Good morning, and welcome to the first quarter 2026 results conference call of Befesa. I am Rafael Pérez, CFO of Befesa, and this morning I'm joined by our Group CEO, Asier Zarraonandia.

Asier will start with an executive summary of the period. Then I will cover the business highlights for the steel dust as well as aluminium salt slags recycling businesses.

I will then review the first quarter financials by business, and will cover the evolution of commodity prices, our hedging program, and finally cash flow, net debt, leverage, and capital allocation. Asier will close the presentation providing an update on the outlook for 2026 and an update on our growth plan.

Finally, we will open the line for a Q&A session. As always, this conference call is being webcast live, and you can find the link in our website.

Now, let me turn the call over to our CEO. Asier, please.

Good morning, and welcome also from my side. Please move to page 5 with the financial and business highlights for the first quarter of 2026.

We had a good start into the year despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 4% to €58 million, and the margin improved accordingly from 18% to 20%.

This development was driven by both segments, steel dust and alu. Net income and earnings per share increased by a double-digit rate, being up by 11% year-over-year.

Both KPIs were driven by operational improvements, as well as better financial results. As last year, Q1 was impacted by maintenance activities, resulting in overall steady steel dust volume against a volatile market backdrop.

In aluminium, we are seeing signs of recovery, especially at the end of the first quarter, despite challenging business environment. Regarding 2026, we expect another year of earnings growth and with adjusted EBITDA ending the year between €250 and €270 million.

We expect quarterly earnings to gain momentum as the year progresses, driven by lower maintenance and higher volume. I will comment on the outlook in more detail later.

Moving on to page 6, business highlights for the steel dust business. In Europe, total steel production remained on a declining trajectory in the first quarter.

Production declined by 3% year-over-year, reflecting overall weaker demand. The EAF route was less affected by these pressures, and steel dust supplies remained stable, and deliveries continued at solid pace in Europe.

In the US, steel production increased by 6% in the first quarter of 2026, supported by overall solid demand. This trend is also reflected in the load factor, which rose to 63%.

We are starting to process dust for new EAF steel dust contracts gradually. In Asia, Turkey started the year with a softer steel production, while Korea sees business as usual, with load factors almost similar to last year.

Lastly, the situation in China has not changed. The market remains weak, and load factors at low level, remaining breakeven at P&L and cash flow.

Moving on to page 7 with the business highlights for the aluminium salt slags recycling business. Starting with salt slags, the year started softly, mainly due to lower secondary aluminium production in Europe, resulting in an average capacity utilization of 82%.

We have already started to see an improvement in business environment by the end of the first quarter going into the second quarter, and are confident the capacity utilization will recover in the next quarters. Similarly, our secondary aluminium segment followed the broader European trend, resulting in a decline in volumes.

However, measures implemented in recent quarters, particularly a stronger focus on operational discipline and cost efficiency, enabled us to preserve profitability. Looking ahead, the Bernburg expansion will support further diversification of our customer base and end-market exposure, starting already with the ramp-up in the third quarter.

Now, Rafael will explain the financials in more detail.

Thank you, Asier. Moving on to page 9, the financial results for the steel dust segment.

Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of '26 was €58 million, representing 4% year-on-year improvement. Higher volumes of Waelz oxide compensated for unfavorable FX movements in the quarter.

EBITDA margin improved from 25% to 28% in the period. At group level, utilization in steel dust remained unchanged year-over-year at 65%, primarily impacted by maintenance shutdowns.

On a regional breakdown, the US and Europe increased utilization, which was offset by Asian markets. During the quarter, zinc price in US dollars increased by 14% on an average to an average of $3,243.

However, the unfavorable euro-dollar exchange rate caused that the increase in zinc price in euros was just 3%. Considering the zinc price and the hedging, the blended price in the quarter was €2,615, pretty much in line with the previous year.

Coke and electricity costs were slightly down year-on-year. I will provide more details on our energy costs in some minutes.

Moving on to page 10, financial results for our aluminium segment. Aluminium salt slags segment delivered €9 million of EBITDA in the first quarter of the year, which represents a 10% year-on-year increase compared to the same period of 2025, even in a challenging environment.

The year-on-year €1 million positive EBITDA development was mainly due to higher collection fees in salt slag, as well as overall lower energy and operating costs. This positive development was partially offset by lower volumes in both segments, as well as slightly lower metal margin in the quarter.

