Grupo Cementos De Chihuah

Good morning and welcome to GCC's second quarter 2026 earnings results conference call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call is being recorded and that all participants will be in listen-only mode. Please also note that a slide presentation accompanies today's webcast. The link is available on the company's IR website at gcc.com. I would now like to turn the call over to Sahory Ogushi, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. With me today are Enrique Escalante, our Chief Executive Officer, and Maik Strecker, Chief Financial Officer. The earnings release detailing this quarter's results was released yesterday after market close and is available on GCC's IR website. This conference call is also being broadcast live within the Investors section at gcc.com. Both, the webcast replay of the call and transcript will be available on the same site approximately one hour after the end of today's call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by this forward-looking statement. Factors that could cause these results to differ materially are set forth in yesterday's press release and in our quarterly report filed with the Mexican Stock Exchange. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today and we undertake no obligations to update these statements as a result of new information or future events. With that, let me now turn the call over to Enrique.

Thank you, Sahory, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter built on the program we saw earlier in the year, we delivered strong top and bottom line growth. We reposition volumes toward the strongest areas of demand while continuing to serve customers reliably. That ability depends on the capabilities and experience of our teams Which brings me to our people's strategy. Starting off the kiln at Odessa was the clearest example this quarter of what our teams can deliver. Commissioning a project of this scale requires deep technical preparation and close coordination across plants. The training and cross-plant work have enabled the team to reach this milestone successfully. Building those capabilities is a continuous effort. Year to date, we have delivered more than 8,400 hours of training across the network, focused on the technical skills that support safe and consistent operations. In parallel, we have run the XGCC program to which former employees returned to work alongside current teams and transferred decades of operational knowledge, deepening expertise across the company and preserving institutional knowledge as we grow. Under our planned strategy, we continue to prioritize initiatives that improve both environmental performance and operating economics. During the first half, Blended Cements accounted for 79% of total production, while natural gas and alternative fuels continue to gain share in our energy mix. Our flexible fuel strategy gives our plants the ability to shift between fuels as relative economics change. During the quarter, this helps keep fuel costs within our expectations despite market volatility. We also continued investing in natural gas pipeline infrastructure, broadening across to lower-cost fuel, strengthening supply reliability, and improving our long-term cost position. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how sustainability and economics can advance in the same direction as GCC. Turning now to our growth strategy. In the United States, the trends we discussed earlier in the year continued into the second quarter, with strong volume growth across both cement and concrete. Cement volumes increased 10.8%, supported by broad project activity and by the contribution from our terminals in Texas and Arizona. which were not present in the prior year period. Concrete volumes increased nearly 29%, reflecting the performance of our existing operations and the contribution from the ready mix business acquired in the first quarter. Excluding those acquired operations, concrete volumes still grew 15% during the quarter. More broadly, Customers continue to report healthy backlogs across the U.S. and market, supporting our outlook for the remainder of the construction season. Against that backdrop, let me review the main demand drivers, starting with infrastructure. Infrastructure remains one of the main sources of demand. We are actively participating in paving work across our footprint and in interstate highway projects in Texas, sustaining solid demand for both cement and concrete. Looking beyond the current construction system, the policy environment also remains constructive. Discussions around the next U.S. surface transportation authorization continue to emphasize core transportation priorities, including roads and bridges. Compared with the broader scope of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, this direction is more closely aligned with the type of project that drives cement consumption. Several states in our footprint have historically favored concrete paving and this creates a positive setup for GCT. The bill includes proposed reforms to simplify and accelerate the programming process for infrastructure projects. Based on normal program timing, we would expect any related volume benefits to begin emerging around mid-2027. Renewable energy also remains an important contributor. We completed a wind farm project during the quarter, and expect to begin three additional projects in Texas and North Dakota in the third quarter. We should continue supporting activity across the network. Data center related activity is also becoming more tangible. Projects that have been on hold during permitting are moving again, and we are actively supplying work while bidding additional opportunities. A good example is the Meta Data Center in El Paso, which Meta now describes as an investment of more than $10 billion. Projects of this scale can generate significant demand for competent demand throughout their construction cycle. In parallel, we are involved in power generation work linked to data center development, broadening the opportunity set across our footprint. In oil and gas, activity improved in mid-May and June. Customers' confidence improved as oil prices moved into more constructive range, and oil wells cement became an additional source of support for our U.S. volumes. At current levels, we