Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Thanks for dialing in to our Q2 conference call. We released a good set of numbers this morning that, Dominik and, René will go through, now. And, without further ado, I hand over to you, Dominik. Chris, thanks a lot. Hello, also from my side. Great to have you on our call. Let me just run briefly through the key points, and then I think it's all about your questions, and René and myself are more than happy to answer them. So we jump into the first cover page on page two. Just sharing the fact that I think we've released solid result improvement despite lower volumes. So revenues, I have also slightly down 2%, EBITDA and ROCE up 4%, respectively, 5%. And what's very important is that the EBITDA margin improved 130 basis points, so 1.3 percentage points. And that was very much driven by a step change from North America, where our EBITDA margin significantly improved 5.4 percentage points, or 450 basis points. And that is really driven by good underlying performance and strong contributions from our investments. So in that respect, everything worked well and continues to work well for us in the U.S. and North America. Free cash flow over the last 12 months was strong. René will go into the details with EUR 2.2 billion. We've issued the first green bond, so you know that we had a lot of sustainable linked bonds out. Here comes the first green one, and the value is EUR 700 million. We've initiated, as promised, the first share buyback program with a tranche of EUR 350 million-EUR 400 million. CO2 emissions, importantly, have further reduced specific ones by almost 2% versus prior year. And then our outlook stays unchanged. We confirm it with an RCO between EUR 3 billion and EUR 3.3 billion and in ROIC around 10%. Just to note very clearly, the other three points that for us are the secondary outlook points: revenue, CO2, and leverage stay unchanged. CapE x, sorry, and CapEx stay unchanged. So in that respect, we hold the line, and that's it from the outlook side. Operational results. Next page, you see that, we now reach almost EUR 1.3 billion EBITDA in Q2, so I think that's great to see. RCO goes up to almost EUR 1 billion, and the margin importantly moves beyond 23%- 23.4%. What is good to see in the second quarter is that we overcompensated the slower start into the year. Okay, we were going against the fairly strong comp, but nevertheless, Q1 was a little bit slower. We've accelerated you through Q2, and you see it in the numbers. So basically, EBITDA for the full year is now up 2% like for like, and RCO up 2%. So if you compare that to the four and the five, that shows you that Q2 was stronger than Q1. The operating margin for the full year, for the first half year, goes up to 18.3%, revenue slightly down. Then if you go to the bridge on page 6, you see that the volume effect is still negative, substantially negative, but positively overcompensated by a good, continuously good price over cost improvement, and that then leads to almost EUR 1 billion of RCO for the quarter. For the full year, a similar effect, but here also visibly, you see that the first quarter was slower than the second one because the size of the two green light green bars for volume and price over cost is basically similar. While on the chart before, it was noticeably more in favor with price over cost. So you see that things through Q2 have been better than in Q1. Very much driven also by a step change in North America, as I was indicating earlier. We promised to you that we are gonna increase the transparency around margin development in North America, and here we go. So you see the step change from 21, 22, 23% up to 25% now by June for the last 12 months. And the driver on the right side, you see, is an improved aggregates margin, the one on the top, and then a steeply improving cement margin that is obviously also driven by the new plant in Mitchell, and that you see on page nine. You know that we have built a plant for $750 million. It has come on stream mid last year. It's now going into full operation. We have strong result and margin contribution, significant reduction of CO2 emission of up to 30% versus the old setup. And it's also ready for to be the largest CCS project in the group, where we've secured a funding up to $500 million from the DOE. Important for us, and I think that is not necessarily I think the perception from the outside is that we're able to drive the ROIC clearly above 10% with a brownfield investment like this. And we will also create a three-digit million EUR incremental RCO as early as next year versus the old setup. So I think, we've promised in the Capital Market Day 2021, the step change in the U.S. We said 400-500 basis points, and here we are, even going a little bit beyond. So in that respect, I think, we absolutely hold the line and, keep our promises. That's also true for the, inorganic growth. I think we've had a good run now in North America to do, a very significant amount of, bolt-on and tuck-in acquisitions, smaller and mid-sized ones. You see here on the map, I won't go through all of them, but, you know that in the last two months alone, we have done four, investments. The latest one we announced, this morning with Carver. The Carver acquisition, from the family up there in the northeast of, upstate New York, close to the capital of Albany. Fits very well with our strong position in upstate New York and creates, nice synergies and, improved market footprint. So, that's exactly are the ones, the acquisitions we want to do with high synergy potential. The ROIC will move, above, 10%, post-integration. The margins will go up, and it will also help our sustainability ambition. All four of them were in the aggregates, asphalt and ready mix and recycling space. So I think that really drives also our sustainability ambition. And last but not least, on this slide, very importantly, you know, we've sold the West Coast quite some years back for a very decent multiple, as many of you know. And we've now managed, if you draw the summary line below those acquisitions here, to recycle, if you wish to say so, that capital and that cash into new assets that fit even better to our existing footprint, so more synergies. And we've done that for half the multiple that we did dispose of the West Coast. If that doesn't drive shareholder value, I don't know what should. So in that respect, I think in an interesting market for us, this is-- I think works very well. If we go into the details, in on page 11 for Europe, I think good quarter for Europe. We have stabilized the result on a very high level, almost EUR 500 million RCO. Margin stabilized at around 18%-18.5%. I'm sure we'll go into the details when you have your questions, but overall, I think it's a little bit