We operated our plants at a solid utilization rates of about 87% in salt slag and 66% in secondary aluminium. As explained by Asier, we're seeing a recovery in the secondary aluminium business already in the second quarter, and are confident about the development of the rest of the year.

Moving on to page 11, zinc price and treatment charges. Regarding zinc LME prices, during the first quarter of 2026, zinc traded in the range of $3,000 to $3,487 per tonne, showing a particular positive trend in the first month of the year.

The average zinc LME price in the first quarter of 2026 has been $3,243 or €2,770 per tonne. On the right-hand side of the slide, on treatment charges, treatment charges for zinc have been settled in April at $85 per tonne for the full year 2026, compared to $80 of last year, 6% higher compared to 2025, which was all-time low record level.

This factor confirms that the supply zinc concentrate market is still very tight, with spot treatment charges below the current annual benchmark. Turning to page 12 on hedging.

As explained in the previous call, we have taken the opportunity of the recent rally in the zinc price to be very active on our hedging program. Our hedging book has been extended to and including July 2028 at an all-time high level of $3,100 per tonne.

For 2027, the hedge is set at $3,000 per tonne. This provides stability and visibility over the coming quarters.

Turning to page 13, Befesa energy prices. The page shows the evolution of the three main energy sources that we have in Befesa: coke, natural gas, and electricity.

With regards to coke prices, which today represents roughly 50% of the total energy bill, the normalization that started in 2023 continues throughout 2026. Average coke price in the first quarter was around €147 per tonne, consolidating its downward trend compared to the previous quarter.

Regarding electricity, which today accounts for 40% of the total energy expense, prices are at a similar level than in the fourth quarter of last year, around €111 per megawatt-hour, after a significant correction in the second quarter of 2025. Gas prices saw a slight increase in the first quarter of '26 to €51 per megawatt-hour.

We remain cautious regarding the impact that the situation in the Middle East may have on the development of energy prices and general inflation for the rest of the year. Turning to page 14, the cash flow results.

Operating cash flow in the first quarter of the year reached €38 million, which represents an increase of 12% compared to the same period of the last year. On the EBITDA to cash flow bridge, starting with €58 million adjusted EBITDA and going to the right, working capital consumption amounted to €17 million in the first quarter.

As in previous years, the first quarter working capital is typically impacted by seasonality. This will be recovered throughout the year, especially in the last quarter, as we have already seen in the last years.

Taxes paid in the first quarter came in at €3 million, compared to €7 million in the same period of last year, resulting in operating cash flow of €38 million in Q1, up 12%. On CapEx, in the first quarter we have invested €15 million in regular maintenance CapEx across the company, €11 million in growth CapEx related to the Bernburg expansion project in Germany, in summary, total CapEx of €26 million in the quarter.

Total CapEx for the full year is expected to be around €70 million, which is expected to be front-loaded, with the second half of the year reducing the level of investment. Total interest paid amounted to €9 million, reaching €10 million with other minor items.

In summary, final cash flow amounted to €2 million in the first quarter. Cash on hand stood at €145 million, which together with our €100 million undrawn revolving credit line, provides Befesa with more than €245 million of liquidity.

Net debt was greatly reduced by 10% to €550 million, resulting in a net leverage of 2.25 at closing of the quarter, strong improvement compared to 2.78 at March 2025. Turning to page 15, the debt structure and leverage.

Befesa today has a long-term efficient capital structure with optimized financial cost. Net leverage improved significantly to 2.25 at the end of March, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of leverage reduction.

For 2026, net leverage is targeted around 2 times, and below 2 times onwards, reflecting Befesa's continuous commitment to disciplined capital management. We will prioritize the growth CapEx on these projects that will deliver immediate cash flow upon completion, like the approved project of Bernburg and other market opportunities that may appear.

Also, we will keep the annual regular maintenance CapEx around the level of €45 million over the coming years. On dividend, we are committed to maintain our dividend policy to pay between 40% to 50% of the net income to shareholders.

For 2026, the board of directors will propose the EGM to pay a dividend of €40 million, equivalent to €1 per share or 50% of the net income. This dividend is 37% higher than the dividend paid last year.

Moving on to page 16. Befesa is entering into a new cycle of low CapEx and high earnings, resulting in strong free cash flow generation and shareholder value creation.

