Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Gail, your conference call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Titan Cement Group conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the first half 2024 results. Please note this call and presentation is intended for analysts and investors only. All participants will be in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on your telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Marcel Cobuz, Chairman of the Group Executive Committee, Mr. Michael Colakides, Group CFO, and Mr. Bill Zarkalis, President and CEO of Titan America. Mr. Cobuz, you may now proceed. Thank you. Good morning. Good afternoon, everyone. Very happy to be with you today, and I'm joined here by Michael, our Managing Director and Group CFO, and our CEO of Titan America, Bill Zarkalis, and looking forward to an interactive session and your questions. Very happy to report today an excellent performance for quarter two and first half of the year. This is marked by top sales growth 7.6%, over proportional EBITDA growth of 16.7%, or 20% if we exclude some non-recurring items. And that's many thanks to our good performance in U.S., in Greece, in Southeast Europe, thanks to volume growth, stable pricing and operational efficiencies, which impact cost performance. Good to mention also that quarter two is a growing quarter, is a profitable quarter with more than 9% in sales, and that's the ninth consecutive growth quarter for the Titan Group. What I can share is that we are also pleased with the level of margins we have achieved at the end of the quarter, which are around 25% versus 22% of June last year. That gives us more assurance to continue with our high-level CapEx projects, a lot on the growth CapEx, and Michael will give more color around the key investments around aggregate reserves, ready-mix network, and energy mix, which would impact positively as of second half of the year and throughout 2025. Few words about our green growth strategy that we have highlighted with you last year. We are well on track. Very happy to report that we have signed or completed four bolt-ons, which are supporting our growth of sales and impacting positively the margins. That's mainly in aggregate and in new cementitious materials like pozzolan and clay. We are seeing also green margin expansion, thanks to a record level of alternative fuels usage, which for our group is reaching 23% in June. An excellent performance given the low starts that we had couple of years ago, but also the relatively different legislation framework in markets where we operate in turning waste into fuels. In terms of decarbonization, but also customers, commercial transformation, we have, we have done some nice strides this, last quarter, this, last half, not only in reaching new levels of sustainable product sales, but we have launched also a new family of brands. Commercial brands, Titan Edge, where sustainability meets performance, and Titan Premier for high value-added services, which will be increasingly available in all our markets, and as of next quarter, we will publish, this performance. To finish on our green growth strategy, I think the ratings have been exceptional around, ESG. We have included some of them in the press release, and we have given also some guidance with our projects around carbon capture and storage, and the one in Athens, which addresses 20% of our Scope 1 direct CO2 emissions, as well as a new project where the group is having a subsidy from the Department of Energy on calcined clay technologies in Virginia. So these two projects are entering feasibility phase. We have more to say in the next quarters. Michael will give some details about our listing process and the planned IPO. On my side, very pleased to report that this is progressing as planned, and we will keep the deadline of early 2025 for listing our U.S. subsidiary in one of the New York markets. More news on the shares. I think you have seen that our stock is now included in FTSE Russell Large Cap, FTSE4Good Index. That's a good recognition of both our results but also the impact of sustainability ESG ratings. We have announced today that yesterday in the board meeting the board of directors decided to continue the share buyback program for another EUR 20 million. Finally, you will hear from us an optimistic view on the rest of the year as we maintain a positive outlook, and we'll give more color market by market. So very happy with the results, and I'm passing the floor now to Michael, and then we'll have Bill on the U.S. results, performance, and we'll finish with couple of elements on outlook. Thank you. Thank you, Marcel. Good morning and good afternoon to everybody from me as well. We are indeed very pleased to report a strong year-to-date performance, driven by robust sales, operational cost efficiencies, and profitability growth coming from our core markets of the U.S., Southeast Europe, and Greece. The group achieved robust sales growth of 7.6% year-over-year, with sales reaching EUR 1.3 billion, with all our regions supporting the top-line growth and overall volumes increasing across all product lines. The EBITDA of the first half rose to EUR 281 million, up by 16.7% over the first semester of last year, or 20% on a like-for-like basis, excluding some one-off costs, reflecting stable pricing and operational cost performance. The last 12 months, EBITDA margin strengthened to 22%. Net profit increased by 34% to EUR 149 million, following the robust EBITDA results. Subsequently, earnings per share for the first half reached EUR 2 compared to EUR 1.48 last year. In the second quarter, sales grew to EUR 699 million, up 9% compared to second quarter of 2023, while the EBITDA rose to EUR 172 million, posting 28% growth year-on-year. With regards to volumes, we saw increased sales volumes of cement in Europe and solid demand levels in the U.S. With regards to pricing, in cement, prices remain broadly stable with, however, some selective price increases. Our cost base has improved, thanks to benefits stemming from the continuous improvements in plants modernization, digitalization, alternative fuels utilization, and the addition of solar plants. Net debt at the end of June 2024 dropped by