Good afternoon. This is the Chorus Call Conference Operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Amplifon first quarter 2022 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Miss Francesca Rambaudi, Investor Relations and Sustainability Senior Director of Amplifon. Please go ahead, madam. Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to Amplifon's conference call on the first quarter 2022 results. Before we start, a few logistical comments. Earlier today, we issued a press release related to our results, and this presentation is posted on our website. The call can be accessed also via webcast and dial-in details, which are on Amplifon's website as well as on our press release. I have to bring to your attention to the disclaimer on slide two, as some of the statements made during this call may be considered forward-looking statements. Please also let me draw your attention that in light of the wind down of Elite, which was completed in Q4 2021 and treated as discontinued operations following IFRS 5 application, Elite P&L is excluded from Q1 2021 comparative period, which has been restated up to the line profit from continuing operations. With that, I am now pleased to turn the call over to Amplifon CEO, Enrico Vita. Thank you, Francesca. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Today I'm pleased to comment on another quarter of very strong results. Quarter of remarkable results in absolute terms, and even more remarkable considering that in January, in many markets we still saw some impact of the last COVID-19 wave of infections, which also protracted through most parts of the quarter in Australia and New Zealand. Let's start by going over some of the key numbers and achievements of the quarter. Revenues were up almost 16% at current exchange rates and 14% at constant exchange rates. Once again, the composition of the growth was very healthy, and in fact, the organic growth was close to 9%, a value we estimate well above the growth of the market. Regarding the EBITDA recurring, we delivered around EUR 113 million, and the margin increased by 40 basis points to 22.8%, perfectly in line with our full- year targets on profitability. We posted a net profit recurring of EUR 32.8 million, increasing by a remarkable 34% versus 2021. The net financial position was at EUR 868.6 million, slightly reducing versus year-end, despite the lower seasonality of our business in Q1. Amongst the achievements of the quarter, I would like to mention our third acquisition in China, 20 stores located primarily in the Hubei province. With this last acquisition, our network is getting sizable and now consists of circa 140 stores. I now hand over to Gabriele to give you more color about our financials. Please, Gabriele. Thank you, Enrico, and good afternoon to everybody. Moving to chart number four, we have a quick look at the group financial performance in Q1, which as already commented by Enrico, posted an excellent start of the year. In the quarter, revenues at constant Forex increased by over 14% versus 2021 with an excellent organic growth at almost 9% and around 5% of M&A contribution, primarily for Bay Audio consolidation. Forex was positive for 1.7%, primarily for U.S. dollar appreciation. EBITDA recurring came in at around EUR 113 million with a margin at 22.8%, up 40 basis points versus 2021, thanks to the strong revenue performance coupled with the structural efficiencies and productivity enhancements and scale reach in core countries. This strong EBITDA increase was achieved even after sizable investment in the business, including marketing and several strategic initiatives ongoing. The outstanding profitability was also reflected at bottom- line level with the net profit recurring at around EUR 33 million, up 34% versus Q1 2021. Moving to slide number five, we look at EMEA very strong top-line performance despite the January peak in COVID contagion and the challenging comparison base in France at the end of the quarter. Revenue growth at constant Forex was around 9% versus 2021, with an excellent and above-market organic growth at 8%. M&A contribution was around 1%. Excellent performance was reported across all markets with Spain, Portugal, U.K., and the Netherlands growing organically double-digit. Good performance was also recorded in France despite a more challenging days at the end of the quarter following the regulatory reform introduced last year. EBITDA amounted to around EUR 93.5 million, up 13% versus 2021, with margin at 27.5%, up 90 basis points, thanks to the improved efficiency and the scale reach in core countries. Moving to chart six, we have a look at another impressive performance of Americas. Revenue growth was around 23% at constant Forex, with an excellent organic growth at around 20%, driven by an outstanding performance in the U.S. over three times the market, as well as double-digit organic growth in both Canada and Latin America. M&A contribution, primarily related to U.S. and Canada, was 3% versus 2021. Total Forex effect was positive for over 7% versus 2021, due to the U.S. dollar stronger appreciation. EBITDA amounted to EUR 20.7 million with margin at 24.6%, up 40 basis points versus Q1 2021. Moving to chart number seven, we have a look at the APAC performance fostered by the audio consolidation, though impacted by the soft market environment. Revenues were up 34% at constant Forex, mainly driven by the significant M&A contribution related to Bay Audio and the Chinese joint venture. Organic growth was positive for 0.5% despite the soft reference market due to the peaking COVID contagions and related impact in Australia, New Zealand, and China, and the severe floods which impacted the eastern Australia in February. EBITDA reached EUR 19.3 million, an increase of 21.6% compared to 2021, with margin at 27.1% contracting versus Q1 2021 due to the significant investments in marketing in Australia and the lower operating