Good afternoon. This is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Ariston Group second quarter and first half 2026 results presentation. 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 Ilaria Candotti, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Ariston Group second quarter and first half 2026 results conference call. I'm Ilaria Candotti, Head of Investor Relations. With me today are Maurizio Brusadelli, our Chief Executive Officer, and Riccardo Gini, our Chief Financial Officer. Today's presentation will last approximately 25 minutes, after which we will open the floor for questions. As a reminder for those joining us by phone, the slide deck is available on our investor relations website. I will now hand the call over to Maurizio. Thank you, Ilaria, and hi, everyone, also from my side. Let me start with slide three, with a brief overview of the quarter. We delivered a very strong performance in quarter two, with mid-single digit organic growth led by heating, and in particular, by heat pumps. Water heating also grew across geographies, with an improving trend in North America after a slow start registered in Q1, in line with the market. The quarter also confirmed the positive start of Lennox JV. The initial market response to the products sold through the JV has been very positive. As a reminder, through this partnership, Ariston Group manufactures and supplies water heating products which are commercialized by Lennox under their own brand through the dealer network in North America, leveraging our technology and product capabilities. Moving to margin. Our adjusted EBITDA expanded by 0.9 percentage points year-on-year, thanks to primary operating leverage, pricing, cost efficiency, while we are investing to support growth and overperform the market. The cash flow in the quarter reflects the usual business seasonality, and I would like to say that we confirm our full year 2026 guidance, which does not include Riello. Riello will be consolidated from July the 1st, 2026, in the next quarter reporting. We expect Riello to generate around EUR 190 million to EUR 200 million incremental revenues in the second half of this year. Moving to slide four. Following the closing of the Riello acquisition announced on July 1st, Ariston Group now operates with a new perimeter. On a pro forma basis, 2025, the combination would have generated EUR 3.5 billion of revenues, EUR 352 million of adjusted EBITDA, and EUR 211 million of adjusted EBIT. The combined group counts 37 production sites and 12,000 employees worldwide. These figures highlight the increased scale of the group and further strengthen our position to sustain investment in innovation and go-to-market to continue to play a leading role in our sector. More importantly, these figures represent only the starting point of the combination, as they do not yet capture the value creation opportunities and synergies. Moving to slide five, we look at the group business portfolio with the addition of Riello. Overall, the combined group benefits from an even stronger technological portfolio, preserving high diversification of business and geographies. It maintains a very balanced exposure across Thermal Comfort and water heating businesses. Combustion Technologies weight on total group has increased from 4% to 10%. Riello brings distinctive expertise across residential, commercial, and industrial application, and a distinctive access to many key international markets, including the large North American one. Combustion Technologies are typically used in complex commercial or industrial application, which require high temperatures. Heat pumps are not suited to decarbonizing those application. They will be decarbonized using Combustion Technologies based on biogas, biofuels, or hydrogen blending. As said, we are now a global leader in this stable and profitable market of Combustion Technologies. Within Thermal Comfort, Riello brings a very strong portfolio of commercial and industrial boilers, a good exposure to renewable and hybrid technologies, which is almost in line with Ariston Group. Riello and Beretta are very well positioned to support their clients in the energy transition. Lastly, Riello brings a very well-developed service and spare parts business, in line with Ariston Group, accounting for mid-teens revenue. Now I move to slide six. With the closing completed on July 1st, we have now moved into execution. Integration activities have started across all work streams according to a clear roadmap and governance. We target EUR 25 million of run rate synergies by 2030. As already shared, Riello is highly complementary to Ariston legacy perimeter, with multiple and well-identified levers of value creation. First, technology. Riello and Beretta brands will benefit from Ariston Group advanced platforms in renewable and high-efficiency solutions, as well as our electronics and connectivity capabilities. We will reinforce their offer while preserving their brand identity and positioning. Second, sourcing and logistics, where we see really sizable