Nexans S.A.

Welcome to the Nexen's 9-month 2026 Financial Information Call. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode. During the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key 5 on their telephone keypad. Now I will hand the conference over to the speakers, Julien Hueber, CEO, and Vincent Piquet, CFO. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Nexans 9 Months 2026 Financial Information Call. I'm here today with Vincent Piquet, our CFO, and together we will take you through our performance for the third quarter of the first nine months of the year, 2026. Today's update demonstrates that Nexans business model continues to deliver, supported by strong momentum across strategic verticals, The disciplined execution of our investment roadmap and the progressive integration of our recent acquisition keep us firmly on track to achieve our mid-term objectives. As usual, I would like to draw your attention to our disclaimer. This presentation contains forward-looking statements which are subject to the usual risks and uncertainties. Let me Now walk you through the key highlights of our first nine months of 2026. So slide four. Nexans maintain a high growth momentum during the quarter with electrification remaining the core drivers of a group performance. The group standard sales reached €4,947 million in the first nine months of 2026, which is up by plus 3.9% year on year organically. In Q3, Standard sales reached 1,698 million euros which is up by plus 21.4% including a strong organic growth of plus 9% and even more linked to the contribution of our recently acquired companies of a plus 9.6%. Electrification remains the main growth engine with organic growth of a plus 5.3% over nine months and a plus 7.1% in Q3 supported by high demand in strategic verticals across power grid on power connects with a favorable seasonality on power grid with Q2 and Q3 typically being the strongest quarter on the successful execution of large-scale project while we continued to see the normalization of organic growth in transmission as planned. The integration of Republic Wire is progressing in line with our roadmap and is already delivering good results. We are also launching a multi-year brownfield investment at the Republic Wire facility in the US for medium voltage accessories production to capture growing demand for data centers and grid applications while at the same time expanding our accessories manufacturing capacity in Europe to expand our saturated production line. The third quarter was also marked by another step in strengthening our financial structure. In September, we successfully completed the €500 million five-year bond insurance, and Vincent, in a moment, will get back on this in the presentation. Moving to slide five, so before turning to the segment performance, I would like to highlight how our previously announced investments are progressively translating into additional industrial capacity and future value creation. First, in power transmission, we have inaugurated in October our new 525 HVDC high voltage tower in Charleroi, Belgium. This investment strengthened our capacity in the next generation of 525 kV land cable with an entry into service expected next year in 2027. In power grid, our new medium voltage greenfield site in Safi, Morocco will reinforce ability to support electrification across Africa with a progressive ramp up expected through 2027 and 2028. And finally, In Lens, France, our strategic road facility dedicated to recycled copper will provide an additional 80,000 tons of processing capacity per year, with a progressive ramp-up expected through 2027. This investment provides a competitive advantage and enhance our ability to offer a low-carbon product to customers increasingly focused on sustainability. So together, These projects illustrate our disciplined approach to scale value creation through industrial and operational excellence. Moving to slide six, alongside organic investments, M&A remains a key pillar of our strategy. Our focus is not simply on adding capacity in key geographies, but on actively reallocating and mutualizing that capacity towards the most attractive strategic verticals. In North America, both ElectroCable and Republic Wire are accelerating output with a clear focus on attractive markets, including grid and data center verticals. Synergies are progressing in line with our roadmap and demonstrating the value of combining acquired assets with Nexon's commercial reach and industrial standards. In Europe and Latin America, both CABALER CITY and SENTELSA, respectively, are allocating capacity to data centers on critical billing, while RECA CABAL is supporting data center growth both in Finland and Norway. Our recent acquisitions have significantly strengthened our exposure to strategic verticals. Given their attractive growth profile and high value-added positioning, these markets will be important drivers of both growth and Margin Expansion over the coming years. Looking ahead, we will continue to pursue M&A opportunities selectively within a disciplined strategic and financial framework. Let me now break down our performance between electrification and other activities. The group delivered strong growth in the third quarter over plus 21.4%, of which plus 9% organically, but also plus 9.6% linked to scope with integration of both Republic Way and VOS on electro-gable in Canada. The exceptional organic growth performance was driven mainly by both power grid and power connect, while power transmission continued to the expected normalization of its top line. Other activities declined by minus 5.2% organically over nine months as planned. and grew a plus 24.7% in Q3 on a favorable comparison basis linked to the phasing of U.S. copper orders ahead of tariff in 2025. So while the group organic growth was exceptionally high in Q3, it's also benefiting from seasonal effects. We therefore expect organic growth for the group in Q4 to be slightly lower than in Q3. Let's now move to our segments. So slide eight, starting with power transmission. As expected, the segment organic growth was in negative territory due to normalization after two consecutive years of high double digit growth on an exceptionally high comparison basis. This effect is expected to be stronger in Q4 2026 as transmission grew at plus 40% organically in Q4 2025. Let me highlight that despite the normalization of top line growth, we continue to improve our margin. We expect further margin improvement for full year 2026, keeping us on track to deliver 28 guidance. Standard sales reached 1,155 million euros in the first nine months, which is up by plus 3.6% on a reported basis and down minus 1.4% organically, with a plus 5.1% positive foreign exchange effect related to the appreciation of the currency Norwegian Kron. In Q3, standard sales