Pirelli & C Spa Azioni

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Pirelli's conference call in which Pirelli top management will present companies first quarter 2026 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 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 the first quarter of 2026 confirm the resilience of Pirelli business model in a highly challenging environment. In line with the strategic priorities, we consolidated the position in the high value segment, leveraging our brand strength technological leadership, and a broad and distinct in-product portfolio. By doing so, we gained market share in both the car and motorcycle business. Profitability remains among the best in the industry, the highest among Tier 1 players, with just a dividend margin of 16%, despite the negative impact of exchange rates, inflation, and U.S. tariffs. Thanks to the rigorous financial management, we closed the first quarter with a cash flow trend in line with last year and with the usual seasonality of the business. External environment remains complex and characterized by the high uncertainty. The crisis in the Middle East is a significant macroeconomic risk with growing pressures on input cost inflation. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is already impacting energy and logistic prices with effects that are gradually spreading the value chain and economic growth. In this context, demand in the high value segment is proving resilient, with growth expected to be in the mid-single digits. In response to this scenario, we acted promptly by implementing a mitigation plan based on price increase already communicated to the market and cost reduction. This plan enabled us to safeguard companies' results and in particular, cash generation, which remains our priority. Finally, an update on the recent decision taken under the Golden Power Regulation. Under the new provisions, which will remain in force for as long as Sinochem holds a stake of more than 9.99% in P. Regis capital, Sinochem may participate in an appointment of up to three directors, two of whom must be independent. The directors nominated by Sanokin may not hold executive or senior positions, chairmen by chairman, chief executive officer, nor chair board committees. Any transfers of shares by Sanokin must be notified in advance to the Ministry of Enterprises and made in Italy and cannot be made to parties linked to SASAC. These provisions are confirmed by statements from both the Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I'm sure Pirelli's provisions full compliance with U.S. regulations and connected breakers. And now I give the floor to Mr. Casalucci. Please, go ahead.