opportunities to optimize procurement across common categories and leverage greater scale. Sourcing opportunities are expected to be the quickest synergies to be captured. Third, product portfolio. The combination broadens Ariston Group offering through Riello's commercial and industrial boilers and strengthen our position in Combustion Technologies, where Riello brings distinctive know-how and market expertise. Finally, digital and ICT, where Riello will benefit from Ariston Group's scale, digital capabilities, and go-to-market tools. Moving to slide seven. As usual, we provide an overview of the German heating market. As you know, Germany is a key market representing around 20% of group revenues and continues to be central to the energy transition. We have discussed the German market dynamics many times in the past, so I won't repeat the full story. The key message remains unchanged. This is a large replacement-driven market at historical bottom and with a long-term shift towards renewable and high-efficiency technologies. Demand for incentives continue to grow strongly, up 64% in May. There are relevant updates on the regulations. The Building Modernization Act was approved in July, confirming heat pump incentives until 2029, the removal of the previous 65% renewable mandate for new boilers installation. The Building Modernization Act updated some parameters of the incentive schemes. The overall support framework remains very attractive. The change include a reduction of the eligible cost cap from EUR 30,000 to EUR 28,000, with a further gradual decrease over time and a gradual reduction of the Climate Speed Bonus, while support for lower income households has actually been strengthened, with the maximal incentive increasing from 70% to 80%. In addition, the German government has announced a new potential Made in Europe incentive for heating heat pumps starting from 2027, with further details currently under definition. We own heat pump technology, and we manufacture our products in Europe. We appreciate the clarity and predictability of next year's incentives and the rules simplification on boilers installation. I will pass to you, Riccardo, and he will, as always, go through our financial results. Thank you, Maurizio. Let's begin with slide number nine, which shows the year-on-year evolution on net revenues. Overall, we are pleased with the acceleration in growth recorded in the second quarter, thanks to the positive contribution from all business lines and supported by improving market conditions across several key geographies. Net revenues increased by 7.4% year-on-year, reaching EUR 691 million. Growth was primarily driven by a strong organic performance of 5.2%, supported by all business lines and across all regions, as we'll see in the next slide. Heating delivered strong organic growth across all geographies, with the heat pumps remaining the key growth driver. Water Heating also delivered positive organic growth in all regions, with a particularly strong performance in North America compared with the first quarter. We are also seeing encouraging traction from the joint venture with Lennox, with the first sales receiving very positive feedback from the market. Services and Parts, once again, continued their mid-single digit growth trajectory. Foreign exchange had a modest positive impact in the quarter, contributing approximately 0.6 percentage points to growth, mainly reflecting favorable movements in the Mexican peso, Australian dollar, and Swiss francs, partially offset by the weaker US dollar. Perimeter variation contributed 1.6 percentage points to growth and was entirely related to the acquisitions completed in the components and Combustion Technologies divisions. Looking at the entire first half, net revenues reached EUR 1.35 billion, with a reported growth of 4.3% year-on-year and an organic growth of 2.4%. Foreign exchange had a slightly negative impact in the first half. Perimeter variation contributed approximately 2.1 percentage points. Please note that the perimeter variation in the first half includes the contribution of the Russian subsidiary in the first quarter as it was reconsolidated at the end of March last year, while in the second quarter, the Russian business is part of our organic perimeter. In addition, perimeter variation reflects the contribution from minor acquisitions completed in the Components and Combustion Technologies divisions, as said earlier. Moving on to slide 10, here you can see the evolution of our net revenues by geographies. We are pleased to report positive organic growth across all the regions in the second quarter. Europe remained the main contributor to group growth, supported by its scale and continuous strength in renewables. Asia-Pacific and Middle East, Africa also delivered positive underlying trends, excluding the impact of the Middle East headwind, while the Americas recorded strong low teens organic growth in the quarter, showing a clear acceleration. Starting with Europe, which represents approximately 74% of group revenues, it