Good afternoon, this is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the third quarter 2024 financial 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 Mr. Nicola Sautto, Group CFO of Biesse. Please go ahead, sir. Good evening, good evening. Here with me, our Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Sandro Vitale. So we can go through the presentation, starting from the first slide. This is a general presence of the Group. We have more than 4,100 employees all over the world. The majority are in Italy, roughly 49%. We have three manufacturing areas in all around the world. One is in Italy, with several industrial hubs located in the territory, then one in India, and one in Thailand, and plus 19 showrooms in different countries. 63% of our revenues are located in EMEA, and the second, the majority, the second part of our sales are located in North and South America continent. The economic scenario is cont... It is very weak, so as you certainly know, the inflation remains still high in the area covered by Biesse, and also the GDP outlook remain weak with significantly lower levels in the majority of countries, and only some of the countries, for example, India, with a positive very significant increase in terms of GDP. Due to this effect, the cost of money remain high, and this is one of the problem that we have with our clients, because they cannot obtain money from the bank system, so they cannot pay the remaining installment for the machines. Probably, as you know, we obtain an advance payment of more or less 20%-30% of the total value of the machine at the order. Then we ask to the client, another 50% of the total amount before the installation, and the remaining 20%-30% of the total amount of the order will be paid by the client with some days of delay. The client cannot pay to us the last two installments, so the installment before the installation and also the last installment, so we do not send the machine to the client. This backlog is called financial hold, and a significant increase compared to last year, September 2023 to September 2024. So this is linked to the general problems in terms of credit and the economic scenario that I already mentioned. So these problems will have a significant reflection and impact also in our P&L and in our financial statements. In terms of other economic scenario in the other country, also in the other part of the world, the economic scenario remain uncertainty, for example, in Germany, but also in China, in Korea, and also in the other part of the world. You can see in the presentation some snapshot of the some significant situation all around the world. One of the major impact is on the automotive sector, and is a significant reflection in our sales, due to the fact that a part of our company produce some machines related to this market. In the first nine months of 2024, the Biesse Group posted a total order of EUR 511 million consolidated, so considering also GMM. If we compare the number to September 2023, excluding the GMM effect, because we bought the company in January 2024, the total order was EUR 488 million, so it seems higher, the total value, but if we exclude the contribution of GMM, so if we compare Biesse in these two periods, we reduce our order in one year of roughly EUR 40 million. In terms of backlog, the total amount of backlog is more or less EUR 280 million, compared to EUR 290 million last year, with the contribution of GMM to the number of 2024 of roughly EUR 26 million. You can see in the detailed chart on the right. So it means that our backlog, notwithstanding the trend of the order, remain very stable with a significant amount. So means that we will have the possibility to perform at least at the same level of 2024, also in 2025. So this is a very significant number for us, due to the fact that give us the possibility to plan the production and to plan also the remaining part of the 2025, with a significant in a stable way compared to 2024. In terms of P&L, we posted EUR 561 million in terms of sales, significantly lower compared to last year. Once again, the number of last year was without GMM, so in terms of if we want to compare only the Biesse performances, Biesse posted a decrease compared to last year of EUR 120 million in terms of sales. In terms of EBITDA, the final number was EUR 44 million compared to EUR 63 million last year, with a decrease also in terms of percentage of net sales due to the fact that we were able to reduce our cost accordingly the strategic plan that we presented at the beginning of 2024, and we anticipated all the activities, strategic activities listed in the business plan. As you can see in the bridge, in the slide set, we reduced the cost in terms of, for example, labor cost of roughly EUR 17 million. So it's a big impact, but the drop in terms of sales and the related drop in terms of margin, we cannot balance and cover, offset completely with the significant saving in terms of cost. But the message is, the Group remain focused on what listed in the plan, in the strong confidence that the plan is correct, all the action in the plan are correct, and we want to anticipate all the action included in the plan, because we are strongly convinced that all the activities will bring us a significant improvement in terms of cost reduction, synergies, new organization in terms of production, and on commercial side. In terms of EBIT, EBIT adjusted, we posted EUR 14.5 million compared to last year, and in terms of net result, EUR 2.6 million, compared EUR 15.9 million. In terms of pre-tax, it's quite important, and I want to