of split picture. Eastern Europe runs very well. Northern and Western Europe runs a little bit slower. Volumes are still subdued, although in some of those markets, we now see slight bottoming out of the decline. So those are important markets for us, and I think there is significant potential on the way back up because some of these markets are 20 30, even more percent down from from the peak. So in that respect, I think that's a good position to be in. When you go to North America, you see the significant uplift in RCO. You see the significant uplift in RCO margin. And I think that shows that the result development is really strong, despite slower demand. So also in the U.S., the volumes are under pressure, mainly coming from the residential, partially the commercial side of things. So in that respect, I think the team has done an excellent job to really reap the benefits from the Mitchell new plant, but also, or replant, and also some tuck-in acquisition, tuck-in aggregates improvements that we have pulled off over the last one or two years that are now really showing in the results, also in aggregate. So I think in that respect, top job by the North American team, and I think we are very satisfied with the trajectory there in the U.S. and Canada. Asia Pacific with a slower quarter, I think that's fair to say. China is not running well overall. That has a maybe secondary impact on some of the countries in Asia. I think Australia, very sluggish demand, but good result development. I think stable result development. Excellent job by the team on the cost side. In other parts of Asia, you know, there were elections, India, Indonesia, then there were a lot of holidays, there was weather topics. There are no excuses from our side, but just, that's the way it is. Asia will come back. The question is, when? From our perspective, I think the result is okay, but not stellar. Africa, Mediterranean, Western Asia, stabilizing on a good level despite clear challenges on the currencies. Big impact also from the FX side. Demand is okay. Pricing works well in local currencies, but obviously, then you have the inflation-driven cost pressure that is not always working in the right direction, but I think the team has done an excellent job managing it. Important for us, sustainability highlights. You know, profitability on the one hand, green light, and then, sustainability highlights. We want to do both. And, I think the reduction, further reduction in specific CO2 emissions has worked well, with a big push also again, coming from, from North America. We have really advanced well on the new product development, around the evoBuild brand, where we have increased the share of sustainable revenues by 4.7 percentage points well beyond 40%. As you have seen, we have done two acquisitions in the U.K. with Mick George already back in 2022, which closed during this year, and then B&A, two very leading recycling companies in the U.K., and we will have a big push there on circularity and recycling. And then last but not least, we have announced the Capture- to- Use project to be the world's first large-scale CTU facility. So we'll use the CO2 captured all the way up to food standards, and it should be an exciting project in our joint venture with Linde. On page 16, you see that for the first time ever, we have dropped our clinker incorporation factor below 70%. I think that is clearly industry- leading for a global company. Specific net CO2 emissions have come down to below 530. We have continued to work on the alternative fuel side, and as I said, sustainable revenues have jumped up well beyond 40%. So all lights on green here when it comes to the CO2 and sustainability roadmap. Last but not least, I think a little bit undercover, but very interestingly, we have now released the news about the new recycling plant, or I would call it upcycling plant. That is, for the first time at large scale, closing the loop, where we basically recycled concrete debris into first-class aggregates that can be reused in fresh concrete, and then recycled concrete paste that can be recarbonated and put back into the cement process. So that is fully closing the loop, proving that concrete, in essence, can be, once you strip the steel out, fully recycled, and that is very important for us next to the proof that it can be fully decarbonized. That's it from my side, and then, René, you continue with the financial highlights. Thanks, Dominik. Hello, everyone as well from my side. Let's quickly go through the highlights. Without any impairment or restructuring for our European footprint, what we have announced, our adjusted earnings per share go up by 17% to EUR 4.30 per share, which is, I guess, another, another double-digit improvement, on earnings per share basis. Our last twelve months free cash flow is at EUR 2.2 billion, and we come later to that. Then there's EUR 700 million above the last twelve months free cash flow, June 2023. Our leverage is at 1.57, which is 0.1 below prior year, and that again confirms what Dominik said. We will stick to our guidance of 1.5-2, what we always said. And then, I guess, the green bond and the share buyback, Dominik has spoken already about it. Next slide. Let's go through the P&L below RCO. I think, the first one is the additional ordinary results. Last year, we had gains from sales of our, participation in the U.S. and our Jordan business. There you see the +EUR 40 million. This year it's -EUR 204 million, and this comes, we've all announced that we will close plants in France, in Germany, and in Spain. So this relates to the restructuring, in that part of the world. So that's the delta of EUR 250 million compared to last year. Financial result, I think, very, very solid, very low number for the company, with EUR 100 million, roughly. So that's, it's very on good track. On a tax basis as well, we are at a positive effect of EUR 42 million, and net result from discontinued operation is positively EUR 34 million. Last year, we had a one-off provision booking for an environmental case of the past. I think very solid below RCO, except AOR, which is, let's say, for the good with our structuring of our European plant network. All other items below are in a very good position. Let's go to our free cash flow. You see this H1 versus H1. Change in working capital is in both periods similar, roughly EUR 1.25 billion cash outflow. Interest paid, we are even better confirming what I said before. Our financial result is very solid, just EUR 98 million net interest payment, which is pretty low. Taxes paid as well, EUR 5 million better than last year. And, the rest is, let's say, as well, not, not, not so material. CapEx, you see as well, again, here confirming we stick to our number, what we guided always. You see, we spent even 10% less