delivered a strong quarter with revenues up by 8.3% year-on-year and continued organic growth supported primarily by the positive trend of renewables, with Germany performing particularly well. At the same time, traditional heating solutions or gas boilers also contributed positively during the quarter. Once again, Ariston Group outperformed the market thanks to its strong positioning and execution. Looking at the first half as a whole, Europe continued to perform well, with revenues up to 7% year-on-year and organic growth in the mid-single digit range. Moving to Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa, revenues were broadly stable in the second quarter. The performance of the region was affected by the consequences of the Middle East conflict. Excluding this headwind and the effect of forex, the region in the second quarter delivered strong positive organic growth. In the first half, net revenues were down 3.5%, reflecting the impact of the Middle East conflict. Finally, the Americas, which represent around 9% of group revenues, delivered the strongest growth in the quarter, with revenues up 13.6% year-on-year. The performance was supported by a strong organic growth of both water heating and heating, and Mexico also benefiting from a positive foreign exchange contribution. On a first half basis, revenues were broadly stable compared to last year, reflecting the market softer start to the year. Moving on to slide 11. Here you find the highlights of our adjusted EBIT performance. In the second quarter, we are pleased with the quality of the margin improvement. Adjusted EBIT increased by 28.3% year-on-year, up to EUR 39 million, with the corresponding margin improving by 90 basis points or by 100 basis points on a like-for-like basis, reaching 5.7% of net revenues compared to 4.8% in the same period of prior year. The margin expansion was underpinned by operating leverage, effective pricing management, and continued delivery of cost efficiency initiatives across the group. These positive factors more than offset the resources reinvested to support key strategic priorities, including go-to-market initiatives, digital transformation, and R&D. As previously shared, the profitability was also affected by the consequences of the Middle East conflict, which continued to represent a cost headwind during the period. Looking at the first half, adjusted EBIT amounted to EUR 74 million, with a significant increase year-on-year, up 11.7%. As a reminder, our profitability profile follows a well-established seasonal pattern, with the first half of the year traditionally accounting for around one-third of full-year earnings. Accordingly, the first half performance is fully in line with historical seasonality of the business. Turning to reported figures, reported EBIT amounted to EUR 36 million in the quarter. The main adjustments relate to the net impact of rightsizing initiatives and to PPA amortization related to past acquisitions. On slide number 12, you can notice the free cash flow was negative by EUR 8 million in the second quarter compared with a positive EUR 3 million, negative EUR 14 million in the first half of last year. As a reminder, cash generation in our business is typically concentrated in the second half of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter. We also recognize that the first half of 2025 benefited from particularly strong working capital performance, creating a demanding comparison base. Cash generation remains a core management priority, as it has always been, we continue to focus on discipline, working capital management, and cash conversion across the group. Turning to working capital, balance stood at 15.9% of rolling revenues at the end of June, registering a 0.5 percentage point increase year-on-year on a like for like basis. We have an optimized stock level to support business growth and provide a high level of service to our customers. Overall, we remain comfortable with the cash flow trajectory, which is consistent with the underlying seasonality of the business. At the same time, we continue to focus on key operational levers that support cash generation while investing in our strategic priorities. Moving on to slide number 13, let's now look at the evolution of our adjusted net debt during the first half. As discussed on the previous slide, free cash flow represented a cash absorption of EUR 77 million in the first half, reflecting the normal seasonality of the business. We also recorded approximately EUR 34 million cash outflows related to acquisitions, mainly associated with the exercise of the call option to acquire the remaining 49% minority stake in Chromagen Australia, bringing our ownership to 100%, as well as other minor acquisitions completed in the components and Combustion Technologies divisions during the period. The exercise of Chromagen Australia call option is not impacting the ESMA net debt as it was already taken into account. Other movements included around EUR 16 million financial effects and other charges, EUR 37 million of dividend