mention to you, this number is EUR 6.8 million, so the result is EUR 4.2 million in terms of taxes. And you can see also in the quarterly financial statement that we published in our site, there was a significant tax rate of roughly 62%. The reason is related to the payment and the taxes on the dividend received by the group at the beginning of this year. So we paid and we calculate the taxes on this dividend, and we expect to have a significant reduction by the year end, due to the positive contribution of the patent box for HSD, our company involved in the included in the Group. So we expect to have a significant decrease in terms of tax rate, of roughly 20 points less, so from 60% to around 45%-50%. The total amount, the tax rate will remain high, due to the fact that we decide to not calculate the deferred tax asset on some companies of the Group to be prudent. So maybe on the year end, with the positive suggestion also from our auditor, maybe we can calculate this DTA, otherwise we already included this negative effect in our Q3 financial statement. In terms of bridge between net result, as you can see, the group we divided the slide number 7 in two different parts, one for Biesse and one from GMM. Just to give you the sense of the effect of the contribution of both groups. In terms of the left part is Biesse effect, so the net, the negative effect of Biesse standalone, so Biesse, HSD, and all the commercial legal entity of Biesse was EUR 12 million, roughly, less compared to last year. The majority of this effect is due to the lower in terms of revenues, only partial compensated by a higher margin compared to last year, but as I mentioned before, Biesse posted a significant decrease in terms of sales of EUR 122 million less compared to last year. So the EUR 43.9 million, the effect that is in the first column in red in the bridge, is due to this significant decrease in sales, partially compensated by a higher margin compared to last year. As you can see, we were able to have a significant, sorry, saving in terms of labor cost, both to Cassa Integrazione, reduction in terms of MBO and some significant part of the people that left the company in the last nine months. The other significant change compared to last year, if we look on Biesse side, are on D&A. We changed the policies of capitalization, so we decided to not capitalize our R&D cost this year. We posted a lower devaluation compared to last year. The other effect is positive effect also on taxes, already mentioned, is positive because the pre-tax also is lower compared to last year. Already mentioned the tax rate that is 6.2% on taxes. The other positive effect is related to the non-recurring, so EUR 6.2 million. EUR 6.2 million is due to the accrual of provision last year for restructuring, that we do not include in 2024, because we already posted accrued in the previous financial statement on Biesse side, plus a positive effect of one building that we sold last year for a total amount of EUR 1.9 million. On GMM side, so the right part of the chart, as you can see, GMM has a positive EBITDA impact on the Group of EUR 8.8 million. Then we, they have a negative effect in terms of the amortization and depreciation. This is due to both the investment and the fixed assets that they already have in their financial statement before the acquisition, and plus the amortization of the purchase price allocation that we made in line with our auditors for the cost of the participation that for we bought the Group at the beginning of the year. In terms of non-recurring, EUR 3.5 million, there are two negative effect on GMM side. One is for EUR 1 million, roughly, is the due diligence and taxes fee of the operation that we paid, that GMM paid in January 2024. And EUR 2.5 million are related to the restructuring provision that we accrued on GMM, not for the Group GMM, let me say, so for GMM and Bavelloni and TWJ. We know that we have to reduce the people and in accordance with the plan and with the new structure that we wanna put on the new group. So in accordance with this plan, we have to reduce significantly also the personnel in GMM and Bavelloni. In terms of group headcount, so the slide number nine, as you can see, September 2024 compared to September 2023, please remember that September 2023 did not include the GMM numbers. So if you look at on Biesse, you can see that the number of headcount is lower compared to last year of 254, and this is apples to apples, because this is only Biesse. In Italy, we reduced for the majority 231 people, and the rest of the world means all the other nation all around the world with a reduction of 23. In reality, the reduction was only in India for 53 units. So it means that in the other commercial company all around the world, we had an increase of 30 people on the sales part, so we strongly want to reinforce our sales structure in the country, and this is the message that we put in the number. In terms of GMM, we closed the September 2024 with a total amount of 420 people. Last year, in September 2023, the total people was 433. So as you can see, a slower decrease also in terms of headcount in GMM. This decrease will continue in the next month, and you will see the first significant impact probably at the end of the year. In terms of balance sheet, so the slide number 10, as you can see, the net working capital was EUR 96.3, significantly higher compared to December, EUR 41.7. The reason is, the consolidation of GMM in September, so December is not comparable. If we break down the EUR 55 million, so in terms of data between the two net working