than last year, coming to a free cash flow improvement of EUR 70 million year-over-year, and last 12 months, it's 747 million up, which comes from a very, very good H2 2023, and a good H1 this year. If we go to the net debt bridge, you see that the EUR 2.2 billion cash flow we, as already explained, net gross CapEx is roughly EUR 600 million. Dominik mentioned two or three acquisitions we have done, which is B&A Group, Mick George Group, and the Ace Group in this year. Then you have to add the ones from last six months in 2023, which were mainly Grobogan in Asia and Tanga Cement in Tanzania. Again, over EUR 1 billion shareholder return with the dividend, which we have increased, minority dividends we have to pay also, and then the share buyback of roughly EUR 400 million. Then when it comes to other, we have the footnote, which explains roughly half of the number there. Then the outlook, Dominik, over to you. Yeah, thanks, René. So finally, I'm gonna close with the outlook, and then we'll turn it to your questions. I think, you know, for us, we updated the slides in a way that we said, you know, what are the key steering numbers for us as a management team? Those are the three here, where we've given you the targets that stay unchanged. RCO EUR 3-3.3 billion, ROIC around 10%, and we continue to slightly reduce the specific CO2 emissions. The other topics that we talked about in the past, revenue leverage and CapEx, stay unchanged. And I'm sure we'll come to your questions around this guidance and the outlook. So with that, Chris, I hand it back to you. Yeah. Operator, you wanna start the Q&A process, please? Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use only handsets while asking a question. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. Yeah, Elodie, you kick it off. First question comes from Elodie Rall from JP Morgan. Hey, Elodie. Hi, Elodie. Hi, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. So the first one is on the energy hedging tailwind. I was wondering if there remains any for H2 in your hedging strategy, and where you see energy cost for H2? The second one is on the profitability in Europe, which remains impacted lower volumes, but I think also because of the cost base, and you've previously mentioned closure of capacity and the potential for an update on cost savings. So I was wondering if you could update us on how you're tracking on the topic, please. And the last one is on pricing. Have you taken any pricing actions into H2? Thank you very much. Thanks, Elodie. I would suggest that, René takes the first one, and maybe I'll start with number two and number three. We granted you. Chris didn't intervene. You didn't intervene. That was very clever of you. So you have the advantage to go first, so in that respect, Elodie, well, it's 2.5 or 2.8 questions. So, okay, profitability in Europe. You know, first of all, I think, profitability overall in Europe is still good. That's, that's, I think that's, that's fair to say. In, on the cost base, I don't think we do, we do not see any, any issues. The team has managed the cost, diligently. René will answer the. I understand there is some speculation whether there is an energy impact. René will give you the details around, around the, the energy hedging, but from a rather than fixed cost, impact, from our perspective, there is no alarm bell or anything. To your point about the capacity closures, careful, all of the ones announced are not yet in the P&L. So that's true for the German one, Hanover. That's true for the French ones, and it's also true for the Spanish ones. So, if you should have expected something here, I think that's too early, and I think we said that. It will come end of this year, beginning of next year, when it starts. But I think it's important to set the process in motion because there is a time lag due to the social setup in Europe, in order to get it to the P&L. I think in that respect, just one comment from our side. I know you are, there is a lot of benchmarking discussion left, right, and center. I think what's important to understand from our perspective is that, our European footprint has a very significant anchor in Northern Europe and in Western Southern Europe. And if I look at our development in our European portfolio, then I think it's clear, and we said it on the earlier slide, that the significant performance boost within Europe came from Eastern Europe. And I think there, the footprints of the different companies is noticeably different. So I think from our perspective, we are very much in line of our expectations. There are small pieces here and there and everywhere where we can always be better. I think that's absolutely clear, but I think from our perspective, we've done an in-depth analysis on that. I think we are on track, and that's also true for pricing. No alarm bells on pricing around the world. From our perspective, yes, there are still markets that go for second price increases. I can't be more specific than that. Is that the broad globe that goes for second price increases this year? No. But are there selective markets where it will continue to work? Absolutely. Is there a broad decline in pricing globally? No. The pricing pressure that we do have, and I think that's transparent, is the one in Indonesia and India. Those are two markets that are under short-term pricing pressure, but those are probably the only ones where that basically put a little bit of a red light for us at this point. Then, René, you want to answer the energy? Elodie, regarding energy, so for the first six months, our, let's say, cost inflation was 12% in our favor. Yeah, and then for the rest of the year, you know, now we have seven months to go, seven months done, there's five months to go. We are roughly 40% open. So, that's what we have, and- Do we expect another 12% for the next five months? No, because last year, H2 was very, electricity was quite low, so there's not a huge tailwind coming from energy in addition to what we have seen in the first six months. All right. Thanks, Elodie, for your- Thanks, Elodie. Please, for all questioners that are still in line, and there are quite a few, please stick to two questions at a time, please. The next one comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Hey, Luis. Hi, Luis. Hey, good. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. I have two. You have carried out a number of smaller acquisitions in North America, and you've updated us on that. Should we assume that this is the way forward in rebuilding your North American footprint in contrast with much larger acquisitions? And on a similar subject, any update on the plans to pave the way for a re-rating of U.S. operations? And then the second and very brief question is if you could provide us a bit more color on the magnitude of that Eastern Central European recovery you mentioned in terms of volumes. Thank you. Yeah. Luis, I think absolutely, we always said that smaller and mid-sized tuck-in acquisitions in North America for us is the way to go. There is no plan for any multi-billion acquisitions around the globe at this point. So I think absolutely, we are very comfortable with our progress in the U.S. Is it. That's the harder work, let's be clear, but the team has done an excellent job pulling these transactions off, and we continued down that route with those sizes of acquisitions, and we feel very comfortable. I think what I said before, the upside of these acquisitions is you can very selectively go ahead and make sure that they fit hand in glove to your existing footprint, which then obviously drives also the synergies. So in that respect, very comfortable with the U.S. And, you know, I've just done the calculations. If you take the amount of earnings we pull out of the U.S., this quarter versus the years back, I think it is going up. So our, the share of our-- If you take the full earnings of Heidelberg Materials and look at the North American share, it is going up. That's because the profitability in the U.S. goes up. So in that respect, we feel very comfortable, and I think there is a lot of discussion around this, some of the parts discussion. If you guys go back to your spreadsheets, I think that you will, you'll see interesting things happening if as our results move up in the U.S. Eastern Central Europe, yes, it's going strong, also in volume terms. So I think volume and pricing in Eastern Europe in general is strong, and that's probably true for all markets in Eastern Europe. I think there is a combination of E.U. money flowing into those markets and then probably other secondary effects from the war impact in Ukraine. That's my perception. I can't give you any proof point for that, but I think that's a little bit what drives the demand, obviously, also in Eastern Europe. Overall, we are happy with our progress there and continue to build also our markets over there with smaller acquisitions, if possible. But it's not so. It's fairly consolidated in those markets. So in that respect, it's not so easy to do tuck-ins. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Luis. Thank you. Next question comes from HSBC, Parash Jain. Rajesh, hello. Hello. Hi, good morning. Sorry, good afternoon, team. So two questions from my side. Starting with Africa, Middle East, and Asia. Yeah, you correctly pointed about the pricing weakness in Indonesia and India. Just looking at the medium-term picture, these two markets have always been volatile in terms of the performance quarter- after- quarter, and it's been kind of unpredictable how they are going. It's unlike in North America and Europe, you can paint a kind of a similar picture across the region. So, what’s your kind of real take on the medium-term outlook? Do you still believe in those markets, and you, is the right, set of, exposure you want to have it, or anything you would like to kind of, relook at the portfolio, recheck and all that? And the second question is to René. On the Brevik, you kind of updated us that it's coming in early 2025, as commercial one. So, just on the cost side, you said in CMD 2022, it's around 60-70 EUR to run that on an operating cost basis. Has that number changed, since then, given where the, CO2 price and how the power price have fluctuated in the last two years? So if you could give us any update on the, on that pri- cost side, where it is, right now. Okay, Parash, let me start with the first one. I think, Indonesia and India, no change from what we have said in the past. Yes, the markets are short-term, a little bit under pressure, but that's a quarter-over-quarter game. As you say, things are volatile anyway around the world, and that's also true for Asia. So we are not overly concerned with what we see there. I think the markets are not the same. I agree with you, Indonesia, first, the market is fairly consolidated. We have a top market position in Indonesia, and there is no reason to believe that we can't come back to good profitability in Indonesia. And that's what we are fighting for. You know, that we've done a lease agreement out east and a significant acquisition in Central Java, which really complements super- well our existing footprint in Western Java, and brings massive amounts of synergies with it. And that integration is actually fully on track. It works really well. So in that respect, I think that will go in the right direction. In India, we always said our market position in India is not perfect yet. We continue to look at all options, that includes, you know, brownfield and greenfield investments that are highly profitable in India, or also other options. We stay flexible there. The Indian market is under consolidation trend. You saw the recent acquisitions of some of the big players in India. For both countries, Rajesh, I think we should not forget the vast population growth in those two countries, and that in effect will drive growth in the end. Is the U.S. for certain segments right now quite dynamic? That's absolutely clear, but the underlying population growth and therefore demand growth in Indonesia and India is clearly intact. So I think from our perspective, there's no red light around those two markets. And then, maybe you answer the question. Just for Brevik, you know what I said in 2022, in the capital markets. I said the EUR 60 is for, on average, for all the projects. I cannot give you the precise number for Brevik, but we stick to what we said in the capital markets then. Okay, very good. Thanks, Paresh. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Arnaud Lehmann from Bank of America. Hey, Arnaud. Arnaud, hello. Thank you. Hello, good afternoon, gentlemen. My first both questions about North America, but in different areas. Firstly, very helpful to give us a margin guidance for North America, and now we get also lots of disclosures. So, thank you for that. That's super helpful. What's your market scenario? I would say, do you need volume to grow to deliver these targets, or you think you have enough still to come from Mitchell and other parts to improve the margins to those levels? Assuming volume were stable, let's say, that'd be good enough for you to get to those margin targets. That's the first question. And the second question is regarding the funding you are negotiating for the decarbonization of the Mitchell plant, the $500 million. That's obviously a very big number. When do you expect to actually get the cash? And, is there an election risk? Like, could it be, is it possible that it wouldn't happen if there was a change in government in the U.S.? Thank you. Yeah, thanks for