Good evening. This is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Biesse Half Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are on 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. Alessandro Bernabucci, Statutory Consolidation Manager and IR. Please go ahead, sir. Good afternoon, everybody, thank you for joining the Biesse Half Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. Let's start with commenting our half year 26 financial results. With reference to the geopolitical distribution of the group's main production assets, there are three industrial hubs located in Italy, India and Thailand. These are complemented by 20 showrooms strategically positioned worldwide to support the commercial network. As of June 2026, the group employees are approximately 3,600 people. In terms of revenues, at the same date, 33.4% is generated in the Americas, 64.5% in the EMEA region, and the remaining 12.1% in the APAC region. Summarizing the group's main economics and financial KPIs, the sales of the period report a decrease of approximately -3.6% compared to half year 2025. The 2026 FX impact was negative for EUR 6.9 million versus half year 2025. If we look and examine at cost and exchange rates, the decline would have been limited to -1.5%. EBITDA adjusted amounts at 5.6%, a 0.6% margin on sales up compared to half year 2025, when it stood at 5% of sales. It's important to note that the significant reduction in cost resulting from the activation of the contingency plan helped mitigate the negative impact of lower revenues. Headcount. Headcount decreased by 106 employees compared to half year 2025, primarily driven by the closure of the manufacturing facilities in Northern Italy. In terms of order intake, as you already know, ongoing geopolitical uncertainties are driving a phase of slowdown and wait and see across global markets. Half year 2026 performance is broadly in line with the Q4 2025 trend, showing an improvement compared to the performance of Q2 and Q3 2025 and reducing the gap with the Q1 2026 from -4.7% to -4%. The net financial position, excluding IFRS 16, shows a deterioration in half year 2026, moving from a positive EUR 1.5 million to a negative of EUR 19.6 million, which is consistent with the business seasonality and broadly in line with the cash absorbed recorded in the half year 2025, which was negative for roughly EUR 20 million. It is worth noting that cash absorption in Q2 2026 amounted to EUR 8.5 million, lower than the EUR 12.6 million of cash absorption recorded in Q1 2026. If we look to our top-line performance by product, by material, and by geography compared to half year 2025, we know that revenues mix shift further towards the service, parts, and components, partially offset by a softer contribution from machine lines, which remained broadly stable, in line with the half year 2025 levels. Referring to material breakdown in the wood segment, Biesse is outperforming its main European competitors, recording slight growth in a declined market, largely thanks to the performance of line business, so-called Biesse Technique, while stone and glass faced a slowdown in demand. Finally, analyzing sales by geographical area, we can see a positive contribution by the EMEA region, particularly driven by Spain and Portugal, whereas Americas and APAC regions are both negative. Entering deeply in the quarterly figures, we can say that overall, the standalone results reported in Q2 2026 were stronger than those achieved in Q1 2026. In particular, in terms of revenues, the Q2 2026 showed an improvement compared with the Q1 2026, reducing the gap by half. Some areas of concern remain, particularly referring order intake, which continues to be below expectations. Q2 2026 operating margin increase as a result of ongoing efficiency initiatives and cost control measures, which partially offset the effects of lower volumes and preserve positive profitability. The increase in operating profitability was primarily driven by the release of provision for risk and charges related to legal disputes following favorable development in the relevant legal proceedings. In addition to the figures already commented about the consolidated P&L, we would like to move directly on the gross margin, where the 1.6% decrease is primarily driven by a negative mix pricing effect for minus 0.5%, transportation cost for minus 1%, and an adverse FX impact of minus 0.1%. As already said, in terms of OpEx and labor cost, contingency plan actions are the main reason behind the EUR 13.3 million reduction versus our fiscal year 2025, resulting in a positive adjusted EBITDA of EUR 17.3 million. About the non-recurring items, we have non-recurring items for EUR 0.9 million, referring overall the restructuring cost. EBIT is positive at EUR 4.8 million versus a negative EBIT at EUR 6.7 million referring to our fiscal year 2025. The net result for June is positive for EUR 0.2 million, showing an increase at EUR 7.3 million compared to our fiscal year 2025. Of course, all these kinds of P&L variations are more detailed in the bridge referring net results from our fiscal year 2026 versus our fiscal year 2025, which is available on our website in the section, Conference Call. Regarding the headcount trend, the group's workforce decreased by 106 employees compared to June 2025. The reduction of 140 employees within the Italy perimeter was partially offset by an increase of 34 employees in the rest of the world. If we look at the balance sheet highlights, the net operating working capital increases by EUR 