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Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hilltop Holdings Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that this call is being recorded today, Friday, October 24, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Dunn. Please go ahead. Matthew Dunn: Thank you. Before we get started, please note that certain statements during today's presentation that are not statements of historical fact, including statements concerning such items as our outlook, business strategy, future plans, financial condition, credit risks and trends in credit allowance for credit losses, liquidity and sources of funding, funding costs, dividends, stock repurchases, subsequent events and impacts of interest rate changes as well as such other items referenced in the purpose of our presentation are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations concerning future events that, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, capital, liquidity and financial condition may differ materially from these statements due to a variety of factors, including the precautionary statements referenced in the preface of our presentation and those included in our most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. Please note that the information presented is preliminary and based upon data available at this time. Except to the extent required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update earlier statements as a result of new information. Additionally, this presentation includes certain non-GAAP measures, including tangible common equity and tangible book value per share. A reconciliation of these measures to the nearest GAAP measure may be found in the appendix to this presentation, which is posted on our website at ir.hilltop.com. I will now turn the presentation over to Jeremy Ford. Jeremy Ford: Thank you, Matt, and good morning. For the third quarter, Hilltop reported net income of approximately $46 million or $0.74 per diluted share. Return on average assets for the period was 1.2% and return on average equity was 8.35%. To summarize the quarter, PlainsCapital Bank realized a continued expansion in net interest margin, while generating strong growth in both core loan and deposit balances. PrimeLending's results reflect a dampened summer home buying markets where both volumes and margins remained under pressure, and HilltopSecurities produced a strong pretax margin from robust net revenue growth across all 4 of its business lines. Speaking to the results of each operating business in the third quarter. PlainsCapital Bank generated $55 million of pretax income on $12.6 billion of average assets, which resulted in a return on average assets of 1.34%. Net interest margin at the bank increased by 7 basis points as we continue to actively manage down the cost of interest-bearing deposits. Loan yields at the bank increased 4 basis points on a linked-quarter basis as the portfolio further repriced into a higher rate environment. Despite the highly competitive market in Texas, the bank produced strong core loan growth and saw a continued expansion within the loan pipeline. We expect competition to remain elevated in the coming quarters as we work to increase our market share and absorb modestly higher anticipated payoffs within the loan portfolio. Total core deposits within our markets at PlainsCapital increased by 6% on a linked-quarter basis. This growth was partially attributable to seasonal cash inflows from select large balance customers. Further, PlainsCapital did return $225 million of broker-dealer suite deposits during the quarter. Results in the quarter included a $2.6 million reversal of credit losses. This was primarily driven by improvement in asset quality and stronger underlying economic conditions on the collective portfolio. Will is going to provide further commentary on credit in his prepared remarks. Overall, the bank showed continued healthy trends in loan growth and pipeline development, core deposit growth and interest expense management and credit metrics that illustrate the quality of our loan portfolio. Moving to PrimeLending, where the company reported a pretax loss of $7 million during the quarter. The second quarter's subdued mortgage origination volumes persisted into the third quarter as the industry did not experience the increase in home buying activity that typically occurs during the summer months. Notably, existing home sales across the country reached their lowest level in over 30 years. While gain on sale margins did increase on a linked quarter basis, this was more than offset by a decline in origination fees. However, there were positive developments from the quarter as mortgage rates did modestly subside and home inventory saw a further reversion back towards more normalized levels. Homebuyers do continue to face affordability challenges, and we expect heightened competition for mortgage origination volume to keep margins and fee under pressure. As we enter the seasonally slower fourth and first quarters of the year, we will continue to focus on reducing fixed expenses, while recruiting talented mortgage originators in order to restore stand-alone profitability at PrimeLending. During the quarter, HilltopSecurities generated pretax income of $26.5 million on net revenues of $144.5 million for a pretax margin of 18%. Speaking to the business lines at HilltopSecurities. Public Finance Services produced a 28% year-over-year increase in net revenues as the business continued to realize strong annual increases in both advisory and underwriting fees. Structured finance net revenues increased by $4 million from the third quarter of 2024, primarily due to a decline in market rates, which increased buy-side appetite for call-protected mortgage product. In Wealth Management, net revenues increased by $7 million to $50 million, when compared to the third quarter of 2024. The strong year-over-year increase is due to higher advisory and transaction fee revenue within the Retail segment, and an increase in stock loan revenues due to wider spreads. Finally, the fixed income business showed a 13% increase in net revenues on a year-over-year basis as industry volumes remained robust within its municipal products segment. Overall, HilltopSecurities produced a very strong quarter for both the breadth and depth of offerings within the broker-dealer performed well. HilltopSecurities continues to invest in core areas of expertise as we leverage our national brand that is built on trust and a long-term focus on serving our clients. Moving to Page 4. We Hilltop maintained strong capital levels with a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 20%. Additionally, tangible book value per share increased over the prior quarter by $0.67 to $31.23. During the period, we returned $11 million to stockholders through dividends and repurchased $55 million in shares. Now I'd like to give a brief update on an important transition of the bank's leadership team. In November, PlainsCapital Bank's Chief Credit Officer, Darrell Adams, plans to retire. Darrell has been with the bank for over 37 years and his leadership has created the credit culture that we have today. I want to thank Darrell for his partnership and his friendship as well his incredible contribution. Fortunately, the bank has strong depth, so we promoted Brent Randall to become our new Chief Credit Officer. Brent has been with the bank for over 26 years, formerly serving as the Dallas region Chairman. Coinciding with this transition, Thomas Ricks, who has been with the bank for over 22 years, will become the new Dallas Region Chairman. This is an exciting time for PlainsCapital Bank as we elevate proven leaders from within. With a solid team in place, we believe that we are poised for continued growth and success, while staying true to the bank's legacy and credit culture. Thank you. I'll now turn the presentation over to Will to discuss our financials in more detail. William Furr: Thank you, Jeremy. I'll start on Page 5. As Jeremy noted, for the third quarter of 2025, Hilltop reported consolidated income attributable to common stockholders of $45.8 million, equating to $0.74 per diluted share. Quarter's results, including an increase in net interest income, supported by growth in commercial loans and the ongoing work to optimize our deposit cost as the Federal Reserve has continued lowering short-term interest rates. In addition, the quarter includes a $2.5 million reversal of provision for credit losses and a $1.3 million reduction in the allowance for unfunded reserves, which is reflected in other noninterest expenses. To discuss the allowance in more detail, I'm moving to Page 6. Hilltop's allowance for credit losses declined during the quarter by $2.8 million to $95 million, resulting in a coverage ratio of ACL to loans HFI of 1.16%. As is noted in the graph, specific reserves increased in the period by $4.7 million. This increase was offset by an improvement of $5.2 million in the collective reserves, reflecting ongoing upgrades in our portfolio, and a $2 million improvement in the economic scenario outlook, which reflects Moody's September baseline scenario. While we recognize there's been a flurry of recent credit news in the marketplace. We continue to monitor the portfolio closely, focusing on areas that we believe may pose future risks to the bank. While at any point, we could have an idiosyncratic event with an existing client, we do not anticipate any significant systemic risk across the portfolio at this time. In addition, we have evaluated our loans to nondepository financial institutions, and those totaled $195 million or approximately 2.4% of the outstanding loans HFI, excluding loans in our mortgage warehouse lending business at September 30. Lastly, as we've stated over time, the allowance for credit losses, estimates can be volatile as the computations and assessment include but are not limited to the following: assumptions related to economic activity, inflation, interest rates, employment levels and specific credit activities within our portfolio. All of these can be volatile from period-to-period. Turning to Page 7. We Net interest income in the third quarter equated to $112 million, including approximately $600,000 of purchase accounting accretion versus the prior year third quarter net interest income increased by $7.4 million or 7%, primarily driven by improving deposit costs resulting from our ability to realize higher deposit beta levels than previously estimated, coupled with the growth in new higher-yielding commercial loans. During the third quarter, net interest margin increased versus the second quarter of 2025 by 5 basis points to 306 basis points. The increase in NIM was largely driven by stability in deposit costs from period to period and improving loan yields, reflecting the positive impact of new business booked throughout the first 3 quarters of 2025 and improving margin lending yields at HilltopSecurities. Our current internal rate outlook anticipates 1 additional 25 basis point rate cut in 2025 and followed by 2 additional rate reductions in the first half of 2026. Under this rate scenario, we expect that NII levels will remain relatively stable over the coming quarters with modest downward pressure during the seasonally weaker mortgage reduction period that typically occurs in the first quarter of 2026. Additionally, we anticipate that interest-bearing deposit betas, which have averaged approximately 70% through the current rate cycle will gradually decline, but remain above 60% for the duration of the cycle assuming rate reductions align with our current projections. Turning to Page 8. Third quarter average total deposits are approximately $10.5 billion, stable with prior year levels. I would note that while average deposit balances are flat year-over-year, we have intentionally reduced broker-dealer sweep deposits held at the bank, as they can be deployed through HilltopSecurities broader suite program. These suite deposits do remain a valuable source of continued liquidity for Hilltop should the need arise. Over the last year, we have grown bank customer deposits, principally in the interest-bearing products by focusing on providing consistent and competitive prices. In addition, we're very pleased with the retention of our noninterest-bearing deposits over the last year, and the work in our treasury services team continues to do to serve our customers and support the growth in our customer deposit base each day. Related to deposit rates, both interest-bearing deposit costs and the cost of total deposits remained relatively stable versus the second quarter 2025 levels. We do expect the deposit rates will decline further as the timing of the most recent rate reduction caused the rate movements to be executed late in the third quarter. I'm moving to Page 9. Total noninterest income for the third quarter of 2025 equated to $218 million versus the same period in the prior year, mortgage revenues declined by $3.4 million as origination volumes were relatively stable with the prior year, and gain on sale margins for those loans sold to third parties improved by 8 basis points to 226 basis points. While we believe revenues and production from the Mortgage segment have begun to stabilize at this lower level, we also feel that it remains important to note the ongoing challenges in mortgage banking provide a combination of higher interest rates, home prices, insurance and taxes remain constructive to overall market demand. That said, even in the face of these challenges, we do believe that the overall mortgage market is slowly improving, and we expect that this improvement could continue into 2026. That in, the leadership team at PrimeLending is focused on continuing to optimize costs and productivity across the [indiscernible] back office functions, growing our client-facing sales team across the country and optimizing our pricing to support profitable growth in the future. Securities and investment advisory fees largely represented at HilltopSecurities experienced solid growth versus the prior year period. Driving the growth was significant improvement from public finance, whereby net revenues increased by $8.3 million and growth in Structured Finance and Wealth Management, in which each business grew net revenues by approximately $5 million versus the third quarter of 2024. Structured Finance benefited from improved secondary margins, while Wealth Management has experienced consistent AUM growth over the last year. Turning to Page 10. Noninterest expenses increased from the same period in the prior year by $7.6 million to $272 million. The increase in expenses versus the prior year third quarter was driven by increases in variable compensation, largely related to higher noninterest revenue production at the broker dealer. Looking forward, we expect that expenses other than variable compensation will remain relatively stable at current levels as we remain diligently focused on prudent growth of revenue producers, while continuing to gain efficiencies across our middle and back office functions. We are on the Page 11. Third quarter average HFI loans equated to $8.1 billion. On a period-ending basis, HFI loans increased versus the second quarter 2025 by $166 million, driven largely by new origination volume and the funding of prior commitments in commercial real estate. On an ending balance basis, loans have grown versus the third quarter of 2024 by $248 million or 3.1%, again, largely driven by growth across our commercial real estate products of 8% or $338 million. In addition, commercial lending pipelines continue to expand during the third quarter, increasing by over $750 million versus the second quarter of 2025. While this remains a positive trend, the market for funded loans remains intense with competitive pressures coming from both pricing and structure. In the face of this competition, our leadership team remains diligent in maintaining our conservative credit culture and adhering to our credit policies. Based on performance year-to-date, coupled with our current pipeline and expectation for payoffs during the fourth quarter, we expect full year average total loans to increase 0% to 2% from 2024 levels, excluding mortgage warehouse lending and any retained mortgages from PrimeLending. Turning to Page 12. Starting in the upper right chart, NPA levels have declined from the second quarter of 2025 by $5.3 million to $76.5 million and continues to reflect generally positive trends in our held-for-investment loan portfolio. Moving to the bottom left chart. Net charge-offs for the quarter equated to $282,000 or 1 basis point of the overall loan portfolio. As I remarked earlier, we do not anticipate any systemic exposures across our portfolio. We remain vigilant in our assessment of risk and negative credit migration and are focused on early detection and aggressive workout when necessary. As is shown in the graph at the bottom right of the page, the allowance for credit loss coverage at the bank ended the third quarter at 1.2%, including mortgage warehouse lending. I'm moving to Page 13. As we move into the fourth quarter of 2025, there continues to be a lot of uncertainty in the market regarding interest rates, inflation and the overall health of the economy. Given these uncertainties, we remain focused on controlling what we can, produce quality outcomes for our clients, associates and the communities we serve. As is noted in the table, our current outlook for 2025 reflects our current assessment of the economy and the markets where we participate. Further, as the market changes, and we adjust our business to respond, we will provide updates to our outlook on our future quarterly calls. Operator, that concludes our prepared comments, and we'll turn the call back to you for the Q&A section of the call. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Michael Rose, Raymond James. Michael Rose: Well, just wanted to start on the NII guide. I was a little surprised to see that it wasn't increased because it would imply, I think, a pretty decent step down in margin in the fourth quarter and maybe some earning asset contraction. Maybe if you could just kind of discuss the near-term puts and takes and if I'm missing anything? William Furr: Thanks for the question. A few things going on. We are and remain asset-sensitive on the balance sheet, certainly from an NII perspective and as we noted, we do have additional -- an additional rate cut in the fourth quarter expected. Also, we are -- we've kind of gone through our balanced outlook, and we didn't increase our overall loan growth profile, either largely based on, again, what we're seeing in terms of production, but also what we're expecting in terms of paydowns. So that's part of it. The other part that kind of comes into play there is when we do get a Federal Reserve rate reduction, we have the immediate step-down impact of both our cash level balances, which will remain well over $1 billion as well as the adjustable rate loan portfolio. So that step occurs almost immediately, while again, the deposit beta activity and reductions blend [indiscernible] in over time just as we saw here during the third quarter. So those are all the factors that we have in place. We also -- we're currently at an interesting spot from a loan yield perspective, where we've got a pool of loans that are resetting higher. We've got from -- that were originated at different points earlier years earlier. We also have loans that are -- that, as I just noted, would reset lower from a variable rate comp perspective given a rate reduction. And then we've got new business going on. Our new business, our commercial loans going on the books right now are at about 690 basis points overall total loans. And so we continue to feel good about that. But again, the guide really reflects a confluence of a series of inputs as we evaluate the portfolio going into the balance of the year. Michael Rose: Okay. That's helpful. I appreciate that color. And then maybe just as a follow-up. You guys bought back more stock this quarter than I think we've really seen outside of some of the accelerated programs you guys have -- some of the tender offers you guys have done in the past, and I know you raised the buyback potential. Are you trying to signal that buybacks are going to be more leaned into a little bit more here? I mean, it would make sense given where the stock is trading and how much capital you have. And then separately, Jeremy, if you can just discuss kind of the M&A outlook for you guys. We've seen a couple of deals here in Texas as of late. I know you guys look at a lot of things. So would just love an update on both those areas. Jeremy Ford: Okay. Thanks. So yes, I think that's correct. From where we're trading right now and given our excess capital position, we are trying to be more consistent with our share repurchases. And so that's why we have done what we've done this year, which we're happy about and also why we've asked for the increase in authorization. On the M&A front, we've really seen, as everybody knows, a lot of out-of-market entrants into Texas, which seems to be a targeted growth state for a lot of banks. And certainly, we're familiar with most of the targets. I would say that we're viewing this as where can we find the opportunity in this dislocation both in clients and bankers and how do we use this as a means for us to be able to grow. Michael Rose: Okay. Helpful. Maybe just one last one for me. I know your auto portfolio is in rundown mobile, we have seen some issues in that sector. So I just wanted to address that, and I believe you guys recently showed up in intercredit that was publicized as well as having some exposure. So I would just love any thoughts or color there. William Furr: Yes. I think your point is appropriate for the auto financing. We ended the year '21 and about $290 million of commitments. That's down to $77 million. So to your point, we've been working our way through that portfolio. As we've noted, really almost 18 months ago, we did have 2 auto note clients that we moved into nonaccrual and we've been aggressively working with those customers to kind of recoup and repay over time and again, continue that workout effort to today. So we feel like we saw some of the implications early, and we were able to kind of get on top of those. And so nothing else to report in kind of any additional incremental exposure there as it relates -- as it relates to the one -- the name you're referring to there were showed up in a press release there. I think we would say we've got no direct exposure lending exposure to that entity. Michael Rose: Okay. Great. Operator: Our next question comes from Woody Lay, KBW. Wood Lay: Just as a quick follow-up on the auto and maybe specifically those 2 relationships on nonaccrual. Is there any exposure to subprime auto there? William Furr: I mean they are -- yes, in the regard of kind of the nature of some of the notes that our loans [indiscernible] for certain there's certainly some subprime exposure there. But again, through our workout program and through our oversight, we're kind of monitoring that very closely. So we feel like we've got it appropriately reserved and appropriately being managed on a daily basis. Wood Lay: Got it. Okay. And then maybe shifting over to the broker dealer was a really good fee income quarter there. I think if you look at the broker dealer guidance, it implies those fees sort of taking a step back to the -- to the first quarter, second quarter level. So I could maybe just go into a little more detail on what drove those fees higher in the third quarter and maybe not -- maybe what was sort of a, a one-quarter benefit? William Furr: Yes. I mean I think we saw very solid activity in our public finance space year-on-year and have continued to see that. And we also are seeing some improvement in structured finance as well as wealth management. So there's -- I'd say there is some recurring nature, but also some episodic items in there that we wouldn't expect necessarily to continue. In addition with the rate reductions we're seeing, we've talked about this in the past. We are expecting to see over time, overall sweep revenues from those excess sweep deposits to kind of come down. So we're modeling that and monitoring that as well. as well as the pipelines and just business activity we're seeing in the portfolio. So nothing systemic there to say it's going to meaningfully decline. But the third quarter was a very strong quarter across really all portions of the broker-dealer, which as you've seen and as investors have seen over time. Generally, you have 1 or 2 of the business units there, perform well and then others maybe not quite as strong, but third quarter really reflected the strength of kind of the business hitting on all cylinders. Wood Lay: Yes. And then it looks like in that business, the efficiency ratio was lower than what it has been in the past couple of quarters. Are any of those expenses getting pushed out in the fourth quarter, or -- was it just lower efficiency businesses driving some of that fee growth? William Furr: Yes, largely mix. So the pretax margin was 18.3% in the quarter, that's up from 13.7% in the prior year. And again, the mix of where some of the business gets done and certainly Hilltop Securities can meaningfully impact pretax margin on a quarterly basis. And so again, all the businesses really had strong performance, but we can see and expect to see a reversion back to -- I think we've talked about low teens 12% to 13% kind of pretax margins is a more normal level for that business to operate. Jeremy Ford: And I agree with Will. I would just say the efficiency also is coming through with just higher revenue. So our noncomp expense was relatively flat, a little bit better. I feel really positive about our public finance business. That's the mainstay of HilltopSecurities and a lot of work, great team. They've had a really strong year in our municipal advisory business, which has been strong, and we think it will be strong into 2026. And we have a really comprehensive approach in public finance because they have a really strong underwriting team that did have a really good quarter. And then we have a lot of spoke products, including asset management, that was additive. So everything really came together there. Another point I'd make, and it's kind of been consistent is -- our Wealth Management business is much improved over several years. And really, the increase year-over-year is due to fees and advisory fees and the work we've done on advisory level and not just related to the sweep revenue. So we feel positive about that. Wood Lay: All right. That's really helpful color. Operator: Our next question comes from Jordan Ghent, Stephens. Jordan Ghent: I just had one question kind of about the broker-dealer. Could you maybe remind us about the primary and secondary effects from the government shutdown that it might have on broker-dealer and all the business line items? William Furr: Yes. Jeremy Ford: I think like as far as the broker-dealer is concerned, we haven't had any primary effects of the government shutdown and anything of that nature. As far as government shutdown just across the board, we were concerned about some of the SBA processing. But other than that, really, I don't know of anything else that's risen to -- our attention. William Furr: I think that's right. I mean we've got also in the mortgage space, USDA and some of the other agencies there, government agencies that are being impacted, whether it be lower staffing or no staffing at the point. So -- that's just a processing implication and slowing down and processing as it relates to kind of mortgages, SBA and some of those other groups. But to be clear, our public finance group really focuses on local municipalities not kind of the federal government in that regard. Operator: There are no further questions. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to FIBRA Macquarie's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Call and Webcast. My name is Rob, and I'll be your operator for this call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference call over to Nikki Sacks. Please go ahead. Nikki Sacks: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining FIBRA Macquarie's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. Today's call will be led by Simon Hanna, our Chief Executive Officer; and Andrew McDonald-Hughes, our CFO. Before I turn the call over to Simon, I'd like to remind everyone that this presentation is proprietary, and all rights are reserved. The presentation has been prepared solely for informational purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Forward-looking statements in this presentation are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this presentation. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the completion of this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Additionally, on this conference call, we may refer to certain non-IFRS measures as well as to U.S. dollars, which are U.S. dollar equivalent amounts, unless otherwise specified. As usual, we've prepared supplementary materials that we may reference during the call. If you've not already done so, I would encourage you to visit our website at fibramacquarie.com and download these materials. A link to the materials can be found under the Investors, Events and Presentations tab. And with that, it is my pleasure to hand the call over to FIBRA Macquarie's Chief Executive Officer, Simon Hanna. Simon? Simon Hanna: Thank you, Nikki, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to share that we delivered another solid quarter of financial and operating performance with record-breaking results across key metrics. At the same time, we executed on both strategic and opportunistic initiatives that create value for our certificate holders and continue to position us for sustainable growth. The third quarter showcased the strength of our business model, starting at the top line. For the quarter, we achieved record consolidated revenues, up 8.4% in underlying U.S. dollar terms over the prior year. This momentum translated through to our quarterly U.S. dollar AFFO, which increased an impressive 6.6% annually. [ AFFO ], our quarterly distribution reflects a significant 17% increase from last year, all whilst maintaining a comfortable and prudent payout ratio. Turning to our industrial portfolio. We continue to see strong performance amidst a subdued market backdrop with average rental rates increasing 6.8% year-over-year. Notably, we achieved another quarter of double-digit renewal spreads, 17% on negotiated leases with high quarterly retention of almost 90%. Our full year 2025 performance continues to shape up rather well, perhaps best demonstrated by the 6.1% increase in U.S. dollar same-store NOI year-to-date. So in summary, we are very satisfied with the sustained momentum enjoyed from our industrial portfolio through to today, and we expect that momentum to carry through to the fourth quarter, providing for a strong finish to the year. Moving to our capital allocation and asset recycling initiatives. We had an active quarter closing on a number of transactions. I'm excited with the continued growth of our Mexico City footprint with the acquisition of a prime 250,000 square foot logistics facility. We acquired the property through a sale and leaseback for $35 million, leased to a leading global consumer company under a 3-year U.S. dollar-denominated contract. It not only provides 2025 NOI and AFFO contribution, but also positions us to capture embedded real rental rate growth. This acquisition exemplifies our thoughtful approach to capital allocation. In this case, we secured a scarce well-located infill asset that enhances our portfolio quality, while providing visible earnings and NAV accretion. We're optimistic about repeating this type of success in other deal opportunities under our review, alongside pursuing additional strategic land investments in our pipeline. We also continue to selectively pursue asset recycling initiatives. And during the third quarter, we sold a vacant industrial property in Chihuahua City for $14 million, representing a 30% premium to book value. This transaction demonstrates our commitment to active portfolio management, allowing us to accretively recycle capital into attractive opportunities like the Mexico City acquisition, I just mentioned. Turning to our retail portfolio. We also delivered strong results and achieved a post-pandemic record occupancy of 93.6%. Rising occupancy and rental rates contributed to annual NOI growth of 4.1%, essentially reaching record levels of operating cash flow. We maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook on the operating performance of our retail portfolio and expect the medium-term growth trends to continue. Looking at the broader market environment. While we acknowledge the ongoing uncertainty around trade policy, we also remain confident in Mexico's strategic position within North American supply chains. The long-term fundamentals that have driven Mexico's manufacturing growth over the past decades remain firmly intact, including high-quality labor, proximity to major U.S. markets and continued trade advantages. Notwithstanding the evolving geopolitical landscape, our high-quality portfolio, internalized platform and strategic market positioning, enables us to continue to deliver strong results and capitalize on growth opportunities. It is also worth mentioning our unique vertically integrated platform gives us, amongst other benefits privileged access to market intelligence and allows us to respond swiftly to changing conditions. This positioning, combined with our ability to capture embedded rental growth allows us to continue delivering value to certificate holders, while building a long-term portfolio resilience. Before turning the call over to Andrew, I want to highlight our ongoing commitment to sustainability. We are proud of achieving 3 green stars in our 2025 credit assessment, including a score of 94 points for the development benchmark, exceeding our peers on a regional and global basis. We're also taking this opportunity to publish our annual ESG report that is now available on our website, which provides a comprehensive overview of our sustainability initiatives and performance. Andrew, over to you. Andrew McDonald-Hughes: Thank you, Simon. I'm pleased to report another quarter of strong financial performance that reflects both the quality of our portfolio and the effectiveness of our capital allocation strategy. For the third quarter, we delivered AFFO of USD 29.7 million, representing a solid 6.6% increase year-over-year and demonstrated our continued ability to grow earnings on a per certificate basis. Our balance sheet remains exceptionally well positioned. During the quarter, we successfully completed the refinancing and expansion of our sustainability-linked credit facility. This USD 375 million facility comprises a $150 million 4-year term loan and a $225 million 3-year revolving credit facility. The transaction delivered multiple strategic benefits. Firstly, it enhanced our liquidity position to approximately USD 625 million, providing substantial financial flexibility to fund growth initiatives. Second, it reduced our weighted average cost of debt to approximately 5.5%, while extending our debt maturities. And third, the sustainability-linked features align our financing strategy with our ESG objectives through green building certification targets with the sustainability-linked portion of our drawn debt now representing 68%. As of September 30, we maintain a prudent debt profile being 92% fixed rate with our CNBV regulatory debt to total asset ratio standing at 33.2% and a robust debt service coverage ratio of 4.6x. Embedded firepower stands at approximately USD 500 million, whilst managing to a 35% LTV ratio, including the potential recycling of our retail portfolio. Turning to our guidance. We are reaffirming our FY '25 AFFO per certificate guidance to a range of MXN 2.8 to MXN 2.85 and our FY '25 AFFO guidance in underlying U.S. dollar terms to a range of $115 million to $119 million, representing annual growth of up to 5%. We are also reaffirming our cash distribution guidance for FY '25 of MXN 2.45 per certificate. This represents a 16.7% increase in peso terms and translates to an expected FY '25 AFFO payout ratio of approximately 87% based on our guidance midpoint, representing a well-covered distribution. This guidance assumes stable market conditions and no material deterioration of the geopolitical landscape or Mexico's key trading relationships, including the potential implementation of tariffs. Looking ahead, our strong balance sheet, ample liquidity and disciplined approach to capital allocation position us well to navigate market uncertainties, while selectively pursuing growth opportunities that create long-term value for our certificate holders. In closing, I want to recognize the exceptional work of our entire team. Their dedication and expertise continue to drive our operational excellence and strategic execution. With that, I'll ask the operator to open the phone lines for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And the first question comes from the line of Andre Mazini with Citigroup. André Mazini: Yes. So my question is around the potential economic deceleration Mexico is supposed to be having now in the second half of 2025. A lot of talk on that among investors and media. So I wanted to understand if you're feeling that this economic deceleration in your conversation with tenants, maybe splitting between the 3 tenant types, industrial light manufacturing, industrial logistics and the retail tenants as well. Simon Hanna: Yes. Thanks, Andre. Thanks for the question. Yes, I guess it's a bit of a dynamic backdrop out there. As you can appreciate, really where we're much more correlated with the U.S. GDP, U.S. economy more so than Mexico, and that's obviously going to be where most of the activity will basically drive outcomes for us. When we break it down between those 3 categories, look, I'd say, in general, for industrial light manufacturing, fair to say that our volumes production is slightly off compared to last year. When you look at auto parts production, it's off around sort of 7% compared to last year. So I'd say nothing that's fundamentally causing a problem there from a demand perspective, maybe a slightly lower utilization. But in general, sort of, I'd say, steady demand backdrop and something which we expect to prevail regardless of that Mexican -- Mexican economy dynamic, more so just to do with how trends continue out of the U.S. So that will very much then link into the logistics part of industrial, at least for the business-to-business, where we have most of our exposure. It will be correlated more or less with the trend on light manufacturing. So again, I'd say for both manufacturing and the B2B logistics going pretty steady, and I think the outlook is steady as well. Obviously, the name of the game there is really USMCA as a real catalyst to change that demand environment probably heading towards the second half of next year. Retail, yes, definitely more sort of linked to Mexican economy fundamentals. But I'd say the consumer remains in pretty good health. We're seeing good employment, wage numbers, et cetera. general foot traffic and activity in the shopping centers is we've been happy with that. You would have seen some of the encouraging metrics come through the quarter, record occupancy, rising rental rates, same-store were up about 5% year-over-year at the NOI level. So I'd say generally good conditions there. Cinema is continuing to struggle a little bit more, I'd say, compared to the rest of the tenant mix to be fair. Gym is doing rather well. Supermarkets is doing rather well, restaurants rather well. So that's probably cinema probably the main weakness that we're still looking for a bit of a pickup. But again, we have a cautiously optimistic outlook as well when it comes to retail, expecting fairly steady demand environment. So overall, that leads us up to a pretty good outlook for heading into 2026. Operator: The next question is from the line of [ Helena Ruiz ] with [indiscernible]. Unknown Analyst: I have a couple. The first one is on the stress. I was wondering if you could give us like any color if you expect them to remain like at these levels for the last quarter of the year and next year? And also, if you could give us a breakdown like this growth is coming from all regions like especially one market? And then my second question is on occupancy, like looking at each market, like most markets remain like really strong. The only one that saw a drop in occupancy are Monterrey and Juarez. So if you could also give us a bit of color on why the occupancy fell in those markets? Simon Hanna: Thanks, Helena, for those questions. Yes. Look, when it comes to lease spreads, firstly, taking that one on. Look, pretty good quarter again, around 17%. We have a sort of a last 12-month run rate of around 20%. So that's been tracking, I'd say, at a pleasing level for us. When we look ahead, virtually 0 rollover on 4Q, so it doesn't really move the needle. So we should be somewhere close to that run rate level on a full year basis. Outlook for next year, it's still early. We have about 16% rollover, 17% rollover next year. So we have some opportunity there to continue capturing, I would say, positive momentum when it comes to spreads, a little bit early to say how much. Obviously, the -- a little bit there depend on market conditions. But I think we -- we'd like to think that we can capture positive momentum in the same way we're seeing through the balance of this year. When it comes to some of those, I'd say, market-by-market dynamics, and I'd say there's -- it's quite an active market out there even despite the subdued new leasing conditions. I would say, in general, we are seeing that the same dynamic we have today is what we've seen for the last couple of quarters, where steady occupancy and operating trends with USMCA being the real catalyst to, we think unlock new demand. But taking that down to, I guess, market levels to answer your question, Monterrey is probably the most active market. It's also one of the biggest in the country, around 185 million square feet. So we still see a lot of activity there, a lot under construction. So supply is still coming through. And that's always been the Monterrey way to be fair, but there's probably around 8 million under construction. Amongst all that, though, on a quarterly basis, we're seeing sort of close to 4 million new leasing to basically offset some move-outs of about 4 million. So no doubt, there's a little bit of vacancy there north of 5%. And you can probably say it's more of a tenant market than a landlord market these days. But -- when it comes to the type of product that we're delivering in the market, this is in Monterrey, but in other markets as well, I'd say that we're at the upper end of that tier. And that pro forma vacancy is not so much of an issue for us. We're looking at in terms of the best quality buildings in the market, that's who our competition is because that's what we're building in terms of location, quality of building size, utilities, et cetera. So that real competition is much more narrow. So whether you're even talking someone like Tijuana, where, again, you're seeing a lot of vacancy or supply come on, it doesn't really change the equation for us. We're in the best part of town with some of those flagship developments up against really just a handful of building competitors. And so that noise around sort of 13%, 14% vacancy in Tijuana or 8% in Monterrey, it's not as relevant when you actually just boil it down to what the hard competition is against our Class A development product and we feel very well positioned to have some activity on that as we get through the year in USMCA in particular. Juarez, I'd say, is probably remains pretty soft. That one has got a lot more sort of undifferentiated vacancy. It's a bit more of a slower market than Monterrey at the moment, much more USMCA linked as well. So I think we expect more activity in that second half of next year or maybe the summer. Reynosa, again, sort of a key northern market, I'd say, very, very quiet as well and had a good positive absorption quarter for the quarter. But on a year-to-date basis, it's pretty flat in terms of absorption. And again, you'd expect that to be more correlated with USMCA pickup. Operator: The next question is from the line of Jorel Guilloty with Goldman Sachs. Wilfredo Jorel Guilloty: So my first question is around the recent M&A that you announced or mentioned in the report in Mexico City. So you bought an asset $35 million, sale leaseback. And back of the envelope, this is like $1,500 per square meter. So I wanted to get a sense of what cap rate you saw for this asset? And also, if the idea here is on further capital allocation, if it's in Mexico City that you want to focus on. And then -- and I'm sorry if you spoke about this earlier, but I wanted to ask about Monterrey and Juarez where you saw occupancy declines of 300 and 120 basis points each on a sequential basis. So I wanted to get a sense of what drove that, if it's 1 tenant or multiple, just to understand if this is a one-off or a trend. So any color would be very helpful. Simon Hanna: Okay. Thanks, Jorel. Great questions there. Yes, the Mexico City acquisition, that was a fantastic one to do is irreplaceable location around 15 minutes from downtown in the Vallejo submarket. And so that's a great last mile district to be in for sure. We're able to access that facility, really thinking about the stabilized cap rate at around a 10% level U.S. dollar sort of the rental as well. So that's the way we're looking at it sort of seeing that stabilize into a 10% cap. Now it's got an initial 3-year lease period there with the user. So -- sort of coming in at sort of an 8% area, but that's definitely below where we think the market rates are. So just thinking about that on a real embedded rental rate growth profile when you actually look at 3 years down the track, where you think that should land around 10%. And so if you're able to access Mexico City last mile stabilized 10%, dollarized 250,000 square foot, we take that all day long, and we're very excited about that. And yes, potentially, there could be 1 or 2 other opportunistic deals like that, that could come along. We're currently looking at 1 deal in particular and we'd like to think that maybe there's an opportunity to do that opportunistically. Again, let's see, so I think that was a great transaction to pull off from a capital allocation point of view. And I'm happy to say, repeat that success. Moving to the second question, on Monterrey, Juarez. So yes, I think from our own perspective, we -- in line with the market trends, we did see some vacancy there. But when you actually look at what drove that year-over-year, pretty simple story, Jorel, in the sense that we just delivered some Class A product that has not been leased up. So it's been added into our inventory. Both fantastic buildings, and we think very marketable. And again, something that will probably be more linked to USMCA ultimately, given the type of buildings and locations they're at. So we feel very good about the buildings that have been added to inventory, even though they're unleased in the short term. We do think they've got great income potential over the medium term. And we actually take the step back there, Jorel, actually not just what we've delivered in Monterrey and Juarez, but the other Class A product we have that basically has income potential and you add that up in terms of sort of getting close to 1 million square feet around the country. The exciting thing there is that we actually do have some real embedded growth that I don't think has been properly priced into our valuation or share price. And any type of a meaningful lease up there on that sort of Class A development product that we have, we're fully invested. It's basically built product ready to be leased up, mainly subject to USMCA, if you want to say that. That's got the potential ability to add something like, I'd say, comfortably north of $10 million at the NOI level. And you can obviously just drop that down to AFFO as well given that we're essentially fully funded and built that. So that's a pretty exciting sort of short-term opportunity we think, to help drive NOI and earnings is to basically take advantage of improving market conditions into next year, particularly with USMCA to trigger that lease-up. Wilfredo Jorel Guilloty: And a quick follow-up, if I may. So the sale leaseback opportunity, you mentioned there's a few in Mexico City, but are there opportunities such as those in other markets that you're in? And would it be focused on logistics? Simon Hanna: Yes. I think the answer is there are. Obviously, we're sort of looking at selective opportunities here. We particularly like Mexico City Logistics. That's a favored market for us where we'd like to increase our footprint. There are other opportunities in those other large consumption markets as well, sort of more of a logistics spend, you could say. But as I say, when you look actually see what's in our immediate pipeline and possible opportunities, we're thinking more Mexico City as being executable in the short term. Operator: The next question is from the line of Alejandra Obregon with Morgan Stanley. Alejandra Obregon: Mine is on capital allocation as well. So I was just wondering if you can provide some color on how you're thinking of your uses of cash for 2026. I mean if we split it between dividends, acquisitions, development, how would that look like in 2026? And what are the elements that will get you to any sort of decision on the mix on that front? And then the second one is on the M&A market. So I was just wondering if you're seeing any change in sentiment or acceleration in M&A activity that perhaps could trigger some recycling opportunities for you other than the sale and leaseback that you just mentioned? Simon Hanna: Sure. Yes. Thanks, Alejandra. So yes, look, I think in terms of capital allocation, fairly consistent outlook with how we currently have been deploying our capital. I think the main focus in the medium to long-term is going to be on that industrial development program. We have a land bank there of around 5 million square feet of buildable GLA in core markets. So that's something that we can flex up in terms of development activity. As you know, we've been doing 0 construction starts for the last few quarters. But as we get better visibility on demand fundamentals, that will remain the primary avenue of how we allocate our capital into those development properties, mainly on a spec basis, you could say. We remain also interested in pursuing certain opportunities in the short term. They boil down, as I say, one is 2 opportunistic acquisitions where we can access those sort of development like returns, if you want to call it that, something like the 10% cap Mexico City. If we can do that on a more sort of a bite-sized basis to complement what we're doing on the development program, that's great. I would say the other investment portal would be through strategic land bank investments to basically complement and add to the $5 million that we have so that we will basically continue that runway for building out getting back to that sort of 1 million to 2 million square feet of velocity on a medium- to long-term basis is where you want to be. And adding to that land bank will be an important part of that equation. When it comes to buyback, I guess that's obviously another opportunity. I'm not sure, Andrew, if you wanted to give color on that. Andrew McDonald-Hughes: Yes, happy to. I think as we've said previously, we continue to favor allocating capital to development and value-add opportunities where we see obviously; a, you have a much lesser impact on the balance sheet over the long-term. You're not impacting liquidity overall and you're setting yourself up for valuation upside and the growth of those underlying assets. And so we'll continue to do that. I think historically, we've guided to in the order of $100 million to $150 million of development per year. We've obviously been softer this year given the broader macro backdrop, but we continue to work towards some permitting and predevelopment works with respect to the recent acquisitions that we made in both Guadalajara and Tijuana. And I think there's a good opportunity for those particular projects to progress over the next 12 months. And I think more to the point, we see a broader opportunity for future growth with the embedded potential recycling opportunity of our retail portfolio, along with the broader liquidity that we have access to through the balance sheet, which really sets us up for in the order of $500 million worth of potential firepower over the medium term. So ultimately, from a growth perspective, over the near term, there's a deep sense of embedded value with the development projects that we have delivered to date that are well positioned for lease-up once we see the tailwinds return to the markets, which we're positive on with respect to how that looks over the short to medium term. And just with what we have already completed and delivered; that's in excess of $10 million in potential NOI contribution over the coming years. And we think that, that will come to fruition and have a good line of sight to lease up on those properties as we go through the USMCA renewal and have more, I think, surety on the tariff and macro backdrop going forward through 2026 and into 2027. So overall, I think broadly speaking, from a capital allocation standpoint and the growth opportunities that the business is well positioned. Alejandra Obregon: Excellent. That was very clear. Operator: The next question is from the line of Alan Macias with Bank of America. Alan Macias: My question was answered, but just going back to M&A, anything on the table regarding the retail sector? Simon Hanna: Yes. Thanks, Alan. Good to hear you. So I think retail, we're definitely very satisfied with the general trend of what we're seeing in operating financial metrics at the risk of repeating myself, but happy to say at 93.6%, record occupancy on a post-pandemic basis, NOI essentially at record levels, up around sort of $7 million, $8 million quarterly run rate. It's been a fantastic contributor to the overall returns. As we think about operational performance, probably a little bit more upside to go, I think, even as good as it's been, that we are seeing some interesting opportunities to add to that overall, NOI performance, and that will obviously lead into valuation also becoming higher. And as you think about that sort of valuation number, it's not insignificant by any means, sort of -- we're talking sort of $300 million plus. And so the interesting dynamic that we're seeing just as NOI continues to improve is obviously a more conducive interest rate backdrop with the interest rates locally falling from, let's say, 10% to sub-8% and you're sort of getting into positive leverage territory and sort of more compelling M&A backdrop. So we like the sound of that in terms of how that's all converging and [indiscernible] for an ability to start thinking about that sort of medium-term opportunity that Andrew mentioned around recycling. And really, that's what we've got to be thinking about in terms of -- apart from that short-term catalyst to grow earnings, which is really simple, which is just to lease up the Class A stuff that we've built and is ready for lease-up. The medium-term opportunity is certainly quite exciting and quite compelling when we think about that embedded firepower of around $500 million, that really allows us to flex up when it comes to building out the land bank and thinking about additional investments. We feel quite excited and well positioned with the ability to do that. Operator: Thank you. At this time, there are no further questions. I'd like to turn the floor back to management for closing remarks. Simon Hanna: Yes. Thank you for that, Rob, and thank you for everyone for participating in today's call. Along with Andrew, I would like to thank all of our stakeholders for your ongoing support, and we very much look forward to speaking with you over the coming days and weeks as well as updating you again at the end of the quarter. So have a great one. Thank you. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for joining our presentation today. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Gentex Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Josh O'Berski, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Josh O'Berski: Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. I'm Josh O'Berski, Gentex's Director of Investor Relations. And with me today are Steve Downing, President and CEO; Neil Boehm, COO and CTO; and Kevin Nash, Vice President of Finance and CFO. Please note that a replay of this conference call webcast along with edited transcripts will be available following the call on the Investors section of our website at ir.gentex.com. As a reminder, many of the statements made during today's call are forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, including those detailed in our second quarter 2025 earnings press release and our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 as well as general economic conditions. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if our underlying assumptions or estimates prove to be incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. On a quick programming note, I would also like to call attention to the fact that Gentex will be hosting investor visits at SEMA and in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the week of November 3. If you are interested in attending, please connect with me after this call. I'll now hand the call over to Steve Downing for our prepared remarks. Steven Downing: Thank you, Josh. For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported consolidated net sales of Gentex and VOXX of $655.2 million, an 8% increase compared to net sales of $608.5 million in the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOXX. VOXX contributed $84.9 million of revenue while Core Gentex revenue was $570.3 million in the third quarter of 2025, which was a 6% decline versus the third quarter of last year. This is in comparison to light vehicle production in the company's primary markets that increased by approximately 2% versus the third quarter of last year. In terms of regional performance for the third quarter, North American OEM revenue increased approximately 5% quarter-over-quarter, supported by robust production schedules and increased content per vehicle. In Europe, revenue declined approximately 14% quarter-over-quarter. The decrease was driven by customer-specific production challenges and a weaker regional vehicle mix. In Europe, light vehicle production volumes moved to lower trim level vehicles that do not typically include higher-end Gentex features. In China, revenue totaled approximately $34 million, down 35% compared to the third quarter of last year. The decline reflects the ongoing impact of tariff and counter tariff actions. Despite the regional headwinds, Gentex delivered solid results through disciplined execution and incremental contributions from the VOXX acquisition. For the third quarter of 2025, the company's consolidated gross margin was 34.4% compared to a gross margin of 33.5% for the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOXX. The core Gentex gross margin was 34.9%, representing a 140 basis point increase compared to the third quarter of last year. The core gross margin improvement was driven by favorable North American customer and product mix, purchasing cost reduction and continuing operational efficiencies. The ongoing improvement in gross margin reflects the company's disciplined focus on cost control and productivity improvements. However, the gross margin was negatively impacted by approximately 90 basis points due to incremental tariffs in the quarter that were not offset through customers. Despite the incremental impact of tariffs on our business, the company has improved the overall gross margin to levels not seen in several years. Consolidated operating expenses during the third quarter of 2025 were $102.8 million compared to operating expenses of $78.3 million in the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOXX. The increase was primarily due to the VOXX acquisition, which accounted for $23.7 million of the increase. Gentex's operating expenses, excluding VOXX, were $79.2 million in the third quarter of 2025, compared to $78.3 million during the third quarter of last year. The increase in core Gentex operating expenses included $1.1 million in acquisition-related costs and Gentex-specific severance expenses. Consolidated income from operations for the third quarter of 2025 was $122.3 million compared to income from operations of $125.7 million for the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOXX. Gentex's income from operations, excluding VOXX, was $119.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, representing a 5% decrease versus the third quarter of last year. Total other loss was $1.8 million during the third quarter of 2025 compared to income of $19.7 million in the third quarter of last year. The reduction was primarily due to a $14.9 million gain included in the third quarter of last year related to the fair value adjustment of the company's original investment in VOXX. During the third quarter of 2025, the company had an effective tax rate of 16.3% compared to an effective tax rate of 15.7% during the third quarter of last year. The quarter-over-quarter change in the effective tax rate was primarily driven by lower tax benefits related to stock-based compensation compared to the third quarter of last year as well as a reduced benefit from the foreign-derived intangible income deduction. Consolidated net income attributable to Gentex for the third quarter of 2025 was $101 million, supported by higher overall sales levels, gross margin expansion and cost improvements. Net income in the third quarter of last year was $122.5 million. The quarter-over-quarter change was primarily due to the onetime gain in the prior period resulting from the fair value adjustment of the company's original investment in VOXX. Consolidated earnings per diluted share attributable to Gentex for the third quarter of 2025 were $0.46 compared to earnings per diluted share of $0.53 for the third quarter of last year, which did not include VOXX. Though VOXX was not consolidated in the third quarter of 2024, earnings per diluted share for that quarter were positively impacted by the onetime gain in the company's original investment in VOXX. I'll now hand the call over to Kevin for some further financial details. Kevin Nash: Thanks, Steve. Gentex's automotive net sales were $558 million in the third quarter of 2025 compared to $596.5 million in the third quarter of '24. The lower quarter-over-quarter automotive sales were largely the result of lower shipments of auto-dimming mirrors into Europe and China in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of last year. However, the lower unit shipments were partially offset by strong growth and advanced feature mirror sales in North America. Net sales from Gentex's other product lines, which includes dimmable aircraft windows, fire protection products, medical devices and biometrics were $12.3 million in the third quarter of '25 compared to $12 million in the third quarter of '24. VOXX net sales contributed $84.9 million during the third quarter of '25. The company continues to work through post acquisition transition with a focus on aligning product strategies, optimizing customer relationships and identifying operational synergies across both businesses. During the third quarter '25, the company repurchased 1 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $28.18 per share. for a total of $28.3 million. And year-to-date, the company has repurchased 9.8 million shares for a total of $230.5 million at an average price of $23.50 per share. And as of September 30 of '25, the company has approximately 39.6 million shares remaining available for repurchase pursuant to its previously announced share repurchase plan. Turning to the balance sheet. Our comparisons today are based on September 30, 2025 versus December 31 of '24. Starting with liquidity. Cash and cash equivalents were $178.6 million, down from $233.3 million at year-end. This decline was primarily driven by the VOXX acquisition and share repurchases, partially offset by operating cash flow. Short-term and long-term investments totaled $267.2 million compared to $369 million at the end of '24. These investments include both fixed income, securities and our equity and cost method holdings. Accounts receivable stood at $384.7 million compared to $295.3 million at year-end. Of that, $320.4 million was attributable to Gentex and $64.3 million to VOXX. The increase in Gentex receivables was mainly due to higher sequential sales and the timing of those sales within the quarter. Inventories totaled $498.8 million, of which $386.9 million represented core Gentex inventory, down from $436.5 million at year-end, largely due to reductions in raw material inventory. The remaining $111.9 million reflects VOXX inventory. And consolidated accounts payable was $252 million compared to $168.3 million at year-end, including $169.8 million for Gentex and $82.2 million for VOXX. Preliminary cash flow from operations for the third quarter was $146.9 million compared to $84.7 million in the same period last year, primarily due to changes in working capital. And year-to-date operating cash flow was $461.6 million, up from $343.8 million for the first 9 months of 2024, also primarily due to changes in working capital compared to the prior period. CapEx for the third quarter was approximately $35.6 million versus $31.8 million last year, bringing year-to-date capital expenditures to $103.8 million, slightly higher than the $102.9 million last year. And depreciation and amortization expense for the third quarter was approximately $25.9 million compared to $22.9 million in Q3 of '24. And on a year-to-date basis, depreciation and amortization totaled $78.8 million, up from $70.9 million in the prior year. I'll now hand the call over to Neil for a product update. Neil Boehm: Thank you, Kevin. The third quarter of 2025 was another strong launch quarter. In the quarter, over 55% of the launches were advanced interior and exterior auto-dimming mirrors and electronic features. Similar to previous quarters, HomeLink and Full Display Mirror were the primary technology introduced. The launch cadence has been strong over the last several quarters, and I appreciate the team's focus on execution to make them successful. Full Display Mirror sales continue to be a key performer in Q3. Demand remains strong, and we are confident in our ability to sell 200,000 to 300,000 more units of FDM in 2025 compared to 2024, as we've previously stated. In the face of delayed or canceled EV platform launches, ICE and hybrid applications continue launching with Full Display Mirrors and consumer demand for our feature remains strong. A few notable FDM launches this quarter include the Ford Bronco, marking the first non-van launch of FDM at Ford. And the continued adoption of FDM in Europe on the DS No. 8 and the Vauxhall Combo. Additionally, we saw the rollout of FDM at Volvo as a dealer-installed accessory available on the majority of their lineup. Customer interest for dimmable sunroofs and visors continues to grow, and our teams have been working incredibly hard to continue moving this product from single unit production into more mass scale capability. As noted in prior calls, this is an incredibly complex and challenging manufacturing process. To date, we've been utilizing partners to execute part of the process while we get our larger scale production equipment in-house and operational. The target is to have this in-house operation running in late Q1 to early Q2 2026. As with any new product or process launch, there will be challenges. But with the manufacturing capability we have at Gentex, I remain confident in the team's ability to bring this product into the market in the next 1.5 years. Now for a quick update on driver and in-cabin monitoring product area. We continue to make great progress with our driver monitoring and in-cabin systems and remain on track to launch with 3 additional customers by the middle of 2026. The acquisition of Guardian Optical Technologies in 2021 set the stage for Gentex to be a premier player within this industry, and we've continued to grow our capabilities since the acquisition. These systems require substantial integration and coordination with our customers, and our teams have achieved high marks for their progress from our next launch customer. As we mentioned in the press release from this morning, we have been very focused on improvements of the Gentex -- of the core Gentex operating structure over the last 2 quarters. We've successfully executed early retirement incentives that were designed to lower operating expenses while not impacting our ability to continue to invest in technologies and products that will propel Gentex forward over the next several years. Additionally, since the closing of the acquisition of VOXX at the beginning of the second quarter, the teams have been working hard on the consolidation of systems, tools, back-office support, purchasing and logistics. So far, we've made great progress. As we look into the final quarter of 2025, there will be an even stronger focus on efficiency and optimization with a goal of having most plans implemented in the first half of next year. The VOXX teams have done a great job keeping the business moving in the right direction, and now we'll begin to collaborate deeper to drive longer-term improvements into the operation. As an innovation-driven technology company, the focus on R&D over the last several years has enabled us to generate a strong pipeline of both automotive and nonautomotive products and technologies. Now we need to keep the focus on the execution of these products and move them forward into production to support our growth objectives. I'll now hand the call back over to Steve for guidance and closing remarks. Steven Downing: Thanks, Neil. The company's light vehicle production forecast for the fourth quarter of 2025 and full years 2025 and 2026 are based on the mid-October 2025 S&P Global Mobility outlook for North America, Europe, Japan, Korea and China. Global light vehicle production for the fourth quarter of 2025 is expected to decline approximately 4% versus the fourth quarter of last year. Full year 2025 production in the company's primary markets is expected to be down 1%, while production in North America and Europe is projected to fall approximately 2% in 2025 compared to last year. Based on the updated light vehicle production forecast and actual results for the first 9 months of 2025, reduced demand in the China market, stemming from recently implemented counter tariffs and the expected incremental sales contribution from the VOXX acquisition, the company is making certain changes to its full year 2025 guidance. The following updated guidance reflects the anticipated impact of all known tariffs effective as of October 23 and can also be found in our press release from this morning. Consolidated revenue for 2025, including VOXX, is expected to be in the range of $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion. Consolidated gross margin is anticipated to be between 33.5% and 34%. Consolidated operating expenses, excluding severance, are forecasted at $380 million to $390 million. The effective tax rate is expected to be 16% to 16.5%. Capital expenditures are projected at $115 million to $125 million. Depreciation and amortization is expected to total $96 million to $99 million. The third quarter is best summarized as a continuation of the underlying economic environment of the last 1.5 years. Light vehicle production levels in our primary markets have improved versus previous forecast, but any progress is in contrast to the declining production levels experienced over the past few years. Additionally, the previous 2 quarters were impacted by mix weakness in Europe, Japan and Korea, as well as continued headwinds in China due to the ongoing tariff environment. While core Gentex revenue in the third quarter of 2025 was lower compared to last quarter and the third quarter of last year, our strong business discipline and operational focus enabled us to deliver another meaningful improvement in gross margin. The company's focus on business discipline, expense management and operational improvements has helped improve margins despite incremental tariff headwinds that were not reimbursed during the quarter. As we move into the fourth quarter, our teams will be focused on bringing the same type of improvements to the VOXX organization to ensure the combined entity is structured to support sustainable profitability and create shareholder value. That completes our prepared comments for today. We can now proceed to questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from the line of Luke Junk of Baird. Luke Junk: Steve, maybe if we could just start with the growth headwinds in Europe. Just trying to tease out how much of that was temporary, I would guess, some JLR-related impacts in the quarter versus things that might be more sticky in terms of true mix. And then as you kind of step into the fourth quarter for the company overall, any incremental trim mix impacts that you might anticipate? Steven Downing: Yes. I think -- if you look at the temporary impact, that was really probably $5 million, $6 million in revenue headwinds from one of the OEM shutdowns in Europe. So pretty minor there. If you look at the rest of it, it's really about mix. And really, what we're talking about is the only real growth. Most of the CD&E vehicles in Europe during the quarter were down pretty significantly. I think A and B, specifically B, I believe, was the only thing that really grew and that's where the strength was in the European market. And as you know, we struggle a little bit with content or at least the same level of content on those vehicles versus what we see in the CD&E segment. Luke Junk: And then into 4Q, other than the temporary piece, anything you'd expect to change in trim mix Europe or, I guess, North America, too? Steven Downing: No. I would say -- I wouldn't say it would probably be quite as drastic as what we saw in Q3 in terms of trim mix. But definitely, there -- I think with some of the economic challenges in the EU right now, we're definitely seeing a little lighter content than what we have been seeing over the last 18 months to 2 years. And so some of it, I think, will continue into Q4, but I think Q3 was definitely probably a hair overdone in terms of that -- how much that changed in one quarter. Luke Junk: Got it. Gross margin, yes, I appreciate the color on the tariff impact this quarter. Just be curious how you're thinking about approaching recovering those costs into the fourth quarter and ultimately into next year. And in terms of the fourth quarter specifically, is there anything incremental that you'd have a line of sight to in terms of costs that you need to recover? Steven Downing: No. I think what you're seeing right now, Q2 tariffs, we actually recovered probably 70%, 80% of the tariff costs of Q2 in Q3, and so what you're seeing is a step up in overall tariff from Q2 to Q3. We haven't been reimbursed those yet. We would expect to get most of that reimbursed in Q4, but there's definitely a lag effect as the tariffs have been ramping up over the last few quarters. Unfortunately, there's a lag and how -- when you incur the expense versus when you can recover it. Luke Junk: Got it. And then last question for me, just lots of discussion around Nexperia, of course. Just curious to the extent that you have any direct supply chain exposure there, Neil, and then just what you're hearing from customers real-time. Neil Boehm: Yes, absolutely. Yes, Nexperia, there is -- we do have some supply that we utilize from Nexperia. We do have some in-house inventory available. We've got -- unfortunately, if you go back a few years, we've been through this fire drill a few times on finding alternate supply, designing alternates in and doing it in a fast and expeditious way. So we are exercising that muscle again to find alternates and get the solutions moving to minimize any impact. Steven Downing: We're not expecting any significant impact in Q4, though. Neil Boehm: No. Steven Downing: At least not from our side. Obviously, OEM exposure could create challenges from other suppliers, but... Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Joseph Spak of UBS. Joseph Spak: Maybe to sort of just follow up on some of the European commentary, I know you mentioned sort of the different sort of segment levels, but it also sounds like there's maybe just overall more pressure in that market. And I guess I'm just wondering is in some of those higher segments that you mentioned where you tend to have more content, are you seeing any change in ordering patterns from your customers? Like any consideration to decontent you to maybe make some of those vehicles more affordable? Or is this really just a period where you mentioned AB vehicles really outperform some of those larger vehicles? Steven Downing: No, Joe, it's definitely both. I mean you're seeing some decontenting on higher-end vehicles as well as OEMs look to try to get overall cost points lower. And obviously, as tariffs have impacted OEMs, they're looking for other creative ways to try to get their cost structure lower. So unfortunately, optional content does become in scope for some of them. I would say it's kind of a mix between both of those, both what the vehicle mix is and segmentation changing and then also some decontenting to avoid -- to help lower cost structure. Joseph Spak: Okay. And then just maybe on the implied fourth quarter gross margin. I just want to -- it looks like maybe seasonally, the step down looks a little bit greater, if I'm doing my math right. And I just want to understand what's really sort of considered in that, whether there's still some -- I mean, I know you sort of just talked about some trouble getting reimbursements. Anything considered on like semi tariffs or anything else we should be thinking about? Steven Downing: No, if you look at the real impact and the step down, it's a couple fold. Number one is as a percent of total revenue, VOXX is going to be higher, which will have a little bit of a head -- put a little bit of a headwind on the overall weighted margin. And then the real big factor in the second half is the lower sales levels that we usually see in Q4, especially around the holidays. And so there's not like any structural changes or anything wrong with the cost structure. We actually think Q4 margin, if revenue were exactly the same, we would expect Q4 from a margin perspective to be very, very similar to Q3. Joseph Spak: Maybe just one last quick one. Sorry, if I missed this in the prepared remarks, but is there any update on FDM, especially since I know at least here in the U.S., we're seeing some likely lower demand for EVs. And I think like that was, I'd say, an above-average sort of feature on EVs versus sort of ICE vehicles. And so just how you're thinking about that, especially headed into '26? Neil Boehm: Yes, absolutely. Actually, Q3 was really good growth in FDM again. It's been strong and Q4 still looks really strong. So we -- I think last quarter, Q2 said we'd be 150,000 to 300,000 units above where we were in 2024. And so we just moved that to be 200 to 300 for the end of the year. So we still see us exceeding 2024 numbers by 200,000 to 300,000 units. Joseph Spak: Okay. And any preliminary views into next year on that? Neil Boehm: Not really. I mean, there's... Steven Downing: We're expecting to continue to grow, though. Neil Boehm: Yes, it's not -- we see growth. Absolutely. Kevin Nash: We'll give formal guidance coming in fourth quarter. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Josh Nichols of B. Riley. Josh Nichols: Good to see the revenue and margin guidance for the year moving to the upper end of the range despite some of the European headwinds that you talked about. I just want to drill down a little bit into VOXX. We're about 2 quarters in now. Any updates on like synergy integration and the realization. Are you still on target to achieve those synergy levels that you previously kind of talked about 18 months after the close? Steven Downing: Yes, absolutely. I think if you look at the first -- through 2 quarters already, if you look at the overall numbers, it shows in this quarter that we -- that VOXX organization is positive on the net income side and accretive on the EPS side. And so that will be -- that was a little ahead of schedule, quite frankly. In that regard, we know the next couple of quarters, especially, there's a lot of work that has to happen to try to figure out where there's any redundancy or overlap between our 2 organizations. We're starting to really make great progress with that organization. And looking forward to what the next 12 to 18 months can look like. But there's no doubt in the overall cash generation side of what we think that business can look like that we don't see any reason why we can't achieve those original targets. Josh Nichols: Yes. And then just one follow-up, looking a little bit further out. Regarding the dimmable sunroofs and visors, you talked about, I think you said you expect to have those in market within 18 months, but operationally running in the first half of next year. What's left to be done in terms of achieving commercial viability for those today to really bring those to market? I'm just curious where you are or what's left to do? I know there's a lot of technicals that go into getting that OEM certified and just want a little bit of an update. Neil Boehm: Yes. Those are still some of the bigger challenges, the requirements of taking that technology into automotive and meeting the environmental temperature, all of the above process requirements as well as when you have really large pieces of glass with a darkened surface, it's easy to see small issues in the process that the dimming materials put down. So that's the big part of the Q1 into Q2 of next year as we are getting that capability in-house so that we can get better control on that process quality. So with those, I think those are some of the biggest hurdles that we still got in front of us. There's a lot of little challenges that we fight every day, but the team has been doing a great job keeping those down and trying to get focus on some of these bigger ones. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Brinkman of JPMorgan. Ryan Brinkman: Is there any update you can provide on the place sort of retail consumer fire protection business? I realize it's only been a few months now in the Home Depot stores, but curious what -- any early feedback might be? Steven Downing: Yes. I think probably the most telling portion of that has been so far, the consumer feedback has been really good in terms of ease of install, app integration, what that looks like, ease of use. So I mean, that was our big focus right away. Wasn't just the overall sales levels, but the real focus was, hey, really for our first time going direct-to-consumer with something especially that's feature-rich and app-heavy, how do we make -- do we do a good job executing that app and the interaction side. And so far, I mean, fingers crossed, that all looks like it's going really well in that launch initially. And we never expected necessarily DIY to be a big home run in terms of sales volume. And so the growth over the next couple of years is really going to be focused on how do we get direct to builders, how do you start working on additional channels beyond just big box retail. And so that's where the team is actively focused right now is, first focused on making sure the product was robust and the app was robust. And then secondly, we got to start focusing and looking at how do we get into additional channels that are, quite frankly, new for us. But one of the things we have going for us in this regard is the -- some of the synergies on the VOXX side of the business. They have a lot more experience than we do in terms of how to market direct-to-consumer these type of products. And so we're working really hard with that team on how do we take advantage of the skill sets that they have to help us with the sales channels of that product. Ryan Brinkman: Okay. And then just lastly, on the VOXX side, you got one question already about the, I guess, the opportunity from consolidating sort of the Gentex and VOXX people and systems and public company costs. Maybe just remind us of the targets there and of the cadence, too, because it seems like so far, like a lot of the early retirement announcements have been really on the Gentex side. Is that fair to say? And in terms of the size of the opportunity, is it as simple to just kind of look at the relative difference in the gross margin profile and the operating margin profile of the 2 businesses and say that, that much can really be achieved? Or how much can you achieve and over what period of time? And what have you achieved so far? Steven Downing: Yes, I'll start with the overall target when we kind of got into this. We believe, given that level of revenue that it was absolutely possible to achieve kind of $40 million or so in free cash flow off of their business on a per annual basis. And that's still our goal. We've kind of targeted that to be in about 18 months post acquisition. And we still believe we're on the same timetable to make that happen. I'll let Kevin jump in with a few of the -- what we've kind of accomplished already and where we're at currently. Kevin Nash: Yes. So if you look at some of the audit costs, I mean, we have reduced that overlap, insurance costs, I mean, you're -- between those 2, you're in the low $2 million to $3 million a year, plus you have some of the executive team overlap, those team -- they had run off. But they had already accounted for that prior. So that's why I don't see some of the severance expense coming from those things or the transition expense. But all told, we're over $10 million of annualized savings when you add up all the different things, and we continue to make progress beyond that every quarter. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of James Picariello of BNP Paribas. Unknown Analyst: This is [ Srikanth ] on for James. You guys put a pretty great gross margins in the quarter, especially considering some of the headwinds you saw in Europe. So how should we think about that really going to next year? Are these sustainable? Or are there any other puts and takes we should keep in mind? Steven Downing: ' Yes. I think as we head into next year and like we joke all the time, this is a big fingers cross moment as well. Hopefully, tariffs stabilize from this year going into next year. That would be the one big variable that obviously we can't control and don't really have a lot of insight into other than what's publicly available currently. The other ones start to become more normal puts and takes. So you got pricing at the beginning of the year to our customer base and then what we can get out of the supply chain. Historically, for us, if we can try to offset or make those offset each other, then we got a really good opportunity to maintain the margin profile. And that's what our current stance is heading into next year is that we believe that if we could get up to this kind of high 34%, 35% range on gross margin leaving this year, that we'd be in really good shape to maintain that heading into next year. And we still believe that what our outlook looks like. And that obviously factors in, in terms of overall sales levels and some of the things that are a little unpredictable right now in terms of what happens geographically and with our primary customers all over the world. But as we stand here today, we feel like we're in a really good spot that we've executed most of the cost control mechanisms we needed to internally to get to where we had predicted we would end this year at. And so as we're -- the disciplines there, the efficiencies that we put in place. These are not onetime experiences. I mean these are recurring benefits that we'll see rolling forward. And so if I had to do a way too early version of what the margin will look like next year, I'd say it's really close to where we're at right now. Unknown Analyst: That's helpful. And then it's nice to see you guys have some good news point to in China. Do you think there's more room for improvement, should the trade situation stabilize a little bit more? Steven Downing: Yes. I would never say that it couldn't. I would say, right now, as we look at the China market, there's definitely a trend from OEMs there to go with domestic suppliers over international suppliers. And so we're seeing that trend kind of play out longer term. And so we're constantly looking at new products and saying, hey, it's a real market, significant. How do we try to make sure we have the right product offering to be competitive in that space. But I think there'll be a little more headwinds as we head into the next 18 months in the China market. And so we're kind of preparing ourselves for that. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mark Delaney of Goldman Sachs. Mark Delaney: I was hoping to circle back to the content challenges in trim mix issues that the company was speaking about that you've seen in the European market. I guess, first on that topic, as you think about what you've seen, especially the decontenting element and even in some of those CDE segment vehicles. As you think about that category, are there steps you think Gentex can take to get back to growth over market within Europe even with those -- within those segments? Or is it going to be more a function of you just need the market to recover for that category vehicle? Steven Downing: No, there's definitely -- I think there's definitely features. If you look at some of the new technology we've been working on, getting those into the marketplace, in-cabin monitoring, driver monitoring and then longer term, the stuff that Neil is referencing in terms of visors and large area devices, those products, in particular, have ASPs that are well above our current ASP and all have the potential to help us outgrow the marketplace even if it is in a declining market. And so one of the reasons why you've seen such a focus on higher end tech over the last couple of years is preparing for these types of moments. I mean, I think this one is a little more drastic than even we had anticipated a couple of years ago in terms of the total impact of trade relations and what that's done from a margin compression standpoint for us. And so we're trying to make sure we have the right skills, the right products to make sure that we can find a growth opportunity. And what we assume to be initially is probably just a flat market but it's actually become more of a declining market than what we even anticipated. And so the team stays really focused, and that's why you see us continuing to double down on the new tech development because that's the only really way to grow in this market currently. Mark Delaney: And then just in terms of the breadth of the challenge, I mean, is it 1 or 2 OEMs in Europe where you've seen this effect? Or is it kind of a wider range of your customers there have been looking to find savings and you've seen the decontenting? Steven Downing: It's really -- it kind of comes down to a couple of OEMs. I mean everyone's been impacted in terms of -- a lot of OEMs have been impacted in Europe based off their volume and overall trim level, like what they're building and how -- what price point of vehicles they're selling. But the decontenting, I think, is really limited to a couple of OEMs in the European market. Mark Delaney: Okay. And then I guess on this topic, kind of assuming on a global perspective, I mean, cost challenges and tariffs, I mean that's not isolated to Europe. And so I'm curious, do you think there's the risk or have you heard anything from customers this kind of thing may happen in Asia or the U.S.? It sounds like it's only been in Europe, but I'm hoping to kind of think about whether this would or would not occur elsewhere? Steven Downing: Yes. I mean, it's possible. I mean it's really -- that becomes more a function of where the vehicles end up, I believe, it's not just limited to European OEMs per se, but they definitely have -- they have more exposure to the overall European end market. I mean if you look at our primary customers in Asia, you're looking really at [ Honda ] and Toyota as the bulk of that revenue. And fortunately for us, both of those OEMs have held up very well through all this. And so we continue to find growth opportunities with both those OEMs. Mark Delaney: Got it. That's actually my question, nice to see the progress this year with the FDM growth and everything you're working out with the large dimmable area devices, we'll keep an eye on that going forward. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of David Whiston of Morningstar. David Whiston: On guidance, is there any chance of material upside in light of the October 17, the proclamation expanding the parts rebate on U.S. assembly? Or is that pretty much all baked in? Steven Downing: No. I think from a supply standpoint, I don't think it's going to change or impact a whole lot of what you're seeing. I mean if anything, what it does allow us to do, hopefully is it should lessen some of the controversy on tariff recoveries. David Whiston: Okay. And then I guess, could you talk a bit about what's the resistance on FDM for the automakers that haven't yet adopted it? Are they just waiting for future vehicle programs and they know they want to do it? Or are there still some cost or logistical issues beyond that? Steven Downing: Well, you definitely always have the cost side. I mean, that's one that's -- with every OEM that we've been successful with, it's one of the obstacles you have to get past. Beyond that, I think the slow adopters at the beginning were the German OEMs. And I think that was really the only real hold out. If you look at most other OEMs, they had adopted the product to some level. The biggest challenge right now is how do you get it beyond small take rates into more mass market. And the teams have made some real good progress on that in terms of what does standard equipment look like or close to standard equipment on high-level vehicles and have an optional content on lower-end vehicles. And that's where we're starting to see a lot of the revenue growth come from. It's not just pure number of nameplates you're on. It's more about what are those take rates. Operator: I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Josh O'Berski for closing remarks. Josh O'Berski: Thank you, everyone, for your time and questions. We hope you have a great weekend. This concludes our call. Operator: Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Procter & Gamble's quarter end conference call. Today's event is being recorded for replay. This discussion will include a number of forward-looking statements. If you will refer to P&G's most recent 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reports, you will see a discussion of factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these projections. As required by Regulation G, Procter & Gamble needs to make you aware that during the discussion, the company will make a number of references to non-GAAP and other financial measures. Procter & Gamble believes these measures provide investors with useful perspective on underlying business trends. and has posted on its Investor Relations website, www.pginvestor.com, a full reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. Now I will turn the call over to P&G's Chief Financial Officer, Andre Schulten. Andre Schulten: Good morning. Joining me on the call today is John Chevalier, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. I will start with an overview of results for the first quarter of fiscal '26 and spend a few minutes on strategy and innovation, and we'll close with guidance for fiscal '26 and then take your questions. First quarter results reflect strong execution of our integrated strategy in a difficult geopolitical competitive and consumer environment. This marks 40 consecutive quarters of organic sales growth and keeps us on track for the tenth consecutive fiscal year of core EPS growth. Organic sales rounded up to 2%. Volume was in line with prior year. Pricing and mix were each up 1%. Growth continues to be broad-based across categories and regions, with 8 of 10 product categories growing or holding organic sales. Skin & Personal Care led the growth, up high single digits. Hair Care, Grooming, Personal Health Care, Home Care and Baby Care each grew low singles. Oral Care and Feminine Care were in line with prior year, and Fabric Care and Family Care were each down low single digits. 6 of 7 regions held or grew organic sales. Focus markets were up more than 1%. Organic sales in North America were up 1%. Consumption in our categories decelerated throughout the quarter, with unit volumes essentially flat for both markets and P&G brands. Price mix added a point of growth. The pricing for innovation and supply chain costs that was announced on June 15 went into effect on September 15. This caused some trade inventory volatility in the quarter, but shipments were largely in line with offtake for the full quarter. European focus markets organic sales were equal to prior year with strong growth in France and Spain, offset by a softer period in Germany and Italy. Greater China organic sales grew 5%, another quarter of sequential improvement and positive momentum. 6 of 7 categories grew organic sales in quarter 1 with Pampers and SK-II each growing double digits. This progress is the result of interventions made across the digital commerce and distributor business, along with strong innovation and execution of the integrated strategy. Enterprise markets grew more than 1% for the quarter. Latin America organic sales were up 7%, with strong growth across Mexico, Brazil and the balance of smaller markets in the region. Organic sales in the European enterprise region were in line with prior year and the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa enterprise region was down low singles. Global aggregate market share was down 30 basis points, 24 of our top 50 category country combinations held or grew share for the quarter. On the bottom line, core earnings per share were $1.99, up 3% versus prior year. On a currency-neutral basis, core EPS also increased 3%. Core gross margin was down 50 basis points and core operating margin was equal to prior year. Strong productivity improvement of 230 basis points with healthy reinvestment in innovation and demand creation. Currency-neutral core operating margin was up 40 basis points. Adjusted free cash flow productivity was 102%, a very strong Q1 results. We returned $3.8 billion of cash to shareowners this quarter, EUR 2.55 billion in dividends and EUR 1.25 billion in share repurchases. In summary, a solid quarter to start the year in what continues to be a challenging environment, including heightened competitive activity in the U.S. and in Europe. Moving on to strategy. Given the market and competitive challenges we face now is the time for increased investment in and flawless execution of our integrated growth strategy consumer firmly at the center of everything we do. We will drive superiority in every part of our portfolio across all value tiers where we play, all retail channels and all consumer segments we serve to grow categories, provide value to consumers and customers and create value for shareowners. We will strengthen the integration of all vectors of superiority starting with a very strong innovation program this year, building stronger core brand propositions and growing bigger adjacencies and forms to enhance consumer delight, core and more. In U.S. Fabric Care, we recently started shipments of Tide's biggest upgrade to liquid detergent in 20 years. Tide's boosted formula combines its ultimate grease and stain fighting technology with an advanced perfume innovation, resulting in laundry that's cleaner, whiter, brighter and fresher. The significant innovation on liquid detergent strengthens the core of the Tide franchise as we continue plans for expansion of Tide evo, our new laundry detergent developed on our breakthrough Functional fibers platform. evo has started its first stage of national expansion with an online launch of Tide evo Free & Gentle. evo offers superior cleaning performance in a recyclable package, no plastic bottles or water. In test market stores, evo sales have been highly incremental to category growth and retailer demand has been well above initial expectations. We're in the process of adding manufacturing capacity to prepare for an eventual national launch. We have a strong bundle of innovation launching across U.S. Baby Care business -- the U.S. Baby Care business this fall, including improvements on Pampers, Easy Ups, Swaddlers, Cruisers, and the first phase of restage to our mid-tier Pampers Baby Dry line. Each are important upgrades to drive consumer trial and delight, especially considering the ramp-up in competitive promotional activity in the category. In Greater China, premium body wash innovation on both the Safeguard and Olay brands drove 9% Personal Care growth in the quarter. Safeguard Detox Body Wash is designed to provide superior deep for cleansing and skin transformation. The recent restage across all elements of the superiority has accelerated market conversion from bars to liquids and from basic products to premium offerings. Olay premium body wash launched in July, contains Olay facial skin essence and the first ever sparkling liquid to provide visible skin benefits and an unforgettable showering experience. Since launch, the new premium line has grown over 30% in off-line channels and 80% online, driving category growth and Olay share growth. In Latin America, Personal Healthcare grew organic sales plus 15% in quarter 1, driven by improved execution of the integrated superiority strategy. The combination of strong product and packaging innovation on the Vicks brand compelling consumer communication, strong retail execution and superior consumer value drove both growth across markets and the region. Brazil led the growth up nearly 30%, along with growth in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and smaller distributor markets. Our innovation program is designed to strengthen the core brand propositions combined with full media and in-store support across the portfolio. where we add new elements to our brands, like we are doing with Tide evo, we ensure the more is sufficient in size to warrant full brand communication and go-to-market support. Superiority integrated across all 5 vectors. We will continue to accelerate productivity in all areas of our operation, including the recently announced restructuring work to fuel investments in superiority, mitigate cost and currency headwinds and drive margin expansion. We have an objective for growth savings in cost of goods sold of up to $1.5 billion before tax, enabled by platform programs with global application across categories with Supply Chain 3.0. We have line of sight to savings for improved marketing productivity, more efficiency, greater effectiveness, avoiding excess frequency and reducing waste while increasing reach. We're taking targeted steps to reduce overhead as we digitize more of our operations. Visibility to more savings opportunities is increasing as the businesses continue to build their 3-year rolling productivity master plans and as we accelerate productivity with our restructuring efforts. We will continue to actively manage our portfolio across markets and brands to strengthen our ability to generate U.S. dollar-based returns in daily use categories where performance drives brand choice. The portfolio choices we are making as part of the restructuring program include different go-to-market choices in some geographies and surgical exits of some categories, brands and product forms in individual markets. We've announced several steps so far, redesigning our business model in Pakistan to an import model with local distributors managing trade relationships, discontinuing laundry detergent bars in India and the Philippines, exiting several low-tier oral care products in some enterprise markets, focusing the Olay brand on the most productive European markets, and streamlining our grooming device portfolio and focus and enterprise markets. These steps are aimed at accelerating growth as we move further through the restructuring program. Also, these portfolio moves enable us to make related interventions in our supply chain, rightsizing right-locating production to drive efficiencies, faster innovation, cost reduction and even more reliable and resilient supply. As part of the 2-year program, we are making additional organization process and technology changes to enable an even more agile, empowered and accountable organization, making roles broader, team smaller and faster and work more fulfilling and more efficient, actively reducing, eliminating or automating internal work processes, supporting teams with data and technology to increase capacity and capability to focus on integrated plans to deliver superior propositions to our consumers versus spending time internally. We expect to reduce up to 7,000 nonmanufacturing roles or up to 15% of our current nonmanufacturing workforce over this fiscal year and fiscal '27. We're making very good progress with organization designs to deliver this objective. While not easy, we firmly believe this will further empower our highly capable and agile organization that is ready to step forward to create value for our consumers, customers and shareowners. We will continue our efforts to constructively disrupt ourselves, our industry, changing, adapting, creating new ideas, technologies and capabilities that will extend our competitive advantage. These strategic choices across portfolio superiority, productivity, constructive disruption and our organization will continue to reinforce and build on each other. We remain confident in our strategy and its importance, especially in challenging times to drive market growth and to deliver balanced growth and value creation. Long-term focus on the strength of our brands and categories is the best way to position ourselves for stronger growth when the economic climate and consumer confidence improves. This starts with a strong innovation plan and healthy investment to drive trial and user growth, the plan we are executing. As we said in the July earnings call, there are times when bigger steps are needed to both the growth and value creation. The teams are on it. Moving on to guidance for fiscal 2026. As you saw in our press release this morning, we're maintaining all guidance ranges for the fiscal year. Organic sales growth of in line to plus 4%. Global market growth for our portfolio footprint is around 2% on a value basis at the center of our guidance range. As a reminder, this guidance includes a 30 to 50 basis point headwind from product and market exits that are part of restructuring work. As we consider phasing of top line growth, recall that Q2 last year benefited from 2 spikes in orders related to port strikes. The actual port strike that took place early October and the concern of another strike in January, these dynamics will likely result in quarter 2 this year being the softest growth quarter for the year with stronger growth in the back half. On the bottom line, core EPS growth, in line to plus 4%, which equates to a range of $6.83 to $7.09 per share or $6.96, up 2% in the center of the range. While we delivered strong EPS growth in quarter 1, we expect modest earnings growth over the balance of the year as investments in innovation and competitiveness increase, particularly in the U.S. and in Europe. This outlook includes a commodity cost headwind of approximately $100 million after tax and a foreign exchange tailwind of approximately $300 million after tax. Our fiscal '26 outlook now includes approximately $500 million before tax and higher costs from tariffs. While this is an improvement to the isolated tariff impact. Keep in mind that these -- that there are other offsetting impacts, including related supply chain investments and adjustments to pricing plans also assumed in our guidance. Below the operating line, we continue to expect modestly higher interest expense versus last fiscal year and a core effective tax rate in the range of 20% to 21% for fiscal '26 combined a $250 million after-tax headwind to earnings growth. We are forecasting adjusted free cash flow productivity in the range of 85% to 90% for the year. This includes an increase in capital spending as we add capacity in several categories, and as we incur the cash cost from the restructuring work. We expect to pay around $10 billion in dividends and to repurchase approximately $5 billion in common stock, combined a plan to return roughly $15 billion of cash to shareowners in fiscal '26. This outlook is based on current market growth estimates commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. Significant additional currency weakness, commodity or other cost increases, geopolitical disruptions, major supply chain disruptions or store closures are not anticipated within the guidance ranges. So again, a solid start to the year, growing sales and earnings and returning strong levels of cash to shareowners as we look to strengthen investments in demand creation throughout the balance of the fiscal year. We continue to believe the best path to sustainable balance growth is to double down on the strategy, excellent execution of an integrated set of market constructive strategies delivered with a focus on balanced top and bottom line growth and value creation, starting with a commitment to deliver irresistibly superior propositions to consumers and retail partners. We are taking proactive steps to improve the execution of the strategy and our ability to deliver our growth and value-creation objectives. With that, we'll be happy to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Dara Mohsenian of Morgan Stanley. Dara Mohsenian: So I just wanted to touch on the restructuring you announced back in June, given you're now a few months into putting the initial plans into place. A, just how do you think the organizational changes are being received internally by your workforce, given there's a significant reorg and also rationalization of the job roles at P&G? And then just b, the context externally is a more difficult top line environment in general in CPG, that's also volatile. So I just love a high-level overview of what the reorg does for the organization and P&G's competitiveness relative to that challenging broader industry landscape. Andre Schulten: Dara, thanks for the question. Yes. So let me both -- take both elements here in turn, starting with the progress we are making. We are right now perfectly on track on all elements of the restructuring execution. This is never easy, especially when we're talking about reducing our enrollment. I think the organization is taking it in stride because the mission is clear. We have now constructive plans in every business around the world on which roles to reduce and how to organize ourselves with the vision of creating a more agile and faster executing -- better executing organization for the future. So if you go through the 3 components of the restructuring program. On the portfolio side, this is just the regular execution of portfolio discipline. We have now reviewed all brand country and category combinations to ensure that we can add value and in those where we found that we cannot add value, you see us changing the business model or reallocating resources. You heard us just talk about the projects that we can announce today, which is the business model change in Pakistan and some of the portfolio streamlining across our Fem care business et cetera. So those elements are now clearly defined. We are working through the execution, and I feel very good about the progress we are making. We'll end up with a faster-growing and more effective portfolio when we're done. On the supply chain side, these portfolio choices give us flexibility to take another look at our supply chain. And again, I think the product supply teams around the world now have firmly confirmed what the interventions are they want to make, and we are in execution mode. This will give us both a cost savings element but also an agility and supply assurance element which we feel very good about. The third component, the up to 7,000 non-manufacturing head count reduction really is the enabler for us to create smaller teams that are better set up. We are fully digitally enabled data access and analysis to focus on the consumer and focus on brand building. And those org designs have now been developed. They are slightly different in every category as they should be because the context and the work in every category is different but they have the consistent objective to create smaller teams that are focused on the brand. They are digitally enabled, and we're building some of these technologies and platforms globally. Some of them are individual. And they will ultimately result in what I see as the third step of the organization evolution when we went from the ticket to fully enabled category end-to-end now to smaller brand teams that are enabled by technology to be much faster and much more consumer-centric. And that, combined with Supply Chain 3.0, which will change the way that our supply chain operates via automation and digital towards is very exciting for us. The short-term benefit is cost and fuel for us to be able to invest over the next 12 to 18 months into the very strong innovation programs that we're launching. I think the longer-term benefit is just an even strengthened portfolio and a strengthened organization. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Peter Galbo of Bank of America. Peter Galbo: Andre, I just wanted to maybe click in a bit more on some of the subcategories in North America. And in particular, on Fabric Care, and Baby Care, where you noted a bit more, I think, competitive activity. Obviously, there's a list of innovation that you outlined over the coming year. But maybe you can just give us a bit more detail on what you're seeing real time from a competitive standpoint, both in North America Fabric Care and Baby Care. Andre Schulten: Yes, Peter, look, both are obviously big and important categories for us. And as you will have seen in the results, both are not delivering at the level that we want them to deliver. And as you pointed out, what we see is a heightened competitive environment, which is not unexpected, where consumers are a bit more careful in terms of purchase decisions and consumption. The market gets tighter. And some of the response -- competitive response is increased promotion and that's certainly what we're seeing both in Fabric Care and in Baby Care. Our response to a more competitive environment has to be a more integrated answer, which is what we are executing across both baby and Fabric Care. So when we talk about driving integrated superiority, that's what we mean. And while value or promotion might be a component to that answer, the real solution here to create sustainable growth is to drive innovation and drive superiority, communicate that innovation with the right claims, meaningful to the consumer, meaningful to the retailer, get the retailer support online and in physical stores and thereby create value for the consumer that is attractive. Where we've done that, specifically on Baby Care, we're seeing the results. So we've continued to innovate and stay ahead on Swaddlers, on Cruisers 360, on the pants business, and we continue to do so, and we see share growth. We have intervened on the value tier with Luvs Platinum innovation which we've launched in the fall of last year, and we have been able to grow share even competing in what is probably the most pressured tier within the Baby Care portfolio. And we are now expanding that same approach to the mid-tier, launching the first wave of Baby Dry, which is our mid-tier innovation in the fall. And the second part of that innovation in the spring and we are confident that the share pattern will follow the same playbook as we've seen. You've heard us talk about the innovation in Fabric here. The Tide liquid innovation is truly exciting. The biggest upgrade in 20 years, a significant investment, great commercialization. We believe that is the right answer to drive trade-in, trade-up and continue to create category growth. We're adding on Tide evo, which will add a completely new form to the category. And again, that's the path forward to drive category growth, share growth in a sustainable way. Last comment, this plan takes longer. It's not as easy as throwing promotion funding out there. But again, we believe that is the way to both create value for our consumers and for our retail partners and shareholders. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Lauren Lieberman of Barclays. Lauren Lieberman: Just wanted to touch on the market share stats, the global market share down 30 basis points. I know that can be very impacted by geographic mix to some elements, but even just at the 24 of 50 category country combinations are holding or gaining share is on the low side. So I'm asking for you to walk through the 26 that are troubled. Maybe just where might you call out some particular hotspots of activity things where is it a matter of macro and positioning and relative affordability at this time? Is it a matter of the innovation that's yet to come, you think will be the answer, but it was a pretty stark statistic, and I'd love to get your thoughts on that. Andre Schulten: Lauren. Yes, global aggregate share, as you point out, is down 30 basis points over the past 3 and past 6 months. if you look the past 1 month, we're closer to flat. So the last reading is minus 0.1%, but I would view that as normal variability. I think the hotspot. So let's talk with the U.S. Let's start with the U.S. I think we're coming from a very strong base period. And there are some categories where we clearly see increased promotional activity. We touched on Baby Care. We've seen very aggressive rollbacks and promotion activity in the Baby Care mid-tier section. We also see very intense promotions in Fabric Care. We've seen a period of intense promotion in Oral Care. So certainly, the competitive aggressiveness has increased. And the way we respond is more structural. It takes a bit more time. While we will remain value competitive in the short term. We truly believe the right answer here is to drive integrated superiority with innovation and investment in our brands. And the positive read of the U.S. shares would be that if you look sequentially, we are actually increasing absolute share. So past 12, past 6, past 3, past 1 month, our absolute share in the U.S. went from $33.6 to $33.9 to $34.1 to $34.9. So absolute shares are moving in the right direction. We are still annualizing a relatively high base period, but the plans are clearly in place, I think, to exit the year with share growth in the U.S. Europe is a very similar situation. Competitors have been not very active over the past years, and we see some of our competitors headquartered in Europe, get back in the arena which, if it's driven by innovation is a good thing in our mind. It drives attention to the categories. But in some cases, it's also very heavy promotion. So if you look at Fabric Care, for example, in our Germany business, we were up last year same quarter, 33%. We are down this year because we have competitive activity in the market. the playbook is the same. We will continue to invest in integrated superiority. On the other hand, if I look at our China business, very strong progress. We probably started the right interventions in China because of a difficult market environment earlier about 2 years ago. And with the interventions in innovation, the interventions in go-to-market capability, we now see solid progress in a difficult market environment, again, China Mainland up 6%, SK-II up, Baby Care up 20%. So it gives us confidence that these interventions were driving. They take some time, but they ultimately result in what we want in terms of market growth and share growth. Last example I'll give you on the success. If we do this right, is Latin America, again, 7% growth in the quarter, broad-based in Mexico, in Brazil and in a lot of smaller markets driven by a strong portfolio with strong innovation. Operator: Your next question today will come from the line of Steve Powers of Deutsche Bank. Stephen Robert Powers: Andre, maybe talk a little bit more elaborating on China picking up on what you had just spoken to. A good result this quarter with Greater China, up 5%. Maybe just a little bit more perspective about what you've seen evolving on the ground in that market, how the business was trending entering the quarter versus how it exited. And just how confident you are in the relative progress you've seen so far just sustaining through the year? Andre Schulten: Thank you, Steve. Let me maybe start with the team on the ground and the interventions they have made. I think it was clear to the team that the consumer environment will not get easier. The competitive environment will not get easier. And therefore, we had to fundamentally change many of the variables that drive the business. And that's, I think, what the China team has done very successfully. They basically lifted up every part of the business model across all categories. They completely changed the go-to-market model, including the incentive system for the distributor network, which is critical in China. They've launched consistently strong innovation grounded in local insights. When I think about our Baby Care business growing 20%, that certainly is driven by absolutely superior consumer insights and innovation that matches those insights. And lastly, they've changed the way we communicate with consumers and the way we collaborate with our most strategic customers, many of them online businesses. So all of that has resulted in, I think, a good turn of the business. It is China. So I'm not pretending that this will be a straight line. this can go up and down. But now we have 2 points on -- that we can connect and both points are pointing in the right direction. But again, I would urge us to be also cognizant of the fact that we're dealing with a volatile market environment. A couple of examples that we are particularly proud of, number one, SK-II, just the discipline with which the team worked on the brand fundamentals on strong innovation, having the courage to launch a super premium in addition to the core I think is paying dividends. SK-II up 12% and even the travel retail business has now turned positive. We have streamlined our Fabric Care portfolio, launched innovation that is truly superior. The business is up 5 points. The Hair Care business where we've been able to innovate is growing. And on the Skin Care business, the mass Skin Care business, Olay is growing and Skin & Personal Care in aggregate is growing 8%. And I mentioned Baby Care. So while the consumer sentiment is still somewhat less confident. I think the team has found a way to break through. Don't expect it will be a straight line, but I feel very good about the progress we've made. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Rob Ottenstein of Evercore. Robert Ottenstein: Great. I want to swing back to the U.S. and there was a lot of talk about the need for competitive promos that are going on in the market. And I guess my question is, as you look at the other side of that, which is the consumer side and the research you're doing on the consumer, has affordability become a bigger driver of consumer choice in the quarter? Do you expect that to continue? And then specifically, if that is the case, that it is a bigger driver, how do you look to address affordability apart from innovations, but looking at whether it's a change in shift in channel strategy, RGM, price pack architecture, other ways to get at affordability issues. Andre Schulten: Thanks, Robert. I wouldn't call it affordability. I would say value is clearly in the center of the equation and value defined as price over integrated performance, which is the other 4 vectors that we're talking about. We continue to see consumers trade up, price/mix is positive, mix is positive in the U.S., where the value equation is attractive for consumers. In some channels, we see the majority of growth in our categories in the premium end, not in the value end of the lineup. We also see continued decline of private label. Actually, private label shares in the U.S. are now down 50 basis points. So for the first time, private label shares dropping below 16%. And which was kind of the historical threshold. And as I mentioned, our sequential value share is actually improving by more than 1 point even though we've not quite caught the base period yet. I think the right answer to the environment we're in is to serve the consumer where they want to shop and with the cash outlay and the value tier that they are prepared to go after. And I think we have built very strong price ladders across different pack sizes. We continue to optimize those. So we find in some channels that we might have crossed price points relative to competitive offerings we need to adjust. We will adjust those quickly. But we are present in every channel across the U.S. so we can compete with the right price points, both on shelves and in promotion as we need to. We continue to innovate across every value tier. You heard me talk about Luvs, for example, in Baby Dry -- in Baby Care, but we're also innovating at the top end, and both are successful if we do it if we do it right. I think the channel play is interesting because the consumers continue to move into a good part of the consumer continues to move into larger pack sizes. They shop in mass, in club and online. And so we need to make sure that we have the right value offering there, and we're working on that with all of our retail partners. And then some consumers continue to live paycheck to paycheck, and they are looking for smaller cash outlay. They're really looking at low promoted prices so they can stretch the paycheck a little bit longer and we're, again, very intentionally driving our competitiveness there. But again, I come back to where I started. I wouldn't say it's affordability. I think it's sharper value and how we present that value to the consumer is critical. And we don't believe it's just price. We believe it's the combination of all factors that we need to integrate. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Chris Carey of Wells Fargo Securities. Christopher Carey: I wanted to follow up on your commentary in China, Andre, I think it sounds like SK-II and Olay and as such, your broader personal care business in China were similar to last quarter. Correct me if that's wrong, but I do think it implies then that you're seeing improvement in businesses outside of that Skin & Personal Care segment in China. Would you agree with that assessment and are you seeing signs that improvement is durable? Or were there any factors that are specific to the quarter that may have helped that business. So I just wanted to test that just a little bit. Andre Schulten: Yes. Chris, no, good pressure test. You're right. I think we're seeing our Skin and Personal Care business is moving along. It's slightly accelerating in terms of growth rate, but we see consistency in terms of results getting better. We also see the other categories picking up pace. As I mentioned, Fabric Care is up now 5%. We made portfolio interventions. We have strong innovation out there. We're driving distribution. Our Fem Care business is growing. Our Hair Care business is growing with a more streamlined and focused portfolio. Baby Care continues to accelerate with 20% growth. So the breadth is comforting. And the other comforting fact is that we understand what we did and what it's doing in the market. So our approach to how we define the priority and how we execute it, I think it's paying dividends. So that's reassuring that better consumer understanding, innovation that is grounded in that understanding with better shelf and retail execution, online and in stores is paying dividends. So I have a high level of comfort with the results and the breadth of results and how we accomplish them. It's still China. So we will continue to observe. I would -- we continue to expect some volatility here. We continue to expect strong competitive activity. But if I had to summarize, I think we are well positioned to continue to build the business in China. The market, hopefully, will strengthen over time, which will be a tailwind, and we'll keep track of where we are over the next 2 quarters. Operator: Your next question today will come from the line of Andrea Teixeira of JPMorgan. Andrea Teixeira: I was trying to -- Andre to dive into a little bit more on the price/mix and then by categories. I know you had invested more in Luvs and in particular, in diapers in the U.S. So I was hoping to see if you've seen response from the consumer. You did say that consumers in general have been into premiumization, but obviously, that's a picture -- overall picture. I wonder if you can kind of give us some examples of ways the Procter has been more active in pivoting for that low-income consumer and in categories where they are looking for value not only in diapers but also in paper goods. Andre Schulten: Thanks, Andrea, for the question. The first part of my answer will sound familiar, but where we choose to play, we choose to be superior. And that's across all value tiers. So when we innovate, we innovate across all tiers. So for example, the most recent Auto Dish innovation on Cascade was a formula upgrade across the super premium, the premium and the mid-tier. As we've talked many times on this call already, we've upgraded our product lineup on the super premium, the premium side and diapers the value side of diapers and we are about to upgrade the mid-tier. The same is true across categories. In Olay, for example, the most successful lineup is the super serum lineup right now, and that's at a premium to the market. And we're driving innovation on the Jars business with better execution, better packaging, a shelf reset, which is going into the market starting in O&D. And when we get this right, the consumer responds. We see volume share growth and value share growth, and we see trade in and trade up, which is ultimately what we're trying to accomplish. So when we're upgrading Tide liquid, we're also upgrading the other forms and tiers within the laundry lineup, for example, we're upgrading the gain lineup as well. And that combination of tier approach with the right pack sizes, as Robert pointed out, with the right channel distribution and the right promotion strategy to drive trial is what drives the response. Now we've not done that across the full portfolio in the U.S. And that's really the work that we are approaching over quarter 2, quarter 3 and quarter 4 that is enabled by the productivity progress, by the restructuring that allows us to push the investment, and I feel very good about the aggregate of the plan, but you're pointing exactly at the right thing. We need to be sharp on integrated superiority in every value tier in which we play. If we do that, the consumer response, and we have the examples that I just mentioned to confirm that, that still works. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Filippo Falorni of Citi. Filippo Falorni: Andre, I wanted to ask on some of the items that you called out in the guidance. You clearly lowered the headwind from commodities and tariffs. So maybe if you can give us some more color on what drove that lower headwind on those 2 items. And then if you sum up all the items that you call out, it's now like a $0.19 headwind before it was $0.39. So you have some flexibility about $0.20, but obviously, the EPS guidance is unchanged. So can you walk us through like what is the offsetting factor? It seems like there's probably more investment in promotion in marketing to offset some of the competitive environment that you're seeing in the promotional environment. But maybe help us understand where is the incremental $0.20 of benefit being invested in. Andre Schulten: Thanks, Filippo. The commodity headwinds, you see the news on the petro complex oil is not -- is coming down. That's helping us from the energy side. And the tariff environment continues to be volatile, but the biggest help on tariffs has been exclusion of materials, natural materials and ingredients that cannot be grown in the U.S. So when you think about eucalyptus pulp, when you think about psyllium, which is the core ingredient in some of our PHC products that is imported from India. So the administration having an open year to adjust policy where product or ingredients cannot be produced in the U.S. retaliatory tariffs coming down, Canada, resending retaliatory tariffs of 25% which just happened before the last quarterly call. And so those components in aggregate are representing the commodity and tariff headwinds. On the question of guide impact. I will tell you there's really -- you called it out, right? Number one, we're in quarter 1. So it's still very early. And as you can see, the tariff environment can change very quickly. You heard the administration's comments on Canada. And so there's still volatility in the impact for the year. Number two, a lot of the commodity -- a lot of the tariff changes. So for example, Canadian tariff rescinded was linked to pricing. So as the tariff goes out, so does the pricing. So the net effect on the P&L within the year is limited. So volatility, it's still early, and you're very right, we want to absolutely preserve our ability to continue to invest because we have proof and we continue to be convinced based on the consumer reaction to where we successfully invested in integrated priority that this is the right path forward. It is the path to stimulate category growth back to 3% to 4%. and within that, the path for P&G share growth in a sustainable way. So early in the year, still volatile reserve investment. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Peter Grom of UBS. Peter Grom: So I wanted to ask a follow-up on North America. Andre, I think you mentioned consumption decelerated throughout the quarter, and you alluded to some of the phase-in considerations related to the port strike a year ago. So just maybe first, how do you see underlying category demand evolving from here? I know it might be a little bit harder now because you're lapping some of the impact, but just curious whether you would expect this deceleration to continue? And then just related on the comment on the port strikes that will make 2Q the soft this quarter. Is there a way to frame how much of an impact these laps will have? Or maybe how much of a step back you would expect from where we started the year. Andre Schulten: Peter. Look, I think the North America consumption decelerated. So that's correct. We are -- we probably entered the year at about a strong 2%, 2.4% value consumption. We're now a weaker 2. So 1.8%, 1.9%. Some of that is just variability of base periods. But I do believe that for the next 2 quarters, the consumption will be around the 1.5% to 2% range. And as you said, particularly in quarter 2, because of the port strike in October and then the threatened port strike in January, what we expect to see is that the run rates of consumption, both on the market side and P&G side is probably going to continue. But you have a point higher base period. So that's probably the best way I can describe what we're expecting. And if there's 2 things you need to take away is quarter 2 is going to be lower than quarter 1 and half 2 is going to be higher than half 1. That's about the best logic I can give you. Over time, maybe last comment in the not too far future, if we are successful with everything we're doing with the investment, we expect category growth to return to 3%, both in the U.S. and at a global level. And again, that's job 1, 2 and 3, drive more users in the category, drive more usage and drive value per use. That's how we get back to 3%. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Olivia Tong of Raymond James. Olivia Tong Cheang: Two questions for you, Andre. First, in terms of the regional outlook. Obviously, you just talked about the U.S., you've been pretty guarded in terms of China. But what about rest of world, just thinking through dynamics with respect to demand, how the consumer is doing in Western Europe and Latin America, in particular. And then in terms of some of the restructuring actions that you've taken, you mentioned some of the portfolio changes in the Middle East and then also in Fem Care. If you -- can you expand on that a little bit in terms of potentially bigger changes to the portfolio to make a step change in terms of the growth trajectory, either more culling -- more substantial culling of the portfolio or potentially looking the opposite way in terms of filling some of the gaps with inorganic growth. Andre Schulten: Thanks, Olivia. Dynamics in Western Europe, very similar to North America, volume growth in the categories that we're in about 1%, value growth, around 2% weak 2%, and effectively, the same dynamics I described in North America. L.A. continues to be strong. We saw 7% growth in the quarter. Last quarter was very strong. And we continue to drive market growth in the region. Strength in Brazil, up 6% or 7%, Mexico up 4%. So the LA region is doing well from a consumer standpoint and from a P&G standpoint. Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe enterprise markets more muted, both geopolitically from a consumer standpoint and from a competitive standpoint, I expect that not to change. So in aggregate, I would say, enterprise markets probably around 3%, 4% developed markets, Europe, North America, around 2%. China is the wild card, still negative in terms of market growth. But again, we're making good progress. So that's as much perspective as I can give you. On the bigger portfolio changes, look, the portfolio actions we are executing are really on the fringes, right? We are making sure that we do what we should do is ensure that we can create value in every category country combination in which we are, and if not, make the appropriate changes. And the type of change you've seen us announce in this release, that's about the type of change you should expect. There's nothing more dramatic that we're planning to do. We're very comfortable with the core portfolio that we're in. We've chosen these 10 categories very carefully and we continue to believe these are attractive categories in which P&G can continue to drive growth. We have talked about the growth opportunities within the existing portfolio across regions driving our brands in North America, serving underserved consumers in North America is a $5 billion opportunity, getting Europe consumption in the European markets to best-in-class in Europe from a household penetration standpoint is $10 billion. And driving enterprise market penetration in those markets that are similar to GDP per capita as Mexico, to the same level of consumption in those categories in Mexico is about $15 billion. And as I said last time, these are numbers on the piece of paper until you start allocating resources to those ideas, and that's exactly what we're doing. That's exactly why we want flexibility to invest. So we can drive the consumer insights, we can drive the innovation that goes after these growth opportunities. And if you add them up, you find that they will allow us to grow with an algorithm for the next 5 to 10 years. So there's no need to have any transformational acquisition on inorganic growth opportunity added. If there is an attractive opportunity, we'll always look at it. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Nik Modi of RBC Capital Markets. Nik Modi: Andre, I was hoping maybe you can just kind of opine on agentic commerce and how you think P&G can leverage some of the advantages you have in kind of the brick-and-mortar shopping environment to this kind of new world that we're walking into, especially given the announcement with OpenAI and Walmart. So just any thoughts you have. I mean, the big question I have is just how do suppliers get their products in the actual basket if people are shopping through prompts? Any thoughts would be helpful. Andre Schulten: Thank you, Nik. Indeed an interesting question. And the way I think about it is it is all opportunity, right? I mean if you think about it, we're in business for 187 years. We went from Kendall store to supermarkets to hypermarkets to online shopping to social commerce, all an opportunity. We went from newspaper ads to radio to TV to Internet to social media, all an opportunity. So I think it's about getting ready for that reality. And I do believe that it opens up new possibilities for brands to make themselves visible. And it all comes back to the underlying fundamentals, do you understand the consumer, do you understand how they look for information, how the agent will find your product, how the agent will extract the information to decide whether your product should be in the basket or not and how you work with your retail partners to ensure that you have the best understanding and the best access to these algorithms so that you can communicate your superior brand proposition every day and every shopping opportunity. And that's the path forward. I feel we're well positioned. I feel our data infrastructure, our consumer understanding, our collaboration with retail partners is very good. And so again, for me, this is all opportunity. Operator: Your next question will come from the line of Kaumil Gajrawala of Jefferies. Kaumil Gajrawala: Just a couple of clarifying questions. There was a commentary around tariffs and sort of natural products being exempted as Were there any particular deals or maybe just that the threat wasn't as much as what perhaps you had estimated earlier. And then on China, a lot of conversations around distribution and distribution changes. Was there anything onetime in there as it relates to sort of a near-term benefit from flipping into a new distribution structure? Or is what we're seeing more related to an improvement in consumption. Andre Schulten: Thanks, Kaumil. The change on the tariff side was before these products or these materials and ingredients were included in the overall tariff structure. And I think what the administration that has done is basically grant exceptions, broad exceptions in some of these tariff frameworks for those materials that cannot be grown in the U.S., which is highly appreciated and makes sense. On the China question, we've made these interventions on distribution network in the fall -- summer and fall of last year. I know there were not any onetime distribution gains that drive these results. It is just a streamlining and changing the incentive system for the distributor network. So we have fewer distributors. They are better aligned to what we're trying to do in terms of quality execution in stores and online, and that is starting to pay dividends. So this is not a onetime effect or onetime bump. This is actually the new go-to-market approach starting to pay dividends. And if everything goes well, I expect that benefit to actually slowly accelerate over time. Operator: Your final question today will come from the line of Robert Moskow of TD Cowen. Xin Ma: This is Victor on for Rob Moskow. Two for me as well. So I think previously, there was a discussion of taking a mid-single-digit pricing on about 25% of your U.S. SKUs to mitigate the tariff impact. So now that the tariff impact is half of what it was before curious on how that affects your pricing strategy, if at all? And then on LATAM, we've heard from competitors of consumer weakness and from a challenging macro backdrop, are you seeing this impact your trends at all? And if so, how are you performing so well? And did you gain other category share in the region? Andre Schulten: On the pricing question, yes, we've taken in the U.S., we've announced pricing in July. It's gone into effect in September. Most of the pricing was innovation-driven and in aggregate, it's about a 2%, 2.5% price increase across the entire portfolio. The underlying tariffs that have contributed to the need for pricing has not really changed. The biggest change in the tariff exposure has been retaliatory tariffs on the other side. And those pricing effects have been taking out, I was talking about Canada. But in the U.S., the majority of the pricing was underlying innovation-based with tariffs being a contributor, but not the main contributor, so no change to pricing approach. I think we've talked about the consumer backdrop in the U.S., plenty. We've talked about the share development. While we haven't fully annualized our base, we continue to make sequential progress in absolute share, and we expect to exit the U.S. with neutral to share growth by continuing to give the consumers better value propositions, we are integrated superiority every day. So I'll bring it back to integrated superiority to end the call. So if there are no more questions, I want to thank you for your time, and thank you for your support of the company. We continue to double down on the strategy. We feel we are well set up both from a funding standpoint, from a strategy standpoint with the right innovation at hand, and we'll continue to drive forward. Thank you very much. Operator: This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect, and have a great day.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the Minerals Technologies Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Lydia Kopylova, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Lydia Kopylova: Thank you, Gary. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today's call will be led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Doug Dietrich; and Chief Financial Officer, Erik Aldag. Following Doug and Erik's prepared remarks, we'll open it up to questions. As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our earnings release and on this slide. Our SEC filings disclose certain risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Please also note that some of our comments today refer to non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation to GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings release and in an appendix of this presentation, which are posted on our website. Now I'll turn it over to Doug. Doug? Douglas Dietrich: Thanks, Lydia. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining today. I'll start today's call with a review of our third quarter, followed by an update on what we're seeing across our key end markets. I figure it would be helpful to provide some perspective on how our markets have changed over the past year and how they continue to move within the global economic context. I then want to highlight some of the recent investments we've made to support the long-term growth we are seeing across several of our product lines. Erik will then take you through the detailed financials and share our outlook for the fourth quarter, and then we'll open it up to questions. Let me start with our Q3 numbers. We had strong execution across our business. delivering solid financial results despite facing mixed market conditions, which I'll get into a bit later. Our sales increased 1%, both sequentially and over last year to $532 million. Operating income came in at $78 million and earnings per share were $1.55, a company record for the third quarter. Cash flow was strong and was up 24% year-over-year. We continue to strengthen our balance sheet, providing us with a financial foundation from which we can evaluate different investments and opportunities to drive growth. We also returned $20 million to our shareholders in the quarter and last week announced a 9% increase to our regular quarterly dividend, making this the third consecutive year that MTI has had a dividend increase. We recognize our sales growth has been sluggish this year due largely to the softer market conditions we've been experiencing in residential and commercial construction, heavy truck and agricultural equipment markets and in Europe in general. These softer market conditions have largely offset the growth we are seeing in many of our other product lines where we are executing on opportunities in markets that are structurally expanding and where we have built a distinct competitive advantage. I'll highlight some of these specific investments and opportunities in a moment and outline how they will set us up for meaningful expansion across several product lines, both in the near and long term. But first, let me provide an update on our current market conditions. As a general overview, after the first quarter, most of our end markets have been and remain relatively stable. A few continue to be weaker than last year, and we expect them to remain so through the fourth quarter. Let's start with our Household & Personal Care product line. Pet litter market conditions in North America and Europe have remained stable and at similar levels compared to last year. We continue to see discounting activities from branded producers in North America, and in response, we've worked with our customers to make promotional adjustments to the products we supply them. These activities have had a positive impact on our sales volumes and profits. The pet litter market in Asia, and more specifically, China, continued to show strong growth. Our volumes are momentum there, and we are making investments to support this long-term growth. In our other consumer these markets, demand for our natural oil purification and animal health products has been strong, with our sales this year up 18% and 12%, respectively, and we see this trend continuing. In Specialty Additives, we're facing mixed market conditions in paper and packaging. Asia continues to be a market with good opportunities for us to expand our base business and introduce new technologies. However, this year, North America demand has been weaker. Elsewhere in this product line, demand in the residential construction market has been relatively flat all year. We did see some signs of further softening late in the third quarter, which may make it a slower end of the year. For our high-temperature technologies product line, conditions have remained relatively stable for steel production in the U.S. with utilization rates remaining in the mid to upper 70% range. It is not the highest level we've seen over the past 2 years, but healthy enough for stable volumes. Europe continues to be more of a challenge with steel utilization rates dropping below 60% this year. The U.S. foundry market has also remained relatively steady for most of the year, buoyed by stable auto production. Two areas that have been soft for this business all year are the agricultural equipment market and heavy truck markets. When these markets begin to rebound, they will provide good eye for foundry demand. The China foundry market has remained relatively strong this year despite the impact of tariffs and ongoing trade disputes. In fact, we've seen strong volume across our metalcasting business there with year-to-date volumes up over 10% from last year. In environmental and infrastructure, commercial construction remains slow compared to historical levels, and these similar conditions exist for the environmental lining and remediation markets. We expect to see some improvement in project activity as interest rates ease and projects are financed. We are already specified on several large commercial and environmental projects and expect an inflection in this product line sales when these projects commence. Elsewhere, we've seen strong pull for our infrastructure drilling products this year, increased geothermal drilling and fiber optic cable installation has been driving the increased demand. As you can see, we continue to experience mixed conditions across our end markets. But despite the impact these conditions are having on our top line this year, our team has navigated these conditions to maintain margins, profits and cash flow. At the same time, we've not deviated from our focus on investments in technologies and markets where we see the biggest growth opportunities, which I'll go into more detail on the next slide. We've spoken about our strategy to build positions in higher growth markets. Markets with economic or macro trends where we can deploy new technologies or expand our existing technologies to drive higher levels of growth and balance the more cyclical portions of our company. We've been executing on these opportunities, expanding our pet care business, investing in technology serving a variety of consumer-driven end markets, and deploying new technology in some of our more traditional businesses like refractories and paper and packaging to expand our value proposition globally. As you've likely seen, we announced a few recent investments made in support of these strategies, and I want to highlight a few of them to remind you of the opportunity we continue to see. Let's start with a few opportunities in our Consumer and Specialty segment. In our pet care business, we remain confident in the long-term growth trends of this market and in the private label portion in particular. We expect the North America pet litter market to continue to grow by 3% to 4% and in the Asia market to grow by 6% to 8% per year over the long term. Over the past 5 years, our pet litter business has grown organically at a 9% compound rate. Adjusted for the 2 acquisitions we've made over this period. To support this continued growth, we recently made investments at our plants in Dyersburg, Tennessee; Branford, Ontario, and Chaoyang City in China. We've broadened these plant manufacturing capabilities to increase throughput, lower cost and offer greater packaging flexibility to meet customer demand. Dyersburg and Branford are both strategically located and well connected to large portions of the North America market. These recent investments to expand capacity upgrade capability at these sites enabled us to secure some significant contracts beginning in 2026. In China, we've outgrown our existing facility and are bringing online a completely new one to meet the demand that we are seeing from this rapidly growing pet litter market. The upgrades across these 3 plants are expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and will fortify our position as the largest high-quality private label cat litter supplier to customers around the world. In our natural oil purification product line, we announced an investment at our plant in Turkey to support the significant growth we are seeing in this market. Since 2018, our Bleaching Earth business has grown at a compound rate of 20%, and this is our third expansion since we opened the facility to support this level of revenue growth. Our facility in Turkey at both mines the raw materials and manufactures absorbents and Bleaching Earth products sold under the brand name Rafinol , which are used for the purification of edible oils and renewable fuels. Including biodiesel, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel. The market opportunity here is significant. The global natural oil purification market size was $1.1 billion in 2024. The renewable fuels portion accounts for over 12% of this market and is the fastest-growing segment. Demand for sustainable aviation fuel, in particular, is growing rapidly and is being bolstered by supportive regulatory changes in the U.S. and Europe. Our Rafinol product line is differentiated in the market with its high-performing absorptive properties that succeed in the most challenging applications like sustainable aviation fuel. Also worth mentioning, we've made other investments to meet the increased demand for our natural animal health products, and also for our higher tech Fabric Care solutions for dry laundry detergent. In our Paper and Packaging business, we continue to secure new contracts in Asia and in the next 6 months, we expect to commission 4 new satellites in the region. There continues to be a significant unpenetrated addressable market in Asia for our technologies. We've been driving the deployment of engineered calcium carbonate and the introduction of renewable technologies to the paper and white packaging industry as producers expand and look to upgrade their product quality. Since 2022, our volumes there have grown by 20%, including the doubling of our sales to the white packaging industry. We've always been the leader in the region and are well positioned to continue to grow by delivering the best calcium carbonate solutions including innovative technologies like NewYield. On the Engineered Solutions side, our MINSCAN installations and our Refractories business continue to go strong. We just signed our 18th MINSCAN contract and we'll be installing 6 new units this coming year. There's a large addressable market with over 130 electric arc furnaces in the U.S. and Europe capable of using MINSCAN, providing us with a significant runway to grow over the next several years. In summary, we expect these investments to generate $100 million in incremental revenue over the next 12 to 18 months as they ramp up. And these are just a few examples of the investments that we've recently made to support the growth opportunities for which we have strategically positioned ourselves. I want to be clear that these are just a subset of the initiatives that we are pursuing. Other areas like PFAS remediation, natural skin care additives, geothermal drilling products and further penetration of our greensand bond technologies into Asia are all progressing nicely as well. Together, they provide several significant pathways for us to drive sales higher going forward. And when our weaker markets begin to rebound, we see that providing additional upside to our top line growth. With that, let's have Erik take you through more detail on our third quarter financials and our fourth quarter outlook. Erik? Erik Aldag: Thanks, Doug, and good morning, everyone. I'll start by providing an overview of our third quarter results followed by a review of the performance of our segments, and I'll wrap up with our outlook for the fourth quarter. Following my remarks, I'll turn the call over for questions. Now let's review our third quarter results. Overall, our team delivered another solid performance while continuing to navigate mixed market conditions. Third quarter sales were $532 million, up 1% sequentially and 1% higher than the prior year. You can see in the sequential sales bridge on the top right, that sales increased in 3 of our 4 product lines. In Consumer & Specialties, our Household & Personal Care product line was up 2% sequentially and driven by increases in cat litter and other consumer specialties. In Specialty Additives, sales were 2% lower sequentially as we moved into the seasonally lower period for residential construction applications. In Engineered Solutions, sales in high-temperature technologies increased slightly from the second quarter as higher sales to steel customers were partly offset by lower sales to foundry customers in North America. And we saw a 5% sequential increase in our environmental and infrastructure product line, driven by increased demand for offshore services as well as infrastructure drilling products. To summarize, conditions played out mostly as we anticipated, and I'll take you through more of the details when I cover the segments in a moment. Operating income for the quarter was $78 million, down 1% sequentially and versus the prior year, and operating margin was 14.7% of sales. In the operating income bridge on the bottom right of the slide, you can see that unfavorable volume and mix primarily in the Consumer & Specialty segment impacted income directly by $1 million. And lower volume also contributed to temporarily higher operating costs at a few of our facilities in the quarter. Higher pricing of $1 million offset inflationary input costs, including higher tariff costs in the third quarter. EBITDA was $100 million, up 1% from prior quarter and prior year and EBITDA margin was 18.8%. I'd like to point out that versus the third quarter last year, we've done well to offset $10 million of higher costs, including tariff costs raw material increases, energy and temporary increases like higher logistics costs associated with our U.S. cat litter plant upgrade. We offset these cost increases with a combination of productivity improvements, supply chain actions, price increases and our cost savings program. And I would also highlight as we move through the temporary cost increases, we should see margin improvement from these actions going forward. Earnings per share, excluding special items, was $1.55 , the same level as the second quarter and up 3% from last year, representing a record third quarter for the company. We recorded special items of $7.5 million in the quarter related to litigation expenses. Now let's turn to a review of our segments, beginning with Consumer & Specialties. Third quarter sales in the Consumer & Specialty segment were $277 million, flat sequentially and down 1% from last year. In Household & Personal Care, sales improved by 2% from prior quarter to $130 million, driven by improving volumes in our cat litter business and continued progress on growth initiatives in consumer specialty applications. Most notably in edible oil and renewable fuel purification, where sales grew 18% with last year. In Specialty Additives, sales were $148 million, 2% lower sequentially. The Global Paper and Packaging volumes were flat compared with the second quarter as volume increases in Asia offset lower volumes in North America. Meanwhile, demand for residential construction products was incrementally softer in the quarter, which pulled volumes lower for the product line. Despite the volume pressure in Specialty Additives, the segment continued to build on the operating performance gains we saw in the second quarter, delivering a modest improvement to operating margin sequentially. Operating income in the quarter was $37 million, representing a 13.5% of sales. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, in Household & Personal Care, we expect continued sequential growth in cat litter, edible oil and renewable fuel purification. And in Specialty Additives, we're expecting lower sales sequentially, primarily driven by typical seasonality for residential construction products. We do expect softer-than-normal residential construction volumes in the fourth quarter as some customers are indicating they have efficient inventory levels heading into the winter months. and they are planning to adjust production schedules accordingly. Overall, for the segment, we expect sales to be flat or slightly lower sequentially. Now let's turn to the Engineered Solutions segment. Third quarter sales in the Engineered Solutions segment increased by 2% sequentially and grew 4% from prior year to $255 million. In the high temperature technologies product line, sales of $179 million were similar to prior quarter and up 2% year-over-year. Sales to steel customers in North America continued strong more than offsetting continued weakness in the Europe and Middle East steel market. Sales to foundry customers were mixed with North America volumes impacted by continued softness in the heavy truck and agricultural equipment markets, in addition to the typical third quarter customer maintenance outages. On the positive side, we saw continued strong demand across a with foundry volumes up 5% sequentially and up 17% versus prior year. In Environmental & Infrastructure, sales led by 5% sequentially and were up 9% from prior year driven by a for offshore services and strong pull for infrastructure drilling products. The segment did a nice job of mitigating tariff impacts and turned in another strong operating performance. Operating income was $45 million, and operating margin improved by 20 basis points sequentially to 17.6% of sales, a record level for the segment. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect environmental and infrastructure sales to be 10% to 15% lower sequentially and due to typical seasonality for large project activity. And in high-temperature technologies, we expect sales to be slightly lower sequentially as several of our foundry customers in North America have communicated longer than towards the end of the year. This is due to the continued softness seen in the agricultural equipment in markets and in anticipation of some acute automotive production disruptions. While these plans could change, our current outlook assumes a reduced number of foundry working days in December, along with the temporary margin impact of the associated lower productivity at our plant sites. Overall, we expect segment sales to be lower by around 5% sequentially. Now let me turn to a summary of our balance sheet and cash flow highlights. We delivered another solid cash flow performance in the third quarter. with free cash flow of $44 million. Capital expenditures totaled $27 million in the third quarter, and we remain on pace for approximately $100 million of capital investments for the full year. Some of the key investments that Doug outlined earlier will be commissioned during the fourth quarter with revenue ramping up in the beginning of 2026. And we expect that sort of cadence to continue into next year with additional start-ups expected throughout the first half. In total, we returned $20 million to shareholders in the third quarter through share repurchases and dividends in keeping with our stated balanced approach to capital deployment. Our balance sheet remains strong, and our net leverage ratio remains at 1.7x EBITDA. Below our target of 2x EBITDA. Now I'll summarize our outlook for the fourth quarter. Overall, we expect fourth quarter sales to be approximately 2% to 4% lower sequentially and primarily driven by seasonal patterns in a few of our end markets. Operating income for the quarter is expected to be between $65 million and $70 million, with earnings per share between $1.20 and $1.30. Our sales range of $510 million to $525 million considers a number of factors. On the positive side, we expect continued traction with our growth initiatives in Household & Personal Care. The cat litter business is gaining sales momentum and the fourth quarter is typically a strong one for cat litter. In addition, we expect continued growth in edible oil and renewable fuel purification. As I noted earlier, some of our customers serving the residential construction and foundry markets in the U.S. are signaling the potential for slower order patterns and extended outages around the holiday. Which would impact volumes of some relatively high incremental margin products in both our Specialty Additives and high-temperature technologies product lines. We are also watching for potential volatility in order patterns due to uncertainty around tariff policy. As we've communicated, we don't have a significant direct exposure to tariffs. However, we're mindful of potential near-term impacts on our customers. Our guidance takes all of these to accounts and where we land in the range depends on how they play out. In summary, we have positive momentum across a number of product lines as we head into the fourth quarter, and we are focused on delivering the growth initiatives that will carry this momentum into next year. With that, I'll turn the call over for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Daniel Moore with CJS Securities. Dan Moore: Pet Care. It looks like you saw an uptick in catlier volumes in Q3. How should we think about -- you described the market dynamics, how do we think about those and the potential to get your pet care business back to that kind of term mid-single-digit plus growth rate cadence, not necessarily 2026 guide, but over the next 12 to 24 months. Erik Aldag: Yes. I appreciate that. Look, Dan, as I mentioned, let me start. I'll hand it over to DJ for some details. There's been a challenging pet term market for us. But this is one year we -- I tried to make some comments to highlight, if you take a longer-term view on the market and our performance in it, we've grown organically. I mean, we pieced the business together through some acquisitions. But even adjusting for some of those over the past 2 years, the business has grown by 9% compound. This year, a little bit flatter, we've seen some dynamics in the market that haven't been seen before in terms of something. We've made those adjustments. We have to work with our customers to make those adjustments. We've done that. We've seen those the volume improve as a result. And I think that carries through the fourth quarter and into next year. The biggest thing is, I think this is a good business for us, vertically integrated. We're global, obviously the largest with the technology, and we're confident in that long-term growth rate of it, that I mentioned, 3% to 4% North America, 6% to 8% in Asia. And we're making investments to be able to support the growth that we see and what's going to be coming forward and short term next year. I'll let D.J. talk about that. But these are good investments to make this business is going to revert to that growth rate. I never said it's going to be a straight line, but we will have that business growing next year. And I'll pass it over to DJ to let's give you some details on what we're securing with some of these upgrades. D. J. Monagle: Yes. Thanks, Dan. We kind of close out some of the market dynamics and then just give you a sense of the return back to that upper single-digit growth rate. On the North American market, what we did see early on, and we had mentioned in previous calls, these battles among the brands and is the only way I would describe the significant discounting that went on the brands, that caused some pretty big market share shifts within the brands, but it also had an effect on private label. Most pronounced at some specialty pet stores and grocery stores. We want to adjust with our private label partners and come up with a promotional schemes that still keep their private label relevant. That includes price discounts, changes in packaging, changes on shelf allocation. And so we feel that, that part of the market has stabilized pretty well. Doug had mentioned some pretty significant investments that reposition us for some future growth and coming pretty quickly, Doug had mentioned some contracts. So what you'll be seeing is of some $30 million plus of growth that will be going into next year as those contracts come online, that's towards the end of the first quarter. So we feel really good about that. There's some further growth that's capable or enabled by these investments in North America, especially with the product flexibility and packaging flexibility. The other thing Doug mentioned that we're very excited about is the reinvestment or the establishment of a new facility in Asia. We outgrew our old facility. We've got a lot of pull from a wide range in the market on how to take advantage of that growing region. And the difference for Asia with us is that it's a much broader and more profound mix of branded customers, global brands that want to grow in Asia, and we're well positioned to manufacture and co-pack for them, but also supporting the regional private labels as well as an emerging e-commerce business there. So this investment does that for us. So that would be additional growth. So I think the market has stabilized. We've made some adjustments with our branded partners, and we're very well positioned to get that back on track as projected in 2026. Dan Moore: Really helpful. And just pulling on that string. With all of those investments you're making, how do we think about just the overall increase in capacity as we exit '25. Douglas Dietrich: Well, some of them in North America, so the overall increase in capacity. So we're looking at that 6% to 8%. I'll start with China. We've made this investment. It's a new facility. We've put in capacity to probably sustain it for the next 3, 4 years. It's a big enough facility that we can add additional packaging capacity to meet that growth over a longer period of time. So that one, we're starting with modular kind of growth to meet the incremental investments over the next 10 years. In North America, the investments we've made in Canada and here in the U.S. and these 2 we talked about were a lot of quality upgrades handling upgrades. Again, these are 2 acquired facilities. So these were planned a long time ago. We needed to find the right time to be able to shift production around keeping our customers supplied while we made these changes. That's a lot of the cost increase you've seen and some of the margin -- a bit of the margin deterioration you saw this year. But that's -- we're through that. And we've made upgrades to material handling, quality packaging, packaging flexibility, throughput, all of which have reduced cost as well and should accrue to profitability going forward. So it's a number of different things, but we've got plenty of capacity in these facilities to grow at those rates for I'd say the next 5 to 10 years. But again, we can also have space in them to add modular packaging capacity if we need to keep up with the market. So I think we're in good position, Dan. These investments, they're not significant huge investments for us, but they did put us in a position to be able to secure higher quality contracts. And as DJ mentioned, we see about $30 million of that coming in starting in the second quarter next year. Dan Moore: Very helpful. Switching gears, Environmental and infrastructure, little pockets of strength there at least this quarter. I know maybe a more difficult seasonally slower period that we're going into, but just talk about momentum as we kind of think about -- or to think about turning the page towards '26. Douglas Dietrich: We saw some momentum. Actually, this quarter was in our offshore water treatment business, which has been doing really well. I guess I'll start with just construction and environmental remediation, relatively flat. We've seen some projects come I mentioned were specific projects. We thought that business would probably turn this year. It still hasn't Commercial construction, large building is still relatively flat. I think when -- it's interest rate sensitive. I do think when interest rates start to move down, we will see more of that on the shelf activity come into play, and that will be positive for us. But this quarter a lot of water filtration stemming from our capability around PFAS remediation, our ability to take complex things out of water. And that was some new projects we secured offshore, and that really came through in the quarter, and we think that's sustainable through the fourth and into next year. Dan Moore: Very helpful. Just in terms of the Q4 guide, revenue down 3-ish percent sequentially at midpoint, op income down more like low teens. So a little bit of a higher decremental margin. I appreciate the color on boundaries, which is high margin. Are there other corporate incentive comp, any other expenses, which you might call out in Q4 that could pinch margins more than might be typical given the volume decline? Erik Aldag: Yes. Thanks, Dan. This is Erik. No, nothing unusual from a corporate expense standpoint in the fourth quarter. The main drivers are really the ones that I called out in the prepared remarks in terms of the mix. I mean, the markets that are down seasonally for us, Q3 to Q4 and then the foundry and some of the residential construction products that we have, those are higher incremental margin products for us. And so we do have a mix impact that goes against us in terms of the decremental margins that we're seeing Q3 to Q4. The only other thing I would highlight is we had some strong margins in the third quarter in the Engineered Solutions segment. That was continued strong performance from the team's offsetting tariffs, continued strong productivity, variable conversion cost control. We did have a couple of the equipment sales in the high-temperature technologies product line that helped margins in the third quarter, and we don't have any of those equipment sales forecasted for the fourth quarter. But as Doug mentioned, we've got about 6 to come next year in terms of those MINSCAN installations. Operator: The next question is from Mike Harrison with Seaport Research Partners. Michael Harrison: I was hoping we could talk a little bit about the margin performance in Consumer & Specialties. I think it was relatively close to where you were expecting, but you are kind of tracking like 150 to 200 basis points lower than you were last year. I was hoping that we could maybe break down or help kind of bridge some of those key factors that have driven that weaker margin performance. Maybe just talk about how you see the discounting or promotional activity in pet care. Maybe mix, maybe the volume declines in Specialty Additives and on that resi high-margin stuff as well as the temporary cost from pet care expansions like -- can you help us understand what's going on there? And then maybe just directionally help us understand what that -- as we start to think about consumer and specialty margin into next year, how some of those items should trend? Erik Aldag: Yes. Thanks, Mike. This is Erik. So I think you hit on a lot of the key themes there. And actually, for the third quarter, the margins were right where we expected them to be for the segment. The largest driver there is some of these temporary cost impacts we have. I mean we have a significant upgrade going on at one of our U.S. cat litter plants. And we've had to move around production across our footprint in North America, and there's been an increase in logistics costs as a result. So that's the primary driver of the margin pressure, I'd say, from Q2 to Q3 -- in Q2 as well as in Q3. That facility is going to be ramping up here in the fourth quarter. And so we're moving through that more temporary impact. You mentioned discounting. We're not seeing a negative margin impact because we've been helping our retail partners with discounting. And the reason for that is we've had some incremental pricing discounts on our products but it's helped with our volumes. And so as we get more volumes running through these plants, there is significant fixed cost leverage benefit that we get. And so we haven't seen margin donation from any of the discounting that we've been participating with our retail partner. As far as where this is going, the segment is set up well for 15%. We were very close to 15% last year, and we're going to get there again as we move through some of these more temporary issues. But that's our target. This segment should be delivering 15% operating margin. Douglas Dietrich: Michael, the only thing I'll add, and I'll put that same as echo what Erik just said. We'll get back to and probably exceed last year's margins in the segment. And that's going to come from a couple of things. A, the ending of the temporary logistics expense, number one, and some of the other ancillary expenses that came across as we made these investments in these facilities. Two, we have seen some lower volumes due to this discounting, which we've adjusted. And as Erik just mentioned, those volumes are coming back. That is helping profitability. And three, the additional volume that we're going to be putting through these plants next year, starting in the second quarter, is going to be very accretive to those margins. And so I think, as Erik said, we're set up to get back to last year's margins next year and probably see them with some of this additional volume. Michael Harrison: All right. That's very helpful. And then maybe just on the investments that you're making in Turkey with the Bleaching Earth for renewable fuel. . Can you help us understand what the dollar amount of that investment looks like? How much is your capacity expanding? And I guess, should we think about the investments as mostly mine expansion or is there something that you're doing on the, I guess, refining or processing side that's helping to improve your capabilities as well. Douglas Dietrich: Sure. I want to be careful about giving some information out there and how much capacity we're putting into the market. So I won't give you a ton give you a percentage. -- again, we built the facility 8 years ago. We built it with enough room to expand it. At the time, we want -- we were looking more at the edible oil market, which grows at about 3%, 4% kind of GDP business and we had a great product for that application. Since that time, we saw the development of the market for renewable fuels. And we started supplying that market probably 4 years ago, 5 years ago, and then more recently, the development of sustainable aviation fuel through regulation changes in Europe, in particular, now U.S. has really started to pull that product much harder. And so this expansion, $9 million, $10 million type expansion. We've expanded the plant by about 30% and in terms of capacity to be able to meet the growing demand. Like I said, we've been growing at about 20% per year for the past 8 years. But a large portion of what's happening is what started as a 100% edible oil kind of application and product sales has now moved probably 34% of our business is now in sustainable aviation fuel and renewable fuels. And that's growing very quickly. And so this expansion was -- it's going to supply both, but it will probably be consumed very quickly with some of the renewable fuels. We have sufficient reserves in the region for decades. And we will look probably to expand the facility again over the next 5, 6 years, depending on how the market goes. But this one is an incremental step within the current footprint. The next one might be a whole new footprint if we continue to grow at this pace. Michael Harrison: All right. Very helpful. And then last question I have is just on the cash flow and maybe some of the working capital dynamics. You mentioned the higher logistics costs, but I assume you're carrying some additional inventory in the pet care business as you work through these expansions. And then is there anywhere else that maybe inventory is a little bit elevated right now? I'm thinking, in particular, maybe MGO as you're trying to navigate or mitigate some of the tariff impacts. Just trying to think about how working title trends in Q4 and how we should think about it as we're starting to look at next year? Erik Aldag: Yes. Thanks, Mike. So in terms of working capital, AR, AP, both in good shape. We watch those metrics closely and no major changes there. We are holding on to a little more inventory, and you touched on it to a few of the spots there. a little higher inventory in pet care, but some strategic positions, I would say, in the high temperature business. MGO being one of them, every couple of years, there's a river closure in the middle of the U.S. that we have to work around and we build up some inventories to manage around those. We're going to be working through a lot of those inventory positions in the fourth quarter. And so we should be ending the year sort of at a more typical level in terms of the inventories. We'll still have some of those strategic positions in place, but more of a typical level from an inventory perspective. From a cash flow standpoint, we're expecting a strong fourth quarter as usual for the company, strong cash from ops, the free cash flow number is going to depend a little bit on the pace of some of these growth capital investments that we've talked about. We've got a number of them ramping up in the fourth quarter. And so the capital number that ends up happening in the fourth quarter could depend a little bit on the timing of how those come through. But overall, expecting a strong cash flow quarter in the fourth. Operator: The next question is from Pete Osterland with Truth Securities. Peter Osterland: I wanted to start just by following up on the recent investments across pet care and Bleaching Earth, so you've talked about an aggregate targeting $50 million of growth investments supporting $100 million of additional revenue -- just in aggregate, how much of those targets are represented by what you've already in a currently in progress. And to the extent that there's more to come, we're across your portfolio are you still targeting for additional organic growth investments? Erik Aldag: So if I understand -- Pete, this is Erik. If I understand the question correctly, the $50 million of CapEx and the $100 million of revenue that we've talked about, those are the investments that Doug laid out today in terms of the highlight on growth capital projects that we have. But importantly, that is just a subset of the growth opportunities that we have much of the opportunity we have is supported by existing capacity, and so it isn't requiring necessarily growth capital to support it. Those are just investments that we wanted to highlight supporting the growth opportunity. Douglas Dietrich: Yes. I guess I'll add, Pete, this is just -- when I look at -- when you look at those markets, and so the North America pet litter market, the Asia pet litter market, the bleaching earth market of $1.1 billion and the renewable fuels growing as the fastest segment. And then also with paper and packaging and our MI scans. -- just these investments are $100 million over the next 12 to 18 months, right? But that trend continues. That's not just the opportunity in those markets alone, right? I think just the MI scans, if you do the math on the MI scans, each MINSCAN is probably worth to us $1 million -- $1 million to $2 million depending on the size of the vessel that is going on, et cetera. So you're looking at just the 18 that we've installed are probably worth about $20-plus million of reoccurring revenue every year. And there's a whole runway of those to go. Not that we'll get 130 million of them, 100% of them, we might. But that market, that's a $0.25 billion market for us just in that product line, right? Look at the bleaching earth market with renewable fuels. We're targeting $75 million of growing this business to $75 million over the next 2 years. Pet care, we're a $400 million business. We think that business grows with some of the investments we're making to $500 million, and that's been our target for 2027. And I think we're on target for that. Given this year, it might be another 6 months, 9 months, but we're still seeing that, that business is another $100 million to grow. And these investments that we've made will support that. So all the way down the list, you're looking at hundreds of millions of dollars of opportunity that we positioned ourselves for -- these investments are the first step in tapping into them, but we've been making these investments over the past 5 years. This is our third bleaching earth expansion. We've upgraded these other facilities in pet care. Now we're upgrading these 2 or 3 key ones. And so these are investments that we've made before, we've delivered on. We're making them again, and they're setting us up for that continued growth. So I think you're going to see that. So I took your question a little bit further, but these are big opportunities, but we've positioned ourselves in these markets for these opportunities, and now we're taking advantage of. Peter Osterland: No, that's very helpful. And just kind of following up on the pet care investment specifically that you're expecting to finish by the end of '25. I guess what's the time frame to realize that run rate of incremental revenue that you discussed? I mean, is it kind of a gradual ramp throughout the course of '26, so you kind of expect that to continue driving growth into '27? Or how should we think about that? Douglas Dietrich: For pet care, in particular, as DJ mentioned, these investments will set us up for longer-term growth. But in particular, we've secured about $25 million, $30 million of contracts on an annual basis that should start to ramp up through the first, but be full run rate by the second. So I think if you snap the chalk line at the end of March and ran 12 months, we think that's $20 million, $25 million of revenue right there. So next year, probably expecting $20 million, $18 million of that $25 million to hit in pet care alone, and that's going to continue. And we've got capacity -- further capacity in China for that market that continues to grow. So we think we're getting this thing back on track. These investments position ourselves with high-quality operations, low-cost operations and strategically located to deliver on the business. And so I think you'll start to see that growth rate revert in the second quarter. Peter Osterland: Very helpful. And then just lastly, I wanted to ask for any update on Talc. It looks like litigation expenses have trended higher each quarter during this year. Just was wondering if you have any update to share on the time frame or expected cost to resolve? And would you expect that until it's resolved, with the $7.5 million of litigation expenses you saw in the third quarter, would that be the run rate of what to expect going forward? Douglas Dietrich: This quarter was a little bit higher in terms of activity. I think our average has been more $3 million to $4 million per quarter. We think it probably reverts back to that. I will say that we're continuing very diligently to work on establishing a 524G trust. There's not a lot significant in terms of updates to report this quarter. We're waiting to hear back from the Southern District of Texas District Court on a number of motions to figure out which lane we'll be in, whether it will be in the District Court or back in the bankruptcy court. And as I mentioned, we're continuing to work to establish that 524. We are wide open to getting this done and getting it done quickly. But the court systems, they take their time and they schedule themselves, and we have limited ability to kind of impact that portion of it. But -- so not a lot of progress, but rest assured, we are working to get this behind us as fairly and as finally and as quickly as possible. With regard to costs, the reserve that we have on our balance sheet, we see that as sufficient for the ongoing both establishment of the trust and the cost it's going to take to get there. So no change to what we see in terms of the reserve. Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Doug Dietrich for any closing remarks. Douglas Dietrich: Thanks, everyone, for joining this quarter. We appreciate the questions. We appreciate the attention and interest in Minerals Technologies, and we'll chat with you again at the end of January. Thank you very much. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good morning. Welcome to Megacable's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. With us this morning, we have Mr. Enrique Yamuni, CEO; Mr. Raymundo Fernandez, Deputy CEO; and Mr. Luis Zetter, CFO. Let me remind you that the information discussed at today's earnings call may include forward-looking statements on the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Megacable undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Enrique Yamuni. Sir, you may begin. Enrique Robles: Thank you, Saul. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. During the quarter, we remain firmly aligned with our strategy and continued with the execution of our expansion and network evolution projects as planned. This disciplined approach has enabled us to sustain subscriber growth above market level, positioning Megacable as the second largest operator in the country by number of broadband subscribers. The achievement reflects our commitment to becoming a leader player in Mexico telecommunications sector. A key driver of this progress has been the expansion of our infrastructure. During this period, we successfully reached our goal of doubling our infrastructure by number of homes passed compared to those at the expansion announcement, making a significant milestone 3 years into the execution of this initiative. Today, our network is capable of serving 82% of our subscriber base to fiber, a tangible result of our strategic investments. We have already captured over 50% of the subscribers originally target in those territories, and we continue working diligently to increase penetration and reach the next set of objectives. In parallel, we have made substantial progress in our network evolution project, migrating subscribers to a state-of-the-art fiber network. This effort is part of our clear vision to become a full fiber operator in the medium term, enhancing our competitive edge. We are proud to offer a robust service portfolio with competitive pricing bandwidth, tailored to evolving needs of our customers and outstanding customer service. This is evidenced by our performance in key indicators such as Net Promoter Score, which continues to improve quarter-over-quarter. Operationally, we remain focused on driving value to quality service and fair prices. In this sense, ARPU increased both sequentially and for the first time in the last 12 months on a yearly basis, thus reflecting the strength of our value proposition and the positive impact of recent commercial adjustments. From a financial standpoint, subscriber growth has consistently translated into revenue growth. Our mass market segment has maintained high single-digit growth with an acceleration observed during this period. Likewise, with consolidated EBITDA has increased its growth pace, resulting in margin expansion on a year-over-year basis, a trend we expect to sustain in the coming quarters. Our capital investment levels are showing a clear deceleration trend. Excluding extraordinary investment projects, our organic CapEx has declined to mid-teens aligning with global best-in-class telecom operators aligning the foundation for a more efficient investment structure going forward. As a result of this lower CapEx intensity and continued EBITDA growth, we are approaching our cash generation target. This year, we expect to be cash flow positive before dividend payments and very close to achieving net cash flow even after dividends. It is also worth noting that throughout this investment cycle, our debt levels have not increased significantly. We maintain a solid balance sheet with one of the lowest leverage ratios in the market. This highlights the efficiency with which we have executed our initiatives and position us well to capitalize on future strategic investment opportunities. Our financial strength has been recognized again by the rating agencies as HR Ratings confirmed -- reaffirmed our AAA rating this quarter, following Fitch's rate confirmation in the second quarter. These rating actions reflect the quality of our balance sheet, the consistency of our performance and the strength of our long-term outlook. As we approach the final quarter of the year, we remain committed to execute our fiber deployment strategy, consolidated growth in new territories and drive operational efficiency. Above all, our focus is on maximizing free cash flows and solidifying our position as Mexico's most reliable telecommunications platform to preserve the strength of the Megacable brand, with millions of households and businesses across Mexico have come to rely on connectivity and entertainment. All this said, now I pass the call over to Raymundo for operational remarks. Please Raymundo, go ahead. Raymundo Pendones: Thanks, Enrique, and good morning, everyone. As Enrique just note, this was another quarter of steady progress. Our results reflect the continued momentum of the core business, reaffirming the strength of our strategy and our ability to adapt to shifting market dynamics and evolving customer expectations. Our subscriber base continues to grow both in new territories and expansion areas where penetration levels keep increasing. And more importantly, this growth in our base has consistently translating to revenue increases particularly during this period where mass market segment revenues accelerated. Let me walk you through the key operational metrics of the quarter. We ended the quarter with nearly 5.9 million unique subscribers, an increase of 9% year-over-year, equivalent to 506,000 net additions. In this quarter alone, net additions reached 122,000 slightly below last quarter's, but well within internal expectations in line with the consistency of our performance. In the Internet segment, subscribers totaled almost 5.7 million, up 10% versus third quarter '24, representing 528,000 net additions, of which 129,000 were added this quarter. This performance reflects strong demand for high-speed connectivity, even following the price adjustment implemented at the start of the quarter, highlighting the continued relevance of our value proposal particularly in price-sensitive markets. Regarding our Video segment, we closed the quarter with nearly 4 million unique content subscribers, including 3.9 million of linear TV and 124,000 users with streaming service coupled only with our Broadband solution. Within the linear TV segment, XView continued to expand, reaching almost 3.7 million users at 9.9% year-over-year increase with 333,000 net additions. In Telephony, we surpassed the 5 million subscriber mark, up 11% versus the prior year, equivalent to 490,000 net additions with 98,000 net additions during the quarter. While this service remains primarily complementary within our bundles, its expansion contributes significantly to customer retention. Turning to our mobile virtual network operator business, our revenue, total lines reached 640,000 with 21,000 net adds this quarter and 128,000 over the last 12 months. Growth remains focused on postpaid offerings continuing the upward trends since early 2023. We closed the quarter with 14.6 million RGUs, up 8% year-over-year driven by a steady subscriber growth in the mass market, whilst revenue generating units per unique subscribers stood at 2.49, ARPU improved to MXN 422.3, up from MXN 418.9 in the same period last year and MXN 421 last quarter. This figure reflects pricing optimization despite a bundled mix more inclined towards double play. Our expansion and modernization of network continues to be core drivers of our growth. Our infrastructure now extends to 107,000 kilometers, allow it to serve over 18.7 million homes, up 10% from last year. As of quarter end, over 82% of our subscriber base was already connected via fiber compared to 73% in the same period last year, a clear indicator of the progress made towards becoming a full fiber operator. Churn levels stood at 2.3% for Internet, 2.7% for Video and 2.7% for Telephony, reflecting the price adjustment carried out at the beginning of the quarter and despite the upward fluctuation within reasonable levels. It is important to mention that based on seasonal patterns, we anticipate churn to improve toward next quarters. In a nutshell, our mass market segment remains a primary engine of growth and profitability driven by expanding coverage and improved operational leverage in both legacy and developing markets. By contrast, the corporate segment remains soft, consistent with trends in earlier this year, mostly attributed to an economic slowdown in the corporate segment. Undoubtedly, competitive conditions in this market have intensified. With greater fiber availability, there has been an increase in the supply of available services, which has negatively impacted market prices for these services. On the positive side, the integration of the corporate segment has progressed steadily under the business Tech-Co model. As part of this merger, we have focused on evolving the business model shifting from generating most of our revenue from equipment sales to managed service models, which generate a larger recurring revenue base. This has had a temporary effect on the results of these 9 months of 2025. However, we expect greater stability and recurrence in revenue as these consolidation matures. Before I close, I want to emphasize that these quarterly results were achieved through disciplined execution and quality service despite an increasingly competitive and price-sensitive market as our network reliability coverage expansion and bundles continues to differentiate our value also. Looking ahead, we remain focused on preserving momentum to the fourth quarter, with churn expected to soften in the next quarters, territory penetration to move forward an infrastructure deployment to meet customer needs, we are confident in our ability to deliver resilient results as of year-end. Thank you for your attention. I will now turn the call over to Luis for the financial review. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Thank you, Raymundo. Good morning, everyone. Let me walk you through our financial performance for the third quarter 2025. During the quarter, as Enrique and Raymundo mentioned, we continue to execute our long-term strategy with discipline and consistency, enabling us to deliver solid top line growth and strong profitability. Taking a closer look at our financial performance for the quarter. Total revenues reached MXN 8.9 billion, a 9% increase against the MXN 8.2 billion recorded in the third quarter 2024. This performance was mainly supported by the mass market segment that grew 11% year-over-year, the highest growth in the last 6 periods driven by ongoing subscriber growth and a gradual ARPU improvement. In the same period, corporate segment revenues contracted 5% compared to the third quarter of 2024, mainly explained by the economic deceleration in this segment, coupled with a higher competition. As a result, mass market operations contributed with 85% of total revenues in the quarter and the remainder on the corporate segment. On the cost side, cost of services for the quarter totaled MXN 2.4 billion, up 6% year-over-year, mainly due to a deeper revenue mix composition in the corporate segment, favoring higher margin income streams. Well SG&A reached MXN 2.5 billion, increasing 9% primarily from higher labor costs. Both lines remain under control advancing at the same level or below revenue. Turning to profitability. EBITDA reached MXN 3.9 billion, up 10% year-over-year, accelerating its growth trend in the annual comparison along with total revenues. EBITDA margin was 44.2%, slightly below sequentially as a result of seasonal effects, but above the 43.6% recorded in the third quarter of 2024. Again, an expansion of 50-plus basis points, regardless of the contraction in corporate revenue. Notably, margin expansion at newer territories continue driven by an incremental subscriber base and improve infrastructure utilization. At the same time, margins in mature regions remain solid and aligned to historical trends. Net income for the quarter was MXN 628 million, accumulating MXN 2.1 billion year-to-date, a 13% increase versus MXN 1.9 billion recorded in the same 9 months of last year. In this context, we remain confident that profitability will strengthen as depreciation stabilizes and newly integrated regions mature. Turning to the balance sheet. Net debt declined sequentially, but remained largely in line with the same period of last year closing at MXN 22.3 billion at quarter end, supported by a solid cash generation and the absence of any additional debt. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at 1.45x down from 1.56x in last quarter and below the 1.54x of the prior year. In this sense, we continue to maintain one of the strongest leverage profiles of the industry. Additionally, our interest coverage ratio remained solid at 5.59x and the weighted average cost of debt stood at 8.77%, continuing its downward trend. This indicator reinforce the strength of our capital structure and provide flexibility to support our long-term goals. Turning to investments. CapEx for the quarter totaled approximately MXN 2.4 billion, above the MXN 1.9 billion reported last quarter, mainly due to typical second half seasonality. However, we remain comfortably within our full year investment guidance. In relation to revenue, CapEx represented 26.6% in the quarter and 25.1% year-to-date. And we continue to expect the full year ratio to lie as we have been mentioning between 26% and 28% of revenues, consistent with our soft lending investment trend. Looking ahead, we focus on balancing growth with cautious capital allocation, and our priorities continue to include the generation -- increase the generation of positive cash flow in 2026, preserving our investment-grade credit profile and advanced maturation of recent investment across both new and legacy markets. Lastly, I would like to highlight 2 items that reflect our continued commitment to transparency and value creation. First, as noted by Enrique HR Ratings reaffirmed our AAA credit breaking, following the reaffirmation rate by Fitch Ratings in the second quarter. Both rating actions validate the strength of our balance sheet and consistency of our financial strategy. Second, we continue to advance at our sustainability and disclosure activities with the release of our 2024 integrated annual report under GRI and SASB standards. Verified by 35 professionals in accordance with these standards as we continuously strive to further strengthen our ESG reporting in anticipation of evolving market standards and practices. In line with this, the impact allocation report of our 2024 local notes is also now available. In summary, our third quarter results reflect the strength of our business model, discipling financial execution and a healthy position for long-term growth. Thank you. We are now ready to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan. Marcelo Santos: I have two questions. The first is regarding CapEx. So you made it very clear what's the outlook for this year. How do you see CapEx going in 2026 and 2027. And the second outlook is a bit about the competitive environment and growth. I mean, you had very good adds, but churn was a bit higher and SG&A was a bit higher sequentially. So is growth coming at a more expensive cost than what was foreseen? Is this because of a bit of the environment? So just wanted to tie these things. Raymundo Pendones: Luis, you want to go ahead? Luis Zetter Zermeno: Yes, on CapEx, for sure, Marcelo, thanks for your question. And as we mentioned, our CapEx is in the downhill trend and even when we are going to end this year around 26% as we expected, our forecast for the future '26 and '27 will be, '26 will be around 24% to 26% of revenues and declining on '27 to grow between 21% and 23%. Enrique Robles: Yes. The CapEx trend continues to decline, even though we have [ up ] worth in this quarter because of the build of the network and the [ comps ] that we activate, we expect that we announced that in the second quarter when we said the second quarter wasn't difficult. But the good news is like Luis is saying that we continue to have a lower CapEx over revenue this year around 26% to 28%, that's what we expect. And the message here from the management is that we will have that decline for next year between 24% to 26%. Raymundo Pendones: And Marcelo regarding the competitive environment. The highest growth that we have in subscribers, the highest growth rate comes from expansion territories as there is a greater opportunity for penetration and company's expansion on that part, of course. In legacy territories, the good news is that penetration remains stable at around 40% and growing. That means despite of competition, the offer that we have and the strategy of a good product, good network at the best affordable price is proving to provide a 10% growth in revenue, EBITDA and subscribers all around and we continue -- we will continue to forecast that for the early 2026 if you might say. Now the churn, remember that we have an increase in rates at the beginning of the quarter. That increase in rates put pressure on the churn. Our level of gross adds is the same. It's a little bit higher than what we had in the second quarter. So that means we're improving and having more capacity of bringing gross adds. We're not against any increase in rates that we that we have at the beginning. And in some of our high penetrated market, we have that increase in short. We expect that's shown to stabilize and decline slightly in the quarters to come. That's our view of what we have. Of course, it is a competitive environment. We've been having that competitive environment for a long time. We have Izzi, we have Total, we have Telmex in our markets. But as we said before, we believe that we'll have the best offer and to continue to provide growth in the markets where we are. Operator: The next question comes from Milenna Okamura from Goldman Sachs. Milenna Okamura: The first one is you mentioned in your early remarks, some commercial adjustments that drove your ARPU increase. So can you give us a little bit more detail about these initiatives, aside from the price you have implemented? And how do you expect margins to evolve going forward as you continue to increase your fiber penetration in new areas? Raymundo Pendones: Yes. Thank you for the question, Milenna. Regarding the ARPU, we continue to provide a slight increase in the ARPU that we have there. And that's a combination of several factors. One is the increase in rates that we have on that part. The other one is the increase in apps and services per unique subscribers that we also are successful in that part. And that's coupled with the increase of subscribers bring a lower ARPU because of the promotions that we have. So all that combination doesn't allow us to increase more the ARPU, but we believe that we can continue to have a slight trend increasing going forward. Now in terms of the markets, we still have room to grow, we are at around 81% Broadband penetration in our markets, and we really believe that we can raise to around 90% -- to below 90% in the years to come. So all the companies will continue to grow in that part. The thing is that who has the better offer price and margins to take part of that growth in the market. So far, we have growth in expansion. That means we're capturing market from competition. And of course, some of them also will be new market subscribers. And we're capturing subscribers, also 1/3 of our subscribers come from organic systems. That means we're growing above market growth because of that offer that we have because we convert and we have all our subscribers, 83% of our base, the majority of those organic subscribers already has access to fiber, brand-new CPEs, better quality of the video that we have there and better offer. So that's what we see that we will continue to grow in the markets to come. You can expect 2026 and 2027 to continue to provide for Megacable growth between 100,000 to 150,000 subscribers per quarter. Operator: The next question comes from Phani Kumar from HSBC. Phani Kumar Kanumuri: So the first one is regarding the comment that you made earlier, saying that if you exclude the special projects, your CapEx margin is in mid-teens. So I wanted to understand like what are you excluding from this? Is it just the expansion project and the migration products that you have? The second question is how was this CapEx, the maintenance CapEx, let's say, 3 years ago, has it come down from like 20% to mid-teens? Or is it -- how is the trend evolving? And what is driving that trend? Raymundo Pendones: I'm sorry, this was [indiscernible], it was productized in my opinion. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Phani -- a little bit. Can you rephrase the first question, please? Phani Kumar Kanumuri: The first question is, you said that you are excluding some special projects. So what are the special projects that you have? Is it just a recognition or does it also include the customer premise equipment? Luis Zetter Zermeno: So what we consider special projects are both the expansion and the GPON evolution CapEx projects per se. There are other small investments that come along with that -- those strategies. But basically, those are the 2 special projects that we mentioned. Raymundo Pendones: The expansion project like Luis was saying, we announced that at the end of 2021, we start getting subscriber at the mid of 2022. We're very happy that we already doubled the infrastructure of the company, getting more than 9 million home pass in addition, put us in a very similar position to that of the competition as a strength company and growing subscribers on that. We are very well in terms of how we're increasing those subscribers, and that's reflect on the growth of revenue. And that means that in the future, we will slow down kilometers and homes to be activated in the expansion territories and that's for sure. The other project that we have, which is the GPON Evolution we call it, that's evolving from HFC to GPON to fiber, all our existing territories. We're very successful also. As I said, totally, we already have 83% of the company is already on fiber. So for the years to come, the evolution from HFC to fiber, it will be smaller. So what Luis is saying, our 2 main projects -- special projects are decreasing in CapEx intensity expenditures, okay? This company will never stop investing in CapEx, that's for sure because we're a technology company. But the levels that we expect after we finish those special projects and that's around 2028 will be levels between the 15% to 28% CapEx over revenue. Enrique Robles: But in the meantime, it will be declining from the current 25%, 26% to the lower very low 20s, and we will get to below 20s when we finish -- when we finish those 2 special products. Luis Zetter Zermeno: And to your second question, the maintenance CapEx has reduced, yes, because it's easier or cheaper to maintain network on the GPON side of the house compared to the HFC previous network. Phani Kumar Kanumuri: Is there any quantity measure? Is there any quantification of what's the decrease that happened, let's say, over the last 3 years? Luis Zetter Zermeno: Well, it was a little bit above 20%, and now it's on the high teens or mid-teens. So that's basically on the maintenance CapEx. Operator: Next question comes from Andres Coello from Scotiabank. Andres Coello: Two quick questions, please. The first one is on the competitive environment. I think Televisa just confirmed that they will invest $600 million this year. I think that's 20% more than what you are planning to invest, around $500 million. So I'm wondering if you are noticing any change in behavior from Televisa, if you think that Televisa can become a little bit more defensive in the territories that you just entered. That's my first question. And whether this can, in any way, affect your CapEx guidance to have Televisa investing more than you. And my second question is on the recent natural events in Veracruz and other states. I'm just wondering if there was -- if you're expecting any nonrecurring impact in the fourth quarter, perhaps in terms of revenues and also in terms of infrastructure. Raymundo Pendones: Yes, Andres, thank you for the questions. Regarding the competitive environment, Televisa is investing more than us because we already invest what we have to invest. We have been investing in fiber before they did hit on that part. We have a good offer, a good product and good price and we don't see why we are going to slow down our CapEx and our growth in subscriber. Regarding Veracruz, we were affected and hit in some of our markets. One of those markets being Costa Rica. We already have all the system back and working and on and working with our subscribers. And what we can say is that we're working in a normal condition. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Emilio Fuentes from [ GBM ]. Emilio Fuentes: I was wondering if you could give us some outlook on how your dividend will evolve going forward, especially given how you've been able to pay around 20% of your EBITDA. Now that you -- the company will go into a less intensive investment phase and the more cash generating phase, should we expect this to go up? Enrique Robles: Well, we haven't made any decisions yet. Obviously, it will depend on the future, how we see the industry and opportunities going forward, but if we do not have anything better to put our money in. Obviously, we could always raise our dividends. We don't see why not, but it's too early to call that. Operator: The next questions come from Ernesto Gonzalez from Morgan Stanley. Ernesto Gonzalez: Look, I know it's early to discuss 2026. But given the high levels of penetration in the Broadband market in Mexico, is it reasonable to assume that you can maintain the current level of growth for next year? And the second question is, can you also discuss the main drivers of why your subscribers churn? Is it because they get better prices elsewhere because they're looking for a better network or any general commentary in churn is appreciated. Raymundo Pendones: Thank you, Ernesto. Yes, as we mentioned, we don't see why we should slow our growth. We forecast the same growth that we have between 100 to 150 per quarter. That's what we're looking for 2026. And that's based in the offer and also because the market at 81% penetration still have room to grow on that part. Regarding the churn, what we see is that a slight amount of our churn goes to competition. But as I said, this slide, what we see is that every churn that we have is economically, that's the main reason that they can afford to pay. And as I said at the beginning of the third quarter, we had an increase in rates that put pressure on the churn. That's the reason of the increase in churn. Operator: The next question comes from Lucca Brendim from Bank of America. Lucca Brendim: I have only one here from my side. Can you give us an outlook on the corporate segment. It has slowed down this year, but how can you -- we think about it going forward, especially for 2026, 2027, how much do you think that this segment can grow. Raymundo Pendones: Yes, it's a good question. Look, as I said, the corporate segment has a slowdown, it's a soft result that -- what we have. And that's due to -- 2 main factors. One is the market. The market has decreased the price of fiber and the price of connectivity. And the other one is that we changed the way that we sell our infrastructure product before we used to sell a lot of that infrastructure on a cash basis. And now we changed that into more products that has serviced over a long period of time, bringing a more recurring into the future, more profitable instead of just selling hardware in that part that we don't like that part. So we make a shift in the strategy of the corporate segment that affect us slightly in the short term, but that sure will bring better results in the future. Something that I want to say is that the corporate -- even for the corporate segment has a 5% decline year-over-year. We did not see a decline in the EBITDA of that segment. That means we have a much more better margin with our strategy, recoveries of the decrease in the revenue that we have. So that's part of our strategy. We are very happy of that part. We integrate our 3 companies into MCM business, Tech-Co and that shift is sure it's going to pay off in 2026. Operator: The next question comes from Alex Azar from GBM. Alejandro Azar Wabi: I just wanted to pick your brains on what's next. Several questions from my colleagues being on capital allocation, fully penetrated market. So what's on your mind when you see Mexico fully penetrated in terms of cable perhaps '27, '28. How should we think about Megacable in the next 5, 10 years? Are you guys going to grow more aggressively in -- as an MVNO or perhaps the corporate networks. Just wanted to understand how you're viewing the company very long term. Enrique Robles: Thank you, Alex. Obviously, in the telecom industry, there is very many opportunities in the future, like as you mentioned, mobile with MVNO. In the corporate market, we have a great, great opportunity. In the digitalization of the country, obviously, also in education and telemedicine and all that and with the AI accelerating, growing -- the growth of the AI and all the applications that will come with that. Obviously, there is a big -- very big opportunities in the future for the telecom industry to sell -- to upsell services and applications for the Mexican homes and for the business community. Also in the education and medicine industries and services are really big -- it's going to open very big opportunities. We still have a lot to do in digitalization, and this government is putting a big emphasis in that. We have to digitalize the country banking and everything. I think that the market is there. Obviously, it will decelerate in some segments like the connectivity of homes, but we will get to saturation point at times -- some certain time, but there are a lot more things to do. And also, we -- I mean we don't know what new things are coming with AI and the new technologies. For sure, we will find something to do. Raymundo Pendones: That's the remark. At the end, this is a MXN 64 million question, what are you going to do? We're really, really, really focused, Alex, in what we announced at the end of 2021 in that part, those main 2 projects as we like to say, the GPON evolution that brings us that strength in the network and in the product for the future to come and expanding and being effective in both. That's where we're focused on the management right now on that part. But for sure, we're not going to stay on that part. CapEx will decrease. Free cash flow will increase. Revenues will continue to come. EBITDA will continue to come. And the same question that you have, it will be good to know in a year or 2, what we are going to do. But for sure, we're going to continue to be part as Enrique said, on a market that will continue to move from connectivity to IT solutions and value-added services, both in the corporate segment and the residential and maybe other technologies, too. Luis Zetter Zermeno: And we will have the balance sheet to support any endeavor that we will be searching. Raymundo Pendones: We won't be steady, that's for sure. Alejandro Azar Wabi: If I may add, if I may have a follow-up, and thank you for the color. But the market has been really hot in terms of AI, data centers. If I'm not mistaken, you have some data centers. So how are you thinking on these assets? Are you seeing them as core assets? Or would you be thinking of divesting like Axtel bid that under different circumstances. But how are you seeing your data centers? Are you -- are those core assets or you can divest them? Or how you think on those? Enrique Robles: Well, the data center is an asset that would be able to test the waters there. I think that's going to be really big players in that specialized in data centers. Ours is a very good asset that we have. But I don't think we will be growing in those kind of data centers. We will be more focused in edge data set. We already have built over 300 of those all across the country. Raymundo Pendones: And also, like Enrique telling you and your straight question, it is not core. What we have on those both in our main data centers, centralized data center and the edge, we have Megacable infrastructure. Those facilities are built mainly as an anchor for Megacable and an office space and kilowatts for other people to be here. We don't have the mind in investment in fixed data center assets. We want to have a solid core network, both in the long haul and the last mile, the best fiber company in terms of products and services and put applications on top of that. The other ones, the main anchor for the data center is Megacable. It has a great asset for somebody else in the future because it's located in the western part of Mexico. There is no other asset like that in this area. The hyperscalers and the content and the streamers will have to come after going to Greater Mexico, will have to come to different parts of Mexico, one of those being Guadalajara, and that's where we have it. And that's the mind that we have for that part. Our infrastructure is for Megacable use. We don't know whether to maximize that in the future. We will explore that when we finish having our mind in bringing the growth of subscribers increase in margin, the decrease in EBIT -- in CapEx and all the KPIs that we're telling you we're focused on that point. Operator: We have one question through the chat is coming from [ Patrick Brook ] from DS Advisers. There have been reports that AT&T is looking to sell its mobile business in Mexico. Is that something Megacable will be interested and consider buying? Enrique Robles: Not currently, we are pretty much focused in our main projects, which is finishing our expansion plan. And we don't want to go into -- I mean, we're going into a cash positive cycle, and we don't want to reverse that, not currently. We are focused in our main projects. Thank you very much. Operator: Okay. That was the last question. With no questions in the queue. This session is concluded. I pass the call over to Mr. Enrique Yamuni for final remarks. Enrique Robles: Okay. Thank you very much, Saul. As always, it is a pleasure to discuss our results with you. Please contact our Investor Relations department if you have any questions or concerns regarding the company. Have a very wonderful day and a great weekend. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Thank you, everybody.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to FIBRA Macquarie's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Call and Webcast. My name is Rob, and I'll be your operator for this call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference call over to Nikki Sacks. Please go ahead. Nikki Sacks: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining FIBRA Macquarie's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. Today's call will be led by Simon Hanna, our Chief Executive Officer; and Andrew McDonald-Hughes, our CFO. Before I turn the call over to Simon, I'd like to remind everyone that this presentation is proprietary, and all rights are reserved. The presentation has been prepared solely for informational purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Forward-looking statements in this presentation are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this presentation. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the completion of this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Additionally, on this conference call, we may refer to certain non-IFRS measures as well as to U.S. dollars, which are U.S. dollar equivalent amounts, unless otherwise specified. As usual, we've prepared supplementary materials that we may reference during the call. If you've not already done so, I would encourage you to visit our website at fibramacquarie.com and download these materials. A link to the materials can be found under the Investors, Events and Presentations tab. And with that, it is my pleasure to hand the call over to FIBRA Macquarie's Chief Executive Officer, Simon Hanna. Simon? Simon Hanna: Thank you, Nikki, and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to share that we delivered another solid quarter of financial and operating performance with record-breaking results across key metrics. At the same time, we executed on both strategic and opportunistic initiatives that create value for our certificate holders and continue to position us for sustainable growth. The third quarter showcased the strength of our business model, starting at the top line. For the quarter, we achieved record consolidated revenues, up 8.4% in underlying U.S. dollar terms over the prior year. This momentum translated through to our quarterly U.S. dollar AFFO, which increased an impressive 6.6% annually. [ AFFO ], our quarterly distribution reflects a significant 17% increase from last year, all whilst maintaining a comfortable and prudent payout ratio. Turning to our industrial portfolio. We continue to see strong performance amidst a subdued market backdrop with average rental rates increasing 6.8% year-over-year. Notably, we achieved another quarter of double-digit renewal spreads, 17% on negotiated leases with high quarterly retention of almost 90%. Our full year 2025 performance continues to shape up rather well, perhaps best demonstrated by the 6.1% increase in U.S. dollar same-store NOI year-to-date. So in summary, we are very satisfied with the sustained momentum enjoyed from our industrial portfolio through to today, and we expect that momentum to carry through to the fourth quarter, providing for a strong finish to the year. Moving to our capital allocation and asset recycling initiatives. We had an active quarter closing on a number of transactions. I'm excited with the continued growth of our Mexico City footprint with the acquisition of a prime 250,000 square foot logistics facility. We acquired the property through a sale and leaseback for $35 million, leased to a leading global consumer company under a 3-year U.S. dollar-denominated contract. It not only provides 2025 NOI and AFFO contribution, but also positions us to capture embedded real rental rate growth. This acquisition exemplifies our thoughtful approach to capital allocation. In this case, we secured a scarce well-located infill asset that enhances our portfolio quality, while providing visible earnings and NAV accretion. We're optimistic about repeating this type of success in other deal opportunities under our review, alongside pursuing additional strategic land investments in our pipeline. We also continue to selectively pursue asset recycling initiatives. And during the third quarter, we sold a vacant industrial property in Chihuahua City for $14 million, representing a 30% premium to book value. This transaction demonstrates our commitment to active portfolio management, allowing us to accretively recycle capital into attractive opportunities like the Mexico City acquisition, I just mentioned. Turning to our retail portfolio. We also delivered strong results and achieved a post-pandemic record occupancy of 93.6%. Rising occupancy and rental rates contributed to annual NOI growth of 4.1%, essentially reaching record levels of operating cash flow. We maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook on the operating performance of our retail portfolio and expect the medium-term growth trends to continue. Looking at the broader market environment. While we acknowledge the ongoing uncertainty around trade policy, we also remain confident in Mexico's strategic position within North American supply chains. The long-term fundamentals that have driven Mexico's manufacturing growth over the past decades remain firmly intact, including high-quality labor, proximity to major U.S. markets and continued trade advantages. Notwithstanding the evolving geopolitical landscape, our high-quality portfolio, internalized platform and strategic market positioning, enables us to continue to deliver strong results and capitalize on growth opportunities. It is also worth mentioning our unique vertically integrated platform gives us, amongst other benefits privileged access to market intelligence and allows us to respond swiftly to changing conditions. This positioning, combined with our ability to capture embedded rental growth allows us to continue delivering value to certificate holders, while building a long-term portfolio resilience. Before turning the call over to Andrew, I want to highlight our ongoing commitment to sustainability. We are proud of achieving 3 green stars in our 2025 credit assessment, including a score of 94 points for the development benchmark, exceeding our peers on a regional and global basis. We're also taking this opportunity to publish our annual ESG report that is now available on our website, which provides a comprehensive overview of our sustainability initiatives and performance. Andrew, over to you. Andrew McDonald-Hughes: Thank you, Simon. I'm pleased to report another quarter of strong financial performance that reflects both the quality of our portfolio and the effectiveness of our capital allocation strategy. For the third quarter, we delivered AFFO of USD 29.7 million, representing a solid 6.6% increase year-over-year and demonstrated our continued ability to grow earnings on a per certificate basis. Our balance sheet remains exceptionally well positioned. During the quarter, we successfully completed the refinancing and expansion of our sustainability-linked credit facility. This USD 375 million facility comprises a $150 million 4-year term loan and a $225 million 3-year revolving credit facility. The transaction delivered multiple strategic benefits. Firstly, it enhanced our liquidity position to approximately USD 625 million, providing substantial financial flexibility to fund growth initiatives. Second, it reduced our weighted average cost of debt to approximately 5.5%, while extending our debt maturities. And third, the sustainability-linked features align our financing strategy with our ESG objectives through green building certification targets with the sustainability-linked portion of our drawn debt now representing 68%. As of September 30, we maintain a prudent debt profile being 92% fixed rate with our CNBV regulatory debt to total asset ratio standing at 33.2% and a robust debt service coverage ratio of 4.6x. Embedded firepower stands at approximately USD 500 million, whilst managing to a 35% LTV ratio, including the potential recycling of our retail portfolio. Turning to our guidance. We are reaffirming our FY '25 AFFO per certificate guidance to a range of MXN 2.8 to MXN 2.85 and our FY '25 AFFO guidance in underlying U.S. dollar terms to a range of $115 million to $119 million, representing annual growth of up to 5%. We are also reaffirming our cash distribution guidance for FY '25 of MXN 2.45 per certificate. This represents a 16.7% increase in peso terms and translates to an expected FY '25 AFFO payout ratio of approximately 87% based on our guidance midpoint, representing a well-covered distribution. This guidance assumes stable market conditions and no material deterioration of the geopolitical landscape or Mexico's key trading relationships, including the potential implementation of tariffs. Looking ahead, our strong balance sheet, ample liquidity and disciplined approach to capital allocation position us well to navigate market uncertainties, while selectively pursuing growth opportunities that create long-term value for our certificate holders. In closing, I want to recognize the exceptional work of our entire team. Their dedication and expertise continue to drive our operational excellence and strategic execution. With that, I'll ask the operator to open the phone lines for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And the first question comes from the line of Andre Mazini with Citigroup. André Mazini: Yes. So my question is around the potential economic deceleration Mexico is supposed to be having now in the second half of 2025. A lot of talk on that among investors and media. So I wanted to understand if you're feeling that this economic deceleration in your conversation with tenants, maybe splitting between the 3 tenant types, industrial light manufacturing, industrial logistics and the retail tenants as well. Simon Hanna: Yes. Thanks, Andre. Thanks for the question. Yes, I guess it's a bit of a dynamic backdrop out there. As you can appreciate, really where we're much more correlated with the U.S. GDP, U.S. economy more so than Mexico, and that's obviously going to be where most of the activity will basically drive outcomes for us. When we break it down between those 3 categories, look, I'd say, in general, for industrial light manufacturing, fair to say that our volumes production is slightly off compared to last year. When you look at auto parts production, it's off around sort of 7% compared to last year. So I'd say nothing that's fundamentally causing a problem there from a demand perspective, maybe a slightly lower utilization. But in general, sort of, I'd say, steady demand backdrop and something which we expect to prevail regardless of that Mexican -- Mexican economy dynamic, more so just to do with how trends continue out of the U.S. So that will very much then link into the logistics part of industrial, at least for the business-to-business, where we have most of our exposure. It will be correlated more or less with the trend on light manufacturing. So again, I'd say for both manufacturing and the B2B logistics going pretty steady, and I think the outlook is steady as well. Obviously, the name of the game there is really USMCA as a real catalyst to change that demand environment probably heading towards the second half of next year. Retail, yes, definitely more sort of linked to Mexican economy fundamentals. But I'd say the consumer remains in pretty good health. We're seeing good employment, wage numbers, et cetera. general foot traffic and activity in the shopping centers is we've been happy with that. You would have seen some of the encouraging metrics come through the quarter, record occupancy, rising rental rates, same-store were up about 5% year-over-year at the NOI level. So I'd say generally good conditions there. Cinema is continuing to struggle a little bit more, I'd say, compared to the rest of the tenant mix to be fair. Gym is doing rather well. Supermarkets is doing rather well, restaurants rather well. So that's probably cinema probably the main weakness that we're still looking for a bit of a pickup. But again, we have a cautiously optimistic outlook as well when it comes to retail, expecting fairly steady demand environment. So overall, that leads us up to a pretty good outlook for heading into 2026. Operator: The next question is from the line of [ Helena Ruiz ] with [indiscernible]. Unknown Analyst: I have a couple. The first one is on the stress. I was wondering if you could give us like any color if you expect them to remain like at these levels for the last quarter of the year and next year? And also, if you could give us a breakdown like this growth is coming from all regions like especially one market? And then my second question is on occupancy, like looking at each market, like most markets remain like really strong. The only one that saw a drop in occupancy are Monterrey and Juarez. So if you could also give us a bit of color on why the occupancy fell in those markets? Simon Hanna: Thanks, Helena, for those questions. Yes. Look, when it comes to lease spreads, firstly, taking that one on. Look, pretty good quarter again, around 17%. We have a sort of a last 12-month run rate of around 20%. So that's been tracking, I'd say, at a pleasing level for us. When we look ahead, virtually 0 rollover on 4Q, so it doesn't really move the needle. So we should be somewhere close to that run rate level on a full year basis. Outlook for next year, it's still early. We have about 16% rollover, 17% rollover next year. So we have some opportunity there to continue capturing, I would say, positive momentum when it comes to spreads, a little bit early to say how much. Obviously, the -- a little bit there depend on market conditions. But I think we -- we'd like to think that we can capture positive momentum in the same way we're seeing through the balance of this year. When it comes to some of those, I'd say, market-by-market dynamics, and I'd say there's -- it's quite an active market out there even despite the subdued new leasing conditions. I would say, in general, we are seeing that the same dynamic we have today is what we've seen for the last couple of quarters, where steady occupancy and operating trends with USMCA being the real catalyst to, we think unlock new demand. But taking that down to, I guess, market levels to answer your question, Monterrey is probably the most active market. It's also one of the biggest in the country, around 185 million square feet. So we still see a lot of activity there, a lot under construction. So supply is still coming through. And that's always been the Monterrey way to be fair, but there's probably around 8 million under construction. Amongst all that, though, on a quarterly basis, we're seeing sort of close to 4 million new leasing to basically offset some move-outs of about 4 million. So no doubt, there's a little bit of vacancy there north of 5%. And you can probably say it's more of a tenant market than a landlord market these days. But -- when it comes to the type of product that we're delivering in the market, this is in Monterrey, but in other markets as well, I'd say that we're at the upper end of that tier. And that pro forma vacancy is not so much of an issue for us. We're looking at in terms of the best quality buildings in the market, that's who our competition is because that's what we're building in terms of location, quality of building size, utilities, et cetera. So that real competition is much more narrow. So whether you're even talking someone like Tijuana, where, again, you're seeing a lot of vacancy or supply come on, it doesn't really change the equation for us. We're in the best part of town with some of those flagship developments up against really just a handful of building competitors. And so that noise around sort of 13%, 14% vacancy in Tijuana or 8% in Monterrey, it's not as relevant when you actually just boil it down to what the hard competition is against our Class A development product and we feel very well positioned to have some activity on that as we get through the year in USMCA in particular. Juarez, I'd say, is probably remains pretty soft. That one has got a lot more sort of undifferentiated vacancy. It's a bit more of a slower market than Monterrey at the moment, much more USMCA linked as well. So I think we expect more activity in that second half of next year or maybe the summer. Reynosa, again, sort of a key northern market, I'd say, very, very quiet as well and had a good positive absorption quarter for the quarter. But on a year-to-date basis, it's pretty flat in terms of absorption. And again, you'd expect that to be more correlated with USMCA pickup. Operator: The next question is from the line of Jorel Guilloty with Goldman Sachs. Wilfredo Jorel Guilloty: So my first question is around the recent M&A that you announced or mentioned in the report in Mexico City. So you bought an asset $35 million, sale leaseback. And back of the envelope, this is like $1,500 per square meter. So I wanted to get a sense of what cap rate you saw for this asset? And also, if the idea here is on further capital allocation, if it's in Mexico City that you want to focus on. And then -- and I'm sorry if you spoke about this earlier, but I wanted to ask about Monterrey and Juarez where you saw occupancy declines of 300 and 120 basis points each on a sequential basis. So I wanted to get a sense of what drove that, if it's 1 tenant or multiple, just to understand if this is a one-off or a trend. So any color would be very helpful. Simon Hanna: Okay. Thanks, Jorel. Great questions there. Yes, the Mexico City acquisition, that was a fantastic one to do is irreplaceable location around 15 minutes from downtown in the Vallejo submarket. And so that's a great last mile district to be in for sure. We're able to access that facility, really thinking about the stabilized cap rate at around a 10% level U.S. dollar sort of the rental as well. So that's the way we're looking at it sort of seeing that stabilize into a 10% cap. Now it's got an initial 3-year lease period there with the user. So -- sort of coming in at sort of an 8% area, but that's definitely below where we think the market rates are. So just thinking about that on a real embedded rental rate growth profile when you actually look at 3 years down the track, where you think that should land around 10%. And so if you're able to access Mexico City last mile stabilized 10%, dollarized 250,000 square foot, we take that all day long, and we're very excited about that. And yes, potentially, there could be 1 or 2 other opportunistic deals like that, that could come along. We're currently looking at 1 deal in particular and we'd like to think that maybe there's an opportunity to do that opportunistically. Again, let's see, so I think that was a great transaction to pull off from a capital allocation point of view. And I'm happy to say, repeat that success. Moving to the second question, on Monterrey, Juarez. So yes, I think from our own perspective, we -- in line with the market trends, we did see some vacancy there. But when you actually look at what drove that year-over-year, pretty simple story, Jorel, in the sense that we just delivered some Class A product that has not been leased up. So it's been added into our inventory. Both fantastic buildings, and we think very marketable. And again, something that will probably be more linked to USMCA ultimately, given the type of buildings and locations they're at. So we feel very good about the buildings that have been added to inventory, even though they're unleased in the short term. We do think they've got great income potential over the medium term. And we actually take the step back there, Jorel, actually not just what we've delivered in Monterrey and Juarez, but the other Class A product we have that basically has income potential and you add that up in terms of sort of getting close to 1 million square feet around the country. The exciting thing there is that we actually do have some real embedded growth that I don't think has been properly priced into our valuation or share price. And any type of a meaningful lease up there on that sort of Class A development product that we have, we're fully invested. It's basically built product ready to be leased up, mainly subject to USMCA, if you want to say that. That's got the potential ability to add something like, I'd say, comfortably north of $10 million at the NOI level. And you can obviously just drop that down to AFFO as well given that we're essentially fully funded and built that. So that's a pretty exciting sort of short-term opportunity we think, to help drive NOI and earnings is to basically take advantage of improving market conditions into next year, particularly with USMCA to trigger that lease-up. Wilfredo Jorel Guilloty: And a quick follow-up, if I may. So the sale leaseback opportunity, you mentioned there's a few in Mexico City, but are there opportunities such as those in other markets that you're in? And would it be focused on logistics? Simon Hanna: Yes. I think the answer is there are. Obviously, we're sort of looking at selective opportunities here. We particularly like Mexico City Logistics. That's a favored market for us where we'd like to increase our footprint. There are other opportunities in those other large consumption markets as well, sort of more of a logistics spend, you could say. But as I say, when you look actually see what's in our immediate pipeline and possible opportunities, we're thinking more Mexico City as being executable in the short term. Operator: The next question is from the line of Alejandra Obregon with Morgan Stanley. Alejandra Obregon: Mine is on capital allocation as well. So I was just wondering if you can provide some color on how you're thinking of your uses of cash for 2026. I mean if we split it between dividends, acquisitions, development, how would that look like in 2026? And what are the elements that will get you to any sort of decision on the mix on that front? And then the second one is on the M&A market. So I was just wondering if you're seeing any change in sentiment or acceleration in M&A activity that perhaps could trigger some recycling opportunities for you other than the sale and leaseback that you just mentioned? Simon Hanna: Sure. Yes. Thanks, Alejandra. So yes, look, I think in terms of capital allocation, fairly consistent outlook with how we currently have been deploying our capital. I think the main focus in the medium to long-term is going to be on that industrial development program. We have a land bank there of around 5 million square feet of buildable GLA in core markets. So that's something that we can flex up in terms of development activity. As you know, we've been doing 0 construction starts for the last few quarters. But as we get better visibility on demand fundamentals, that will remain the primary avenue of how we allocate our capital into those development properties, mainly on a spec basis, you could say. We remain also interested in pursuing certain opportunities in the short term. They boil down, as I say, one is 2 opportunistic acquisitions where we can access those sort of development like returns, if you want to call it that, something like the 10% cap Mexico City. If we can do that on a more sort of a bite-sized basis to complement what we're doing on the development program, that's great. I would say the other investment portal would be through strategic land bank investments to basically complement and add to the $5 million that we have so that we will basically continue that runway for building out getting back to that sort of 1 million to 2 million square feet of velocity on a medium- to long-term basis is where you want to be. And adding to that land bank will be an important part of that equation. When it comes to buyback, I guess that's obviously another opportunity. I'm not sure, Andrew, if you wanted to give color on that. Andrew McDonald-Hughes: Yes, happy to. I think as we've said previously, we continue to favor allocating capital to development and value-add opportunities where we see obviously; a, you have a much lesser impact on the balance sheet over the long-term. You're not impacting liquidity overall and you're setting yourself up for valuation upside and the growth of those underlying assets. And so we'll continue to do that. I think historically, we've guided to in the order of $100 million to $150 million of development per year. We've obviously been softer this year given the broader macro backdrop, but we continue to work towards some permitting and predevelopment works with respect to the recent acquisitions that we made in both Guadalajara and Tijuana. And I think there's a good opportunity for those particular projects to progress over the next 12 months. And I think more to the point, we see a broader opportunity for future growth with the embedded potential recycling opportunity of our retail portfolio, along with the broader liquidity that we have access to through the balance sheet, which really sets us up for in the order of $500 million worth of potential firepower over the medium term. So ultimately, from a growth perspective, over the near term, there's a deep sense of embedded value with the development projects that we have delivered to date that are well positioned for lease-up once we see the tailwinds return to the markets, which we're positive on with respect to how that looks over the short to medium term. And just with what we have already completed and delivered; that's in excess of $10 million in potential NOI contribution over the coming years. And we think that, that will come to fruition and have a good line of sight to lease up on those properties as we go through the USMCA renewal and have more, I think, surety on the tariff and macro backdrop going forward through 2026 and into 2027. So overall, I think broadly speaking, from a capital allocation standpoint and the growth opportunities that the business is well positioned. Alejandra Obregon: Excellent. That was very clear. Operator: The next question is from the line of Alan Macias with Bank of America. Alan Macias: My question was answered, but just going back to M&A, anything on the table regarding the retail sector? Simon Hanna: Yes. Thanks, Alan. Good to hear you. So I think retail, we're definitely very satisfied with the general trend of what we're seeing in operating financial metrics at the risk of repeating myself, but happy to say at 93.6%, record occupancy on a post-pandemic basis, NOI essentially at record levels, up around sort of $7 million, $8 million quarterly run rate. It's been a fantastic contributor to the overall returns. As we think about operational performance, probably a little bit more upside to go, I think, even as good as it's been, that we are seeing some interesting opportunities to add to that overall, NOI performance, and that will obviously lead into valuation also becoming higher. And as you think about that sort of valuation number, it's not insignificant by any means, sort of -- we're talking sort of $300 million plus. And so the interesting dynamic that we're seeing just as NOI continues to improve is obviously a more conducive interest rate backdrop with the interest rates locally falling from, let's say, 10% to sub-8% and you're sort of getting into positive leverage territory and sort of more compelling M&A backdrop. So we like the sound of that in terms of how that's all converging and [indiscernible] for an ability to start thinking about that sort of medium-term opportunity that Andrew mentioned around recycling. And really, that's what we've got to be thinking about in terms of -- apart from that short-term catalyst to grow earnings, which is really simple, which is just to lease up the Class A stuff that we've built and is ready for lease-up. The medium-term opportunity is certainly quite exciting and quite compelling when we think about that embedded firepower of around $500 million, that really allows us to flex up when it comes to building out the land bank and thinking about additional investments. We feel quite excited and well positioned with the ability to do that. Operator: Thank you. At this time, there are no further questions. I'd like to turn the floor back to management for closing remarks. Simon Hanna: Yes. Thank you for that, Rob, and thank you for everyone for participating in today's call. Along with Andrew, I would like to thank all of our stakeholders for your ongoing support, and we very much look forward to speaking with you over the coming days and weeks as well as updating you again at the end of the quarter. So have a great one. Thank you. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for joining our presentation today. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good day, and welcome to the Community Health Systems Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Anton Hie, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Anton Hie: Thank you, Betsy. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Community Health Systems' Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Joining me today on the call are Kevin Hammons, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer; and Jason Johnson, Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'll remind everyone this conference call may contain certain forward-looking statements, including all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks as described in headings such as Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K, and other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. Actual results may differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statements in today's discussion. We do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements. Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release with our financial statements and definitions and calculations of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS. We've also posted a supplemental slide presentation on our website. All calculations we will discuss today exclude gains or losses from early extinguishment of debt, and impairment gains or losses on the sale of businesses. With that said, I'll turn the call over to Kevin Hammons, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer. Kevin? Kevin Hammons: Thank you, Anton. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our third quarter 2025 conference call. Before we jump into discussing the quarter, I want to take a moment to thank the team here at CHS for the support they've shown me and others through the recent transition of senior leadership. It is gratifying to see our team's confidence in the work we are doing here at CHS and their commitment to our future success. Over the past 90 days or so, since stepping into my new role as interim CEO, I've had the opportunity to visit several of our markets and speak with many of our hospital leadership teams, including operational, financial, clinical and service line leaders. It is always inspiring to see the folks who are providing high-quality care for our patients, and helps put into perspective how important our hospitals are to the people and communities they serve. At CHS, we will remain focused on supporting our caregivers, physician partners and support teams to help ensure an exceptional health care experience for our patients. Next month, approximately 150 CEOs and CFOs from across the CHS network will gather for a leadership conference where we will discuss our vision for the future of the company and our ongoing commitment to investments in quality, improving both physician and patient experience, improving employee satisfaction, and achieving sustainable positive free cash flow. As I've shared with many on our team already, I'm very optimistic about the future of CHS and our opportunities to continuously improve the health care experience. To continue to improve our operational and financial performance and to create value for our investors through disciplined and proactive management of our business. Now turning to the third quarter operating results. Our operating performance was in line with our updated expectations. And our reported results were further enhanced by the recognition of a $28 million gain from the settlement with some prior litigation, which reimbursed us for previously incurred expenses. Same-store net revenue for the third quarter improved 6% year-over-year. We were encouraged to see some improvement in payer mix on both a sequential and year-over-year basis as well, as realizing the incremental state directed payments from New Mexico and Tennessee when compared to the prior year. As we have done all year, we continue to grow our inpatient volume. However, similar to last quarter, the overall business mix remains more heavily skewed towards medical versus surgical cases. And inpatient admissions were flat ahead of outpatient elective procedures. However, solid expense management across most categories helped drive slight margin expansion year-over-year, even when excluding the benefit from the legal cell. We continue to make targeted investments in advance our competitive position in many key markets during the quarter, including capacity and service line expansions, such as the acquisition of a vascular surgery practice and the relocation of a large OB/GYN practice onto our campus, both in Birmingham, Alabama. The addition of a new urology service line in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the addition of a new neurosurgery and spine program in Laredo, Texas and new robotic surgery programs in two of our New Mexico markets. We are successfully recruiting physicians and advanced practice providers to our markets. At September 30, 2025, we had approximately 160 more employee physicians and APPs in our clinics than in the prior year. With the recent recruits and plan commencements in the fourth quarter and early next year, we should be favorably positioned as we enter 2026. In addition, we continue to improve our capital structure, further reducing our leverage to 6.7x, down from 7.4x at year-end '24. Also as a reminder, during the quarter, we refinanced $1.74 (sic) [$1.743 billion ] of our Senior Secured Notes due 2027, through the offering of $1.79 billion of 2034 notes, thereby pushing out our nearest significant maturity to 2029. At this point, I want to introduce Jason Johnson, our Interim Chief Financial Officer. And I'll turn the call over to Jason to review the financial results in greater detail and discuss our updated guidance. Jason? Jason Johnson: Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. For the third quarter, CHS delivered results generally consistent with expectations. The overall volume growth was in line with our updated guidance and with continued solid execution on controllable aspects of our business, the company achieved expansion in adjusted EBITDA margins, and remains on track for the full year. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $376 million, compared with $347 million in the prior year period, with a margin of 12.2%, increasing 100 basis points year-over-year. Results included $28 million from the receipt of a settlement of a legal matter recognized as nonpatient revenue. When excluding this amount, adjusted EBITDA was $348 million (sic) [ $376 million ] and margin was approximately 11.4%, up 20 basis points from the prior year period. Please note that the nonpatient revenue related to legal settlement is excluded from the same-store metrics provided in our earnings release and supplemental materials. Same-store net revenue for the third quarter increased 6.0% year-over-year, again, driven primarily by rate growth as net revenue per adjusted admission was up 5.6% year-over-year. Same-store inpatient admissions increased 1.3% year-over-year, and adjusted admissions were up 0.3%. Same-store surgeries declined 2.2% and ED visits were down 1.3%. We were encouraged by the sequential volume performance coming out of the second quarter, which was better than our typical seasonal experience in the third quarter. However, as Kevin previously noted, we again experienced a divergence in inpatient surgeries, which were flat year-over-year. And outpatient surgeries, which were down, reflecting continued pressure on consumer demand for elective procedure in our markets. Despite this environment, the company continued to perform well on cost controls, including labor costs. The year-over-year increase in average hourly rate was in line with our expectations and contract labor expense was down slightly on a year-over-year basis. We also performed well again on supplies expense, which were down year-over-year, and as a percentage of net revenue fell 20 basis points to 15.0% when excluding the $28 million legal settlement. While we acknowledge ongoing inflationary pressures and potential incremental upward pressure from tariffs on imported products and raw materials in future periods, we believe that opportunities remain as we stabilize and mature workflows under our ERP. Medical specialist fees were $165 million in the third quarter up approximately 4% year-over-year on a same-store basis, and representing 5.4% of net revenue when excluding the legal settlement, which is generally consistent with recent quarters. We expect continued upward pressure on medical specialist fees in the fourth quarter and into next year, especially in radiology, while increased use of emerging or developing technology, including AI tools should eventually help on this front. Cash flows from operations were $70 million for the third quarter, and $277 million for the year-to-date. Cash flows from operations for the year-to-date as reported includes $126 million in outflows for taxes on gains on sales of hospitals, which are paid out of divestiture proceeds that are reported as investing cash flows. When excluding these cash taxes on divestiture gains, our adjusted cash flows from operations were $403 million for the year-to-date, and adjusted free cash flows were slightly negative for the year-to-date. Based on our historical performance, in which the fourth quarter operating cash flows are typically the strongest of the year, we remain confident in our ability to achieve positive free cash flow for the full year of 2025 after adjusting for cash taxes paid on divestiture gain. In August, we refinanced substantially all of our 2027 maturities, using proceeds from an offering of $1.79 billion and 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2034, to redeem via a tender offer $1.743 billion, or 99%, of our outstanding 2027 Senior Secured Notes. As Kevin previously noted, leverage at quarter end was 6.7x, down from 7.4x at year-end 2024, and our next significant maturity is in 2029, providing ample runway to continue executing our strategic initiatives. As expected, in October, we received $91 million in contingent cash consideration related to last year's divestiture Tennova Cleveland. We also continue to expect the divestiture of our outreach lab asset to close later this quarter with proceeds of approximately $195 million, which will provide additional liquidity to fund growth investments or further reduce our leverage. Now moving on to our updated 2025 financial guidance. Based on our operating results through the first 9 months, along with the benefit from the legal settlement that was not contemplated in the previous guidance, we are tightening our adjusted EBITDA range for the full year 2025 to $1.50 billion to $1.55 billion. Consistent with our prior approach, this guidance does not contemplate any further divestitures beyond those announced, nor does it assume contribution from any new or pending supplemental payment programs. This concludes our prepared remarks. So at this time, we will turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Operator: [Operator Instructions] The first question today comes from Brian Tanquilut with Jefferies. Brian Tanquilut: Congrats on the quarter. Maybe, Kevin, as I think about volume performance, obviously, nice to see the positive trend in inpatient. But on the outpatient side, you still saw some weakness in surgeries and ER. Just any thoughts you can share with us in terms of what you're seeing in terms of the recovery of volumes there? Or how are you guys thinking internally in terms of what that trajectory looks like? And maybe also the components of what outpatient is, and what you're seeing in those buckets? Kevin Hammons: Thanks, Brian. Absolutely. So as we called out in the second quarter, and as I believe we still saw in the third quarter, some of the economic headwinds, more the macroeconomics, the climate and consumer confidence seems to be the big headwind. And I think that continued on into the third quarter, particularly in some of our markets are experiencing some heavier or more softness economically than other markets. . And so we still believe that has been the primary driver of some of the softness now. As consumer confidence seems to be stabilizing, it's bounced off its lows in the second quarter a little bit and seems to be improving. We are seeing some recovery, and I think that we experienced that where we saw some improvement in payer mix into the third quarter, and we're certainly experiencing that in some of our markets. So that gives us a little more confidence as the payer mix improves and people are feeling better. They're starting to come back in for more procedures. Our -- although we were still down on an outpatient elective surgery volume year-over-year, it was improved over second quarter. So we did see some improvement there. I'd also point out maybe that the immigration climate probably is affecting some of our markets still if you think about markets in Arizona, across Texas, primarily, there's still probably a little bit of an overhang there where patient behavior, people are staying away from hospitals, at least on an elective basis more than we've seen in the past. Now we're also experiencing, or noticing that, in our ER business. And many of those are uncompensated. So where you're seeing some lower volume and maybe why that hasn't completely been noticed in our EBITDA generation is because some of that volume that we're seeing lots of volume, particularly in the ERs and uncompensated care. And so that has not had an EBITDA -- negative EBITDA impact on it. Brian Tanquilut: That's very helpful, Kevin. And then maybe just a follow-up question for me. How should we be thinking about your divestiture kind of plans or outlook for 2026? Kevin Hammons: Yes, we're still pursuing. Some divestitures were in some early conversations that -- it's too early at this point. We don't know how far those will go. But certainly, we're continuing to get some inbound interest. We are in some more advanced discussions on a couple of deals, which we think could be announced even later this year. But no agreements have been signed at this point. So nothing to report today that we are advancing some discussions... Operator: The next question comes from A.J. Rice with UBS. Albert Rice: First of all, I guess, you're moving towards this year. It sounds like you think you'll be free cash flow positive on a full year 2025 basis, assuming the fourth quarter comes in with a couple of hundred million positive for you. Is that -- as you begin to move to a position where that's ongoing going to be the case. Does that change your thinking on capital deployment, amount of CapEx you're going to spend, other initiatives, maybe tuck-in deals with outpatient or other things? Any thoughts on that? Kevin Hammons: Thanks, A.J. Absolutely, I think that it frees us up a little bit and does allow us to think, and be a little more strategic in terms of how we think about either deploying capital. It gives us some optionality of whether we use incremental free cash flows to further delever the company to -- which in effect would have a virtuous cycle benefit because it reduced future cash flows. We could use it where there are opportunities for some tuck-in deals to spend capital more strategically in areas of things that we think could generate further EBITDA. So it does free stuff and should then again, create a little more of a virtuous cycle for us. Albert Rice: Okay. And then, I mean it's early, I know, but when you look at '26 and you're starting your budgeting process, et cetera. Are there headwinds or tailwinds that you would call out that we should keep in mind as we try to model '26? Kevin Hammons: Yes. I think I could point out a few things. Certainly taking into consideration the divestitures that we've completed this year, Lake Norman and ShorePoint early in the year, Cedar Park divestiture kind of midyear. We did recognize some prior year SVP for Tennessee that's about $15 million to $20 million that we'll have this year towards the settlement gain that we recognized this quarter. As I think about 2026, directionally, some of the things -- Medicare rate increase will be strong for 2026. We potentially there's a couple of other SVP programs out there in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, the rural health fund, which we don't know, can't quantify at this point, but that should be incrementally positive for us. And then we're making -- continue to make some growth investments. And as you just mentioned with positive free cash flow this year continue on into next year may allow us to further invest in incremental growth capital. Jason Johnson: I might add, Kevin, this is Jason, that you might want to include that $28 million legal settlement this quarter. Exclude that from the jump off from the 2025. Operator: The next question comes from Ben Hendrix with RBC Capital Markets. Benjamin Hendrix: Just a quick question for Kevin and Jason in turn. Just a little bit more color on your early observations in your roles. Kevin, you mentioned you've visited some facilities, any surprises or anything out of expectation in your review of the platform? And then any initiatives you guys are looking at? You talked a little bit already about capital deployment. But anything in operations or balance sheet management that could kind of deviate from your prior practice? Kevin Hammons: Thanks, Ben. I appreciate the question. I think the short answer is to say, I'm really excited about the direction of the company, and I'm confident that we have the right strategies and people in place to execute on our opportunities. We've had a -- I believe, a very smooth transition of leadership. And I believe we're already picking up momentum in a number of key areas. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we have taken the time to visit several local health systems. We've met with health system leaders and I think substantially all of our major markets already. They're very enthusiastic about the progress we're making. And I just -- and becoming increasingly confident that our investments, our strategic priorities, and the resources that we're appropriately laser-focused on those most important aspects of our business. I think we'll see some of that come to fruition here in the near term with a few areas. I'm highly focused on quality of care. So our quality, ratings, our patient and physician experience, employee satisfaction, and I won't take my CFO hat on, and I'll continue to be laser-focused on free cash flow and making sure we've made such great progress over the last, probably, 9 quarters in a row on free cash flow trending positively, now that we're getting to kind of cross over from being negative to positive free cash flow. I think that's going to give us a lot more opportunity. So as I think though about those kind of 5 priority areas for myself and the progress that we're already making on quality and getting focused on the others. I think that will help really accelerate what we can do in the future. Jason Johnson: Brian, this is Jason. Kevin alluded to as CFO hat so. I'm in the position of following the guy who's still here. And Kevin put into place to focus on adjusted free cash flow in that virtuous cycle, and that's -- we're continuing to make sure that we're laser focused on that. So no change there. I do think about that, we got the ERP fully implemented earlier this year. So continuing to optimize that as a big focus. Evaluation of the most efficient use of proceeds from any divestitures, whether that's investment in capital or deleveraging through debt repurchases. So from my standpoint, it's just -- I've been here with Kevin for a number of years. So I understand what his vision is financially and aligned with it and we're continuing on. Benjamin Hendrix: Great. Appreciate that. Just a quick follow-up to a prior comment. With the sequential surgical trend you saw from 2Q into 3Q, anything changing in the way we should think about typical 4Q elective seasonality? Kevin Hammons: I do feel that with the improvement in payer mix in Q3, it gives me a little more confidence that Q4 could look more like the normal seasonal recovery. There was some concern that if commercial patients did not come back in Q3, and you get late in the year and people have not met their co-pay and deductible yes, they may put it off until early 2026. It's looking less likely that, that will occur. But with the continued kind of headlines around health care and some uncertainty, we did not want to get ahead of ourselves in terms of guidance, or suggesting that it could be better. But I think we're in a pretty good position coming into Q4. There's also potentially an opportunity that people are concerned who have exchange insurance, about losing it. There may be some more of that comes back in Q4. It's a relatively small component of our net revenues, is less than 5% of our net revenues. So I don't think it's a real material needle mover for us, but it potentially could be a slight positive. Operator: The next question comes from Andrew Mok with Barclays. Andrew Mok: I think I want to just follow up on some of those encouraging volume trends. Were those trends you saw exiting 3Q, or at the start of 4Q? And from a category standpoint, what are you seeing? And is the payer mix improvement generally driven more by the employer-based coverage, or the ACA? Kevin Hammons: So we saw the payer mix improvements really beginning early Q3 in July. So the -- we saw that improvement throughout Q3. So I think our expectation would be that, that will likely continue into Q4. Now from a comp perspective, Q4 of 2024 was strong and particularly kind of the post-election period, we saw consumer confidence kind of spike in Q4 of last year. So we will have that to climb over. But all in all, directionally and sequentially, I would say that we should continue -- or we expect that we could continue to see some improvement Q3 to Q4. In terms of where we're seeing improvement in terms of the breakdown? It was primarily in commercially insured business, although we did see improvement in exchange as well. But again, the exchange business is a relatively small component of our overall net revenues. Andrew Mok: Great. And on the government side of things, Indiana is one of your largest states, which I think has the large -- one of the largest declines in state Medicaid enrollment to date. Are you seeing the impact of tighter Medicaid eligibility in states like Indiana impact your Medicaid volume results? Kevin Hammons: We've not. We've not experienced any significant impact, specifically to Indiana from that. Operator: The next question comes from Jason Cassorla with Guggenheim. Jason Cassorla: Can you guys hear me? Kevin Hammons: Yes Jason. Jason Cassorla: Okay. Got it. I just wanted to touch quickly. I think you noted kind of thinking about 2026 and the favorable Medicare IPPS coming in. Obviously, the -- we're waiting on the final outpatient rule. But like as you think about -- if the outpatient were to come in as proposed, like how do you think about the net of those two pieces as it relates to 2026? Were they largely offset each other? Or are there nuances from a Medicare rate perspective if the OPPS comes in as proposed? Kevin Hammons: I would say with the proposed outpatient, but we know an inpatient proposed outpatient, I still think it's a little net positive to 2026 over 2024. Sorry, 2025. Jason Cassorla: Okay. Great. And maybe just more of a high-level question. On the ambulatory front, I know you have new access points opening up, including a few ASCs. But as you step back, can you just discuss your ambulatory strategy or remind us, help frame maybe what inning you're in, in terms of building out those access points and how that's helped your market share position? And anything else along those front would be very helpful. Kevin Hammons: Sure. So we are -- continue to look at access points. We've been investing in those for some time. I think each market -- in our markets, each market is a little bit different. We've taken a little different strategy in those markets where we've had capacity constraints on the inpatient side. We have invested in more inpatient dollars, such as this past year, we opened up new towers in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we added, I believe, 58 beds, and we added a new patient tower in Foley, Alabama. Both of those markets, we had capacity constraints. Currently, we do not have any of those kind of larger construction projects on the inpatient side in flight. And so as we kind of move through '25 into 2026, more of our dollars will be focused on the access points, whether that's urgent care, freestanding EDs, ASCs, and so forth. And so I think those are lower dollar. We can do more of them kind of for the same amount of capital. Now we have been opening 3 to 4 freestanding EDs per year. We have, I believe, 3 ASCs scheduled for opening this quarter here in 2025 -- in the fourth quarter of 2025. We'll probably target kind of 6 to 8 ASCs for next year in 2026 along with some additional freestanding EDs and possibly some urgent care centers. And then we're always also acquiring clinics and hiring new doctors into our existing clinics as well. Operator: The next question comes from Stephen Baxter with Wells Fargo. Unknown Analyst: This is Mitchell on for Steve. Can you please highlight what drove the 5.6% growth in same-store revenue per admission, and kind of what you see as a sustainable rate there? Jason Johnson: Steven, this is Jason. About 1/3 of that 5.6% improvement in same-store net revenue per AA is a result of the Tennessee and New Mexico state-directed payments programs that were approved in the second quarter. And then the rest of the improvement is payer mix related. And there is some offset. We did have a little bit lower acuity. Kevin Hammons: I might -- just to add in terms of kind of what's sustainable. We think a mid-single-digit net revenue growth and net revenue per growth is a sustainable number. And between your Medicare rate increases our commercial rate increases, we expect acuity to recover going forward. Right now, there is some dilutive impact on the net revenue per AA with the softer outpatient surgeries, particularly orthopedic and cardiac surgeries, which have been areas of softness. But as those come back, we should see a lift in the net revenue per AA, just that they're higher acuity services. Operator: The next question comes from Josh Raskin with Nephron. Josh, your line is open. You may now ask your questions. We appear to have lost connection with Josh... Joshua Raskin: I'm sorry, do you guys hear me? Kevin Hammons: We can. Joshua Raskin: Sorry. Can you speak to trends from payers around denials and underpayments, maybe just an update there and more importantly, around maybe the mitigation of those pressures? And I'm curious if you're using any external vendors? Or is it all internal services on the RCM side and maybe any changes that have been there through the year? Kevin Hammons: Sure. So we called out really third quarter last year and in 2024, a big spike in denials. And since that time, it's stabilized. It is not really gotten any worse. But we continue to invest in our physician adviser program. We're investing in some AI tools in terms of how we do denials with our internal revenue recycle team. We are using a combination of third-party vendors as well as internally developed products on that for purposes of our revenue cycle team. Our revenue cycle is managed internally with our own team that they do use a combination of products. So as we get better at it, I would say we've been able to kind of hold things stable, which would indicate that the payers are probably also denying more claims, but we've been more efficient or better at overturning some of those denials in order to kind of keep things status quo. Joshua Raskin: Perfect. Perfect. That's helpful. And maybe just a quick one. Flu season. It seems like off to a little bit of a slow start. I assume that's contemplated in guidance, and I'd be curious if you guys are seeing any updates into October as we kind of move into flu season? Kevin Hammons: Yes. It is contemplated in guidance, and we haven't seen any big pickup yet in our facilities and the heavy flu. So at this point, I'm not sure we'll -- what we'll see yet for the remainder of the quarter, but we have kind of taken that into consideration. Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Hammons for any closing remarks. Kevin Hammons: Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. I want to close by reiterating my thanks for our team members at CHS for their commitments and confidence through the leadership transition as we approach the future together. If you have any additional questions, you can always reach us at (615) 465-7000. Have a good day, everyone. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Welcome to Sdiptech Q3 2025 Report Presentation. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to CEO, Anders Mattson and CFO, Bengt Lejdstrom. Please go ahead. Anders Mattson: Hi, everybody, and welcome to our Q3 presentation and Q&A. I am Anders Mattson, CEO of Sdiptech, and I will be presenting the results together with CFO, Bengt Lejdstrom, here today. I will start with the highlights of the quarter before we go into the more general content with the financial results. So in the quarter, we have implemented and streamlined our portfolio and Sdiptech will become a more coherent and better aligned group going forward. Until today, we have consisted of 41 companies in our 4 business areas. We have historically been growing our adjusted EBITA at a good level, but we have, at the same time, been quite volatile. Our portfolio has partially been based on installation companies, companies with exposure to cyclical end markets like construction and quite a few companies with a margin around 10% in the group. And these companies were usually or most of them required before our strategic shift into. So if we look at the financials here for this total portfolio in Q3, we had approximately 19% in adjusted EBITA margin and 12% return on capital employed. If we look in the middle, so what have we done? We have assessed on our key strategic priorities. We prefer product-based companies. We like markets with strong underlying growth drivers. And we would like to see a clear niche, which is usually protected a good way and that's also the reason why we [Technical Difficulty] in many of our business units. So based on this assessment, we have made a decision to divest 11 companies from the group. We have already started the process of finding new homes to these companies, and we have good progress with several of divestments so far. As these 11 companies only stand for roughly 3% of the year-to-date adjusted EBITA, their P&L effect is minor. On the balance sheet, the result will be a write-down of SEK 500 million in goodwill and other intangible assets. And Bengt will come back to this later in the presentation. So if we look to the right here, from today and going forward, we will consist of 30 companies and a better aligned portfolio. We believe we will be able to more proactively drive organic growth with this portfolio. And from our point of view, it's also a better allocation of capital towards our strategic priorities going forward. Financially in the quarter, as I said, is a minor effect. Adjusted EBITA will be reduced by SEK 7 million from SEK 242 million to SEK 235 million. but our adjusted EBITA margin will go up from 19.4% to 21.3%. And return on capital employed will increase from 12% to roughly 13%. So in the presentation going forward now, I will present numbers according to the core portfolio. So summary of the quarter from a financial perspective, net sales increased with 9%. That was 4.5% organic growth and roughly 9% due to acquisition. We were glad to see solid demand from all our business areas. It was positive to see a slow recovery from some larger business units where orders have been pushed forward in the year from Q1 to Q2 and now in Q3, we finally got some sales realized. Adjusted EBITA increased with 9% at 2.4% organic and rough from acquisitions. The increase in sales made EBITA grow as well. So it's not only because of cost adjustment. And year-to-date, we are still behind last year's numbers, but positive with the organic growth in the quarter. We have also been able to maintain the margin of 21.3% in the quarter, which has been quite challenging due to tough market conditions, both on price and also actually to getting the customer to commit to the orders. We had a strong cash flow generation in the quarter as well of 94%, which resulted in SEK 255 million in cash. And that was primarily a result of improved inventory levels from a high level in the last quarter. If we're going into the net sales, the net sales increased with 9% to SEK 1,102 million. And as I said, there was a good demand, solid demand from all our business areas. And the 4.5% organic growth is something we are, of course, satisfied with in the quarter. As I also talked about previous quarters, we have experienced a slow first half of the year, especially from some larger business units in the group. So it's a positive sign that I mentioned as well that we have been able to deliver and recognize sales in the quarter. We have also had a strong contribution from acquisitions. And some of the acquisitions is influenced by strong growth drivers linked to security around data center as one example, and that is in our smallest business area, Safety & Security. In the graph to the right, we have separated the core portfolio since 2023. And from this date, you can see we have achieved a CAGR of 13% in sales growth. If we're looking at the sales split, the sales split of the portfolio looks now a little bit different. After the separation of the core, Sweden has decreased in size and now it's only between 5% and 6% in total sales from the portfolio. U.K. is still our biggest market. We believe we are successful in the U.K. We like the trend with the long-term investments in infrastructure assets. Other Europe is now roughly at 20%. This is a geographic area we foresee to continue to grow in. If you look to the right, turnover by type, proprietary products is the dominant type of revenue for us as a group. Installation has been reduced as a result of the core portfolio. The installation and service that you still hear -- you still see now is primarily on our own products. And we have several companies with a strong service offering that enables stability in the earnings. And that's usually both service on hardware, software and manual labor hours as well. But again, on our -- primarily on our own products then. Coming into the adjusted EBITA. Adjusted EBITA increased by 9% to SEK 235 million. That is, for us, a stable profit growth with 2.4% organic growth. We also had a strong contribution from acquisitions with 10%, and it's coming primarily from companies within Safety & Security and also from companies within Energy & Electrification. And again, that's the trend around security for data center that has been driven this acquisition quite good in the quarter. The margin at 21.3%, we have been able to maintain from last year. As I mentioned before, it's been a price pressure in the market. So being able to maintain this margin is a result of a good cost control, both from activities within purchasing, but also from overall overhead cost development. If we look at the diagram to the right, we see a stable and high level in adjusted EBITA in percentage since 2023. If you also then look at the CAGR, the CAGR of the EBITA is at 11%, and we know we can do better than this. But in this graph, it's affected by a slower pace of acquisitions since last 1.5 year and it's also a weaker, as we know, organic growth since the beginning of 2024. So looking at the development in our 4 business areas, I think it's important to mention that we believe our 4 business areas serves us well as a group. They are broad enough to enable good M&A opportunities within each and every business area. And they also align our focus to the markets with strong underlying growth drivers, which is very important for the long-term development for us as a group. In Q3, all 4 business areas had solid demand. It's also positive to see that our smallest business area, Safety & Security, had a strong development in the quarter. If you look at Supply Chain & Transportation, we have begun to recover in this one after a weaker first half of the year. Several customers in this business area postponed their orders, actually from Q2 during the summer into Q3 and some into Q4. But in Q3, we released some sales, and it was also a good scalability, which led to margin improvements in the business area. Safety & Security, as I already mentioned, had a strong quarter, and there was several smaller units benefiting from favorable market trends, the one I already mentioned around data center, but also around emission control, pollution control, which is a strong area for us. And the new acquired companies in this business area also affected positively. Within Energy & Electrification, performance was mixed. A few units were driven by continued strong demand from energy efficiency, while some units were still affected from some very tough comparison from last year. That was from Q1, Q2 and also now in Q3. In Water & Bioocconomy, several units performed well, although margins were impacted in this business area by some cost pressure. And we are working to -- but we also need to be balanced to foresee future opportunities and future growth in regards to our cost base. And with that said, I hand over to you, Bengt. Bengt Lejdstrom: Thank you, Anders. Yes. And let's have a little bit deeper look into the cash flow and cash conversion for the whole group. As Anders was mentioning, we had a very good cash conversion of 94%, much of that coming from the inventories that were built up during the summer for seasonal sales that have started now and will continue into Q4. Improved the whole situation with inventory levels. We also saw some lower tax payments compared to last year. So all in all, a good quarter. And as you can see there on the chart that typically, we are between 70% to 90% in cash conversion. That's from operations and from working capital ups and downs. And we're now on a last 12-month basis, right in the middle at 81%, comparable with last year's 83%. We also start to show in our reports now the free cash flow per share. We haven't reported that for a very long time, but we report it now. And we had a very good free cash flow. That means all cash coming in from the business and also after the working capital adjustments, but then deducting the amortization of different leasing contracts as well as deducting the capital expenditures for different type of investments in the companies. So really, the only thing not included is when we acquire companies or pay earn-out debts to already acquired companies. So that cash flow was very good. And apart from the good cash flow from the operations, we saw a lower CapEx level in this quarter as we have done also for the full year. We work very closely with the companies, of course, to decide what type of the investments they should do. And we do that by looking at a classical DuPont chart, you could say that we -- where we look at both their EBIT margins and their capital turnover and see what kind of return on capital employed they have and from that decide what's most prioritized. So yes. And also the free cash flow for the last 12 months, as you see here at the last bullet is also very strong coming then both from the operations and from lower capital expenditures. Looking then at some additional metrics. We have the profit after tax, of course, an important measure. And -- but this quarter, it's a bit affected quite heavily actually by this write-down of goodwill when -- and it's all of SEK 500 million, this write-down of goodwill and other immaterial assets. When we moved these companies that will be divested out of the business areas, we could then make a full impairment test of their values. As you know, we do our impairment tests on goodwill, et cetera, based on our business areas because they are our cash-generating units. And all our 4 business areas have been able to defend very well the values that are in there. There is no risk for write-downs of the business areas. But when we then subtract out these specific companies, we have enabled them to look at them individually and in fact did total write-down of SEK 0.5 million. But if we exclude that more bookkeeping exercise, it's not cash generating anything, not affecting the cash flow, then we see that the profit after tax was a little bit lower. The difference is mainly because of the currency effects. We had SEK 14 million of currency loss in the quarter. And as you could see and hear from Anders previously that it affects both top line and profit, of course, this 4%, 5% all in all FX effect. But in our finance net, it affects us with SEK 14 million in the quarter. And that also affects us on the last 12 months. Then total, the finance net is affected with SEK 50 million, most of that coming from currency effects. And as you saw on the chart on our distribution of sales that currency effect could, of course, be quite substantial as the Swedish currency becomes stronger as we have more than 90% of our revenues kicking in from other currencies. Then another measure then taking that profit after tax and take it per ordinary share after dilution, you see then a very hefty minus in the quarter, minus SEK 11.14 per share. But if we then exclude this write-down, it's 2 -- a little bit more than SEK 2 per share, and it's of the same reasons as I just explained. And that also goes for the last 12 months compared with last year. Then taking a look on the leverage. We saw a quite big increase in the financial debt leverage compared with last year and also compared with the year-end last year. And that's because we have paid out earn-out debts. These earn-outs have been provided for in the balance sheet ever since we acquired the companies. So the payout of earn-outs do not affect the net debt in total, the bottom line, but it affects the financial net debt. So that has -- we have paid out about SEK 150 million in the quarter and almost SEK 400 million in the year, year-to-date. So that's, of course, a lot of money going out, but it's going up and it's having performed very well since we acquired them. So it's a good thing to pay earn-outs. The total net debt compared with the adjusted EBITA has decreased since new year since we haven't made so much acquisitions, but it increased from last year September because we have acquired SEK 85 million of profit in the last 12 months. And of course, that affects the balance sheet and since the organic growth hasn't been top notch during that period. That affects the profit and results in an increased -- slightly increase in the net debt leverage. Then as the last financial metric here presented, we look at the return on capital employed, the ROCE. And as Anders mentioned, it was 12% now. It's counted as, of course, on the average capital employed for the last 4 months and then compared with the EBITA profit we have had. And that decreased because we have increased the capital employed from the acquisitions and the organic growth, as I said, has been -- last 12 months have been slightly negative. If we just look at the outgoing balance of capital employed after the write-downs of goodwills, we are at almost 13%. And if we only look at the core businesses, taking their capital employed and their profits, then we're at 13.5% now. So as we divest these companies one by one, then, of course, then the capital employed is reduced and this ROCE will increase slowly, but steadily. If we look upon the operational return on capital employed, that is the average from our operating units, we're at 51%, which is, of course, very good, we believe. Okay, with that, back to Anders. Anders Mattson: Okay. Thank you, Bengt. So coming into acquisitions, which is a very important aspect of our business model. Year-to-date, we have acquired SEK 40 million in EBITA, and we hope to close one small deal before year-end. We have some ongoing discussions that is quite far in the process. So that's the aim for the year. I think it's important to mention our guiding principles here in regards to M&A. Regarding the pipeline, we continue to build the pipeline to meet the customers and customers -- sorry, companies to come to the discussion about the final acquisitions, and we do that, and we have a strong, solid pipeline in place continuously building that one. In regard to valuation, we're disciplined here. We know that it's easy to go away in valuation. And we have -- during this quarter, we have stepped away from 2 deals that I was part of as well due to the valuation was going too high for us. And on the leverage side, as we have said, our aim is to reduce the leverage in the future. So of course, that together with our disciplined evaluation is affecting as well the numbers of acquisition and the number of EBIT we have done so far in the year. I can also add here that we have started to look into Germany. We did it already last quarter, but it's a good progress and a lot of exciting companies in that region for us now and also for the future, we believe. Okay. So last slide before we go into the Q&A, a little bit of the takeaways from the quarter from us. I think the solid underlying demand is positive. A majority of our companies had a stable demand in Q3. It is still uncertainty out there in the market. And the condition for many of the businesses in Q4 is unstable. We see that 2026 is a positive sign for us, but it's still uncertain. And that's what we see right now. And we don't want to say anything more about 2026 than that here today. On the second bullet here, on our strategic actions for the long-term value creation, we have taken some very important steps in the [ quarter line ], our portfolio. We have been talking about that for quite some time, and it's -- I think it's good for us for Sdiptech to finally have done this decision now going forward. Many of the companies, we will divest. We have ongoing discussions with and progress in a good way. We have not set any strict deadline when it needs to happen, the divestment. But both from our perspective, from the company's perspective, we would like to be efficient and fast in the process. So that's what we are driving at. We have -- during the autumn as well, we have looked into our strategy, and we have made some adjustments, and we will present that on a Capital Market Day in end of November. And on the last note then, the acquisition pipeline. It is a solid pipeline that we have. Discussions ongoing, but we keep a strong discipline in our valuation and also around our investment criteria, especially with our aim to decreasing the leverage over time in the future. So that was, I think, everything from us as a presenter, and I think we can open up for our Q&A session as well now. Operator: [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Max Bacco from SEB. Max Bacco: Well done in the quarter. Three questions from my side, 3, 4 questions. Perhaps starting with the cash flow. As you said, very strong here in the quarter, partly due to lower tax, but also lower CapEx and then quite neutral impact from net working capital. So the first question on cash flow, I think you mentioned this, Bengt. But here in the end of 2025 in Q4, do you see potential for further support from net working capital in terms of the cash flow? Or yes, what's your thought on that, if you start with that one? Bengt Lejdstrom: Exactly. Now typically, Q4 could be quite good from a working capital perspective since we have some seasonal oriented comp. There's no moving equipment and heat work and so on. And they have been building stocks during the summer and starting now then to sell it and turn it into accounts receivables, of course, but then also get the cash in from those invoices. So -- last year, it was actually above 100%, the cash generation. So it's not that high this year, but still Q4 is typically good for net working capital. Max Bacco: Okay. Sounds promising. And then you actually touched upon this also during the presentation that in the quarter, CapEx was a bit lower and that you have a very strict process with the subsidiaries when deciding how to allocate capital. And perhaps thinking a bit more long term than just next quarter, but historically, Sdiptech has been at some 4% of sales in terms of CapEx. Do you see a potential to reduce that number going ahead and perhaps allocate more into acquisitions instead and deleveraging? What's your thought thoughts on that going forward? Bengt Lejdstrom: Yes. I mean it's typically perhaps difficult to say the exact number for the future. But I think if we have been sometimes around 4 and even above, I think we're more around of sales now in CapEx spending. So -- but as I said, it's always depending on the actual situation and what's most profitable for that company, for example. But yes -- but we have tightened up the process quite a bit. Anders Mattson: I can add to that as well, then. Yes, I think what Bengt said there, it's important for us to see the CapEx and the need for the total portfolio and to prioritize in the coming years in a better way. And that's something we have looked into ourselves in our strategic work as well. Max Bacco: Okay. Sounds good. And then changing topic. I mean as you have explained yourself, quite a lot of things going on right now in Sdiptech, I mean, everything from improvement measures in several core subsidiaries. You still have an active M&A pipeline, you have ambitions to divest several companies. And I guess you're preparing as well for Capital Markets Day here in the end of November. Just curious how you allocate responsibilities internally? And do you consider yourself to be able to execute on all parts without, I guess, losing momentum and/or sacrificing quality? What's your thoughts on that? Anders Mattson: Yes, I think from -- I agree, it's a lot of -- on the agenda, but I think we have structured it quite good. The M&A team is not responsible for the divestment. So they are focusing on building the pipeline and meeting and executing on the M&A side. We have other internal individuals responsible for the divestment. And it's going quite good actually with -- we are not going on big broad processes. We are identifying smart, we think, key potential buyers to the businesses, and we drive that process quite efficiently. And from the other perspective is that we are still working on establishing the new business area organization. In August, Daniel started as the new Head of Supply Chain & Transportation. And we are quite far in the process to recruit somebody in the U.K. as well for Energy & Electrification. And I think that will, of course, be very important going forward to have that stable organization in the business area side as well. But so far, it looks -- feels good on that side. Max Bacco: Okay. Perfect. And then one final question, turning a bit more short term again, Just if it's possible, if you could help us how we should think about Q4 here in the next quarter in terms of comparable numbers, both for core and noncore? I mean at first glance, it looks like that noncore or other operations seem to have a quite weak Q4 last year. I guess it's some seasonality into it as well, whereas core had a more -- it looks like more decent quarter Q4 last year. Did you share that view on things? Anders Mattson: Yes. Yes, I can -- definitely, it's correct. In our situation, we look at the divestment process. So it might be that some of the companies might be divested now during Q4. And then, of course, it's going to affect that comparable numbers then. From the core, I think Bengt was touching upon that as well, that it's important that our companies with a bigger seasonal effect deliver now. And it's a little bit -- as we said, it's a little bit unsecured at the moment. We have some more slight negative, so to say. But overall, it's a positive sign for the future. But it's -- right now for Q4, we have said not to guide anything more than this at the moment. Operator: The next question comes from Simon Jönsson from ABG Sundal Collier. Simon Jönsson: First, just I want to say, it's a nice addition with the free cash flow per share KPI. Things like that are appreciated. And then I also have a question, like Max, on the acquisition pace. You -- it sounds like you expect maybe one more smaller acquisition this year. And it sounds like you remain quite active in new deals. So I just wonder how you think about new acquisitions versus your preferred gearing levels sort of what you're comfortable with and where you think your limits might be in terms of gearing and how much you can do on the acquisition side in near term. So I guess that's maybe not Q4, but in coming quarters or so. Anything on that would be helpful how you're thinking? Anders Mattson: Yes. So I think on the first perspective of this, it's important to be active. We prefer to say no to deals than not having the deals to not sit at the table. So we are, yes, definitely building the pipeline and meeting the customer and trying to get to the deal, so to say. But regarding the exact numbers, we will touch upon that, and we have discussed that internally in regards to our Capital Markets Day that we will come up with targets, I think, around some potentially new financial targets there. But right now, we are at 3.2%, as Bengt showed you, but I think we would like to go down from there and not to go up. So that's the balance. We still would like to acquire those value companies that are out there when we can get them at a good valuation, but still ambition is to drive down leverage. But we don't want to make it too fast and not make any stupid decisions when we have the good targets out there. Simon Jönsson: All right. Good answer. Then I just have a follow-up on the margins on the segments, specifically on Water & Bio. You commented briefly on the margins in that segment were impacted by cost pressures. Could you maybe elaborate a bit more specifically due to the margin decline year-over-year and how we should expect that those pressures going forward? Anders Mattson: Yes, we have a company, which is having a lot of big workforce. So from a salary perspective, salary increased quite significantly in the beginning of the year in -- especially in the U.K. And we are having some longer contracts with insurance customers, which is very hard to adjust for those kind of compensation or salary conversations. So there's a tough year for that company specifically in the U.K. And then -- but that's really the majority. And then we have also in other companies, we have been taking some decision to build up a little bit more because it's -- we need that for -- to be able to deliver for a possible upside in the coming quarters. It looks good from a revenue side in projects and orders. Operator: The next question comes from Martin Wahlstrom from Redeye. Martin Wahlstrom: The first one is related to the dynamic you say, where you postpone orders from H1 to H2. Could you give any more color on the split between kind of what lands in Q3 and what lands in Q4? Anders Mattson: I think we have a good -- let's say, part of that was actually now coming into Q3. But yes, it's still -- some of those orders, it's -- I'm thinking specifically of the 3 companies in the group. They have been promised orders. It didn't come in Q3. So yes, potentially, it will come in Q4. The good thing when we have the U.K. companies that they have the budget year in actually end of March 2026. So it's still on the right side in the budget, so to say, for some other companies. But no, it's difficult to say that, specifically how much of it came in Q3 and how much is going to be realized in Q4. Q4 is more about what I think we answered before as well, the seasonality in some of the winter needs to come, and we need to be able to deliver for the season or in season as well. Martin Wahlstrom: I see, I see. And then one final question is related to if you could give some more color on the distribution in your acquisition pipeline when it comes to kind of the split between business areas and geographies going forward? Anders Mattson: So from business area perspective, it's, let's say, it's equally among the 4 business areas. We have had some good discussions within supply chain, but also in Safety & Security in the recent quarter. So I think that's good. It's important that we work with all 4 business areas in acquisitions. From geography, it's actually nothing special there. It's our main geographies. It's U.K., it's the Nordics, it's Italy as well. And then as I said as well, we are going into Germany, and we have some good discussions with German or Dutch as well companies. So the DACH countries. It's -- so that's new and fresh into the pipeline, but nothing more or more significant than other geographies at the moment. Operator: The next question comes from Linus Alentun from Nordea. Linus Alentun: Just a quick couple of questions here from me. Starting off in Water & Bio, what would you say is a normalized margin here once we see a rebound? Bengt Lejdstrom: Well, I could perhaps step in there. Anders Mattson: Yes. Bengt Lejdstrom: Yes, we have seen -- typically, they have been around 24%, 25%. And then as the companies we now count as the core companies in that business area. Now it was 21% in this quarter for the reasons that Anders mentioned. So we're working to get it up there again. So whether it will be 23% or 24%, 25%, that's, of course, still to be seen because there are many different unique situations to take care of. But at least we're working to improve from the current 21%, that much we can say. Linus Alentun: Okay. And on '26 here, you mentioned in the report that, that is when you see a broader recovery. What makes you confident in that? Is there anything -- any indicator you've seen turning more positive or... Anders Mattson: No, I think it's the discussion with the companies. We are in a budget process as well, and we've been asking -- or in our discussions with the companies, it is positive momentum for business areas or business units and orders and they are looking into projects for next year and new potential customers. So no, it's from that perspective, talking to the companies and seeing there what they see for the orders and for the potential in the coming year. Linus Alentun: Okay. Super. That's super clear. And just one last question here. If I remember correctly, you had some swaps here that are contributing negatively in the net financials. What's the time line? When will they stop affecting here? Bengt Lejdstrom: Yes, we have 2 types of hedging arrangements. One is for interest and those interest swaps are right now negative. They were positive before when the interest rates were higher. Right now, we pay an extra 0.2 or so percent on the debt. But they will be closed from end of next year. And so 1, 2 years, you could say. So it's not a very big downside, but still, we pay about 20 basis points more than we should because of those hedging. But they have been giving a good return because they were better before. The other side, we have hedging arrangements on currencies. And there, we tried to hedge our currency exposure in the balance sheet to some extent. And not -- we're still net asset positive, which means that when, for example, British pound sterling is weakening towards the SEK, all in all, we get then a cost in the P&L, but not as much as we would if we hadn't those FX swaps and hedges. Linus Alentun: Okay. Super. So 20 bps there. Operator: [Operator Instructions] There are no more phone questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions or closing comments. Bengt Lejdstrom: Yes. And I could kick off then with the questions. We have received 3 questions in the chat here. I think one we have already answered that was regarding the EBITA margin in the Water & Bioeconomy business area. And the second question was that some of the companies we are now intending to divest among the other companies. They have quite well-performing companies with good margins and product based to some extent. Why divesting such companies? Anders Mattson: Yes. I think I can add to that question is that -- so what I said, what we look for in the companies we would like to buy in our strategic priorities is around 3 things. We would like to have a strong promise that actually have their own products. They sell and they make service to them. We also want to have not cyclical end markets. It has been a challenge with some of the companies, which is very cyclical and working, trying to proactively work with organic growth is quite difficult if you don't have the mindset, that's what it is with those companies. And the third thing around the niche. If you have niche, you can protect it and you can drive growth from that niche. And all of these companies that we're giving examples of here, they have some aspect or they are not meeting that criteria. So it's been -- for us, been challenging, and we would like to allocate that money into more our prioritized businesses and future businesses. And we believe many of these businesses, as we said, it's not because they are performing financially bad, it's more that -- to allocate that capital to something that we believe in the future is better according to us. Bengt Lejdstrom: Thank you, Anders. And then the last written question, as I see, it's regarding the write-down if -- was that a one-off? Or could that potentially continue to be more write-downs Q4 and also next year? But what we have done now is to the best of our knowledge, as it's typically called and also to write down the value. So we don't foresee that we need to do any more write-downs. And of course, it's depending on how much money, high considerations we will get for the companies once we divest. But we believe at least that the value of these companies represent their market value and potential than consideration that we will get. So it shouldn't be any major at least. It could be -- go both ways. We could both have some profits or we could have some smaller losses when we divest, but it shouldn't really be any big numbers. But no write-down of goodwill as such because of any impairment. I think that was all of the written questions. So back to you, Anders. Anders Mattson: Yes. I think then thank you for the written question and asked question. And yes, thank you all for listening in, and we are looking forward. And hopefully, we will meet some of you at the Capital Markets Day in November, which will be held here in Stockholm, and we are looking forward to that. So with that, thank you, everybody, for today.
Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Hexagon Q3 Report 2025 Webcast and Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Anders Svensson, President and CEO of Hexagon. Please go ahead, sir. Anders Svensson: Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to our third quarter 2025 earnings presentation. Today, we have an extended session with a bit of a different format. So I will take a moment now in the beginning just to walk you through how it will work. So in a moment, I will start by taking you through the third quarter performance. First, from a group perspective, and then focus on Hexagon core business performance in the third quarter. I will then hand over to Mattias Stenberg, the CEO of our potential spin-off company, Octave, and he will talk about the Octave performance during the quarter. Mattias will then hand over to Norbert Hanke, our interim CFO, who will cover the financials for Hexagon Group in a bit more details. Following this, I will take an additional roughly 20 minutes or so, to discuss my initial thoughts from my first full quarter at Hexagon, including also immediate priorities, with a focus then on -- also here on Hexagon core. And we will then, of course, open up for questions-and-answers. But starting then with our third quarter performance, and I start directly on the highlights. So in the third quarter, we made solid progress in our financial metrics and delivered a great deal of operational progress. Organic growth was 4%, with growth driven strongly by a demand in Autonomous Solutions and also across some of the other customer segments, such as aerospace and defense, electronics, machine control, mining and general manufacturing. Operating margin strengthened quarter-on-quarter, despite that Q3 is normally our seasonally weakest quarter, but it remained below our targeted levels. Across Hexagon Group, we have identified a cost efficiency program, which has been in action now and will begin to benefit margins gradually from the coming quarter here, the fourth quarter and will then have full effect by the end of 2026. Cash conversion in the quarter was good at 77%, considering that Q3 is normally the weakest quarter in the year. And we remained on course to achieve our annualized target of 80% to 90%. We also made some strategic operational moves during the quarter. We have previously announced the sale of our D&E business in Manufacturing Intelligence to Cadence for EUR 2.7 billion. And we made some changes to the executive leadership team ahead of the potential separation of Octave. And this separation is still on track for the first half year of 2026. And I will talk more about these changes in a moment. But first, I will walk you through the announcement where we are addressing our cost issue. So at my first call during the second quarter report, I committed to review the cost base of Hexagon to address the recent challenge in our operating margins. So across Hexagon Group, we have identified EUR 110 million of potential savings with around EUR 74 million being related to Hexagon core and EUR 36 million being related to Octave. And as I said, we expect to see these benefits gradually starting from the fourth quarter this year and then with full effect at the end of next year. The cost to achieve these efficiencies will be around EUR 113 million. In Hexagon core, we also conducted a review of our balance sheet, which we identified a charge of EUR 186 million related to primarily innovation in history and also some other items like inventory and also discontinued products. These charges were also taken during the third quarter. And I'm very confident that these situations will be less likely in the future as I expect our businesses to manage their profit and loss and balance sheet within normal operations, and key steps we are taking here is to give divisions full accountability for financial performance. It will also enable operational and product decisions to be taken closer to customers to ensure a market fit and also that customer needs are met. We're also strengthening our governance for approvals and review systems, and we are implementing a new performance management system to enable swift response. I'll now turn into recent changes to our executive team. So we have announced that David Mills is stepping down as CFO from Hexagon for personal reasons, and he will be replaced on an interim basis by Norbert Hanke until we find a permanent replacement. We didn't want to see David go, but I understand the reasons and he has my full support. But I'm very happy that David has agreed to remain available for us for the next 6 months as a financial adviser and that we also have a very competent and knowledgeable interim replacement here with Norbert. We have also announced that on the separation of Octave, Ben Maslen and Tony Zana will transition to the Octave leadership team, where Ben will be the CFO, and Tony will be Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Ben and Tony has been key members to the Hexagon executive team for many years and still are. And while I'm sorry to see them go, I'm also delighted to see them progress into these new roles with Octave. And I have no doubt that they will be instrumental in driving value for Octave and embrace the future that this company is going into as an independent listed company. And I'm pleased to announce that replacing Ben is Andreas Wenzel. Andreas joins us from ABB, where he has held a number of senior roles, including Head of Strategy and M&A. Replacing Tony will be Thomas De Muynck, who joins us from Jones Day where he was the Head of the Brussels practice. Thomas joined us early in this month, and I'm very happy to welcome him on board to the team. Turning now to the next slide. I will talk briefly on the decision to sell our D&E business. In early September, we announced the sale of our D&E business to Cadence for EUR 2.7 billion. The engineering and simulation market has been consolidating rapidly and electronical design and automation suppliers, EDA suppliers, have been increasingly taking a leading role in this consolidation. And we are then consolidating with physical simulation suppliers like our own D&E business, and we have seen this with other companies like Siemens, Altair and Synopsys, Ansys. And this is a trend which is very difficult for Hexagon to follow. It is therefore better that we dedicate our time and attention to our core, which is precision measurement, positioning and autonomy technologies, where we can use our market leadership position to drive best-in-peer group growth and margin levels. And just to make it very clear for everyone, this is not an exit from software at Hexagon. Post the potential separation of Octave and the sale of D&E, Hexagon software and services revenue will still account for above 40% of revenues and 25% recurring revenues, and we expect these amounts to continue to grow also in the future. The funds released by the transaction expected to be in the amount of EUR 1.4 billion will help support us to build and develop our businesses while also maintaining a very robust balance sheet. We expect the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2026. I'm now turning to the next section, and that's the financial performance of Hexagon core in the third quarter. So I'll move directly into that. So Hexagon core, that means excluding Octave business, grew by 5% organic in the third quarter with an adjusted operating margin of 27%. This is a solid financial performance in challenged end market environments. I will now turn into a focus on Manufacturing Intelligence. So MI reported revenues of EUR 445 million, represent a 3% organic growth versus 2024. There was a strength in general manufacturing and electronics, and it was somewhat offset by continued soft demand within automotive. There was growth across all geographies with good demand in the Americas and growth also in EMEA, where automotive weakness was offset by a strong demand in aerospace. China also grew with 3% in the quarter, strength within electronics and general manufacturing, but signs of weakness is also here within automotive. The division reported EUR 112 million EBIT and an operating margin then of 25.1%, and it was impacted by some negative currency effects. In fixed currency, if you compare the margin year-on-year, it was actually better in 2025 than in 2024. So turning now to Geosystems, where we reported revenues of EUR 353 million during the quarter. And I'm happy to say that represented a 1% organic growth compared to last year. And it was really good to see a return to growth after 6 quarters of negative growth. Last time we had a positive growth was the fourth quarter of 2023. So good to see that we are back on positive numbers. We saw continued growth in the software portfolio and associated recurring revenues and a good contribution from our new product iCON trades, which continues to grow very well. This was, however, offset by continued weakness in hardware related to construction and heavy infrastructure, where the market remains very weak, especially in China. The Americas continued to grow, and there was a return to modest growth in EMEA. Asia remained challenged, of course, given the exposure to China heavy manufacturing or heavy infrastructure, particularly in high-speed railway, offsetting the continued good growth that we actually have in India. And here, maybe adding some interesting facts that in average 2022 to 2024, China was building 3,600 kilometers of rail every year. If you compare to the first half year of 2025, they only was building 301 kilometers. So it's almost a drop of 85%. And that is, of course, impacting Geosystems deliveries in China. EBIT declined to EUR 95 million with an operating margin of 26.9%, reflecting the combined effects of low volume in some product segments, the weaker product mix because the product mix going into this heavy infrastructure is a really positive contributor and also then we had negative currency impacts. Finally, I turn into Autonomous Solutions. And I'm happy to say here we have the standout performer in the quarter, delivered revenues of EUR 178 million, representing 19% organic growth compared to the prior year. There was a very strong performance in aerospace and defense. Mining was also growing well and end markets in agriculture actually remain challenging. So here's the problem child within this division currently. But it's market related, and the agriculture is currently in a serious downturn, and we are seeing signs of improvement, but still it's very low compared to where it should be. By geography, growth was strong in the Americas, which represented the majority of the aerospace and defense demand in the quarter. APAC also grew well, supported by demand in the autonomous road trend project within Australia and EMEA declined, but that was on tough comparables. EBIT came in at EUR 65 million, represented an increased EBITDA margin -- EBIT margin to 36.6%, driven by strong volume, positive product mix, but slightly offset by currency. So in summary, a very solid performance within Hexagon core in general. And I will now hand over to Mattias, who will cover the Octave performance. Mattias Stenberg: Yes. Thank you, Anders, and good morning, everyone. We'll start with, I thought, since this is the first time we report like this publicly for Octave, I thought we'd start with a short description on what the business is and what we do. So we are a market-leading provider of enterprise software that ultimately helps customers design, build, operate and protect mission-critical industrial and infrastructure assets. In terms of numbers, we had about EUR 1.5 billion revenue last year. As you can see also from the slide, we have high recurring revenue and high profitability. We have roughly 7,400 employees around the world. And we have a very strong, I would say, A+ list of customers. As you can see, roughly 60% of the global Fortune 500 companies are customers of Octave today. And you can see some of the logos there on the slide, but of course, many, many more. So what could we do if we move to the next slide and talk about our core pillars. I think, first of all, it's important to say what makes us unique is that we connect all of these pillars together into one platform, one natively integrated data platform, right, all the way from design, build, operate and protect. So you will see product names out to the right here on the slide, some of the flagship products, obviously, SmartPlant 3D, EcoSys, EAM, ETQ, et cetera. But the way we go to market is really by selling a platform. We're selling solutions. We're delivering value, not selling individual products. I think an example of that is that you can also see that products like SDx2, which is our data platform, shows up in several of the different pillars here. Design is our biggest area, as you can see from the revenue contribution pie there. Build would be our smallest one, operate our second largest, and that's also been the fastest growing over the last couple of years. But moving into the quarter, how did we do on the next slide. I guess the headline number is that we grew organic growth 1%. And one has to remember first that we come from several years of good growth, right? I think that's one important thing to say. The other thing to say is that our recurring revenue grew 6%. So I feel confident that we're building momentum for the future. We're adding customers, adding seats, et cetera. So the base is growing. And you can see that by our SaaS revenue that grew strong double digits. However, our lease revenue was flattish, which obviously had a, what you say, dampening effect on the recurring revenue compared to the SaaS. To offset this growth, we did have a decline in perpetual licenses. This is a revenue that varies quite a lot by quarter. It depends if you get a big deal in one quarter or the other, the other thing one has to say also is that it is an intentional strategy and has been for quite a while to transition this revenue into subscription revenue. So if you look at the slide there as well, we described that the license revenue is now 13% in this quarter of total revenue. And this is the revenue that we will gradually, over time, transition to SaaS. If you look at the profitability, we did 26% operating margin, which was lower than last year. And I think it's a combination of things. I mean, one, that the perpetual licenses were down that has a high drop-through. Also that we've had some additional investments partly due to making the company ready for being a stand-alone public company and also to integrate the other business units, SIG, ETQ and Bricsys that we have taken on recently. Important to say, however, that this is a temporary downturn in the margin. We are taking cost effects like Anders talked about. And my expectation is that this will put us back on a growing margin trajectory. If we move to the next slide, I wanted to highlight one very important strategic win we had in the quarter. We won a multiyear 8-figure deal. And I guess you could say also there was very high 8 figures, and I see this as proof that our strategy of selling a platform and our relatively new product, SDx2 is delivering value in the market and to customers. It really also sets a precedent, I think, for other owner operators that want to digitalize their assets. And it will clearly also influence and incentivize other players in the ecosystem, such as EPCs, suppliers, contractors to adopt our platform as they see big owner operators adopting it. Okay. On the next slide, I wanted to say a few words about some key initiatives that are going on right now. Like I mentioned, we are transitioning our business to a SaaS model. So you will see more of that going forward. I also mentioned that we are investing in making the company ready to be a stand-alone public company. Also wanted to highlight the strategic disposal that we did earlier this summer of some noncore assets in the HexFed business, which historically sat in the SIG division. It was around EUR 90 million of revenue, and this will strengthen our margin profile and, yes, sharpen focus for us going forward. Like I also mentioned, we are in the midst of integrating these businesses into one. We are making very good progress on that and we'll, yes, soon complete that. We're also, like Anders mentioned, completing the cost saving program, which will, like I mentioned, put us back on a growing margin path. Finally, we are also making improvements to our organizational structure. So if you go to the next slide, I wanted to highlight the management team that we have put together here over the last couple of quarters. I'm not going to read every resume here, but if you -- there was this press release in September where you can read more about this if you're interested. But I would say it's a world-class management team that we put together that we think really will help us scale this business. It's a combination of Hexagon executives like Ben and Tony that Anders mentioned. And then we have some executives from the former ALI division as well as 2 new recruits that I wanted to say a few more words about. So we've hired a Chief Product Officer in Jay Allardyce. He is a recognized leader in the industry across AI and enterprise software. He has had prior leadership roles at HP, GE, Uptake and Google. So I think he will be a great addition to our strategy and product teams. We also have hired Tamara Adams or Tammy, as she goes by, who is a strong CRO with lots of experience in the industry. She has had recent roles at Honeywell, Oracle and most recently as Chief Revenue Officer of a company called Dotmatics, which recently was acquired by Siemens. So in summary, I'm very happy with the team we put together, and I'm sure they will help us scale this going forward. Finally, on the next slide, I wanted to say a few words about the time line and what you can expect there. So we are obviously well aware of that the U.S. government shutdown, which is impacting the SEC and the review process, but we still feel that we are on track to complete the spin-off in the first half of next year. Also, like we mentioned before, Octave will be listed on a U.S. National Securities Exchange with the Swedish depository receipt expected to run for approximately 2 years. And also like we mentioned in the report, we will -- we are planning to hold an Octave Investor Day sometime in the first quarter next year, and we will come back with an exact date when we have it. So thank you very much. And then I'm handing over to Norbert. Norbert Hanke: Yes. Thanks, Mattias. In the following financial update, I will take you through the Q3 performance for the Hexagon group. Turning now to the next slide. Let us begin with the Q3 2025 income statement. Taking the sales bridge first. Revenue were EUR 1.3 billion, generating reported growth of 0%. Currency was a negative minus 4% on sales, and there was a positive plus 1% from structure, resulting in organic growth of 4%. Gross margin were stable at 67%, considering the impacts of FX. We continue to be confident in driving gross margin expansion as we will have positive impacts from new product releases. Operating earnings decreased by 7% to EUR 349 million, corresponding to a margin of 26.8%. I will break this out further in the profit bridge. Interest expenses and financial costs decreased from EUR 44 million to EUR 32 million, given a delta on earnings before tax of minus 5%. Taxes being at 18%, in line with prior years, bringing us down to an EPS of EUR 0.096 also declining by minus 5%. Just for reference, the EBIT1, including PPA includes EUR 27 million of amortization and so dilutes the EBIT1 percentage to 24.7%. Next slide, please. Moving on to the gross margin development. As I mentioned on the previous slide, we saw stability in the gross margin once adjusting for currency. On a rolling 12-month basis, gross margin of 67% is broadly in line with the prior year. Turning now to the profit bridge, please. So during Q3, currency continued to be dilutive, reducing EBIT margin by 30 basis points. The structural element was accretive with solid contribution from acquired companies such as Septentrio and Geomagic as well as by the sales of the dilutive assets in Octave. The organic impact was negative, diluting the margin by 240 basis points. This mainly reflects a cost base that is not yet fully aligned with the current level of demand. To address this, we have started a cost program to rightsize the organization and mitigating this impact going forward. We expect the benefits to contribute or to start to contribute gradually from the fourth quarter of 2025 and beyond. Turning to the next slide, please. Moving on to the Q3 cash flow, which is a strong performance when taking seasonality into account. The adjusted EBITDA variance at minus 2% demonstrates the continued stronger cash leverage versus the EBIT1 variance at minus 7% due to the increase in D&A. The working capital represented a build of EUR 32.4 million in the quarter, an improvement to working capital management last year that results in a 1% increase in the operating cash flow before tax and interest, which leads to a solid cash conversion of 77% versus 70% last year. Interest payments marginally decreased as expected and cash taxes remained at a similar level to Q3 last year. The nonrecurring items cash outflow of EUR 38.8 million versus the prior year of EUR 22.7 million brings an operating cash flow of EUR 139 million, decreasing by minus 3%. Next slide, please. Moving on to the working capital trend. The Q3 net working capital being a build of EUR 32.4 million versus the prior year build of EUR 56.2 million decreased the proportion to rolling 12-month sales to 5.3%, lower than the prior year level of 8.3%, which is still below the 10% threshold we aim to achieve. To conclude, the divisions have continued to mitigate an uncertain environment to deliver growth, solid cash conversion and stable gross margin. Negative currency has been a headwind to EBIT1 margin development, and we are working to address the cost base through the announced cost program. I will now hand back to Anders. Anders Svensson: Thank you, Norbert. And I will then start by summarizing the third quarter. So to conclude, in Q3, we have seen solid development in our financial metrics. Organic growth of 4%, an improvement in margins quarter-on-quarter and a good cash flow considering the usual seasonalities for the third quarter. While improved, our operating margins remain below our expectations and below our targets. And as a result, we then launched an efficiency program aiming to achieve cost savings of EUR 110 million. And this, we expect to have gradual benefits from the fourth quarter this year with full effect the end of 2026. We do not see the immediate market environment that currently is characterized by delays in customer decisions, as Mattias mentioned and also within the Hexagon core businesses, and we don't expect that to change in the near term. So we see a similar environment in the beginning here of the fourth quarter. But we have also released a lot of products in recent quarters, and we see that as we are set up in a good way when the positive environment returns. Operationally, we had a successful quarter. The sale of D&E, as I mentioned, as one of the key highlights and the release of those funds will then further fund growth for both Octave and Hexagon core. And finally, then, the potential separation of Octave remains on track for completion in the first half of 2026. I'll now turn to my first quarter review slides. So in this section, unless I otherwise mentioned or it's otherwise stated in the slides, it would be relating to Hexagon core businesses. And that means then the type of businesses that are left after the potential spin-off of Octave, of course. And this includes then our business areas, Manufacturing Intelligence, Geosystems, Autonomous Solutions and also the Robotics division. So I will take you through my initial thoughts and observations after now almost exactly 3 months being at Hexagon. And I will then talk about actions we are taking to drive performance further and some more details about our upcoming CMD. So I turn into the first slide here. So Hexagon has created superior value for many decades now, at least 2-plus decades, and we have the potential setup to continue to generate superior value creation for decades to come. And today, we are at a very exciting inflection point in our company's history because our industrial customer base, they value precision and quality more than ever as they try to meet the increased quality demands of everything getting more tight, more small and with less tolerances and also the increased sustainability challenges. They're also driving towards full autonomy as a response to the shortage of skilled labor in the world. Our industry-leading technologies regarding sensors, software and AI are allowing us to deliver ever more value-adding products and services to our customers, and we are well placed to seize the opportunity for autonomous operations in many industry verticals going forward. Our new operating model will enable us to take full advantage of our profitable growth opportunities. But first, a little more on the opportunity ahead. So I turn to the next slide. So Hexagon is ideally positioned to enable autonomy in many industry verticals, and we will do this by combining our capabilities and offerings within various fields. We possess market-leading measurement and positioning technologies, combining multiple types of sensors. We utilize these to deliver sophisticated real-time digital twins, including reality like full 3D environments of buildings and cities. And we leverage advanced analysis on [ AI ] to unlock the value of petabytes of data that we generate. The combination of these capabilities position Hexagon to be a clear leader in the emerging field of Autonomous Solutions. Many of our industrial customers have embarked on a journey towards these autonomous operations as they increasingly struggle to find skilled and qualified labor. And hence, they need to move towards so-called lights-out production. And here, of course, our new humanoid robot, AEON, is a prime example of enabling industry autonomy. Measurement and positioning new technologies and industrial autonomy are only going to become more important as industrial customers face these significant challenges. So let's see how our products are helping. So turning to the next slide. Since late 2024, we have launched a number of important product innovations, which combine our most advanced sensor with latest technology on AI and digitalization. All of them also bring significant advances on autonomy. Taking some examples from this page, we have talked previously quite a lot about AEON and iCON trades. And also last quarter, we talked about MAESTRO, our new coordinate measurement machine. So I will focus on the other one here. So in Manufacturing Intelligence, we have the ATS800, which is the first laser tracker ever to merge scanning and reflector tracking into one system. This portable metrology device is automation-ready and uses AI to pinpoint the true center of each measurement, detect features like holes and edges, et cetera, and this is huge to speeding up the process and removing the need for human intervention. And also now in the beginning of October in Geosystems, we just launched the TS20. And that's the first new total station platform in, I would say, 20 years plus. And it's a full hardware and software overhaul it's the first total station with on-device AI, which enables it to recognize and lock into any prism without user input. And this drastically reduces errors, setup time and operator dependency. And this is a direct response from Hexagon to the shortage of skilled surveyors. So combining our skills in measurement and positioning technologies, digital twins and advances in AI to deliver solutions for industrial autonomy is key for Hexagon, and we are in the middle of this journey. So the products you can see here on the page represent profitable growth opportunities ahead. And this potential is, of course, largely not reflected in Q3 financial performance and will also not be very much reflected in Q4. But going forward, these products will play a major role in Hexagon's delivery. So turning to the next slide. So we know that Hexagon historically demonstrated that we can generate strong organic growth with excellent operating margins. And on this slide, I try to demonstrate a bit the relationship between organic growth and profitability during the last 2 years. And we can see here in this recent history that we have 2 trends. One is that the organic growth has been impacted by the macro backdrop, and we can see it's been negative or at best flattish, while the operating margins have been subject to increasing cost levels internally and hence, a dislocation from our top line alignment and -- a top line development, which has been flat. So you can see we have dropped even more when it comes to profit. The recent quarter shows some signs of reversal of this trend. And with our increased cost focus going ahead here, combining this with our new operating model, we intend to generate a delivery model within Hexagon core that supports profitable growth generation. So let's have a look at the steps we have taken, moving then to the next slide. During the third quarter, we have taken 2 really important steps to enable us going forward to perform at our full potential. The first one is our new operating model, which embraces best practices of decentralization, but then applies them to the specific situation of Hexagon. So we have established 17 divisional P&Ls with our externally reported businesses with dedicated management team, and this would improve accountability within these organizations considerably. This would also improve our ability to quickly respond to end market changes and also to customer changes and make us generally faster to take decisions. It also means that product and operational decisions will move closer to customers, ensuring that we take the right decisions related to the different market dynamics and ensuring we don't take decisions centrally where we don't have the input from markets and customers. The second step that we have taken is to realign our operational performance, and that was to do this restructure program that we communicated of EUR 110 million. And this should be understood that this is in addition and completely unrelated to the operating model. If we would have kept the same model as we already had, we would have launched the same program. So it's not related. We already communicated that we are addressing the cost base challenge to respond to the pressures on these margins. And alongside this, we have taken the decision to review the balance sheet as well and in particular, related to historic R&D spend. This would help us to baseline performance so we can measure our divisional leaders properly on performance going forward. This baselining will only happen once, and we expect our divisional leaders to manage their P&Ls and balance sheet going forward as a part of normal operations, with adjustments only being taken for exceptional circumstances going forward. It could be such acquisitions with partly overlapping offerings. It could be a new COVID situation when we need to, as a group, react quickly. And it could be large restructure within the group, like the spin-off of Octave for example. All other items need to be handled within the business of day-to-day operations. Turning now to some more details on R&D, where we have taken the decision to make these impairments. So innovation power is one of Hexagon's greatest skills and assets and is something that we will nurture also going forward. However, in recent years, investments in R&D has spiked, as you can see in the graph there. And that's mainly due to related to somewhat delayed core product developments and cost overruns in some major innovation projects, and we have seen this not only in one division, it's been actually in several divisions where some of our key renewal projects has been fairly late to market. The positive thing is they're coming to market now. And so that's really positive to see with the TS20, et cetera. But this has meant that we have seen significantly increased R&D spend, while at the same time, the benefits of our organic growth and margins have not yet materialized to be seen. Maybe to be added here as well, there are some elements in this spike that related to software acquisitions that in relation has a generally higher R&D spend than our normal businesses. But with these new product launches across '25 and '26, we expect R&D to stabilize on an absolute basis and then to decrease on a ratio versus sales. However, as we reviewed our innovation and product portfolio, it also became clear that in some cases, we have invested into innovation that turned not fully to meet customer requirements or the target end market situation has changed or we have decided to exit a specific offering. This means that there are some product lines that are not performing and will not be able to generate a return. So we have, therefore, taken the decision to impair EUR 186 million in Hexagon core. Most of this then is related to these R&D spends, but there's also some related to inventories. And this will give our businesses the opportunity to reset and move forward from a more comparable basis. So we are also then able to performance manage on actual performance and not on historical effects. As I mentioned earlier, our new operating model will help us to avoid that we face the need to do such impairments again in the future. I move to the next slide. So this is explaining a bit the new management structure. So we will have 17 profit and loss accountable businesses, which are part of -- these are sort of the main part of our operating model. So I will explain a bit how it will work. So Hexagon has always operated with decentralized structure, which has then entailed a lot of freedom for the divisional presidents to run their businesses, and it has kept the corporate cost levels quite low. However, within the former divisions, the organizational structures became quite overly complex sometimes with slow decision-making and not always focused on end customers. So our new operating model establish clear and common management blueprint on a more granular level. And also, we have historically called divisions. They will now be called business areas instead, and they will have divisions reporting into them. So the previous divisions, Manufacturing Intelligence, Geosystems, Autonomous Solutions will now be called business areas. And they will then have the dark boxes, the 17 -- or you can say 16 smaller dark boxes reporting into them. But externally, we will still report on the business area level. And then you have the 17 dark blue box, which is robotics, and that will then continue to report into the CEO. Division leaders and their teams will then have mandate to deliver superior value creation within the businesses. And I move to the next slide to show how those mandates will be set up. So a division can have a mandate of stability, profitability or growth depending on where they are in the current situation. So we refer to these 3 stages as strategic mandates. And that sets the overall direction for the business and how the management and leadership of those divisions should basically think every morning when they wake up. If you are in stability, it does, of course, not mean that you need to restructure or sell parts of your business. You can also transform it organically. And if you are in growth, it doesn't mean that you need to buy everything, you can also grow organically. But we will allocate capital accordingly. So more capital allocated towards where you are in growth and less when you are in profitability and almost nothing when you are in stability. Moving then to the next slide. So a decentralized management structure with full accountable divisions can only create value sustainably if it's combined with a strong governance and a clear performance management system. And here, we are taking a major step forward at Hexagon with the introduction of scorecards. At the core of the scorecard system is a set of standardized financials and nonfinancial KPIs, which are closely tracked for all divisions in a fully consistent way. The scorecard system will significantly improve transparency, accountability and also speed of action taking to steer the division in the right direction and to pull the right levers to change direction or create more value. I then turn into the next slide, and that's the summary. So Hexagon is a strong company with a bright future ahead. Our fundamentals are very good. We are the market leader in precision measurement technologies. We have strong exposure to high-growth end markets and emerging field markets like industrial autonomy. And this places us very well to capture the opportunities presented from several macro trends, including the main one, labor shortages and skill shortages, increasing quality demands and also, of course, sustainability and safety demands. Our innovation and expertise is second to none, and that's reflected in several of the exciting new products that I showcased in an earlier slide. And as we have a clear plan to achieve superior value creation going forward, we are taking immediate actions to address our cost base. And in addition, we're implementing best practice decentralized operating model, establishing these 17 divisions with full accountability. Operational decisions will then be taken faster and innovation will be anchored in markets and close to customer needs. And last, we will manage our division portfolio very closely for performance and value creation, applying proven tools like strategic mandates and the scorecard system. Turning then to the next slide, where we are inviting you all to Hexagon's Capital Markets Day in 2026. And that's on the 30th April. It will be showcased in London. And on this event, we will discuss in much more detail business area strategies, including the divisional mandates that we have identified. And also, we will also discuss then new financial targets for Hexagon core '26 and forward. So we are really looking forward to seeing you all there. And with that, I think that summarizes the presentation, and we will now move into the Q&A section. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And your first question today comes from the line of Johan Eliason from SB1 Markets. Johan Eliason: I was wondering a little bit, I mean, your new setup of the Hexagon core looks excellent to me. One issue that's been high on the agenda over a couple of years has been the way you capitalize R&D and now obviously, you impair a lot of that. Will you change the strategy regarding R&D capitalization going forward? Anders Svensson: So thanks, Johan, for the question. We will not basically change the way we run capitalization is IAS 38. We will make sure, of course, that we are not capitalizing too early of any of the projects. We will manage our portfolio more like an insurance company. If we believe that we take a larger risk in one project, we can't afford to take larger risks in all projects. So we can manage all that within the normal operational structure of the company. So what we are doing is more strengthening around how we do governance when we approve projects to be started, how we review projects during the way to make sure we don't continue to invest in something that we are aware of will be difficult in a go-to-market situation. So the answer to your question is we will not change the methodology of capitalization and by then restating all our history or something like that. So we will keep the current way of operating, but we will operate more carefully and more controlled and with a tighter governance. Johan Eliason: Excellent. And then secondly, you will have a very strong balance sheet after the D&E divestment next year. How are you thinking about the balance sheet of the spin-off Octave? Is that a business that should be run on a net cash position? Or how should we think about how to split the balance sheet going forward? Anders Svensson: Yes. So this is a decision that the Board will take at the right stage in the process on how we divide the assets, net debts and the firepower within the company generated from the D&E sale. So that's a question we would need to come back to you on. Johan Eliason: Okay. I guess that's topics on the Capital Markets Day. Then just finally, a short question also for Mattias here. In Octave, you talked about lease revenue stable. I'm not sure I understand what lease revenues are. You have subscription license and services in your pie charts. How does this corroborate to each other? Mattias Stenberg: Yes. Yes, good question. And first of all, I should say we will break all of this down for you in more detail at the Investor Day, right, since we are in a public filing process, and we're still a division of Hexagon. There's -- we're not going to give all of the details today. But basically, leases are -- it's also subscription revenue, but it's month-to-month leases, right, of seats. So think of it, it fluctuates more than the SaaS revenue, right? So that's why it's, yes, more, I guess, short-term volatile than the SaaS, if that helps you. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Erik Golrang from SEB. Erik Pettersson-Golrang: I have a couple of questions. So we'll start with Geosystems and China, which was weaker. And you talked about the development on the high-speed rail side in China. So given you have some peers in China growing much faster, is that basically an end market split dynamic that means Geosystems is growing so much lower? Anders Svensson: Sorry, we had a little bit of a problem here with the sound in the beginning of the question. Would you mind to repeat it? Erik Pettersson-Golrang: Sure. So on Geosystems development in China and your commentary there that a lot of the weakness is related to your exposure towards high-speed rail and that development. And so your take is basically that it's an end market split that means that you are growing slower than particularly some of the local peers in China. Anders Svensson: Yes, I would say the end market exposure that we have in China is related to where very high precision is required and not in the general sort of market for our competitors. So we are in the top-tier segment within China. And the top-tier segment is not required everywhere, of course. It's required when you have sort of high-speed railway manufacturing and other very large infrastructure projects. So our exposure to that sector within construction is much higher than our competition. So when something happens to that specific part of the market, we get hit very hard. And that's exactly what happened if you compare that to local competitors. Erik Pettersson-Golrang: Okay. And then as a follow-up on that, any -- there was never a plan to do with Geosystems similar to with -- as you do with MI now, making China a separate unit within to make it operate a bit more autonomously given developments in China? Anders Svensson: The question is good. And -- but that option is actually not available because the reason why we can do that in MI is that we have been very good in history on localizing our products and our innovation also is localized. So within MI, we have a good, better and best offering. Best is basically the offering that we use globally and the good and better offering is the offering we use within China for China. And it's fully manufactured, developed, et cetera, within China. If you look at Geosystems, basically, very little is localized in terms of supply chains, innovation, et cetera, to China. So it's mainly a global offering that we have. So a lot of the products are imported to China. And this is the reason also, of course, why we are only present in Geosystems in the top-tier segment and not in the general segment in the market. So completely different situations within those 2 businesses. So it wouldn't make any sense to do that within Geosystems. Erik Pettersson-Golrang: Okay. Then for Mattias on Octave, just if you can give some more perspective on the low growth rate. I get that you say that growth has been high for a few years, but I guess that depends a bit on the starting point you use and you certainly have some peers that are growing quite a bit faster. So what -- I mean, what kind of growth rate would you like to get out of Octave in the midterm? Mattias Stenberg: Yes. I mean I'm not going to give a forecast today, as you can imagine, since we are doing the Investor Day in Q1. But fair to say is that it needs to be higher the growth, and it needs to be higher the margin. And I feel confident when I see recurring revenue growing a lot faster than the headline number, the reported revenue. So yes, I mean, I think that's -- I'll stop there, I think, and then we'll discuss more in Q1. Erik Pettersson-Golrang: Okay. Then just one quick at the end. You mentioned for Hexagon core and the peer-leading profit margins. What peers will you compare with? Anders Svensson: We have different peers in the different businesses, of course. So if you look at first, maybe you start with AS, you have peers like Sandvik, Epiroc, Metso, et cetera, right? And if you look at MI, you have ZEISS, Siemens, to some extent, Sandvik as well. You look at Geosystems, you have Trimble, FARO, NavVis, Topcon, do you want to add any? Mattias Stenberg: No, I think that's Renishaw. You mentioned already. Anders Svensson: Renishaw, yes. Mattias Stenberg: That's all, good. Operator: And the question comes from Sven Merkt from Barclays. Sven Merkt: Maybe first, following the R&D impairment, how should we think about R&D capitalization going forward? It looks like you're on track to capitalize around EUR 500 million this year and amortize EUR 300 million. So this gives you a net benefit of EUR 200 million. Where is that heading going forward? Norbert Hanke: Yes, it's Norbert here. From our point of view, as we are managing now the cost -- the R&D costs, and you have heard as well going forward on this, that we are very selective, right, in the sense and we will be very focused. It will be going down in the sense that overall, I think from our point of view, it will slowly decrease the gap from our point of view. Anders Svensson: Yes. And maybe adding here, so let there be no mistake, we are not doing the write-down of the balance sheet to improve the results. And actually, if you would compare going forward with the new products being released and the impairments we are doing on the balance sheet, it's basically a wash from the performance and the gap within the third quarter this year. So there will be no sort of big benefit in our reported results from this impairment. What this impairment does is to set up the new management of divisions and business areas on a right level so we can actually performance manage them on their operational performance and not performance manage them on historical mistakes that we have on the balance sheet that are not generating a return. So this is the reason why we do this. And that enables us then us and the Board to make sure that we take portfolio decisions that are based on facts and not skewed by historical balance sheet issues. That's the reason. Sven Merkt: Okay. Got it. And of the capitalized R&D that you have on the balance sheet at the moment, how much is sitting within Hexagon core versus Octave? Mattias Stenberg: We will not give any, say, further information on that, honestly. We'll do it when we have the spin. You will see it then. Anders Svensson: Yes, you will see it clearly when you have this potential spin executed. Sven Merkt: Okay. Fair enough. And final question, just on the cost savings. How much of that should we expect to really flow through profit and how much you might reinvest elsewhere? Anders Svensson: So what you see on the EUR 110 million of savings that we have communicated, that is what we expect flowing to the bottom line at the end of 2026. So that is net. That is not gross. But you -- I want to add one thing. You should not calculate a big effect in Q4. That is important to understand because this is a process that will take time before you will see the effect. And you will see gradual effect starting in Q4 this year, but then it will ramp up during '26 and give the full benefit at the end of the year. Operator: We will now take our next question. And your next question comes from the line of Johannes Schaller from Deutsche Bank. Johannes Schaller: Three, if I could. I mean, firstly, on the impairments. You said there are certain kind of areas, products, initiatives that are now discontinued or maybe where you didn't have the success you wanted to see. Could you give us a little bit more detail on what that is and which kind of areas are not part of the strategy and the growth profile of Hexagon anymore? And should we expect that this is it now in terms of impairments, maybe for the next 1 or 2 years? Or is that more an ongoing process where maybe in 6 months' time, you also find other areas? That would be my first question. The second was just coming back to China. I know you don't guide, but could you give us a bit of a sense kind of when you would expect that region to be back to growth? And then lastly, just on the Cadence stake that you got as part of that sale, what's the strategy here and the plan with that stake? Anders Svensson: Okay. I counted at least the 4 questions, but... Johannes Schaller: Apologies, you're right. Anders Svensson: No worries. No worries. So starting with the impairment, I will give you a couple of examples where we mean -- what I mean there. It could be related to market changes. We have, for example, one project that we have developed for autonomous driving mass production. And this, as you know, has been quite delayed coming to market all over the world, basically -- maybe except China, where it has come to market a bit at least. So when the main producer of cars then decides to cancel the platform, we have nowhere to allocate this to get any revenues for this. So this is something we need to write off, right? So that's market change. Then you have misalignment to customer needs. And this is also related to ourselves, but customer needs can also change over time, right? It could be, for example, we have developed a product and the expectation of operations from customer is 4 hours, and we can operate for 20 minutes. We don't fulfill the sort of sound levels that are required by the customer, et cetera, which means that we basically can't offload this product even if we would discount it 90% because nobody would buy it. So this is something we need to write off. It's useless, won't generate any revenue for us. And then you have the third area then, and that is when we decide as we now restructure our company given the potential spin-off of Octave, and we are refocusing Hexagon core. We then have areas that we believe are not suitable for us to continue to invest in and continue to take a part of, and they're not contributing positively, either in growth or in profitability. And we have then decided to exit those areas and those products, and then we need to write those off. I will, for competitive reasons, of course, not mention exactly which products these are in this call. And then if we go into -- will this be an ongoing thing? And I think I answered that question during my presentation, I hope, at least twice, but I'm happy to do it again. So my expectation is that our divisions and business areas need going forward to manage this in their operational normal day-to-day business and the operational profit and loss and balance sheet performance, and they will be monitored closely to make sure that we achieve this. The decisions in those divisions will then be taken closer to customers, so we are sure that we are aligned to market needs, customer needs, market changes all the time. We will have a stronger governance also before we start projects and also during projects to ensure that we stop projects early on when we notice that they are no longer aligned with market or customer expectations. And we will have a new performance management system to enable swift response when we see that some of the KPIs that we follow are getting off track. So this is not that some will come back on a regular basis. And I hope we won't do this at all going forward, unless we have one of those big things that I mentioned could be a potential spin-off like Octave. That will, of course, make us do some things in terms of realignment structure, et cetera. It could be that we, as a company, need to react very quickly together, like a new sort of COVID situation or something like that. So those are the kind of situations where we might have to do this again on a higher level on a group level. But otherwise, it could also be that we buy a bigger company and there is product overlap and we need to make some impairments of some of that asset, of course. But those are the only examples. It should not be from normal operations and normal R&D development. That should be managed in the day-to-day business in the day-to-day results. And then China guidance, we are not guiding forward on China, but there are areas in China that are performing very well. So if you look at Manufacturing Intelligence, we are growing quite well in Manufacturing Intelligence on a constant basis in China. I think in Q2, we grew 10%. In Q3, we grew 3% organically. So we continue to grow. The different markets are strong there. Electronics, general manufacturing, we're doing very well. Then we have this construction and larger infrastructure projects, which is very weak currently. And when that change into being more positive again, I mean, your guess is as good as mine, right? So we are all hoping that, that will change quickly. But unless that change, we will not see a speed up or an improvement in Geosystems performance. And Geosystems is now, I would say, what is it, 20% negative growth year-on-year or so. So that is affecting, of course, the full number for China for us. But when that turns, that business turns, of course, we will start seeing better numbers from China on the group level. But underlying, ALI is performing quite well in China. Manufacturing Intelligence is performing well in China. And Autonomous Solutions, which is more bumpy, given mining orders, et cetera, are performing well from time to time in China as well. So our China issue is related to large infrastructure and construction within China currently. And then Norbert, do you want to take the Cadence? Norbert Hanke: Sure. So the question was on the Cadence, if I understood this correctly, because it's a while ago that you asked and the question here was related regarding net gain, I assume from... Anders Svensson: I think it's the EUR 810 million that we have as Cadence shares, right? Ben, you can maybe... Norbert Hanke: Yes. I think, obviously, the focus at the moment is to close the deal, Johannes, and that's still on track for the first quarter of next year. It's obviously a very nice stake to have. Cadence is a super strong company with a great outlook. So it's a nice stake to have. But I think we'll have to come back to you on what the plans for it are because it's tied to the capital allocation discussion between Octave and Hexagon, and that's obviously a decision for the Board. So I think we'll come back to you on that. Operator: We will now go to the next question. And the question comes from the line of Mikael Las en from DNB Carnegie. Mikael Laséen: All right. You stated here, that the division priorities will follow the sequence stability, profitability and growth on Page 37. Could you give a sense of how Hexagon Core is distributed across the 3 categories? And maybe give some examples from the 17 P&L accountable divisions on Page 36. Anders Svensson: Yes. Thanks, Mikael. We will give more clarity on how we rank the different businesses in the Capital Markets Day. We have just now launched the new organizational structure. It will be implemented basically from the 1st of January across the group finally. So it's too early to give any input on that externally. But I would also like to say that if you are in stability, it doesn't mean that it's a bad business. Even a good business could be in stability. I would even say that our D&E business was in stability phase. It's a very good business, but we didn't really know what to do with it. It wasn't growing for us. We were not the right owner for it. So that's why the decision was basically to offload it and reallocate those proceeds into where we are stronger and have a stronger market position. So it doesn't mean that if you are instability that you're a bad business. But in general, of course, we would like to move all our businesses into the growth scenario or strategic mandate. But we have a range of different businesses also within the different divisions. So there's a lot to go through here and to set up with the business areas and the divisions themselves. So we have to come back with that on the Capital Markets Day. Mikael Laséen: Okay. Fair enough. And just curious here about the book-to-bill ratios for the MI segment, if you can maybe comment on that or other areas where you have bookings leading sales? Mattias Stenberg: At the moment, we don't have -- I don't have the information with me now, but we'll come back to you directly afterwards in a sense. Anders Svensson: We will come back to you afterwards and give you the facts. Operator: We will now take the next question. And your question comes from the line of Ben Castillo-Bernaus from BNP Paribas. Ben Castillo-Bernaus: I guess a couple for Mattias to start with on the Octave business. Obviously, some headwinds there from the transition from licenses to SaaS. I just wondered what's your assumption on how long you expect that to take? And so you're sort of mostly SaaS business? And then I guess, related to that, the margin headwinds that we're seeing there at the moment. Obviously, there's some one-off costs going through there. I guess if you look out to 2026 and the sort of margin trajectory, what's your working assumption at this point in time? Mattias Stenberg: Yes, good questions. But what you said I had to be boring and answer you will get to know in the Investor Day in Q1, right? I'm not prepared to give outlook at this point. But we will lay that all out in detail at the Investor Day. Ben Castillo-Bernaus: Okay. I'll try one maybe that can be answered. Just on Autonomous Solutions, obviously, super strong performance there this quarter. How much of that was kind of anticipated and predicted, if you like? And was there any kind of one-off in there that we should think about just in that performance? Mattias Stenberg: Yes. Thanks. If you look at Autonomous Solutions, I mean, we, of course, know our order intake, right? So this -- our result was quite expected internally. Very strong order intake in aerospace and defense area. Also Mining has been very strong, and you can see that also, I think, in related companies reporting Mining numbers also on very good levels. So in general, the underlying markets in here are doing very well. And we have a good order intake in those markets that will also generate a good performance going forward. So we expect Q4 to also perform well. Q4 has a bit tougher comparable, so it will not be on a similar level, but we expect a continued strong market demand within Autonomous Solutions. And as I mentioned, the weakness we see in Autonomous Solutions is agriculture, which is in a quite serious downturn globally. And that weakness is also expected to continue during Q4. So we see a relative similar business climate in the fourth quarter. Operator: We will now go to our final question for today. And your final question comes from the line of Magnus Kruber from Nordea. Magnus Kruber: I just wanted to get back to the delta between impairments and -- or amortization capitalizations in R&D. So is the message that it will be relatively similar in the coming quarters, but gradually over time, it will narrow. And if that's the case, do you expect your new strategy will be able to offset this headwind on the margin side in the coming, say, 2, 3 years? Anders Svensson: Yes. Thanks, Magnus. Yes, that's correct. So given that we are releasing lots of new products to the market, like the TS20 now here in October, for example, we see that amortization of those products released will then completely net the gain that we will get from this impairment. So this impairment by itself will not move basically the amortization and capitalization gap. It will be on the same level in Q4 and in Q1 as it was in Q3. So that's correct. And then going forward, we expect, of course, these new products to generate higher sales numbers. And that is how we will compensate the shrinking gap between amortization and capitalization. And I want to make clear that to capitalize R&D is not dangerous if you capitalize good R&D, then that's the way it should be done, right? And then you take the cost over the life cycle of the product. So that's completely right in how it should be done. The dangerous thing is to capitalize and then not release the product and try to fix it and further capitalize a product which is not good. And then when you release it, you don't get the sales and you only get the amortization. So that is the danger. And that is what the new management structure will make sure that we avoid going forward. Magnus Kruber: Fantastic. That's very clear. And with respect to the EUR 110 million savings, could you characterize a little bit on how the sort of we should expect this to be filtering through 2026? Is it more linear or back-end loaded? Or what's the character of the implementation? Anders Svensson: I would say it's very linear. So you can model in linear with probably less in Q4 than going forward. Magnus Kruber: Perfect. And then just a final one, Geosystems China, I think you said down 20% or something, if I read that right. How do you characterize that slowdown? How long it has been going on? And is there any element of that, that's structural compared to cyclical, would you say? Anders Svensson: I would say it's generally cyclical connected to the large infrastructure projects like the rail. It's impacting very much for Geosystems. In China, we don't have good sales of our whole offering portfolio. We have good sales of the top tier of our offerings, the most sort of precise measuring equipment. That is what we sell in China. On the mid-tier offering, we have very strong local competition. So we have a very little footprint given that we don't have local manufacturing, local R&D, et cetera, within Geosystems. So that's why we get so heavily impacted when there is an effect on those type of industries. And it's been going on now for what is it, could it be something 12 months? Mattias Stenberg: 12 months, round about. Anders Svensson: Yes, that we see this effect coming in for Geosystems. And of course, since this is our top offering, that also gives a weaker mix for Geosystems because we have best margins on these top-tier products because we don't have any competition basically. So that impacts Geosystems mix negatively. And you can also see that in the year-on-year drop in Geosystems in financial performance when it comes to operational margin. You can see the effect there as well of the lack of sales of those top-tier products. Operator: I will now hand the call back to Anders Svensson for closing remarks. Anders Svensson: Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for attending, listening and putting good questions for us. Our next report will be on January 13th -- 30th, sorry. Thanks. Good correction, January 30th, next year. So hoping to see you all then. And until then, be safe. Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
Angelo Torres: Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us to review Robinsons Retail's unaudited results for the first 9 months of 2025. I'm Angelo Torres, [indiscernible] Corporate Planning and Investor Relations Officer. The speakers for this call are Stanley Co, our President and CEO; Christine Tueres, our MD for the Big Formats of the Food segment, Joanne Arceo our Group GM for the Drug Store segment; Celina Chua, our adviser for the Robinsons Department Store, Toys R Us, Sole Academy, and Spatio Group; and Theodore our Group GM for the DIY segment and Pets; and Dondon A. Gaw, our GM for Robinsons Appliances. Our Chairman, Mr. Robina Gokongwei-Pe, and Adviser for Corporate Planning, [Gina Roa-Dipaling] [indiscernible] call. So, [indiscernible] agenda for this afternoon's call. So we will provide an overview of our financial performance and share key updates across the organization. [Operator Instructions] So with that, I turn you over to Stanley CO, our CEO, to discuss our financial [indiscernible]. Stanley Co: Here are the highlights of our third quarter 2025 results. Consolidated net sales increased by 4.3% to [indiscernible]. Net results for sales growth of 1.6%. Gross profit rose by 5.9% to PHP 12.5 billion. EBIT grew by 3.1% to PHP 2.3 billion. Core net earnings increased 33% to PHP 1.5 billion. Net income [indiscernible] down by 13.5% to PHP 872 billion [indiscernible] expense and advertise losses for both sales. Earnings per share rose by 12.5% to PHP 0.79 per share due to lower number of [indiscernible] shares [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] 2025 consolidated net sales increased by 440% to PHP 149.3 billion. [indiscernible] sales growth registered at 3.1%. Gross profit rose by 6.2% to PHP 26.4 billion. EBIT grew by 4.5% to PHP 6.6 billion. Our net earnings improved by 3.9% to PHP 4.2 billion. Net Income to Parent decreased by 60% to PHP 3.1 billion. [indiscernible] reported early last year. [indiscernible] declined PHP 2.45 per share. Our [indiscernible] P&L in the sales grew 4.3%, PHP 50.8 billion in the third quarter. [indiscernible] sales to PHP 149.3 billion up 4.8%. Despite heavy rainfall, [indiscernible] same-store sales growth still grew by 1.6% in third quarter on higher basket size. With the [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] slightly 0.1% to PHP 2.3 billion in the third quarter and by 4.5% to PHP 6.6 billion due to the driven by improved category mix [indiscernible]. Net Income to Parent declined by 123.5% to PHP 807.2 billion in Q3 due to high expense from the DFI [indiscernible] buyback. From the higher associate losses earnings per share however increased by 12.5% due to gross shares outstanding from the shares by up from the DFI retail shares. Lastly, [indiscernible] Net Income to Parent [indiscernible] PHP 1.1 billion but 60% [indiscernible] last year’s [indiscernible] gains. Core Earnings overall rose 3% to PHP 1.5 billion in third quarter and PHP 4.2 billion [indiscernible] 0.5% quarter by the [indiscernible] period. [indiscernible] posted [indiscernible] sales growth [indiscernible] stores which does [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] delivered soft performance [indiscernible] both [indiscernible] digit growth in the third quarter. [indiscernible] businesses Food and Drugstores accounting for 80% of total net sales to 85% of total [indiscernible] for year to the September. Meanwhile our [indiscernible] Department stores, DIY and Specialty comprised 11% of net sales and 15% of the EBITDA respectively. In the first 9 months we opened 14 different stores and [indiscernible] Meanwhile our total store count is 2501. The store count is comprised of 777 [indiscernible], 1150 Drugstores, 51 Department stores, [indiscernible] DIY stores and 286 Specialty stores. In addition, we have 2180 franchise stores [indiscernible] and more store [indiscernible] are expected to be in the coming month. Passing the over to [Christine Tueres] for the food segment. Christine Tueres: Thanks Stan. Food segment sales rose by 4.5% to PHP 31.1 billion in third quarter from PHP 25 billion driven by same-store sales growth of 2.8% and the contribution of 19 [indiscernible] stores. Same-store sales growth was supported by a higher basket size [indiscernible]. Due to this the sales reached PHP 90.2 billion up by 4% year-on-year. Our gross profit grew by 7.8% to PHP 7.8 billion in third quarter and 5.6% to PHP 20.7 billion in 9 months. [Outstanding] revenue growth and this was supported by increased [indiscernible] and higher penetration of [indiscernible] products. This led to the EBITDA growth of 6.6% to PHP 2.7 billion in third quarter and 5.2% to PHP 7.7 billion in 9 months. [indiscernible] Joanne for Drugstores. Joanne Dawn Seno-Arceo: It was [indiscernible] double ratio [indiscernible] growth in third quarter [indiscernible] driven by same store sales grew at [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] new stores. For year-to-date September net sales increased by 9.8% to PHP 28.9 billion. Gross profit rose by [indiscernible] in third quarter and 15.4% year-to-date up to the same revenue growth. This was supported by price adjustments, higher penetration of house brands and improved vendor support. As a result, EBITDA grew by 14.2% to PHP 899 million min third quarter [indiscernible] year-to-date. [indiscernible] Celina. Celina Chua: Department store net sales declined by 11.7% to PHP 3.3 billion in the third quarter due to the shift in school opening to June this year from July last year. Store renovations also in preparation for the fourth quarter season and stiff competition. On year-to-date, net sales still rose by 2.1% to PHP 11 billion driven by the opening of Robinsons department store [indiscernible] in the second quarter. As a result, gross profit declined by 10.5% in the third quarter. However, gross profit for the first 9 months of the year still grew by 3.1%, faster than net sales growth driven by a favorable category mix and strong vendor support. EBITDA declined to PHP 535 million in the first 9 months, reflecting higher operating costs. Let me turn you over to [Theodore] for the DIY segment. Theodore Sogono: Our DIY segment posted 2% growth in net sales in the current quarter to PHP 2.9 billion supported by [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] reached PHP 8.6 billion [indiscernible] year-on-year. Gross profit was flat at PHP 951 million in the third quarter and PHP 2.8 million in the first 9 months. [indiscernible] were offset by increased [indiscernible] penetration and introduction of new higher [indiscernible]. However, EBITDA declined to PHP 916 million in the first 9 months. Due to higher [indiscernible] sector. I will turn you over to [indiscernible] Unknown Executive: Business for the Specialty Segment rose 7.1% [with quarter to date] PHP 0.5 billion. [indiscernible] delivering double digit growth in [indiscernible] home appliance. Gross profit increased by 2.8% from [indiscernible] lower than the revenue growth. [indiscernible] appliances. EBITDA declined to PHP 426 billion due to higher OpEx, however, appliances EBITDA improved quarter-on-quarter up by 14.1% [indiscernible]. Unknown Executive: Our cash conversion cycle rose to 29.9 days driven by higher inventory days at 81.4% [indiscernible] items increased to meet strong demand for the peak season, and also our payable days were lower at 56.0. On our balance sheet, our net debt as of September 30 increased to PHP 30.1 billion. This is largely due to the acquisition loan for the DFI retail share repurchase, which we did last May. Despite this, our balance sheet remains fairly healthy with a net debt-equity ratio of 0.4x. Return on assets and return on equity normalized to 3.4% and 6.9%, respectively. This following the absence of a one-time gain from the BPI and Robinsons Bank merger, which was booked in early 2024. In advance of [indiscernible] CapEx, this amounted to 3.3 billion as of 9 months. This is up around 4% year-on-year. Food amounted for 61% followed by Drugstore segment of 15% share. With the balance [indiscernible]. And now tuning over to our [indiscernible]. Unknown Executive: Allow me to walk [indiscernible] some of our minority business in the [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] 662 in 9 months from 318 last year which led to net sales rising by 0.2 [indiscernible] to $349 million. [indiscernible] customers [indiscernible] $745 million from $4.4 million last year. [indiscernible] in the country. Growth [supported] by 2.1x growth in [indiscernible] to [indiscernible] [indiscernible] increased 21% from last year to $693 million [indiscernible] So let me update you on some key corporate developments across the business. [indiscernible] magazine [indiscernible] best companies of 2025 which recognizes companies for excellence in employees satisfaction, revenue growth and [indiscernible]. We were one only then believe in the importance on the global [indiscernible]. [indiscernible] welcome 13 [indiscernible] employees in August, [marking] their transition to regular employment after completing training under [indiscernible] ongoing commitment to [indiscernible]. And finally, per our guidance, we are maintaining our full year 2025 guidance, targeting 130 to 170 net new stores, mostly from the Food and Drugstore segments, where bulk of the stores will be opened this quarter. We are aiming for blended same-store sales growth to 4%, 20 to 30 bps expansion in gross margin, and allocating PHP 5 billion to PHP 7 billion for organic CapEx. This ends our presentation for our 9 months results. We will now open the floor for Q&A session. Angelo Torres: We’ll begin the Q&A with the questions received ahead of time. So, from Felix of Philippine Equity Partners. Can you give us an update on the remaining balance of the debt used for the acquisition of the BPI shares? Also, what is the [indiscernible] interest expense related to this… Unknown Executive: As of 9 months, the outstanding balance on the BPI acquisition loan is PHP 10.8 billion. So this is unchanged versus June 2025. Interest expense is PHP 500 million [indiscernible]. Angelo Torres: The second question. Are all remaining treasury shares coming from the buyback of DFI own shares? Any plans for the remaining treasury shares? Unknown Executive: Okay. So our treasury shares consist of 2 components. The first one would be 158 million shares is coming from the regular buyback that we started last March from [indiscernible]. And then we have also around 315.3 million shares after the DFI Retail buyback. So [indiscernible] the combination of few type of buyback so total cash under treasury [indiscernible] PHP 474 million, but if you will recall, we are currently in the process of retiring the 158 million shares just from the regular buyback program. We saw shareholder approval last September 16th to [indiscernible] retire these shares, and it would take about six months to complete the entire process -- at least six months. Angelo Torres: For the final question, how much dividends did RRHI receive from its 6.5 [stake] in BPI? Unknown Executive: Okay. So on the dividends --the dividend income from this stake is about PHP 680 million in 9 months. Angelo Torres: Question from [indiscernible] of JPMorgan. What is the SSSG supermarket and CVS banners in the third quarter 2025, respectively? How our basket size and transaction [indiscernible] in both subsegments? Unknown Executive: Thank you for the questions, Jeanette. For 3Q of supermarkets, SSSG is about 3% and for Uncle John's in 3Q, it's negative 1%. In terms of basket size, in 3Q for supermarkets were up about 7% to 8% versus last year. And for Uncle John's were up by about 1% in 3Q versus 3Q ’24. Angelo Torres: Follow-up from the [indiscernible] Your share color on trends and intensity of supplier support in 3Q 2025 versus 2Q 2025 and then 2024, which product categories are seeing higher than average supplier support? Unknown Executive: Okay. Sequentially from 2Q to 3Q, we saw an improvement in supplier support. So generally, in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter of every year, supplier support ramps up. This is particularly because in preparation of the holiday peak season. On a year-on-year basis, for full year, we should be seeing an increase supplier support. The product categories where we're seeing more supplier support in the food segment or the food categories. Again, this is largely related to Christmas-related shopping, but the other categories, nonfood categories are also seeing very decent supplier support. Angelo Torres: So from [indiscernible] on wholesale, what is SSSG in 3Q 2025? And what is the trend between basket size and transaction count? Can you share the latest EBITDA figures for wholesale? What is the target EBITDA breakeven for wholesale? Unknown Executive: Maybe we can have [indiscernible] answer the first ones. Unknown Executive: Yes, sure. Thanks for the question. I appreciate that. So our SSSG is around… So our SSSG for the third quarter is around 19%, and that primarily comes from transaction count. So that is almost all of that is transaction count versus last year, basket size remains relatively stable. In terms of EBITDA breakeven, we are still targeting or we are targeting at the moment on a full year basis to breakeven in 2026. Angelo Torres: For premium bikes, what is the latest update on the approvals in the premium bikes acquisition? When are you expecting it to close? Unknown Executive: Okay. So this is still under review by the Philippine Competition Commission. We're still in Phase 1. And we still expect to close this year. So this is the target. Angelo Torres: And then outlook for 2025, our top line SSSG and margins per segment. Unknown Executive: Okay. On a blended basis, as what was mentioned earlier, we're looking at close to 4% SSSG and then gross margin expansion of up to 30 basis points. On a per segment basis, more or less should be aligned with this one. So Food would be about 3% to 4%, which is the main driver of margin expansion of around 30 basis points. Angelo Torres: So a question from Victor [indiscernible]. Will the shares purchased from DFI be canceled? And the second question, how will this purchase affect your dividend policy? Will the company still maintain EPS? Unknown Executive: Yes. Thank you, Victor. Still no plans as of today. You mentioned in the stockholders' meeting that there’s no limit or there’s no time limit as to when we can hold treasury shares. So again, no plans to [indiscernible]. And in terms of dividend policy, we're maintaining 40% payout ratio versus the previous year's net income comparable. Angelo Torres: [indiscernible] supermarket only excluding Uncle John's, what is the SSSG in 3Q 2025? What is the same-store growth in ticket size versus transaction count in 3Q 2025? Another question would be what were the revenues from gross profit and EBITDA in 3Q 2025 [indiscernible] change year-to-year in 3Q 2025? Unknown Executive: So for supermarkets only excluding Uncle John's in 3Q, that is [indiscernible] 3%. And then for 9 months about close to 4%. CapEx size for supermarket could be about 7% to 8% growth in the third quarter. And then the revenues were up about 5% to 6% for supermarket only in Q2. For 9 months about the same, and then EBITDA growing faster than net sales for both 3Q and 9M and [indiscernible] supermarkets only were up about around 20 to 40 basis points 3Q and 9M combined Angelo Torres: For department stores [indiscernible] can you share what specific subsegments drove the steep drop in sales in SSSG? Any SSSG sales indications you can share so far for October? And then the second question, can you expand on the steep competition you mentioned for the department store or the key players you're looking out for? Christine Tueres: For the subsegments that effect that the SSSG is more or less departments the back-to-school related departments such as shoes and baskets for children, [men’s and ladies apparel] [indiscernible] the online sales then market recess. Angelo Torres: Can you please discuss the expected impact of rapid expansion of the likes of [indiscernible] wholesale in their business year-over-year? Unknown Executive: Thank you for the question. I think what we see is the first few months, some of our minimarts are affected in terms of [indiscernible]. This is because of that element of curiosity in the neighborhood. But after a few months, we're able to see a recovery in our sales because number one, it's a different market targeting the lower end of the mass market. We target the ground middle income market plus at about 3,000, 4,000 SKUs in our minimart département [indiscernible] complete the weekly basket requirements of shoppers. So we have fresh items as well [indiscernible]. Angelo Torres: From [indiscernible], what were the respective financing cost amounts related to A, the DFI share buyback and the financing of BPI shares for 9 months 2025? Unknown Executive: For the 9 months 2025 for BPI its PHP 500 million up for DFI its about PHP 280 million. Angelo Torres: From [indiscernible], how much dividend from BPI do you expect to receive in 4Q 2025? Unknown Executive: The dividend per share paid in the second quarter was PHP 2.08 per BPI so they usually pay in June and sometime in the fourth quarter. So BPI PHP 2.08 and you have about 300 million shares and [indiscernible]. So that's the amount in 4Q. Angelo Torres: Another follow-up, can you share the expected interest in 4Q 2005 to 2026? Unknown Executive: For? Angelo Torres: For the DFI. For both. Unknown Executive: Combined its about 500 [indiscernible]. Angelo Torres: Another question from [indiscernible], why was the decline in SSSG in department store and outlook for 4Q? Christine Tueres: SSSG with department store declined in the third quarter of this year due to the shift in the back-to-school opening, which was from July last year to June this year. So we expect to rebound in the last quarter of this year as our major renovations of our key stores will be completed in advance and sales will normalize. Angelo Torres: From [indiscernible], given the recent buyback of shares, how much debt was available to complete the transaction and what was the increase interest expense as a result? This has been answered already. Unknown Executive: [indiscernible] A little over PHP 50 billion to finance really DFI retail [indiscernible]. And in 9 months in ‘26 stands about PHP 280 billion. Angelo Torres: Another question from [indiscernible]. How have the different segments performed so far for the month of October? Are we seeing sales momentum pick up for discretionary? Unknown Executive: This is mid-month October [indiscernible]. Our food SSSG is holding up pretty well even for our drug store business. For the other formats [indiscernible] is positive, but we're still seeing some challenges in the rest of, I mean discretionary items, sorry formats. Angelo Torres: And then a final question for the Food segment, how do you describe current consumer behavior trends as downgrading and or preference surrounding [indiscernible]? Unknown Executive: Downgrading is in the last two quarters. And the reason why we think this is so is because basket sizes are actually increasing. So in second quarter, basket sizes were up double digits and then 3Q were up 7% to 8% on a year-on-year basis. So with inflation quite steady at 1%, below 2%, we're seeing a very positive impact in terms of consumer baskets. Angelo Torres: For [indiscernible], what led to the 6% year decline in royalty and other revenues in 3Q 2025? Unknown Executive: I think this is just timing in terms of [indiscernible] but you can get back to you [indiscernible]. Angelo Torres: What drove the 17% year-on-year increase in [indiscernible] in 3Q 2025? Unknown Executive: [indiscernible]. Can you clarify that question. I’m not sure that [indiscernible]... Well that’s OpEx excluding depreciation or [indiscernible] and just plus 9% [indiscernible] plus 6%. Angelo Torres: And then another question, what drove the higher effective tax rate impeding 2025 to 29.5% versus 25.6% in 3Q 2024 220.2 in the first half 2025? What [indiscernible]. Christine Tueres: That was just quarterly timing for [Indiscernible] Angelo Torres: Few questions from [indiscernible] and what is share so far in [indiscernible]? Unknown Executive: Let me just clarify this again. For mid-month this is flat [Indiscernible] over 3%. So this is slightly above the net point of that 2%-4% as of [Indiscernible] guidance that we have for full year. Angelo Torres: [Indiscernible] department store any [Indiscernible] sales indications you shared so far in October where you missed that FY ’25 [Indiscernible]. Christine Tueres: Our October sales remain silent due to many weather disturbances and earthquakes and also our major renovations are still not completed. So, we expect to end the year positive low single digit. Angelo Torres: [Indiscernible] view, what is the impact of the DFI divestment [Indiscernible] brand? Unknown Executive: Thank you. So, the partnership with DFI in terms of the [Indiscernible] private label brand [Indiscernible]. So, this will be maintained even if they're no longer shareholders in the company. Angelo Torres: Can you expand on the breakdown in revenue for the specialty segment? What percentage of revenues for appliance and other specialty stores? Unknown Executive: Thank you, Michel. Appliances will be about 60% to 65%. Merchandise and toys would be about around 15% to 16% each. And then the balance would be pets, beauty and lifestyle [Indiscernible] Angelo Torres: Can you comment on the overall demand scenarios across your various business formats? Any trend in the consumption you can share? What would be [Indiscernible] drivers going forward? Unknown Executive: Very healthy for our food and drugstore business Indiscernible]. In fact, basket sizes in the third quarter alone are up. We're very happy with what we're seeing. In terms of margin drivers, a couple of things. Number one, increasing our mix of private label items for the drugstore segment. We're always improving the mix to see what works best. And hopefully, we get margin uplift from that. And then we're also adding [attendant] for important items, especially for the food business, which are also higher. Angelo Torres: A couple of questions from [Indiscernible]. The store expansion target for 2025 and progress so far in openings. Will 2026 see similar store expansion plans? Unknown Executive: We opened about on a net basis, we're around 50 new stores. Our target for this year is at least 130. We're still aiming to achieve that. Historically, we're opening a lot more stores in the second half of each year. For 2026 we will provide more color in the next quarter. Angelo Torres: Another question from Paul. Given the majority of store openings will be in 4Q, did you see an increase in [Indiscernible]. related expenses in 3Q? Unknown Executive: I think not much because our cash OpEx [Indiscernible] excluding depreciation in 2026 itself. We'll provide more color on the next call. Angelo Torres: On DIY, when should we expect margin pressures from markdowns to subside? Unknown Executive: [Indiscernible] Angelo Torres: Which regions or areas [Indiscernible] are we prioritizing for new store openings? Unknown Executive: Thank you for the question. We try to open where we think we can make money. But in the first 9 months, around 70% of our new stores were outside Metro Manila and for very clear reasons because it's much more [Indiscernible] Angelo Torres: Has premium bikes been included in Q3 performance? If so, how much did the [Indiscernible] and how much do you expect? Unknown Executive: We haven't consolidated premium bikes yet because we still have to wait for a formal approval from the regulator in particular the Philippine Competition Commission. But to give you context in 2024, the performance of premium bikes was about just 2% [Indiscernible] consolidated [Indiscernible] basis. Angelo Torres: What is the percentage product ration of [Indiscernible] for supermarkets in the [Indiscernible]. Christine Tueres: For supermarket for food segment its 7.2% to 7.8% share of business and increase of 13.5% for [Indiscernible]. Unknown Executive: In bp size around 3%. This is combined [Indiscernible]. Angelo Torres: So would this needed any [Indiscernible]. Either any [Indiscernible] store level or [Indiscernible] levels. Unknown Executive: I feel in [Indiscernible] in some banners -- some premium banners is in the up trading. But then generally the cost of banners now not much. I think what’s driving our basket size through is that we are seeing more spontaneous addition to their baskets. Angelo Torres: And then [Indiscernible] are we seeing the same challenge for Specialty and [Indiscernible] in 3Q. 4Q [Indiscernible] formats. Unknown Executive: Behind the involvement, I think the overall, the specialty segment is still holding up in October. I guess general consumers are [Indiscernible]. Daily priorities the stable items [Indiscernible] December [Indiscernible] up 2%, but [Indiscernible] unchallenged. But now month-on-month basis, a lot of them are also improving. So hopefully, with the Christmas spending happening soon, we see more positive results across the board for this segment. Angelo Torres: No further questions, we will end the call. Thank you, everyone, for your time, and we look forward to seeing you at the next earnings call. Thank you.
Operator: Hello. Welcome to the Signify Third Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call hosted by As Tempelman, CEO; Zeljko Kosanovic, CFO; and Thelke Gerdes, Head of Investor Relations. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to give the floor to Thelke Gerdes. Ms. Gerdes, please go ahead. Thelke Gerdes: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Signify's Earnings Call for the Third Quarter of 2025. With me today are As Tempelman, Signify's CEO; and Zeljko Kosanovic, Signify's CFO. I would, first of all, like to welcome As to his first earnings call as Signify's new CEO. During this call, As will take you through the first -- the third quarter and business highlights. After that, he will hand over to Zeljko, who will present the company's financial and sustainability performance. Finally, As will return to discuss the outlook for the remainder of the year and share some first reflections and priorities. After that, we will be happy to take your questions. Our press release and presentation were published at 7:00 this morning. Both documents are available for download from our Investor Relations website. The transcript of this conference call will be made available as soon as possible. And with that, I will hand over to As. A.C. Tempelman: Thank you, Thelke, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As Thelke said, this is my first earnings call in this role, and I look forward to this engagement with you this morning. Now I joined the company six weeks ago at a time when the markets are indeed very challenging. So let's begin with some of the key market developments I have observed in my -- over the third quarter. Firstly, we see the ripple effects of tariffs as Chinese overcapacity is redirected from the U.S. to Europe and other regions. And this is creating additional price pressure, especially in the professional trade channels in Europe and Asia, where competition has intensified. Secondly, in our Professional business, we also see continued softness in important European countries, such as France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. And increasingly also in the U.S., where demand is slower or has been slower than expected in the third quarter. And this is especially the case for the public sector projects with government funding. And thirdly, in our OEM business, we see further compression of demands and continued price pressure, particularly in Europe as well. And this has been, again, intensified by the increased imports of Chinese components putting pressure on the market for nonconnected. However, I'm glad to say the market also presents opportunities that fit our strategy well. Our growth in connected and specialty lighting and particularly in consumer is very encouraging. The consumer business grew in all major markets and was particularly strong in India. And this strong performance of consumer was boosted by the expansion of our Hue portfolio, and I'll cover that in a bit more detail a little later. Now overall, connected and specialty lightings grew by high single digits across both the professional and consumer businesses. And worth mentioning is also our agricultural lighting business that delivered a strong seasonal performance, helping to offset some of the weaker areas of the portfolio. So overall, if I would have to summarize, this quarter underlines the resilience and growth potential of our connected and specialty lighting and the price pressure on the more commoditized products in the traditional trade channel. Now let me move to an example that illustrates how our connected solutions are creating value for our customers and wider communities. I mean despite the challenges in the European public sector, there are still great projects. And one of them is presented here. We just completed the street lighting project for the municipality of Montbartier in France. And the local municipality set out to modernize its public lighting with the goals of improving safety, enabling remote maintenance in a sustainable, cost-efficient way. And by implementing our SunStay Pro solar luminaires that are fully integrated with our connected lighting managements and the Signify Interact platform. And this all-in-one solar powered solution allows the municipality to optimize luminaire run time, control the systems remotely and significantly reduce energy costs, while addressing environmental impacts. So it's a great example of how solar and connected technologies come together to support energy transition goals, while delivering meaningful benefits for customers and communities. And we hope to see a lot more of that going forward. Let me move to the second example, second highlights. I talked about this earlier, the exciting new portfolio expansion that supported the strong third quarter performance of our consumer business. And I just installed the Philips Hue system myself, and I have to say, I've been super impressed by it. It's a really cool product. And Hue is truly the leading connected lighting system for the home, with a very strong brand and a loyal growing customer base. And the launch in September exceeded our expectations, creating strong demands with excellent execution, including well-managed availability on our e-commerce sites. And among the new innovations was a new feature that transformed existing Hue lights into intelligent motion sensors that respond to movements. So really, this way, we continue to extend the role of Hue beyond illumination in our customers' home to integrating security, entertainment and intelligent lighting. And also worth mentioning, we introduced the new Essential range that introduces you to customers at a more accessible price point. So these are some highlights. And with that, I'll hand it over to Zeljko, who will continue to cover the financial performance of the quarter. Zeljko? Zeljko Kosanovic: Thank you As, and good morning, everyone. So let's start with some of the highlights of the third quarter of 2025 on Slide 8. We increased the installed base of connected light points to EUR 160 million at the end of Q3 2025 from EUR 136 million last year. Nominal sales decreased by 8.4% to EUR 1.407 billion, including a negative currency effect of 4.5%, which was mainly related to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. Comparable sales declined by 3.9%. Excluding the conventional business, the comparable sales decline was 2.7%. This is reflecting the continued weakness in Europe's Professional business and a softer demands in the U.S. In addition, the OEM business saw further demand compression and continued price pressure. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 80 basis points to 9.7%. We sustained a robust gross margin, particularly in the Professional and in the consumer businesses. But we, at the same time, saw headwinds in the OEM business and conventional, which I will address later in the presentation. Net income decreased to EUR 76 million, reflecting a lower income from operation as well as a higher income tax expense as the previous year included one-off tax benefits. Finally, free cash flow was EUR 71 million. I will now move on -- move to our 4 businesses. Starting with the Professional business on Slide 9. Nominal sales decreased by 6.8% to EUR 928 million, reflecting lower volumes and a negative FX impact of 4.6%, mainly related to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. Comparable sales declined by 2.1%, driven by different dynamics. First of all, we saw a softer-than-anticipated U.S. market. Europe remained weak, especially in the trade channel, and these developments were partly compensated by the continued growth of connected sales in most geographies and also a strong performance in agricultural lighting during the peak season for this segment. The adjusted EBITA decreased to EUR 97 million with an EBITA margin sustained at a robust level of 10.4%, however, contracting by 40 basis points compared to last year mainly due to the lower sales. The business maintained a solid gross margin, which expanded sequentially, but contracted slightly against the high comparison base in the previous year, and we also retained strong cost discipline. Moving on to the Consumer business on Slide 10. The positive momentum we saw in the first half of the year continued and strengthened in the third quarter, supported by sustained demand across all key markets. Nominal sales decreased by 1.1% to EUR 301 million, reflecting a negative currency impact of 4.8%, partly offset by the underlying growth. Comparable sales growth was 3.7%, driven by the continued success of our connected portfolio, particularly Philips Hue, and the recent new product launches as was highlighted by As a few minutes ago. We also saw a further acceleration of online sales, particularly through our own e-commerce website. Our Consumer business in India also continued to deliver strong performance, particularly in luminaires, further contributing to the segment's overall growth and profitability. Adjusted EBITA increased to EUR 27 million, while the margin expanding by 150 basis points to 9.1%, supported by a robust gross margin and operating leverage. Continuing now with the OEM business on Slide 11. As anticipated, performance deteriorated in the third quarter. Nominal sales decreased by 26.1% to EUR 93 million, while comparable sales declined by 23%, driven by lower volumes and the persistent price pressure in nonconnected components. The impact of lower orders from two major customers highlighted in previous quarters continued to materially affect the top line. Price pressure continued to be intense in this market as in the previous quarters. And overall, we are also seeing a further weakening of the market demand, especially in Europe. Adjusted EBITA decreased to EUR 4 million, with the margin contracting to 4.7%, mainly reflecting the gross margin decline due to the volume reduction and price pressure. Looking ahead, we expect market conditions to remain challenging, with limited recovery in demand in the near term. And finally, turning to the Conventional business on Slide 12. Performance in the third quarter was broadly in line with expectations, reflecting the ongoing structural decline in this part of the portfolio. Nominal sales decreased by 25.3% to EUR 76 million impacted by lower volume and a negative currency effect. Comparable sales declined by 21.5%, consistent with the gradual phaseout of conventional technologies across most regions. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 230 basis points to 17%. This was mainly driven by a lower gross margin, which was impacted by temporarily higher manufacturing costs as we are rationalizing our manufacturing sites. Let me now dive into the financial highlights on Slide 13, where we are showing the adjusted EBITA bridge for total Signify. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 80 basis points to 9.7% due to the following developments. The negative volume effect was 70 basis points, reflecting the decline of our OEM and Conventional businesses. The combined effect of price and mix was a negative 170 basis points, reflecting the further stabilization of price erosion trends across our business. As mentioned, we see higher the effect of price erosion in some parts of the business, such as OEM and Professional Europe, but also a positive pricing in the U.S. Cost of goods sold overall had a usual contribution year-over-year this quarter, with four main elements within that. First, we continue to deliver strong bill of material savings across all businesses, in line and even slightly higher than in previous quarters, which was including an accelerated price negotiation savings. Second, the overall manufacturing productivity was impacted specifically in the OEM business by significant volume decline, and in the Conventional business by temporarily higher manufacturing costs as a result of the site rationalization mentioned earlier. There were also one-off elements that impacted cost of goods sold positively last year, but did not repeat this year. And finally, the cost of goods sold in the third quarter included the effect of incremental tariffs, which were mitigated through pricing action, and are therefore neutral on the total gross margin level. The indirect costs improved by 130 basis points on adjusted EBITA margin level, reflecting the continued cost discipline across our business. Currency had a negative effect of only 10 basis points as we limited the effect of FX movements on our bottom line. Finally, Other had a positive effect of 40 basis points and related mainly to the outcome of a legal case. On Slide 14, I'd like to zoom in our working capital performance during the quarter. Compared to the end of September 2024, working capital increased by EUR 20 million or by 70 basis points, from 7.7% to 8.4% of sales. Within working capital, we saw the following developments: inventories decreased by EUR 70 million; receivables reduced by EUR 52 million; payables were EUR 156 million lower; and finally, other working capital items reduced by EUR 13 million. The increase of the overall working capital ratio is mainly driven by 2 factors: the ramping up of consumer ahead of the peak season and the impact of the top line compression on the OEM inventory churn. Now before I hand it back, I would like to touch on our progress toward our Brighter Lives, Better World 2025 commitments. Starting with greenhouse gas emissions. We are ahead of schedule to meet our 2025 goal of reducing emissions across our entire value chain by 40% compared to 2019. That's twice the pace required by the Paris agreements. Next, on circular revenues, we reached 37% this quarter, well above our 2025 target of 32%. The biggest driver here continues to be serviceable luminaires within our Professional business, where we're seeing strong adoption across all regions. When it comes to Bright Lives revenues, the part of our portfolio that directly supports health, well-being and food availability, we increased to 34% this quarter, up 1 point from last quarter and again, above our 2025 targets. Both our Professional and Consumer businesses are contributing strongly here. And finally, on diversity, the percentage of women in leadership positions remained at 27% this quarter. While that's below where we want to be, we are continuing to take concrete steps to improve representation from more inclusive hiring practices to focused retention and engagement efforts to help us reach our 2025 ambition. So overall, we are making good progress, with strong momentum in most areas and a clear focus on where we still need to accelerate. I will now hand back to As for the outlook. A.C. Tempelman: Thank you, Zeljko. So moving on to the outlook. Based on the softer than previously expected outlook, particularly for the Professional business in the U.S., and further demand compression in the OEM business, we are updating our guidance for the full year 2025 as follows. So we expect comparable sales growth of minus 2.5% to minus 3% for the year, which is equivalent to 1 -- minus 1 to minus 1.5 CSG, excluding Conventional. And as a result of this lower expected top line, we are also adapting our adjusted EBITA margin with a guidance to 9.1% to 9.6%. And finally, we expect our free cash flow to land at around 7% of sales. That's on the outlook. Now I wanted to share a few reflections and talk a bit about the priorities as I see them going forward. Almost eight weeks into the role now -- let me do that. There is a lot to be proud of at Signify. I mean we have very committed, capable professionals, a really impressive world-class innovative engine and a strong culture of cost and capital discipline that continues to serve us very well. At the same time, we are also clear about the difficulties that we face as a company. The lighting market remains very challenging. Growth has been lacking and the performance has been volatile. So coming in, I see the following immediate priorities. First, to outperform in what is a very tough markets. So we must focus on commercial and supply chain execution. We need to manage price pressure, continue to win in the connected and the specialty lighting and close efficiency gaps. We also need to maintain strict control and capital disciplines to enhance our profitability and cash flow. And I will make sure that, that discipline, we will stay with that going forward. Secondly, we can, and we should be clearer about our strategic intents and our strategic objectives. And therefore, we are planning to review our strategy. We will organize the Capital Markets Day towards the middle of next year, where we will provide clarity on our portfolio on how we deliver durable growth and on capital allocation. And thirdly, as key enablers, we will focus our R&D resources and continue to invest in accelerating digitalization and AI adoption. Now 18 months, the company launched a new operating model that we will not change, and we will fully leverage to its full potential. And at the same time, we will start shifting the culture, from products, to a more market-led mindset and approach. And from what I've seen so far that by addressing these priorities, I'm confident that we will set up Signify for future success. And with that, I'll hand it back to the operator to facilitate the question-and-answer session. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs. Daniela Costa: I hope you can hear me well. I will ask one and then the follow-up. But I just wanted to ask on your kind of early thoughts in terms of the OEM business. So it seems to be mentioning intense pricing pressure, lost some customers. Do you see this as more structural or more cyclical when you look at it? And have -- was that anything to do with -- what prompted you to talk about reviewing the portfolio, I wonder. A.C. Tempelman: How do we see the OEM business going forward? Well, first of all, we saw the impact of the loss of two specific customers that was quite significant. That also is explaining a large part of the drop we saw. That, of course, will go away after a year. But going forward, we expect that current conditions will continue to be challenging, both in terms of demand as well as the price pressure. But it's too early to call what exactly that will look like in the next year. Daniela Costa: And then just following up on the topic of tariffs. I mean in the release, they weren't too many references to it, but I was just wondering if you could give us a little bit of what is happening on the ground, given the U.S. market was highly dependent on Chinese imports on lighting. What's sort of the inventory attitude you've seen at distributors. Has there been any restocking of Chinese product? Could this be impacting what you are seeing in the market right now? And ultimately, as you look medium term, if the tariff stand, do you see them as a positive or a negative for Signify? Is it an opportunity to gain market share and put prices through? Or also you are very dependent on Asia and it's not really -- we shouldn't see it this way? Just a little bit more color there would be very helpful. Zeljko Kosanovic: Daniela, so maybe to give a bit of an update and a summary on what we see. So first of all, I think in general, on pricing, the scale players have generally taken price increases to the extent that was needed. Our price adjustment, on the Signify side, were generally in line with the market, and we also saw that prices increase are sticking. Now overall, we've been able, in the third quarter like we did in the previous quarter, and we expect to be able to continue to do so to successfully mitigate the tariff increase with pricing. So with a slightly positive impact on the top line for our U.S. business and a neutral impact on the bottom line. So overall, the strategy we have set up and of course, all the activities that we have taken on the supply chain side to adapt and to reduce the exposure or to optimize our cost base and outsourcing, I think, are really being executed really exactly in line with our plan. So there we are basically implementing what we had. And of course, we continue to maintain the agility to adapt, moving forward, depending on how the situation will evolve. But overall, slightly positive on top line, neutral on the bottom line and implementation in line with our strategy. Daniela Costa: So you don't see it as a market share grabbing opportunity or something a bit more structural medium term is just a pass-through? Zeljko Kosanovic: Look, the answer on that would be probably -- we should go more in detail, depending on the portfolio. Of course, what we are doing in the different portfolios is to find the balancing act between prioritizing market share gain where we do see opportunity and where we are extracting those opportunities very clearly, while protecting the margins. So I think it's really, at a more granular level, let's say, that this is going to be a different answer. But overall, it's to make sure that we can absolutely take advantage. And we have seen a clear example where we've been able to do so, while protecting the profitability, as I just mentioned. So this has actually been our strategy, and we are seeing that, of course, evolving, depending on the landscape of tariffs that has also been changing quite a bit over the last few months. Operator: The next question comes from Martin Wilkie from Citi. Martin Wilkie: It's Martin from Citi. Just coming back to the overcapacity being redirected from China that you referred to, just understand where we are in that process. And obviously, we hear a lot about China's antipollution drive to reduce overcapacity across other industries. You probably hear more about markets like solar, batteries, things like that. But is there a reduction or an anticipated reduction in Chinese overcapacity? Or is that something that you expect to remain like this for the foreseeable future? A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Thanks, Martin, for the question. So indeed, we look also at all the export statistics and what is happening with the trade flows. And indeed, what we see is that you see some of the decline in terms of trade flows from China to the U.S. seeing kind of an equal amount of quantities lending in the rest of the world and in Europe. So -- and that does cause some additional price pressure. To your question around, hey, do we expect that -- how sustainable is that -- in China, we see that is kind of flattening out, that price erosion. And well, to whether we see a significant consolidation in the Chinese market is still to be seen. So I wouldn't want to conclude anything on that at this point. Martin Wilkie: And just related to that, just keen to hear about your first impression of industry dynamics and the side that we might get a lot more detail at the Capital Markets Day next year. But when you consider what's happening with Chinese competition, but also, as you pointed out, you have some great connected products and so forth at Signify, what are your first impressions of Signify's competitive position and in particular, the moat around the business to address some of these competitor challenges? A.C. Tempelman: Yes. So there you really need to -- Martin, you need to really go deeper. What I see is that on the professional side, we play in many, many segments, and each segment has kind of its own dynamics. And equally, if you look at the business by trade channel, the dynamics around projects is very different than the competitive dynamics around the more traditional and online trade channels. So we need to make very explicit in our strategy and we will do that at Capital Markets Day about where we want to focus our efforts. And what is the portfolio that we want to build going forward. So that clarity will be created there. Operator: The next question comes from Akash Gupta from JPMorgan. Akash Gupta: My first one is on North America. So maybe if we can zoom in on U.S. business a bit. One of your U.S. competitors, they reported kind of flattish revenues in U.S. lighting, professional lighting, while you are talking about softness in the quarter, which was weaker than what you expected. Maybe if you can provide some color on what do you see in various categories in Professional channel? And I think you did talk about some weakness in public side. So maybe if you can talk about where do you see growth where you don't see growth in North America Professional. And is there any loss of market share that we should be aware of? So that's the first one. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Sure. Good question. And indeed, the U.S. market, I mean year-to-date, we are growing in the U.S. We had expected more of the U.S. market in the third quarter, but that was not as high as expected. So we saw more flattish pattern. Now the two key messages on the U.S. market, I think, and you mentioned them yourself. One is that we see project activity is softening, and that is particularly driven by public sector projects. Will that change in the fourth quarter, that is to be seen. It's not that we lost projects, to your question around market share, but we see more of delays, right? So there's clearly a delay there. And then there's the trade channel where there, we see quite tough competition, particularly on the lower end of the product portfolio. So to your question about how are we performing in that context. So I think it's fair to say that we are on par with markets when it comes to professional projects. We are outperforming when it comes to connected and agricultural lighting, and we are probably a bit below par when it comes to the trade and do-it-yourself channels. Akash Gupta: And my follow-up is on organic growth guidance. So for this year, you are now guiding minus 1 to minus 1.5, excluding Conventional. And year-to-date, we are at minus 1.0. So that would imply that for Q4, you have -- the best expectation is flat organic growth. I think you already said consumer -- not consumer, sorry, OEM is going to be a bit weak in Q4. But maybe if you can tell us about the moving parts for both Professional and Consumer in Q4 that we should be aware of? And also on the growth, how much of this is also driven by price/mix compared to, let's say, simply lower than previously expected volumes? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Akash, maybe to give a bit of color on the -- as you said, the building bricks on the dynamic of the top line in the fourth quarter. So first of all, if you look at consumer there, we see, as we mentioned, a strengthening momentum and we expect this to continue, and we have confidence on the momentum to continue with a strong Q4. Of course, this is the highest and the strongest quarter for that business. The Conventional business also is more predictable. Now to your question, I think the two areas where we see the most challenges and where we've looked, of course, at the different scenarios, Professional business. So this is trade as mentioned, in both U.S. and Europe and also the public sector in general as well as OEM business. So look, in the -- what is reflected in the guidance is the translation of what we see out of those scenarios of what could evolve in the fourth quarter in the continuity of our third quarter trends. So as we said, for the U.S. it's softer than what we had previously anticipated, but it's basically a softening of the momentum that we remain resilient in many parts of that business. Now on the price, maybe looking back, what we've observed across all our businesses is a stability in the pricing trends over the last quarters. However, with more price intensity, clearly, in the nonconnected part for the OEM business and also definitely in the trade part in Europe and also to some extent, in the U.S. So look, in terms of the price dynamics, it's not for price and mix dynamic. Of course, the mix will be impacted by our portfolio mix. But overall, no major change. And I think the softer or the update of the guidance is fundamentally driven by volumes. And as we said, mostly linked to professionally in the U.S. and OEM. Operator: The next question comes from Chase Coughlan from Van Lanschot Kempen. Chase Coughlan: My first one regarding the Conventional business, you, of course, talked about rationalizing the footprint a little bit more, which might have a several quarter and had some profitability.Can you just elaborate a little bit on the exact plan there? How much more can you rationalize, for example, how many facilities are you operating at the moment? And what will that be in a few quarters? Zeljko Kosanovic: Okay. Look, yes, the line was not totally right. But if I understood, and please correct me, the question, it's about the further rationalization of our manufacturing in convention. So look, yes, we've been, I mean, consistently, over the last few years, in driving, I think we used to have over 30 factories, now down to 3. So we've been doing proactively adjusting the manufacturing base, and we have a clear line of sight and a clear road map to do so. Of course, as I indicated earlier, in the process of doing so, then you do have adjustments that you need to really manage in the manufacturing process. So this is where we see temporarily, some headwinds or higher manufacturing costs in the process and the transition of doing so, but I think we have a very clearly established road map to drive that further, to the extent that is required to recalibrate the supply chain of that business, which we have been doing consistently over the last few years and for which we had, again, a clear road map for the coming years. Again, in that business, as a reminder, we are three parts. The general lighting or the conventional general lighting part of conventional, which is, of course, the part that is declining at a faster pace. We have the digital projection piece, which has a line of sight, let's say, another few years with very specific customers being served, and we have the specialty lighting, which has within that, growth opportunities. And that, of course, has a different road map of evolution in the future. And that will, of course, as we go along, see those pieces being bigger in the overscale of the conventional business. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Maybe just to add to that, I was -- I spent some time with the conventional team, and I was very actually very impressed with that multiyear road map, that is really nicely faced with clear milestones and sign posts to bring that business -- harvest that business to the best extent possible. So I think the team is doing an extremely solid job on that. And to the question, is there more to go after? Yes. So we are now single-digit plants, but we also know how the trajectory will -- what it will look like going forward. Chase Coughlan: Okay. That's very helpful. I hope the line is a bit more clear. Now just on my second question, my follow-up, as you spoke about, capital discipline is one of the priorities going forward. And I'm curious on -- we're seeing net debt year-over-year increase. Earnings are, of course, coming down at the moment. Can I get your thoughts on the ongoing share buyback scheme? Is that something that you think should be continued going forward? Or do you have any, let's say, preferences for capital allocation elsewhere? A.C. Tempelman: Well, it's not that we don't have a capital allocation now, and I'll leave it to Zeljko to comment on that. But my promise was more around, I -- coming into this role, you talk to customers, partners, colleagues, but of course, also to investors. And I think what many investors rightly so ask for is, "Hey, what is your road map to sustainable growth"? What about your footprint and your portfolio? But also what about your capital allocation going forward? And I think we owe you that clarity, and we will include that in the Capital Markets Day mid next year, likely June, yes. Operator: The next question comes from Wim Gille from ABN AMRO -- ODDO BHF. Wim Gille: My first question is around Nexperia. Obviously, there's a lot of turmoil around this company at this point in time in terms of supply. And given that both Nexperia as well as you guys are at Philips. Are there any connections left there in terms of supply chain? And should we be looking into this in relation to your business? And the second question is, can you be a bit more specific around, let's say, the market share that you are looking at in the United States in terms of volumes? In particular, when I compare the performance of acuity versus you guys and if I did take into account a large part of the market used to be Chinese, which are no longer welcome there, I would have expected a bit more clarity on kind of your ability to win market share in terms of volumes in the U.S. Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Maybe first on the -- your question on Nexperia. So the Nexperia components are used in some Signify products. However, we do not anticipate a material impact to our supply in the near term. It's a very limited impact and mostly in the OEM business. And also at the same time, we do have an active and proactive supply chain risk management, right? So we continue to monitor the situation. And we always consists -- constantly review all the alternative sources. So that has allowed us to, in this specific case, also to apply with a lot of agility, the required mitigation. And yes, I think overall, I think we are seeing limited impact and we do have -- and the teams have been able to, of course, very, very fast, adapt and mitigate. And that's part of the strategy we have of proactive supply chain risk management and multiple sourcing to be prepared for those kinds. So limited impact for us in the near term. A.C. Tempelman: And then on the U.S. questions, are we keen to grow market share in the U.S.? Of course, we are. The -- but we need to make sure it's on strategy, right? So on the project side, clearly, we are doing well, and we are aiming to continue to grow. As I mentioned that we are probably a bit below par in the trade channel, and that is also where you see that dynamic indeed of the Chinese products. We are adding products into our portfolio that better fit that trade channel. So indeed, we see opportunities, right, in the U.S. to continue to grow our market share. Wim Gille: And then lastly, in terms of your priorities at the last slide, you also mentioned that you're looking to rationalize your portfolio. Are we then talking about significant chunks in terms of sales that you might exit or divest or whatever? Or is this more fine-tuning around the edges and it should not have a major impact on sales? A.C. Tempelman: Now let me just emphasize, Wim, that at this point, I say we are reviewing our portfolio. Don't read that as rationalizing because it's too early for me to say, "Hey, we're going to cut this or add that." It's too early. Now that said, I mean, I think, ultimately, the portfolio choices should follow your strategy. So what we'll do is we will create clarity about where -- what is the narrative for the company, where do we want to go on a 3-, 5-year horizon. If this is the company we want to build, then these are logical steps to take in terms of portfolio. And you should not only think line of business level there, but also around, "Hey, we are currently present in over 70 countries." We play in many different segments. But indeed, we also need to create clarity around how the different lines of business hang together and how we want to take that forward. So the answer is it's a review and all is included. I don't want to exclude anything at this point, nor do I want to create false expectations given where we are today. Operator: The next question comes from Marc Hesselink from ING. Marc Hesselink: A question is actually I mean two things related, both, one on gross margin and one on the OpEx. So I think given what you said before, it's likely that the lower gross margin versus previous quarters is here to stay or maybe even increase -- the pressure will increase a bit. In the quarter itself in third quarter, you really offset that by significantly adjusting your -- predominantly your SG&A cost. Is that also the way forward that when the gross margin remains under pressure that you will take more action in your short-term SG&A cost? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Marc, thanks for the question. So I think, look, first of all, on the dynamic of the gross margin, what's very important to see in the dynamic. And as you said, comparing to -- I think we had 7 consecutive quarters with a margin -- gross margin above 40%, which typically would be on the higher end of the -- what we indicated as an entitlement. I think when we look at professional and consumer business in the last quarter and as we expect moving forward, we continue to see a very robust gross margin. So the -- let's say, the sequential decrease to 39.5% is entirely linked to the two headwinds I was mentioning earlier, first on the OEM business. So there is -- there are clearly the implications of the magnitude of the decline we see in OEM business on the manufacturing productivity. So this is really linked to the OEM business. And second, the temporary or transitory increase or headwinds on the manufacturing cost base of the conventional business, which we do expect to normalize by mid of next year. So I think in the dynamic of the gross margin, very clearly, very strong professional, very strong consumer. When we look, of course, at the dynamic for Q4, consumer having it's strongest quarter. And that, of course, will have a positive sequential implication on the evolution of the gross margin. So I think the dynamic on those two key pieces of the business are -- remain very strong and remain very much in line. Actually, we even saw sequential expansion of the gross margin in the Professional business quarter-over-quarter and a very limited, let's say, a decrease compared to last year, which was a very high comparison base with some one-off elements. So look, the trajectory of our gross margin remaining very strong. The two specific elements which are impacting on the OEM business linked to the volume and on the conventional business, which is more transitory. Now to your question on the evolution of the SG&A or the cost base indirect costs. As we indicated earlier, we are, of course, driving and further driving the optimization, making sure that we are deploying the investments needed to support the execution of our strategy, and this is what we are seeing clearly delivering on the connected parts and the specialty part of the business. And then, of course, at the same time, continuing to optimize and to adjust where needed, where we do see the most challenges. So I think this is a combination of those two elements that you see in the dynamic of our indirect cost base and that we expect to move forward. But the most important point is really the robustness of the gross margin absolutely sustained and confirmed for consumer and professional. Marc Hesselink: Great. Clear. And then maybe on the CapEx because also in last quarter and this quarter, the CapEx is a bit higher than last year. Is it a bit of timing? Or do you have -- is there a reason why CapEx would be increasing a bit? Zeljko Kosanovic: So there within the CapEx, I think you have, on the tangible part of CapEx, it's a limited increase, but it's more linked to some of the intangible product development. So there, we do have some -- but again, in the magnitude, I think it remains on a relatively low base, while the business remains a very low CapEx intensity. So you're right, we've seen sequentially some increase, but this is linked mostly to capitalized developments in innovation, R&D and also in the digitalization part. Operator: The next question comes from Elias New from Kepler Cheuvreux. Elias New: Just wondering on your other segment, which has seen strong momentum over recent quarters, but in the current quarter, seen a sequential decline in sales. Could you just perhaps give us some color on what is driving this? And how you would expect this to develop going forward? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes, maybe to -- what is included in others is linked to the ventures business, and we do have one specific venture that has been developed and positioned on the connected consumer space in China. And as you mentioned, we've seen a very strong momentum. I think this venture that is continuing to perform very well. However, there were some, I think, favorable, let's say, contribution or propelling drivers coming also from the subsidies that were deployed by -- in China that were supporting an accelerated level of growth in the last quarter, which has normalized as we've seen in the third quarter. So this is the main -- the main element behind, but this is one of the ventures that is seeing a very successful traction and very well positioned in one part of the Chinese market, which is overall challenging, but that's one part of the market that has a good dynamic. And indeed, the translation of that has been lower in the last quarter compared to the previous quarters, but still substantially growing year-over-year. Operator: The next question comes from Sven Weier from UBS. Sven Weier: It's just one. And I think we've discussed a lot about relative performance of Signify against other lighting players. But I'm more curious about the relative performance of lighting within construction against other construction segments. And we're obviously seeing quite a bit of an underperformance here of lighting against other segments in the last couple of years. I guess my suspicion has always been around the renovation side that you see the kind of lagging effect of a higher LED installed base and longer replacement cycles, which I think has kind of been a bit denied by the company. I was just wondering if you're also aiming for the Capital Markets Day to provide us more color on that very point because I think it could be an important point to get a sense when does that kind of underperform potentially start to phase out and provide us more visibility on that item. That's my question. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Thanks, Sven. And it's important so that we always start with market, not ourselves. And indeed, I think we -- the market is at the final wave of ratification, if you want, but we are not at the end of it just yet. So you still see that then having an impact, I guess, on the lighting sector in comparison with other construction-related sectors. On your question, will we create some clarity, yes. I think we'll create some clarity about how we see the harvesting road map for conventionals, but also how we see the market when it comes to ratification. And also where we see the growth opportunities because, clearly, beyond the hardware, we see then, of course, a lot of growth in connected, and that presents us with good opportunities as well. Yes. Short answer is yes, Sven, we will come back to that. Sven Weier: And so you agree that this could be a factor that you especially see on the renovation side out of the longer replacement cycles? Would you agree that this could be potentially one of the drags relative? Zeljko Kosanovic: Maybe what I can say on -- look, when we look at the dynamics of the market, how it translates because we, of course, have leading indicators that to understand exactly what you are pointing out, the look -- in short, I think the way -- the market, and of course, renovation is the most important piece of our exposure. I mean we are higher -- our indexation to the renovation is higher than to the new build in the professional nonresidential space. So to your question, I think, when you look at the different dynamics market per market, I would say, the answer to your -- or at least the conclusion you are taking is not the one that we would have. So I would understand that this has to be probably better articulated on how we see it forward, and we'll take note of your comment. But that's not what our analysis would indicate at least with the data we have. Operator: We have time for one last question, and it comes from George Featherstone from Barclays. George Featherstone: It's just about the capital allocation going back to some of the questions you've had already. Cash on the balance sheet is down about 35% year-over-year. Free cash flow is down 40% year-over-year on a year-to-date basis. You're obviously now guiding for lower cash generation ahead. How concerned are you about these trends? And do you plan to take any proactive actions to conserve cash given the weaker market trends that you talked about already? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Thank you for your question. So first of all, if we look at the -- as part of our capital allocation policy and priorities, I think we've been very clear and that's what we've been driving consistently also over the past year to ensure and to sustain a strong capital structure, a strong balance sheet and a level of leverage that is supportive to an investment-grade rating sustained. So when we look at our leverage year-over-year, it has slightly decreased. So it's in line with what we expected. We have just completed, as was communicated also our refinancing with now a longer tenure for the EUR 325 million that was at maturity in the last quarter. When we look at the dynamic of cash generation versus the implementation of our capital allocation policy defined for 2025, I think there is no change or no concern to your point because we look at -- we are well on track on the execution of our share buyback program. We are able to define the priorities supporting growth as we intended. So look, no, I think the dynamic and the adjustment that we have indicated are not leading to a correction on the overall equilibrium, let's say, on the cash generation versus cash utilization that we defined in our policy for 2025. So no major change there. George Featherstone: Okay. And just specifically on the buyback, do you intend to complete that? I mean I think it's on the guidance you've given is an up to EUR 150 million. Is your intention to go all the way to EUR 150 million at this stage? Zeljko Kosanovic: So for now, we are well on track with the plan for the year. And yes, we are intending to complete, as what was committed again in our capital allocation policy, which still fits totally with the plan we have defined. So there, we are on track and expect to complete as was indicated. So in short, we had given a clear capital allocation policy for implementation in 2025, and we are executing to it consistently and expect to do so for the rest of the year. Operator: And with that, I will now turn the call back over to Thelke Gerdes for any closing remarks. Thelke Gerdes: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining our earnings call today. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. And again, thank you very much, and enjoy the rest of your day.
Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Fibra Danhos' Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this call is being recorded, and I'll be standing by should you need assistance. Now I'll turn the call over to your host, Rodrigo Martínez. Please go ahead. Rodrigo Chavez: Thank you very much, Alvis. Hello, everyone. I am Rodrigo Martinez, and I run Investor Relations for the company. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Fibra Danhos' 2025 Third Quarter Conference Call. We issued our quarterly report yesterday. If you did not receive a copy, please do not hesitate and contact us. Please be aware that they are also available on our website and in Mexico Stock Exchange website. Before we begin the call today, I would like to remind you that forward-looking statements made during today's call do not account for future economic circumstances, industry conditions and company performance or financial results. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. All figures included herein were prepared in according to IFRS standards and are stated in nominal Mexican pesos, unless otherwise noted. Joining us today from Fibra Danhos in Mexico City is Mr. Jorge Serrano, CFO of Fibra Danhos; and Mr. Elias Mizrahi. Now I will turn the call to Jorge Serrano for opening remarks and financial and operating indicators. Jorge, please go ahead. Jorge Esponda: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Let me share some initial remarks on Fibra Danhos' third quarter results. It has been only 2 years since we announced our interest in industrial assets and Danhos is already a reference player in the CTT logistics corridors that services Mexico City. We have been recognized for our execution capabilities and high-quality construction standards. We have not only delivered our commitments on time and within budget, but we are also working in new opportunities that will translate into profitable growth. During the quarter, we signed build-to-suit lease agreements for more than 300,000 square meters on 3 additional industrial parks with best-in-class tenants that will generate cash flow by the end of next year. This is very relevant. Not only because it will translate into profitable adjusted risk returns, but also because it reinforces our strategy of diversification in industrial real estate and complements our traditional growth strategy on mixed uses and high-quality real estate developments. Our CapEx pipeline is additionally confirmed by Parque Oaxaca and Ritz-Carlton Cancún Punta Nizuc project, which are under construction and up and running. Sound financial results were supported by strong fundamentals. Total revenues of MXN 1.9 billion were 14% higher against last year, explained by increased occupation levels, positive lease spreads, higher overage, parking adjusted revenues and contribution of industrial assets. Total expenses increased 10%, keeping control on operating and maintenance expenses and dealing with labor-intensive services that have posted major increases. NOI reached MXN 1.5 billion, an increase of almost 15% year-on-year with a 78.6% margin that is 75 basis points higher than last year's. AFFO reached MXN 1.1 billion that accounted for MXN 0.69 per CBFI. Distribution was determined at the same level of MXN 0.45 per CBFI which amounts to MXN 722 million and represents a payout relative to AFFO of 66%. Retained cash flow, as you know, was used to finance our CapEx program, which was complemented with MXN 300 million of short-term debt. Balance sheet, however, remains strong with only 13% [indiscernible]. Our portfolio overall occupancy continued growing and reached 91%, with retail occupancy reaching 94%, office at 76% and industrial of 100%. Thanks. We may now turn to the Q&A session. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Alejandra Obregon of Morgan Stanley. Alejandra Obregon: The first one is on your CapEx and dividend payout. If you can perhaps provide some color on how to think of these 2 metrics in 2026 and 2027 as you move forward with Nizuc and Oaxaca. So that's the first question. And then the second one is in terms of your portfolio mix and perhaps if I'm allowed to think of it in a more long-term sort of way, maybe 3 or 5 years from here, how much do you expect industrial to represent of the mix in your portfolio and whether you see some recycling opportunities elsewhere. So how do you see your mix 3 or 5 years from here? That's the question. I'll stop here. Elías Mizrahi: Alejandra, this is Elias Mizrahi. Regarding distributions, so as you know, we've been investing very heavily on industrial assets. We're starting construction of Parque Oaxaca in the coming months. And obviously, we're also investing in the Nizuc project. So as long as we continue investing at this rhythm, we expect at least for 2026 for the dividend to remain the same. I think towards the end of next year, we'll probably have better color for 2027. But I think that this gives us the ability to reinvest our cash flows and give better returns for our long-term investors. Regarding the mix on our portfolio, I would say that we don't have a specific target on where we see or where we want to have the industrial assets as a percentage of our total portfolio. I think we're opportunistic. We will be looking at new development opportunities. And we're also investing in retail assets as well. So we don't expect only to grow in the industrial segment, but in all segments. So I think that more than targeting a mix, we'll be targeting solid projects with great risk-adjusted returns. Alejandra Obregon: Got it. And if I may follow up in terms of land and backlog, if you can talk about what you're seeing in the Mexico City and metropolitan area. Do you think there's more interest for you to continue growing here? And what -- and how does your land access look like from here? Elías Mizrahi: Yes. So first, I mean, we highlighted in our report and Jorge just mentioned the lease activity we had for the quarter. So we leased 300,000 square meters this quarter alone. We're very proud of that achievement. We already have 250,000 square meters operating and generating rent. And by year-end -- next year, we'll have more than 0.5 million square meters generating rent for the Fibra in basically 2 or 3 years since we basically announced the industrial component in our portfolio. So we continue to see strong demand. I think the market, as Jorge mentioned, welcomed Danhos, welcomed its development capacity and ability. And we're assembling land for future projects, which if we find the right land and the right opportunities, we will be able to develop them and continue growing. But we see the Mexico City market as strong and resilient for now. Operator: Our next question comes from Igor Machado of Goldman Sachs. Igor Machado: I have 2 questions here. And the first one is on the retail sales. So we saw some deceleration from department stores company. So any color that you could share with us like if you expect a retail deceleration for the next quarters, this would be helpful. And the second question is regarding the land for the industrial real estate assets. I'm just trying to better understand here who is selling the land and the terms of the selling. So that's it. Jorge Esponda: Igor, this is Jorge. Well, as you know, I mean, our retail portfolio has very positive occupation levels. I think we have a very strong tenant base. But it's true that we've seen some deceleration in the economy in consumption. However, we continue to have demand for our shopping centers. This is given the location we have. And that allows us to be quite defensive in a deceleration environment on the economy. So, so far, we're posting still very strong results in our retail portfolio. Operator: Our next question comes from [indiscernible] of JPMorgan. Unknown Analyst: Congrats on the results. My question is regarding any update on the office segment. Could you maybe walk us through how easy or hard it has been to renew the office properties? How sticky were these tenants with some minor decrease in the Toreo property? Elías Mizrahi: [indiscernible], I'm sorry, but there was some interference in the question. Can you repeat it, please? Unknown Analyst: Yes. My question was regarding the office segment. Maybe could you walk us through how easy or hard has it been to renew the office properties? And how sticky were these tenants? Elías Mizrahi: Yes. So at the beginning of the year, we had 2 major leases that -- actually this was pointed out, I think, in the fourth quarter of last year's or first quarter of this year's call. And both contracts were renewed. One was in Toreo, the other one was in Esmeralda. So in both cases, we were able to renew both big leases. And the smaller leases are also being renewed basically every quarter. So we're -- as we've mentioned, we're in the midst of keeping our tenants. Unknown Executive: [indiscernible] Elías Mizrahi: Yes. And leasing activity has picked up. In Urbitec, we leased this quarter 2,500 square meters. And also in [indiscernible] 3,500 square meters. So during the quarter, we leased approximately 7,000 square meters. Unknown Executive: [indiscernible] Operator: [Operator Instructions] Rodrigo, we have no questions at this time. I'll turn the program back over to you for any additional or closing comments. Rodrigo Chavez: Thank you very much, Alvis. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Please do not hesitate to contact us, Elias, Jorge or myself for any further questions. We are always available. We'll see you on our next conference call. Thank you very much. Operator: That concludes our meeting today. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Eni's 2025 Third Quarter Results Conference Call hosted by Mr. Francesco Gattei, Chief Transition and Official Officer. [Operator Instructions] I'm now handing you over to your host to begin today's conference. Thank you. Francesco Gattei: Thank you, and good afternoon. Welcome to our Q3 2025 results call. Our results are a further confirmation of the successful execution of our distinctive and consistent strategy and innovative business model. We continue to generate growth and value, both from our traditional energy activity, such as E&P and also from emerging opportunities in the evolving energy market. In particular, the 8.5% year-on-year growth in production results directly from our consistent long-term focus and investment in E&P. We are delivering material progress against ambitious strategic objectives and Q3 was a further proof of tangible momentum in this respect. I will comment on our financial results in a little more detail shortly. However, it is very pleasing we have positive news to report from each of our main operating segments. Combining the excellent financial and operating performances and the ongoing progress in valorizing our businesses, we're also able to announce a further improvement of our balance sheet and a higher share buyback. Focusing on a few of the strategic highlights, I would especially pick out. At the beginning of August, Azule Energy, our business combination with BP in Angola and Namibia, began production from its operated Agogo West Hub development with the FPSO coming on stream only 29 months after FID, almost a year ahead of our plan. Indeed, this quarter was notable for the contribution from our upstream satellite start-ups with Vår reaching 400,000 barrel per day production with significant incremental production from the operated Balder X development that started up at the end of Q2 and Johan Castberg ramp-up, driving 45% year-over-year production growth. In October, we announced a joint venture FID on our Coral North floating LNG offshore Mozambique with startup expect in 2028. This leverages our successful Coral South development in production since 2022 with a remarkable 99.4% availability. And together with the 2 vessel in Congo, it will reinforce our leadership in this technology. I would also flag the progress we are making with YPF towards FID on Argentina LNG, employing the exact competencies I discussed in terms of floating LNG in Mozambique and Congo to access a material new integrated resource opportunity. A further successful example of Eni skills and strategy is in Ivory Coast, where in September, we completed the sale of a 30% stake of our operated Baleine field to Vitol, in line with our dual exploration approach. The world-class Baleine field was only discovered in 2021, but has already reached over 70,000 barrels per day from the first 2 phases with a planned Phase 3 to take gross production to over 200,000 barrels per day. Coral North, Argentina LNG and Baleine Phase 3 form just a part of a deep hopper of high-quality project in our development and pre-FID portfolio. In the quarter, we signed an agreement with GIP, a strategic partner in relation to a 49.99% stake in any CCUS holding, our consolidated global CCUS operation, confirming the significant growth and value creation potential in this transition business, unlocked by a further example of a version of our satellite model. Finally, in September, Eni received approval for its application to convert part of our Sannazzaro refinery into a biorefinery. It will add along with 3 sites in operation, 3 under construction and further identified opportunities, including our Priolo chemical sites to the targeted tripling of biofuel production capacity to 2030. This emphasized the meaningful growth in diversified income streams our transition segment is delivering. Turning now to our results. Q3 reflects remarkable progress in our key businesses and another excellent financial outcome. Pro forma adjusted EBIT of EUR 3 billion was 12% higher than Q2 and just minus 6% down year-on-year in U.S. dollar terms despite the 14% fall in crude oil prices. In the Upstream, production was 1.76 million barrels per day, up 6% year-on-year on a reported basis and 8.5% on an underlying supported by a new start-up and ramp-ups, good regularity and production optimization in the base. Pro forma EBIT of EUR 2.6 billion was consistent with the prevailing scenario with EBIT associated split reflecting the rise in production I highlighted at the Vår and Azule. In exploration, we have already added over 800 million barrels of new resource year-to-date. GGP reported another good quarter at EUR 279 million in pro forma EBIT in a quarter that is usually quieter, remaining focused on maximizing value and optimizing the gas and LNG portfolio. Our significantly reconstructed midstream business has become a highly consistent deliverer of financial performance. In our transition activities, Enilive reported EUR 233 million of pro forma EBIT, corresponding to EUR 317 million of EBITDA, around 23% up year-on-year in a quarter that is typically our best one for marketing, but also where we saw a recovery in bioomargin to pre-2024 levels. Plenitude pro forma EBIT of EUR 98 million was softer year-on-year, reflecting the effect of some of the retail incentives coming off, but partially offset by strong growth in renewable capacity. In transformation, refining returned to profit, helped by better industry margin and improved utilization, while chemicals, despite the continuing weak scenario, began to show some benefit from the restructuring now underway, albeit it is very early days. Adjusted net income of EUR 1.25 billion, effectively in line year-on-year came despite the $10 barrel fall in crude price and weaker U.S. dollar. That is a testimony to the growth and performance improvement in the business and a more efficient tax rate at 42% that reflects the impact of high-grading upstream production mix, the transition towards a more sustainable diversified overall income mix and the benefit of our restructuring and performance improvement initiatives. Cash flow from operations once again reflects efficient conversion of our earnings into cash, and we saw a Q3 working capital draw, reflecting our focus on efficient use of the balance sheet. Indeed, we have already realized a EUR 2.1 billion benefit to the balance sheet through prompt cash initiative in response to the weaker scenario. Gross CapEx in the quarter was EUR 2 billion, taking us to EUR 5.9 billion year-to-date. Net CapEx has totaled less than EUR 1 billion year-to-date. Outstanding agreed valorization yet to close primarily related to the agreed Ares investment into Plenitude for which we have completed all the condition precedent and with closing expected in early November, the sell-down in Congo and the GIP stake in CCUS, this totals almost EUR 3.4 billion. After EUR 560 million in share buyback and paying the quarter 3 dividend, net debt was EUR 9.9 billion, down again quarter-on-quarter and leverage stood at 19%. Taking into account the still outstanding announced portfolio action, pro forma leverage was 12%, equivalent to 11% gearing, a level at the minimum of the industry range. Looking ahead towards the full year, we are able to further improve some of our targets. We now expect full year production to be between 1.71 million, 1.72 million barrels per day, up from 1.7 million barrels per day, a 3% underlying increase versus 2024. We expect GGP pro forma EBIT for the full year to be over EUR 1 billion. We expect cash initiative and self-help and mitigating the impact of weaker scenario to deliver around EUR 4 billion benefit, up from EUR 3 billion previously. We confirm gross CapEx below EUR 8.5 billion, but we expect net CapEx on a pro forma basis to be less than EUR 5 billion, down from the EUR 6.5 billion, EUR 7 billion that we previously guided to. And we are raising expected cash flow from operation pre-working capital to EUR 12 billion from EUR 11.5 billion previously, representing an underlying EUR 1.3 billion improvement versus our initial guidance for the year, while we are narrowing our expectation of year-end pro forma leverage to 15%, 18%. Reflecting the strong underlying business performance, the balance sheet metrics and the proven capability of the company to execute its strategy in a very accretive way, we are raising the 2025 share buyback to EUR 1.8 billion from EUR 1.5 billion, of which EUR 840 million has been completed as end of September and around EUR 1 billion to date. This, as we have already done since 2022, effectively share the upside in financial performance we have generated in the year, preserve a conservative position in response to the uncertainty ahead and ensure our ability to invest consistently over the cycle for growth and shareholder value. In fact, Q3 represents all the major elements of our distinctive strategy in action in one place. We are competitively growing our key businesses. We are launching new projects while also securing further opportunity through our industry-leading exploration and technological know-how in the upstream and opening up new opportunity in the transition. Meanwhile, we are managing risk reward, realizing value through our dual exploration satellite strategy, allowing us to bring in down debt and share upside with shareholders. And with that, I am ready along with Eni top management here on the call to reply to your questions. Unknown Executive: Thank you, Francesco. Hello, everybody. We've got a queue of questions. [Operator Instructions] And we're going to start with the first question that comes from Biraj at RBC. Biraj Borkhataria: I have 2, please. The first one is in the Upstream. One of the surprises today was the really strong production figure. And at least according to my model, that's the highest figure you reported since the pandemic. So could you just unpack the moving parts there quarter-on-quarter outside of the strong performance from Vår? And in particular, I believe there was a TSC adjustment this quarter. Wondering whether you could quantify that and tell us if there's any sort of follow-through into Q4 and '26? And then the second question is on Chemicals. Just noted no improvement in the sort of underlying results despite the crackers being shut down. So what should we expect going forward? Should those losses start to reduce from Q4? Or are there sort of additional shutdown costs coming through? Francesco Gattei: Okay. I leave the answer about production and comparison versus previous quarter to Guido Brusco and clearly, the Versalis to Adriano Alfani. Guido Brusco: So the increase quarter-to-quarter, both sequential and year-on-year are due to, as you rightly pointed out to Norway, Johan Castberg and Balder X, but also the accelerated start-up in Angola with Agogo and better performance in the ramp-up of our project in Mexico, Ghana, Nigeria and also overperformance in Ivory Coast. This, along with strong operational continuity in all geographies and an optimized major turnaround plan, particularly in North Africa. So the combination of all these 3 elements resulted into this remarkable performance. Francesco Gattei: Now Adriano. Adriano Alfani: Yes, Francesco. First, thanks for the question. About the shutdown of the chemical plant, as we previously said in different investor call, we always say that the benefits of the shutdown of the cracker start to be materialized 100% after more or less 9, 12 months that we shut down the crackers. So considering that we have stopped Brindisi at the end of Q1 and Priolo at the beginning of Q3, we expect to see some benefits starting from the second half of 2025 that is in the ballpark of EUR 40 million, EUR 50 million compared to the first half of 2025. But most of the improvement we will start to see from the significant improvement from the second half of 2026 that will be materialized in more than EUR 200 million on a yearly basis. That said, the scenario remained very weak, and this is also the reason why despite the improvement on our cost base due to the restructuring, we are not seeing a major improvement in our results quarter-on-quarter because what we are saving from restructuring is compensating the lower scenario. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Biraj. We're going to move to Santander and Alejandro Vigil. Alejandro? Alejandro Vigil: Congratulations for the strong results. The first question is about the outlook in terms of production for the coming quarters because we are seeing a very strong exit rate of about 1.8 million barrels per day. If this could be a good indication of the level for 2026 of volumes? And the second question is about the LNG business. You are very active in new capacity in terms of LNG, the Argentina, Mozambique, the joint venture in Indonesia. Just if you can elaborate about your view about this potential risk of overcapacity and how you're managing your portfolio of contracts? Francesco Gattei: I will give it to Guido the answer. Guido Brusco: So yes, clearly, our exit rate is strong. We are envisaging an exit rate in the quarter between 1.78 million and 1.80 million. We still have quite a strong and visible pipeline of high-quality projects. We still have 2 start-up coming by the end of the year. One is the Congo LNG and also we have a gas project in Angola operated by Azule. We also have project already in execution, as mentioned by Francesco, Coral North and others in the UAE, Hail and Ghasha and some in North Africa, along with projects which are coming in Indonesia, but those are, of course, in the plan period and not in 2026. As far as the LNG portfolio, we have a target of 20 million tonnes per annum. And this target, we want to combine also with a very diversified portfolio of opportunity. Currently, we have LNG assets in Indonesia. We will have soon in Mozambique with Coral North. We have in Congo and we'll expand it in Nigeria, in Angola. And we are complementing this with portfolio with U.S. Recently, you may recall, we've signed a 2 million tonnes per annum contract with Venture Global. And of course, last but not least, Argentina. Argentina is a 12 million tonnes per annum project in the second largest and world-class asset, which is Vaca Muerta. We are doing it with YPF, and we are targeting to have an FID sometime next year. Unknown Executive: Alejandro, I got that mixed up because we're now going to Alessandro. Alessandro Pozzi, Mediobanca. Alessandro Pozzi: I have 2. If I can go back to the production. I'm aware the guidance for next year is provided with the full year results. But I was wondering, given the very strong exit rate, should we -- and also the additional start-ups you will have in 2026, should we assume a further increase from Q4 into 2026 before factoring in the new JV with Petronas? And while on the topic, can we maybe have an update on where we are in terms of negotiations with Petronas? Guido Brusco: So you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts, but we can confirm what we said at the last capital market update. We have an underlying of 3%, which, of course, we confirm over the plan. Sometimes, this is not a progressive growth because project comes over cycle and -- but we can confirm that growth. As far as concerned, the Petronas deal, we are in very advanced negotiations, and we are planning quite soon to sign binding documents for the joint venture. Alessandro Pozzi: Can you confirm the contribution to the production for next year? Guido Brusco: This is part of the underlying 3% growth year-on-year. As I said, there are many moving parts. There are new projects, new entry like the JV of -- with Petronas. There is also -- there are also some further M&A operations. There are also -- of course, there is also the decline of the field. So overall, we confirm the 3% underlying. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Alessandro. We are going to move back to London now with Josh Stone at UBS. Josh? Joshua Eliot Stone: Two questions, please. Firstly, on the buyback. Can you just talk about the factors that went into your decision to lift it this quarter? Because clearly, your business has been performing better. But at least until recently, oil prices are on a declining trend. So was there any consideration made about maybe holding back some buyback for next year to conserve cash? And to what extent was that factored into your new buyback level of EUR 1.8 billion? And then the second question, Namibia. Just hoping to get some latest thoughts there after your recent well results at the Land finding gas condensate. And maybe if you could just share your latest learnings about the asset and what potential next steps could be in terms of appraisal and whether this could be a potential fast-track development in your view? Francesco Gattei: I will answer about the buyback and then give the floor to Guido for the Namibia questions. On buyback, you have seen that the policy that Eni has already, let's say, confirmed for a number of years is substantially to start with a buyback announcement during the Capital Market Day and then a policy of, let's say, driving or sharing the upside in different form. The upside is the upside related to scenario increasing the CFFO, but also upside related to the capability to perform the strategy faster to benefit of more valuable M&A and deleveraging. Actually, this has occurred 3 times in the last 4 years. And many of these cases was not related to the improvement of scenario that actually declined, but then the capability to do better in terms of execution. This year, we have already announced in July, if you remember, this potential improvement. It's, let's say, a quite unique position in the market. Nobody is able to raise its distribution in this time and then nobody is able to reduce debt during the same period, while executing a full effective strategy in terms of project and growth in different parts of the business. So we are extremely, let's say, happy to share this opportunity and this value creation with our shareholders. And we think that the EUR 300 million was a fair evaluation of the improvement. And clearly, this also proves that we are quite confident on the capability to manage any kind of downturn or soft price in the next year. And then I'll leave back to Guido. Guido Brusco: Yes. On Namibia, as you know, we drilled 3 wells, very successful. The first one, Sagittarius discovered hydrocarbon with no observed water contact. The second Capricornus, we've tested and we were surface constrained with a flow rate of in excess of 10,000 barrels per day. And the third one, Volans showed a high condensate to gas ratio, but -- and we found 26 meters of net pay of rich gas condensate. So 3 successful wells, which they've not only found significant hydrocarbon, but they are also located at a very short distance from each other, in conventional deepwater, less than 1,500 meters. So clearly, they offer an excellent prospect for future development. Unknown Executive: We're going to move to Al Syme at Citi. Al? Alastair Syme: Argentina LNG Phase 3, one of the big changes in Argentina has been this incentive regime for large investments or RIGI. What do you think this legislation does to improve the profitability? And I guess, maybe put another way, would the project work without that legislation? And then secondly, I just wanted to ask, given you've done this big asset transaction, Baleine and Congo FLNG for, I think, $2.65 billion. I'm wondering what the invested capital is -- that you're essentially selling, sort of what multiple of invested capital have you been able to sell this asset at? Francesco Gattei: On Argentina, I give the question to Guido, then I will answer. Guido Brusco: In Argentina, investment in shale are been made since more than 10 years. So in 2013, it started the investment cycle in Argentina, and this is far before the RIGI legislation. RIGI legislation, of course, is a big enabler, particularly for the export of the LNG. And so that's the legal framework, and we are confident with this legislation and with this framework to make an investment decision in the country. Francesco Gattei: About the Congo LNG, as you know from also the other transaction that we have already completed with Vitol. This is based on an effective date that is 1/1/2024. And therefore, there are investments in the meantime, but we do not provide this kind of level of details that will be clearly also part of the final settlement at the closing time. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Al. We're going to move to Irene Himona at Bernstein. Irene? Irene Himona: My first question is on Enilive, where clearly, you're seeing very strong biofuel margins, improvements in your throughput and utilization. Can you give us a sense of how those are evolving in Q4, please? And then perhaps if you can split the marketing versus biorefining contribution to EBIT in the quarter? And then my second question, going back to tax, but not the P&L tax, more the cash paid tax, which fell almost halved sequentially. Is there any guidance at all on that? Is it -- are we likely to see a reduction in that cash tax rate aligned with the P&L reduction? Francesco Gattei: About the -- I will answer about the tax, and then I will give to Stefano Ballista for the Enilive. You've seen that in the last year or years, there is an improvement in the tax rate, both on the -- clearly the reported tax rate and the cash tax rate. This improvement is mainly related to a transformation of the company with the contribution of different geography in the upstream and therefore, the capability substantially to have more production and more results coming from lower tax regimes in this segment. Clearly, the contribution of the transition business, the possibility of the increase of return in Italy related to the fact that there is a transformation activity going on with the possibility to recover the deferred tax effects and also the contribution of satellites that are cash neutral from this point of view. So all this is a structural change that impacted both the nominal tax rate and the cash tax rate. So we have already said that we are expecting in terms of tax rate an improvement versus what we originally thought. So now we are moving in the range between 46% and 48%, while about the tax rate related to the cash tax rate, we are moving around the 28% to 29%. And now Stefano, please. Stefano Ballista: Irene, thanks for the question. Yes, the strong result of Enilive in this quarter have been driven mainly by the significant improvement of the biofuel scenario, coupled with a very good asset performance capturing this increased value. In terms of value, we can think about the sort of 80-20 in terms of overall contribution. Deep diving on biorefinery and looking at the scenario. What's going on is a progressive rebalancing of the supply-demand dynamics. This is fully in line with the direction we expected. There are some key reasons, some structural key reason pretty much on demand. Demand is improving. On a yearly basis, in Europe, we see above 6 million tonnes on a yearly basis compared to the 4.5 million last year. And this improvement has been, let's say, concentrated in the second half of the year. The reason is related to sustainable aviation fuel. We mentioned in previous call, the need for getting logistics in place in order to deliver SAF to customers. This is exactly what's going on. On top, actually, there is also a drive of extra demand coming from the expectation of the deployment in several countries of the Renewable Energy Directive #3. An example, a key example is Germany. It has to be approved, but the proposal is very relevant. The most relevant thing is the ban, the proposed ban of double counting by itself, this means above 1 million ton of extra demand on top of the number I said before for next year. So these are the 2 key structural reasons. On the supply side, I want to mention another structural reason. It has been confirmed the duties for sustainable aviation fuel coming from U.S. There was a doubt in the first half of the year, this duty are there for HVO due to clear the tax credit that is in U.S. It has been confirmed it's going to be applied to SAF as well, and this is another reason strengthening the market. Unknown Executive: Very good. Thanks, Irene. We're going to move to Peter Low at Redburn. Peter? Peter Low: Maybe the first, just on disposals. Can you just confirm the expected time line for the remaining ones, so kind of Congo to Vitol and then the Plenitude stake sale. But then beyond that, should we think of those as being the end of large disposals? Or are there other positions across the portfolio you're working to monetize? And then just on the net CapEx guidance, you've lowered it for the full year, but it looks like gross CapEx is broadly unchanged. Can you perhaps walk through the moving parts that have allowed you to lower that net CapEx guidance? Francesco Gattei: Yes. About the portfolio, we can, as we have already mentioned, confirm that we are very close to cash in the EUR 2 billion related to Ares acquisition of a 20% in Plenitude. All the condition precedents were completed. We do expect to have this contribution in a period of weeks. This will imply substantially a benefit on our leverage in the range of more than 4%. On the other side, we are still clearly waiting all the natural process authorization for the other transaction, the one that is related to Congo that takes some more time. So this is still ongoing, but it is a process that is maturing progressively. And about the contribution for next year, clearly, this year was extremely, let's say, rich in terms of opportunity. We have benefit from disposal that we matured last year in terms of closing, and we completed for the cash in this year. And also, we were able to fast track some of our disposal within the year. This acceleration is also at the basis of the improvement in the net CapEx results. You're right that the gross CapEx are substantially in line with expectation. But clearly, they were revised down during the first quarter once we announced the first estimate for the cash initiative that includes also CapEx reduction. In terms of what are the future, the future is that the dual exploration model is a living model. So it's continued to generate opportunity. You know that we explore with high stake, and there is also some results already emerging in different geographies. You know also that in Indonesia, we have a 10% disposal on the assets that will not be included in the business combination. And clearly, we are also evaluating other opportunities that could come in terms of valorizing our portfolio and aligning capital. Another element that will be cashed in within the end of the year, I was forgetting is the contribution of the CCUS, so the deal with GIP. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Peter. We're going to move to Michele Della Vigna at Goldman Sachs. Michele Della Vigna: And again, congratulations on the very strong results. Two questions, if I may. First, I wanted to start with biofuels. Very clear comment on RD. I was just wondering on SAF, if the mandatory blending does not increase from 2% until 2030, don't you see the risk that with new capacity coming on stream that market could soften over the next couple of years? And then I was wondering if you could give us perhaps a bit more visibility on what drives that EUR 1 billion upgrade in the cash initiative. And in case the macro deteriorates in 2026, how much flexibility do you see on your CapEx budget? And where do you think you could potentially cut some of your net investments? Francesco Gattei: Stefano for the biofuel. Stefano Ballista: Yes, Michele, thanks for the question. On SAF, for sure, is driven by the mandatory mandates, given the penalties -- underlying penalties. So this is, let me say, it's a given. On top of Europe, now at 2%, we got higher target like in U.K. already in place. Clearly, an increase sort of step-up of the target along the time line is going to help demand on SAF. This is something that could be addressed. On top, actually, there are demand like in Japan, this is a global market. In Japan, they approved the 10% in 2030. There are some discussion even in other country in order to get SAF mandatory at defined percentage given it's the only way to decarbonize the aviation sector. On top, actually, there are some sign on voluntary demand. This is going to be driven also by, let me say, the supportive incentives that at specific level will be put in place. An example is the Heathrow Airport, where half of the gap between jet, biojet and jet is supported with a limited amount clearly by the institution. This kind of approach is going to support demand. And then lastly, let me add, there is the CORSIA program. It's a program that has to be fulfilled by all the ICAO countries, all the countries that participate to the ICAO. Up to now, it's just voluntary. It's going to be mandatory from 2027, and this is going to drive demand above in countries that today doesn't have any obligation. In terms of overall demand supply, a biorefinery that can produce -- HVO can produce SAF. So there is flexibility is a core lever to address market evolution. We don't know exactly the growth, the demand of SAF, but there are clear mandates on overall HVO growth. And given current project in place and even current decision, let's say, of delay in terms of projects from other players on top of technical difficulties that other players are getting into in this new business and given current trajectory of overall biofuel, HVO and SAF, we see the market definitely a bit tight in the medium term. Francesco Gattei: Contrary, for the -- sorry, for the difference related to the estimate on cash initiative 2025, the previous one that was EUR 3 billion and now it's EUR 4 billion is substantially a mix of different factors. One is that we derisked some of the actions that we risked in the first half. You have to consider that we have a way to optimize or evaluate substantially our storage activity on oil, some ETB, so our trading activity on trading of oil. We have some additional value coming from swap of bond from fixed to variable, et cetera, et cetera. And the main contribution in this round in this last quarter is related to the additional initiative related to trading, another EUR 100 million that is EUR 300 million, another EUR 100 million that is related to this swap -- liquidity swap on our cash strategic pool and this EUR 400 million -- more than EUR 400 million that is related to the derisking of the previous cash initiative. So almost EUR 800 million are related to these 3 different items. About next year, I can tell you that the flexibility, the plan is under -- still under preparation, early phase of preparation. But generally, we are working with -- in the first year of the plan in a 20%, 25% flexibility. So we are speaking on a gross CapEx, something in the range of EUR 2 billion. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Michele. We're going to move to Henry Tarr at Berenberg. Henry? Henry Tarr: I had one really, which was around the GGP business and the sort of consistency of profits there. We've seem to have had much better profitability sort of through the summer and kind of consistent upgrades over the last couple of years. Is -- do you think this is a durable level of profit for this business? Or do you think it's related to -- so are there sort of structural changes post the change in your supply makeup that mean that this is a more durable supply or stream of profits? Francesco Gattei: Cristian Signoretto will answer. Cristian Signoretto: Well, yes, you're right. I mean, the third quarter has been a good quarter. And I would say, in this case, the major driver of the performance was what I would call the locational spreads. So in Europe, but also globally, we have taken advantage of premium market vis-a-vis the flexibility that we have in our assets in order to move the gas and LNG where the premium was actually higher. I think as we said, as Francesco said at the beginning, I mean, we have reengineered the business. Clearly, the lack of the Russian gas and our development of our new gas projects and LNG projects upstream have really changed the shape of our portfolio. We tend to be much more attentive to make sure that we can create enough optionality and flexibility in our portfolio in order to make sure that the new volatility environment that we are facing, and I think we will be facing in the future will be structurally creating headroom and opportunities for us to tap on. So I'd say, I mean, this is a trend that we will see continuing in the future. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Henry. We're going to move to Martijn Rats at Morgan Stanley. Martijn Rats: Yes. A lot have been covered, but just 2, if I may. So I noticed that Rosneft has a 30% stake in Zohr. And I was wondering if you could say a few words on how -- if that has any impact on you as the operator of the project. Maybe not, but I just wanted to kick that off. And then the other one I wanted to ask about your European gas sales volume. They were down sort of 15% this quarter year-on-year. European gas demand is not very strong, but it's not that weak either. Is that due to the portfolio changes that you just alluded to? Or is there another specific reason for that decline? Francesco Gattei: Cristian, if you would like to answer, and then I will go back to the sanctions. Cristian Signoretto: Well, the drop in the European sales this year have fundamental reason is linked to the fact that we have terminated the contract with which we were selling gas to BOTAS in Turkey via the Blue Stream. This was linked to, let's say, the pipeline itself. So I mean, this is a business that we are trying to unwind also in terms of participation in the pipeline. So that is the biggest contributor to the sharp -- to the drop in the sales into Europe. On the other hand, I mean, as I told you before, I mean, the demand in Europe is shrinking. We are adjusting our portfolio to the new reality. We are much more focused on creating more value from the single molecule than clearly getting more molecules into the market. Francesco Gattei: And about the impact of the new sanction introduced by the U.S. administration, it's still very early because clearly, there are details that have to be analyzed and clearly, the full impact to be completely assessed. What we can clearly say is that we will ensure full compliance with the sanction. But we have to also take into account that we have a very limited interaction with these 2 companies in of our assets. And generally, we are speaking about minority stakes and nonoperated stakes. So we believe at the end that there shouldn't be any material impact on ongoing operation due to this sanction activity. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Francesco. Thanks, Martijn. We're going to move now to Mark Wilson at Jefferies. Mark Wilson: You speak to how this quarter is really seeing strategic initiatives coming through, certainly with the satellites in Norway and U.K., and that's been a number of years in the making. So I'd like to ask about what appears to be clearly another strategic angle, and that's the use of floating LNG. I'd argue you appear to be the leader in that concept now with the second Coral vessel sanctioned, Congo [ FMG ] coming on stream, just 33 months in Argentina, initial development being 2 vessels of an even larger capacity. We know there's certain security benefits and clearly, speed if Congo FLNG is anything to go by. But could you speak to the CapEx, OpEx and emissions intensity benefits versus production of FLNG versus onshore? And any improvements expected between the 2 Coral vessels? And I did note in the previous answer, you spoke to getting more value out of a single gas molecule. So I think that relates to it. Francesco Gattei: Yes, Guido can provide all the details. Guido Brusco: Clearly, we have built a technological hedge on floating LNG. We are currently the largest operator of floating LNG and results, both in terms of delivery and performance are outstanding. Just to name a few of them. On Coral South, we delivered the project on time, on cost despite the COVID and the uptime of the floating LNG is just outstanding. I was mentioned by Francesco in his speech, 99-plus percent. In Congo, we have 2, one in operations and one coming, and we've just sanctioned Coral North recently with the start-up expected in 2028. In terms of security, it's pointless to say that is safer and basically provides and disconnect completely from any turbulence from onshore, and we are seeing it how successful was the choice in Mozambique. In terms of cost, costs are -- I mean, we are in the deepest -- in the, I would say, steepest part of the learning curve. So if I compare cost from the first floating LNG and the cost of the project in -- of the future project in Argentina and the current project in Coral North, the reduction is significant. The industry is making significant progress in driving down to the point that we are reaching level comparable, if not better, in some geographies of the onshore LNG plant on a million tonne per annum basis. In terms of -- you said the emissions, of course, we are applying the best available technology. And in some cases, it's not the floating LNG, but I just want to mention one in Angola on the FPSO Agogo, we are basically -- we are actually capturing CO2 and reinjecting CO2 in the reservoir through the gas injection, which is used for gas recovery. So even on an emission basis, we are doing significant progress and driving down emissions on a unit production basis. Francesco Gattei: I will also add that it is an opportunity to exploit associated gas reserves in certain, say, conditional fields where this gas potential will not be improved, cannot be recovered. And this potentially could become a cap on oil production. This is exactly the case of Congo. So it's not just a matter of cost, but it's a matter of value towards the opportunity and the optionality that this technology will add to your capability to exploit resources. Unknown Executive: Thanks very much, Mark. And I think a subject we'll end up returning to. So we're going to move from Mark to Italy to Massimo Bonisoli at Equita. Massimo, are you still there? Massimo Bonisoli: Two questions left on Enilive. The first on new Sannazzaro biorefinery. Can you explain how the configuration feedstock and product profile differ from your existing biorefineries like Venezia or Livorno? And the second one is on the antitrust fine on Italian biofuel distribution. If you could elaborate on any potential impact this ruling may have on the profitability and competitive positioning of your fuel distribution business following the fine? Francesco Gattei: I will ask Pino to answer to the first, and then I will answer to the second one. Giuseppe Ricci: Thank you, Francesco. About Sannazzaro, Sannazzaro is a brownfield biorefinery because we will recover an existing hydrocracker unit very recently realized in Sannazzaro in 2010, very high pressure. And in this way, because of the high pressure and the good configuration, we will be able to maximize the flexibility to produce SAF. Production of SAF in Sannazzaro is an upside because there is the direct connection by pipe to the big Malpensa airport that is a big hub for the Central Europe. And about the feedstock, the flexibility of feedstock will be the same of Livorno or the other refineries, a mix of western residue and vegetable oil coming from not in competition food areas, including our agri business. The logistics system will provide different channels of supply of feedstock and distribution of products in order to maintain the flexibility. The unit is expected to be completed by 2028 in order to be in production at the end of this year. Francesco Gattei: About the fine that was proposed decided by the AGCM on biofuels. First of all, what we can say that clearly, we appeal against this decision that we judge as substantially incorrect. The biocomponent is aligned in terms of pricing because as you have already -- you know very well and from the fact that there is a very limited number of feedstock and a very, let's say, small market. This is substantially aligning the cost of this element to the different operators. So everything is happening in a very transparent way and the cost of obligation for all the players in the market are substantially similar. Secondly, the change of information that was considered in breaching of the competitive rule was, in fact, a legitimate change between the party on fuel supply agreement that requires this quarterly communication. In terms of competition, clearly, this is nothing to do with competition. As we said before, this is an element that is a key issues for the market, the growing market in terms of capacity is the capacity of the feedstock, the key element of risk. We are working on the capability to develop our own agri hub, and this component is a mechanism to derisk in terms of both quantity and value, the contribution of our own internal production. So we think this is something that we are trying to defend through building an integrated chain also on this side. Unknown Executive: Thanks very much for that question, Massimo. We're going to move now to Nash at Barclays. Nash, are you there? Naisheng Cui: Two questions from me, if that's okay. The first one is around technology. I was very impressed at your Technology Day in Milan earlier this year. I just wonder if you can talk about your progress over there, your deployment of technology, AI and how does that add momentum for your operation and the financial performance into next year and beyond? Then my next question is on working capital movement. Given some of the volatilities we have seen, I wonder if you can give us a bit of color on working capital in Q4 and Q1, please? Francesco Gattei: I leave to Lorenzo Fiorillo, Head of our R&D Technology Group business to answer about the artificial intelligence, and I will come back for the working capital. Lorenzo Fiorillo: Thank you, for the question. What I can say that we use AI since a while, it's not just in the last years. Internally, we are more than 200 use cases we are developing. We found a lot of advantages in using AI application within the company in optimization, find solution and helping us in creating better scenario. The use of a big number of data and important technology and technical expertise as well as digital competencies internally and with high-performance computing, for sure, is a fantastic habitat for us to develop this kind of tool, which is very helpful for us. The progress for us is to continue on agentic model for AI, and this is the way we are going to develop in the next years. Francesco Gattei: About the last quarter, the next quarter, we do expect substantially a very limited drawdown in terms of working capital. This quarter was substantially aligned and neutral. Overall, in the full year, we have a positive working capital in the range of EUR 2 billion. On next year, clearly, we have to assess all the working capital activity based on the new plan that requires also a definition of the scenario first and clearly, all the activity that we are performing in the different businesses. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Nash. We're going to go to the last 3 questions now. So the first one of those is Bertrand Hodee. Bertrand, are you there? Bertrand Hodee: Yes. I have 2 very short questions left. The first one is on Coral North. So you just took FID in September. But when looking at the annual report 2024, in fact, you already booked 329 million barrels of equivalent of proved reserve. Even if your share has risen from 25% to 50% in the project, as Exxon pulled out, looks to me that you've already booked the full reserve of Coral North in '24. And the second question is, so EUR 1.8 billion of buyback for fiscal year '25, EUR 0.8 billion been already bought back. And so there's EUR 1 billion left. How should we split those EUR 1 billion between the remainder of the year '25 and '26, please? Francesco Gattei: I leave the answer to Coral North to Guido. Guido Brusco: Yes, of course, yes, you are right. We booked last year. This year is the JV FID. We took the joint venture FID. And in terms of share, as you rightly pointed out, it is a bit disproportionate compared to our share of the project, which is 25% because we've reached a swap agreement with one of our partner between the onshore and the offshore molecules. Francesco Gattei: About the buyback, we generally do not provide guidance in terms of, let's say, weekly or next or planning plan of buying because clearly, this is a sensitive matter. Clearly, we publish every week what is the amount that we have bought, and you have seen, I would say, some steps or the pace of this buyback activity. As you correctly said, there is still EUR 1 billion to be bought in front of us. We have 3 months of 2025 and then 4 months in 2026. I think that there are different combinations, but will not change too much. Unknown Executive: Thanks, Bertrand. We're going to move to Chris Kuplent at Bank of America. Chris? Christopher Kuplent: I've got one question remaining, Francesco, and it's quite a high-level one. I remember you often arguing why go over and beyond on a CFFO payout promise when you have so many great opportunities to invest. And I just wanted to double check where you are on that theme, in particular, because if I add up the dividend, the new buyback, I end up in sort of plus 40% territory. Is that -- are you signaling something into the coming years that you are now more comfortable being in that 40% plus range than you were previously? Francesco Gattei: First of all, the percentage that you're referring to, the 41%, 40%, I think, is substantially the same number also because we have a quite positive expectation on the quarter that is coming. So I don't think this is an element of concern. On the other side, as you have seen, we are able to find solution opportunity or value inside the organization that you are able to raise on a quarterly basis. I refer in particular in this case as the cash initiative on the capability to execute the strategy on the production performance. So I think that generally, I see more upside. And therefore, I confirm that we are moving within the 35%, 40% range. I confirm that we continue to be selective in opportunity. I confirm that we have still a long list of opportunity that allow us to be extremely capable to select with the best one for the right time. And so I think that we are able to tick all the different boxes to reach our goals and confirming also an attractive distribution plan for our shareholder without modifying our view on what is the right amount of distribution that we should provide in order to ensure growth and capability to defend our balance sheet. Unknown Executive: Great. Thanks, Chris. We're going to move to the last question now. If anybody has more questions, we can deal with those directly afterwards, but I'm conscious we've moved over the hour. So the last question is Matt Lofting at JPMorgan. Matthew Lofting: Apologies for being late joining. I wanted to just come back on the strength of the cash flow generation by the company this year. I think you sort of stated this morning that the underlying improvement or upgrade versus the original plan at the beginning of the year is sort of close to EUR 1.5 billion. And it struck me that it was a higher proportion of the sort of the original plan start point. Could you sort of break down what some of the key wins have been from that perspective? And perhaps then secondly, also, if we take a step back and put it in the context of full year plan cash flow expectations, I'm interested in the extent to which you sort of see that underlying improvement is running ahead of your 4-year plan baseline or whether it's a case of sitting within the 4-year plan, but having accelerated the delivery of that cash? Francesco Gattei: Sorry, but I should ask you to make the second question again because the line was extremely noisy. So if you can repeat the second question, please? Matthew Lofting: Yes. Francesco. I was just interested if you could share any thoughts on the extent to which that EUR 1.3 billion underlying improvement represents an upside or an incremental delivery of cash flow compared to your 4-year plan baseline or whether it's the case that you're delivering cash flow faster within that 4-year plan? Francesco Gattei: Okay. Thank you. Now I can tell you sure that about the performance, the improvement of the underlying that clearly take into account of the scenario impact of this EUR 1.3 billion, we have practically EUR 500 million that are related to the Upstream. Clearly, upstream is a result of the improvement in terms of production that you are referring to, capability substantially to have a different mix that is generating more value. And clearly, in this plan, there is also some benefit from the different tax regime in the different new production contribution that are coming up. There is GGP. GGP, we have revised the guidance during the year, and this clearly is transferring value from the EBIT also to the cash generation. We are here in the range of EUR 300 million. On Enilive, there is again EUR 300 million. This EUR 300 million of Enilive is split between improvement in terms of marketing and from biofuel is related to the capability to have a good performance from our biorefineries. There is also a small improvement in terms of Versalis because clearly, unfortunately, on Versalis, we are seeing the negative side, but this is because it's a scenario that is classically hiding the contribution that Versalis is gaining from the shutdown and from the anticipated shutdown. So overall, these are the key elements that are showing improvement. Clearly, what we can say about next year is early to say. I would say that production enhancement upgrading of E&P is continuing. GGP performance is subject to the volatility, but also to the capability to have a larger optionality in the different contracts in the different assets. So this is another element that should help to capture upside also next year. On Enilive, clearly, we are expecting to have a continuous improvement in particularly a better scenario that we would like also to capture through the budget. And we do expect clearly on Versalis a more visible evidence of the recovery that is related to the new configuration of assets. So I think these are the elements. Unknown Executive: Thanks very much. That's -- and thank you, Francesco. That's bringing to an end the conference call. I'm conscious we have run a bit late, but I wanted to include as many people as possible. Those people who weren't able to ask a question, please do get in contact with the team here, and we'll be delighted to help. That's it. Have a great weekend, and thanks for joining us. Francesco Gattei: Thank you.
Operator: Good morning. Welcome to Megacable's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. With us this morning, we have Mr. Enrique Yamuni, CEO; Mr. Raymundo Fernandez, Deputy CEO; and Mr. Luis Zetter, CFO. Let me remind you that the information discussed at today's earnings call may include forward-looking statements on the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Megacable undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Enrique Yamuni. Sir, you may begin. Enrique Robles: Thank you, Saul. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. During the quarter, we remain firmly aligned with our strategy and continued with the execution of our expansion and network evolution projects as planned. This disciplined approach has enabled us to sustain subscriber growth above market level, positioning Megacable as the second largest operator in the country by number of broadband subscribers. The achievement reflects our commitment to becoming a leader player in Mexico telecommunications sector. A key driver of this progress has been the expansion of our infrastructure. During this period, we successfully reached our goal of doubling our infrastructure by number of homes passed compared to those at the expansion announcement, making a significant milestone 3 years into the execution of this initiative. Today, our network is capable of serving 82% of our subscriber base to fiber, a tangible result of our strategic investments. We have already captured over 50% of the subscribers originally target in those territories, and we continue working diligently to increase penetration and reach the next set of objectives. In parallel, we have made substantial progress in our network evolution project, migrating subscribers to a state-of-the-art fiber network. This effort is part of our clear vision to become a full fiber operator in the medium term, enhancing our competitive edge. We are proud to offer a robust service portfolio with competitive pricing bandwidth, tailored to evolving needs of our customers and outstanding customer service. This is evidenced by our performance in key indicators such as Net Promoter Score, which continues to improve quarter-over-quarter. Operationally, we remain focused on driving value to quality service and fair prices. In this sense, ARPU increased both sequentially and for the first time in the last 12 months on a yearly basis, thus reflecting the strength of our value proposition and the positive impact of recent commercial adjustments. From a financial standpoint, subscriber growth has consistently translated into revenue growth. Our mass market segment has maintained high single-digit growth with an acceleration observed during this period. Likewise, with consolidated EBITDA has increased its growth pace, resulting in margin expansion on a year-over-year basis, a trend we expect to sustain in the coming quarters. Our capital investment levels are showing a clear deceleration trend. Excluding extraordinary investment projects, our organic CapEx has declined to mid-teens aligning with global best-in-class telecom operators aligning the foundation for a more efficient investment structure going forward. As a result of this lower CapEx intensity and continued EBITDA growth, we are approaching our cash generation target. This year, we expect to be cash flow positive before dividend payments and very close to achieving net cash flow even after dividends. It is also worth noting that throughout this investment cycle, our debt levels have not increased significantly. We maintain a solid balance sheet with one of the lowest leverage ratios in the market. This highlights the efficiency with which we have executed our initiatives and position us well to capitalize on future strategic investment opportunities. Our financial strength has been recognized again by the rating agencies as HR Ratings confirmed -- reaffirmed our AAA rating this quarter, following Fitch's rate confirmation in the second quarter. These rating actions reflect the quality of our balance sheet, the consistency of our performance and the strength of our long-term outlook. As we approach the final quarter of the year, we remain committed to execute our fiber deployment strategy, consolidated growth in new territories and drive operational efficiency. Above all, our focus is on maximizing free cash flows and solidifying our position as Mexico's most reliable telecommunications platform to preserve the strength of the Megacable brand, with millions of households and businesses across Mexico have come to rely on connectivity and entertainment. All this said, now I pass the call over to Raymundo for operational remarks. Please Raymundo, go ahead. Raymundo Pendones: Thanks, Enrique, and good morning, everyone. As Enrique just note, this was another quarter of steady progress. Our results reflect the continued momentum of the core business, reaffirming the strength of our strategy and our ability to adapt to shifting market dynamics and evolving customer expectations. Our subscriber base continues to grow both in new territories and expansion areas where penetration levels keep increasing. And more importantly, this growth in our base has consistently translating to revenue increases particularly during this period where mass market segment revenues accelerated. Let me walk you through the key operational metrics of the quarter. We ended the quarter with nearly 5.9 million unique subscribers, an increase of 9% year-over-year, equivalent to 506,000 net additions. In this quarter alone, net additions reached 122,000 slightly below last quarter's, but well within internal expectations in line with the consistency of our performance. In the Internet segment, subscribers totaled almost 5.7 million, up 10% versus third quarter '24, representing 528,000 net additions, of which 129,000 were added this quarter. This performance reflects strong demand for high-speed connectivity, even following the price adjustment implemented at the start of the quarter, highlighting the continued relevance of our value proposal particularly in price-sensitive markets. Regarding our Video segment, we closed the quarter with nearly 4 million unique content subscribers, including 3.9 million of linear TV and 124,000 users with streaming service coupled only with our Broadband solution. Within the linear TV segment, XView continued to expand, reaching almost 3.7 million users at 9.9% year-over-year increase with 333,000 net additions. In Telephony, we surpassed the 5 million subscriber mark, up 11% versus the prior year, equivalent to 490,000 net additions with 98,000 net additions during the quarter. While this service remains primarily complementary within our bundles, its expansion contributes significantly to customer retention. Turning to our mobile virtual network operator business, our revenue, total lines reached 640,000 with 21,000 net adds this quarter and 128,000 over the last 12 months. Growth remains focused on postpaid offerings continuing the upward trends since early 2023. We closed the quarter with 14.6 million RGUs, up 8% year-over-year driven by a steady subscriber growth in the mass market, whilst revenue generating units per unique subscribers stood at 2.49, ARPU improved to MXN 422.3, up from MXN 418.9 in the same period last year and MXN 421 last quarter. This figure reflects pricing optimization despite a bundled mix more inclined towards double play. Our expansion and modernization of network continues to be core drivers of our growth. Our infrastructure now extends to 107,000 kilometers, allow it to serve over 18.7 million homes, up 10% from last year. As of quarter end, over 82% of our subscriber base was already connected via fiber compared to 73% in the same period last year, a clear indicator of the progress made towards becoming a full fiber operator. Churn levels stood at 2.3% for Internet, 2.7% for Video and 2.7% for Telephony, reflecting the price adjustment carried out at the beginning of the quarter and despite the upward fluctuation within reasonable levels. It is important to mention that based on seasonal patterns, we anticipate churn to improve toward next quarters. In a nutshell, our mass market segment remains a primary engine of growth and profitability driven by expanding coverage and improved operational leverage in both legacy and developing markets. By contrast, the corporate segment remains soft, consistent with trends in earlier this year, mostly attributed to an economic slowdown in the corporate segment. Undoubtedly, competitive conditions in this market have intensified. With greater fiber availability, there has been an increase in the supply of available services, which has negatively impacted market prices for these services. On the positive side, the integration of the corporate segment has progressed steadily under the business Tech-Co model. As part of this merger, we have focused on evolving the business model shifting from generating most of our revenue from equipment sales to managed service models, which generate a larger recurring revenue base. This has had a temporary effect on the results of these 9 months of 2025. However, we expect greater stability and recurrence in revenue as these consolidation matures. Before I close, I want to emphasize that these quarterly results were achieved through disciplined execution and quality service despite an increasingly competitive and price-sensitive market as our network reliability coverage expansion and bundles continues to differentiate our value also. Looking ahead, we remain focused on preserving momentum to the fourth quarter, with churn expected to soften in the next quarters, territory penetration to move forward an infrastructure deployment to meet customer needs, we are confident in our ability to deliver resilient results as of year-end. Thank you for your attention. I will now turn the call over to Luis for the financial review. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Thank you, Raymundo. Good morning, everyone. Let me walk you through our financial performance for the third quarter 2025. During the quarter, as Enrique and Raymundo mentioned, we continue to execute our long-term strategy with discipline and consistency, enabling us to deliver solid top line growth and strong profitability. Taking a closer look at our financial performance for the quarter. Total revenues reached MXN 8.9 billion, a 9% increase against the MXN 8.2 billion recorded in the third quarter 2024. This performance was mainly supported by the mass market segment that grew 11% year-over-year, the highest growth in the last 6 periods driven by ongoing subscriber growth and a gradual ARPU improvement. In the same period, corporate segment revenues contracted 5% compared to the third quarter of 2024, mainly explained by the economic deceleration in this segment, coupled with a higher competition. As a result, mass market operations contributed with 85% of total revenues in the quarter and the remainder on the corporate segment. On the cost side, cost of services for the quarter totaled MXN 2.4 billion, up 6% year-over-year, mainly due to a deeper revenue mix composition in the corporate segment, favoring higher margin income streams. Well SG&A reached MXN 2.5 billion, increasing 9% primarily from higher labor costs. Both lines remain under control advancing at the same level or below revenue. Turning to profitability. EBITDA reached MXN 3.9 billion, up 10% year-over-year, accelerating its growth trend in the annual comparison along with total revenues. EBITDA margin was 44.2%, slightly below sequentially as a result of seasonal effects, but above the 43.6% recorded in the third quarter of 2024. Again, an expansion of 50-plus basis points, regardless of the contraction in corporate revenue. Notably, margin expansion at newer territories continue driven by an incremental subscriber base and improve infrastructure utilization. At the same time, margins in mature regions remain solid and aligned to historical trends. Net income for the quarter was MXN 628 million, accumulating MXN 2.1 billion year-to-date, a 13% increase versus MXN 1.9 billion recorded in the same 9 months of last year. In this context, we remain confident that profitability will strengthen as depreciation stabilizes and newly integrated regions mature. Turning to the balance sheet. Net debt declined sequentially, but remained largely in line with the same period of last year closing at MXN 22.3 billion at quarter end, supported by a solid cash generation and the absence of any additional debt. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at 1.45x down from 1.56x in last quarter and below the 1.54x of the prior year. In this sense, we continue to maintain one of the strongest leverage profiles of the industry. Additionally, our interest coverage ratio remained solid at 5.59x and the weighted average cost of debt stood at 8.77%, continuing its downward trend. This indicator reinforce the strength of our capital structure and provide flexibility to support our long-term goals. Turning to investments. CapEx for the quarter totaled approximately MXN 2.4 billion, above the MXN 1.9 billion reported last quarter, mainly due to typical second half seasonality. However, we remain comfortably within our full year investment guidance. In relation to revenue, CapEx represented 26.6% in the quarter and 25.1% year-to-date. And we continue to expect the full year ratio to lie as we have been mentioning between 26% and 28% of revenues, consistent with our soft lending investment trend. Looking ahead, we focus on balancing growth with cautious capital allocation, and our priorities continue to include the generation -- increase the generation of positive cash flow in 2026, preserving our investment-grade credit profile and advanced maturation of recent investment across both new and legacy markets. Lastly, I would like to highlight 2 items that reflect our continued commitment to transparency and value creation. First, as noted by Enrique HR Ratings reaffirmed our AAA credit breaking, following the reaffirmation rate by Fitch Ratings in the second quarter. Both rating actions validate the strength of our balance sheet and consistency of our financial strategy. Second, we continue to advance at our sustainability and disclosure activities with the release of our 2024 integrated annual report under GRI and SASB standards. Verified by 35 professionals in accordance with these standards as we continuously strive to further strengthen our ESG reporting in anticipation of evolving market standards and practices. In line with this, the impact allocation report of our 2024 local notes is also now available. In summary, our third quarter results reflect the strength of our business model, discipling financial execution and a healthy position for long-term growth. Thank you. We are now ready to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan. Marcelo Santos: I have two questions. The first is regarding CapEx. So you made it very clear what's the outlook for this year. How do you see CapEx going in 2026 and 2027. And the second outlook is a bit about the competitive environment and growth. I mean, you had very good adds, but churn was a bit higher and SG&A was a bit higher sequentially. So is growth coming at a more expensive cost than what was foreseen? Is this because of a bit of the environment? So just wanted to tie these things. Raymundo Pendones: Luis, you want to go ahead? Luis Zetter Zermeno: Yes, on CapEx, for sure, Marcelo, thanks for your question. And as we mentioned, our CapEx is in the downhill trend and even when we are going to end this year around 26% as we expected, our forecast for the future '26 and '27 will be, '26 will be around 24% to 26% of revenues and declining on '27 to grow between 21% and 23%. Enrique Robles: Yes. The CapEx trend continues to decline, even though we have [ up ] worth in this quarter because of the build of the network and the [ comps ] that we activate, we expect that we announced that in the second quarter when we said the second quarter wasn't difficult. But the good news is like Luis is saying that we continue to have a lower CapEx over revenue this year around 26% to 28%, that's what we expect. And the message here from the management is that we will have that decline for next year between 24% to 26%. Raymundo Pendones: And Marcelo regarding the competitive environment. The highest growth that we have in subscribers, the highest growth rate comes from expansion territories as there is a greater opportunity for penetration and company's expansion on that part, of course. In legacy territories, the good news is that penetration remains stable at around 40% and growing. That means despite of competition, the offer that we have and the strategy of a good product, good network at the best affordable price is proving to provide a 10% growth in revenue, EBITDA and subscribers all around and we continue -- we will continue to forecast that for the early 2026 if you might say. Now the churn, remember that we have an increase in rates at the beginning of the quarter. That increase in rates put pressure on the churn. Our level of gross adds is the same. It's a little bit higher than what we had in the second quarter. So that means we're improving and having more capacity of bringing gross adds. We're not against any increase in rates that we that we have at the beginning. And in some of our high penetrated market, we have that increase in short. We expect that's shown to stabilize and decline slightly in the quarters to come. That's our view of what we have. Of course, it is a competitive environment. We've been having that competitive environment for a long time. We have Izzi, we have Total, we have Telmex in our markets. But as we said before, we believe that we'll have the best offer and to continue to provide growth in the markets where we are. Operator: The next question comes from Milenna Okamura from Goldman Sachs. Milenna Okamura: The first one is you mentioned in your early remarks, some commercial adjustments that drove your ARPU increase. So can you give us a little bit more detail about these initiatives, aside from the price you have implemented? And how do you expect margins to evolve going forward as you continue to increase your fiber penetration in new areas? Raymundo Pendones: Yes. Thank you for the question, Milenna. Regarding the ARPU, we continue to provide a slight increase in the ARPU that we have there. And that's a combination of several factors. One is the increase in rates that we have on that part. The other one is the increase in apps and services per unique subscribers that we also are successful in that part. And that's coupled with the increase of subscribers bring a lower ARPU because of the promotions that we have. So all that combination doesn't allow us to increase more the ARPU, but we believe that we can continue to have a slight trend increasing going forward. Now in terms of the markets, we still have room to grow, we are at around 81% Broadband penetration in our markets, and we really believe that we can raise to around 90% -- to below 90% in the years to come. So all the companies will continue to grow in that part. The thing is that who has the better offer price and margins to take part of that growth in the market. So far, we have growth in expansion. That means we're capturing market from competition. And of course, some of them also will be new market subscribers. And we're capturing subscribers, also 1/3 of our subscribers come from organic systems. That means we're growing above market growth because of that offer that we have because we convert and we have all our subscribers, 83% of our base, the majority of those organic subscribers already has access to fiber, brand-new CPEs, better quality of the video that we have there and better offer. So that's what we see that we will continue to grow in the markets to come. You can expect 2026 and 2027 to continue to provide for Megacable growth between 100,000 to 150,000 subscribers per quarter. Operator: The next question comes from Phani Kumar from HSBC. Phani Kumar Kanumuri: So the first one is regarding the comment that you made earlier, saying that if you exclude the special projects, your CapEx margin is in mid-teens. So I wanted to understand like what are you excluding from this? Is it just the expansion project and the migration products that you have? The second question is how was this CapEx, the maintenance CapEx, let's say, 3 years ago, has it come down from like 20% to mid-teens? Or is it -- how is the trend evolving? And what is driving that trend? Raymundo Pendones: I'm sorry, this was [indiscernible], it was productized in my opinion. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Phani -- a little bit. Can you rephrase the first question, please? Phani Kumar Kanumuri: The first question is, you said that you are excluding some special projects. So what are the special projects that you have? Is it just a recognition or does it also include the customer premise equipment? Luis Zetter Zermeno: So what we consider special projects are both the expansion and the GPON evolution CapEx projects per se. There are other small investments that come along with that -- those strategies. But basically, those are the 2 special projects that we mentioned. Raymundo Pendones: The expansion project like Luis was saying, we announced that at the end of 2021, we start getting subscriber at the mid of 2022. We're very happy that we already doubled the infrastructure of the company, getting more than 9 million home pass in addition, put us in a very similar position to that of the competition as a strength company and growing subscribers on that. We are very well in terms of how we're increasing those subscribers, and that's reflect on the growth of revenue. And that means that in the future, we will slow down kilometers and homes to be activated in the expansion territories and that's for sure. The other project that we have, which is the GPON Evolution we call it, that's evolving from HFC to GPON to fiber, all our existing territories. We're very successful also. As I said, totally, we already have 83% of the company is already on fiber. So for the years to come, the evolution from HFC to fiber, it will be smaller. So what Luis is saying, our 2 main projects -- special projects are decreasing in CapEx intensity expenditures, okay? This company will never stop investing in CapEx, that's for sure because we're a technology company. But the levels that we expect after we finish those special projects and that's around 2028 will be levels between the 15% to 28% CapEx over revenue. Enrique Robles: But in the meantime, it will be declining from the current 25%, 26% to the lower very low 20s, and we will get to below 20s when we finish -- when we finish those 2 special products. Luis Zetter Zermeno: And to your second question, the maintenance CapEx has reduced, yes, because it's easier or cheaper to maintain network on the GPON side of the house compared to the HFC previous network. Phani Kumar Kanumuri: Is there any quantity measure? Is there any quantification of what's the decrease that happened, let's say, over the last 3 years? Luis Zetter Zermeno: Well, it was a little bit above 20%, and now it's on the high teens or mid-teens. So that's basically on the maintenance CapEx. Operator: Next question comes from Andres Coello from Scotiabank. Andres Coello: Two quick questions, please. The first one is on the competitive environment. I think Televisa just confirmed that they will invest $600 million this year. I think that's 20% more than what you are planning to invest, around $500 million. So I'm wondering if you are noticing any change in behavior from Televisa, if you think that Televisa can become a little bit more defensive in the territories that you just entered. That's my first question. And whether this can, in any way, affect your CapEx guidance to have Televisa investing more than you. And my second question is on the recent natural events in Veracruz and other states. I'm just wondering if there was -- if you're expecting any nonrecurring impact in the fourth quarter, perhaps in terms of revenues and also in terms of infrastructure. Raymundo Pendones: Yes, Andres, thank you for the questions. Regarding the competitive environment, Televisa is investing more than us because we already invest what we have to invest. We have been investing in fiber before they did hit on that part. We have a good offer, a good product and good price and we don't see why we are going to slow down our CapEx and our growth in subscriber. Regarding Veracruz, we were affected and hit in some of our markets. One of those markets being Costa Rica. We already have all the system back and working and on and working with our subscribers. And what we can say is that we're working in a normal condition. Operator: The next question comes from the line of Emilio Fuentes from [ GBM ]. Emilio Fuentes: I was wondering if you could give us some outlook on how your dividend will evolve going forward, especially given how you've been able to pay around 20% of your EBITDA. Now that you -- the company will go into a less intensive investment phase and the more cash generating phase, should we expect this to go up? Enrique Robles: Well, we haven't made any decisions yet. Obviously, it will depend on the future, how we see the industry and opportunities going forward, but if we do not have anything better to put our money in. Obviously, we could always raise our dividends. We don't see why not, but it's too early to call that. Operator: The next questions come from Ernesto Gonzalez from Morgan Stanley. Ernesto Gonzalez: Look, I know it's early to discuss 2026. But given the high levels of penetration in the Broadband market in Mexico, is it reasonable to assume that you can maintain the current level of growth for next year? And the second question is, can you also discuss the main drivers of why your subscribers churn? Is it because they get better prices elsewhere because they're looking for a better network or any general commentary in churn is appreciated. Raymundo Pendones: Thank you, Ernesto. Yes, as we mentioned, we don't see why we should slow our growth. We forecast the same growth that we have between 100 to 150 per quarter. That's what we're looking for 2026. And that's based in the offer and also because the market at 81% penetration still have room to grow on that part. Regarding the churn, what we see is that a slight amount of our churn goes to competition. But as I said, this slide, what we see is that every churn that we have is economically, that's the main reason that they can afford to pay. And as I said at the beginning of the third quarter, we had an increase in rates that put pressure on the churn. That's the reason of the increase in churn. Operator: The next question comes from Lucca Brendim from Bank of America. Lucca Brendim: I have only one here from my side. Can you give us an outlook on the corporate segment. It has slowed down this year, but how can you -- we think about it going forward, especially for 2026, 2027, how much do you think that this segment can grow. Raymundo Pendones: Yes, it's a good question. Look, as I said, the corporate segment has a slowdown, it's a soft result that -- what we have. And that's due to -- 2 main factors. One is the market. The market has decreased the price of fiber and the price of connectivity. And the other one is that we changed the way that we sell our infrastructure product before we used to sell a lot of that infrastructure on a cash basis. And now we changed that into more products that has serviced over a long period of time, bringing a more recurring into the future, more profitable instead of just selling hardware in that part that we don't like that part. So we make a shift in the strategy of the corporate segment that affect us slightly in the short term, but that sure will bring better results in the future. Something that I want to say is that the corporate -- even for the corporate segment has a 5% decline year-over-year. We did not see a decline in the EBITDA of that segment. That means we have a much more better margin with our strategy, recoveries of the decrease in the revenue that we have. So that's part of our strategy. We are very happy of that part. We integrate our 3 companies into MCM business, Tech-Co and that shift is sure it's going to pay off in 2026. Operator: The next question comes from Alex Azar from GBM. Alejandro Azar Wabi: I just wanted to pick your brains on what's next. Several questions from my colleagues being on capital allocation, fully penetrated market. So what's on your mind when you see Mexico fully penetrated in terms of cable perhaps '27, '28. How should we think about Megacable in the next 5, 10 years? Are you guys going to grow more aggressively in -- as an MVNO or perhaps the corporate networks. Just wanted to understand how you're viewing the company very long term. Enrique Robles: Thank you, Alex. Obviously, in the telecom industry, there is very many opportunities in the future, like as you mentioned, mobile with MVNO. In the corporate market, we have a great, great opportunity. In the digitalization of the country, obviously, also in education and telemedicine and all that and with the AI accelerating, growing -- the growth of the AI and all the applications that will come with that. Obviously, there is a big -- very big opportunities in the future for the telecom industry to sell -- to upsell services and applications for the Mexican homes and for the business community. Also in the education and medicine industries and services are really big -- it's going to open very big opportunities. We still have a lot to do in digitalization, and this government is putting a big emphasis in that. We have to digitalize the country banking and everything. I think that the market is there. Obviously, it will decelerate in some segments like the connectivity of homes, but we will get to saturation point at times -- some certain time, but there are a lot more things to do. And also, we -- I mean we don't know what new things are coming with AI and the new technologies. For sure, we will find something to do. Raymundo Pendones: That's the remark. At the end, this is a MXN 64 million question, what are you going to do? We're really, really, really focused, Alex, in what we announced at the end of 2021 in that part, those main 2 projects as we like to say, the GPON evolution that brings us that strength in the network and in the product for the future to come and expanding and being effective in both. That's where we're focused on the management right now on that part. But for sure, we're not going to stay on that part. CapEx will decrease. Free cash flow will increase. Revenues will continue to come. EBITDA will continue to come. And the same question that you have, it will be good to know in a year or 2, what we are going to do. But for sure, we're going to continue to be part as Enrique said, on a market that will continue to move from connectivity to IT solutions and value-added services, both in the corporate segment and the residential and maybe other technologies, too. Luis Zetter Zermeno: And we will have the balance sheet to support any endeavor that we will be searching. Raymundo Pendones: We won't be steady, that's for sure. Alejandro Azar Wabi: If I may add, if I may have a follow-up, and thank you for the color. But the market has been really hot in terms of AI, data centers. If I'm not mistaken, you have some data centers. So how are you thinking on these assets? Are you seeing them as core assets? Or would you be thinking of divesting like Axtel bid that under different circumstances. But how are you seeing your data centers? Are you -- are those core assets or you can divest them? Or how you think on those? Enrique Robles: Well, the data center is an asset that would be able to test the waters there. I think that's going to be really big players in that specialized in data centers. Ours is a very good asset that we have. But I don't think we will be growing in those kind of data centers. We will be more focused in edge data set. We already have built over 300 of those all across the country. Raymundo Pendones: And also, like Enrique telling you and your straight question, it is not core. What we have on those both in our main data centers, centralized data center and the edge, we have Megacable infrastructure. Those facilities are built mainly as an anchor for Megacable and an office space and kilowatts for other people to be here. We don't have the mind in investment in fixed data center assets. We want to have a solid core network, both in the long haul and the last mile, the best fiber company in terms of products and services and put applications on top of that. The other ones, the main anchor for the data center is Megacable. It has a great asset for somebody else in the future because it's located in the western part of Mexico. There is no other asset like that in this area. The hyperscalers and the content and the streamers will have to come after going to Greater Mexico, will have to come to different parts of Mexico, one of those being Guadalajara, and that's where we have it. And that's the mind that we have for that part. Our infrastructure is for Megacable use. We don't know whether to maximize that in the future. We will explore that when we finish having our mind in bringing the growth of subscribers increase in margin, the decrease in EBIT -- in CapEx and all the KPIs that we're telling you we're focused on that point. Operator: We have one question through the chat is coming from [ Patrick Brook ] from DS Advisers. There have been reports that AT&T is looking to sell its mobile business in Mexico. Is that something Megacable will be interested and consider buying? Enrique Robles: Not currently, we are pretty much focused in our main projects, which is finishing our expansion plan. And we don't want to go into -- I mean, we're going into a cash positive cycle, and we don't want to reverse that, not currently. We are focused in our main projects. Thank you very much. Operator: Okay. That was the last question. With no questions in the queue. This session is concluded. I pass the call over to Mr. Enrique Yamuni for final remarks. Enrique Robles: Okay. Thank you very much, Saul. As always, it is a pleasure to discuss our results with you. Please contact our Investor Relations department if you have any questions or concerns regarding the company. Have a very wonderful day and a great weekend. Luis Zetter Zermeno: Thank you, everybody.