In the last years, we have gone through a high CapEx cycle, which has allowed the company to expand our operations globally into the US and China. Now that this cycle is completed, we are entering to a new cycle of limited total CapEx, below €80 million per year, along with high earnings, resulting in strong free cash flow.

After three years of negative cash flow, 2025 has marked an inflection point, delivering strong financial cash flow. Total cash flow is expected to follow a positive trajectory, reflecting the company's improvement and stronger underlying cash generation.

Finally, as I already mentioned, leverage is expected to be kept below 2 times over the coming years, allowing greater optionality in future capital allocation decisions. Now, back to Asier on outlook and growth.

Moving on to page 18, 2026 guidance. The start into the financial year 2026 has developed according to our expectations.

We expect 2026 to be another year of earnings growth. On EBITDA level, we expect to end the year between €250 and €270 million, which translates into a growth between 3% and 11%.

After 4% EBITDA growth in Q1, we expect growth to gain momentum as the year progresses. We expect total CapEx in the year to be around €70 million.

This will enable us to further reduce leverage to around 2 from last year's level of 2.3. Moving on to page 19, going through the main elements.

We expect steel dust volume in Europe to grow only modestly as we are already running at very high utilization. Volumes in the US will increase, driven by new contracts with steelmakers.

In the rest of the world, steel dust volumes are expected to develop broadly in line with last year. Salt slag operations are expected to maintain broadly stable volumes compared with 2025, enjoying higher collection fees.

The metal margin for secondary aluminium is anticipated to improve gradually over the course of the year, particularly after bottoming out in the third quarter of '25. We are already seeing an improvement in business environment in April, which make us confident.

For energy costs, we expect a mixed development in '26, with global coke prices slightly down to stable, but natural gas and electricity prices increasing in Europe. General inflation continues to impact maintenance, auxiliary materials, and personnel costs across all regions, creating a negative pressure point in the cost structure.

We should be aware that developments in the Middle East could influence energy prices and overall inflation for the rest of the year. As explained by Rafael, due to ongoing tightness in the zinc concentrate market, the benchmark treatment charge settled at $85 in 2026, just slightly up compared to last year's $80.

Hedging activity for zinc remains stable, with the average 2026 hedge price set at approximately $2,990 per metric ton, consistent with 2025 levels, suggesting a neutral hedging position. Total CapEx for the year will be around €70 million, with around €45 million for regular maintenance and the remaining for growth in the expansion of Bernburg.

We will continue following our disciplined capital allocation strategy, an ongoing focus on free cash flow generation, and we therefore anticipate further deleveraging, with net leverage declining to around 2 by year end. Moving on to page 20, our expansion project in Bernburg, Germany.

We are on track with our planned decision for Spain's expansion project and expect Bernburg to start production the second half of 2026. This is another important milestone in Befesa's growth journey as we continue to strengthen our aluminium business and expand our recycling capacity in Europe.

This project is an example of how we diversify our customer base and end-market exposure toward less volatile business. Bernburg will also contribute to our slightly H2 tilted earnings growth momentum in 2026.

Moving on to page 21 about the European steel industry. Europe is accelerating its transition toward electric arc furnace steelmaking, largely driven by decarbonization targets and supportive policy frameworks.

Between '26 and 2030, 30 new EAF projects has been announced to come online. This represents more than 22 million tonnes of new EAF capacity, which equates to 24% increase compared to the 60, 90 million tonnes of electric arc furnace capacity in Europe.

As a result, EAF penetration is expected to rise from the current 45% over the next 5 to 10 years, supported both by these new projects and the progressive replacement of blast furnaces. Given our strong market position, established customer relationships, and ongoing business development efforts, Befesa is strategically well-positioned to capture the significant volume growth expected from this structural shift.

We are already engaged in advanced negotiation with key customers to support this expansion phase in the coming years. Moving on to page 22 about the US steel industry.

In the United States, electric arc furnace steel capacity is projected to increase by more than 25% by 2028, equivalent to around 21 million tonnes of new steelmaking capacity. This expansion translate into over 300,000 tonnes of additional steel dust, creating a substantial opportunity for Befesa's recycling operation.

With a total installed capacity of 650,000 tonnes across our US plants, we are now well-positioned to leverage this growth. Our goal is to progressively ramp up utilization to below 70% today to around 90% by '28, as new electric arc furnace capacity comes online.

The combination of our modernized Palmerton facility, long-term customer relations, and strategic geographical footprint near key steel producers, ensures that Befesa is ready to capture this next phase of growth in the US market. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Asier. We will now open the lines for your questions.

