Pirelli & C Spa Azioni

conference call in which Pirelli top management will present companies full year 2024 preliminary results. A live webcast of the event and the presentation slides are available in the investor relations section of the Pirelli website. I remind you that the Q&A session will follow after the presentation. Now I would like to introduce Mr. Marco Tronchetti-Provera. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The results for 2024 confirm the resilience of our business model in a challenging external environment. We strengthen our positioning in high value, our main growth driver. The effectiveness of internal levers price mix and efficiencies led to an improvement in profitability, the highest among Tier 1 players. Finally, we reduced debt with a cash generation above the target. Important progress was also made in the sustainability front. The safeguard of health and safety in the workplace and the development of people remain our priorities. We are strongly committed to the development of products and materials with lower environmental impact. And finally, we accelerated the decarbonisation process along the value chain. The results consolidate our leadership within the industry as acknowledged by the most important sustainability indices. For 2025, we confirm the targets of the industrial plan presented in March 2024, despite a more challenging external environment. Our targets do not include the potential application of tariffs in the US, given the uncertainty regarding their amount and timing. We have defined a contingency plan to mitigate this impact, which will allow us to maintain cash generation and the leveraging targets and reaching the low end of the adjusted EBIT guidance range. And now I leave the floor to Mr. Casarucci, please.

Thank you, Mr. Tronchetti, and good evening, everyone. We are closing 2024 with results above expectations, despite the volatility of the macroeconomic and geopolitical scenario. More in detail, revenues of approximately 6.8 billion euro up by 1.9% due to a solid commercial performance with a high value accounting for 76% of revenues. Adjusted EBIT was around 1.06 billion euro plus 5.9% year-on-year with a profitability of 15.7 percent, higher than the target of 15.5, and growing year on year thanks to the contribution of internal levers. Net result was equal to 501 million euro, which, as Mr. Bocchio will present, discounts non-monetary impacts related to hyperinflation. The net financial position was negative for approximately €1.9 billion, down €336 million compared to the end of 2023. Cash generation before dividends was higher than expected, €534 million compared to the target of €500-520 million, due to the solid operating performance and lower financial expenses. In 2024, Pirelli further strengthened its commitment and focus on safety, engagement, and development of our people. The main results achieved are coherent with our targets. We further decreased the accident frequency index by 16.6% through prevention and training. The number of women in managerial positions increased to 28.3% globally. And finally, the engagement rate is confirmed at 83%, testifying the strong involvement and motivation of the group's employees. 2024 was a year of strong push on decarbonization. with a reduction of absolute CO2 emissions in our factories minus 57% compared to 2018 and decrease of emissions from our suppliers minus 26% compared to 2018. These results are consistent with our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 and our target of net zero by 2040. as validated by the science-based targets initiative. The percentage of bio-based and recycled materials is increasing, reaching 58.5% in our best-selling product on the market. To protect biodiversity, we further reduced our water consumption by 34.6% in areas with high water stress compared to 2015, and by 51.4% if we consider all the group's production sites. These results confirm our global leadership in the sector as recognized by the most important sustainability indices. Let's move to the operational performance. Our commercial program enabled us to gain market share in the high value segment. In the innovation program, we expanded the OE portfolio, mainly in the electric vehicles and higher rim sizes. We launched seven new products for cars and five for the two wheels, while the partnership with Bosch for the development of the Sabertire is evolving. In the operations programme, we reached efficiencies of 143 million euro, fully offsetting the impact of inflation. Finally, as a result of the electrification of the curing process, our plan to decarbonize our factories is accelerating. Let's review each program in more detail. The commercial program. Our distinctive positioning in the high value segment enabled us to outperform the market in 2024. recording a 2% growth in car volumes versus a 1% growth of the market. In the 18 inches up segment, we gained market share, both in original equipment, where we expanded our collaboration with Chinese premium new energy vehicle manufacturers, and in replacement, where we are benefiting from the effectiveness of our pull-through strategy and product innovation. Exposure to standard is decreasing. Pirelli car volumes 17 inches and below was down 4% versus a market flat, in line with our strategy. In the fourth quarter, we outperformed the market of replacement 18 inches up, also benefiting from the good performance of the winter season in Europe. The original equipment trend in Q4 is influenced by the weakness of the market in Europe and North America, and by an unfavorable comparison basis in China. It is worth mentioning that in Q4 2023, Pirelli recorded strong sales growth due to new contracts with Chinese premium new EV manufacturers. The innovation program continued in 2024. We achieved 306 new homologations with a strong focus on 19 inches up, roughly 90% of total homologations, specialties and EVs to meet the increasingly stringent performance and safety requirements of our premium and prestige partners. We expanded the product range with the launch of 12 new products. For the car segment, we introduced seven new product lines with high technological content. Two global lines, winter and all season, and five regional lines, specific for Europe and Asia-Pacific. Among the new products, two stand out. The P Zero Winter 2, winner of Thai Reviews 2024, and the Cinturato All Season SF3, awarded Best All Season Tire by AutoBuild. For the two wheels segment, we introduced two motorcycle products, focused on touring and off-road lines, and three cycling products, mainly for road racing. Finally, the efficiency program. 123 million euro in line with the target and able to compensate for input cost inflation in particular labor and transport costs in detail the greatest benefit come from the product cost area due to the adoption of new design programs such as design to cost and virtualization that has allowed us to reduce tire development time by 30%. Manufacturing generated, as expected, greater efficiencies in the later part of the year, with projects to automate plants, electrify the curing phase, and improve energy efficiency. In the SG&A project, the rationalization of the supply chain and the optimization of general and logistic costs continued. Finally, the benefits of the organization project derived from the digitization of internal processes and the upskilling of personnel. I now hand over to Mr. Bocchio.