EUR 20 million to EUR 640 million, resulting in a low leverage level of 1.1. CapEx continues at high levels, focusing on improved energy mix performance, digitalization projects, the expansion of quarry reserves, and investments in logistics and storage capacity. Titan Green Growth Strategy 2026 execution is well on track, as Marcel commented before. As announced last May, the plan to list our U.S. operations in New York Stock Exchange is on track. We cannot provide further details. What I would like to update you is that we are progressing according to schedule and on time, aiming for the first quarter of next year. A new EUR 20 million share buyback program was approved yesterday by the board, and this will start upon the termination of the existing one at the end of August. Meanwhile, the €0.85 dividend per share for 2023 was paid on July 3 to our shareholders. Last, Titan stock has been included in two more indices, the FTSE Russell Large Cap Index, effective last March, and the FTSE4Good Index, effective the second quarter. Turning to the next slide, where we have the graphs of the first half of 2024 and of the second quarter alone below, which I just described, that indicate the high growth rates in sales, 7.6%, EBITDA, 16.7%, and net profit after tax, 34%. Our EBITDA margin rose in the first half to 21.3%, a significant improvement compared to previous periods. In the following slide, we highlight the last 12 months figures on sales, EBITDA, and net profit after tax, and show the continuous growth performance trend. The last 12 months sales sum up to EUR 2.64 billion, a growth rate of 6.7%, while the EBITDA at above EUR 580 million, which is 33.1% higher, while the net profit after tax growth is even higher at 74%. EBITDA margin has improved to 22%, a 4.4 percentage points increase compared to the previous 12 months. On the bottom of the slide, you can also see the quarterly evolution of the 12 months rolling EBITDA, which has been on a continuously upward trend for 9 quarters since the second quarter of 2022. Taking a look at our P&L on the next slide, you can see that our sales growth has outpaced costs and our EBITDA growth was 17%. The growth in SG&A includes about EUR 9 million of one-off costs, representing expenses for the preparation of the U.S. IPO, as well as the cost of an early retirement program in Greece. Finance cost declined and net profit after tax increased by 34%, resulting to the EUR 2 per share earnings. On slide 6, we have the charts of some critical cost factors. After some sharp increases and a quite volatile period since mid-2021, for the past 12 months, we are witnessing relative stability, albeit at higher levels compared to pre-pandemic years. The outlook for this cost for the remaining of the year appears fairly stable. Turning to our sales volumes, the positive main products. Domestic cement volume grew by to 8.7 million tons, increasing by 3% year-on-year, while higher cement and clinker exports were also achieved. Similar growth trends were recorded in our downstream products, with ready-mix volumes increasing by 8% year-on-year, and those of aggregates by 3%. A similar pattern was experienced in Q2 as well. Now looking at our cash flow. As expected, the robust EBITDA of the semester at EUR 281 million was conducive to the strong positive operating free cash flow of EUR 110 million, and despite higher costs of our acquisitions and taxes, we have been able to further reduce debt by EUR 20 million. Taking a look at our capital expenditure levels, which were high at EUR 109 million, containing many growth projects. The investments channeled to the U.S. focused on the modernization of the ready-mix fleet, production capacity increases in ready-mix and in the Pennsuco Quarry, logistics improvements, and capacity expansion in concrete block units. While those to Europe focused on a number of initiatives on the energy cost through higher utilization of alternative fuels and photovoltaic installations. Moreover, we concluded four bolt-on acquisitions in cementation materials and aggregates. With regards to our debt picture, in the next slide, a further reduction in net debt was achieved, with the June net debt closing at EUR 640 million, lower by EUR 102 million compared to the same period of last year and by EUR 20 million compared to June of 2023. The net debt to EBITDA ratio improved, reaching a record low of 1.07. With regards to the second graph and the maturity profile of debt, the next significant bond maturity is a EUR 350 million euro issue maturing next November, which is and it is intended to be repaid from own liquidity and the use of bank loans. Now, moving to the review of the regions and starting with the U.S. Titan America delivered another stellar performance with solid top-line growth and robust profitability, despite the very wet weather which characterized the semester across our regions. Sales reached $836 million, which is a 5.2% increase year-over-year. Sales benefited from firm pricing in cement and selective price increases in aggregates and ready-mix, as well as from improved volumes in ready-mix and building blocks. EBITDA reached $177 million, a 21% increase. Profitability was aided by the lower cost of imported cement, the optimization of energy costs, and by the operational efficiencies achieved following investments in manufacturing and across the supply chain. Costs, nevertheless, remain high, especially raw materials, labor, and distribution costs, much above the pre-pandemic cost levels. Overall, we see a resilient market in the U.S. with positive demand fundamentals. While inflation and high interest rates put pressure on the residential market, continuous investments in large infrastructure, industrial, and commercial projects support demand, and our order books remain strong. Our group is committed to its investment in the U.S. market, with CapEx being channeled on key projects, which will support growth and the development of new downstream cement products. While in ready-mix, we expand our capacity, we enlarge and modernize our fleet, and in aggregates, we continuously look to expand our reserves by acquiring, acquiring new quarries. The new import domes in Tampa and Norfolk are now complete, up and running, offering