payments, and approximately EUR 3 million related to the share buyback program. Non-cash items had a positive impact of around EUR 6 million, mainly reflecting mark to market effects, IFRS 16 lease liability movements, and exchange rate effects on adjusted net financial indebtedness. As a result, leverage at the end of June reached 2.2x, exactly where we expected it to be at this stage of the year. We are comfortable with the current leverage level and with the group's financial flexibility. Turning to slide number 14, let me briefly comment on the group's financial structure. We already had a very solid financial structure, as commented during previous calls. We have further strengthened it in preparation to the Riello acquisition closing. At the end of June, the group had approximately EUR 559 million in liquidity compared with EUR 250 million at year-end, reflecting the new financing facility arranged during the period. Adjusted net debt amounted to EUR 702 million. The average maturity of non-current bank debt is approximately three years and a half, with around 90% of maturity falling between 2028 and 2032, providing strong visibility and limited refinancing risk in the coming years. In addition, more than 50% of long-term debt is either fixed rate or hedged, limiting the group's exposure to interest rate volatility and supporting greater visibility over future financing costs. As a result, we have ample time and flexibility to manage our debt profile proactively, supported by prudent hedging policies and a disciplined approach to capital structure management. Finally, we continue to benefit from approximately EUR 1 billion from committed and undrawn credit facilities, providing significant financial flexibility to support both organic growth and future M&A opportunities. With that, I will hand the call back to Maurizio for some final remarks and an update on our outlook for the year. Thank you, Riccardo. Let me conclude on slide 16 with our outlook for the remainder of the year. Overall, we are very pleased with the development of the first half. The second quarter showed a clear acceleration in organic growth and margin expansion, despite ongoing investment in strategic initiatives and the continued impact of the Middle East conflict. As a result, we confirm our 2026 guidance. Starting with the top line, we continue to expect organic revenue growth between 1% and 4% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis and at constant exchange rates. Turning to profitability, we continue to expect an adjusted EBIT margin between 7% and 8%, supported by operating leverage, continued cost efficiency, and the actions already underway across the group. At the same time, we will continue investing in go-to-market initiatives, new products, digitalization, and R&D, as these investments remain essential to support future growth. Regarding the Middle East, we continue to manage the situation based on the current level of intensity of the conflict. While the region remains a headwind, the overall impact on the group has so far been managed and is reflected in our current expectations. On cash generation, we continue to expect CapEx to be between 5% and 5.5% of revenues, with cash flow generation heavily weighted towards the fourth quarter, in line with the historical seasonality of the business. Lastly, following the completion of Riello acquisition on July 1st, Riello will be consolidated in the second half of the year and is expected to generate between EUR 190 million and EUR 200 million incremental revenue in H2 2026. Thank you, Maurizio. We have now completed our presentation, and we are available to take your questions. To make sure that everyone gets the chance to speak, we kindly ask to limit your question to a maximum of two. Operator, please open the line. Thank you. Thank you. This is the 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 telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone with a question may press star and one at this time. The first question is from Christian Hinderaker of Goldman Sachs. Good afternoon. Thanks for the time. I wanted to start on the Americas, if I may. I believe it grew 12% organically after a 14% decline in the first quarter. I know Q1 faced a particularly tough comp, but if we look at the AHRI data, that was showing mid-single-digit declines for April, May. I'm curious whether the growth that you reported reflects an acceleration in the market in June, or whether it's about the pickup in demand on your Lennox JV or perhaps something else. Appreciate some color there. Thank you, Christian. I think we said during Q1 that the performance we had, especially in water heating, was impacted by the fact that last year we had the tariffs, as you said. We said as well that we were expecting a recovery in quarter two, which happened. I will say a continuation of good performance in heating and an acceleration of water heating, exactly for the reason that you said. These are the three things. The market is recovering. We are doing better with our