Hi, good morning. I have a question just on the energy side of things.

Could you provide the breakdown again, if possible? I know you mentioned it briefly in the presentation, but just to get some more color.

Also just generally, I know you've given some detail around how you're thinking about this in the full year guidance, but is there anything you've kind of changed from, I guess, 2022 in terms of your energy exposure and how you're thinking about sort of hedging some of the volatility? That would be the first question.

Then the second question would be could you confirm whether maintenance shutdowns took place again in the first quarter or if we should expect anything else in the remainder of the year? Then finally, on European EAF, it seems like some of the projects there are progressing quite well.

Could you give a feeling on general timing on when you might make a decision regarding the expansion for Recytech on your end of things? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Lasse, for the question. I will take the energy question.

We didn't hear very well your second question, if you can repeat that?

Sorry,

can you repeat the second question, Lasse? We didn't get that one.

Of course. The second question was just around whether you undertook maintenance shutdowns again in Q1 like you did last year, I think was the case.

That's clear. On energy, basically our total energy bill today is around €100 million, okay?

Out of that, around 50% is coke. We are not seeing coke prices impacted by the current situation in the Middle East.

40% around that is electricity and 10% is natural gas, okay? Although we have seen some peaks throughout the first quarter, the average price in the first quarter of energy is as I explained, are pretty much in line with the previous year.

Maybe natural gas is peaking up slightly versus the previous quarter, but it's nothing super relevant. As natural gas and electricity typically impact our secondary aluminium business, and although the first quarter in the secondary aluminium business has not been very strong, we are seeing strong business performance improvement in the second quarter already.

Okay? Our ability to pass through this energy price increases to the customers in aluminium is pretty high, okay?

We don't see that the situation is similar to the one that we suffered in 2022 where the main impact was obviously natural gas, but especially on coke, okay? Given the fact that there was a lot of production of coke coming from Russia and Ukraine.

On maintenance and Recytech, Asier will take.

Thank you, Lasse, for the questions. Yes, maintenance and basically, I think I used to tell you guys that normally it's very difficult to move the very very far the maintenance, because normally the yearly basis stoppages is the how the kilns run normally.

Yes, Q1 was expected to be the lowest in the year once again. Q2, Q3 higher than the Q1, of course, and probably higher, we do expect higher volumes than Q1 and for last year, and the highest obviously is the Q4.

Q2, Q3 could be similar, but Q4 for sure. All in all, we expect, as we said, some growth in volumes treated, especially driven by US.

Yes, the Q1 is the weaker, and how weaker are normally the Qs depends as well in the days that you need to do the maintenance periods and so. At the end of the day, the importance for us is that we have a stocks, we have the deliveries, and we can run the furnace in a higher level in the Q2, Q3.

Regarding the France, yes, you're right. There are some projects ongoing and coming.

You have the Tata one in UK, you have the SSAB in Sweden, you have Salzgitter, you have Voestalpine, you have as well, Arcelor Gijon has started already. Starting to ramp up and so on.

Our idea nowadays is probably during '27, '28 start with the project, but it's not still defined because, again, the projects of the steelmakers are there, but are not running quick, I said. Probably they are slow and going very careful.

We want to keep more or less the idea of those years, that can be moved, I don't think more than six months. In the range of '28 and running '29 probably is our main idea now, to be confirmed, but not very different than that, unless any issue coming with the steel dust or steel production projects from the steelmakers.

We don't hope already, no?

Understood. Thank you.

Thank you, Lasse.

Hi, good morning, everyone, and thank you very much for this opportunity. I have a couple of questions.

First, how much capacity utilization you're targeting in the steel dust business in US, Europe, Turkey, and Korea this year? My second question, what zinc LME prices you have used to estimate your 2026 EBITDA estimates?

That's it.

Thank you, Shashi. Asier will take the first question and I will take the one on LME.

Yes, I think if the capacity utilization probably you can get the reference for '25 in Europe and Korea and Asia in general, and the one what we hope to increase this year is the US part, no? We do think that is possible for us to increase to 73% to 75% capacity utilization this year based on the new steel dust contract.

This is coming from the high 60s in the last year. The rest is more or less the same, because the capacity in Europe is almost fully utilized, and the situation in Turkey, Korea, and China, we do hope that they're going to be more similar than '25, no?

All in all, we do hope to be in the levels of above or around 75% in the year. This is the global of Befesa expectation.

