Good afternoon. This is the Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Saras second quarter and first half 2024 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in a 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 Ilaria Candotti, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to the Saras Group second quarter 2024 results. As a reminder, for those on the phone, the playback and the press release are available from the investor relations section on our website. Today, our CEO, Franco Balsamo, will start with the main highlights of the quarter. Then Marco Schiavetti- I'm really sorry to interrupt, ma'am. Here, we are able to hear that magnetic disturbance again. Okay, sorry. Today, our CEO, Franco Balsamo, will start with the main highlights of the quarter. Then Marco Schiavetti, Chief Commercial Officer, will discuss the oil markets and refining margin. Afterwards, our CFO, Fabio Peretti, will provide more details on the financial and segment results. To conclude, Franco will give a guidance for the full year, 2024, discussing the outlook. To conclude, we will open up to the Q&A session. I will now turn the call over to Franco. Thank you, Ilaria, and thank you everybody for joining our quarterly meeting. In the second quarter, the group comparable EBITDA stood at EUR 90 million compared to the EUR 27 million in the same period of last year. And you remember that the activity of the refinery at the time was impacted by external events. The higher EBITDA of this quarter versus last year comes primarily from the higher production on the refinery and our power plant, and also from a more favorable scenario with a stronger diesel crack, which more than offset the decrease in gasoline crack. The scenario effect is also presented in the EMC Reference Margin, which stood at $4.50 per barrel in this quarter, slightly above $4.2 reported in the second quarter of last year. The stronger operational performance is reflected in our margin, which averages at $9.4 per barrel in this quarter, versus $7.9 in the same quarter of last year, with a premium in this quarter of $4.9 on the EMC, which compares with the weaker premium of +$3.7 barrel in the second quarter of last year. On the renewable segment, the solar plant Helianto was completed in June, and they started commercial production. At this point, full year renewable production is estimated about 350 GWh, fully priced at market tariff. Net comparable results stood at EUR 29.7 million. I noticed that was negative the previous quarter of last year by EUR 22 million. Is, with this quarter, we had a higher interest rate cost, and the negative effect of the exchange rate differences compared to the same period of last year. Investment CapEx in the second quarter stood at EUR 49 million, mainly on refinery maintenance, plus the remaining part of the completion of the Helianto plant. Looking at the financial positions, this first part of the year ended with EUR 10 million net cash. More precisely, in the first part of the year, operations generated an net cash flow for EUR 208 million. However, change in working capital was negative for EUR 139 million. CapEx were EUR 80 million and we paid dividend in May for EUR 142 million. But later on, Fabio will better explain. Having said that, I will leave the floor to the colleagues in order to analyze the market dynamics. Good afternoon, and thank you, Franco, for the introduction. During second quarter of 2024, we had stable Dated Brent prices around $85 per barrel, substantially in line with the previous quarter. The persisting geopolitical tensions in Middle East and the interaction of naval traffic across the Red Sea contributed to keep the market in backwardation, with spot prices exceeded $90 at the beginning of the quarter. However, prices fell in May due to the increase of inventory in the Atlantic Basin, and dropped further after the OPEC+ meeting of June, when members announced the intention to gradually ease production cuts, starting from last quarter of this year. Moving to differentials on the chart on the right side. In particular, Basra Medium achieved net quotations versus Dated Brent. The effect of OPEC+ and plus Russia cuts continue to reduce market availability of our grades and keep discounts under pressure. More precisely, during second quarter, Basra Medium differentials to Brent averaged - $2.8 versus - $3.7 per barrel in Q2 2023, but substantially in line with the first quarter of this year. Looking at the sweet differentials, Azeri Light versus Brent Dated stood at around $3.3 per barrel during second quarter. It was $4.6 during the same period last year, in a context of a long market for also crude oil, coupled to the weakening of middle distillate cracks. But Fabio will then comment further on the effects of these differentials on the EMC benchmark. Moving to cracks. ULSD crack during the second quarter stood at an average of around $18 per barrel, $1 more versus same quarter