are able to sell everything we can produce in oil wells cement. The timing of the Odessa Grand Pub is well aligned with this shift. and Shipments from the New Line will expand our ability to serve the segment. This is a constructive development and we are positioned to participate as the activity continues to develop. Residential activity continues to be constrained by persistently high mortgage rates. With affordability still under pressure, we do not expect to see a meaningful change in this segment during the remainder of 2026. From a commercial standpoint, U.S. pricing remains challenging. Average cement prices were down in the quarter a year today, reflecting the product, project, and geographic mix we have discussed since the beginning of the year. The competitive environment has also broadened as imported cement begins reaching inland markets that historically have been less exposed. However, our geographic position away from the coastal areas continues to give us a structural advantage relative to markets with heavier import penetration. We are engaging through industry channels to support fair and rational market conditions, and we remain disciplined in our commercial approach, prioritizing service, reliability, and long-term customer relationships. Overall, the U.S. quarter reflects strong volume performance across several end markets, healthy customer by-laws, and a supportive setup for the third quarter construction season. Turning to Mexico, the second quarter provided further evidence of recovery. Demand volumes grew 6.2%, led by self-construction, residential demand, and infrastructure activity. Concrete volumes were essentially flat, with a slight decline reflecting the completion of certain residential and industrial projects that have supported the prior year comparisons. Housing remains a constructive part of the market. Private activity stayed healthy while the federal housing initiative continued to move to its planning phase. Over time, the program has the potential to materially expand housing activity in the state, including the possibility of doubling the number of homes built annually. And we are positioning the network to support that goal. Infrastructure also continues to provide important momentum. We are participating in the highest level of activity we have seen in the last decade, and additional projects are expected to materialize through the second half of the year. In the industrial segment, activity remains cautious and broadly consistent with 2025, as customers continue to take a measured approach to investment decisions. Although confidence has not yet returned many police, our long-term view of the region remains intact. GCT has operated successfully through multiple cycles of trade and policy uncertainty, and we are prepared to respond as conditions improve. From a pricing standpoint, Mexico remains broadly stable. The men's and concrete prices were essentially flat, reflecting a higher share of infrastructure work in the mix, and timing effects in price implementation. The underlying pricing environment remains sound. Overall, the quarter provides tangible evidence of Mexico's recovery, with housing and infrastructure supporting a constructive setup for the second half of the year. Turning now to capital allocation, the second quarter also advanced investment in our network. Oleta remains the most important operational milestone of the year. We successfully started up the new kiln in June, moving the production line into ramp up. The final scope of the project is also stronger than originally announced. During construction, we obtained an expansion of the plant's permitted capacity and secured a kiln with 17% higher capacity. The project will add 1.1 million metric tons of incremental capacity, bringing total plant capacity to 1.6 million metric tons. Total investment is now expected to $700 million. Equivalent to $636 per metric ton of incremental capacity and approximately $50 million below the original budget. This result reflects continued work throughout the project to improve engineering, procurement, and project execution, allowing us to increase capacity while lowering total requirements of capital to 700 million. Our focus now is on stabilizing equipment and production, integrating the new capacity into the network in a controlled manner. In parallel, we're advancing the approval process with State Department of Transportation for our cement mix design. Based on current progress, We expect to begin shipping cement from the new production line slowly and consistently in the latter part of the third quarter. Building the network around Odessa is the natural next step, and the second quarter brought clear progress on that front. We completed a new cement terminal in Abilene, Texas, extending our logistics bridge across West Texas. The terminal complements the AgriExploracore we began scaling more deliberately with the acquisitions announced in early 2025 and improves our position in a market becoming increasingly relevant for data center development and the infrastructure that supports it. The second quarter also marked another step in building our AgriExploracore. Following the expansion of our position in El Paso region in the first quarter, we added aggregate and concrete operations in Amarillo and the Midland Odessa region. These transactions broaden our presence in attractive markets, deepen our aggregate position, and help maximize the value of the Odessa expansion. Year to date, we have invested approximately $91 million in acquisitions, adding approximately $11 million in EBITDA contributions. Including the transactions completed since 2024, our cumulative investment in this segment totals approximately $225 million, representing about $25 million of additional EBITDA. These acquisitions build a scale in aggregate and reinforce our ability to serve customers across this market with construction material solutions. In summary, the quarter advanced each of the priorities we set at the start of the year. Stronger market activity, the controlled ramp up of Odessa, and expansion of our aggregate platform in the region. We remain focused on our customer service, stabilizing the new line, and building the network for future growth. With that, let me turn the call over to Mike for a review of our financial results.