Operator: Hello. Welcome to the Signify Third Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call hosted by As Tempelman, CEO; Zeljko Kosanovic, CFO; and Thelke Gerdes, Head of Investor Relations. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to give the floor to Thelke Gerdes. Ms. Gerdes, please go ahead. Thelke Gerdes: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Signify's Earnings Call for the Third Quarter of 2025. With me today are As Tempelman, Signify's CEO; and Zeljko Kosanovic, Signify's CFO. I would, first of all, like to welcome As to his first earnings call as Signify's new CEO. During this call, As will take you through the first -- the third quarter and business highlights. After that, he will hand over to Zeljko, who will present the company's financial and sustainability performance. Finally, As will return to discuss the outlook for the remainder of the year and share some first reflections and priorities. After that, we will be happy to take your questions. Our press release and presentation were published at 7:00 this morning. Both documents are available for download from our Investor Relations website. The transcript of this conference call will be made available as soon as possible. And with that, I will hand over to As. A.C. Tempelman: Thank you, Thelke, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As Thelke said, this is my first earnings call in this role, and I look forward to this engagement with you this morning. Now I joined the company six weeks ago at a time when the markets are indeed very challenging. So let's begin with some of the key market developments I have observed in my -- over the third quarter. Firstly, we see the ripple effects of tariffs as Chinese overcapacity is redirected from the U.S. to Europe and other regions. And this is creating additional price pressure, especially in the professional trade channels in Europe and Asia, where competition has intensified. Secondly, in our Professional business, we also see continued softness in important European countries, such as France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. And increasingly also in the U.S., where demand is slower or has been slower than expected in the third quarter. And this is especially the case for the public sector projects with government funding. And thirdly, in our OEM business, we see further compression of demands and continued price pressure, particularly in Europe as well. And this has been, again, intensified by the increased imports of Chinese components putting pressure on the market for nonconnected. However, I'm glad to say the market also presents opportunities that fit our strategy well. Our growth in connected and specialty lighting and particularly in consumer is very encouraging. The consumer business grew in all major markets and was particularly strong in India. And this strong performance of consumer was boosted by the expansion of our Hue portfolio, and I'll cover that in a bit more detail a little later. Now overall, connected and specialty lightings grew by high single digits across both the professional and consumer businesses. And worth mentioning is also our agricultural lighting business that delivered a strong seasonal performance, helping to offset some of the weaker areas of the portfolio. So overall, if I would have to summarize, this quarter underlines the resilience and growth potential of our connected and specialty lighting and the price pressure on the more commoditized products in the traditional trade channel. Now let me move to an example that illustrates how our connected solutions are creating value for our customers and wider communities. I mean despite the challenges in the European public sector, there are still great projects. And one of them is presented here. We just completed the street lighting project for the municipality of Montbartier in France. And the local municipality set out to modernize its public lighting with the goals of improving safety, enabling remote maintenance in a sustainable, cost-efficient way. And by implementing our SunStay Pro solar luminaires that are fully integrated with our connected lighting managements and the Signify Interact platform. And this all-in-one solar powered solution allows the municipality to optimize luminaire run time, control the systems remotely and significantly reduce energy costs, while addressing environmental impacts. So it's a great example of how solar and connected technologies come together to support energy transition goals, while delivering meaningful benefits for customers and communities. And we hope to see a lot more of that going forward. Let me move to the second example, second highlights. I talked about this earlier, the exciting new portfolio expansion that supported the strong third quarter performance of our consumer business. And I just installed the Philips Hue system myself, and I have to say, I've been super impressed by it. It's a really cool product. And Hue is truly the leading connected lighting system for the home, with a very strong brand and a loyal growing customer base. And the launch in September exceeded our expectations, creating strong demands with excellent execution, including well-managed availability on our e-commerce sites. And among the new innovations was a new feature that transformed existing Hue lights into intelligent motion sensors that respond to movements. So really, this way, we continue to extend the role of Hue beyond illumination in our customers' home to integrating security, entertainment and intelligent lighting. And also worth mentioning, we introduced the new Essential range that introduces you to customers at a more accessible price point. So these are some highlights. And with that, I'll hand it over to Zeljko, who will continue to cover the financial performance of the quarter. Zeljko? Zeljko Kosanovic: Thank you As, and good morning, everyone. So let's start with some of the highlights of the third quarter of 2025 on Slide 8. We increased the installed base of connected light points to EUR 160 million at the end of Q3 2025 from EUR 136 million last year. Nominal sales decreased by 8.4% to EUR 1.407 billion, including a negative currency effect of 4.5%, which was mainly related to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. Comparable sales declined by 3.9%. Excluding the conventional business, the comparable sales decline was 2.7%. This is reflecting the continued weakness in Europe's Professional business and a softer demands in the U.S. In addition, the OEM business saw further demand compression and continued price pressure. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 80 basis points to 9.7%. We sustained a robust gross margin, particularly in the Professional and in the consumer businesses. But we, at the same time, saw headwinds in the OEM business and conventional, which I will address later in the presentation. Net income decreased to EUR 76 million, reflecting a lower income from operation as well as a higher income tax expense as the previous year included one-off tax benefits. Finally, free cash flow was EUR 71 million. I will now move on -- move to our 4 businesses. Starting with the Professional business on Slide 9. Nominal sales decreased by 6.8% to EUR 928 million, reflecting lower volumes and a negative FX impact of 4.6%, mainly related to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. Comparable sales declined by 2.1%, driven by different dynamics. First of all, we saw a softer-than-anticipated U.S. market. Europe remained weak, especially in the trade channel, and these developments were partly compensated by the continued growth of connected sales in most geographies and also a strong performance in agricultural lighting during the peak season for this segment. The adjusted EBITA decreased to EUR 97 million with an EBITA margin sustained at a robust level of 10.4%, however, contracting by 40 basis points compared to last year mainly due to the lower sales. The business maintained a solid gross margin, which expanded sequentially, but contracted slightly against the high comparison base in the previous year, and we also retained strong cost discipline. Moving on to the Consumer business on Slide 10. The positive momentum we saw in the first half of the year continued and strengthened in the third quarter, supported by sustained demand across all key markets. Nominal sales decreased by 1.1% to EUR 301 million, reflecting a negative currency impact of 4.8%, partly offset by the underlying growth. Comparable sales growth was 3.7%, driven by the continued success of our connected portfolio, particularly Philips Hue, and the recent new product launches as was highlighted by As a few minutes ago. We also saw a further acceleration of online sales, particularly through our own e-commerce website. Our Consumer business in India also continued to deliver strong performance, particularly in luminaires, further contributing to the segment's overall growth and profitability. Adjusted EBITA increased to EUR 27 million, while the margin expanding by 150 basis points to 9.1%, supported by a robust gross margin and operating leverage. Continuing now with the OEM business on Slide 11. As anticipated, performance deteriorated in the third quarter. Nominal sales decreased by 26.1% to EUR 93 million, while comparable sales declined by 23%, driven by lower volumes and the persistent price pressure in nonconnected components. The impact of lower orders from two major customers highlighted in previous quarters continued to materially affect the top line. Price pressure continued to be intense in this market as in the previous quarters. And overall, we are also seeing a further weakening of the market demand, especially in Europe. Adjusted EBITA decreased to EUR 4 million, with the margin contracting to 4.7%, mainly reflecting the gross margin decline due to the volume reduction and price pressure. Looking ahead, we expect market conditions to remain challenging, with limited recovery in demand in the near term. And finally, turning to the Conventional business on Slide 12. Performance in the third quarter was broadly in line with expectations, reflecting the ongoing structural decline in this part of the portfolio. Nominal sales decreased by 25.3% to EUR 76 million impacted by lower volume and a negative currency effect. Comparable sales declined by 21.5%, consistent with the gradual phaseout of conventional technologies across most regions. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 230 basis points to 17%. This was mainly driven by a lower gross margin, which was impacted by temporarily higher manufacturing costs as we are rationalizing our manufacturing sites. Let me now dive into the financial highlights on Slide 13, where we are showing the adjusted EBITA bridge for total Signify. The adjusted EBITA margin decreased by 80 basis points to 9.7% due to the following developments. The negative volume effect was 70 basis points, reflecting the decline of our OEM and Conventional businesses. The combined effect of price and mix was a negative 170 basis points, reflecting the further stabilization of price erosion trends across our business. As mentioned, we see higher the effect of price erosion in some parts of the business, such as OEM and Professional Europe, but also a positive pricing in the U.S. Cost of goods sold overall had a usual contribution year-over-year this quarter, with four main elements within that. First, we continue to deliver strong bill of material savings across all businesses, in line and even slightly higher than in previous quarters, which was including an accelerated price negotiation savings. Second, the overall manufacturing productivity was impacted specifically in the OEM business by significant volume decline, and in the Conventional business by temporarily higher manufacturing costs as a result of the site rationalization mentioned earlier. There were also one-off elements that impacted cost of goods sold positively last year, but did not repeat this year. And finally, the cost of goods sold in the third quarter included the effect of incremental tariffs, which were mitigated through pricing action, and are therefore neutral on the total gross margin level. The indirect costs improved by 130 basis points on adjusted EBITA margin level, reflecting the continued cost discipline across our business. Currency had a negative effect of only 10 basis points as we limited the effect of FX movements on our bottom line. Finally, Other had a positive effect of 40 basis points and related mainly to the outcome of a legal case. On Slide 14, I'd like to zoom in our working capital performance during the quarter. Compared to the end of September 2024, working capital increased by EUR 20 million or by 70 basis points, from 7.7% to 8.4% of sales. Within working capital, we saw the following developments: inventories decreased by EUR 70 million; receivables reduced by EUR 52 million; payables were EUR 156 million lower; and finally, other working capital items reduced by EUR 13 million. The increase of the overall working capital ratio is mainly driven by 2 factors: the ramping up of consumer ahead of the peak season and the impact of the top line compression on the OEM inventory churn. Now before I hand it back, I would like to touch on our progress toward our Brighter Lives, Better World 2025 commitments. Starting with greenhouse gas emissions. We are ahead of schedule to meet our 2025 goal of reducing emissions across our entire value chain by 40% compared to 2019. That's twice the pace required by the Paris agreements. Next, on circular revenues, we reached 37% this quarter, well above our 2025 target of 32%. The biggest driver here continues to be serviceable luminaires within our Professional business, where we're seeing strong adoption across all regions. When it comes to Bright Lives revenues, the part of our portfolio that directly supports health, well-being and food availability, we increased to 34% this quarter, up 1 point from last quarter and again, above our 2025 targets. Both our Professional and Consumer businesses are contributing strongly here. And finally, on diversity, the percentage of women in leadership positions remained at 27% this quarter. While that's below where we want to be, we are continuing to take concrete steps to improve representation from more inclusive hiring practices to focused retention and engagement efforts to help us reach our 2025 ambition. So overall, we are making good progress, with strong momentum in most areas and a clear focus on where we still need to accelerate. I will now hand back to As for the outlook. A.C. Tempelman: Thank you, Zeljko. So moving on to the outlook. Based on the softer than previously expected outlook, particularly for the Professional business in the U.S., and further demand compression in the OEM business, we are updating our guidance for the full year 2025 as follows. So we expect comparable sales growth of minus 2.5% to minus 3% for the year, which is equivalent to 1 -- minus 1 to minus 1.5 CSG, excluding Conventional. And as a result of this lower expected top line, we are also adapting our adjusted EBITA margin with a guidance to 9.1% to 9.6%. And finally, we expect our free cash flow to land at around 7% of sales. That's on the outlook. Now I wanted to share a few reflections and talk a bit about the priorities as I see them going forward. Almost eight weeks into the role now -- let me do that. There is a lot to be proud of at Signify. I mean we have very committed, capable professionals, a really impressive world-class innovative engine and a strong culture of cost and capital discipline that continues to serve us very well. At the same time, we are also clear about the difficulties that we face as a company. The lighting market remains very challenging. Growth has been lacking and the performance has been volatile. So coming in, I see the following immediate priorities. First, to outperform in what is a very tough markets. So we must focus on commercial and supply chain execution. We need to manage price pressure, continue to win in the connected and the specialty lighting and close efficiency gaps. We also need to maintain strict control and capital disciplines to enhance our profitability and cash flow. And I will make sure that, that discipline, we will stay with that going forward. Secondly, we can, and we should be clearer about our strategic intents and our strategic objectives. And therefore, we are planning to review our strategy. We will organize the Capital Markets Day towards the middle of next year, where we will provide clarity on our portfolio on how we deliver durable growth and on capital allocation. And thirdly, as key enablers, we will focus our R&D resources and continue to invest in accelerating digitalization and AI adoption. Now 18 months, the company launched a new operating model that we will not change, and we will fully leverage to its full potential. And at the same time, we will start shifting the culture, from products, to a more market-led mindset and approach. And from what I've seen so far that by addressing these priorities, I'm confident that we will set up Signify for future success. And with that, I'll hand it back to the operator to facilitate the question-and-answer session. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Daniela Costa from Goldman Sachs. Daniela Costa: I hope you can hear me well. I will ask one and then the follow-up. But I just wanted to ask on your kind of early thoughts in terms of the OEM business. So it seems to be mentioning intense pricing pressure, lost some customers. Do you see this as more structural or more cyclical when you look at it? And have -- was that anything to do with -- what prompted you to talk about reviewing the portfolio, I wonder. A.C. Tempelman: How do we see the OEM business going forward? Well, first of all, we saw the impact of the loss of two specific customers that was quite significant. That also is explaining a large part of the drop we saw. That, of course, will go away after a year. But going forward, we expect that current conditions will continue to be challenging, both in terms of demand as well as the price pressure. But it's too early to call what exactly that will look like in the next year. Daniela Costa: And then just following up on the topic of tariffs. I mean in the release, they weren't too many references to it, but I was just wondering if you could give us a little bit of what is happening on the ground, given the U.S. market was highly dependent on Chinese imports on lighting. What's sort of the inventory attitude you've seen at distributors. Has there been any restocking of Chinese product? Could this be impacting what you are seeing in the market right now? And ultimately, as you look medium term, if the tariff stand, do you see them as a positive or a negative for Signify? Is it an opportunity to gain market share and put prices through? Or also you are very dependent on Asia and it's not really -- we shouldn't see it this way? Just a little bit more color there would be very helpful. Zeljko Kosanovic: Daniela, so maybe to give a bit of an update and a summary on what we see. So first of all, I think in general, on pricing, the scale players have generally taken price increases to the extent that was needed. Our price adjustment, on the Signify side, were generally in line with the market, and we also saw that prices increase are sticking. Now overall, we've been able, in the third quarter like we did in the previous quarter, and we expect to be able to continue to do so to successfully mitigate the tariff increase with pricing. So with a slightly positive impact on the top line for our U.S. business and a neutral impact on the bottom line. So overall, the strategy we have set up and of course, all the activities that we have taken on the supply chain side to adapt and to reduce the exposure or to optimize our cost base and outsourcing, I think, are really being executed really exactly in line with our plan. So there we are basically implementing what we had. And of course, we continue to maintain the agility to adapt, moving forward, depending on how the situation will evolve. But overall, slightly positive on top line, neutral on the bottom line and implementation in line with our strategy. Daniela Costa: So you don't see it as a market share grabbing opportunity or something a bit more structural medium term is just a pass-through? Zeljko Kosanovic: Look, the answer on that would be probably -- we should go more in detail, depending on the portfolio. Of course, what we are doing in the different portfolios is to find the balancing act between prioritizing market share gain where we do see opportunity and where we are extracting those opportunities very clearly, while protecting the margins. So I think it's really, at a more granular level, let's say, that this is going to be a different answer. But overall, it's to make sure that we can absolutely take advantage. And we have seen a clear example where we've been able to do so, while protecting the profitability, as I just mentioned. So this has actually been our strategy, and we are seeing that, of course, evolving, depending on the landscape of tariffs that has also been changing quite a bit over the last few months. Operator: The next question comes from Martin Wilkie from Citi. Martin Wilkie: It's Martin from Citi. Just coming back to the overcapacity being redirected from China that you referred to, just understand where we are in that process. And obviously, we hear a lot about China's antipollution drive to reduce overcapacity across other industries. You probably hear more about markets like solar, batteries, things like that. But is there a reduction or an anticipated reduction in Chinese overcapacity? Or is that something that you expect to remain like this for the foreseeable future? A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Thanks, Martin, for the question. So indeed, we look also at all the export statistics and what is happening with the trade flows. And indeed, what we see is that you see some of the decline in terms of trade flows from China to the U.S. seeing kind of an equal amount of quantities lending in the rest of the world and in Europe. So -- and that does cause some additional price pressure. To your question around, hey, do we expect that -- how sustainable is that -- in China, we see that is kind of flattening out, that price erosion. And well, to whether we see a significant consolidation in the Chinese market is still to be seen. So I wouldn't want to conclude anything on that at this point. Martin Wilkie: And just related to that, just keen to hear about your first impression of industry dynamics and the side that we might get a lot more detail at the Capital Markets Day next year. But when you consider what's happening with Chinese competition, but also, as you pointed out, you have some great connected products and so forth at Signify, what are your first impressions of Signify's competitive position and in particular, the moat around the business to address some of these competitor challenges? A.C. Tempelman: Yes. So there you really need to -- Martin, you need to really go deeper. What I see is that on the professional side, we play in many, many segments, and each segment has kind of its own dynamics. And equally, if you look at the business by trade channel, the dynamics around projects is very different than the competitive dynamics around the more traditional and online trade channels. So we need to make very explicit in our strategy and we will do that at Capital Markets Day about where we want to focus our efforts. And what is the portfolio that we want to build going forward. So that clarity will be created there. Operator: The next question comes from Akash Gupta from JPMorgan. Akash Gupta: My first one is on North America. So maybe if we can zoom in on U.S. business a bit. One of your U.S. competitors, they reported kind of flattish revenues in U.S. lighting, professional lighting, while you are talking about softness in the quarter, which was weaker than what you expected. Maybe if you can provide some color on what do you see in various categories in Professional channel? And I think you did talk about some weakness in public side. So maybe if you can talk about where do you see growth where you don't see growth in North America Professional. And is there any loss of market share that we should be aware of? So that's the first one. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Sure. Good question. And indeed, the U.S. market, I mean year-to-date, we are growing in the U.S. We had expected more of the U.S. market in the third quarter, but that was not as high as expected. So we saw more flattish pattern. Now the two key messages on the U.S. market, I think, and you mentioned them yourself. One is that we see project activity is softening, and that is particularly driven by public sector projects. Will that change in the fourth quarter, that is to be seen. It's not that we lost projects, to your question around market share, but we see more of delays, right? So there's clearly a delay there. And then there's the trade channel where there, we see quite tough competition, particularly on the lower end of the product portfolio. So to your question about how are we performing in that context. So I think it's fair to say that we are on par with markets when it comes to professional projects. We are outperforming when it comes to connected and agricultural lighting, and we are probably a bit below par when it comes to the trade and do-it-yourself channels. Akash Gupta: And my follow-up is on organic growth guidance. So for this year, you are now guiding minus 1 to minus 1.5, excluding Conventional. And year-to-date, we are at minus 1.0. So that would imply that for Q4, you have -- the best expectation is flat organic growth. I think you already said consumer -- not consumer, sorry, OEM is going to be a bit weak in Q4. But maybe if you can tell us about the moving parts for both Professional and Consumer in Q4 that we should be aware of? And also on the growth, how much of this is also driven by price/mix compared to, let's say, simply lower than previously expected volumes? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Akash, maybe to give a bit of color on the -- as you said, the building bricks on the dynamic of the top line in the fourth quarter. So first of all, if you look at consumer there, we see, as we mentioned, a strengthening momentum and we expect this to continue, and we have confidence on the momentum to continue with a strong Q4. Of course, this is the highest and the strongest quarter for that business. The Conventional business also is more predictable. Now to your question, I think the two areas where we see the most challenges and where we've looked, of course, at the different scenarios, Professional business. So this is trade as mentioned, in both U.S. and Europe and also the public sector in general as well as OEM business. So look, in the -- what is reflected in the guidance is the translation of what we see out of those scenarios of what could evolve in the fourth quarter in the continuity of our third quarter trends. So as we said, for the U.S. it's softer than what we had previously anticipated, but it's basically a softening of the momentum that we remain resilient in many parts of that business. Now on the price, maybe looking back, what we've observed across all our businesses is a stability in the pricing trends over the last quarters. However, with more price intensity, clearly, in the nonconnected part for the OEM business and also definitely in the trade part in Europe and also to some extent, in the U.S. So look, in terms of the price dynamics, it's not for price and mix dynamic. Of course, the mix will be impacted by our portfolio mix. But overall, no major change. And I think the softer or the update of the guidance is fundamentally driven by volumes. And as we said, mostly linked to professionally in the U.S. and OEM. Operator: The next question comes from Chase Coughlan from Van Lanschot Kempen. Chase Coughlan: My first one regarding the Conventional business, you, of course, talked about rationalizing the footprint a little bit more, which might have a several quarter and had some profitability.Can you just elaborate a little bit on the exact plan there? How much more can you rationalize, for example, how many facilities are you operating at the moment? And what will that be in a few quarters? Zeljko Kosanovic: Okay. Look, yes, the line was not totally right. But if I understood, and please correct me, the question, it's about the further rationalization of our manufacturing in convention. So look, yes, we've been, I mean, consistently, over the last few years, in driving, I think we used to have over 30 factories, now down to 3. So we've been doing proactively adjusting the manufacturing base, and we have a clear line of sight and a clear road map to do so. Of course, as I indicated earlier, in the process of doing so, then you do have adjustments that you need to really manage in the manufacturing process. So this is where we see temporarily, some headwinds or higher manufacturing costs in the process and the transition of doing so, but I think we have a very clearly established road map to drive that further, to the extent that is required to recalibrate the supply chain of that business, which we have been doing consistently over the last few years and for which we had, again, a clear road map for the coming years. Again, in that business, as a reminder, we are three parts. The general lighting or the conventional general lighting part of conventional, which is, of course, the part that is declining at a faster pace. We have the digital projection piece, which has a line of sight, let's say, another few years with very specific customers being served, and we have the specialty lighting, which has within that, growth opportunities. And that, of course, has a different road map of evolution in the future. And that will, of course, as we go along, see those pieces being bigger in the overscale of the conventional business. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Maybe just to add to that, I was -- I spent some time with the conventional team, and I was very actually very impressed with that multiyear road map, that is really nicely faced with clear milestones and sign posts to bring that business -- harvest that business to the best extent possible. So I think the team is doing an extremely solid job on that. And to the question, is there more to go after? Yes. So we are now single-digit plants, but we also know how the trajectory will -- what it will look like going forward. Chase Coughlan: Okay. That's very helpful. I hope the line is a bit more clear. Now just on my second question, my follow-up, as you spoke about, capital discipline is one of the priorities going forward. And I'm curious on -- we're seeing net debt year-over-year increase. Earnings are, of course, coming down at the moment. Can I get your thoughts on the ongoing share buyback scheme? Is that something that you think should be continued going forward? Or do you have any, let's say, preferences for capital allocation elsewhere? A.C. Tempelman: Well, it's not that we don't have a capital allocation now, and I'll leave it to Zeljko to comment on that. But my promise was more around, I -- coming into this role, you talk to customers, partners, colleagues, but of course, also to investors. And I think what many investors rightly so ask for is, "Hey, what is your road map to sustainable growth"? What about your footprint and your portfolio? But also what about your capital allocation going forward? And I think we owe you that clarity, and we will include that in the Capital Markets Day mid next year, likely June, yes. Operator: The next question comes from Wim Gille from ABN AMRO -- ODDO BHF. Wim Gille: My first question is around Nexperia. Obviously, there's a lot of turmoil around this company at this point in time in terms of supply. And given that both Nexperia as well as you guys are at Philips. Are there any connections left there in terms of supply chain? And should we be looking into this in relation to your business? And the second question is, can you be a bit more specific around, let's say, the market share that you are looking at in the United States in terms of volumes? In particular, when I compare the performance of acuity versus you guys and if I did take into account a large part of the market used to be Chinese, which are no longer welcome there, I would have expected a bit more clarity on kind of your ability to win market share in terms of volumes in the U.S. Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Maybe first on the -- your question on Nexperia. So the Nexperia components are used in some Signify products. However, we do not anticipate a material impact to our supply in the near term. It's a very limited impact and mostly in the OEM business. And also at the same time, we do have an active and proactive supply chain risk management, right? So we continue to monitor the situation. And we always consists -- constantly review all the alternative sources. So that has allowed us to, in this specific case, also to apply with a lot of agility, the required mitigation. And yes, I think overall, I think we are seeing limited impact and we do have -- and the teams have been able to, of course, very, very fast, adapt and mitigate. And that's part of the strategy we have of proactive supply chain risk management and multiple sourcing to be prepared for those kinds. So limited impact for us in the near term. A.C. Tempelman: And then on the U.S. questions, are we keen to grow market share in the U.S.? Of course, we are. The -- but we need to make sure it's on strategy, right? So on the project side, clearly, we are doing well, and we are aiming to continue to grow. As I mentioned that we are probably a bit below par in the trade channel, and that is also where you see that dynamic indeed of the Chinese products. We are adding products into our portfolio that better fit that trade channel. So indeed, we see opportunities, right, in the U.S. to continue to grow our market share. Wim Gille: And then lastly, in terms of your priorities at the last slide, you also mentioned that you're looking to rationalize your portfolio. Are we then talking about significant chunks in terms of sales that you might exit or divest or whatever? Or is this more fine-tuning around the edges and it should not have a major impact on sales? A.C. Tempelman: Now let me just emphasize, Wim, that at this point, I say we are reviewing our portfolio. Don't read that as rationalizing because it's too early for me to say, "Hey, we're going to cut this or add that." It's too early. Now that said, I mean, I think, ultimately, the portfolio choices should follow your strategy. So what we'll do is we will create clarity about where -- what is the narrative for the company, where do we want to go on a 3-, 5-year horizon. If this is the company we want to build, then these are logical steps to take in terms of portfolio. And you should not only think line of business level there, but also around, "Hey, we are currently present in over 70 countries." We play in many different segments. But indeed, we also need to create clarity around how the different lines of business hang together and how we want to take that forward. So the answer is it's a review and all is included. I don't want to exclude anything at this point, nor do I want to create false expectations given where we are today. Operator: The next question comes from Marc Hesselink from ING. Marc Hesselink: A question is actually I mean two things related, both, one on gross margin and one on the OpEx. So I think given what you said before, it's likely that the lower gross margin versus previous quarters is here to stay or maybe even increase -- the pressure will increase a bit. In the quarter itself in third quarter, you really offset that by significantly adjusting your -- predominantly your SG&A cost. Is that also the way forward that when the gross margin remains under pressure that you will take more action in your short-term SG&A cost? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Marc, thanks for the question. So I think, look, first of all, on the dynamic of the gross margin, what's very important to see in the dynamic. And as you said, comparing to -- I think we had 7 consecutive quarters with a margin -- gross margin above 40%, which typically would be on the higher end of the -- what we indicated as an entitlement. I think when we look at professional and consumer business in the last quarter and as we expect moving forward, we continue to see a very robust gross margin. So the -- let's say, the sequential decrease to 39.5% is entirely linked to the two headwinds I was mentioning earlier, first on the OEM business. So there is -- there are clearly the implications of the magnitude of the decline we see in OEM business on the manufacturing productivity. So this is really linked to the OEM business. And second, the temporary or transitory increase or headwinds on the manufacturing cost base of the conventional business, which we do expect to normalize by mid of next year. So I think in the dynamic of the gross margin, very clearly, very strong professional, very strong consumer. When we look, of course, at the dynamic for Q4, consumer having it's strongest quarter. And that, of course, will have a positive sequential implication on the evolution of the gross margin. So I think the dynamic on those two key pieces of the business are -- remain very strong and remain very much in line. Actually, we even saw sequential expansion of the gross margin in the Professional business quarter-over-quarter and a very limited, let's say, a decrease compared to last year, which was a very high comparison base with some one-off elements. So look, the trajectory of our gross margin remaining very strong. The two specific elements which are impacting on the OEM business linked to the volume and on the conventional business, which is more transitory. Now to your question on the evolution of the SG&A or the cost base indirect costs. As we indicated earlier, we are, of course, driving and further driving the optimization, making sure that we are deploying the investments needed to support the execution of our strategy, and this is what we are seeing clearly delivering on the connected parts and the specialty part of the business. And then, of course, at the same time, continuing to optimize and to adjust where needed, where we do see the most challenges. So I think this is a combination of those two elements that you see in the dynamic of our indirect cost base and that we expect to move forward. But the most important point is really the robustness of the gross margin absolutely sustained and confirmed for consumer and professional. Marc Hesselink: Great. Clear. And then maybe on the CapEx because also in last quarter and this quarter, the CapEx is a bit higher than last year. Is it a bit of timing? Or do you have -- is there a reason why CapEx would be increasing a bit? Zeljko Kosanovic: So there within the CapEx, I think you have, on the tangible part of CapEx, it's a limited increase, but it's more linked to some of the intangible product development. So there, we do have some -- but again, in the magnitude, I think it remains on a relatively low base, while the business remains a very low CapEx intensity. So you're right, we've seen sequentially some increase, but this is linked mostly to capitalized developments in innovation, R&D and also in the digitalization part. Operator: The next question comes from Elias New from Kepler Cheuvreux. Elias New: Just wondering on your other segment, which has seen strong momentum over recent quarters, but in the current quarter, seen a sequential decline in sales. Could you just perhaps give us some color on what is driving this? And how you would expect this to develop going forward? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes, maybe to -- what is included in others is linked to the ventures business, and we do have one specific venture that has been developed and positioned on the connected consumer space in China. And as you mentioned, we've seen a very strong momentum. I think this venture that is continuing to perform very well. However, there were some, I think, favorable, let's say, contribution or propelling drivers coming also from the subsidies that were deployed by -- in China that were supporting an accelerated level of growth in the last quarter, which has normalized as we've seen in the third quarter. So this is the main -- the main element behind, but this is one of the ventures that is seeing a very successful traction and very well positioned in one part of the Chinese market, which is overall challenging, but that's one part of the market that has a good dynamic. And indeed, the translation of that has been lower in the last quarter compared to the previous quarters, but still substantially growing year-over-year. Operator: The next question comes from Sven Weier from UBS. Sven Weier: It's just one. And I think we've discussed a lot about relative performance of Signify against other lighting players. But I'm more curious about the relative performance of lighting within construction against other construction segments. And we're obviously seeing quite a bit of an underperformance here of lighting against other segments in the last couple of years. I guess my suspicion has always been around the renovation side that you see the kind of lagging effect of a higher LED installed base and longer replacement cycles, which I think has kind of been a bit denied by the company. I was just wondering if you're also aiming for the Capital Markets Day to provide us more color on that very point because I think it could be an important point to get a sense when does that kind of underperform potentially start to phase out and provide us more visibility on that item. That's my question. A.C. Tempelman: Yes. Thanks, Sven. And it's important so that we always start with market, not ourselves. And indeed, I think we -- the market is at the final wave of ratification, if you want, but we are not at the end of it just yet. So you still see that then having an impact, I guess, on the lighting sector in comparison with other construction-related sectors. On your question, will we create some clarity, yes. I think we'll create some clarity about how we see the harvesting road map for conventionals, but also how we see the market when it comes to ratification. And also where we see the growth opportunities because, clearly, beyond the hardware, we see then, of course, a lot of growth in connected, and that presents us with good opportunities as well. Yes. Short answer is yes, Sven, we will come back to that. Sven Weier: And so you agree that this could be a factor that you especially see on the renovation side out of the longer replacement cycles? Would you agree that this could be potentially one of the drags relative? Zeljko Kosanovic: Maybe what I can say on -- look, when we look at the dynamics of the market, how it translates because we, of course, have leading indicators that to understand exactly what you are pointing out, the look -- in short, I think the way -- the market, and of course, renovation is the most important piece of our exposure. I mean we are higher -- our indexation to the renovation is higher than to the new build in the professional nonresidential space. So to your question, I think, when you look at the different dynamics market per market, I would say, the answer to your -- or at least the conclusion you are taking is not the one that we would have. So I would understand that this has to be probably better articulated on how we see it forward, and we'll take note of your comment. But that's not what our analysis would indicate at least with the data we have. Operator: We have time for one last question, and it comes from George Featherstone from Barclays. George Featherstone: It's just about the capital allocation going back to some of the questions you've had already. Cash on the balance sheet is down about 35% year-over-year. Free cash flow is down 40% year-over-year on a year-to-date basis. You're obviously now guiding for lower cash generation ahead. How concerned are you about these trends? And do you plan to take any proactive actions to conserve cash given the weaker market trends that you talked about already? Zeljko Kosanovic: Yes. Thank you for your question. So first of all, if we look at the -- as part of our capital allocation policy and priorities, I think we've been very clear and that's what we've been driving consistently also over the past year to ensure and to sustain a strong capital structure, a strong balance sheet and a level of leverage that is supportive to an investment-grade rating sustained. So when we look at our leverage year-over-year, it has slightly decreased. So it's in line with what we expected. We have just completed, as was communicated also our refinancing with now a longer tenure for the EUR 325 million that was at maturity in the last quarter. When we look at the dynamic of cash generation versus the implementation of our capital allocation policy defined for 2025, I think there is no change or no concern to your point because we look at -- we are well on track on the execution of our share buyback program. We are able to define the priorities supporting growth as we intended. So look, no, I think the dynamic and the adjustment that we have indicated are not leading to a correction on the overall equilibrium, let's say, on the cash generation versus cash utilization that we defined in our policy for 2025. So no major change there. George Featherstone: Okay. And just specifically on the buyback, do you intend to complete that? I mean I think it's on the guidance you've given is an up to EUR 150 million. Is your intention to go all the way to EUR 150 million at this stage? Zeljko Kosanovic: So for now, we are well on track with the plan for the year. And yes, we are intending to complete, as what was committed again in our capital allocation policy, which still fits totally with the plan we have defined. So there, we are on track and expect to complete as was indicated. So in short, we had given a clear capital allocation policy for implementation in 2025, and we are executing to it consistently and expect to do so for the rest of the year. Operator: And with that, I will now turn the call back over to Thelke Gerdes for any closing remarks. Thelke Gerdes: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining our earnings call today. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. And again, thank you very much, and enjoy the rest of your day.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the General Dynamics Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nicole Shelton, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Nicole Shelton: Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the General Dynamics Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Any forward-looking statements made today represent our estimates regarding the company's outlook. These estimates are subject to some risks and uncertainties. Additional information regarding these factors is contained in the company's 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filings. We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. For additional disclosures about these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures, please see the slides that accompany this webcast, which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website, investorrelations.gd.com. On the call today are Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Danny Deep, Executive Vice President, Global Operations; and Kim Kuryea, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Phebe. Phebe Novakovic: Thank you, Nicole. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for being with us. Earlier this morning, we reported earnings of $3.88 per diluted share on revenue of $12.9 billion, operating earnings of $1.3 billion and net income of $1.059 billion. Across the company, revenue increased $1.24 billion, a strong 10.6%, led by a 30.3% increase in our Aerospace segment and a 13.8% increase in Marine Systems over the year ago quarter. Importantly, operating earnings of $1.3 billion are up $150 million or 12.7% Similarly, net earnings increased $129 million or 13.9% and earnings per share are up $0.53 or 15.8% over the year ago quarter. On a year-to-date basis, revenue of $38.2 billion is up 11% over last year. Operating earnings of $3.9 billion are up 15.7%. Net earnings of $3.07 billion are up 16.4% and earnings per share are up 19%. As an aside, we beat consensus estimate by $0.18 on higher-than-anticipated revenue and modestly better operating margins. My reaction to the quarter is best reflected in thoughts about the sequential comparison. In the second quarter of this year, we had very good results, which were well received by investors. This quarter was even better. The 2 quarters enjoyed similar revenue, but operating margin improved by 30 basis points, and we generated significantly higher free cash flow, as you will hear in greater detail from Kim. Robust order momentum continued in the quarter, yielding record backlog. In short, we had a superb quarter from my perspective. With that, let's move into a discussion of the operating segments. First, Aerospace. Aerospace performed very well in the quarter to say the least. It had revenue of $3.2 billion and operating earnings of $430 million with a 13.3% operating margin. Revenue is a dramatic $752 million more than last year's third quarter, a 30.3% increase. The revenue increase was led by new aircraft deliveries, higher special mission volume and the services business at both Gulfstream and Jet. Similarly, operating earnings of $430 million show a staggering 41% increase over the year ago quarter. The 13.3% operating margin is 100 basis points better than a year ago. We delivered 39 aircraft in the quarter, 11 more deliveries than a year ago, including 13 G700s. It is important to note that this is the first quarter where we had no deliveries of the high gross margin G650ER compared to 9 in the year ago quarter. We also made 3 initial deliveries of the G800 in the quarter. This plane will provide the majority of delivery growth in Q4. For the year-to-date, Aerospace revenue is up $1.82 billion, an increase of 24.2%. Operating earnings are up $386 million, an increase of 43.9% all very impressive, especially when the comparator year 2024 showed remarkable growth over 2023. Turning to market demand. We saw accelerated interest across all models in the third quarter, led by the North American market. This led to very strong order intake and loaded the pipeline for a good fourth quarter. This remains, by all accounts, a very resilient and robust market for new business aircraft. In summary, the Aerospace team had a very good quarter and look forward to a strong finish to the year. So let's move on to the defense businesses. As a collective, we once again saw strong growth in Marine Systems and good operating performance across the portfolio. Let me walk you through each segment in turn. First, Combat Systems. Combat Systems had revenue of $2.3 billion for the quarter, a modest 1.8% increase. Earnings of $335 million are up 3.1%. Operating margins at 14.9% are up 20 basis points over Q3 last year, demonstrating nice operating leverage. On a sequential basis, while revenue decreased 1.4%, earnings rose 3.4% on a 70 basis point improvement in operating margin. Year-to-date, revenue of $6.7 billion is up 1.7% and earnings of $950 million are up 3.3% Overall, demand is strong across Combat, particularly in our ordinance and international combat vehicles business. Artillery orders in the missile subcomponent work we do for the primes has increased in our Ordinance business. Internationally, demand for all classes of combat vehicles across the European theater has been increasing and orders are following, particularly in those countries in which we have indigenous production. We saw robust order intake with over $4.4 billion awarded in Q3, resulting in a book-to-bill of 2:1 for the quarter. Orders came from across the portfolio and internationally, primarily Europe. Our Combat System backlog at roughly $18.7 billion reflects a strong demand. All in all, a strong performance quarter for Combat that sets them up nicely for improved growth rates. Turning to Marine Systems. Yet again, our Shipbuilding Group is demonstrating strong revenue growth. Marine Systems revenue of $4.1 billion is up $497 million, 13.8% against the year ago quarter. Columbia-class construction and Virginia-class construction led the way with increased throughput. Operating earnings of $291 million are up 12.8% over the year ago quarter with a 10 basis point decrease in operating margin. However, we are seeing metrics showing improved performance across the business, which should lead to improved operating margins little by little. Sequentially, results are about the same as the prior quarter. Year-to-date, Marine revenue of $11.9 billion is up 14.7% and earnings of $832 million are up 13.2%. So across the business, we have seen rapid growth of revenue and earnings, but margin performance around 7%. As I have said before, improvement here represents our most meaningful opportunity. And lastly, Technologies. It was another good quarter with revenue of $3.3 billion, which is down 1.6% over the year ago quarter. Operating earnings in the quarter of $327 million are essentially the same on a 10 basis point improvement in operating margin. The year-to-date comparisons are better. Revenue at $10.2 billion is up 3.5% and earnings of $987 million are up almost 5% on a 10 basis point improvement in operating margin. Order activity was particularly strong in the quarter with a book-to-bill of 1.8:1. That resulted in backlog at the end of the quarter of $16.9 billion, up $2.7 billion sequentially. Through the first 9 months, the group achieved a book-to-bill ratio of 1.3:1. This positions the group well for better revenue growth than they have had in the last 2 years. Prospects remain strong with a large, qualified funnel of more than $113 billion in opportunities that they are pursuing across the group. It is interesting to observe that our slower growing segments in more recent periods have enjoyed very robust book-to-bill this quarter and year-to-date. That concludes my remarks about the defense businesses. Before I hand the call over to Kim, I'd like to have Danny share his observations from an operating perspective and provide additional color. Danny Deep: Thank you, Phebe. Let me start with Aerospace. We have seen strong performance across the board, including orders, manufacturing and deliveries as well as customer service. From an order standpoint, Phebe mentioned a robust quarter across the portfolio. To give you some additional perspective, in the first 9 months of 2025, unit orders are up 56% versus this time a year ago. From a productivity standpoint, we are seeing good learning across all our lines with manufacturing hours on the G700 and G800 coming down quarter-over-quarter throughout this year. We have seen measurable improvement in the supply chain with on-time deliveries to pre-COVID levels. And in terms of airplane deliveries, the progress has been pronounced with our delivery cadence steadily increasing. Through the first 9 months of this year, we've delivered 113 airplanes as compared to 89 airplanes for the same period in 2024. So overall, plenty to be pleased about from an operational standpoint. Turning to our defense businesses. I'll highlight a few key items of interest. In our Marine group, at Bath Iron Works, we are seeing positive momentum in terms of ship-over-ship learning reflected in both the number of hours to produce as well as the schedule to produce them. At Electric Boat, our productivity and schedule metrics are slowly but steadily improving as we see the investments in tooling and fixtures, automation, robotics and most importantly, our shipbuilders all taking hold. These improvements have stabilized margins and put us in a position to consistently grow them over time once the supply chain improves. With respect to the supply chain, we have seen improvements in some areas, but others are still struggling to meet the significant increase in demand. In the Combat Group, we have seen considerable uptick in demand in our European operations from bridges to combat platforms, and our long-term presence and manufacturing footprint in several European countries positions us well to serve this increased demand. In our Technologies group, we are seeing the benefits of the strategic investments that our Mission Systems business has made in differentiated defense electronics to serve priorities and strategic deterrence, subsea warfare and next-generation command and control. As we transition from legacy programs, which are nearly completed to programs with highly differentiated content, we expect to see continued growth with robust margins for this year and into the future. Across all our businesses, our continued focus on operational performance is bearing fruit as evidenced by our third quarter results, and we expect continued margin strength and strong cash generation in the future. Let me now turn the call over to Kim to discuss relevant financial data. Kimberly Kuryea: Thank you, Danny, and good morning. The third quarter was another strong quarter from an orders perspective. The overall book-to-bill ratio for the company was 1.5:1. All 4 segments experienced a book-to-bill of at least 1.2x. Our Defense segment's book-to-bill was a robust 1.6x their revenue. Aerospace continued its momentum with a book-to-bill of 1.3x for the second quarter in a row, even as revenue increased in both quarters. Year-to-date, the book-to-bill for the company was a solid 1.5:1. This robust order activity led to a new record level of backlog at $109.9 billion at the end of the quarter, up 19% from a year ago and 6% from last quarter. Looking at the segments, Marine and Technology each ended the quarter with a record level of backlog. Our total estimated contract value, which includes options and IDIQ contracts, also ended the quarter at a new record level of $167.7 billion with each of the Defense segments reaching new highs. Moving to our cash performance. It's an even better story than orders. Last quarter, we discussed our efforts to drive cash to the left given our back-end loaded cash forecast for 2025. Well, we realized the fruits of those efforts in the quarter. Our business units really outperformed our cash flow generation estimates for the quarter, driven by solid cash collections. Let's get to the specifics. Overall, we generated $2.1 billion of operating cash flow. All segments contributed to the better-than-expected results with particularly strong cash generation in Combat Systems and Technologies. Including capital expenditures, our free cash flow was $1.9 billion for the quarter or 179% of net income. Coming off strong cash collections in the third quarter, we now expect about half as much free cash flow as we generated in the third quarter in the fourth quarter. Our estimate includes an increase in capital expenditures as we continue to invest in our businesses, especially at Electric Boat and somewhat larger tax payments in the final quarter of the year. As a result, we anticipate a free cash flow conversion percentage in the low 90s for the year. This guidance includes some goodness from the reversal of the R&D capitalization, but the rest of that benefit will be realized over the next few years. Having said that, the uncertain duration and future potential impacts of the government shutdown creates a lack of clear visibility into our cash forecast for the remainder of the year. We are taking prudent actions to conserve cash and liquidity. If a resolution can be reached in the near term, we would expect to be able to achieve the forecast that I just discussed. However, in the event of a protracted shutdown, it is unclear how and when our cash flow will be impacted despite our careful efforts to diligently manage cash. Looking at capital deployment. Capital expenditures were $212 million in the quarter or 1.6% of sales and $552 million year-to-date. We are targeting over 2% of sales for the full year CapEx, given the expected investments in the fourth quarter that I mentioned a moment ago. We paid $403 million in dividends and repaid $696 million of commercial paper during the quarter. Year-to-date, we have returned $1.8 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases. We ended the quarter with a cash balance of $2.5 billion. That brings us to a net debt position of $5.5 billion, down $1.7 billion from last quarter. After quarter end, we did reenter the commercial paper market to support our liquidity during the government shutdown in the event of slow or nonpayment issues. Interest expense in the quarter was $74 million compared with $82 million last year. That brings interest expense for the first 9 months of the year to $251 million, up slightly from $248 million last year. Finally, the tax rate in the quarter was 16.7%, bringing the rate for the first 9 months to 17.2%. This rate is approaching our outlook for the full year, which remains around 17.5%. Now let me turn it back over to Phebe. Phebe Novakovic: Thanks, Kim. So in light of the things we've just discussed, let me give you some thoughts for the remainder of the year. On a company-wide basis, we see annual revenue of around $52 billion and margins of around 10.3%. The puts and takes around the businesses are sufficiently modest that I will not get into them here. Overall, we are increasing our EPS forecast to between $15.30 to $15.35. Some of you may regard this as a cautious forecast given the performance year-to-date. Let me remind you that we're in the midst of a government shutdown with no end in sight. The longer it lasts, the more it will impact us, particularly the shorter-cycle businesses. So forecasts in this environment are difficult at best and less reliable than one would hope. This concludes our remarks, and we'll be happy to take your questions. Nicole Shelton: Thank you, Phebe. [Operator Instructions]. Operator, could you please remind participants how to enter the queue? Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Myles Walton with Wolfe Research. Myles Walton: Phebe, on the orders front within Aerospace, second quarter that they've been quite strong. And I'm curious, how much of this do you think is customers seeing that delivery pace is sort of coming together, realizing that they better get in line, lead times where they are? And maybe how much of it is maybe just more because the certification happens, the orders come in? Phebe Novakovic: I'd say there were a whole host of factors that drove the orders. I think primarily, it's the strength of the economy. It's been -- our order book has been pretty resilient. And in fact, the pipeline remains resilient and pretty robust. So I'd say it's that. It's a combination of that plus the fact that we've got a number of new models. Delivery cadence is improving. So I think it's all the factors that you mentioned. And I will note that it is across the portfolio, led primarily by the 800. Myles Walton: Geographically, is there an area of particular strength? Phebe Novakovic: North America. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Robert Stallard with Vertical Research. Robert Stallard: Phebe, there's been some reports that the customer, the U.S. customer is talking to defense companies about potentially investing more of their own money, the CapEx and R&D in exchange for the work they do and also potentially putting restrictions on their ability to return cash to shareholders. And I wonder if you had any views or experience of this so far. Phebe Novakovic: I think we've all read the same reports. I would note that we have invested heavily over the last 7 years in our business because we anticipated the growth in all of our shipyards in our Combat Systems business and in technology. So we have a very, very clear record of heavy investing in our portfolio because we did see this growth coming. And some of it was predictable and some of it, I think, is just the natural cycle of defense spending driven by the threat, which is increasingly obvious. So I think we all read the same reports. We haven't seen anything like that yet, but we're pretty comfortable that we have invested, and we will continue to invest where we see it prudent to support the growth. Robert Stallard: Okay. And then just a quick follow-up for Kim on the very strong free cash flow in the quarter. Were there any unusual defense advances in there, particularly from Europe, which helped the number? Kimberly Kuryea: No, there were not, not in this quarter. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ken Herbert with RBC. Kenneth Herbert: Phebe, I wanted to follow up on your comments and Kim's comments. On the shutdown, you said protracted. How should we think about timing from what would be a protracted shutdown from your view? And are you seeing anything yet specifically you can point to that's either impacting cash collection or contract timing or anything else as a result of the shutdown? Phebe Novakovic: On cash collection, not yet. On contracts, in some instances, the contracting people have been sent home. So that will push contracting into whatever week or month that the government resumes. I think from our point of view, we've looked at this as a rolling basis since it is unknowable. When the shutdown ends, then we are looking on a weekly basis and rolling forward to anticipate what each one of our contracts look like to the extent that we can. So we're -- it does introduce uncertainty in the quarter. And if it goes into next year, that increases the likelihood that it will have additional impact on particular lines of business that begin to run out of funding. So there's an awful lot of, I think, uncertainty. And in that uncertain environment, I think we're taking a prudent approach. Kenneth Herbert: Okay. And when you talk about protracted, I'm guessing based on your comments, we should think about something resolved this quarter, probably not a material impact, but if it spills into '26, that would be obviously a different story. Phebe Novakovic: I think we'd have to assess where we are contract by contract. But clearly, the longer this goes on, the greater the risk and particularly in the supply chain. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ron Epstein with Bank of America. Ronald Epstein: Phebe, maybe the first one for you on Gulfstream. So unlike a lot of other companies in the market, you guys have a suite of new products out there, and you're really gaining the benefit from that. How are you thinking about product development now? Because my understanding is Gulfstream has always had sort of a steady investment in product development and kind of year-over-year and just doesn't ramp up, ramp down, it's very steady. Is that still the case? And how are you thinking about it going forward? I know we got all this behind us and sort of like the last question you probably want, but how are you thinking about it? Phebe Novakovic: Well, look, as you well know, we have -- this has been a long-term strategy of ours to replace the entirety of our fleet with all new product designed to meet every one of our customers' missions, and we've done that. I think the most recent announcement of the 300 shows that. As we go forward, we will be upgrading our products in due course. And that's probably all that we're going to say at this point. These are all brand-new airplanes, and they've got a lot of running room, and they've met with very, very strong positive customer reaction. Ronald Epstein: Got it. Got it. And then one for Danny, if you will, on the shipbuilding. Shipbuilding has been sort of a bugaboo for the industry. When you think about making the shipbuilding business more efficient, how are you thinking about it? I mean labor, I think it's been one of the big problems for the entire industry. But I mean, from your point of view, I mean, what are the levers you're pulling today to try to really get the efficiency out of the shipyards up? Danny Deep: Yes. So let me start with the supply chain. I think in my comments, I mentioned that we've seen some improvement in the supply chain, and there's other areas where it's still lagging. But those improvements are significant. Just to give you a sense -- and that will have the biggest impact on our ability to drive productivity and schedule and start to grow margins. But to give you a sense of how the supply chain has evolved and a lot of it from the investments the government has made in the supply chain in terms of productivity, employee retention and just increasing capacity. But we've seen a 40% increase in the last 2 years in the sequence critical material. And that's really helped -- that helps with productivity. And if you look at it across all of the supply we get, it's been a 75% increase. We'll receive almost 5 million parts. So I'd say the #1 thing that will impact our efficiency in our shipyards is the supply chain stabilizing. And as our shipbuilders come down the learning curve from an efficiency standpoint, and we're starting to see that we're starting to see good ship-over-ship learning. And we make investments in all the same things that is happening in the supply base with respect to robotics and automation and employee development and training. That's where we really see the biggest bang for our buck. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Kristine Liwag with Morgan Stanley. Kristine Liwag: Congratulations on the record backlog in defense and growth in aerospace. But I guess, Phebe, focusing on technologies, look, we've seen continued strength in the backlog, but we're also seeing a notable step-up in the unfunded backlog. I was wondering if you could provide more color on what's driving this? Is this related to DOGE or the government shutdown? And when would we expect this to either convert to funded or eventually convert to higher revenue for the segment? Phebe Novakovic: I don't think that there's any root cause other than just timing that drives that increase. We're not -- I'm not aware of anything in particular. We are continuing to work with our customers. We always work with them in a normal course, and that's continuing now on ways in which that we can all improve our efficiency. But I wouldn't point to any particular element in that. And recall, we book -- and Nicole can walk you through this offline, but we book backlog a little differently than a lot of them, and we're pretty conservative about it. But I would say that driving that backlog is the demand that we're seeing pretty much across the portfolio. DDIT, in particular, had a very, very strong book-to-bill a little in excess of 2:1 in the quarter, and they've continued to have very strong bookings as a lot of their investments have begun to pay off in cyber, Zero Trust environment, AI. So we're in pretty good stead in that market. Kristine Liwag: And if I could follow on Ron's question about product development in Aerospace. We've seen in the past few years kind of some interest in Supersonic. I was wondering, would that be on the table for a next new program for Gulfstream? Phebe Novakovic: Well, first of all, there is 0 way I'm going to venture into what we're going to do next, but I will say something about Supersonic. We have yet to see a business case that even remotely works. So yes. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Peter Arment with Baird. Peter Arment: Nice results. Phebe, maybe just to stay on Gulfstream. Just given the resilience of this -- the bookings environment and the backlog and how well you guys are doing, does that provide pressure on kind of where production is? Or do you need to take rates up? Or do you feel like you've got the right cadence with the current rates today? Phebe Novakovic: Well, our rates are driven by the backlog and demand. So far, we're comfortable in our rates will increase in a regular order. But if you -- if we continue to see increasing demand and increasing backlog, we'll have to increase our rates. That's pretty much, I think, our standard operating cadence. And nothing's changed in that regard in how we -- with respect to how we react to increases in demand. So we'll continue to increase, I think, year-over-year for the next couple of years. That's sort of our plan. Peter Arment: Got it. That's helpful. And just as a follow-up, could you give us the latest on where things stand on construction for the first Columbia class, just given all the reports out there and maybe how things are either showing some improvement and getting ready for additional volumes that are coming? Phebe Novakovic: So we have the jigs fixtures facilities to continue to produce. We'll continue to invest and particularly in productivity improvements and additional footprint as needed. The first Columbia is about 60% complete by the end of this year. We'll have all the major modules at Groton ready for assembly and test and then systematically work through each one of those testing items, pretty rigorous, as you can imagine, first-of-class testing program that will work in coordination hand in glove with the Navy. But we're moving -- we're working very hard to move that ship to the left along with our customer and along with the supply chain. So we've -- and we've seen some improvements again from the supply chain, as Danny, I think, clearly articulated. So this next year will be pivotal. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Seth Seifman with JPMorgan. Seth Seifman: I wanted to ask one about Combat. And so I was kind of thinking about the future there and the fact that there are some headwinds in vehicles, including Stryker and some tailwinds maybe from munitions and in Europe and kind of wondering if that business was going to grow. But based on the comments you made earlier and kind of the backlog growth we saw in the quarter, it sounds like there's potential for Combat growth to accelerate out of this year. Is that a fair way to think about it? Phebe Novakovic: That's how we're looking at it. I think you quite accurately pointed to the headwinds and the tailwinds. International vehicle demand is increasing and at a higher rate and munitions demand, both internationally and domestically is increasing as our -- we are a supplier to the primes on missile parts, and that also is increasing. But there is some headwind with respect to U.S. combat vehicles. That is until we accelerate the delivery of the new tank. So it's a mix, but we see some nice growth driven by our international business. And let me tell you, I want to give you a little bit of perspective on that international business. So we have indigenous businesses that have been the backbone of their country's supply chain for the last -- or industrial base for the last 25 years. And in these businesses, they are -- have indigenous engineering design and manufacturing, and they are run by host country national. So these are -- when we produce vehicles coming out of Europe to Europe, they are European engineered, European designed and European manufactured. And we think that's a very, very good and has been a successful business model for us as demonstrated by we've got the largest installed fleet in Europe. So we're pretty comfortable with the competitive positioning of that business. Seth Seifman: Great. Great. And maybe as a follow-up, can you talk a little bit about where we stand in the replacement cycle for G650. To what degree has that been driving recent orders for G800? And I assume it's more 800 than 700. And to what kind of pipeline is there for that as we kind of look ahead? Phebe Novakovic: So as you know, we phased out the 650, and you're quite right, replaced by the 800. The 800 has had an awful lot of customer interest. It led the orders demand in the quarter. And we have a pretty robust pipeline. So we -- that transition from the 650 to the 800 went very, very smoothly. The introduction of the 800 and has gone well and deliveries are increasing. I mean, this week, we just delivered our sixth G800. By the way, we also, this week, delivered our 72nd G700. So I think that's an indication of more regular cadence in the delivery profile as the supply chain has stabilized. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Sheila Kahyaoglu with Nepris. Sheila Kahyaoglu: Maybe if I could ask a follow-up on that topic, Phebe. Just how do we think about -- you have so many development programs, and you've done a great job with the shift from the 650 to the 800 and yet the margins are going to be stable even with the 650 going away. So how are you thinking about the G800 learning curve, the 700 as well? If you could provide us an update on those blocks and how we should be thinking about that? Phebe Novakovic: Well, we're coming down the learning curve on both of those airplanes. 650 was a mature high-margin airplane. So it will take a while for the 800 to reach those similar gross margins. But we like the prospects on both of the -- on all of our airplanes, frankly. And the keys are getting the increasing stabilization of the supply chain, and they've gotten much, much better. I'd say the introduction of the 800 demonstrated the strength of the supply chain as they become more reliable and are better able to keep up with demand as compared to the 700. That supply chain, too, has stabilized. So we'll continue to see gross margin improvement as we come down our learning curve. Sheila Kahyaoglu: Can I ask a follow-up again on Aerospace, if it's okay, on deliveries and just R&D. On the delivery profile for the 700, 800, do we think about that cumulative being the 650? Or is it plus that? And then R&D, how much of a tailwind do we see from R&D as you've certified some of these major programs? Phebe Novakovic: Our R&D will be about the same for a while. We've got developmental programs, and we still have airplanes to get through certification. The 800 is really the replacement for the 650. And that is what we are seeing as the 650 customers are buying the 800 as a replacement. The 700, I think, is a market expander. It is a new offering in an element of the market that we didn't have before. So I think net-net, that's a positive growth profile going forward. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Doug Harned with Bernstein. Douglas Harned: On -- going back to Combat, you talked about the value of having the indigenous operations in country in Europe. When you look forward, given the growth potential in Europe, do you expect to be doing more investment there? And could this be beyond just ground vehicles into other areas? Phebe Novakovic: We have the facilities and the infrastructure to produce at the moment. I don't see getting out of our core. I don't see moving past tactical bridges or high-end combat vehicles. I think one of the things we have differentiated ourselves is having the discipline to stick with what we know, do what you know well and get better and better and better at it as you serve your customers, your people, your shareholders best by doing that. So we'll stick to our knitting. Douglas Harned: And then going back to Columbia Class. I mean the delays, there's been a lot of discussion about delays. Can you talk a little bit about what has driven those? Have those been related to design changes, supply chain, labor and you mentioned a little bit about addressing these issues, but can you talk a little bit more about mitigation and where we might end up if things get better there? Phebe Novakovic: So I'd say the single largest impact on the cadence of manufacturing and delivering -- ultimate delivery of the first Columbia has been the supply chain, the fragility of the supply chain as it's tried to ramp up from very low rate production, which has been in for the last 25, 30 years and quintupling that production. That has been the single largest challenge. And the government has recognized that and for the last several years has provided some nice robust funding to mature that supply chain and to expand it. And we're beginning to see some of the fruits of that effort pay off. We also, as you know, and this happened through most of U.S. industrials had a significant demographic shift as experienced workers retired, and we had a generational change with younger workers coming on board. I would say that we've -- we had invested in our training programs and with the government's help are continuing to invest in our training programs. So that we -- when the new shipbuilders come out of the training program, there are a higher level of proficiency than they had been in the past. That's all good. With the government -- working with the government, we've also been able to increase wages in a wage competitive environment. So -- and we're very comfortable that we've got the manpower and the facilities. We've continued to invest in facilities. And as Danny was alluding to, particularly on the productivity side. So I think there is a lot that's beginning to coalesce and come together to reduce risk in this program and bring it to the left, and that is our objective, working very closely with our customer. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Richard Safran with Seaport Research Partners. Richard Safran: If it's okay, I just have a -- I'm going to ask one 2-part question on contracting. And right off the bat, I'm not asking for anything on specific contracts. Generally speaking, could you comment on changes to the contracting environment you're seeing with the new administration? There was some chatter about award fees and incentive fees. And I'm just wondering what you're seeing in new contracts. And then second, just with respect to international, are you seeing more of an influx of direct commercial awards versus FMS? I was just kind of curious as to what the mix is given all the new awards you've been getting. Phebe Novakovic: So I don't know that I've seen wholesale change in contracting other than there's been an emphasis on speed. And in some customers, we've seen faster contracting and in others, a little bit more prolonged. So I can't say that across the entire portfolio that we've seen any wholesale changes. I think that we've got a sophisticated buyer, and we are working with them right now on several large contracts. So I don't know that I can offer any holistic or observations on that front. We have seen, again, if you step back and look at the entirety of the federal workplace, we've seen the retirement of -- at least in the markets that we play in, retirement of experienced contracting personnel with an increase in newer contracting folks. They'll have to come down their learning curves. But I suspect that will -- they will do so in time. With respect to international orders, there is quite a robust pipeline for FMS, but it is slow to materialize. We know the demand is out there. When it comes through the FMS process is always a question. In Europe, we have direct commercial sales and sometimes -- ex U.S. and other places in Mid East. And we'll see as the munitions demand ramps up. That could be a combination of both direct commercial sales and foreign military sales. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Gautam Khanna with TD Cowen. Gautam Khanna: I wanted to follow up on Rich's question actually with respect to Marine. And I know you guys are in talks for 5 Columbia class and the next Virginia-class block. I wanted to get your expectations around timing and the form of that contract. Do you think you'll get all of them ordered at once? Or is it going to be incremental? -- maybe when? And if the contract terms might actually be a little more favorable with the government taking on a little more risk than they were willing to in the prior administration. Phebe Novakovic: Well, the operating assumption is that those contracts are executed this year. We're certainly not going to get into any particulars of those contracts. They'll be very large, highly complex contracts. And once we sign them, we can and will be a little bit as we have been in the past, transparent about what the incentives and obligations are in those contracts. But we've had and we'll continue to have and see even more working -- close working relationship between the government and us as we try to solve mutual problems, how do we get shipbuilding throughput increased and while maintaining the quality. So we remain optimistic that together as partners will drive a lot of that change and move these deliveries to the left. Kimberly Kuryea: And Eric, I think we have time for just one more question. Operator: Your final question comes from the line of Scott Mikus with Melius Research. Scott Mikus: Historically, you've talked about Colombia driving $400 million to $500 million of annual sales growth at Marine. It's been significantly higher than that in the past couple of years. Obviously, very strong growth on tough comps again this year. So if we're going to progress to 2 plus 1 on Virginia and Colombia, should Marine sustainably be growing sales at least $1 billion per annum until we hit that cadence? And then once we do hit that cadence, is that when Marine margins get back to the 8% to 9% range? Phebe Novakovic: So I think the way to think about this is that we anticipate similar growth that we've seen over the last few years. And when you think about -- so I don't see that at least in the near term changing, but it's been very robust growth. But when you think about margins, I think Danny walked you through kind of what are the main drivers. And it's primarily stabilizing that supply chain and increasing our throughput so that we can both offset any supply chain perturbations. And I think that's the best way to margin improvement, and it is very importantly, the best way to accelerate the throughput. I don't know if you want to add anything on that, Danny. Danny Deep: Yes. No, I think you've captured it. To the extent that the supply chain stabilizes, I think that's where we will see meaningful margin expansion. Nicole Shelton: Okay. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. Please refer to the General Dynamics website for the third quarter earnings release and highlights presentation. As a reminder, we will resume our normal reporting schedule of Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. for our fourth quarter call. If you have additional questions, I can be reached at (703) 876-3152. Thank you. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Grupo Televisa's Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to the press release, which explains the use of forward-looking statements and applies to everything discussed in today's call and in the earnings release. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Alfonso de Angoitia, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Televisa. Please go ahead. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Thank you, Elsa. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Francisco Valim, CEO of Cable and Sky and Carlos Phillips, CFO of Grupo Televisa. Before discussing our third quarter operating and financial performance, let me share with you what we believe are the key milestones achieved this year, both at Grupo Televisa and TelevisaUnivision. At Grupo Televisa, let me touch on 4 major achievements. First, our strategy to focus on attracting and retaining value customers in cable has allowed us to grow our Internet subscriber base in the first 9 months of the year compared to the end of 2024. Second, we keep executing on implementation of OpEx efficiencies and the integration between Izzi and Sky to extract further synergies. This has already contributed to expanding our consolidated operating segment income margin by 100 basis points in the first 9 months of the year to 38.2% driven by year-on-year OpEx reduction of around 7%. Third, we continue to keep a disciplined CapEx deployment approach to focus on free cash flow generation. So far this year, we have invested MXN 7.5 billion in CapEx, which is equivalent to 16.8% of sales. In the fourth quarter, CapEx deployment should remain at similar levels to those of the third quarter. Still, our CapEx budget of $600 million for 2025 implies a reasonable CapEx to sales ratio of less than 20% for the full year. We have been able to achieve this mainly because we have had successful negotiations with suppliers, resulting in more favorable terms. And fourth, during the first 9 months of the year, we have generated around MXN 4.2 billion in free cash flow, allowing us to prepay a bank loan due in 2026 with a principal amount of around MXN 2.7 billion. This debt repayment comes on top of the $220 million principal amount of our senior notes already paid on March 18. Additionally, at the end of the third quarter, Grupo Televisa's leverage ratio of 2.1x EBITDA compared to 2.5x at the end of last year, mainly driven by our free cash flow generation. And at TelevisaUnivision, I will mention 3 key milestones. First, engagement and growth for ViX remains solid with strong momentum across both our free and premium tiers. Moreover, the Gold Cup semifinals and final and the compelling entertainment in sports slate that included the third season of La casa de los famosos, Mexico and our broadcast of Liga MX and the NFL helped drive a high single-digit increase in MAUs and robust demand for advertisers and ViX. Second, the efficiency plan to reduce operating expenses at TelevisaUnivision by over $400 million in 2025 is delivering outstanding results. In the first 9 months of the year, our total operating expenses have declined by around 12% year-on-year for total savings of around $300 million. This shows a disciplined execution of our cost savings initiatives, including lower content, technology and marketing costs and the normalization of our DTC related investments. And third, looking at TelevisaUnivision's leverage and debt profile, the company ended the quarter at 5.5x EBITDA an improvement from 5.9x in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by growth. Moreover, so far this year, TelevisaUnivision successfully refinanced $2.3 billion of debt. As discussed in our second quarter earnings conference call, the company successfully issued $1.5 billion of new 2032 senior secured notes and refinanced over $760 million of term loan A now due in 2030. In addition, more recently, TelevisaUnivision extended its $500 million revolving credit facility and its $400 million accounts receivable facility. These transactions strengthened TelevisaUnivision's balance sheet, enhanced its liquidity and extended its maturity profile with its nearest maturity now almost 3 years away. Deleveraging remains a core strategic priority for TelevisaUnivision and management remains committed to further strengthening the capital structure of the company over the coming quarters. Having said that, let me turn the call over to Valim as he will discuss the operating and financial performance of our consolidated assets. Francisco Valim Filho: Thank you, Alfonso. Good morning, everyone. As Alfonso mentioned, we had an excellent quarter in this third quarter. First, let me walk you through the operating and financial performance of our cable operations. We ended September with a network of almost 20 million homes after passing around 20,000 new homes during the quarter. Our monthly churn rate has remained below our historical average of 2% for 2 consecutive quarters as we continue to execute our strategy to focus on value customers while working on customers' retention and satisfaction. Our broadband gross adds continues to improve on a sequential basis, allowing us to deliver 22,000 net adds during the third quarter compared to net adds of around 6,000 in the second quarter and disconnections of about 6,000 in the first quarter. In video, we also experienced a strong gross adds than in the first 2 quarters of the year and managed to reduce churn. Therefore, we lost about 43,000 video subscribers during the third quarter compared to 53,000 cancellations in the second quarter and 73,000 disconnections in the first quarter of the year. Moreover, we expect the improving trends to continue going forward, influenced by our recently announced multiyear partnership with Formula 1 to provide live coverage of all Grand Prix via Sky Sports channels available through Izzi and Sky. Beginning in the fourth quarter of this year until 2028 season, Formula 1 is the one of the fastest-growing and most passionate sports events in Mexico and around the world, and we definitely see this as a competitive advantage relative to our peers. Moving to mobile. Our net adds of 94,000 subscribers during the quarter continued to gain momentum, beating the 83,000 net adds of the second quarter and doubling those of the first quarter. Our innovative MVNO service developed by ZTE, offering enhanced user experience is already making our bundles more competitive and allowing us to increase our share of wallet from our existing customers. During the quarter, net revenues from our residential operations of MXN 10.6 billion, which accounted for around 91% of total cable revenue decreased by only 0.7% year-on-year. This marked the best quarter of the last 2 years at our residential operations from the revenue growth performance standpoint and compares well to a decline of 3% in the first half of the year. On a sequential basis, net revenue from our residential operations grew by 0.4%, potentially signaling an ongoing gradual recovery. During the quarter, revenue from our enterprise operations of MXN 1.1 billion, which accounted for around 9% of our cable revenue increased by 7.7% year-on-year. This also marks the best quarter of the last 3 years of our enterprise operations from a revenue growth performance standpoint and compares favorably to growth of 3% in the second quarter and a decline of 4.5% in the first quarter of this year. Moving on to Sky's operating and financial performance. During the third quarter, we lost 329,000 revenue-generating units, mostly coming from prepaid subscribers that have not been recharging their services. In addition, beginning in the second quarter, we started to charge an installation fee of MXN 1,250 to all satellite pay TV subscribers to increase the return on investment for this service. This translated into a slowdown of video gross additions for Sky that has been steady over the last 2 quarters. Sky's second quarter revenue of MXN 3.1 billion declined by 18.2% year-on-year mainly driven by a lower subscriber base. To sum up, segment revenue of MXN 14.7 billion fell by 4.4% year-on-year, while operating segment income of MXN 5.7 billion declined by only 0.7%, making it the best quarter of the year as we appear to be very close to reaching operating segment income stabilization. Our operating segment income margin of 38.5% extended by 140 basis points year-on-year, mainly driven by the efficiency measures that we have been implementing and synergies from the ongoing integration between Izzi and Sky. Regarding CapEx deployment, our total investment of MXN 3.6 billion account for 24.3% of sales during the third quarter. This shows a material sequential increase in CapEx deployment, but it is in line with our updated CapEx budget for 2025 of $600 million. Finally, operating cash flow for Cable and Sky, which is equivalent to EBITDA minus CapEx was MXN 2.1 billion in the third quarter, representing 14.2% of sales. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Thank you, Valim, best quarter of the year indeed. Now let me take you through TelevisaUnivision's third quarter results. The company's third quarter revenue of $1.3 billion declined by 3% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA of $460 million increased by 9%. Excluding political advertising, revenue fell by 1% year-on-year, marking a sequential improvement compared to both the first and second quarters of this year. On the other hand, also excluding political advertising, adjusted EBITDA increased by 13% year-on-year, underscoring the scalability of a profitable DTC business and the sustained impact of cost reductions initiatives launched at the end of last year. Moving on to the details of our revenue performance. During the quarter, consolidated advertising revenue decreased by 6% year-on-year or 3% excluding political advertising expenditure. In the U.S., advertising revenue was 11% lower as growth in ViX continued to partially offset linear declines. Within ViX, the Gold Cup, semifinals and finals helped drive a high single-digit increase in MAUs and robust demand from advertisers. In Mexico, advertising revenue increased by 3% year-on-year, primarily driven by private and public sector ad sales that powered ARPU growth for ViX. Results this quarter benefited from a compelling entertainment and sports slate that including the performance of the third season of La casa de los famosos Mexico, dramas such as Monteverde and Amanecer and our broadcast of Liga MX and the NFL. During the quarter, consolidated subscription and licensing revenue increased by 3% year-on-year, driven by ViX's premium tier and higher content licensing revenue. In the U.S., subscription and licensing revenue grew by 11%, supported by ViX and results included a mid-single-digit increase in linear subscription revenue and higher content licensing revenue due to timing of content delivery. In Mexico, subscription and licensing revenue fell by 17%. Excluding the impact of the renewal cycle, subscription and licensing revenue in Mexico grew by 5% driven by ViX. To wrap up, Bernardo and I remain confident that our focus on value customers, efficiencies and ongoing integration between Izzi and Sky at Grupo Televisa and further integration and operational optimization at the TelevisaUnivision now that our DTC business has gained scale and achieved profitability will allow us to create greater value for our shareholders throughout this year. Now we are ready to take your questions. Operator, could you please provide instructions for the Q&A. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Marcelo dos Santos with JPMorgan. Marcelo Santos: The first question is if you could comment a bit the CapEx outlook for 2026. How do you see this trending? And the second question is regarding the insurance claim you received. Was that related to Hurricane Otis? And is there something left to be received? Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Thank you, Marcelo. I'll ask Valim to answer both questions. Francisco Valim Filho: We gave -- Marcelo, we gave a guidance of around $600 million, and we should be within that range. Regarding the insurance claim, I think that's the last portion of the claim on the Otis Acapulco situation. So we shouldn't be seeing anything more from that event. Marcelo Santos: Valim, just one question. The CapEx for 2026, so for next year you're... Francisco Valim Filho: 2026, no 2026 is so far away, Marcelo. No, no, no. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Let's finish 2025, then we can talk about '26. Operator: Our next question comes from Matthew Harrigan with Benchmark. Matthew Harrigan: You've actually reached a point in the U.S. when you look at the entire TV industry, there's more consumption on streaming than on linear. And I know your linear is much more durable than your English language peers. But you've got tremendous local programming positions, particularly in news and some of the largest U.S. EMAs. Are you really taking a lot of our -- hopefully, eventually almost all the news content on local stations and the distinctive content on the local stations and moving that to ViX over time because it feels like it would be a shame to lose the local identity. You have those stations because eventually, linear is going to fall off even for Hispanic audiences. And then secondly, clearly, a very dynamic situation in the U.S. and Mexico right now. Are you doing anything more on the BC side in relation to advertising for investments? And also, I can't help but ask, what's your general perspective on the U.S. and the imaginations with the administration on the tariff side and the prospects for near-shoring and everything going on. I know this is kind of ridiculously open-ended question. But just any thoughts on the stability of the economic relationship with the U.S. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Yes. Thank you, Matthew, for your questions. I think, as to your first one, local news is very important for us. We are very strong in the local places where we produce news and local programming. We are exploring the possibility of including that in our streaming platform. We haven't yet included all of that content, but we're exploring that. The good thing is that, as I was saying, the local content is very strong. So very popular. As to your second question, we have made media for equity deals with great companies with great startups. We have assembled a great portfolio, I would say, and more companies are coming to us as they realize the importance of our platforms. And this is because of the strength of our platforms, we can position and grow their products and especially their brands when they're launching. Companies like Kavak, like Rappi, have become our ambassadors. At the beginning, we had doubts about the strength of linear television and most specifically in Mexico. But now they have become ambassadors of ours. We will continue to do these deals as we generate value with unsold inventory. And these companies become regular clients. So it's basically a funnel for these start-ups to grow, to position their brands, to position their products. And we take equity, which is great at very good valuations, and then they become regular clients and this is basically unsold inventory. So we're very happy with the portfolio we have been able to put together, and we'll continue to do this. As to your last question, I think that the Mexican government President, Sheinbaum has done an extraordinary job in dealing with the negotiations, the trade negotiations. I think that Mexico and the U.S. are key partners. If you look at the border region, it's one of the largest economies in the world by itself. The border, the legal border crossings that happened every day are in the millions. So I mean it's an integrated region. It's an integrated economy. So I believe that eventually, we'll be able to get to the right deal for Mexico and for the U.S. Operator: Our next question comes from Alex Azar with GBM. Alejandro Azar Wabi: Few ones on competition, Valim, on cable. If you can share a little bit of color on short-term and medium-term dynamics, especially when seeing how competitors are adding 1 million, 1.5 million net adds per year. It seems that in 2, 3 years, the market is going to be fully penetrated. So that would be my first question. And the second one is on Sky. With the levels of net disconnections you have year after year, how should we think about the EBITDA contribution in the next couple of years from Sky? Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Thank you, Alex. Valim? Francisco Valim Filho: Thank you, Alfonso. Well, I agree 100% with you. With this amount of net adds on a yearly basis, the market is very close to being fully penetrated. That's why our strategy is not going after volume because we know that we will be fighting for prices at the lower end of the pyramid. So our aim is to focus on the higher-end clients. That's why we have -- we are the only company in Mexico increasing ARPU consistently across the board. So I think that's the focus. So we think there's obviously a diminishing returns of this fight for the volumes of subscribers. And that's why our strategy moved away from that, and we have been successful in doing that. Regarding Sky, Alex, the way I see Sky is very straightforward. This is a business that will eventually disappear. Why? The penetration of the fiber networks and the amount of OTTs and the availability of a linear TV through cable and fiber operators is something that will obviously position Sky to only subscribers that are outside of those covered areas. So it will by definition then keep on declining. So how we perceive it, we perceive it as a cash flow from existing subscribers minus the programming cost, minus the technological cost of the satellite and all that is involved in that and then it generates a positive cash flow. That's the business and it has been generating positive cash flow and for the foreseeable future, we'll see positive contribution from Sky as a cash flow perspective. Obviously, it has this negative optics on our revenue, but just the way we see it is we've kind of segregate that from everything else and see that as an inflow of cash flow and everything else is more a stable growing businesses. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Yes. And to add to your first question, to add on what Valim was saying, in Mexico, we have a 4-player market, but it's a pretty rational market, except for Telmex, which has kept its entry price unchanged for, I guess, more than 10 years, while also increasing Internet speeds and offering Netflix now for 3 -- for 6 months. They don't seem to be really interested in the profitability of Telmex as they extract value from the lease of fiber owned by other subsidiaries of theirs. And the other Megacable raised prices by around MXN 30 per month from the beginning of the year. So there, you can see that the industry is raising prices, except for Telmex. Totalplay also announced price hikes from April particularly from broadband customers that are heavy data users. So even though it's a 4-player market, it's a rational market and if you look at the prices and ARPU, we feel comfortable, and we feel confident that this will remain like that. Alejandro Azar Wabi: If I can just add a follow-up on Sky remarks. When you say Sky probably will disappear. I'm just thinking that there must be some part of the population that where fiber is not around, and they -- if Sky becomes the only thing that they can use, especially for video. Do you guys have an approximate of that? I don't know. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: No, you're absolutely right. I mean there are rural areas where a satellite provider makes sense. I don't know. Francisco Valim Filho: No, I don't think they will disappear per se. It's obviously a diminishing volume like we have been seeing and we'll keep on seeing. But just to give an example, in Central America, we have close to 100,000 subscribers basically flat because in those areas, there are less competitors offering a fiber network or a cable network. And it is very stable. And like Mexico, where we are all deploying network and expanding our infrastructure. So yes, I don't think it will disappear, not just there will be a day that will be just shut down. I think it will still have -- and I think there are just several hundred thousand people living in areas where there's no other option for entertainment and Sky will keep on being a solution. But that's why we don't see this as a -- I understand some people see this as a problem. We actually see this as an upside given the fact that we're generating positive cash flow. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Yes. I think Valim is absolutely right. We see Sky as a cash flow. And the more we extend, we prolong the life of the subscribers, it's going to be an amazing driver for our cash flow. Operator: Our next question comes from Ernesto Gonzalez with Morgan Stanley. Ernesto Gonzalez: Look, I know it's early but going back to the discussion on broadband penetration in Mexico. Do you have any -- or can you share any expectations for cable growth rates next -- sorry, next year? Do you believe that you can accelerate growth for the unit. And the second question is on the sustainability of margins for Cable Sky but also TelevisaUnivision. They were strong in the third quarter. So I wanted to get a sense of how much more room they have to grow going forward. Francisco Valim Filho: Well, I think that -- back to your point Ernesto, I think that it's key to understand that obviously, as penetrations go higher, the level of net adds will diminish for every player in the market. And you have already saw that. As you see quarter after quarter after quarter, we already see a diminishing number of net adds being added to the different players. So that's a diminishing return in other countries like Brazil, for example, where the penetration is significantly higher even than Mexico. You see there's this dynamic as well and companies find ways by selling more products to the same existing customers to keep revenues growing but obviously, you're not going to be seeing high double-digit numbers because of the dynamic of the market. So like Alfonso just said, this is a very rational market. Nobody is flashing, prep is down. The promotions are very reasonable. And everybody is actually making money in this market like our cash flow generation that we have just presented. This is significantly -- is very significant. So I think that's a dynamic in mature market that you'll see. And what happens is you add more products, better products, more speeds and that's how you keep on increasing ARPU. And that's why we think the strategy of going after the high-end customers, they have more disposable income available as opposed to the other end of the pyramid. And I think regarding margins of cable... Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: No. I think he asked about TU... Francisco Valim Filho: No, no, no. The answer is not over. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Okay. Go ahead. Francisco Valim Filho: So the idea here is we think that we keep on improving margins. This is an ongoing, never stopping exercise that will go internally. And we find that through many different ways, mostly through technology. Obviously, we still are collecting a few synergies from Sky mostly through technology and improvement in how we provide services and processes. So there is an ongoing effort to increase margins. I'm talking about cable. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Yes. Yes. And about -- I mean, TU amazing margins. I think that was a result of the cost cutting and all that we did in terms of costs and expenses in the fourth quarter of last year, which are being reflected in this year. We believe that we have the highest margins in the industry. And that has to do with that cost cutting, $415 million. And also, it has to do with owning the largest library of content in Spanish in the world, more than 300,000 hours of content. It also has to do with the very efficient way in which we produce content, especially in our studios in Mexico. And that allows us to have these amazing margins. So I think those margins in the mid-30s are sustainable. Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I Would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Alfonso de Noriega for any closing remarks. Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega: Well, thank you very much for participating in our call. And if you have any questions, please give us a call. Have a great weekend. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: [Audio Gap] our current forward-looking assumptions are described in our earnings release and our Form 10-K. Joining me today are Lee Gibson, CEO; Keith Donahoe, President and CFO, Julie Shamburger. First, Lee will start us off with his comments on the quarter, then Keith will discuss loans and credit and then Julie will give an overview of our financial results. I will now turn the call over to Lee. Lee Gibson: Thank you, Lindsay, and welcome to today's call. I'm going to start by discussing the repositioning of our available-for-sale securities portfolio. During the quarter, as market conditions allowed, we took the opportunity to sell approximately $325 million of lower-yielding long-duration municipal securities. And, to a lesser extent, mortgage-backed securities and booked a net loss of $24.4 million. These securities had a combined taxable equivalent yield of approximately 3.28%. Most of these sales occurred in September. The net proceeds from these sales partially funded loan growth during the quarter with the balance reinvested in agency mortgage-backed pools that had primarily 5.5% and 6% coupons and, to a lesser extent, Texas municipal securities with coupons ranging from 5% to 5.75%. The sale of these securities will not only enhance future net interest income, but it also provides for additional balance sheet flexibility as we grow. We estimate the payback of this loss to be less than 4 years. As previously disclosed, we issued $150 million of subordinated debt at 7% fixed to floating rate notes in mid-August. Linked quarter, our net interest income increased $1.45 million, and our net interest margin decreased 1 basis point due to the issuance of the subordinated debt during the quarter. When considering our net income, earnings per share and other financial results, excluding the onetime loss on the sale of securities, we had an excellent quarter. Linked quarter noninterest income continued to perform well, and loans increased $163 million, with $81 million of that growth occurring on September 30. Keith will provide additional commentary about our loan portfolio and third quarter loan growth. The repositioning of the securities portfolio, combined with the late third quarter loan growth sets up an optimistic outlook for net interest income. If the current favorable swap markets remain, we will look for additional opportunities to enter into swaps. Overall, the markets we serve remain healthy, and the Texas economy continues to be anticipated to grow at a faster pace than the overall U.S. growth rate. I look forward to answering your questions, and will now turn the call over to Keith Donahoe. Keith Donahoe: Thank you, Lee. Third quarter new loan production totaled approximately $500 million compared to the second quarter production of $290 million. Of the new loan production, $281 million approximately funded during the third quarter, including the $81 million Lee referenced, which closed on the last day of the quarter. We expect the unfunded portion of this quarter's production to fund over the next 6 to 9 quarters, likely weighted towards the back end of those quarters given the construction nature of those opportunities. Excluding regular amortization and line of credit activity, third quarter payoffs totaled approximately $116 million, a significant improvement from second quarter payoffs totaling approximately $200 million. Third quarter commercial real estate payoffs included 15 -- approximately 15 loans secured by retail, multifamily, industrial, skilled nursing facilities and some commercial land. Commercial real estate payoffs continue to be largely driven by open market property sales. However, 2 retail properties were refinanced with other bank lenders offering fixed rates using spreads below our target. After back-to-back strong production quarters, our loan pipeline dipped to approximately $1.5 billion mid-quarter but has rebounded to $1.8 billion today. While lower than the prior 2 quarters, it remains elevated compared to the same period in 2024. The pipeline is well balanced with approximately 42% term loans and 58% construction and/or commercial lines of credit. C&I-related opportunities represent approximately 22% of today's total pipeline compared to approximately 30% last quarter. This reduction is largely due to closing a new $20 million C&I relationship which originated in our East Texas market. Credit quality remains strong. During the third quarter, nonperforming assets increased approximately $2.7 million but remain concentrated in the previously disclosed $27.5 million multifamily loan that was moved into the nonperforming category during the first quarter. We continue to expect this to be -- this loan to be refinanced or rightsized before the end of the year. And overall, as a percentage of total assets, nonperforming assets is at 0.42%. With that, I will turn the meeting over to Julie. Julie Shamburger: Thank you, Keith. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter call. For the third quarter, we reported net income of $4.9 million, a decrease of $16.9 million or 77.5%. Diluted earnings per share were $0.16 for the third quarter, a decrease of $0.56 per share linked quarter. As of September 30, loans were $4.77 billion, a linked quarter increase of $163.4 million or 3.5%. The linked quarter increase was driven by an increase of $82.6 million in commercial real estate loans, $49.3 million in commercial loans and $49.1 million in construction loans partially offset by a decrease of $10.4 million in municipal loans and $6 million in 1 to 4 family residential loans. The average rate of loans funded during the third quarter was approximately 6.7%. As of September 30, our loans with oil and gas industry exposure were $70.6 million or 1.5% of total loans compared to $53.8 million or 1.2% linked quarter. Nonperforming assets remained low at 0.42% of total assets as of September 30. Our allowance for credit losses increased to $48.5 million for the linked quarter from $48.3 million on June 30. And our allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans decreased to 0.95% compared to 0.97% at June 30. Our securities portfolio was $2.56 billion at September 30, a decrease of $174.2 million or 6.4% from $2.73 billion last quarter due to the partial restructuring of the AFS portfolio. The restructuring included sales of $325 million of lower-yielding, longer-duration securities. The sales, along with maturities and principal payments more than offset the purchases of $288 million. As of September 30, we had a net unrealized loss in the AFS securities portfolio of $15.4 million, a decrease of $45 million compared to $60.4 million last quarter. The improvement occurred primarily due to the restructuring of the AFS portfolio and, to a lesser extent, an improvement in the remaining AFS portfolio. There were no transfers of AFS securities during the third quarter. On September 30, the unrealized gain on the fair value hedges on municipal and mortgage-backed securities was approximately $905,000 compared to $5.2 million linked quarter. The decrease is primarily driven by the unwinding of fair value hedges associated with the restructuring in the AFS portfolio. This unrealized gain partially offset the unrealized losses in the AFS securities portfolio. As of September 30, the duration of the total securities portfolio was 8.7 years compared with 8.4 years at June 30. And the duration of the AFS portfolio was 6.5 years compared to 6.2 years at June 30. At quarter end, our mix of loans and securities was 65% and 35%, respectively, compared to 63% and 37%, respectively, last quarter. Deposits increased $329.6 million or 5% on a linked quarter basis due to an increase in broker deposits of $288.6 million and a $137.1 million increase in commercial and retail deposits, partially offset by a decrease in public fund deposits of $96.1 million. On August 14, we issued $150 million of 7% subordinated notes. Our 3.875% subordinated notes issued in 2020 with an outstanding amount of $92.1 million will begin to adjust quarterly at a floating rate equal to the then current 3-month term SOFR plus 366 basis points in mid-November of 2025. Our capital ratios remain strong with all capital ratios well above the threshold for well capitalized. Liquidity resources remained solid with $2.87 billion in liquidity lines available as of September 30. We repurchased 26,692 shares of our common stock at an average price of $30.24 during the third quarter. On October 16, 2025, our Board approved the additional 1 million shares, authorization under the current repurchase plan, bringing the shares available for repurchase to approximately $1.1 million. There have been no purchases of our common stock since September 30. Our tax equivalent net interest margin was 2.94%, a decrease of 1 basis point on a linked-quarter basis, down from 2.95%. And our tax equivalent net interest spread for the same period was 2.26%, also a decrease of 1 basis point from 2.27%. For the 3 months ending September 30, we had an increase in net interest income of $1.45 million or 2.7% compared to the linked quarter. Noninterest income, excluding the net loss on the sales of AFS securities increased $260,000 or 2.1% for the linked quarter, primarily due to an increase in trust fees. Noninterest expense was $37.5 million for the third quarter, a decrease of $1.7 million or 4.4% on a linked-quarter basis, primarily driven by a $1.2 million write-off on the demolition of an existing branch recorded last quarter and a decrease in software and data processing expense. Our fully taxable equivalent efficiency ratio decreased to 52.99% as of September 30 from 53.70 as of June 30, primarily due to an increase in total revenue. At this time, we expect noninterest expense to be in the $38 million range for the fourth quarter. We recorded income tax expense of $189,000 compared to $4.7 million in the prior quarter, a decrease of $4.5 million, driven by the loss on sales on AFS securities. Our effective tax rate was 3.7% for the third quarter, a decrease compared to 17.8% last quarter. We are currently estimating an annual effective tax rate of 16.6% for 2025. Thank you for joining us today. This concludes our comments, and we will open the line for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Michael Rose with Raymond James. Michael Rose: Sorry if I missed this, but I wanted to go back to the restructuring. I know there's obviously going to be some moving parts here just given that the loan growth happened kind of on the last day of the quarter, half of it, roughly, you did the restructuring. Just wanted to get kind of a level set of if I normalize all that, what's a good kind of starting margin that we should be contemplating for the fourth quarter just given, again, the late quarter growth, the benefits of the securities restructuring as we go forward. Just looking for a little color there. And then what your rate expectations are? Lee Gibson: The NIM in the fourth quarter, I expect to be up slightly. We have the sub debt costs in the third quarter that will have the full impact in the fourth quarter. But with -- if loans don't grow at all in the fourth quarter, which we're not anticipating, the average loans will increase $125 million during the quarter. And then we'll have the full impact of the $325 million of security sales restructuring that will take an effect, along with repricing of over $600 million of CDs that we anticipate will have an average savings of around 34 basis points on. The only headwind to the NIM in the fourth quarter is, I mentioned, the full impact of the 7%. And then we also have the repricing of the $92 million that Julie mentioned which today would be a rate of 7.52% compared to the current rate of 3.875%. So overall, I expect the NIM to be up slightly. I expect net interest income to improve nicely. And I think we're set up for a lot of positive things in the future when it comes to net interest income and the NIM. I don't know if that gives you a flavor for what we're looking at. Michael Rose: Yes, it's helpful. There's just obviously, a good amount of moving parts here. Lee Gibson: There's a bunch. Michael Rose: Maybe just moving on, we've seen some deal activity here in Texas over the past couple of months. I know you guys have kind of previously stated wanting to potentially do a deal yourselves. Just wanted to see if there's any kind of update there in terms of what you may be looking for? And then maybe separately, if there's some opportunities for hiring in light of those recent deals or maybe market share gain from clients. Lee Gibson: What we're looking at really hasn't changed. There are a few institutions that we have some interest in that potentially might be for sale. And in terms of hires, that is something we're looking at, and we've made a few hires. But yes, with some of the disruption that's occurring, especially with some of the larger out-of-state banks buying, some of the less than $10 billion banks here in Texas. There's definitely been some disruption, and we hope to jump on that opportunity and make some additional hires there. Michael Rose: Okay. Great. I'll step back. Lee, congratulations on the announcement. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Wood Lay with KBW. Wood Lay: I wanted to start on loan growth, obviously, a really strong quarter, and it sounds like a lot of that growth actually came on the final day of the quarter. So I was just curious on the pipeline entering the fourth quarter, how it's looking and if there was any pull-through of the pipeline in this quarter? Lee Gibson: Yes. The pipeline is strong. It did take a dip. That's somewhat to be expected given the strong production quarters we've had. As we talk about internally, we have folks that are running hard to catch something when they catch it, they run hard to get it closed. And during that period of time, they get in what we sometimes refer to as bunker mentality, so they're closing the transaction and not looking for the next one. But I was really excited to see that after we took a dip in the pipeline that it bounced back up to $1.8 billion, which I feel is a really strong number. If you go back 12 months ago, I think we were running about $1 billion typically on a on a pipeline. So we're strong. We feel good about pull-through. Generally speaking, we're still seeing 25% to 30% of the pipeline moving through to a success rate. Sometimes that gets a little bit skewed by time because some of these have taken a while. They've been in the pipeline a while. So -- but we feel good. The one thing that's always out there is, especially as you get towards the year-end, there may be some unknown payoffs that occur, but we still feel pretty good about our guidance number today. Wood Lay: Got it. That's helpful. And then based on the current pipeline, are there segments that you're seeing a particular strength in? And just what's the overall pricing competition dynamic like? I feel like most banks this quarter just talking about how intense competition is. So are you seeing that from you all's perspective? Julie Shamburger: Yes. There's a lot of competition out there, both from the CRE standpoint and C&I. So we're not immune to it. We are being disciplined in our pricing approach. And generally speaking, since the second quarter, pricing hasn't changed a lot. We're still looking at term -- if it's a fully funded transaction, those are -- and it's a high quality. You're getting down to a 2% spread over SOFR. We have seen some banks willing to go below -- we slightly dipped below 2 on one transaction, but we are also selling a swap as part of the deal that helped get us back to what we would consider kind of the floor for us. On the construction side, we're still seeing construction debt that is going or moving -- lending at somewhere between as low as 2.50%, but generally speaking, somewhere around 2.65% to 2.75%. Wood Lay: Got it. And then lastly, as it pertains to the securities restructure, a part of those proceeds going to loan growth. To the extent that loan growth remains strong in the future, should we expect additional restructures to sort of help fund that growth? Lee Gibson: Well, 2 things. I spoke to the fact that this restructuring provided us even more flexibility as we have a lot of securities now that are at gains. And so we're in a position now that we can fund loan growth, increase spreads and actually sell securities near our book or above it. If the market allows and conditions are such that it makes sense to do some additional restructuring in the available-for-sale portfolio, we're certainly going to take a look at it. As Julie mentioned, the markets improved quite a bit. Spreads have also tightened there quite a bit, especially in the muni market. So we're going to continue to look at that carefully. But I would say most of the heavy lifting in the AFS portfolio has been done, but there is still some that we will take a look at and make decisions on as appropriate. Wood Lay: Lee, congrats on the upcoming retirement. And Keith, congrats on stepping into the role. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Jordan Ghent with Stephens. Jordan Ghent: I just had a question on the buyback. So you recently increased the authorization. And just kind of what should we expect with buyback activity going forward? Julie Shamburger: Yes. So we did increase, as you mentioned, the last time we increased was back in July of '23. And since that date, we've purchased 868,000 shares, give or take a few. And so I think we're going to approach it the same way that we historically have. When we see the price dip and it's opportunistic, we will be out there actively purchasing shares. We've historically purchased open market shares and then done several 10b5-1 plans at the quarter end. So we did not do that this last quarter. But that's pretty much our strategy. We just try to -- we want to have it in place when it's opportunistic to purchase. So no strategy just to be terribly active at any one point, but just to watch the market. Jordan Ghent: Okay. And then just kind of going into the fee income. So it looks like trust fees have just had a steady climb over the last year. Kind of where do you guys see that going over maybe the next year or so and as a portion of fee income? Lee Gibson: We have a really good team in place that we've put in place over the last 2 years. and they're having a lot of impact, especially here in East Texas. And so we anticipate seeing double-digit revenue growth in that area next year as well. So we have -- we were expecting continued success. They're extremely busy, and they're taking on new clients all the time. So that's an area of noninterest income that we're really encouraged about and excited about. Julie Shamburger: Yes. And to add to that, Lee, we are -- one of the missing things for us right now is to really go into the metro markets with the wealth management. So we are exploring that, and we think we're going to make some good headway in 2026 on that. We may not attack each metro market with the same vigor, but we've got a pretty good footprint in Fortworth that I think could be a good support and starting point for wealth management in the metro market. So we're -- I'm really excited about that in the future. Jordan Ghent: Perfect. And then maybe just one more question. How many rate cuts are you guys assuming through year-end and maybe even into '26? Lee Gibson: I'm pretty certain that next week, we'll see movement, potential that there's another move, the last Fed meeting this year. Next year, I'm anticipating probably at least 2 cuts. It really just depends -- what the Fed determines. And of course, we're going to have new leadership mid next year. And my guess is that the new leadership is going to be more on the side of cutting additionally based on what the executive branch is saying. So it could be more than 2 cuts next year. A lot of it is probably going to depend on inflation and the employment. And the inflation numbers came in nice this morning, lower than expectation. but it's still above their 2% target. Now whether they change that with new Fed leadership, that's up in the air. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Anja Pelshaw with Hovde Group. Unknown Analyst: I'm asking questions on behalf of Brett today. I was hoping you could talk about the growth in DDA if it was somewhat seasonal or if you think it was sticky. Julie Shamburger: Yes. I guess the answer is it's not necessarily seasonal what we were just talking internally. So through some Erafile business, we have picked up some large depositors through that process. So we're -- we do think that's going to moderate probably in the fourth quarter. Some of that came in through one particular customer that is ramping up sales right now and getting deposits. So we do think that will moderate some through the end of the fourth quarter. Unknown Analyst: Okay. And you've talked about the loan pipeline, but I guess I was talking -- I was hoping you could expand on the growth so far from the new lenders. Julie Shamburger: So out of the Houston market, is that what you're referring to? So we're seeing good positive traction. One thing that -- just to keep clear, we've had 4 new hires in that market that are specific kind of to C&I business. And one of them came in, I think, December 30 of this past year. We had another one add in the first quarter, right towards the end of the first quarter, and then we've had one added at the end of the second quarter, and then we had another one added right in end of July, early August. So we haven't been able to see truly a full year of production yet, but it's been positive. They are gathering deposits. as well as loan growth right now. The C&I uptick, one thing we've talked about is really pushing our mix on C&I. Right now, we are -- at the beginning of the year, we were about 15% of our book is C&I. We have seen a slight uptick. We're about 16% today. And that -- some of that growth is actually coming out of our existing East Texas market. So we're excited about what's happening in Houston, but we've long been doing C&I in the East Texas and Southeast Texas markets, and we're seeing some good traction with that. Lee Gibson: Overall, in Houston, we've seen really positive loan growth probably in the 15% range this year. Julie Shamburger: And some of that's coming on the back of CRE lending. Operator: This completes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back to Lee Gibson, CEO, for closing remarks. Lee Gibson: ing to be my final earnings call as I'm going to be retiring at the end of the year. So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the analysts that cover Southside for your thoughtful questions, keen insight and your overall excellent coverage. I also want to thank our shareholders for your continued support and encouragement. And I want to let you know how excited I am about Southside's future as Keith Donahoe takes the helm, assisted by CFO, Julie Shamburger, and an extremely capable senior management team. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in Southside Bancshares, along with the opportunity to answer your questions. We look forward to reporting fourth quarter results to you during our next earnings call in January. This concludes the call. Thank you. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.
Cenk Gur: Dear friends, this is Kaan speaking. Thank you for joining our third quarter earnings call. I'm speaking to you from Copenhagen. While I am on the road, I wanted to take a moment to connect with all of you and share my perspective on the current operating environment and how we are positioning ourselves for the period ahead. After my remarks, I will leave the floor to Turker, Ebru and Gulce and our IR team, who will go through the detailed financial results and handle the Q&A. Although I'm not able to stay for the entire call, I'm looking forward to catching up again soon. Before we dive into the numbers, I want to take a moment to talk about the broader macro environment, particularly what we are seeing in Turkiye. As you all know, the strong monetary tightening in April postponed the anticipated margin expansion. Following today's 100 bps rate cuts, we expect the policy easing to continue in measured steps. On the growth side, following a solid pace in Q2, economic activity shows sign of moderation in Q3. We envisage another period of mild economic growth this year around 3.5%. Current account balance remains supportive for exchange rate stability. Looking forward, achieving lasting this inflation will be key to sustaining healthy growth across the real and financial sectors. Monetary measures have successfully restored financial stability and the Central Bank restarted reserve accumulation in May. Gross reserve have surpassed its mid-March level by reaching $189 billion, while net reserves have steadily improved to around $57 billion. Domestic residents still favor Turkish lira assets and deposit dollarization remains weak. A fixed deposit share in the banking system has been stable around 40% levels on the back of the macro prudential measures, keeping Turkish lira deposit rates higher than the policy rate. Foreign capital flows have been on the rise since May. Without a doubt, global conditions generate a conducive environment for the continuance of the existing exchange rate regime and support financial market stability. Let's move on to our bank. Let me start with our overall performance. During the quarter, we delivered healthy loan growth accompanied by across-the-board market share gains, particularly in our core customer segments. This growth was quality driven, fully aligned with our disciplined and selective lending strategy as well as the regulatory requirements. On the funding side, our dedication continued on expanding and deepening customer relationship. This translated into market share gains in low-cost deposits and a strong performance in demand deposits, further enhancing the stability and efficiency of our funding base. This balanced development on both sides of the balance sheet supported a solid increase in net interest income, while our fee income also maintained its strong momentum. At the same time, we remain fully focused on asset quality and risk management. Our prudent underwriting standards, proactive monitoring and well-diversified portfolio continue to support the resilience of our asset base. As a result, we maintained strong solvency comfortably above regulatory threshold. This solid foundation positioned us well to capture growth opportunities ahead while continuing to safeguard the strength and stability of our franchise. We are executing today with discipline while transforming for tomorrow through a clear long-term vision. We have a strong proven business model, which we continue to enhance and adapt as customer needs evolve. Our business models brings together digital excellence, strong customer engagement and strategic investment in technology and our people, all shaping the future of sustainable growth and lasting value for all stakeholders. Let's move to our 3-year strategic plan, where we regularly share transparent updates on our progress each quarter. Execution remains strong with the majority of our 3-year strategic objectives already delivered or well within reach. Our only shortfall remains in Turkish lira time deposit market share, which is a reflection of our funding optimization efforts and the impact of a regulation-driven low level of Turkish lira LDR. Our dedication for customer growth remains fully in place through both customer acquisition and deepening relationship. Backed by a well-structured balance sheet, this forms a scalable, resilient earnings platform with strong momentum and long-term growth potential. Let me leave you with 3 takeaways. First one is we continue to grow selectively and with discipline. Secondly, we manage risk proactively. And lastly, we remain focused on sustainable core revenues that will drive real return on equity in the upcoming periods. I'm very proud of our teams. Their hard work and dedication truly drive our success. A sincere thank you to all people for their commitments. And dear friends, the partners, thank you for your continued trust and support. I look forward to seeing you all again soon, bye for now, Turker and Ebru. Over to you. Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: Thank you so much, Kaan Bey. We will start now with the first slide on the NII and the revenues. Our net income in the 9 months was up by 17% year-on-year to TRY 38.908 billion, resulting in an ROE of 20.4% and ROA of 1.8%. During the same period, we had solid revenue growth, up 48% year-on-year to TRY 155.970 billion, led by robust fee generation and renewed NII momentum during third quarter. To put in numbers, our quarterly swap adjusted NII improved notably by 48% [ quarter-on-quarter ], supported by disciplined balance sheet management, while strategic investments, deepening client relationships and strong cross-sell execution continue to fuel fee growth. Together, these drivers further strengthened our recurring revenue base and the solid NII recovery this quarter underscores how we're leveraging our strong solvency position to deliver profitable growth and our balance sheet flexibility. Strong growth alongside robust solvency highlights our agility and risk reward discipline. As we move ahead, our sustainable growth mindset, solid balance sheet and analytical capabilities will drive margins further. Moving on to the balance sheet. We achieved a 28% year-to-date growth in TL loans, well on track to meet our full year loan growth guidance of over 30% shared at the start of the year. On a quarterly basis, our TL loan growth of 13% led to across-the-board market share gains, while risk discipline remained intact. Please also note that our robust growth achieved is in full alignment with the loan growth regulations. During third quarter, we captured 90 basis points of market share in business banking loans among private banks, illustrating our targeted focus on segments with growth potential. Building on our leadership in consumer lending, we expanded our presence further, capturing 30 basis points additional share among private banks. This demonstrates our readiness to capture new opportunities while managing risk. On the FX book side, we grew by 4.1% quarter-on-quarter and 5.1% year-to-date, capturing 30 basis points market share gain among private banks during the quarter. The increase was mainly driven by government-backed infrastructure projects, multinationals and blue-chip corporates, reflecting a prudent, quality-focused growth strategy, fully aligned with regulations. Please also note that we have a solid pipeline, indicating upside potential to our mid-single-digit foreign currency loan growth guidance for the full year. Moving on to the securities. Our security portfolio composition demonstrates our balanced approach with a focus on yield maximization, 69% of our securities are TL, while we have selectively increased our positioning in the foreign currency side through proactive Eurobond investments. This is underlined by a robust 21% year-to-date growth in our foreign currency securities in dollar terms. We are well positioned with long duration, comparatively higher yielding TL fixed rate securities, which will support book value growth going forward. To put in numbers, 65% of our TL fixed rate securities are classified under fair value through other comprehensive income. Our TLREF index bond portfolio offers decent spread. While our CPI linkers offer positive real rate and its share in total has actually declined since 2022 by 33 percentage points. Our active yield-focused management of the securities portfolio has supported timely adjustments to market dynamics and will underpin margin resilience in the periods ahead. Moving on to the funding side. We effectively utilized our flexible balance sheet and strong deposit franchise while optimizing our funding costs. At the same time, we successfully strengthened our TL deposit base, capturing notable market share gains in both demand deposits and widespread consumer-only segments. Our TL demand deposit market share among private banks increased quarter-on-quarter by 190 basis points, reaching a robust 18.6% as of third quarter. Accordingly, TL demand deposit share in total TL deposits advanced by 300 basis points year-to-date to 16%. Share of total demand deposits in total deposits also excelled by around 500 basis points to 33% during the same period. Meanwhile, our strong customer engagement helped us achieve a 40 basis point market share gain in the sub TRY 1 million TL time deposits, reaching 16.5% in third quarter. On top of our strong and widespread deposit base, our low TL LDR, which, as you can see, was partially utilized for growth opportunities during the quarter, is still offering substantial room for funding cost optimization in the coming period. Moving on to P&L. NIM recovery resumed in third quarter as expected, following the temporary margin pressure in second quarter due to the pause and the reversal of the rate cut cycle. Our swap adjusted net interest margin expanded by 73 basis points quarter-on-quarter, supported by both improved funding dynamics and well-positioned loan portfolio. Please note that our CPI normalized quarterly NIM improvement was also strong at 50 basis points after adjusting for the impact of CPI linker valuation change based on the revised October to October CPI estimation of 32.5%. It is worth to note that our weekly NIM trend towards the end of the quarter indicates ongoing progress in margin improvement for the fourth quarter. Our unwavering focus on profitable growth and effective funding strategies will remain key drivers supporting NIM evolution. On the other hand, the disinflationary phase and the magnitude of the upcoming rate cuts will continue to influence the extent of the quarterly NIM improvement. As a reference, the underlying year-end policy rate assumption of our revised guidance in July was at 36%, whereas the current expectations actually point to a tighter environment. Moving on to the fee slide. Our net fees advanced by 67% year-on-year, reflecting innovation, strong customer engagement and diversified offerings. Our diversified fee base remains a key strength with solid contributions from every business line. To name some of them, first, net payment systems fees advanced by 76% year-on-year, reflecting effective customer engagement and targeted campaigns. Second, net bancassurance fees surged by 77% year-on-year, backed by our advanced digital solutions actually, which are covering around 80% of our sales. Third, net money market transfer fees rose by 58% year-on-year, reflecting higher transaction volumes and digital channel migration of transactions. Our strong market positioning in key business lines ensures a diversified and resilient fee base throughout the rate cut cycle, offsetting the cyclical impact of interest rate-driven payment system fees. While the banking sector fees benefited from the rate environment, our market share gain among private banks reflects the bank's inherent strength in fee generation and ongoing focus on sustainable growth. I am very pleased to share that the fee growth once again outpaced OpEx, lifting our fee to OpEx ratio to 104% as of 9 months. Accordingly, our fee to OpEx ratio showed an 18 percentage point increase year-to-date, underlining our continued execution on customer-driven revenue growth and disciplined cost control. On that note, let's move on to the OpEx. The year-on-year increase in operating expenses was limited to 35% in 9 months, underscoring our strong cost control and operational efficiency. This realization is still evolving below our revised guidance of around 40% for the full year. Moving on to asset quality. Retail-led NPL inflows continue to be persistent trend across the sector. During this period, our disciplined risk management framework has enabled us to optimize the loan portfolio while preserving sound asset quality. This was supported by excellence in advanced analytical capabilities across the retail segments, automated and AI-based credit decision models, diligent tracking and individual assessment of our corporate and commercial loan portfolio as well as our prudent provisioning. Our NPL ratio remained at 3.5%, fully in line with our full year guidance. Meanwhile, the share of Stage 2 plus Stage 3 loans representing potentially problematic exposures remains low at 9% of our gross loan portfolio. Please also note that the restructured loans represent only 3.2% of the total loan portfolio. In 9 months, our total provisions reached almost TRY 68 billion, reflecting our continuous provision reserve buildup. Meanwhile, our coverage ratio for Stage 2 and Stage 3 loans stands strong at 34.3%, mirroring disciplined risk management practices. Excluding currency impact, our net cost of credit increased to 230 basis points on a cumulative basis, mainly driven by ongoing retail-led inflows and also further strengthening of our already strong coverage ratios. Hence, our full year cost of credit may slightly exceed the upper end of our guidance range of 150 to 200 basis points by the year-end. Our total capital, Tier 1 and core equity Tier 1 ratios without forbearances remain robust at 17.2%, 13.6% and 12.4%, proof of resilience alongside solid growth. As for the sensitivity, as we share every single quarter, 10% depreciation in TL results around 29 bps decrease in our capital ratios, while the impact diminishes for higher amounts of change. And 100 basis points increase in TL interest rate results in 9 basis point decline in our solvency ratios, again, demonstrating a limited sensitivity and the strength of our capital buffers and also declining as the interest rates go higher. So solid capital strength anchors resilience and long-term profitable growth. This slide highlights the snapshot of our 9 months financial performance. As a final note, across the board, strong loan growth, improving NII performance, along with robust fee income generation led to strengthened core revenue momentum. That said, the ongoing disinflation process and the magnitude of the rate cuts will determine the extent of the NIM improvement. Going forward, customer-centric growth will remain our main engine of sustainable profitability, supported by robust fees, disciplined operations and prudent risk management. Before moving on to the Q&A, I'd like to share a few highlights regarding our nonfinancial performance. As highlighted in our ESG video, we sustained a strong momentum, advancing our 2025 sustainable action plan with measurable results. We are on track with our long-term sustainability goals and notably have reached 74% of our sustainable finance targets as of third quarter. We are proud to pioneer a tailored banking program via Akbank's women platform, offering integrated financial and social benefits to women customers. We strengthened our internal engagement through the climate ambassador program in the third quarter, empowering Akbankers to foster a green future. With our consistent performance in climate strategy, governance and social impact, we maintained our leadership position, sustaining a AA score in MSCI, which was just updated this month. All these efforts reflect our continued commitment to building a low-carbon and inclusive economy in line with our long-term objectives. This concludes our presentation. Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: And we are now moving on to the Q&A session. Please raise your hand or type your question in the Q&A box. And for those of us joining by telephone please send your questions by email to investor.relations@akbank.com. And as I see, there are a few hands up already. And the first question comes from Mehmet Sevim. Mehmet Sevim: I just had one question on the trajectory of margins. And maybe starting with the 3Q performance, which looks really strong and with the 73 basis point expansion this quarter, I just wanted to understand if this was completely in line with your expectation going into the third quarter? Were there any aspects that surprised you, such as loan or deposit pricing, behavior of households or corporates or anything in this quarter? And then secondly, just going into the fourth quarter, you already indicated the NIM trajectory from here depends on the policy rate understandably. But with what we know today, where do you see the exit NIM? And how should we think about it into the early quarters of 2025 -- 2026, apologies? Türker Tunali: This is Turker. Thank you very much for joining the call. Let me start with the third quarter and then move on to the fourth quarter of '26 to share some thoughts on '26. Actually, as you have rightly mentioned, so there was a strong recovery in our quarter NIM in the third quarter, mainly coming from the deposit cost easing. That was actually in line with our expectations. But having said that, actually, when we dive into deep, as you may recall, by the end of June, we had this like easing on the upper bands of policy of Central Bank funding decrease. So there was an indirect rate cut. And on top of it, we had another rate cut in July. We were successfully able -- like we were able to reflect these rate cuts into our deposit pricing as a result of which our core spread from second quarter into third quarter has improved by roughly 3 percentage points. But after the latest rate cut in September, as you may have followed from like market data, like second half of September, I am referring to. This deposit rate -- deposit cost easing has stopped somehow, maybe due to the ratio requirement of the Central Bank. But at the end of the day, that latest rate cut was not reflected into like deposit pricing. Now we are at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Let's wait and see actually how the -- like the coming weeks will evolve. Also not to forget like a partly a week ago, we had this monthly reporting period, and maybe that was one of the reasons of this pricing behavior in the market. So we will be observing how the upcoming days will evolve also after this -- after today's rate cut. So it will definitely impact our net interest margin in the fourth quarter. But having said that, I can say like the net interest margin starting into the fourth quarter is surely above the third quarter figure, but the magnitude of the improvement will be important since after today's announcement of Central Bank, probably last rate cuts will be also a bit more moderate. Therefore, actually, it puts some pressure on our full year NIM guidance in the range of 3% to 3.5%. So it's very likely that we may like stay behind this. But definitely, this rate cut cycle will further help us to improve our net interest margin also in the upcoming year as well. Maybe in the past, we were talking with some net interest margin peaks in '26. But probably like as of today, what we are like forecasting, this rate cut cycle will be more like gradual in '26. Therefore, we may see a gradual net interest margin improvement throughout the year rather than seeing a peak in the first quarter or in the second quarter. So that's what we are currently observing. But at the same time, so to offset some of this net interest margin maybe gap, our growth has exceeded our expectation. And it's very likely that we will be beating our full year loan growth guidance by the end of the year. So just recall, so mid-single digits for FX and 30% for TL loan growth, we will be probably ending year above this level, which is also currently increasing our Turkish lira LDR. So we are like in a way, operate in a more optimized manner. And also, we are funding roughly 20%, 25% of our TL balance sheet via wholesale funding, where we are fully benefiting from the rate cut cycle, albeit it is a bit maybe more moderate, but that's how it is at the moment. Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: The next question comes from David Taranto. David Taranto: I have 3 questions, please. The first one is about this year. The 25% ROE target appears quite ambitious considering the 20% ROE achieved in the first 9 months of this year. Could you please elaborate on how you see the full year ROE outlook evolving following the third quarter results? Second question is a follow-up on NIM. In the last quarterly presentation, you mentioned expectations for NIM to reach 5.5% in the fourth quarter of this year and towards 6% in the first half of next year. And given the changes in the macro outlook, do you still see this trajectory as achievable? To my understanding, you now see the peak NIM at a lower level, but you do not expect an immediate normalization. You see it hovering around those levels for some time. Third one is about the fee. The fee income continues to show strong momentum. The year-on-year growth accelerated this quarter despite regulatory changes on the debit cards. When do you anticipate this growth to begin decelerating? And what factors would likely to drive that shift? And perhaps I could squeeze one more. The percentage of Stage 2 loans remain below the sector average, but there has been a large increase in restructured loans in this quarter. Are these driven by unsecured retail loans or business loans? And could you please elaborate a bit on your strategy here? Türker Tunali: David, let me start with the ROE. So definitely, so this gap on the -- potential gap on the net interest margin guidance side may put some limitation to like achieve this 25% ROE guidance. So probably we are going to end the year in between the existing level and 25% guidance. Definitely, the NIM improvements going forward will impact the level of ROE improvements in the fourth quarter. With regard to our like previous talks and the previous earnings call, so definitely, this delay in the rate cut cycle, just recall, when we made this guidance revision, we were anticipating policy rate to come down to 36% by the end of the year. But nowadays, we are more like 38% level. So at this 2% deviation. So will definitely also impact our exit NIM. But surely, exit NIM will be like much higher than the third quarter NIM, but maybe not at this 5%, 5.5% levels. And the improvement trend, as I answered Mehmet's question, probably the NIM improvements will be like more like in a step form like with gradual improvement. But definitely, like next year's NIM will be significantly higher than this year's NIM. That was your second question. And third question, fee income. Yes, our third quarter fee income performance wise was quite strong. That was also driven by our growth trend in the third quarter. It has also positively impacted our fee income growth. And currently, our year-on-year fee income growth is above our guidance, and we are expecting to end the year again at similar levels between the existing level and the full year guidance. And this latest regulatory change on the debit card side will impact fourth quarter, but its magnitude is more moderate. So it's not that significant. Probably into next year and maybe also into fourth quarter and into next year, the Central Bank's decision with regard to interchange commission caps will be important as we -- as you know, it hasn't been touched so far, which was also one of the reasons why this year's fee income growth was also way above the initial guidance of 40%. But assuming with the upcoming rate cut cycle and with some also central banks starting to reflect these rate cuts into interchange commissions, we may expect some moderation, but the aim of Akbank will be again to continue with this enhanced fee income generation capacity also as a result of our customer acquisition efforts. So definitely, we will be aiming to preserve this superior fee to OpEx ratio. We may see some moderation there, but our ambition will be always to stay at this 100% levels. Finally, with regard to stage -- not Stage 2, but yes, Stage 2 was almost the same at the same level, but the ratio of restructured loans increased from 2.6% to 3.2%, so only 0.6% increase. And just recall, by the end of the second quarter at Akbank, we had the lowest restructured loans, not only in nominal terms, but also as a percentage of total loan book. And this slight increase was mainly driven by the restructuring scheme of BRSA. As you may recall, that restructuring scheme was also -- was made available for credit card customers with not -- without overdue status, but having rolling over some of their debt. So we had to respond to them when the customer was coming with some restructuring demand. That's the main reason. But just to recall, 3.2% like probably will be, again, like a quite low figure when we see the sector figures in the coming weeks. And as Ebru has mentioned, we continue to further improve our provisioning charge. Therefore, our cost of risk is currently slightly higher than the full year guidance, and we may end the year slightly higher than the guidance, but it's like bottom line impact is not that material compared to the NIM impact. But I think so, it's a more prudent approach. I hope I was able to answer your questions? David Taranto: Yes, all good. Thank you. Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: The next question comes from Konstantin Rozantsev. Konstantin, we cannot hear you. Okay. I guess I'm just looking into the written questions. They're mainly regarding NIM and cost of risk, and we've answered both of them. I don't know if there are any further questions. Another -- Konstantin is now again coming in. I guess this is a different Konstantin. Konstantin, please go ahead and ask a question. Konstantin Rozantsev: Could you please confirm, if you can hear me? Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: Yes, we can hear you now. Konstantin Rozantsev: I had 2 questions, which I wanted to ask. The first one is on the retail FX deposits. So I see in the sector data that in the recent weeks, there has been some increase in the stock of retail FX deposits even on parity adjusted basis. So could you please confirm why is it happening? Well, is it completely explained by the fact that there are these KKMs, which are maturing and which have been moved into FX deposits? Or is there also some elements that regular lira deposits are being moved into FX deposits as well? So that's the first question. Second question, could you please comment if you have done any stress test on the loan quality in different macroeconomic scenarios. And if yes, then what do the results of the stress tests suggest? Do you have some specific examples in mind and some particular scenarios in mind saying that these scenarios lead to the high pressure or like large pressure on the loan quality. So could you please quantify these scenarios if you did this stress test? Türker Tunali: Konstantin, this is Turker. With regard to your first question, this FX deposit increase, as you mentioned, is mainly due to the parity change. Currently, gold deposits make up a significant part of FX deposits in the system. So therefore, actually, the gold price change has -- is impacting the level of FX deposits. But other than that, when I really look at our own portfolio, the strong TL deposit base is there and the shift from TL into FX is not material. Surely, with the phasing out of the KKM scheme, the remaining small part of KKM modelers are switching to FX. But it was in a way, FX indexed deposits. But other than that, there is no behavior change in the customers. With regard to the stress, surely, we are always monitoring our portfolio like in different ways. We are applying different stress scenarios into our capital. But in all these stress tests, we preserve our strong capital. But other than that, there isn't really currently any specific sector or area where we feel concerned. And when you look at our loan portfolio breakdown, there [ isn't ] a sector concentration. And it is really like in every sector, there are like customers with a better asset -- with a stronger financial performance and maybe a weaker financial performance. And according to that, we are continuously changing our lending criteria in terms of collateral version, in terms of duration. So that's how it's. Konstantin Rozantsev: Okay. And sorry, just a third quick question. Do you have any number in mind for cost of risk for next year, 2026 in the base scenario? Türker Tunali: Actually, currently, we are in our budgeting process, and we will be sharing our guidance by the end of -- probably by the end of January. But maybe as a reference point, probably it will evolve at similar levels like in '25. Kamile Ebru GÜVENIR: Okay. At this moment, I do not see any further hands up for questions. So I guess we're coming towards the end. There are no written questions that are different to the questions that have been actually asked. So this concludes our earnings webcast. Thank you all for joining us today. Please do not hesitate to contact our team if you have any further questions, we're always glad to help. And we also look forward to staying in touch in the upcoming conferences. We'll be in Dubai for the Jefferies Conference. We will be in London for the Goldman Sachs Conference, and we'll be actually in Prague for the WOOD's Conference. So if you're attending, we look forward to seeing you there, and bye for now.