product, and Lennox is doing well as well, with a minor contribution. Thank you, Maurizio. Maybe just turning back to the German market comments. Appreciate the run through there, in what's maybe a complex picture for the change in regulations. What do you see as the impact here in terms of the long-term dynamics, particularly on the boiler side? Obviously, the incentives remain in place and are probably more front-end loaded for heat pumps. When we think about boilers, how does this change your view for that market going forward? As I said, I think we are positive on the regulation. It's giving clarity on both renewables and gas boiler or boilers in general. On heating heat pump is clear, the kind of incentive that people can enjoy in 2026, 2027, 2028, up to 2029 with funding. I think on gas boiler, the new legislation is removing this uncertainty that was related to the famous 65% that we always mention in terms of the fact that consumers would have to prove to you the 65% of renewables when installing a gas boiler. I think this is really liberating the opportunity for anyone to select if they prefer renewables or fossil replacement. We are positive, and I think that the market will benefit about it. Thank you. The next question is from Davide Rimini, Intesa Sanpaolo. Good afternoon. Thank you for the presentation. I've two questions. Both on Riello. So far as I understand it, you suggested that in the second half, EUR 190 million-EUR 200 million revenue will be the contribution, and we had sort of indications of EUR 400 million last year reported. I just wonder whether there might be any consideration in terms of the seasonality the business has, since it doesn't look like that the second half would be that much different versus the first half. Related to that, or partly related, is instead whether you might share, instead, some indications on the profitability expected in the second half from Riello. Thank you. Thank you, Davide. As you might imagine, we are working with the Riello colleagues since a few weeks. I would say on your first question, in terms of seasonality, there is not a big seasonality between H1 and H2 historically on Riello. On the second question on profitability, you know that this business is less profitable than Ariston. Now, we will give more guidance on the next call when we will see, and we'll have a little bit more clarity on all the numbers for H2. Thank you. The next question is from Alessandro Cecchini of Equita. Hello, everybody, and thank you for taking my questions. The first one, it's about your guidance, +1%, +4% organic that you have maintained. Given the second quarter, it seems that you are running in the mid high part of this guidance. If you can maybe provide more color on your guidance, your feeling about this could be very helpful. This is my first question. Thank you, Alessandro. Obviously, as I said, we are pleased with the development of the first half, and I think this is in line with our expectation. Therefore, we confirm our guidance. I think it is early to narrow, also given the global geopolitical uncertainty. I think during the next quarter call, we will update you all, but as you said, positive development and so far in the middle of the range. Okay. Which is your feeling about the current dynamics that you are seeing in the market at this moment? If you compare with the second quarter, are you seeing some changes in the trajectory, the feeling that you have? No, I think we are seeing the market confirming what we said. After a Q1, which we expected to be a little bit lower, a better development in Q2, Q3, and Q4. You saw Germany. I commented on this, I commented on the incentives, and I think Germany continues to be strong. Italy also in quarter two did a little bit better. France, as we expected, is still more related to what the government will do. In general, I will continue to see a positive evolution in H2 of what we see in H1. Okay. My second question is, instead on Fit to Win program. Basically, if you can update, how much do you expect incrementally in this year, 2026 versus 2025? Just to give a sense of what you are cashing this year with this program. Yeah. Thank you for the question. As we said, Fit to Win is something that we started already a couple of years ago. It's working and is going on in line with our expectation. The results of the benefit is in the guidance in terms of profitability, but we said as well that we are reinvesting part of the benefit to support what we need to do for the long term of the company. Investments in R&D, in new products, in sales, in the digitalization, and in making sure that we have an IT infrastructure that is in line with 2030 and not something that was working a decade ago. Feeling good about it. We already said that at the end of last year that we would have reinvested the benefit and we continue to do this. Overall, the profitability that we are delivering and we expected to deliver full year are embedding this Fit to Win plan. Okay. Very last is connected with the first one about the markets. We