Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
Hello everyone, and welcome to our video conference regarding Q1 results for 2026. I am joined by Mr.
Ion Stanciu, Mrs. Ioana Mihailescu, Nicoleta Florescu, CFO, Mr.
Tudor Boboc, IR Specialist, and Mrs. Daniela Maier, our consultant in what concerns IR and communication.
As you are accustomed by now, we are going to list the financial results and the overall market situation, after which we wait to hear your questions. What am I supposed to do, read the title card?
Yes, let's move on. Q1 2026 was a difficult quarter in what concerns market conditions, but they show a stabilization.
Aggregated rolling 12-month volumes remained... our aggregated volumes remained between 10.24 and 10.42 million tons over the last 4 quarters, so that's the analysis, that our volumes are tending to stabilize.
We also saw a slight increasing trend in terms of average tariffs started in Q3. This was manifested continuously throughout 3 quarters, average tariffs as of Q1 2026 were more than were 3.2% as compared to Q2 2025.
Mineral cargo flows increased +27% in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, continuous growth, the main reason relates to accessing new cargo flows by TTS, not necessarily an increase in what concerns volumes overall on the market. Agricultural cargo decreased continuously, reaching -28.6% as compared to Q1 2025.
Chemical cargo flows have been on a slight downward trend since Q2 2025, now we are at -9%, reflecting the effects of tighter international sanctions on trade. The operational mix for the 12-month period remained stable, 42%-43% river transport and 57%-58% port operations over the last quarters.
The cargo mix, the cargo mix for a rolling 12-month period, 64%-65% industrial cargoes, namely minerals and chemicals, and 32%-33% agricultural cargoes. In what concerns the financial side, indicators improved.
Profitability indicators improved both at consolidated and individual level. Group level indicators have returned to positive territory.
Rolling 12-month operational cash flow, cash flow increased across the board, and at standalone level, and revenues decreased by 0.4% driven by a 1.3% decline in volumes, which was partially offset by higher tariffs. Profitability margins have been improving since Q3, with more significant increases at consolidated level.
Now let's move on to the financial data. Q1 2026, as you can see on the chart as published in our reports, is the first quarter after a long period in which the results for the 12-month period at group level were all positive: 2.2, 19.3 million operational result, and EBITDA 102.5 million lei for the 12-month period.
Margins substantially increased as of Q3 last year from 12.5% in Q2 to 15.8% in Q1 2026, again we are talking about EBITDA for a 12-month period. The profit margin increased, it moved from the negative territory towards a positive territory after a long period of negative values.
At quarterly level again we had a small loss, 2.2 million lei, but the margins at quarterly level have reached 40 14.8%. The biggest margin in the past year was in Q3, but this relates to seasonality.
It's not something that can occur each quarter. At individual level, the margins for the 12-month period seem to be stable between 10.3%, 10.2% and 10.6% in the last 4 quarters EBITDA margin, and 6.8% increase in profit margin has reached 7.4% for the 12-month period, higher than the fiscal year 2025, 7.4%.
Q1 was slightly weaker than Q4, but when analyzing the 12-month period, all indicators show growth. Another important aspect to mention from our point of view, liquidity increase, more precisely increase of cash from operations in the past 12 months at consolidated level where it increased from 54.9 million in Q1 2025 in 12-month period of cash from operational cash flow, and it reached 86.5 million lei in the first quarter of 2026.
Again, at TTS individual level, we moved from -24 in Q1 2025, and we reached a level of 42.4 in Q1 2026, measured based on a 12-month period. Cash value at the end of the period in Q1 2026 was higher when compared to all 4 previous quarters at consolidated level and at standalone level at TTS.
As I mentioned, in terms of revenues, we saw a bit of a recoil as compared to Q4, and this was reflected in the 12-month results value as well. This is due to a slight reduction in terms of cargo volumes, compensated by tariff increase.