larger capacity, broader product availability, and reduced operating costs. We continue our efforts towards digitalization, where we transform our production, achieving higher throughput and reduced energy costs. In parallel, we complete further breakthroughs in logistics and on the customer experience front. Overall, significant investments have been completed in the U.S., triggering operational efficiencies, and these are manifested in our results. Turning to Greece now, where the first half of the year was very strong, with double-digit volume growth achieved across all our products: cement, ready-mix, mortars, and aggregates. Total sales for Greece and Western Europe reached EUR 219 million, a 10.7% increase year-on-year, supported in addition to volumes by the resilient pricing in cement and price increases in ready-mix aggregates and mortars. EBITDA, however, dropped to EUR 30.9 million, as the cement exports towards our own terminals in the U.S. and Western Europe were conducted in line with the market at lower export prices compared to levels of last year. Also, the cost of higher electricity costs weighed negatively on the profitability of the first half. Overall, the cement market in Greece, we estimate, increased by about 43% over the last five years, fueled by strong demand for residential, infrastructure, tourism, and real estate. Our group continues to invest in CapEx in the region, with our green initiatives having reached significant milestones, such as increased alternative fuels utilization and a continuously lower clinker-to-cement ratio. Furthermore, our investments in new silos, ready-mix plants and trucks, as well as the expansion of our aggregates capabilities, coupled with digitalization initiatives, have resulted in increased capacity and efficiencies. Moving now to Southeast Europe, where the region recorded another very strong performance this semester, driven by continuous increased demand across almost all the countries. Sales reached EUR 215 million, up by 10.4%, supported by volume growth as well as by overall price stability. EBITDA reached EUR 83 million, assisted by an improved cost structure, thanks to energy cost savings, deployment of real-time optimizers in cement production, increased alternative fuels usage, and also covering of a part of our electricity needs with owned photovoltaic plants. In this market, growth continues to be driven by residential, infrastructure, and tourism, while thanks to the specific geographic characteristics of the region, the countries operate as a cluster, providing flexibility and thus leading to productivity gains. Our group has been focusing on decarbonization in its initiatives in the region to further expand its green product offerings and improve the clinker-to-cement ratio. Now, turning to Eastern Mediterranean, a region that continues to be penalized by challenging macroeconomic conditions, which bear a negative impact on the group's figures. Sales in the region grew to EUR 115 million in this first half, up by 13.3%. It was mainly underpinned by the strong domestic cement sales growth in Turkey of around 20%, as well as by increased export activity of both clinker and cement from Egypt. EBITDA dropped to EUR 3.7 million as the currency devaluation, especially that of the Egyptian pound, had a severe impact in our euro-reported figures. While overall cement consumption in Egypt remains stable, this is not representative of the underlying activity, as currently it is picking up on the ground, with major real estate and tourism projects expected through foreign direct investments. In this environment, the group maximized its operational efficiencies by expanding its export volumes and by streamlining costs with plants increasing alternative fuels utilization rates at about 40% in Alexandria and about 30% in Beni Suef. In Turkey, which also battles with high inflation and interest rates, domestic cement volumes recorded strong growth driven by the reconstruction activity post last year's earthquake, the strengthening of the existing building stock, and the replacement of the older one. Prices remained well-oriented, slightly lagging the Turkish lira devaluation and the cost inflation, with however, further increases announced very recently. The group benefited from a lower energy cost in Europe-reported terms, while it is continuously shifting to cement types with lower clinker content. Couple of words for Brazil, where, as a reminder, we consolidate. The consolidated figures are on an equity basis. Cement consumption in Brazil increased by 1.5% in the first six months, while in the northeast, the region where our own joint venture operates, a 4% increase was posted. Elevated interest rates, lower disposable income, and macroeconomic uncertainty affect cement consumption, as well as public investment policy, which faces fiscal constraints. In the first half of the year, Apodi cement sales volume were marginally lower, but ready-mix volumes almost doubled, resulting in sales remaining stable at EUR 60 million, almost flat, while the EBITDA increased by EUR 2.8 million, reaching EUR 8.8 million. Now some comments on digitalization and decarbonization. Moving first to decarbonization, Titan is intensifying its efforts to achieve its decarbonization goals, achieving new records of alternative fuel substitution of about 20% and of clinker-to-cement ratio of 76.6%. However, specific CO2 emissions rose to 618 kilos per ton from 611, due to the increased production and sale of clinker exports from Egypt. Now, let me outline a few developments for which we are proud. A significant milestone was the official inauguration of the new calciner installation at the Kamari plant in Athens in early April, and EUR 26 million investment, which will cut CO2 emissions by 150,000 tons annually, and enable us to use of nearly 200,000 tons of waste-derived fuels. We are also proud of our recognition as a climate leader by both CDP and Financial Times, as well as our inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index Series. Titan also signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinoma CBMI, a global leader in cement technology and engineering system integration, to explore new business opportunities and drive