your good questions, Arnaud. That's very helpful. First of all, on the disclosure, we typically stick to what we promised. That's also true for the transparency. We've given you the indication that we'll give you more transparency, and we hold the line here. I think on the margin target that we've indicated earlier on the slide, I think the volume has one impact, but not the only one. I think there is still upside potential coming from Mitchell. It's not fully in the numbers yet. There is also upside potential on the aggregates here and there. So in that respect, you don't need a massive volume recovery, but you also the volume shouldn't drop, I think. So I think it's basically assuming the current volume level. So I think in that respect, but you, to answer your question, you do not need a massive volume rebound in order to get to those margin targets. There is still underlying structural changes that are coming into effect that will lead to these margin improvements. On funding of Mitchell, I think the negotiations with the DOE are getting to their final stages. We are assuming that in the next couple of months, we should get a final agreement with the existing administration. And that would then also take out the risk going forward, if there would be any risk around the upcoming election in November. But it's clearly our task to mitigate that risk with a clear written agreement with the DOE before the election. Thank you very much. Thank you, Arnaud. Thank you. Next in line is Cedar Ekblom from Morgan Stanley. Hey, Cedar. Cedar, hello. Hello. Two questions. Can you talk about the margins in Ready Mix? I understand that Ready Mix is a very low margin business and more of a distribution element for a heavyside business, but you're actually making negative EBIT margins in your Ready Mix business in every region, and very limited EBITDA. So, you know, less than 1% margins, even that seems quite low for a Ready Mix business. So a little bit of color on what's going on there would be helpful and how we think about that product line. And then on your pricing in the U.S., we've seen in the market that there have been some price leader increases communicated to some customers by yourself and some peers. Can you talk a little bit about the reception to those price increases in July? Have they been absorbed? Has there been pushback? That would be helpful. Thank you. Thanks, Cedar. Thanks a lot. Let me go into your two questions. First of all, margin ready-mix. I think we have disclosed the margins. You saw that there was no secret that, you know, ready-mix is not our most profitable business line. I agree with you. You can look at it as a distribution channel. We look at it in the end, you know, like a profit center. It's not like just a distribution channel, but it's a profitability where it should be. I think we have clearly done an analysis over the past couple of months, how we can further improve the ready-mix margins and the ready-mix profitability. You have to be a little bit careful when you benchmark these things because there is very significant differences from our perspective in terms of where you allocate your overhead. So, if we take our overhead out, then obviously our margins would be different. But we try to be very diligent. Maybe that's a little bit too German. We try to be very diligent in terms of really allocating the overhead down to the specific segments and business lines, and that is an overhead-heavy business. So in that respect, I think that dampens the margin. And secondly, as the volumes come down, I think it's clear that we need to continue to take out fixed costs. Ready-mix is typically a very fixed cost business, driven as trucks, drivers, whatever you have there. So in that respect, I think we have an action plan in place that will continue to work on that profitability and margin. Last point, I think on ready-mix, you have to keep in mind that you know, you have to look from all perspectives. You have to look at it at an integrated base between cement, aggregates, and ready-mix. So the ready-mix margin standalone doesn't give you the full picture. That's more of a distribution idea. If you take the three together, you know, it needs to be a profitable business. Because let's assume, if I follow your idea and say, "Hey, Dominik, why don't you just close your ready-mix business?" I'm not so sure that would help our overall business in terms of volume, profitability, and margins. So in that respect, it's. I think you have to look at it in an integrated way. Pricing, U.S., I ask for your understanding that we can't disclose any specifics for antitrust reasons. The general comment I can make is yes, North America, and especially the U.S., is one of the markets where we are going selectively for second price increases. But the U.S. is a huge market, so it's not targeted everywhere. It may not work everywhere, but are we trying to do it? Absolutely. And we do get also positive responses from customers, and that also differs by geographies and also by business lines. Thank you, Cedar. The next question comes from Ebrahim Homrani from SG. Ebrahim, hello. Hi, Ebrahim. Hello. Thank you for taking my question. I have two questions. The first one is about Europe. Did you lose market shares by maintaining your prices, or you outperformed the market in terms of volumes? Okay, um- Maybe I ask my second question or? Okay. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. So my second question is about the alternative fuel contribution to your results. Is it only a cost reduction, or do you already generate revenues by recycling used materials? Okay, then let me. I'm not 100% sure. I'm hesitating a little bit because maybe I have to come back to you with your second question in terms of what exactly you wanted to know, but let me answer the question on Europe. You know that, for antitrust reasons, it's difficult to follow the market share on a day-by-day basis. In most markets, there is a 12- to- 18-month time lag, so I can't give you any answer on that specifically. Are we keeping an eye on it? Absolutely. But are we only in the volume game? No. You know, there are markets where selectively we give up market share, and others we fight back. So I think in that respect, the core focus for us is to get the right value for our products, and we obviously watch also our market footprint, when it comes to volume. So it's both on the agenda, but with a clear focus to drive value for our shareholders and our customers in the end. On the alternative fuel piece, yes, obviously, you know- Yeah, as your alternative fuel rate has increased, is it only a cost reduction, or do you maybe sell some alternative or some recycled materials you use to other industries? Yeah, that's okay. Thanks for the clarification. Now I