saw some data about Italy and France. It seems that probably Italy is the first quarter that the market is going up with the heat pumps going well. If you can share maybe on these two markets. We are always talking about, of course, Germany, but combined, Italy and France are equally important or even more. Just to provide your feeling about these two markets, with Italy likely to be the first time up after years. Yeah, I think I commented a little bit before. Italy, Q2 was obviously better than the historical trend. We always said that Italy was reaching the bottom and then recovering. Thanks to, I would say, both heating heat pump and wall-hung boiler. After a very tough Q1, Q2 was better. Remember that obviously the weight of heating heat pump in Italy is different in percentage than the one in Germany. I think in France, on the contrary, while we see a little bit of improvement on the renewables part, I think on both fossil and water heating overall, the country is still a little bit under pressure. Here is where the government clearly said that they want to drive heating heat pump growth, but the uncertainty on the economical situation overall is still Let's say, blocking a little bit consumers to really invest in. Okay equipment like heating and water heating. I think the rest of Europe, we continue to see heat pump growing strongly across Europe. Wall hung boiler improved, but a little bit slightly negative, slight issue. Water heating market continue to be slight issue with, or slightly positive, but very positive on heat pump water heater. Okay. Many thanks. The next question is from Michele Baldelli, BNP Paribas. Hi. Good afternoon to everybody. I have a question on the change of the refrigerant next year to the R290 in Europe. How are you managing the transition to this? On what kind of part of sales do you see it? If there is any kind of product changeover that can impact your selling for this year. The second question is, if you can quantify, as also Carrier did, the heat pump growth in the European market, comparing to boilers, if you can also give the boilers one, what you have seen also on your side. Thank you. Thank you. I think R290, as you know, Wolf was one of the first introducing this many years ago. Now everyone, one after the other, are bringing the R290 technology to all the heating heat pump. This is what we are doing as well since years with Wolf, then Elco, then Ariston with the new heating heat pump. I think it's business as usual for us, and it's something that, as I said, was a competitive advantage in DACH for the fact that Wolf was one of the first introducing this gas in a very positive way. I think on the second part of your question, this is what I mentioned before to Alessandro, we see obviously heating heat pump growing well, not only in Germany but across Europe, while wall hung boiler improving, more flattish in the first half. This is what I would say. Obviously, the dynamics are different. We saw positive wall hung boiler numbers, for example, in Germany and in Italy in quarter two. Positive signs as well. Okay. Thank you very much. As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question is from Alessandro Tortora, Mediobanca. Yes. Hi, good afternoon to everybody. I have, let's say, three questions, please forgive me for this. The first one is on the pricing strategy for the coming quarters, considering that, as you said before, there is this cost headwinds from Middle East. Just to understand which kind of action you are planning, also considering that, if I remember well, you have, let's say, a nice hedge for this year, but clearly it's a rolling hedge, therefore, which kind of, let's say, action you see on pricing for the coming quarters? The first question. Do you want to go one by one, or I tell you all the- As you want, Alessandro. Do you prefer- Yeah, I will hear your first answer. Thanks. Yeah, I think on pricing strategy, we said, and even Riccardo commented that I think Q2, we saw the first signal of our moving pricing. Obviously, while I think we are well-positioned for 2026, thanks to our hedging policy, this will have an impact in 2027 and 2028, we have to move. We do always a mix of pricing, cost reduction. I don't think everyone is on mute, sorry. Pricing, cost reduction, in terms of product productivities and other productivities that we do across the board. This is the way we manage our profitability, always paying attention to be competitive and making sure that we don't overdo versus the others. I would say we are well-positioned on this, and we will see a progressive, positive evolution on pricing in the next quarters. Let's say on this front, you see the other major operators and competitors following this kind of trajectory, considering that this is a shared headwind for everyone? Alessandro, you know this is common to market. You mentioned it's not only the Iran conflict and the crude oil, but overall still is obviously higher because of the decision of European Union. I'm sure that you follow better than me what even other