Moving forward to operations, here you can best see the stabilization of our volumes between 10.24 million tons in Q2 2025, and now 10.28 million tons in Q1 2026. In what concerns cargo mix, you can see the stabilization in what concerns transport and operations, 42%-43% river transport, 57%-58% port operations.
In what concerns cargoes, agricultural cargo decreases in weighting, it has reached 32% from the total volume. Industrial cargo has increased to 64% based on our strategy to reduce overall volatility in what concerns volumes and the financial side as well.
Separately, when we look at the cargo mix, you can see that industrial cargoes have continuously increased in the past 4 quarters, we are talking about volumes in the past 12 months, and agricultural products have decreased continuously from 4.6 million in Q1 2025 to 3.32 million in Q1 2026. The best development was registered by mineral cargo.
It continuously grew as of Q2 2025 from 3.67 million tons in Q1 2025 to 4.66 million tons. When discussing chemical cargo, there is a slight decrease trend.
In Q1 2026, 1.98 compared to Q1 2 2025, 2.80, when the first measures related to sanctions were applied.
Ion Stanciu
This is our brief presentation of the quarter overall, and now we are here and waiting for your questions. Waiting for the details.
Mr. Cristian
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
Petre: "You
Nicoleta Florescu
had an
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
increase in
Nicoleta Florescu
EBITDA of
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
+74% year-over-year. How much of this improvement is structural?
Which level of EBITDA normalized should we wait for on the medium term?" In the first section, there is a structural change from the third quarter of 2024 to optimize the whole group.
We saw reduces in costs on river transport, 30% I think, when compared to Q1 2025, we had a decrease of 30%. Do you have the figures?
When looking at port operations, we had a decrease in structural costs, they're not temporal, starting with last year. We reached a cost structure and an expenses level which is very competitive at the market level.
We aligned to the market because there was no other solution. We have a 14% on the budgeted figures, 14% is the level of EBITDA increase.
Ion Stanciu
Let's be a bit more philosophical.
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
We have strategic principles that we are continuing to implement, and it has to do with everyday life. As beautiful and young we are, one of the principles is to be as stable as possible in everything we carry out.
That's where we saw the decrease in grains. Agricultural market is more and more volatile.
We need stability, and we found it in the industrial products. A second principle, which is fundamental, and it applies to day-to-day life, you spend what you have, or you produce what you need to spend.
If we cannot produce anymore higher levels, we need to balance with expenses what we can sustain for real, so that we do not affect the capacity. We saw that in 2024 when we started taking and implementing the first measures.
It's not only here in Bucharest, from the Bucharest headquarters, like a legislative manner. We talked to our colleagues in the subsidiaries, and then we implemented them.
We are now having controllable and controlled expenses. We are optimistic that we can keep this level of expenditures.
It's a structural change. Of course, there will be variations up and down as per our activity levels.
For the grains, for example, where we can see in exports in the volumes in Danube, we will have additional costs in fuels, in transport, those will increase in the absolute value. We will keep it at that 30% overall as weight.
Ion Stanciu
I will answer Mr. Cristian Petre also: "The reducing of expenses with personnel and third parties, is it sustainable?"
Yes, but in an actual, conscious implementation, it's not just a number, and everybody has followed that number under any circumstances. We have to look at our capacity to generate revenues and also to incur expenses.
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
Mrs. Irina Răilean wants to talk.
Hello, can you hear me? Yes.
Irina Răilean
We have a question about one line in the P&L
about consumables, just a second, please. You had a goods sold increased
Irina Răilean
that was significant in
the finished goods.
Nicoleta Florescu
This cost is correlated to the activity from Agrimol subsidiary, which has a typical activity and it sells goods, it trades goods.
It has to do with the value of the finished goods. It increased also as a weight.
Yes, because it had an increase in the activity. They had some additional exports, and also the turnover increased.
Those are proportional. More volumes,
Irina Răilean
more costs for the finished goods.
This is in the others segment?
Irina Răilean
Yes. As a confusion,
it's not related with the fuel cost? No.
Ion Stanciu
It's raw materials and materials.
Thank you, this is clear.
Ion Stanciu
Looking at the budget,
Irina Răilean
we have a better visibility now
in the agricultural sector. Are the hypotheses still valid that you outlined in the budget?
Yes. The second quarter is weaker than the first quarter normally,
Ion Stanciu
and then Q3,
due to the agricultural harvest, is higher than all the other three quarters in the year. This year seems to be the same.
If on the minerals side and chemicals one industrial, we see a stabilization, we had a hit with, of course, the Gulf War, which affected the fertilizer market. The other minerals evolved in line with the estimates we had.
We see a stabilization. We hope up to the end of the year,
Ion Stanciu
as per the data we consider for the budget. For the agri products, of course they're unpredictable.
We're looking at the history partly, somehow also information from the market, from the clients.
This year, we can tell you that it's not typical as per the last 2 years, very close to a further period. We had a winter with snow and humidity, then a spring which was also humid.
In these conditions, the summer harvest is, actually, except for catastrophe, we look at the rapeseed and at the grain, we'll have a very good as per last year harvest. We expect massive export volumes.
Corn is a bit uncertain. We need to see the temperatures in June and July to see if they materialize or not.
We can answer this question at the beginning of August. On paper, we will have grains for export.
The problem is, as you could see in the media, those are public information, the past year has been a chain of bankruptcies of the great intermediaries of grains in Romania. There are others with big problems,
Ion Stanciu
and
they provide unpredictability. This year, there is uncertainty about how the logistics plays out,
Ion Stanciu
because
between the multinationals and the farmers
Ion Stanciu
is
almost a void, because these intermediaries have disappeared. We're a bit afraid that we will be highly exposed to truck, road transport.
Now we have quantities or even higher that we budgeted at the beginning of this year,
Ion Stanciu
and
these data refers to Q3. As Mr.
Țăranu said, it's a bit too soon to know how we will fulfill or not the budget figures this year. We will look at Q2 preliminary report, because then we will have a clearer view on the grain traffic that will be transported this year.
For now, on paper things are the same. Talking about the road transport,
Irina Răilean
these companies that import from Romania, don't they take care of the logistics, or who manages the logistics aspect?
Isn't it a chain or is it very affected? It's very complicated.
We talked to the leaders of the grain transport. The farmers are large and small.
There's only a few of them with 10,000 hectares that transport their own goods. The medium and small ones, they don't have the capacity to transport their goods to Constanța only by road, by truck.
You need to get to Constanța, then you have the river transport. This also happens very well organized for them.
The local farmers have an easier access to trucks, and there they sold the goods to a multinational company to organize as such to go to each farmer, it means a very high effort as personnel and geographical covering. The clients say, "For me to collect all the goods, I cannot justify that workforce that is required for us to do that."
Things are currently unfolding. They receive the cargo, they take them on short routes, and this is easy to manage, but things get complicated when we talk about organizing longer routes.
I understand.
Ion Stanciu
You were saying that at quantity level you have a better visibility and you are reaching a similar level to the level of last year, why are you still doubting if you will achieve the budget? Nicoleta was talking about lumber.
The company that produces lumber has contracts for this year that modify their turnover by an N value, a beautiful N value. Then the Gulf War started.
When the Gulf War started, the company conducted huge efforts to hope the cargo reaches destination, and then it stopped. A lot of things can happen.
Grains market is volatile. We have a huge surplus on the market in autumn.
Nobody knows how things will develop. Nobody knows what will happen with the Ukraine-Russia relationship.
There are so many variables, so many uncertainties which we would be unprofessional to say, "Yes, we can achieve the budget." We can simply say that it will be better than now.
At the beginning of Q3, we are optimistic enough to say that there is a positive trend. Of course, there is fear that things might change.
There was a drone that exploded today, this morning, in a place, of course, that was far enough to not affect or impact infrastructure, things are uncertain. I see, okay.
We will hopefully have more visibility during the next call. Yes, definitely.
The next question, I believe the answer has been asked: "Do you believe river transport on the Danube can be affected by the Ukrainian war next year?" If things continue with the Ukraine-Russia war, yes, the same impact, with a slight difference that probably river transport capacities existing on the Danube today will probably visibly decrease as compared to the previous year.
There are no further questions right now. Another question has appeared: "Can you add comments related to the development of minerals and chemical cargo?"
Of course. We can add some comments in this regard.
We do not possess information, public information or private information that Tulcea and Galați will restart anytime soon their activity, or at all. Once we saw that their activity is stopped, we tried to continue to reactivate older discussions, because these were additional cargo flows.
The advantage of these additional cargo flows is, okay, they're not constant, but they are more constant as compared to other cargoes, of fertilizers seasonality, agricultural goods seasonality. Two new cargo flows have entered into operation, in August they will be reflected in results at a monthly stable level, tens of thousands of tons.
In Smederevo, the unit is working, but at half capacity, as far as we know. It's working, it's stable under current conditions.
Rules regarding carbon emissions, we don't know them yet. They could impact our activity.
Imports of finished products via Constanța is stable, somewhat stable. On the other side, you see Ford, Dacia have laid off a lot of people, there's a lower consumption level in terms of sheets via Constanța Port that we operated with the help of Decirom.
Constructions are going, as we all know, but raw materials, concrete and so on comes from import. If constructions continue to show low development, then we will see what will happen.
The Gulf War has affected cargo flows. We had fertilizer products from China, they have disappeared right now.
The Gulf War means nothing is coming from there. Russia, nothing is coming from Russia except for unsanctionable categories, and these are very few overall in number, exempt from sanctions.
I don't know how to call this situation. It's something out of our control.
It's unpredictable. Grains are unpredictable due to seasonality.
For industrial cargoes,
Ion Stanciu
because
we are starting to distinguish between industrial and non-industrial cargoes,
Ion Stanciu
in terms of industrial cargoes,
we can count on stability, with fluctuations, of course, but slight fluctuations, namely for this year and next year. Who knows, maybe we will have a surprise, maybe Galați will start activity again.
For other cargoes, things are as mentioned before, uncertain. Another question from Mr.
Cristian Petre: "Details regarding investments, Decirom and Canopus. Are they according to plan?"
For Decirom, Mr. Țăranu can go more into detail.
Canopus, I am closer to Canopus, I can give you more details. Mid-July we will start trials for a part of the new silo.
By mid-July,
Gabriel-Andrei Țecheră
it will be finalized. The investment will be finalized, and we will start also trials with cargoes for the first three silos, because you can't conduct trials for all of them at once.
Our colleagues have allocated already volumes, and we will start at the beginning of June, then after a 1-month first trial, we will enter into operation. In July, somewhere in July, everything will be concluded.
Almost half, or at least half, of the silo will be functional. The new capacity, we changed a certain weighing units and devices, the investment is more comprehensive.
If there is anybody interested in visiting, it's worth a visit. In what concerns Decirom, the second crane under refurbishment will probably be concluded in autumn.
We are preparing ourselves to access European funds, we want to apply, yes, because access is another thing, we want to apply for European funds for refurbishment only electrical cranes. Right now at the beginning phase, we have a project for a multi-functional storage unit.
We haven't decided the technical solution yet, which will actually serve several flows, so that it can be used for several types of cargoes. This is the situation right now.
Ion Stanciu
There are no other questions right now. Let's wait a couple more minutes and see if any other questions appear, and if not, in 5 minutes we will close the session.
No other questions have arrived. We can close the video conference.
Thank you for participating. Thank you for sending your questions, and we are going to see each other at the video conference for the first half of the year.
Goodbye, everyone.
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