technological innovations aimed at decarbonizing and digitalizing cement manufacturing. A partnership that will enhance Titan's Green Growth Strategy 2026. Earlier in the year, Titan America's Roanoke Cement plant in Virginia was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to negotiate an award of up to $61.7 billion. This will support the pioneering deployment of a calcined clay production line, significantly reducing CO2 emissions. As we also recently announced, Titan has acquired concession rights to the Vezirhan Pozzolana Quarry in East Marmara in Turkey, securing further pozzolana reserves for internal use and trade, facilitating the launch of new low-carbon products and cementitious solutions. Last, the group unveiled a solar plant at its Zlatna Panega Cement in Bulgaria, expecting to supply 14% of the plant's annual power needs with clean, renewable energy. And now on digital. On the manufacturing side of digital, the group continued the rollout of its globally innovative, artificial intelligence-based, real-time optimizers for its cement manufacturing lines, and completed two more end-to-end RTO-enabled plants. The rollout of RTOs in several more assets across the group is carried out as planned, in line with the goal of installing RTOs in all of the group's cement manufacturing assets by 2026. It has been estimated that improvements in throughput can be over 10%, while reduction in energy consumption can reach up to 10%. In addition, we have already completed the rollout of our machine learning-based failure prediction system to all our cement plants. The group's first digital business, CemAI, making this unique digital service available to global cement manufacturers, continued to expand its customer base, offering very fast payback from increased reliability, decreased maintenance costs, and reduced downtime. Finally, the group continues to work on new AI-based digital solutions on cement quality optimization in the U.S. plants, while expanding its AI-based digital solution portfolio to the area of manufacturing of ready-mix concrete. In the integrated supply chain domain, we completed the rollout of our new world-class dynamic logistics solution for ready-mix concrete in all our operations in Florida. This new digital solution, leveraging big data, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics, improves significantly the productivity of the supply chain and offers better customer service. It is now being prepared to accelerate its rollout to the other major ready-mix concrete operations of the group in the U.S., as well as in other countries. On the customer experience side, the group is digitalizing the way it interacts with its customers to offer superior customer experience, extra services, and user convenience. With digital customer portals operating in 50% of business units, we work on enhancing the functionalities and user experience of these portals, as well as deploying sophisticated digital portals to the rest of the business units. With this part, I complete the presentation of our activities for the second half. Before we go to Marcel for his comments on our outlook, we will be asking Bill Zarkalis, the President and CEO of our U.S. operations, to give you his personal feedback on how our U.S. business is performing. Bill? Thank you, Michael. I appreciate it, and good morning, good afternoon to everybody from Miami, Florida. Thank you for investing the time and joining us in this presentation. I'm just gonna give a few broad comments on Titan America performance and a bit about the economy here, and then we can leave any details, any specific questions for the Q&A segment. As Mike mentioned, in the second quarter, Titan America delivered a very strong performance, one that sets us firmly on track to achieve another record year, both in revenue and operating profit in Titan America. In the second quarter, in dollar terms, we delivered revenue growth of 7.9%, and EBITDA growth of 46.9%, 47% almost. We mentioned last time that the first quarter results were disadvantaged by the timing of the annual maintenance shutdown of our Pennsuco mega site. Conversely, the second quarter results are favored. For a like-to-like comparison, we have to look at the first half results, whereby, as Mike mentioned, Titan America achieved in dollar terms, revenue growth of 5.2% and EBITDA growth of 21.1%. And keep in mind that this includes exceptional charges, and the IPO preparation is part of that exceptional charges as well. I must point out that this accomplishment came against an unfavorable backdrop, as demand in the second quarter was affected by severe weather phenomena, heavy rainfall in all the areas where we operate, that forced the job sites to shut down and some projects to be delayed or even rescheduled. The underlying 2024 market that backdrop remains, as we discussed, the last time, a tale, as we said, of countervailing trends. On one hand, softer demand in the residential segment, both single family and, multifamily, which are offset by strong demand in infrastructure, public works and manufacturing reshoring. With a surge, I must mention, in investment in, data centers, especially the state of Virginia, which emerges as a data center capital of the United States. Coming to the residential market softness that I mentioned, the Fed interest rate hikes had multiple impacts, but the clearest one by far was the one on the housing market. Both the high mortgage rates and the low house availability led to a softness in the 2024, demand. However, there are good news. It seems we are at the bottom of this, mini cycle for the residential segment, one induced by the restrictive monetary policy. It seems finally that the soft landing, may be in sight. The U.S. economy is still growing in the second quarter. I'm sure you read the, the news. The Fed appears to be closer to taming the inflation. The labor market is cooling down, with unemployment inching up, but still at controllable and not recessionary levels. And finally, we see the consumer confidence being slightly impacted, but still at, healthy levels of spending. All these are very favorable elements for a soft landing. As soon as the Fed goes into the interest rate unwinding cycle, we expect the underlying strong positive trends of the housing demand to start kicking in. So the housing demand will be supported by the structural underbuilt and a strong demand, driven by a boost in the household formation. The resurgence of the residential demand, in combination with the growth of the once-in-a-century investment in infrastructure that takes place in the United States, and also the unprecedented manufacturing reshoring, makes us overall very optimistic about the rest of the year and also into 25 and the years to come. And with this broad comments, let me pass it on to Marcel for comments on the outlook. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, Michael. So couple of comments. You have already heard Bill and Michael on the expected 12 months rolling results, as well as couple of directionally indicators from U.S. Especially at the beginning, we maintain a positive outlook for the rest of the year, as traditionally we do. This is based on the macro analysis and the segment analysis in the markets we operate. I think Bill has made a very assertive argumentation that U.S. economy, particularly in the markets where we operate, is projected to sustain this growth. The residential segment should stabilize before starting to grow in 2025, and as these are regions experiencing population growth, this will be a nice tailwind for a faster rebalance. Our good exposure to infrastructure segment is poised to bring additional growth as we see federal and state investment in transportation and other projects. And the industrial and warehouse construction is also going well forward. I think in Greece, Greece is in the post-pandemic recovery, growth remains well above the euro area average. And the backlog is very strong over the next couple of years. That's driven by private consumptions, investment in construction and tourism. And we do have specific offers by segments, particularly for infrastructure and hotels. And that's also financed through the implementation of Recovery and Resilience Facility with an increasing focus on sustainable construction practices. So overall, a good period to come. Similarly, the mix of private construction, foreign investments, the foreign residents, remittances, this is impacting positively the regional growth in Southeastern Europe region. So stable trends there. We see improved fiscal conditions, we see public and private investment, and we see moderate inflation. So again, that strengthens our positive outlook, scenario. Without going into too many details, we see normalization signs in Egypt, and I think, Turkey also, macroeconomic policies promise to solidify the dynamics underlying the country's potential, where we see volume growth, firm pricing, and improving, margins. So good times to come from, from us today in this meeting. I think with this, Spyros Kamizoulis, our investor relations, and I think the operator, let's, let's open it up for Q&A. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star, followed by one on their telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, then you may press star and two. Please use your handset when asking your question for better quality. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. The first question is from the line of Yassine Touahri with Onfield Investment Research. Please go ahead. Yes, good afternoon, and thank you very much for taking my question. I think I would like to better understand your performance in the US. Could you give us an order of magnitude of the amount of cement that you import in the US? Is it fair to assume that you might be importing 500,000 tons to 1 million tons of cement, and that you had a cost reduction of maybe, like, $10-$15 versus last year on your cement import? I would just like to understand the trend. And then the second question, which is a bit more about the medium term in Florida. We see a couple of independent import facilities being built up in Palm Beach and in Jacksonville. And it looks like on paper, they could import up to 2 million tons in Florida and Georgia. Is it, d o you see a risk that they would take market share if you're focusing on pricing? Or do you see a risk that it might make it harder for you to increase prices in this region? And then the third question, which is somewhat related to that: Is your decision to invest into calcined clay a way to become less dependent on import and to be more competitive? Because it's more effective to produce calcined clay than to import cement from Greece or Turkey. Yeah. Thank you, Yassine. Maybe I will start, and then, please, Bill, complement. So, I think, I think, Yassine, last year, when we, when we presented the strategy of the group, and, we announced our plans for, U.S., we have insisted on how important is, for us to double down on cementitious materials, on aggregates, as well as to keep investing in logistics in, in US. And, and I think we, we reconfirmed our model of a long supply chain, where, U.S., particularly our operations at the net importer, market, will piggyback on our manufacturing capabilities and shipping capabilities for operations like the ones in, in Greece at market conditions. Going forward, of course, it's our ambition to achieve more self-sufficiency in terms of importing capabilities of several materials. And for this reason, we have finalized two large investments in multi-product hubs in Tampa and in Norfolk, which will allow not only to optimize the imports but also to grow across blended cement imported, but also cementitious. So that's pretty much in line with our targets, and we see already the signs, the positive signs of investing in the multi-product hub and investing also in clay and new technologies. Bill, do you want to give more color on the specifics? Of course. Thank you, Marcel, and thank you, Touahri, for your question. Coming to your first question in relation to imports, as you know, we are an integrated supplier, and overall, U.S. market is a deficit market, so it will always need imports. As part of our strategy, we focus on maximizing our production capabilities, so being a local supplier and American supplier, and we are complementing our capabilities to support our customers everywhere they operate with our three mega import terminals in