listed companies are saying on pricing, including someone that said recently that they will have to work more on pricing and cost. I think we are seeing this happening, being common to market. Okay, thanks. Understood this. The second question is on, we unfortunately saw in the last weeks this heatwave, hitting basically Europe with, let's say, some panic buying, sold out scenarios in countries like, for instance, France. I recall it that, for instance, or even part, maybe a marginal part of your offer is also on the air-to-air, maybe also on portable conditioner. Can you tell me, let's say, which kind of role this solution have inside your portfolio? Is it still some kind of tactical product you have? Just understand if you are having some reasoning about this solution that clearly had these very strong demand over the last weeks. Thanks. Yeah. As you know, we are not an air conditioning producer, and you will hear more from others. In general, we sell air conditioning as a complement to our portfolio. Obviously, while the beginning of the year overall for the market was difficult because there was a stock, not from us, but from the key competitor in the market. The acceleration of the heatwave in June and July are obviously driving higher growth in terms of sales. We are, I think, benefiting like others with this. Let's hope will continue to be warm until August and then cold again, so we can rebalance between heating and air conditioning. Okay. Thanks. The last question is just a clarification on a comment made before on the, let's say, year-end leverage. I didn't understand, you probably mentioned a level close to the first half, so close to 2.2. I didn't understand if this is something related to the pro forma numbers, therefore including also the annualized impact of Riello. Just have a confirmation of this, because this would imply, I guess that, also on the working capital side on sales, you should decline from the first half level. Thanks. Yeah, Alessandro, thanks for the question. When it comes to expected leverage ratio at year-end on a pro forma basis, we expect to stay below 2.5x, 2.5x. Of course, the second half for Riello integration, the ramp-up will be crucial, and as we are learning, since July the 1st, but so far, we do expect to stay below 2.5x. This is post-acquisition, to be clear, and pro forma, yes, included. Yes. Pro forma. Okay, thanks. The next question is from Christian Hinderaker, Goldman Sachs. Yes, thank you for fitting in my follow-up. I just wanted to understand a little bit more when we think about strong good growth in terms of the commentary. Obviously, you had mid-teens growth in Americas, as we've discussed. I guess, just broadly when you're talking about that phraseology, should we think of that in reference to your midterm guidance? I guess just what constitutes strong growth, because I guess there could be a range in there. Thank you. No, normally we don't give guidance by market. Maybe, I try to repeat. Q2 was particularly strong also because, last year was strong in Q1 and a little bit in Q2. We don't give guidance market by market, but we would expect the market of water heating in North America to grow low to mid-single digit. And the heating market as well, kind of low single digits. Normally, I think we said, and it's clear to everyone, we are overperforming. We are doing better than the market across heating and water heating overall, but also in North America. And we expect to do better than the market, even in the second half. Thank you, Maurizio. Next question is from Michele Baldelli, BNP Paribas. Yes, thanks for taking my follow-up. It's just on the growth in the Middle East. In Q1, if I remember well, you should have suffered from the conflict in terms of selling, particularly in March. I was wondering how much of the growth in Q2 was just driven by probably postponement of this billing of the selling from March to Q2? Just to contextualize how much of the growth that you had is just a flow-over effect of this. Thank you. Maybe we need to correct you a bit. Thank you. Continue to suffer because the war actually was impacting more Q2 than Q1. It started impacting in, obviously, during March, but obviously Q2 is much tougher for us. As you know, and as we said, the total revenue affected in the area is a little bit less than mid-single digits. This is what you have to keep in mind. Every day, we hope it's solved, but there is always something happening. We are still suffering due to the Middle East conflict in terms of top line, as I just commented, but also, as you know, because there are incremental costs that we are factoring already in our guidance. Perfect. Thank you very much. As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one. Gentlemen, there are no more questions registered at this time. Okay. If there are no more questions, we thank you all for joining again. For any follow-up questions, the IR team remains available as usual. Have a great day and summer break. Bye. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones. Thank you.