were 378 million euros, which is up by plus 2.9%, including earning growth at minus 4% against an exceptionally high comparison basis of a plus 33% in Q3 2025. Operationally, our priority in power transmission remains very clear. Discipline execution and continued profitability improvement while securing the right projects. Our adjusted backlog stands at a solid 7.8 billion euros and provides good visibility through the end of 2028. Looking ahead, we remain confident in the prospect of power transmission supported by a structurally growing market and a strong pipeline of opportunities. Slide 9. So moving to Power Grid. Power Grid delivered a high organic growth above our mid-term guidelines. Standard sales reached 1,066 million euros in the first nine months, which is up by 7.5%, including 8.1% organically. In Q3, standard sales reached 364 million euros, up by 15.8%, mainly through organic growth at plus 14.8%. Performance was supported by seasonality stronger activity in Europe in Q2 and Q3, the ramp-up of additional production capacity and continued operational efficiency initiatives. If we look at our different regions, we saw strong demand from framework agreement with utilities, and data centers in North America, as well as a large-scale solar project in South America and Middle East and Africa. Once again, accessories maintain a strong momentum fueled by customer demand for advanced offer. This performance is consistent with the structural strength of the market. Green needs to be modernized, reinforced and expanded while industry capacity remains constrained worldwide. Nexans also continued to benefit from its strong position in medium voltage cable on the high value service accessories. So commenting on this strong performance, this is the right opportunity for me to give you color on our new capacity expansion ambitions in medium voltage accessories in the US and in Europe. Moving to slide 10. As you know, part of our 28 guidance will be achieved with the increase of our mixed to nearly 40% of advance offer in power grid, which include accessories. So in order to achieve this target, we are increasing our exposure to the highly profitable and dynamic medium voltage accessory market with the objective of raising production capacity by around 39%, plus 39% between 26 to 28%. Over the next few years, we plan to invest approximately 62 million euros to the accessories capacity both in U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., we plan to invest in a brownfield expansion at the Republic Wire Facility. This will build a more resilient local supply chain, reduce the lead time to our customers by up to 60%, and position us to capture growing demand from data centers and grid applications. Let me highlight that lead times are our customer top priority today, including in this business of accessories. The expansion in the U.S. will be deployed progressively from 27 to 28. And in parallel, we are also investing in Europe from 26 to 28 to expand the current saturated manufacturing capacity in order to scale up our advanced offers. Now moving to slide 11. Let us finish the business review with PowerConnect. PowerConnect delivered an exceptionally high quarter with growth supported by both strong organic momentum and the contribution from recent acquisitions. Standard sales reached 2,125 million euros over nine months, which is up by 21.9%. including an 8.3% organic growth and a plus 14.5% scope effect. In Q3, standard sales were €750 million up by 36%, with a 10.5% organic growth and a 24.4% scope contribution from Republic Electro-Cable. Organic growth was driven by positive dynamics across our key geographies. First, Europe shows sign of recovery in several countries, but still with an effect on the profitable mix. North America benefited notably from data center demands. We'll come back, I'm sure, on that in the discussion. And South America was supported by solar activity and high residential demands. Middle East and Africa remain a strong momentum. The integration of Republic Wires works in line with our roadmap, with synergies starting to materialize on cross-selling and doorway. Our priority remains to progressively mutualize our industrial footprints, accelerate synergies, and allocate capacity towards the most value-accredited opportunities. So with that, I will now hand over to Vincent, who will take you through the key financial developments.

Thank you, Julien, and good morning, everyone. On slide 13, let me start with a standard sales breach from 4,492 million euros in the first nine months of 2025 to 4,947 million euros in 2026, representing a total growth of 10.1%. Organic growth contributed 3.9%, reflecting 5.3% growth in electrification, partly offset by a negative 5.2% decline in other activities mainly linked to metallurgy. SCOPE added 5.6% with the Republic Wire electrocables and cables RCT acquisitions, including about 140 million of standard cells for Republic Wire on the period. Foreign exchange contributed for further 0.6%, mainly reflecting a positive effect from the Norwegian kroner, partly offset by the U.S. and Canadian dollars. Let me talk about the Republic Wire integration. The integration of RepublicWire is progressing in line with our roadmap. The planned 30% capacity extension is being delivered on schedule and operations now running seven days a week and two new production lines installed as planned. Since July 1st, RepublicWire's product portfolio has been integrated into Nexens' data center offering. Procurement synergies are being delivered in line with plan, most notably through internalized sourcing of compounds. In parallel, further synergies are being captured through product design optimization. We're also seeing channel-to-market benefits, with RepublicWire's established network of more than 250 sales agents across the U.S. now selling the Nexans portfolio. Nexans also gave Republic access to its established relationships with its key distributors. Overall progress to date reinforces our confidence in the integration and in Republic Wire's ability to create long-term value for the group. On slide 15, turning now to an important financial milestone for the group, in September, we successfully completed a 500 million euros senior unsecured bond issuance with a five-year maturity to September 2031 and a fixed annual coupon of 4.25%. The proceeds were used to refinance the bridge term loan put in place for the acquisition of Republic Wire. Strong investor demand confirms market confidence in Nexens' credit quality. S&P also confirmed Nexens' BB plus rating with a stable outlook. This attractive fixed rate funding preserves our financial flexibility and capacity to continue investing in organic growth and targeted M&A with a disciplined leverage framework. And with that, I will hand the call back to Julien.