Thank you, thank you, Mr. Tronchetti, and good evening, everyone. In a demanding macroeconomic environment, Pirelli closed the first quarter of 2026 with solid results. Revenues were approximately €1.7 billion, with organic growth of 3.5%, driven by the continued strengthening of the high-value segment, which now accounts for 82% of revenues and an improvement in price mix. Adjusted EVs stood at €277 million, with profitability at 16%, a slight improvement year on year, thanks to the contribution of internal levers, which offset the negative impact of external factors, amounting roughly to €81 million. Net profit rose by 23% year on year, benefiting from lower financial expenses, linked to debt reduction and a greater contribution from the results of equity investments. The net financial position stands at approximately €2 billion and includes the impact of the consolidation of the Chinese JV Shuxian Tile, debt amount to €210 million. The cash-out relating to the exercise of the call option to increase the stake to 70% expected in the second quarter and amounts to approximately 40 million euro in the first quarter of 2026 cash absorption before dividends and prior to the conservation of the chinese jv amounted to 704 million euro in line with the last year and reflects the usual seasonality of the business finally we continue to strengthen our commitment to sustainability, a strategic lever for innovation, growth, and competitiveness. Our leadership has been recently reaffirmed by the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Sustainability Index, where Pirelli ranked first in the auto components and automobile sector, and is the only tile company included in the index. Let us now review the operating performance of the first quarter. In line with the strategic priorities, we gained market share in the high value segments for both car and motorcycle business by leveraging technological innovation and capitalizing on market opportunities. On the innovation front, we are continuing to expand the range of homologations and products. As for cyber tire, we are developing strategic partnerships with leading companies in the fields of connectivity and autonomous driving with the aim of further strengthening our technology platform. At the same time, the efficiency plan is proceeding as expected, generating gross benefits of approximately 43 million euros in the first quarter, equivalent to around 29% of the annual target. Finally, as already communicated on April 16th, to address the crisis in the Middle East, we implemented a mitigation plan worth $80 million, which includes price increases and cost containment measures, in addition to the aforementioned efficiency plan. Let's start with the Q1 performance in the high-value segment. which now accounts for 82% of revenues, also thanks to a 4% increase in volumes at group level. We gained market share in both car and motorcycle as a result of growing demand for Pirelli high-tech products, such as specialties and tires for electric vehicles in the car market, and hypersport and custom touring in motorcycle. the expansion of partnerships with leading OEMs, and the strengthening of geographical positioning, both in the car segment, where we are sizing business opportunities in the United States and Asia Pacific through a dedicated offering, and in the motor segment, where we are consolidating the leadership in Europe and expanding the presence in the other high-value regions. Let's now turn to product innovation. In the first quarter of 2026, we obtained approximately 120 new homologations, of which 90% were for ties 19 inches and above, 80% for specialties, including run-flat, run-forward and Pirelli noise-canceling system, 65% for electric vehicles, mainly in Europe and China. Product innovation continues to leverage Pirelli experience in motorsport. One example is the partnership with ODI. The RS5 and RS3 competition models will be fitted with the T0R and Trofeo R sport tires designed for both road and track use. Development took place in close collaboration with ODI, also through an advanced virtual simulation approach based on artificial intelligence. In replacement, the product portfolio is expanding across all segments. For the car, the third generation of Scorpion was launched for SUV models. In Moto, sales of Mercedes Sport X01 started for high-sport segments. For cycling, the P0 SLR was launched for road racing applications. Finally, Tirelli's technological leadership was further confirmed by comparative tests on car tires in which the group achieved six victories. The development of CyberTire continues through strategic partnership with leading organizations in the fields of connectivity and autonomous driving, with the aim of further strengthening CyberTire technology platform. We acquired a 30% stake in Universys, a Swedish company specializing in advanced AI-based image and video processing technologies. The integration of Universys' 3D AI computer vision with a server tile enables the combination of data from sensors installed in tiles with information derived from video analysis. offering an even more accurate understanding of road conditions. This integration opens up to high-value applications in terms of safety and autonomous driving, and also provides infrastructure managers with real-time data for more efficient maintenance and a lower risk of accidents. We also consolidated the partnership with RideSense, a spin-off of the University of Naples, in which we hold the stake of approximately 25%. The aim is to enhance the performance of the cyber-tire through technologies based on virtual sensors. RightSense has over 10 years experience in real-time simulations applied to tires and motorsports, key expertise for accelerating the development of the platform. Finally, We joined the board of New Links, an Italian startup originating from Milan Politecnico that develops the entire technological system enabling autonomous driving from environmental perception to road planning and from vehicle control to remote fleet management. New Links is testing an innovative car sharing model using autonomous vehicles. and this collaboration is an opportunity for Pirelli to strengthen its position in the autonomous driving ecosystem. CyberTire is evolving from a product technology into an integrated digital platform, at the heart of the future mobility ecosystem. This is happening also thanks to targeted partnerships that accelerate its innovation with strong technological value. These partnerships anyway have a negligible financial impact already factored in our figures. I now hand over to Mr. Bocchio.