capital, EUR 37 million was due to the consolidation of GMM, EUR 16 million due to Biesse. For Biesse, the 95% of the effect was due to the reduction of the contract liabilities, so the advanced payment that we receive from the client, once they sign the order. So the reduction is strictly connected to the reduction of the order that I give you the some comments at the very beginning of this call. During the first nine months, the Group realized EUR 9 million of CapEx, and we expect to have more or less EUR 3 million-EUR 4 million in the Q4 2024. In terms of net financial position, we had a significant number of EUR 4.2 million. If you consider also the IFRS 16 effect, is only an accounting effect, the net financial position was negative of roughly EUR 28 million, but the very important number is EUR 4.2 million, so the positive financial position before the IFRS. In the financial statement as of September 2024, we accrued roughly EUR 60 million in terms of funds, so the debt reserve, obsolescence reserve, generic risk, restructuring provision, and so on. So the Group is, and the financial statement is very, very prudent, and we accrued all the potential liabilities that we expect in the next 12 months. One of the reasons, step back to the net financial position, the reason for this significant decrease compared to December is mainly related to the payment of GMM, roughly EUR 69 million. The remaining part, as we paid some dividends to the Group, to the shareholders, the CapEx that I already mentioned, netted by the EBITDA cash effect that we had in this six months, nine months, sorry. In terms of fixed asset, we had a significant increase compared to December, and the reason is the consolidation of GMM. We already start with Deloitte, our auditor, to analyze the PPA for GMM. The total amount of the PPA is roughly EUR 35 million, so we already posted this number in the financial statements. Part of this EUR 35 million is allocated to the goodwill, and the majority of the PPAs are allocated to the other assets of the company. The last slide is just a shareholder distribution. So on the left side, you will see our board of directors, on the right side, the shareholder distribution of Biesse as of the end of September. So I finish the presentation. I leave the floor for your question. 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 Touchtone 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. First question is from Silvan Betschart, with Reichmuth & Co. Please go ahead. Hi, Nicola. Thank you for the presentation. My question is regarding the D&A changes this year. Is it right, if I got your comments correctly, it was more a conservative change that you have taken, and put all the R&D through the income statement- Yes ... to lower tax payments this year? So it's not aggressive that you capitalized something, No. Okay. No, on the opposite, vice versa. We decide to be more prudent, also following the suggestion of our auditor, and we decide to put all the costs in the P&L. The second statement you made, if I may ask, is you mentioned all upcoming restructuring costs you expect until year-end or even next year, you already accrued a lot through the income statement? Yes, right. So nothing like- Right, right, right. Yes. We, we accrued all what we expected, probably by the year end, we want to add some additional money, some additional value in the financial statement. We're just finalizing some calculation on, especially on the GMM side. Mm-hmm. So what I'm expecting is to add EUR 1 million-EUR 1.5 million in December to the amount already accrued in the financial statement. Okay. And last question, if I may. If the revenue side stabilizes on the current level, how much headroom with potential synergy and cost saving do you see at these levels? I mean, is the heavy lifting done, or is this still big opportunities also to be profitable on this kind or even slightly lower levels of revenue? Thank you. Thank you. So in terms of revenues, we see also based on the analyst research that probably you had the chance to see, we do not see in 2025 a significant change on both sides, so in terms of increase or decrease in terms of sale that we compare to 2024, right? So more or less, the level is stabilized, but we are expecting to have a significant saving, but it's not the right term, because we are changing the structure of the group Biesse. So our plan is not to save money. Our plan is to completely redefine the Group in terms of operation, and after that or during this change, to adequate the structure and make a right sizing of the structure, okay? We already started on this process, but the process is an ongoing process. So our expectation is to have the possibility to stabilize also the EBITDA value in terms of percentage, and to increase a little bit also next year. So we started a long journey, but we are strongly convinced that our journey will bring us to a new group with more efficiency, more synergies, and a higher level in terms of EBITDA, in terms of percentage, obviously. Thank you. The next question is from Juan Antonio Fernandez with [audio distortion]. Please go ahead. Thank you. Good evening, Nicola. I want to make a short question. It's about we are having a very good split with Biesse and GMM backlog orders. I want... Well, we are seeing, like, only Biesse, we are falling, like, 20% revenues comparing last year. How about GMM? Is it going more or less in the same level of decrease? No, no. GMM is more stable compared to last year. As you know, GMM is not included in these numbers, but if we compare the result of GMM in the first