Tampa, in Norfolk, and also in New Jersey, in Essex, which serves the metro New Jersey, New York areas. Our input capabilities are up 6 million tons, and can be more than that. We import roughly more than 2 million tons is going to be the RE in this year to support the growth of our markets and our customers. Coming to your question about the independent and the announcements that you see out there. First, I'm sure you know better than anybody that adding capacities you know or elements like this doesn't really reflect what is going to happen. So I think the numbers of what the capabilities potentially of these terminals are, and assuming that these terminals will be bringing 2 million tons in the market is grossly exaggerated. But let me come to the fundamentals. We don't see any impact in the market in 2024. And we think that, you know, overall, if you look at the imports in the U.S., overall, across the U.S. market, they remain stable over the last three years, 2022, 2023. And And this year, so far, the official data that we have saw a slight decline. So we've seen this announcement as well, in relation to what is planned in the market, but we don't feel that this is going to affect us. This doesn't change our price, our strategy, which is to increase, to keep on growing, but at the same time, increase our prices. And this is what we have done this year. We have increased our prices in cement in single digits. We have increased our prices in ready mix and aggregate in mid- to double digits and block. So overall, we continue our strategy to focus on growth in the markets we operate, based on our product mix, on our logistics capabilities, on our customer service, or our new product, high performance products developments. And I think this is where we're going to see this market really focusing. This market is transitioning, transforming into a high demand market, into a market that has high value, high growth value pools that require integrated suppliers, fully integrated suppliers, that can meet the demands of our customers. Now, coming to the calcined clay, we don't see it as a replacement of cement. Calcined clay really opens the door to new capabilities, to new products. This is not going to be a single product market, in the future. We see it happening already as we approach our customers with new, demands for, data centers, for, new construction technologies. All these dynamic transformation themes for a market that is decarbonizing, that requires circular economy solutions, infrastructure modernization, resilient urbanization, all this requires new products. And we see cementitious materials like calcined clay and pozzolans and other, elements, really supporting growth, through new product development. And this is how we see it, not as a replacement to cement. It's far more complex, far more interesting like that. May I add that already we have secured reserves, local reserves, of clay for our future plans for development of blended cements and new formulations and engineered mixes that include clays or pozzolans or other cementitious materials. Thank you for your question. Maybe just a follow-up question on the cement prices. You said you managed to increase prices by a single digit percentage or a single digit number in terms of dollars in the U.S. this year? When we compare first half with the first half, cement prices increased by middle to upper single digits. When we compare what has happened in the last quarter, then we're talking about low single digits. Okay, that's very clear. Maybe just a little follow-up on the new kind of cement. Do you have a discussion with the Department of Transportation and other on the regulator, to allow for you to offer some new kind of cement that are not yet approved by construction standards? What I can say right now is that in both major areas where we operate, we have already approved by the DOT new product formulations based on blended cements. That's very encouraging. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikos Thanasoulas with Eurobank Equities. Please go ahead. Hello. Thank you very much for the presentation. Two short questions on my end. The first one is regarding the investor day that you announced in the previous call. When do you schedule, or do you plan to host this? And the second question is regarding the previous buyback program that has, that will be completed in next month. Are you planning, what are you planning to do with these shares that through this program? Are you planning to cancel them? And if yes, what is the timeline on that? Thank you. The question to both is, is the following: Regarding investor day, we have been advised by our advisors in the U.S., that we cannot have one until after the IPO. B ecause if we give any signals about the group, given the size of the American operations, we would be giving indirectly information about the U.S., which is not allowed. So you will have to wait for next year. Regarding the buyback, we are now still below the 5% mark that we had reached sometime last year. Then we had awards of long-term incentive plans and reduced us. So, we are now replenishing, if you wish, what has been granted. There are no plans for those shares to be canceled at this stage, and there is definitely no intention to have them thrown back into the market. We've never done that. Okay, that's clear. Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vasilis Kollias with Pantelakis Securities. Please go ahead. Good afternoon, and congratulations for the robust set of results. My first question is regarding the IPO proceeds. Is there any thought for capital return or enhanced shareholder remuneration, or IPO proceeds will channel exclusively towards acquisition for product slate optimization? My second question is about the percentage of cement sales. During the last year's presentation, you mentioned that by 2026, the percentage of cement sales would drop below 45%. This will be achieved through acquisitions, or is there or from of the current product slate? And my third question is regarding the bottom line. Could you please state the hyperinflation gains in half one, and Apodi's net profit for the same period? Thank you very much. I will give a very quick answer to this first question, which is that we are not allowed to discuss that subject. So regarding the cement? I think there's a third question on the net profit of Apodi and the hyperinflation. Apodi doesn't have hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is only Turkey. Yes. There is some EUR 5 million benefit, but it shows on one line, and then there are minuses on other lines, so it's not a net impact. Yeah. Apodi is ±EUR 1 million. It's very limited, the impact on the bottom line. Yeah. And I think, regarding 2026 strategy, thanks for the question. What we have guided last year is on top line or sales growth of high single digit and over proportional growth of high digits and even high single high double digits for EBITDA and ROCE. And then we guided on the fact that cement will continue to be the breadwinner for the group, while we double down in investments and developments of our reserves in aggregates and cementitious. As a result, also of a strengthening of our vertical integration, particularly through investments in ready mix and precast, we have guided through the presentation last year, that the relative weight in a bigger group of cement may be below 50%. Now, of course, what we said last year is that the top-line growth will come primarily from organic growth, but we do not exclude the impact of M&A. And I think, when we will have more to say on this, we will definitely communicate to the market. But we reconfirm our 2026 direction. Thank you very much. The next question is from the line of Tobias Woerner with Stifel. Please go ahead. Yes, good afternoon, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my questions, two, if I may, from myself. Number one, when you look at Greece, obviously a very strong performance at a very low base for a number of years now. The sense I'd like to get is about around the EU Next Generation Recovery Plan. It's a 21, 27 plan, and I'd like to get a sense from you where you see the timing of this in actual output for you, i.e., was 22, 23 all about planning, and is 24 and beyond really about output? Secondly, when we look at Southeast Europe, again, a very strong performance. In terms of capacity utilizations there, in my view, you're probably starting to get to full utilizations. How will you be managing this going forward if growth continues? Obviously, from a pricing side, that should be hopefully helpful, but, what can you do about volumes? Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Tobias. It's a very valid question. So we see a positive impact from the resilience and performance plans and EU Next Generation, particularly through the backlog of construction projects, industrial engineering projects, here in Greece, which is, as per data collected from large construction companies, EUR 6-EUR 7 billion for the three years to come. And that's progressing, I would say, quite nicely. Of course, there are always challenges with construction workers. There are challenges in terms of planning and permitting. What we can say is that we do have a share of wallet, which is a nice exposure of these projects. We also have a good mix of these public projects with private projects. I think in one of our previous meetings, we have told you about this project here in Athens Marina, which is 3x the size of Monaco, which is the Ellinikon project, which is also consuming a lot of cement, ready-mix, and aggregates. We have put even ready-mix plants in the premises, and we are working on premiumizing our products there. So, a good, good timing for the years to come, and being a highly integrated player, we do fire from all engines. On Southeast Europe, I think you're right. We are running at high utilization rate, and given the fact that the plants are not very far, one from each other, we do have positive effects of network. In other words, we do have occasional transfers of volumes, clinker or cement between the network. So far, we have managed any peak of demand with no disruption. We also have the improvement in throughput through the- Yeah Digital applications, through the lower clinker to cement ratio products, which again increase the effective cement production capacity. So technically, we're also working on growing the level of our capacity. I think, you know, just to finish on this, of course, the kiln capacity is critical in our industry, particularly on the cost side. But the grinding capacity is becoming even more important as the intake of supplementary cementitious materials is becoming more important. These are countries where the market is generally accepting rather fast the blended cement. And I think we have disclosed in the last quarter that we have completed a transaction by entering a joint venture in pozzolanic materials here in Greece, which gives us ample access to reserves in excess of 100 million tons of pozzolanic. So this is on only one of the actions in bringing more cementitious materials to the market, in addition to the ample reserves of fly ash, which you can still find in this part of the world. If I may follow up on that. The SCMs which you are securing, are you eventually looking to make this another business line, which you'll also supply externally, or is this for the time being only for your own internal use? I think, you know, as part of our commercial transformation, and you have seen that we are launching also a new family of commercial brands, which will qualify our more sustainable, but most performing, products and services, be it in cement, in blended cement, in recycled aggregates, in high value-added concrete. I think, the supplementary cementitious material will play a critical role. We have an excellent playground here in Greece, where all these products are already in place. We do have a positive cannibalization of, let's say, lower or higher carbon products by lower carbon products, by using additional pozzolan. As the market acceptance and as the economics of these new offerings will confirm, we will be aggressively promoting low-carbon cements in this market. And then just, if I may follow up, on Greece again. You talk about residential as well in terms of the demand. Is this so far purely from foreign buyers, or is the Greek buyer starting to come back as well? Or builder, let's put it this way, a house builder. I think we are following the number of permits, the number of permits put in in construction, and we see a positive growth there. And you're right, the foreign buyers of existing housing stock is there moving the market. But we see an improving trend on the private holders constructing or extending existing houses. We see also positive trends on the renovation market. And there are also a couple of incentives still provided by the government, like the VAT exemption and others, which I think will still fuel the market positively. Okay? Thank you very much. Do we take the last questions, Spyros? We have two, l ast two questions. Yes. The next question is from the line of Iakovos Kourtesis with Piraeus Securities. Please go ahead. Yes. Good afternoon, gentlemen. In terms of your cost base, this first question, if you could quantify for us, taking into account the investments of the last years in terms of digitalization and decarbonization. What is the benefit on your cost base as net amount currently, and where do you see it by 2026? Second question has to do with CapEx for this and the coming year. Where do you see it shaping for 2024 to 2025? What part of this will be directed to the U.S., and what part of this will be directed to the projects of decarbonization and digitalization? And third thing has to do with your dividend policy. Leaving aside any use of IPO proceeds, which you cannot obviously comment, how should we think of it going forward as a payout ratio? That will be from my side. Well, the investments, we obviously do not have a breakdown by categorizing the investments, and their returns, and the improvement in the performance. What I can say, if you look at the performance of the underlying cost factors, and on the other hand, the improvement in our margins, a lot of that is coming from the investments that have been performed over the last three years. Again, very crude numbers, if I make an attempt. Digitalization, it's over $10 million in the first year, in the U.S., I recall. Then we have two more plants. So year-over-year, there is an improvement, but then it reaches a plateau. I mean, we don't have, for the single plant, 10% every year. It is 10% the first year and then very limited. So the more we apply across our plant network, we will keep seeing further improvements. If we look decarbonization, again, very different from one plant to the other and from one project to the other. Alternative fuels in Greece, for example, where we source alternative fuels from international markets, there is a more significant benefit. The benefit in Egypt, where the cost of alternative fuels is higher, is much less, and so on. So difficult to assess and much more difficult to project. CapEx for this year and next year, this year, we expect it will be order of magnitude, the EUR 240 million mark. Next year is still premature. We haven't worked on any budgets yet. And again, given the U.S. situation, we are quite cautious in giving quantitative feedback for 2025. But I wouldn't expect it to be less, although many of the significant projects have been completed. But fortunately, new opportunities come up, so I would not be surprised if 2025 is even higher, with new opportunities which we may not have yet been aware of, when they will come up from the countries during budget time. Dividend policy, as we said at the Investor Day last year, we intend to keep the pace of increasing the dividend to be aligned with the EBITDA and net profit increase. I know that this year we have been a bit more conservative. We did not follow that pace because of the big jump in profitability, but the trend will continue into next year. Thank you very much. The next question is a question from one of our webcast participants, Mr. Ioannis Noikokyrakis from Alpha Finance. And I quote: "Congratulations on a solid set of results. A question from my side. We saw strong margins in the second quarter of the year, while at the same time, CO₂ emissions increased, bringing them at 2022 levels. What are the reasons behind the increase? And in that sense, what sort of improvement in margins could we expect if you give us some more color for the second half of the year? Many thanks in advance. Ioannis Noikokyrakis, Alpha Finance. Thank you, Yanni, for the question. Spyros Kamizoulis here will provide more details as needed, but simply, it's related to the sales mix. We had an increased sales on- Clinker. clinker sales, particularly from Egypt, and that comes with an impact on CO₂. But we are on the right trajectory, only that one, and now we have switched the clinker sales to cement sales. So that is behind us, and that is responsible for clo-- you know, close to 20-30 kilograms of CO₂. So this is just one point in time. What is important is that it's a positive trajectory of our CO₂ per ton of cement emissions. As we have reported today, we have achieved one of the highest level of alternative fuels usage. That's more than 23%. One of the lowest level of utilization of clinker in our cement, and that continues. So I think you should expect improvements for the rest of the year, and we stay firm on track for achieving 560 kilograms of CO₂ per ton of cement emissions for 2026 as per our strategy. I think that brings us, Michael and Bill, that brings us to the end of today's meeting. We thank you all for being with us and for a very good number of questions we had. I think Investor Day, as much as we would like to meet soon, we will have to be legally permitted by U.S. authorities, and we will keep you informed when this can be done early next year. But of course, reach out to Spyros, reach out to Michael. They are globetrotters on the planet, and happy to answer any questions. As for all of us, we will continue to work hard on achieving our strategy and achieving long-term value creation on our results, and of course, being successful also on the short term. I think next time we will meet on the 7th of November, when we intend to publish our third quarter and nine months results. Thank you, thank you everyone, and have a nice day ahead or a good evening. Enjoy your vacations. Enjoy vacations for those who go on vacation. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and have a good afternoon.