Regarding the assumption on LME price on the upper and the lower ranges of the guidance. I think what we have said Shashi is that the guidance consider a number of moving parts, as you can see on page 19.

There are certain elements which are well known, like the treatment charge and the hedging, but there are other elements which are not so well known, no? LME price is obviously uncertainty, but it is also energy prices, FX, and so on, okay?

I cannot give you a precise number. What we do is we create a more optimistic scenario across a number of variables, and a more pessimistic scenario across the same number of variables, okay?

With that, we come up with the upper and with the lower part of the range. I cannot give you a precise number because there are so many moving parts embedded in the upper and in the lower part of the guidance.

Got it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Shashi.

Yes, hi. Good morning.

Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just another one on energy impact, just trying there.

What assumptions are you making on gas and electricity prices in your guidance? It sounds like you're calling sort of the petcoke level flattish for the rest of the year, or sort of if you could give us a sense of the EBITDA impact of a change in let's say €10 per megawatt-hour of electricity and gas, that would be helpful.

Then a second question would be on secondary aluminium. I was just wondering if you could talk to us about the upside and downside scenario given the disruption we're seeing on the supply side, any impacts on metal margins?

I think you talked at the last call of something like the €8 to €10 million EBITDA level as a level you're confident with, but is there any upside there? Then just on EAF volumes, I think you talked about weak volumes in Turkey in Q1, but an expected improvement in the second quarter and second half.

Can you just talk a bit about the impact of the European safeguard measures on your non-European footprint, please, given also the export share of that market? I'll take the rest in the queue.

Thank you, Olivier. On energy basically, we are expecting coke prices to continue, as I said, the downward trend, not strongly, but gradual, as slightly positive results coming from a slightly better prices across all regions, and you could say that that's like the middle part of the guidance range.

On electricity and natural gas prices, I would say also that the average of last year is like the midpoint of the guidance range. As I said, first quarter we are seeing very stable prices.

Obviously, if the crisis in the Middle East continues, that may have an impact, but that is an uncertainty that we have, no? That's what I can tell you, Olivier, regarding energy impact.

On secondary alu, I think Asier you can take that.

Yes, thank you for the question, Olivier. The secondary aluminium, we really, despite the fact that the Q1 came at the beginning of the year, especially January, with some stances from the producers and so on, because the Christmas period, December, they prolonged the starting up of the year.

Later, they are coming back to normal volumes, and the margins we can feel in March, and especially now in April, probably helped by the high aluminium price, the margins are improving very clear. Yes, we are optimistic with this, and probably the range that you said, €8 to €10 million, probably we can see now with a little bit more comfortable, despite, as I said, the fact that the Q1 is still a little bit far from that.

Yes, we see the recovery is coming in that level. Regards to the electric arc furnace, is a good question about the measures that the European market is taking with the CBAM or even with the idea to put the quotas and less imports.

It's still to see, well, in any case, for us in the European market is difficult to growth under the current circumstances. The steelmakers are all expecting to increase the production and as well the prices, and going better in Europe.

This is a fact. How that affects to the rest, I think that the main affectation could be probably China, that were having records of export last year and probably would be affected, but they can go to other Asian parts, and we will see.

In the particular case of Turkey, I think they have their own circumstances and the Q1 is more related to the once again starting up the year, that normally they get for maintenance stoppages. We don't see changes, and based on our deliveries on a daily basis is what is the best for us to understand how the things are going.

We do hope the year will be similar than last year, in that case. The measures, we will see what happens, no?

Thanks. Maybe I'll just ask my last one on EPS.

Just if I look at the delta between the low end of the EBITDA guidance and the minimum EPS sort of guidance, that's around sort of 160 something million of below-EBITDA let's say costs, is that sort of the level we should be thinking about, or any risk this is higher? Just wondering about sort of how we should think about the range at EPS level.

That makes sense. That assumption makes sense, Olivier.

Thanks.

Thank you, Olivier.

Hey, good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my question.

Some were already covered, a couple left. First, would be the target margin in secondary aluminium after the Bernburg expansion and adding beverages to that portfolio?

Can you give us a flavor for that? Is that something where you were expecting to move more towards the mid-single digits margin in 2026 already and then further in 2027, or how can we think about that?

Second is on interest expense recovery from potentially improved margin ratchet. Could you quantify that?