nine months of 2023, more or less, we are aligned compared to what we posted in 2024 due to the fact that their market is less afflicted by the competitors, so the stone and glass and also the Techni Waterjet market is less affected by the competitors. So it means that their results remain more stable. I will leave to Sandro to explain in more detail this effect. Yeah, I mean, I think what Nicola is trying to say is that, this is part of the multi-material strategy. And, as a matter of fact, we think that the differentiation of material with the strong glass and exploring the metal, as indicated in the strategic plan, is exactly confirming the fact that, that's the right way to go, in the sense that we add materials which are, let's say, less cyclical in a way, or they have a different or slightly different cycle of business. So I think that, differentiating the exposure to different material, is exactly the way that should be this. In a way, we see this also in the numbers of GMM. Okay, okay. Thank you. Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is from Angelo Meda with Banor. Please go ahead. Mr. Angelo Meda, your microphone is open. Okay, it's not Angelo, it's Luca Riboldi speaking, probably because we are from the same firm. We are both from Banor. Hello, everyone. So I'm Luca Riboldi from Banor. I have a couple of questions. The first question is about inventories. I've seen the inventories at the end of the third quarter, 2024, is EUR 10 million, more or less, higher than Q3 2023, despite the lower revenues, so I would like to understand why. And the second question, if you could update us on the competitive landscape in the three main markets, Europe, US, and Far East Asia. Thank you very much. Thank you. So I will explain to you the first question, then I let Sandro exploring the second part. So please consider that the number of Q3 2023 is without GMM. So in compared to Q3 2024, is included GMM. So we have a mixed effect. So the first effect is a consolidation of GMM, obviously, but if we look at only on the exercise, you will see more or less the same amount of inventory compared to last year. So your point is right, we have the same amount of inventory with lower sales. The majority of the effect is the consolidation of GMM, obviously, but if we look at Biesse, the reason is that, as I mentioned at the very beginning of the call, we noted an increase on the financial hold side, so we produce the machine, we send the machine to our subsidiaries all around the world, but the client do not pay the remaining amount, so we add this machine as inventory, and we cannot install and receive the final payment from the client. This is one of the reason that I mentioned at the very beginning in terms of credit and financial trouble of our clients. Please remember that the majority of our clients are small clients, small companies, so they are hurt very, very hard from this situation all around the world. Thank you, Nicola. Okay, then I take the second question. So regarding the market and the competitors. So the market scenario, which I think you've seen, something in the release, is still quite challenging, especially in the European area, particularly Germany, which is the biggest market, is in. I would almost say in a dramatic situation, but I think this is quite normal, not just in our industry, but overall. All the other markets somehow are following all the major markets. So I'm talking about UK, Italy, France. There is an effect of postponement or uncertainty on possible public support, which you know well, as you say, in this case, a counter effect, because that create an expectation which is not fulfilled. For example, in Italy, with the 5.0 initiative, which created more problems than a positive effect so far. Regarding North America, it is a little bit more stable, with the uncertainty on one side, the many, many customers waiting for a possible easing of the monetary policy, which also creates some uncertainty. On the other side, of course, there are the election, which also creates some tension. But for sure, Americas is more stable and in a better situation than Europe. Then in Asia Pacific, I would only mention China, which also is heavily down. Again, on the overall economic situation and even the stimulus package that has been released, we are not sure how much will provide benefit, but also our exposure to China is very small. On the other side, India has some opportunity. The economy is growing, and we have a production plant there and stable prices. On the competitor, I would not mention too much. I think you would find the result, maybe from HOMAG, which is in the Dürr Group. So is public data, but you have seen more or less 15%-20% decrease in revenues, which reflect, let's say, the trend in the overall industries. You have also seen some of the other competitor. Now, I will only mention public available information. For example, situation from Breton in the stone, which is quite challenging. I say that for sure there is an overall complex situation, which is following the two, three years of the post-COVID, where we had a boom in the orders supported by public politics and the ease of monetary policy, which is no longer there, so it is providing a lot of uncertainty. Thank you very much. In terms of competitors, about the two Chinese companies, that you were mentioning a couple of conferences ago, they are still more or less in the same position, or do you find them more active, competing in Europe, U.S., or just in Asia? For sure, I mean, they look very aggressive in the export, no doubt. This is typical in