Thank you, Mr. Casalucci, and good evening. Let's now review in detail the economic and financial performance for the first quarter of 2026 compared with last year. As previously noted, Revenues stood at approximately 1.74 billion euro, with an organic growth of plus 3.5%. Volumes were positive 1.5%, reflecting the strengthening of the high value in both car and motorcycle businesses and the gradual reduction of the exposure to the standard segment. The price mix continued to improve, plus 2%, supported by product and regional mix. However, the channel mix was negative due to the strong performance recorded in original equipment. The impact of the exchange rates was negative 4.5% due to the volatility of emerging market currencies against the euro and the weakness of the dollar, which is suffering from an unfavorable year-on-year comparison base. Finally, the change in perimeter, minus 0.2%, is linked to the deconsolidation of the Dekia business, which took place in the second quarter of 2025. Let's now turn to the profitability dynamics. We closed the first quarter with a just debit of €277 million, essentially stable year-on-year, and a margin of 16%, compared with 15.9% in the first quarter of 2025. The improvement in profitability was driven by internal levers. More specifically, the positive contribution from volumes for €10 million, price mix plus €21 million, and efficiencies for €43 million, substantially offset the negative impact of exchange rates for €40 million, reflecting the devaluation of the United States dollar, input cost inflation for 28 million euro, and the impact of U.S. tariffs, amounting to approximately 13 million euro in the first quarter and included under the item other. Finally, the impact of raw materials was positive, 15 million euro, while the increase in depreciation and amortization amounted to 5 million. Let's now examine the trend in net profit, which amounted to 157 million euro, up 23% compared with 127 million in the first quarter of 2025, due to a higher contribution from the results of equity participations amounted to 22 million, mainly linked to their evaluation at fair value of the 49% stake in the Shushan Tai joint venture. and lower net financial expenses relating to debt by 14 million euro. Other notable components include lower expenses from PPA and multization by 6 million euro, and an increase in taxes of approximately 10 million compared with the first quarter of 2025, mainly attributable to the improvement in pre-tax profit. The tax rate stands at 30.5% compared with 31.7% in the first quarter of 2025, as the evaluation at fair value of the 49% stake in the Chinese JV is not taxable. Let's now turn to the net financial position. Pirelli closed the first quarter of 2026 with a negative net financial position of approximately 2.02 billion euros. due to a negative net cash flow before dividends of €704 million in the first quarter, in line with the seasonality of the business and working capital, and the consolidation of the Shushan Tai joint venture's debt from 1st January 2026 amounting to €210 million. Net cash flow before dividends is broadly in line year on year, despite capex of €87 million, up €27 million compared to the first quarter of 2025, allocated primarily to high-value activities, technological upgrades and factory automation, an increase in rights of use of €34 million compared to €28 million in 2025, Key projects include the renewal of the agreement for the Barton Finnish Goods Warehouse in the UK, and the working capital absorption of €939 million, in line with the usual seasonality of the business, but increasing year on year due to a sharp reduction in trade payables, driven by the high concentration of capital expenditure in the final quarter of 2025. As at the end of March 2026, Pirelli reported gross debt of around 3.2 billion euro, financial assets of around 1.18 billion, and therefore the net financial position of approximately 2.02 billion euro. The cost of debt over the last 12 months stood at 4.20%, down by 20 basis points compared with the end of 2025. This reduction is attributable to the optimization of the debt mix due to a lower exposure to high-yield currencies, as at March 31st the liquidity margin of 2.5 billion euro allows for the coverage of maturities for over three years, that is, until Q3 of 2029. It should be noted that in January 2026, Pirelli signed an agreement for a new multi-currency banking facility totaling €2.1 billion, with a group of leading national and international banks. Specifically, the new facility, linked to the group's decarbonization targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3, consists of €600 million term loan and revolving facilities totaling €1.5 billion. The agreement provides for the possibility, subject to agreement between the company and the financial institutions, to extend the maturity on the same contractual terms for a maximum of a further two years, until 2033. The transaction also enables the refinancing more than a year in advance of all debt maturing in 2027. I return the floor to Mr. Casalucci.