understand what you mean. It's an important point. When we talk about recycling, we talk about concrete debris recycling, while others talk about recycling also for when it comes to alternative fuels. That is not in our recycling definition. Okay. For us, recycling is only the concrete recycling. Alternative fuel use is not in our recycling figure. The increase in alternative fuels is mainly done for sustainability reasons, but obviously, with a focus on P&L impact also, huh? I've said this before, our focus is to make both going hand in hand. So let's take an example. If there is a significant gap in one market where petcoke becomes much, much cheaper than alternative fuels, then short term, we need to go for petcoke, because in the end, we are also a financially driven company. But if both things are equal or has a slight disadvantage for alternative fuels, we pick the alternative fuel side. Okay, thank you very much, very clear. Welcome. Thanks, everyone. Next in line is Tom Sykes from Barclays. Hey, Tom. Hey, Tom. Yeah, hi. Thanks very much for taking our questions. Just two for me, please. The first one, could you just talk a little bit you kind of touched on demand in various markets. Could you just talk a little bit about how it's kind of progressed through the quarter? Just curious how you see the July exit rate versus the April entry rate, whether you see any significant differences in any markets. And then the second question, just on these U.S. acquisitions you've been talking about. I think back at full-year results, you had mentioned, you know, some acquisitions like SEFA were being done at kind of mid-single-digit multiples. I know you haven't disclosed sort of details, but has there been any significant change with the valuation of some of these more recent acquisitions? Thanks. Okay, Tom. On the last question, no, that's basically we are working with our financial rigid framework, and there has been no change to that. So I think in that respect, we hold the line. On the first one, on the demand, so there is not a global answer to this. I think the markets are quite different. If you talk about the larger markets, you have to also keep in mind there's always, you know, for some parts of the world, there is this shift between Easter, you know, where is Easter in March, when is it in April? So that has a significant impact on the entry point in April. But do we see in July a significant decline of volumes work versus the April? I think that was your question. No, that's not happening. That's more to my earlier indication. From our perspective, things are stabilizing, and the entry point on into July is not any worse than the situation in April. That's very clear. Thank you. Thanks, Tom. Next question comes from Ravi from Citigroup. Hey, Ravi. Hi, Ravi. Thank you. Two questions. First, on your North America margin improvement chart. Thank you again for the disclosure. It's quite useful. Can you break that down into how much has been improvement with new production at Mitchell versus everything else, especially the improvement over the last 12 months? i.e., is Mitchell adding 100 or 200 basis points to the overall North America margin? And clearly, given that you're going into a recovery, cement margin improvement has been better than aggregate, which has been stable. So do you want more cement exposure in North America? And secondly, you also mentioned Ace and Grobogan have investments have started paying off. Grobogan, you've had it for 6 months, but Ace only for about 3 months. Can you give some color as to how that is paying off? Thank you. Okay, Ravi, thanks for your questions. I'll take the North American one, and then Rainer will take the Grobogan one. Now, we can't disclose any details about the specific contributions. We can't, and also for antitrust reasons. Sorry for that. But, I think it's clear that we have a significant step up that is driven by Mitchell. But to be very clear, it's not only driven by Mitchell. On the cement side, you know, we have also worked heavily on our other, on the operation performance of other plants. I think there is a lot of network optimization going on across the U.S. in cement, and the same is true for aggregates. And that also drives the improvement on both sides. As you see, aggregates went up and also, cement went up. Now, they are both now at a similar level. Are we hungry for more cement exposure in the U.S.? We are not prioritizing the one over the other, but we always said, you know, within our current business line scope, within our geographical footprint in the U.S., everything is on the table. That excludes, for example, going back into the West Coast. That's clearly not our target. But within our other existing markets, all about aggregate cement, ready mix, recycling, asphalt can all be part of it, as you already saw in our four acquisitions in the last two months, and we'll continue down that route along what I just described. To your second question, Ravi, regarding Grobogan. If you look on our investor deck on slide 27, the scope impact H1 in Asia Pacific was revenue EUR 54 million, EBITDA EUR 26 million. And there, the big majority on is coming from our Grobogan acquisition. And if you see that through the math, the EBITDA margin is very, very high. It's above our business plan. So that's what we mean with clearly paying off. Very good contribution and high margin from that acquisition. Thank you. Thanks, Ravi, for your question. Next one comes from Harry Goad from Bernstein. Hey, Harry. Yeah. Harry. Hi. Thanks. Thanks very much for taking my questions. Yeah, I've got a couple on North America as well, please. I guess the first one is, I think you alluded to the growing share of profit contribution from North America, and I guess that's partly organic, partly through acquisitions. Would it be fair to assume that there will be a slightly disproportionate focus on North America when you think about capital allocation with regard to growth in the next few years? And then the supplementary to that is, you've obviously been quite busy on with bolt-on acquisitions in the U.S. In terms of the availability of deals that you're seeing coming through, do you see a good pipeline over the medium term for a continued good flow of these sort of deals? Thanks. Yeah, Harry, thanks a lot. First of all, capital allocation. We are not shy. We got $2.4 billion lower proceeds, but $2.4 billion was the sale price for the West Coast. And we always promise that we're going to put the majority of that capital over the years back into North America. We've done the build-out of Mitchell, and now we've done a significant amount. You saw it on the chart, more than 10 follow-on acquisitions in North America. And I think it's our clear aim that we continue to allocate a significant amount of our capital also to our North American market, which is now more than 30% of our earnings. I think in that respect, we need to make sure that we at least get to that level, and there is no reason not to surpass that, if need be. Availability of deals, as I indicated earlier, the traffic light is on green, and we'll move along. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Next question comes from Yassine Touahri, from OnField Investment Research. Yassine, hello. Yassine, hello. Hello, good afternoon. Thank you very much for taking my question. So the first one would be just a follow-up on July. I'm not sure I understood your question. Did you quantify the volume decline or that you see in July? Is it fair to understand that the volume are relatively stable in July, when you think about the beginning of the third quarter? And then my second question would be on your investment in carbon capture on the new plant in the U.S. Are you considering to give us an update on Brevik and the additional profitability that you can generate from the sales of zero carbon cement? Would be great to get a bit of color on when you can, you know, give us some data or some outlook, and also on the investment that you're doing all across Europe. My question is like, could we expect the kind of margin improvement that we see at the Mitchell cement plants in the U.S. in Europe in the coming years? Okay, there are a lot of-- You packed a lot of different questions into your two. You're a clever guy, Yasin. Thanks a lot. Well, so then, because the second one, I think, was, if I understood it right, one was on CCS as in Brevik, the other one was on the other investments similar to Mitchell, like evoZero and other investments. So I think that's a little bit, that's what I understood. We'll tackle one by one here. The volume remark that I made for July is that we do not see a further decline in volumes in July. That's if that's what you asked, I think no. When it comes to Brevik, bear with us, we are going to make a capital market day next year, around the opening of Brevik. That's our current plan, will be around May somewhere. That's the current planning, and that's where we will also be able to disclose a little bit what the economics around evoZero. This is deliberately kept a little bit as a secret. It's a new market. It's a completely new global product, and we are very much on track with our pipeline management when it comes to the potential customer base for that. And the team is doing an excellent job, and I think we should have a good discussion around this then, May next year. On the investments in Europe organically, I think, you know, we are doing those to significantly increase our profitability. That's clear, and that you should also assume for our work. That's the purpose of the exercise. Otherwise, you won't get to a ROI of 10%. So I think in that respect, clear target is that both in terms of optimizing our existing network, but then as a... So, A, you lower the fixed cost base, and then you get a more efficient plan. So the combination of the two absolutely should drive profitability and margins also in Europe. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks, Yassine. Welcome, Yassine. Got three more questions online before we conclude the Q&A. The next question comes from Gregor Kuglitsch from UBS. Gregor, hello. Gregor, hello. Hello, right. So I've got maybe one easy one. If you could just give us an update with all the M&A that you've done, how much EBITDA you expect this year, the contribution? And perhaps there'll be a little bit of a carryover next year as well, but I'm mostly focused on this year. And then the second question is, sorry, to come back on the cement margin in the United States or North America. So you're kind of looking at 30-ish% now. Some of your peers are doing high 30s, and maybe it's because you're importing, maybe some of the fleet is old, but have you done a sort of gap analysis? What gets you to that sort of high 30s mark? What would you need to do to get there, or is it sort of with your footprint, not possible? Thank you. Yeah, Gregor, I'm happy that I have a quiet couple of minutes. I'll hand over to René and make my life easy. So, if there's anything to add, I'll chip in, but, René. Gregor, for the M&A activities or the scope changes this year, the number will be way north of EUR 100 million EBITDA from scope changes. That is the number. And then, for the consolidation effect, I mean, without the consolidation, so you deduct them a little bit from the consolidation. But the cons effect after EBITDA should be way north of EUR 110 million above. And then the second question was about the cement margins. You know, as Dominik alluded to earlier, our competitors--o r let's talk about us. We allocate our NUM over a s a first, we charge group overhead to the regions, and then the regions charge it to their business lines. So that means our numbers in margin terms are lower than the competition because we allocate the full overhead to the business lines in our segment reporting. So that's the big delta. Yeah. Why should there be a 10% delta between us and the competitor and cement margin? It's impossible. It's just how you allocate overhead. The import has a very small impact there. Yeah. Okay. So, largely speaking, the fleet's in good shape from your perspective now that you've done Mitchell? Yes. Yes. Yes, in the U.S., you know, and, and what Dominik said, Mitchell, this year, let's say, is running not at full steam, because, you know, first year of operation, let's say full year. Next year, what we have said in the slide, it's above EUR 100 million RCO additional contribution versus baseline 2020. So that you can expect that the margin should further go up. Okay. Sorry, can you just tell us roughly of that triple digit, how much do you think you'll have completed? Is it 50, 60 or less percentage of that improvement already in the numbers, or just so we get a sense? Gregor, we are on the way to 100% next year. Let's put it like this. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Thanks, Gregor. Next question comes from Pierre de Fraguier from Goldman Sachs. Hey, Pierre. Pierre. Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. So two on my side. First one is just if I heard correctly on the top-line expectation for the full year, would imply quite an acceleration in the second half. So what would be the building blocks for that in the second half? What visibility do you have? And my second question, you touched upon it, but maybe trying to get more details on evoZero. Very exciting. I understand you've opened sort of order book for customers globally. If you can give us any indication of sort of the pricing interest and the depth of the demand there, that would be extremely helpful. Thanks a lot. Yeah. Pierre, thanks a lot. On the top line expectation, I think I indicated to it earlier, you know, we are formally, guys, a little bit of a legal game in Germany, yeah. Because we have to be careful, be diligent about the stock market. So we have a formal guidance out there that's RCO, and ROIC and CO2. That's why we put it on the picture, and that's what we formally guide it. And then we have some indication on the outlook that helps you a little bit around, but it's not a key steering number for us, and part of that is revenues. Why is that the case? Don't we care about our revenue? Of course we do, but they, it's not our core steering number, because it's not for us, as I indicated earlier, Pierre, it's not all about volumes. It's driving the right value and in the end, creating significant earnings and earning trajectory in the right direction for our shareholders. That's a little bit. Now, on the volume side, we have a like-for-like growth indication out there that remains unchanged. I think, you know, for us, realistically, the volumes are not gonna go through the roof, towards the year end, but there is stabilization coming, so we should be somewhere around the zero line, on the revenue growth perspective, you know, 1%, 1.1, 2%-3% up or down. I think it's, but for now, we keep the like-for-like growth, as an indication. And then, we'll chase that, in the second half of this year. On evoZero, I agree with you, it's exciting. That's absolutely true. You won't tickle a specific price points out of my pocket. You're not the first one that's trying that, but I think it's opening up exciting discussions with the customers. We get significant positive feedback from the potential customer base. And we do have already a very healthy order book, and we see it continuing to build. And let's keep in mind, we still have nine months to go until things really materialize. And just as one point, I think we are splitting the discussions a little bit between, you know, the local product in Brevik that basically locally supplies the market. Then we have the virtual product that supplies Europe for now, and we are in discussions with North America and Asia in order to also get the accreditation and the certification to be able to sell it in those markets. So that's a little bit the process update to evoZero, but overall, very exciting and groundbreaking. And obviously, this groundbreaking exercise needs to turn into superior financials. That's that's the purpose of the exercise, Pierre. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks, Pierre. Now, Tobias Woerner, hello. Tobias. You can close it off. You are the last question. Okay. I won't conclude the meeting, though. So thanks for taking the questions. Number one, since 2022, when since basically the start of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, you've lost about EUR 900 million to at the RCO level from volumes. You mentioned a volume number earlier, 20%-30%, but I suspect that's only Europe. I'm just trying to sort of look beyond the volume declines and look forward to rate cuts. What sort of sensitivity we should be working on, let's say on every 10% in context of that 900 million, which was lost? And then the second question, slag is a structurally declining or is in structurally declining supply in Europe. I understand that, yes, China theoretically has a lot of supply, but there's also issues for that to come over. Am I misunderstanding that, or is the supply of slag really limitless at this point in time for you to be able to increase your sort of lower carbon cement offering? Thank you. Yeah. Maybe I'll do the first one briefly, and then, I'll do the second one, then René can maybe add to the, to the first one. I think I haven't, and we have to follow up on your EUR 900 million. I've not got that number in my head, so I can't confirm that. But I think, as I said, you know, the volume decline is significantly. If you add it up over the last couple of years, I think this is a surely triple, well, triple digit million number. And that shows you a little bit the upside potential that we have around those markets where we have the steepest decline, Europe, Australia, and North America, and that's basically, where you also see, our good footprint. So I would agree with you, if that's the background of your question. There is substantial upside potential once volumes bottom out and come back. Timeline of that is obviously difficult to predict, but that's a little bit my general answer. Maybe René has some more specifics. On slag, Tobias, you are generally right for Europe, but you have a good point, and that's also. I would answer too in two directions. First of all, slag itself, we have a trading arm, you should not forget. We are one of the few that have a very lively trading arm, and that obviously helps also in identification of slag sources around the world, and you're absolutely right. We are looking globally for slag in quantities, but obviously also in qualities, because your indication is right. There are significant differences in qualities of slag around the world. But rest assured, that's a focus topic for us to identify the best slag sources globally. And then second answer is, that's also why we do acquisitions like Ace, like Carver in the U.S., where both fresh ash, that may over time also become short in the mature markets, but also bottom ash, and ponded ash, are materials that can be used, maybe not one- to- one, on the slag side, but can also be a very useful binder. Then beyond that, we obviously also scout for other SCMs, and you have seen the Ghana calcined clay project. We are working also on calcined clay, pozzolanas, and other things. The world is getting more colorful in that respect, Tobias, but rest assured we are absolutely focused on that topic. Tobias, just one more to your first question. Yes, you're right, we lost probably 15%-20% of group level in the last three years for, on cement and aggregates volume. But the difference, imagine the volumes come a little bit back, these come with much, much higher margins. Yeah, because, you know, we rationalize our fixed cost footprint, our plant network, and, our pricing is much stronger than in the past, much more overcompensating the raw material cost increase. So if volumes come back to level, it should be, much, much better than, in the past. Very helpful. Thank you very much. On that high note, I think we conclude the conference call. Thank you very much for dialing in, everyone. We are now going on a short summer break, then we are on the road again, with our team, in North America and at some of the conferences in Munich. So thanks for dialing in again. Enjoy the summer break. Bye-bye. Thanks, guys. Thank you very much. Thanks.