Are we looking at finance expense of more towards €30 million in 2026, or is that too early? The third and last, could you maybe be bit more precise on your capital allocation strategy going forward?

I guess M&A is not the biggest topic, but could we also expect buybacks for your capital allocation strategy? Thanks.

Going back to the queue.

Thank you for the question, Fabian. I will take the aluminium one, the margins.

We really hope that the margins in aluminium the increase in Bernburg will help because it's more secure, but I think that is moving in the 1 single digit is the case. It's going to help because it's more stable than others, because it's a tolling basis contract in this case and is helping, but the margins really are more depending on the situation of the market.

Projecting in a mid or in the top part of the single digit, I think that could be a good range to have a reference in the aluminium. Regarding the interest expense that we expect for the year, Fabian, yeah, between €30 to €35 million is a very reasonable assumption, okay?

Later as the year moves on, we will fine-tune this number, but starting the year, I think that's a good reference.

About the capital allocation for the future...

Capital allocation. I think we have said, no, I think it's a very important message for everybody to understand.

We are entering to a new cycle, no? All the heavy investment is already behind us, that has enabled us to expand our footprint globally to the US, which is a very attractive market, and to China.

Now the capital allocation priorities are very clear. On the one hand, we need to spend €40 to €45 million on maintenance CapEx to keep our asset base running properly.

Secondly, we have a commitment to pay a dividend to our shareholders of 40% to 50% of the net income. Then we want to keep the leverage below 2 times for the coming years.

That is something that we are fully committed. Then obviously, we have some projects like the one of Recytech that Asier explained, around the corner, no, which is delivering a very super-high attractive return for our shareholders, no?

After that, all the cash excess will be delivered to the shareholders either via extra dividend or as a share buyback. I don't think M&A, Fabian, is at the moment in the pipeline or in the radar.

As we are operating in a very niche environment, very niche industry. The big M&A opportunity was in the US already.

A part of our strategy is not to get into any other businesses other than our core business, steel dust and salt slag. Obviously, as we have already explained in the previous call, no, share buybacks is something that depending on the valuation of the company and the share price, we will definitely consider.

Great. Thanks, guys.

Thank you, Fabian.

Hi, good morning. Can you hear me?

We can hear you, Jaime. Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Two questions from my side. One on zinc prices and hedging strategy update.

On zinc prices from your channel checks, if you can provide a little bit of outlook how you see the supply-demand model, the demand of zinc. Prices seems to be consistent above $3,000, just to have your view there.

In terms of hedging strategy, if you can update us until when you have the hedges and if you think you can hedge a little bit more at current prices. The second would be more in the interim, the stock is down around 6% today, probably illiquidity.

We know that it happened in the past, but what could you say in order to provide comfort to investors in terms of your visibility and in terms of the guidance in order to provide some assurance to the stock in the short run? Thank you.

Thank you, Jaime. On hedging, I think you have all the details on the presentation on slide 12, and I have covered that, no?

We are fully hedged until July 2028 at a record-high zinc price levels in dollars. We're continuing to monitor obviously the opportunities.

There are two elements in here, one is the spot price and then the other thing is the future curve, no, whether that is in backwardation, that means the future prices are lower than the current spot prices or the opposite, no? We're monitoring.

It is true that even in the current volatile environment, commodity prices and especially zinc prices are holding up pretty well, and yeah, we will keep you posted. On the stock, Asier

has... I think that talking about the stock is difficult for us, because obviously we think that the stock is far from the point it should be if I were managing the market, right?

Now, being serious, I think that no matter what happens today, because probably is the reaction at the one was expecting more, one was expecting less, I think we are in line with what we are telling. It's the next two three years until we do the next investment in Europe are going to be growing years based on the US basically, based on the US and the volumes and the hedging we have.

We are on our way to €300 million EBITDA in three, four, five years, and very very cash-generating company, reducing the leverage ratio probably in the next three years below 1.5. Yes, I think we are going to have a very good financial and balanced situation, I do hope that the share deserves more price.

Obviously, market is the real owner of those things and decisions and going forward. I think that today probably is a very short time, but probably once you guys analyze the numbers and reaffirm that we are on our way to this 300 and growing EBITDA and cash generating, as Rafa explained, we can do more things with the retribution to the shareholders and well why not doing other things.

At the end of the day, I think that we are on path for that, and nothing strange has happened in this Q1. It's just as the point moment of the Q1 because the maintenance, the rest of the year we can good.