Thank you Fabio, and let's now turn to the outlook for the year, starting with the macroeconomic context. The crisis in the Middle East is one of the main risk factors for the economy, particularly due to its impact on input cost inflation. Tensions in the region, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have led to significant pressure on oil prices, plus 60% since the start of the crisis to the beginning of May, and gas prices, plus 51%. The impact is gradually spreading across the entire value chain, with growing pressure on raw materials, logistics, and transport costs. Trade costs have risen by 17% since the outbreak of the crisis. In this context, The latest estimates point to a deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook compared to the previous assumptions. For 2026, global GDP growth is now expected to be 2.4%, down by around a half percentage point, with a slowdown mainly concentrated in the United States and Europe. At the same time, inflation is forecast to rise to 3.7%, an increase of around 1 percentage point with a resulting risk of interest rate rises. As regards commodities and energy, following the initial shock and assuming the crisis is resolved within the first half of the year, prices are expected to normalize gradually in the second half of the year, although they will remain structurally higher than in the pre-crisis period. In light of the new macroeconomic scenario, we have updated our market outlook for 2026. Car tire demand is now forecasted to be between minus 2% and flat, compared with the minus 1 to plus 1 range indicated in the end of February. The revised estimates mainly apply to the standard segment, which is more sensitive to economic trends. Expectations for the high-value segment, however, remain unchanged, with mid-single-digit growth driven by replacement, particularly in Europe. For original equipment, we forecast a low single-digit growth with a gradual recovery in demand in the second half of the year across all regions, in particular in China, following a weak first quarter. linked to the revision of government incentives for electric vehicles, we expect a recovery in demand in the second half of the year. This outlook assumes the resolution of the Middle East crisis in the second quarter. If the tension in the Strait of Hormuz is prolonged, there could be risks for regional equipment demand, with potential reduction due to COLOFS. since approximately 20% of global aluminum transit through the strait. Let's now turn to the impact of the crisis in the Middle East. As already communicated, the group's exposure to the Gulf regions is limited and closely monitored. Approximately 90 million in annual revenues, equivalent to around 1% of sales, concentrated in the high-value segments. From the start, our priority has been the safety of people. In response to the instability in the Middle East, we activated a structural contingency plan to protect staff in the region, reinforcing security and monitoring protocols. At the same time, we strengthened collaboration and support for local business partners, assisting them in managing the key operational challenges. Logistically, we adjusted trade flows, diverting them via alternative routes to the Strait of Hormuz, via the Red Sea, and then overland through the western part of the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with a cost impact that remains manageable. Finally, on the industrial front, there are currently no delays or impacts on the construction of the Saudi JV factory, also considering its location on the Red Sea. As already mentioned, the main impacts of the crisis in the Middle East related to the cost of raw materials, energy and transport. In addition, there are specific supply risks for the derivates of oil in the Asian regions, mainly Butadien, which is heavily dependent on flows through the Gulf, as well as potential slowdown in global demand should the situation deteriorate. In this scenario, we responded by promptly activating a mitigation plan. On the one hand, through price increases already communicated in all regions, with the objective of mitigating for the increase in raw material and transport costs, On the other end, we launched FATA cost containment initiatives, primarily in SG&A. At the same time, we are temporarily increasing stocks of all derivatives made in Asia and identifying alternative suppliers to ensure operational continuity. Assuming a peak in the commodity market energy and transport prices in the second quarter and a gradual normalization in the second half of the year, we estimate a gross negative impact on 2026 adjusted EBIT of approximately €100 million. Thanks to the mitigation measures already in place, we expect to offset around €80 million, with a net impact on adjusted EBIT estimated at around €20 million, as communicated on April 16th. Let us now turn to the targets, which have been updated in line with the new outlook. 2026 guidance is as follows. Revenues of between 6.75 billion and 6.95 billion, approximately 50 million euro higher than the targets announced in February. Volumes confirmed to be growing between 1 and 2%. Price mix now expected to improve between 2.5 and 3%. That is an additional increase between 0.5 and 1 percentage point thanks to price increases already communicated. Currency impact slightly revised based on expectations of a lower depreciation of the dollar. Exchange rates are now forecasted between minus 4 and minus 2 percent compared to the previous minus 4.5 and minus 2.5. Profitability is expected to be around 16%. Adjusted EBIT in absolute terms is expected to be around 1,080,000,000 at the midpoint, corresponding to the lower end of the previous guidance as indicated on 16th of April. Capital expenditure confirmed at 450,000,000, approximately 6.5% of revenues. Net cash generation before dividends and impact of the exercise of the call option on the Chinese joint venture confirmed at 500 million euros. Net financial position confirmed at 1.2 billion euros, including the expected impact related to the exercise of the call option. I now leave the floor back to Mr. Tronchetti for the final remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Casalucci. As I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation, Conference call, the first quarter results confirm that Pirelli is successful in implementing its value-focused strategy supported by distinctive assets. In a complex and highly uncertain economic environment, our distinctive business model has enabled us to outperform peers. We continue to invest in high-value technological innovation and strength, elements that allow us to strengthen the position in the most strategic markets such as the United States where we plan to develop with local regulation. We approach the external environment with realism, but also with confidence by mitigation plan already in place, a flexible industrial structure, and a rigorous financial management. These factors enable us not only to protect Pirelli performance in the short term, but also to continue building sustainable value in the medium to long term for all stakeholders. Even though certainties in external environment, which could persist beyond the second quarter, we believe it is more appropriate to present the next business plan in the first part of 2027. This ends our presentation. And now we may open the Q&A session.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. As a reminder, to answer the queue for questions, please click on the Q&A icon on the left side of your screen and then press the Raise Your Hand button. Please do not mute your microphone locally and click Continue on the bottom of the pop-up window. If you are on the phone instead, please press star 1 on your keypad. The first question comes from Stefan Benhamou with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening and thanks for taking my question. I have three questions. The first one is regarding the Middle East conflict. So you anticipate around 100 million euros gross impact. Can you just give us an indication of what's the breakdown between WOMAT and other cost inflation? And because of the natural time lag, how much of these cost impact and mitigation measures we should expect as of Q2? This is my first question. The second one is regarding the Q2 margin. Should we expect a higher margin in Q2 before a likely lower profitability in H2 given the facing of the cost inflation and mitigation measures? Can you please give us any indication of a shift in terms of demand given this current environment which is challenging? Did you experience any slowdown in terms of demand in April, for instance?

Please, Mr. Kazalucci.