18.6 million compared to December 2025. The increase is mainly driven by high inventories for EUR 15.2 million. This trend is, let me say, partly seasonal and typical for the first half of the fiscal year, with a gradual normalization expected in the second half. Nothing in particular to know and to say about trade receivables, trade payables, and contract liabilities, almost in line with the 2025 year-end result. About net equity, net equity remains substantially unchanged, standing at EUR 226.2 million, while the net financial position, excluding IFRS 16, is negative at EUR 19.6 million versus positive one of EUR 1.5 million at the end of December 2025, decreasing by EUR 21.1 million. We can explain this kind of operation with a cash flow bridge where cash generated by EBITDA is more than offset by the net working capital dynamics. The rest are referring CapEx dynamics, even if lower than planned, reflecting investment postponements and contingency plan implementations, rentals, and other asset and liabilities and funds variations. To conclude, no changes have been recorded in the composition of the board of directors over these last few months, as well as in the shareholder distribution, which remains about the same. This is all from our side, and now we can open the Q&A session. Thank you. Thank you. 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 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. The first question is from Alberto Francese of Intesa Sanpaolo. Please go ahead. Good afternoon, everybody. Alberto Francese, Intesa Sanpaolo. I have a couple of question. The first one, I've seen that you, in the press release, you mentioned that there is a growth in the wood segment in this first part of 2026. Can you elaborate a little bit more on this trend? More in general, the question is, how do you see the second part of the year, the second half of the year in terms of order intake and revenues? Second question, you mentioned this increase in inventory in the first half 2026. Can we expect a reversal of it in the second part of 2026? Thank you. Thank you, Alberto, for your question. I try to answer your question. About the wood segment. Yes, we confirm a good trend in this part of the year. If we look, for example, to Homag review that we monitored, for example, in terms of sales, they were -9%, and in terms of order, they are -7%. This is just a benchmark, but this is the trend that we are seeing in terms of wood. As mentioned during the first half of the speech, we are focusing, and we are strengthening our sales, referring the aesthetic league, so the lines, and this can give an effort for the rest of the part of the year. While with reference the second half of the year, for us, the demand, as I said, during 2026, has remained weak, and the expectation is to stay so through the end of the financial year. If we look at that, we have to say that we hope that we could be stable. For the moment, we not see any significant sign in terms of recovery. The other items concerning inventories, you right mentioning the seasonality, and it is correct. In fact, if we have a look to the previous half year, we had a spike of the increase in inventory exactly in the last year. Now, the expectation, and we can confirm that, is that we will see a decrease in the second part of the year due to our efforts on monitor and manage all the working capital dynamics. This is our target for the end of the year. About the order intake, we have to see this order intake. We see order intake a little bit better in the second half, better than the first half of the year. Absolutely in line with the revenues trend, this is our view. Also, in terms of revenues, the trend is similar. Thank you very much. Welcome. As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is from Francesco Taddei, Banca Akros. Yes. Hi, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. I have a couple. First one is on the business plan assumptions. When you presented the business plan, you clarified that the target incorporated the market recovery. As this recovery is not yet visible, do you still consider the 2028 targets achievable through, let’s say, market share gains, internal efficiency, or could the delayed cycle shift their timing? On the second question is about, let’s say, gross margins and transportation cost. H1 gross margin declined by 160 basis points, including approximately 100 basis point impact from transportation costs. Do you expect this headwind to persist in the second half, or should it progressively normalize? In general, how are mix and pricing currently evolving? Thank you. Thank you, Francesco. With reference to our three-year plan and targets, as you mentioned, we confirm the target. In this moment, due to all the things that we already mentioned during this call, we can confirm for the moment the lower end of the range in 2028. This is the first one. Concerning the gross margin, yes, looking at our forecasting, 6 + 6, the expectation is a normalization of this kind of, let me say, things like transportation cost, which impacts inside in gross margin to recover in terms of efficiency. The final result will be a little bit higher than the one we're doing this first half. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Mr. Bernab ucci, there are no more questions registered at this time. Okay. Thanks all for your time. We keep in touch for future step and development. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones. Thank you.
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