Kone Oyj B

Good morning, everyone. My name is Natalia Vazasari. I'm head of investor relations here at Kone. And I want to start by apologizing for the delay to start this webcast. We have some network issues here on our end. I would suggest that everyone who is only following on the webcast also dial in. The number should be visible to you. Just in case this is not smooth sailing going forward, which I very much hope it will be. So that's that. Let's get started. I'm very pleased to be joined today by our CEO, Philippe Delorme, and our CFO, Ilsa Hara. As you know, we published our Q1 results today, but clearly today's big news is our announcement that we plan to combine with TKE. Very exciting. And this will, of course, be the main focus of the webcast. Once you have heard from our speakers, we'll be opening the lines for Q&A. I expect an active session, so please limit yourself to one question, one follow-up, and then you're, of course, welcome to rejoin the queue. We'll address any further questions within the limits of time. So with that, please.

Thank you, Natalia, and welcome, everyone. This is indeed an exciting day for Kone, and I'll come back shortly to why the combination with TK is so compelling. But let me first set the scene with a brief look at our first quarter performance. So we had a solid start of the year with in-line results and good progress in strategy execution. Two things stand out. First, sales grew by nearly 7%. Second, service and modernization increased to 67% of sales. This mix supported margin extension, but more importantly, underscores the resilience of our business, a key strength in the current geopolitical environment. Importantly, we continued to execute steadily on our strategy. And one key example is a continued increase in productivity of our maintenance base, which has now reached over 42%. Now, let me hand over to Ilka to give you some backgrounds on the financials.

Thank you. And welcome also from my side as well. Let's start with orders where growth of 3.9% of the comparable currencies is a solid outcome. Modernization increased modestly from a strong comparison base, while new billing solutions delivered a good quarter, particularly in Europe and Middle East and Africa. Sales growth was broad-based, 6.9% in the quarter with contributions from all businesses and all regions. As Filip mentioned, a favorable mix supported the market expansion to 10.8%, further helped by the fixed cost leverage. Foreign exchange, on the other hand, was a headwind, with an impact of approximately 15 basis points on the margin. We expect this to ease in the coming quarters. Cash flow improved to 500 million euro in the quarter, and cash conversion was helped. Then turning to our market outlook, which we have kept unchanged. We continue to see growth opportunities in all regions, especially in services and modernization, despite increased uncertainty related to the war in the Middle East. Let me pause here for a moment to discuss what we are seeing in the region. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of our people and our customers. The resilience they have shown is admirable, and the business disruptions have so far been limited and mainly related to logistics of getting material to the site. So far, we have seen very little financial impact, but if the conflict prolongs, we will face more cost pressure, which we would look to mitigate as far as possible. Then to our business outlook. Following the strong Q1 performance, we have specified our sales growth guidance to 3% to 6%, while our EBIT guidance remains unchanged at 0.3% to 13%. Headwinds and tailwinds remain broadly unchanged, with the exception of increased geopolitical risks, which have already resulted in increased transport and fuel costs. That said, we are confident in our ability to deliver margins within the guidance. That's the short summary of our results. So, back to you, Philippe.