Yes. Thank you for your questions. As far as the impact of the crisis in the Middle East, as we said, we have a gross impact expected around 100 million euros. That is roughly 80% linked to raw material inflations. The mitigation plan that is going to offset the vast majority of this impact, counting roughly 80 million euros, I would say it's mainly concentrated in the second half of the year. But also the negative impact will arrive mainly in the second half of the year. We feel to start the first negative impact on the inflationary cost starting from the month of June, I would say. So the majority of the impact, both the headwinds and the mitigation plan, will come in the second half. The margin, the profitability of the second quarter is expected slightly below the first quarter, because we still have the headwinds of the duties, because I remind that we started to pay the duties in 2025, starting from mainly the month of June, still some headwinds on the Forex. But more or less, we do expect, thanks to the mitigation plan we have in place, to have a quite stable profitability looking forward quarter by quarter, no major impacts really. The demand, no, no slowdown of the demand in the month of April. Also, the first quarter, even if the total market demand has been negative, roughly 4%, I think it's useful to remind that the high value segment that is now representing more than 82% of our sales was anyhow positive, mainly driven by a positive replacement channel. uh about all in europe so uh all in all the demand is still sound and in the high value about all and we we keep on targeting to gain market share thank you thank you the next question comes from monica posio of intesa san paolo please go ahead yes good evening everyone and thanks for taking my question

The first question is related to the cyber tire. Maybe you can share it now with us, but I was wondering what could be the additional investments for the development of the cyber tire in Georgia. And Ideally, what could be the annual cyber-tires production in the site? And I was wondering if the company has already placed contracts with USA Tarmacus. This is the first question. The second question is on the volumes trend in the first quarter, which was well above the market. Have you seen any pre-buy effect from wholesalers in the high-value segment? And I remind that in the last conference, the company gave some colors on the gain of market share by channel. Are you gaining market share both in original equipment and in aftermarket in this quarter? Thank you.

thank you thank you for your question so we don't disclose the volume on the cyber tire production and also the the expected growth on the georgia plant but it's useful to remind that the growth of capacity in united states will be concentrated in georgia and will be one of our most important capacity growth projects for the coming years and we will be very soon in the position to to communicate the investments and the capacity volume we target to grow in the United States. What I can tell you is that we are already working on introduction of the cyber type technology. We are accelerating the negotiation and the development with the most important U.S. car makers, mainly in the electric vehicle segment. We are already supplying cyber tires in the United States. Today, produced in our plant of Mexico. We will keep the production over there, and we will add the production in the Georgia. And very soon, we will also in the position to announce some new supply agreement in the U.S. As far as the volume of the Q1 is concerned, I can tell you that the market, as I said, was positively high value, even not as brilliant as in the past quarters, mainly driven by a negative original equipment market in China. and this is has been mainly driven by the reduction of the local incentivization on the new electric vehicle that affected the demand on the first quarter in china on the original equipment and also forced the pre-buying in the last quarter of 2025 in china and also negative in united states replacement channel because of the bad weather conditions and the not favorable comparison with last year. All the other channels and all the other regions were positive, mainly in the replacement channel and mainly driven by Europe and replacement China. We have been able to gain market share in replacement channel uh everywhere in all the major high value markets mainly in china and in the united states and we also were able to gain market share in the regional equipment in all geographies mainly in this case in china and in united states this is the the outlook of the of the volumes in the q1 The level of the stock in the trade is, I would say, at the normal level. We have not seen any kind of pre-booking approach, even if we already announced all the price increase during the month of April. And at the same time, thanks to a good sell-out season in winter in Europe, mainly in the months of January and November and January, the stock level of winter at the end of the winter season in Europe is back to a very normal and healthy position. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. If I may add, so I understand you can't announce the investments for the cyber-typer, but is it something which is already embedded in the guidance, or is it something that will come on top of it?

Now, this year, investment is included what we will do in Georgia, so there are no changes in our investment. And looking forward, the investment in Georgia will be part of our investment plan. So in our roadmap, Georgia is a natural growth, and so there is no change in strategy. Thank you.