leverage due to lower than expected organic growth. Moving to slide eight, we appreciate the Q1 P&L. In the quarter, total revenues increased by 15.7% to EUR 496 million, with an excellent 8.8% organic growth. The outstanding top- line growth, together with the structural efficiencies and greater scale, led to the EBITDA recurring margin at 22.8% with an improvement of 40 basis points versus 2021. Recurring EBITDA increased by 17.7% or EUR 17 million to around EUR 113 million. Reported figures include around EUR 3 million one-off costs, primarily related to integration costs for Bay Audio and GAES. Net financial expenses accounting for EUR 8.4 million led profit before tax to around EUR 47 million from around EUR 35 million Q1 2021, posting a 32% increase. As usual, slightly higher in the first quarter versus the following due to the seasonality, posted a 130 basis point reduction versus 2021, leaving recurring net profit at around EUR 33 million, + 34% versus Q1 2021. Moving to slide nine, we appreciate the cash generation. Corporate cash flow after lease liability was in the period equal to EUR 74.5 million, posting an improvement of EUR 7 million or 10% versus 2021. Net CapEx increased by EUR 6 million to EUR 21 million. Leading free cash flow to over EUR 53 million, slightly higher than Q1 2021, which was a highly comparative figure. EUR 3 million, slightly higher than Q1 2021, which was a highly comparative figure. Net cash out for M&A was around EUR 24 million, driven by bolt-on acquisition, primarily in China, France and Germany. Following the strong buyback of 800,000 shares or EUR 29 million to shareholders in the period, net cash flow for the period ended positive for E UR 4.7 million, versus a + EUR 7.3 million in Q1 2021. NFP ended at EUR 869 million, slightly improving versus year-end 2021, even after the strong investments in CapEx, M&A and buyback. Moving to chart number 10, we have a look at the debt profile and the key financial ratios. As mentioned, the net financial debt closed at EUR 869 million, with liquidity accounting for EUR 292 million, short- term debt accounting for around EUR 150 million, and medium long-term debt accounting for around EUR 1 billion. This confirms the very strong financial profile of the group with a financial headroom of EUR 550 million, including the undrawn revolving credit facilities. Following the IFRS 16 application, lease liabilities amounted to EUR 470 million, leading the sum of net financial debt and lease liability to EUR 1.34 billion. Equity ended up at around EUR 980 million with an increase of over EUR 50 million versus December last year. Looking at financial ratios, net debt over EBITDA ended at 1.64x, improving versus December 2021 despite seasonality and after strong investment, and net debt over equity ended at 4.89x versus 4.94x at the end of 2021. I will now hand over to Enrico for the outlook and the closing remarks. Thank you, Gabriele. We are at the end of today's presentation. Another strong start to the year. We are extremely satisfied with our performance in Q1 and, even of course some degree of uncertainty still persist due to the well-known current geopolitical issues. Also in light of our strong Q1 performance that we can today confirm with confidence our guidance for 2022. We are also very confident about our targets for 2023 and the medium term as we are progressing fast in the execution of our strategic plan. With this, I would like to thank you all for your attention and we look forward to taking your questions. Francesca, over to you. Thanks, Enrico. I kindly ask operator to open the Q&A session. Please kindly limit your questions to maximum two initially in order to give everybody the opportunity to ask questions. Now, I turn the call over to Judy in order to open for Q&A. Thanks. This is the Chorus Call Conference Operator. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. If I may. The first one is on a clarification on your guidance. If you can remind us if it includes or excludes the positive contribution that you arguably are going to have in this 2022. Second question is on an update on labor cost inflation and product availability. The last one is a very quick one. If you have noticed since the beginning of the war, a change in the mix of your customer, meaning returning versus new one. Thank you. Thank you, Nicola, for the questions. With regards to the first one and the guidance, of course, our guidance did not include any currency effect, any material currency effect. With regards to the second question about labor cost inflation and product availability. I think we discussed also during our last quarterly call that we are not concerned overall about labor cost inflation in the total P&L of the group. I also mentioned just a couple of exceptions, and I think I mentioned Australia and France. Both markets. In both markets we saw some labor cost inflation for different reasons. In Australia, mainly because of the fact that as you may recall, the Australian market was used to source a number of audiologists from abroad, and in particular from India, which was not possible during the last few years because of the fact that the borders were closed. This led to some roll-off inflation for audiologists. The second exception that I mentioned was related to France. This was more led by the strong exceptional growth of the market last year following the regulatory reform at the beginning of the year. In this case, of course, there was a significant demand for audiologists, and also this led to some labor cost inflation. Overall, nothing to be concerned in the global P&L of the company. With regards to product availability, no, I can confirm that we are not experiencing any significant availability issue in terms of products. I do not expect to experience also any product availability issue also in the coming months. With regards to the third question, and therefore changing the mix between returning customers and new customers. No, nothing really relevant. Nothing that comes to my mind. I don't think that we have seen anything in terms of change of mix of customers. Perfect. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question is from Veronika Dubajova with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Yes, hi, good afternoon, Enrico and Gabriele, and thanks for taking my questions. Hi, Veronika. I'll keep it to two. My first one, and apologies if these are a little bit technical. My first one is just on Americas margin. Just slightly surprised by the margin that you reported, given the very strong growth that you had experienced in the quarter, which should have given you a little bit more operating leverage, I would have thought. Just curious, was there a mix issue? Was there a phasing of expenses issue? Just slightly surprised by where the profitability in Q1 shook out in the Americas. I guess, you know, is this something we should be extrapolating into the remainder of the year or not? That's my first question. My second question is on China. Given where we are with lockdowns, just would love kind of a mark to market from you on the type of revenue performance that you saw in March and April. Again, your kind of thoughts around when the lockdowns might be lifted and to the extent that they persist through the second quarter, what kind of impact should we be modeling on a full- year basis from that? Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Veronika, for the questions. With regards to the first question, to be honest, I'm quite happy with the margin improvement in Americas, simply because the priority there is growth. As you know, Americas is our priority number one in terms of growth. We expect the Americas actually to be the leading region also this year in terms of growth. Now we are focusing definitely on growth and delivering some profitability improvement. We continue to invest heavily in all the different parts of the business, starting from the marketing, continuing with the organization in order to drive mainly growth. Let's say that this is the kind of margin improvement that you should also expect going forward with plus and minuses, of course. The priority number one for the Americas is growth. As you can see from our results in the last couple of years, we are constantly outperforming the markets. Also in this first quarter, our growth was almost three times the growth of the market, which is exactly the result that we want to achieve in Americas and in particular, of course, in the U.S. With regards to the second question, China, as you know, in the total group represent today still a very limited part of the business. I would say less than about 1%. It's impossible really for me to make any prediction about when the restrictions will be lifted in the future. I don't know, to be honest with you. Today we know about Shanghai, we know about Beijing, et cetera. Considering the fact that, as I was saying, still, China represents about 1% of our total sales on a yearly basis. You should not expect on the total group P&L any material impact. Got it. Okay. Thank you so much. That's really helpful. Thank you. The next question is from Oliver Metzger with ODDO BHF. Please go ahead. Yeah. Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thanks a lot for taking my questions. The first one is on your EBITDA margin in EMEA. It was up 90 basis points this quarter. We're seeing clearly some positive support from organic growth and therefore operating leverage. Would you regard this increase as proxy also for the next quarters in EMEA? That's number one. Number two is about the EBITDA margin decline in Asia Pacific. You just scratched on the surface on the different factors. Perhaps you can elaborate more in detail what was the reason for this strong decline and basically which factors drove them down. Thank you. Thank you for your questions. With regards to your first question and therefore the EBITDA margin of the EMEA region, yes, we expect vice versa on revenue growth, we expect the Americas to be the leading region. On profitability side, we expect the EMEA region to be the leading one. EMEA is definitely where we see the biggest potential in terms of EBITDA margin increase also going forward. With regards to the second question and therefore the APAC region, well, we estimated that, I mean, Australia and New Zealand markets were quite soft in the first quarter. In particular, in New Zealand was negative in terms of market growth. This because as you, I'm sure you know, in New Zealand, we had the highest peak in terms of, COVID contagions, up to more than 25,000 cases per day, which is the maximum registered in New Zealand since the beginning of the COVID. This led to a market very market softness, actually. Similar pattern also in Australia with the last wave of COVID contagions during throughout all the quarter one. I have also to mention the fact that during quarter one in Australia, we also experienced a number of shops closed because the famous floods in two regions in Australia, which led to more than 200 working days lost in Australia. It was quite a complex quarter. On the other side, we did not stop investing in marketing. Actually, in the first quarter, our marketing investments were up versus the previous year a lot, more than 50% than the previous year. This was the main reason because of the profitability decrease in quarter one. Of course, it wouldn't make any sense for us to stop investing in marketing in TV, you know, which is our medium and long-term plan in building the most known, the most valuable brand in Australia and wouldn't make any sense actually to stop investments because of the softness of the market for a few months. Okay. Thank you. One follow-up, please, regarding Asia- Pacific. Basically one third of the second quarter is already behind. Can you confirm