this moment of all the Chinese industrial company, and there is a very difficult situation in the local market. So, for sure, trying to expand- ... on the other side, let's say that, in, we don't see, especially in the Americas, and, in Europe, in the Western Europe, we don't see them growing too much. For sure, they grow in all the typical markets, typical, like, South America, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific, but this was already a trend that was there already. So not significant change, I would say, in the last three to six months. But for sure, we needed to prepare to an aggressive competition, which on the other side, may present a benefit, for all the industry to be more efficient. I think what Nicola was mentioning before, I think, is a challenge for all the Western companies, not just in this industry, that is how we address differently the business model, make it more sustainable, more efficient, in order to compete with all the possible competitors. Thank you very much, Sandro. Thank you. Yeah. The next question is from Alberto Francese, Intesa Sanpaolo. Please go ahead. Good afternoon, everybody. Alberto Francese, Intesa Sanpaolo. I have a couple of questions. The first regards the revenue in the last quarter of the year. In this third quarter, the total, Biesse plus GMM, was something less than the third quarter, some EUR 10 million revenues less than in the third quarter of 2023. Can we expect a similar trend also in the last quarter of the year? It is something lower than it was in the last quarter, 2023. Second question regards the staff reduction, labor cost reduction. The question is, can we take this reduction as something recurring also in the next years for our estimates, for our projections? If the answer is yes, if you can give us more color for the reason that you can run Biesse with a lower number of people rather than it was in the last three, five years. Thank you. Thanks, Alberto. So in terms of revenues of this quarter, yes, we posted, we realized a lower sales. Please consider also the August as not a very important month in terms of sales. In our communique, in our press communication, we said that if you consider the year to date on September, you can mathematically project the final quarter in a very stable way, let me say. So compared to the final number of the analyst research, I think we will lower compared to that number in terms of sales. Low single digit, let me say. But in terms of EBITDA, we will remain more or less close the number of the projection, right? So there's no... There are significant—there are any impact on in terms of sales, low single digit. In terms of EBITDA, in terms of absolute value, and also in terms of margin, more or less, we will, we should be close to the number of the projection of your research. In terms of labor cost, we try to stabilize the saving, because there are many people, as you can see in the chart of the account, that left the company in the last month, but the trend started one, two, three years ago. We try to stabilize this number and to continue to reduce the number, due to the fact that, as I mentioned, we are changing the structure of the group in terms of production, operative, and commercial side, right? This is not a one-off effect or an effect that we want again today to save, let me say, the P&L. It is part of the project of one company, right? The project started in the previous three years, and in the plan that you see in our website, it is a project that will impact all the aspects of the companies. So, the target is to have a more efficient, a more scalable, and more efficient and scalable group and companies. So the plan is to continue to have this such type of savings without impacting the turnover and the profit due to the fact that the new model that we wanna create is a completely different model. So we need to rightsize the people and the cost in line with the new model. So it's not an effect that we wanna put in the P&L this year, and we'll see what happen in 2025 and 2026. It's a new different model, it's a one company project that you already know. Once again, if you wish to ask for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is from Silvan Betschart, with Reichmuth & Co. Please go ahead. Hi, Nicola. Thank you. A follow-up question to the inventory. One change you mentioned is that your clients are not able to do the second payment. I mean, how do you value this in the book? Is there any risk that there are... If there are no payments, that there are negative effects on the P&L down the road, or is this very, very conservatively in the inventory? No, we already take in account this possible risk, so we do not see additional risk down to the road. So we already accrued a fund related to the inventory. The only risk that we see, and is already in the numbers, is just a delayed payment from our clients. So the machine, sooner or later, will be sent and installed to the client. It's just a matter of when. So some clients are postponing the installation of the machine, but the machine is created and produced for them, so they will, they are obliged under the contract agreement to receive the machine sooner or later. So we already included in our profit and loss and also in our balance sheet the risk of this inventory, and the only risk that I see is to have a postponement in terms of cash. Thank you. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Mr. Sautto, there are no more questions registered at this time. Okay. Thank you very much for your time. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones.