but we need also to acknowledge that it is that is on the base of 3% of impact in our total revenue.

We have decided that we want to limit the risk in air conditioning so we consider this segment as we want to maintain and improve but never have an excess risk on the growth which may result in negative years or inventory built up if the market will not absorb the products?

As we speak, obviously, we do not have a sales potential higher than the stock that we have already on hand at this point of time. By the way, the pre-sales have been good, with a good trend. As we speak, Europe is a bit chilled, cooled down, so this is not that informal. Let's see how it will be June.

Okay, finally, if I may, on overseas, probably it's my perception, but just asking, it seems to me that it is... The growth of the business is also due to an enlargement of the customer base, probably to bigger chains, to a new league, I mean, for overseas, that probably was not the case last year or three years ago. So just to know if it's also this part of the game, so to have also an additional Client base that is more chains, so a larger business.

Well, the growth of Eversys is coming from expansion of our Chinese business, particularly with the high-end stores where equipment with high productivity is required. New customers in Europe, both in, let's say, Food chains or coffee chains, like Blank Street Coffee in London or in Europe or in North America. We are now also expanding to also convenience stores. We were already present in convenience store when 7-Eleven in the past, but now we are expanding with a very important customer across Europe. And then also the new products. which are legacy plus. These products are more, let's say, designed for the OCS and these convenience stores. So we expect also this product to help keep growing in this segment. And then obviously we are doing very well in America with more chains. I would say that we are sort of new kids in the block. I mean, the company was founded in About 12 years ago, it was very small when we acquired the first stake and it's starting now to be more visible and therefore we are winning new customers thanks to the successful deployment in key customers. and the great delivery in terms of quality in the cup and the robustness and also the service capabilities thanks to our connectivity which are also fundamental in order to keep down the servicing costs and the maintenance costs for the companies.

Okay, thank you.

The next question is from Luca Orsini. Orsa, please go ahead.

Yeah. Good afternoon, everyone. Just have a couple of questions. The first one is on the price mix going forward, just thinking about this year. Do you expect the price mix to remain negative throughout the year? or do you think that there will be an improvement in the price mix effect and if yes or no also why of course which is as important as the answer and the second thing you're talking about acquisition in professional coffee are you more looking in the area of the in the Marzocco camp or you're more looking in the camp of the fully automatic overseas to expand? Which range do you think deserves to be expanded with another brand and another company?

The first question. Sorry, first question is price mix and you can maybe, but my, my, my, My feeling is that maybe we will continue to see promotional initiatives in key moments of the year, but I think that mix will be positive. So I expect maybe more pressure in certain time of the year, but I think that we will continue to grow faster with fully automats, with our coffee machines, with good mix, also browning certain ironing systems. Maybe we'll be a bit sharper in certain time of the year in the very promotional times, but in general, I don't see a negative trend on price mix.

We have an outlook with a positive category mix, so fully auto and coffee, and also kitchen machine, as we speak, has been pretty brown. So we have a category, Brown also with Ironing, so we have a positive category mix and also within the category the launches that I've mentioned before are all launches that are going in the upper quartile of our range. So this is where we are pushing to bring a positive mix and also a bit of pricing ability. said that the competitive landscape and the promotional windows in the market are definitely expanding. When we're speaking of Prime Day, it's not anymore Prime Day of Amazon, it's becoming a retailer and an industry Prime Day, so there is a bit of trade-off on this, but we are acting with countermeasures in terms of category mix and product within the category to have a favorable mix to offset this pricing effect that is more specific on par for the same SKUs.

On professional, it's difficult to be more specific on what are the targets as also professional companies are not a huge segment but I would say that maybe it's the need and or maybe it's not fully auto or that is equipment which will be more complementary to our current range but certainly professional is one of the key priorities and I would say also as mentioned before we have already an asset which we own at 62% which is performing very well and probably this is also our at the moment could be our first priority.

Yeah. That was more asking outside buying out the minorities, which is obviously the most logic thing to do. We don't have to convince that. Okay.

Thank you.

Well, congratulations again. You're always a very good company.

Thank you so much.

The next question is from Nicola Storer, Kepler Chevreux.

Yeah, me again. Thanks for taking my follow up question on professional coffee. Basically, if I analyze your plus 40% of Q1, you already got to high single digit growth for the year. You guys for low DINs, if I'm not wrong. So you just need I think that if we had this call maybe say

A couple of months ago, it was quite difficult to give and confirm maybe an expectation for the guidance we gave because January was weak and February was going in the right direction. So I would say that it's a very complex environment. I don't want to, for the moment, to modify any guidance. not even considering the strong performance of professional. We also see that last year the second half of professional was already very strong and growing at around 30%. So I would say for the moment let's keep it at this. I think we are more encouraged by the current development for both divisions but it's not time for us to revise the guidance even if I understand that the performance has been better than maybe expected and I acknowledge that. This is encouraging myself, encouraging the team, so we feel more comfortable about achieving the year-end results.

The next question is from Francesco Brilli in Termonte.

Good evening, thanks for taking my questions. A lot has been answered, but just a quick one on advertising and promotion. If you can recall or just provide some more color on the phasing of advertising and promotion expenses throughout the year and across quarters. See, the first one you mentioned is quite flighty compared to last year. So just if you can explain the phasing. for the next quarters and for the full year.

Thank you. Thank you, Francesco. The question, Nicola, you want to handle this one?

Yes. As we speak for the quarter, we have just a flat level compared with last year, considering also that the incidence on turnover was higher because of the We have a strong plan for the second and third quarter that is correlated also with the new product launches that I've mentioned before. and we have also more to come in terms of both social media activation and also media campaign by year end. So definitely you can expect a more robust plan of investment in the month to come.

Okay, thank you. Thank you.

The next question is from Hela Zarouk, Odoo BHF.

Yes, good afternoon everyone and thank you for taking my questions. So, the first one is on the bridge of the BDA we can see that in other costs we have lower product cost. Could you please give us more details about this and how should we expect this item and in general the cost base to develop during the year? My second question is on current trading. If you can make an update on current business trading over April and start of May, and did you see any slowdown in your main market segments? And maybe third question on US tariffs, if you can give us the impact on Q1 and your expectation for the whole year. Thank you.

So can you rephrase the last question that we maybe are not sure that's right?

Yeah, it's the impact of U.S. tariffs on the profitability in Q1, the amount, and maybe if you can give us your expectations for the full year, the impact of U.S. tariffs on the profitability for the full year. Thank you.

In terms of cost, definitely we had a favorable carryover of the trends that we have already experienced in the second half of last year due to a lot also of inefficiencies and material trends. Something that we are holding for the first quarter of this year, we are keeping in this moment but is It's very likely to change if the overall general geopolitical situation do not change in the next weeks, if not months. So what we can expect, the outlook of the year, it can be something that we can carry over as it is, if the situation will normalize or we will have an inflationary pressure if the Middle East situation will not normalize. In terms of current trading, as we have already mentioned, April was more in the direction of recovery. We had a very weak January, but the situation was improving across February, March, and then April is a bit normalized on our expectation. In terms of the impact of the U.S. tariffs, as we have mentioned, we have more or less 4 million of Impact in the first quarter. As we speak, the tariffs that are enforced, the global 10% additional to the old tariffs scheme, and this is something that the information that we have is what is publicly available, so it is there until the end of June. what will happen after June, we do not have any information, privileged information on this.

Okay, very clear. Thank you very much.

As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press Dorian1 on your telephone. The next question is from Luca Baccoccoli in Tiso San Paolo.

Yes, good afternoon everyone. Just two questions from my side. So the first one is a clarification on the trading update in April. So you were referring to a normalizing trend. So I was wondering if the trend in the professional that you saw in the first quarter is still continuing in April and the first few days of May. And the other question is on CapEx, which in the first quarter were significantly lower than last year. So is there any facing effect or should we expect significant decrease throughout the coming quarters?

Thank you. Okay. So I would say that to be a bit more clear on April, Household has grown mid-circum-digit at constant exchange rates, while professional is growing as previously. So again, no change actually in April. In the mid-term, I would say the second half, the comparison for professional would be with the very High Bays, because last year in the second half professional grew at 30%. So therefore, this current has to take into account the tough comparison versus last year. With regard to CAPEX, what is the expected CAPEX for the second half of the year and the remainder of the year?

As we speak, obviously, considering the overall landscape, we are trying to have a wide allocation as we speak, and obviously this can vary based also on the outlook of the business. But I would consider this more a phasing than something structural.

Sorry, Nicola. So just to follow up on this, let's assume a short-lived conflict or crisis in the Middle East. The CAPEX for the full year 2026 should be in line with last year or now, lower.

Yeah, yeah, let's say that we are expecting something that will be normalized on the level of last year, that on average was, let's say, the level of investment that we have been sustaining in the past few years. Already last year was a capex... The next question is a follow-up from Alessandro Cecchini, Equita. Hello, just a follow-up on your ability to manage costs.

I presume that in this moment you are not adopting special measures to contain costs. It's right at this point. And secondly, if I understood correctly, so if, of course, this is a basis that we continue to have this kind of 10% global tariff, etc., It seems to me that this $4 million is already a big chunk of your $10 million for the year. So you are digesting now the tariff because last year, as you said, starting from the third quarter, you had the tariff. So just to have more qualitative color on these two points.

From non-product operating costs and labor costs, we have in this moment a strict policy in terms of cost control. That is definitely what is providing benefit to offset also and part of the impact that we have on the other side from tariffs. as we speak. If the current level of tariffs would be confirmed by year-end, this is what we have somehow incorporated in the current guidance.

Okay, thank you.

Mr. de' Longhi, there are no more questions registered at this time. I turn the conference back to you for any closing remarks.

Thank you so much for attending the De'Longhi first quarter 2026 conference call.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over and you may disconnect your telephone.