that you see currently in April some recovery or some normalization of Asia- Pacific? Well, April in general terms was quite a difficult month to read because of the Easter, et cetera, et cetera. For sure, in Asia- Pacific, our goal is to continue to grow and to come back to growth for the remainder part of the year. Still some impact in Asia- Pacific. We saw some impact in Asia- Pacific because of, in particular, of what I was mentioning before regarding the number of the impact of the last wave of COVID-19. Okay. That's helpful. Thank you very much. The next question is from Giorgio Tavolini with Intermonte. Please go ahead. Hi, good evening, and thanks for taking my questions. I was wondering if you can elaborate more on your performance in the U.S. In particular, if you could provide more update on Miracle-Ear, your entry in the managed care segment, and the PCG contribution and Amplifon Hearing Health Care. So just to have a clear idea what was the largest contributor to your outstanding performance in that country. Secondly, on Australia, I was wondering if you could update more on the Bay Audio integration, how it's progressing, what level of synergies you have achieved so far. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your question, Giorgio. With regards to the first question, in America, we continue to see strong growth from all the different business units. We performed very well in Miracle-Ear, both in the franchising part of the business, but also in our direct operated store network side. Amplifon Hearing Health Care reported quite strong growth. I wouldn't mention one business unit performing better than the others. We have experienced quite a strong growth across all the business. With regards to the second question, with regard. Can you please remind me the second question? Yeah. It was about Bay Audio integration- All right. the synergies. Sorry. Yes. With regards to the second question, and therefore Bay Audio was impacted likewise, Amplifon from the environment that I described before. However, I can tell you that, in terms of synergies, we are performing very well. We have already reduced and some costs leveraging on the global procurement operations. I can definitely confirm the synergies that we have already declared for Bay Audio this year. Thank you. Just for clarification, I was wondering on the managed care in the U.S., if you are seeing any, let's say, any change in the attitude by your competitor like them, or if you are seeing some competitors reducing exposure, so you can benefit from these strategic changes from your competitors. Thank you. I'm not able to comment on that. We saw definitely a strong performance from Amplifon Hearing Health Care. Difficult to say if this is because of a different approach from any of our competitors, to be honest. Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a separate question, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is a follow-up from Veronika Dubajova with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Yes. Hi. Thanks for squeezing me in at the end. Just was wondering, Enrico, if you can comment a little bit on the M&A environment that you're seeing out there in terms of asset availability, prices, and degree of competition. We've obviously seen a couple of transactions in the U.S. in particular, very recently, and I'd just love to get your thoughts on, you know, what's the environment like on the ground. Thanks. Thank you, Veronika. To be honest, we have not seen a significant change in terms of environment related to the targets that we are pursuing. We have seen, of course, different deals. In some we were interested, in some we were not, actually. I can tell you that I feel good. I feel very confident about our ability to continue our strategy of acquisitions in the key markets that are well known, and with the same kind of financials that we have used in the last few years. I do not see anything really changing in such a way that I need to report to you. We continue definitely to make M&A part of our strategy, and I feel very confident that we will continue to have a significant contribution as we had in the past from acquisitions. Understood. Thank you. The next question is from Alessandro Cecchini with EQUITA. Please go ahead. Hello, everybody, and thank you for taking my question. I would like to have more color on the U.S. market at the moment, so after the first quarter. If I remember correctly, so last year you had a very strong second quarter. I would like to better understand the current environment you are seeing in the U.S. Market. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you for the question. Well, you are absolutely right. I would comment about the U.S., but it's what I'm gonna make is a comment which is also valid for our at the group's level. If you recall, last year we had a very strong Q2 in the U.S. As far as I remember, our growth in the U.S. last year was over 55% or something like that. Clearly, the reason for this kind of performance last year was the fact that after a difficult Q1, there was let's say the release of a big part of the pent-up demand from all the previous quarters. Therefore, also we performed once again much better than the market, but also the market was quite strong last year. Also Q3 in the U.S. was quite strong. Very strong actually. Then we saw a more normalized growth in Q4. It is valid for the U.S., but in general terms it's valid for what regards the global operations of the total group. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone. Mr. Rambaudi, there are no more questions registered at this time. Thank you. I think we can close the call. Thanks everybody for your interest and attendance. I think we can close the call. Thank you, Julian. Thank you. Thank you everyone, and see you soon. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over, and you may disconnect your telephones.