We are positive and optimistic that we will reach very soon this €300 million, and then we will see the next four, five years, no?

From my side nothing else to comment on top of Asier. What I could say is that this is going to be the third consecutive years of EBITDA growth.

We have been deleveraging the balance sheet over the eighth consecutive quarters, EPS is going up, we are in the middle of a shift in the steel industry both in the US and in Europe. It is true that China is not delivering, but that's an option.

We are not considering China for reaching the €300 million that Asier is mentioning. I think the company is in a very good shape.

Thank you, Jaime.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you very much. Good morning, and thank you for taking my questions.

I have only one. It's on the '26 guidance, it's roughly €18 million year-on-year improvement.

Could you how this improvement is split between higher US steel dust volumes and the recovery in secondary aluminium including any contribution from Bernburg in half two '26? Thank you.

I think the aluminium and the US steel volumes are the drivers to go to the high part of the year, but together with many other assumptions about zinc price and about the electricity and energy costs and the inflation, everything is together. I don't think it's worth it to say what we are considering.

I think basically we do hope that 10% steel dust volumes increase in US to come into 75%, and the margins to aluminium to come to €8 to €10 million, and this is more or less one of the consideration you have. The zinc and the others probably you guys has to do your model as well, has no sense to discuss about what to put there.

Morning, and thank you for taking my questions. I've got two left as well.

Just to follow up again on the 2026 EBITDA guidance. Last quarter you mentioned you were comfortable with consensus, which was at about 2- €260 million for 2026.

That's now the midpoint of the new guidance, but since then we've had a much more favorable zinc TCs settlement. I just want to understand a bit more what's changed since then?

Is it just the energy cost outlook? Second, just on volumes to confirm, do you have any maintenance leftover for Q2, and on the US steel dust volume ramp-up, is this more a second half weighted trajectory or should we expect this to be more even?

Good questions about the comfortable about €260 [million?] .

Yes, it's true that TC were coming better than that we were expecting in the last call. We were expecting around $100, $110, and now it's $85.

It's not a very big difference at the end of the day, but obviously it's a difference, positive. We are happy with that.

Yes, still probably the €260, €65 could be that is a good figure for us to have in consideration, and more or less the midpoint always as you discuss with you is the point that you get and the point that we are more or less comfortable. Obviously, there were not having the certainty three, four months ago about the situation in Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz, and so on.

It's difficult for us, we have to put more things on the framework to do the guidance. Yes, I think that the midpoint, a little bit better, although depending on those things, probably is a good reference for us, nothing changed, despite the fact that we have some millions better than the treatment charge.

In terms of the volume, yes, Q2 and Q3 are going to come better and higher than the Q1, but again, there are still split some maintenance in the two Qs less than in the Q1, and the year where we have less maintenance definitely is the Q4. Putting a growing from last year, I think probably last year is a good reference, and on top of this the 10% that 10% to 12% that we hoped that we are going to have this year in total probably is a good reference.

Yes, the volumes in US are developing as expected at the end of the day, and we do hope that second quarter will come even higher and stronger than the Q1, and Q2 Q3 probably and Q4 I think is a growing, and the worst in terms of lower production because the maintenance has over in the year, no?

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you, Adahna.

I just wanted to quickly follow up on secondary aluminium metal margins. I'm just wondering if you can comment on the levels you're seeing right now, given the disruptions to production there, and then just a few comments maybe given higher electricity prices in US smelter?

I think that we are now in the current situation. Again, the Q1 is not a good example because it's everything affected, and to have an idea of the margin in aluminium, we need to hope this April, May, because it's affecting by higher energy prices, but higher price as well.

The margins are coming higher, but we need to hope as I said before, in that range, but it's difficult to get to conclusions now. We are watching the increase in margins, but it's a matter of gradually, and we do hope that we are going to be able to transfer the energy increases to the customers at the end of the day, no?

The mechanism for that is basically higher prices.

Higher prices,

but

you have to consider that we have higher prices in sales, but we have higher prices in purchase with the scrap as well. That's why we talk and touch on margins, and the high price help because you have more price to calculate.

Even the same margin, you get better profits, right? At the end, it's depending on how you manage the purchase and sales and then the cost to be transferred to the customers, no?

Thank you all for your questions. You can also contact the investor relations team of Befesa for any further clarification.

We will now conclude the conference call and the Q&A session. Thank you very much to all of you and have a good day.