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3 Bekaert Investor Relations Dries Van Hamme T +32 51 33 34 23 dries.vanhamme@bekaert.com Press release Regulated Information - Inside information 30 July 2026 - 7:00 a.m. CET Press Kim De Raedt T +32 56 76 70 16 kim.deraedt@bekaert.com bekaert.com 2026 Half year results Disciplined performance in volatile context Bekaert delivered a disciplined financial performance in the first half of 2026 , in line with expectations . The Group demonstrated agility in managing inflation and supply chains in a volatile geopolitical environment , supported by solid volume growth and continued cost discipline . Despite adverse price - mix effects , profitability remained solid , with an underlying EBIT¹ margin above 8 % . The balance sheet remained strong with leverage at 0.8x , including the effects of acquisitions and share buybacks and despite temporarily higher working capital to navigate supply chain pressures . Olivier Biebuyck , CEO of Bekaert , commented : " The first half of 2026 successfully demonstrated the agility of our organization . Following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East , we acted swiftly to mitigate the impact of higher input costs . While there is a short timing delay in fully recovering cost increases , and a margin compression effect , we remained disciplined in protecting the profitability of the Group . Across our businesses , market conditions continued to vary across geographies and segments . We saw robust demand in Sustainable Construction , particularly in North America , where sales growth was driven by data center - related applications leveraging our Dramix® solutions . In Rubber Reinforcement , volume growth in Asia more than compensated for softer market conditions elsewhere , underpinning topline resilience while regional demand dynamics are weighing on mix and prices . Strong order books in power and data transmission wire projects provide a foundation for the remainder of the year . At the same time , we continued to navigate headwinds , including project delays at customers in steel ropes and transmission wires . As part of my active listening tour as new CEO , I have been impressed by the engineering capabilities of our teams . Their focus on customer support and continuous improvement gives me confidence that Bekaert is well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities . " Financial highlights ■ Q2 2026 flat like - for - like² sales versus Q2 2025 and sales growth versus previous quarter ( + 3 % ) ° Solid like - for - like volume growth ( + 4 % ) , primarily in tire cord о о Unfavorable price - mix effects ( -4 % ) Total sales of € 947 million ( -2 % ) including impact of disposals and acquisitions H1 2026 like - for - like sales flat versus last year and total sales of € 1.9 billion ( -5 % ) о ° ° о Like - for - like volumes up + 4 % ( € + 76 million ) Unfavorable regional and product mix impacts , partly offset by gradual pass - through of cost inflation in the value chain ( -4 % , € -69 million ) Currency impact of -2 % ( € -47 million ) Portfolio change effects of -3 % ( € -50 million ) , reflecting the strategic disposals in Latin America , partly offset by the contribution from the recently acquired Bridgestone plants Underlying gross profit margin of 16.0 % ( vs 16.6 % in H1 2025 ) , driven by unfavorable price - mix effects and partly offset by sales volume growth EBITDAU¹ of € 237 million ( -9 % ) , delivering a margin on sales of 12.7 % ( vs 13.3 % in H1 2025 ) EBITU¹ of € 155 million ( -10 % ) , resulting in a margin of 8.3 % ( vs 8.8 % in H1 2025 ) 1 FCF = Free Cash Flow , EBITu = underlying EBIT , EBITDAu = underlying EBITDA and EPSu = underlying earnings per share and all are defined Alternative Performance Measures ( APMs ) . The full list of all APMs can be found at the end of the document ( note 15 ) . 2 Like - for - like comparisons are excluding the impacts of currency translation , acquisitions , disposals Page 1