The next question comes from Martino D'Ambrogi with Equita. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good evening, everybody. On prices, in your slide number 18, you're talking about price increases already announced to the market. Two questions on this. Could you elaborate on the rough indication of what was the price increase? I don't know by region if it's possible, but I imagine that among the mitigation actions, price increases represent the bulk of the $80 million that you have in mind. And the second question is on the BEV tires they are not anymore so important as it was a couple of years ago but could you tell us what is the penetration and the potential upside if any when the aftermarket will come thank you

Thank you. Thank you for your questions. And I will start from the price. The mitigation plan we presented, it is roughly 80 million euro of support to the result, out of which I would say 50, 55 million are coming from the price increase already announced during the month of April in all geographies. If you look at our price mix, new guidance is I would say it is putting us on the average point of 2.7, 2.8 of price mix. You can consider the mix impact more or less stable along the year, which is strictly linked with our business model. I would say roughly 2 percentage points. while the price is moving from a zero impact more or less in this first alpha into a 1.5 positive impact in the second half that's that's the if you look at the full year on the full year base the out of the 2.7 2 is mixed and 0.7 is his price effect the announcement has been done public during the month of april everywhere and the the entity of the increases is similar because it's linked to the inflation of raw material, transport, and energy. That's as far as the replacement is concerned. While the original equipment, you know, is we have an indexation approach, and it represents roughly 20% of our total sales, which is following a cost matrix approach. So it's already in the indexation . Thank you, Fabio. tires for electric vehicle are still extremely important for us because i remember that the entire performance of uh or for electric vehicle it's it's much higher because you need to have a better load index a better grip to support the stronger torque momentum a better noise control because the first in terms of comfort the first cause of noise of an electric vehicle is not coming anymore from the engine, but the contact between the road, the tire and the road, and also rolling resistance is extremely important for the durability of batteries. So a lot of technology for the premium electric vehicles, and this is where Pirelli is leading the penetration on the premium and prestige segment. We target during the year of 2026 to arrive at roughly 9 million tires. out of which the vast majority, around 6.5 million, still original equipment because it's a young segment. But we have already 2.5 million, more or less, coming from the replacement channel. And the profitability is as expected in line with the profitability of the value or even a bit higher. Thank you. Thank you.

The next question comes from Akshat Kakher with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

Good evening. Thank you for taking my question. I have two, please. The first one on the U.S. market in general. We have seen that the selling volumes for quite a few of your peers have been negative in that market, and they've called out much higher competition and general channel inventories. So could you just talk about your business in the US in Q1, please? And if you still expect to grow volumes on a full year basis in the US market? That's the first question. And the second one is on China. A similar question, if you could just talk about overall volume development for the business in Q1 or revenues, if you could just give me a sense of China business performance, that'd be helpful. Thank you.

Yes, thank you for your questions. Starting from United States, you're right. I talk about the premium market, so the high-value market has been slightly negative in the Q1. Not really the regional equipment that has been positive, roughly 1% positive, but the replacement channel was slightly negative, roughly 3%, 4% negative. We really was able to gain market share on both channels in the original equipment and the replacement. I remember that it is the market where we see the biggest opportunity to grow, not only because it's the biggest high-value market in the world, but it's because our market share is still below the average of our market share in the high-value segment if we compare our presence in U.S. to the presence we have in Europe, for example, or in China. So we see a lot of opportunities. And we are catching this opportunity through a strategy that is done of a completely new product range developed for the American consumers. It is mainly high mileage driven through the penetration on the most iconic American vehicles where we have been able in the last four or five years to gain market share. And we are now benefiting of the put through of this segment. Just to mention some of them, the Ford F-150, the Dodge Ram, the Teslas, the best sellers of Tesla, Jeep, and so on. Through the development of production capacity, already mentioned, of course, and a healthy brand consideration. supported by all the investment we did in the brand in the last years, including Formula One, which is very more and more popular with growing popularity, but also tennis where we started to sponsor the Miami Open starting from this year. And enlarging the distribution channel also where we enlarge the customer base and we are now covering all the all the markets in the united states so we see a lot of opportunities and uh is the country where we we have gained more market share during the first quarter thank you at china sorry i leave the floor to mr bocchio thank you yes on the net sales in china i would just remind you that asia pacific generally speaking in the first quarter had the weight on revenues of about 17 percent

And it is expected for the full year 2026 to remain a little bit higher than the number, around 18% of the revenues of the group. And inside the number, China represents for the full year roughly between 11% and 12% of group net sales.

Thank you.

The next question is from Michael Filatov with Berenberg. Please go ahead.

All right, thank you for taking my questions. First one is just around efficiencies. You gained, you know, 29% of your total expected efficiencies in the first quarter, and I'm wondering if you see scope for additional efficiency gains beyond the $150 million. Second question, just around sort of the mitigation plan, you know, you assumed commodity normalization in the second half, but just hypothetically if prices remain sort of at current spot levels for the year end, could you maybe help quantify the impact on the business And then lastly, just because you've got fairly strong share with premium Chinese, you know, EV OEMs, when do you expect that replacement cycle to really kick in? And is there any difference in the margin profile of that particular business?

Thank you. Thank you. On the efficiency plan, you are right. The first quarter is representing... Roughly 43 million euro of efficiency out of the total of 150 we do expect for the full year. Roughly out of this 150 million euro of efficiency plan, roughly 25% is coming, 25-30% is coming from product cost, so product modularity and product design to cost approach. Roughly 10-12% is coming from SG&A cost rationalization, another 10-12% from organizational streamlining. And so we come to the vast majority of the impact, which is roughly 50% coming from manufacturing, where we are accelerating our investment in electrification, in digitization, and above all in automation of our factories, mainly in Europe. but not only, also South America and all around the world, generally speaking. On the replacement cycle on EV, and then I leave the floor to Mr. Bocchio for the commodities impact. On the replacement cycle on EV, first it's useful to mention that the car registration in the premium segment in China are already more than 50% linked to electric vehicles. so china has been able to accelerate in the penetration of ev not only in the synergy segment which is out of our strategy but also in the premium segment where a lot of newcomers have been able to gain market share introducing in the market cars that has a level of technology mainly related to infotainment and autonomous driving, but also battery durability. That is, I would say, a very high level of technology. Also, the design of the cars is better than before, and so they are very successful in gaining share. And Pirelli was able to partner with a majority of these car makers and today can benefit of a market share in the premium EV segment in China, which is very similar or in some cases even higher than the market share that we have with the traditional premium car makers of Europe or United States. The pull-through of these cars is coming in the market, and we are carefully measuring the effectiveness of this pull-through because it's a completely new segment, and also the experience in the tire exchange is new. So we are investing a lot in the education of the consumers to let them know that the tire should be homologated in order not to lose in terms of driving experience, both in terms of safety, in terms of comfort, and so on. And so we will be able in the coming two years to understand if the pull-through of EV in China is as good as the European car makers. But never forget that for electric vehicles, the tire maintenance is of paramount importance because of the reasons I said before, comfort, durability of batteries, and but also safety because of the grip so i'm quite confident that the pull through on the electric vehicle generally speaking all around the world will be even higher than the internal combustion engine i will take the one on the commodities and raw materials

During the year we will have very different trend quarter by quarter. In quarter one we just showed that we had a positive impact, positive contribution coming from the raw materials for about 15 million euro. This was coming in our cogs from the natural rubber, butadiene and the Brent decline year over year. We are expecting a similar trend for Q2, meaning again a positive contribution from Romat in Q2, even if at the end of Q2 we will begin to see the impact of the Middle East crisis, but still we are expecting Romat to be positive in Q2, while Obviously, in the second part of the year, starting from Q3, the sizable increase in all the commodities is expected to turn completely the sign and to be in headwind for us, starting from Q3 and to Q4. What we are expecting for the moment, we are considering for the second quarter commodities at a level that we have seen on the market in these past few weeks, so with the Brent at about an average $100, the natural rubber at about We're expecting then a normalization of these values for the second half of the year, even if we expect them to be at a higher level the situation than the pre-war situation. So for the full year, we're expecting, for example, a Brent on average that will be between around $85 per barrel.

Sorry.

Thank you very much.

One comment more on the answer related to the efficiency plan. We were talking about 150 million euro of efficiency plan. This is not considering the cost reduction that is part of the mitigation plan for the hormones crisis. This is on top of the 150, just to clarify.

The 150 million, if I just may comprehend, is related to the efficiency program that you have established. started even starting from the last part of the previous year that are going around the 2026 accordingly to the projects that we are putting especially in our plans so this is fully confirmed we saw the impact in the first quarter of 43 million accordingly to the timing of the project we will foresee for Q2, Q3, a slightly lower amount, and then to arrive to 150 million for the full year. On top, given the overall market economic situation, we are doing an exceptional, let's say, mitigation plan on cost, mainly on the G&A part, which will be on top of this 150 million, which are fully confirmed. Thank you very much.

Mr. Troncati-Provera, there are no more questions registered at this time.

Thank you. So this ends our presentation. I thank you for the attendance, all of you, and I wish you a very good evening.

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