last year, and down by 31% compared to the first quarter of 2024, as the return to operations of several refineries after the usual spring maintenance contributed to the increase in supply. This came at a time of a weaker demand in Europe, with reduced industrial activity, milder weather conditions, and structural changes in the car fleet, with a greater sale of electric vehicles and others with gasoline engines at the expense of diesel powered cars. Moving to gasoline, we had a crack around $18.8, almost $19 per barrel during Q2, compared to an average of $20.5 in the second quarter of 2023, and up 14% to compare to the previous quarter, due to the effect of the shift in specification in preparation of the driving season, lower production of U.S. refineries, and lower inventory levels at the beginning of the period. Moving to energy costs, quickly to energy costs, power and CO2. In Q2 2024, the Italian electricity price soon stood at an average of around $95 per megawatt hour, compared to an average of $115 in the same period of 2023. Price is significantly lower than same period last year, due to a more stable supply for natural gas and reflected a context of uncertain macroeconomic conditions, especially in the Europe area. Moving to CO2 quotations in Q2 2024, the average stood at approximately EUR 68 per ton. It was EUR 87 in Q2 same period last year, continuing the trend of the previous months as a result of the aforementioned weaker industrial activities in Europe. And finally, moving to the market outlook for 2024. Recent demand weaknesses and increase in refining capacity in operations are expected to reduce refining margins for the second half of the year, even if they should remain above historical averages. Looking at oil demand, all the various reports, including the IEA released in July, are pointing to growth of around 1 million barrels for 2023, supported primarily by India and Brazil, while China could have a lower growth. On the other hand, OECD countries will suffer a further slowdown in consumption due to the weaker macro conditions, increasing efficiency and energy-saving policies, and the progressive increase in electric vehicles. All the incremental demand will be basically covered by incremental supply by, you know, non-OPEC countries, which will more than offset the expansion of the OPEC + Russia production, plus the incremental demand from the mentioned countries. Moving to cracks. With regard to gasoline, after a very strong first half of the year, with cracks close to 20, to $20 per barrel, we saw a sharp reduction in July, down to 14, 15, due to the effort of the additional refining capacity reaching the market... and the American driving season start to materialize. We are expecting gasoline cracks remaining to current levels for the rest of the year. Middle distillates, similar trend we saw on gasoline, with the additional refining capacity pushing values lower during the month of July, in particular. Nonetheless, we expect cracks to remain above historical averages due to the structural change, changes in the supply flows towards Europe, as well as an increase of consumption approaching the winter season. So now let me hand over to Fabio for the financial advice. Thank you, Marco, and good afternoon to everybody. As first anticipated, our second quarter results were positive and higher compared to those of last year, but both for the higher set activity and for an increase in the refining margin, while they were reducing compared to last quarter, mainly for the weakening of the refining margin. In the second quarter, our reported EBITDA was at almost EUR 98 million, while our reported net results was about EUR 31 million. Comparable results were close to the reported one, given the limited impact of the scenario effect on inventory's evaluation. This brings our first half reported results at EBITDA of EUR 275 million euro, and a net result of EUR 100 million euro, with the comparable results slightly above, with an EBITDA of EUR 288 million euro and a net results of EUR 127 million. In the first semester, we had healthy funds from operations for about EUR 208 million, while the reduction in the net financial position before IFRS 16 effect, which on the end of the quarter, expanded about EUR 11 million, is mainly attributable to cash out for dividend, tax, and CapEx, as well as an increase in the level of our inventory, that we expect to recover in the second part of the year. Moving now to the segment analysis, starting from the industrial marketing. Q2 comparable EBITDA was EUR 86 million, with the marketing channel accounting for EUR 12 million. Our results were about EUR 60 million higher than the one of last year, with the difference mainly attributable to better performance. In the quarter, we had a lower level of maintenance, which results in higher crude runs compared to the one of last year, and in addition, we had the opportunity of greater optimization in terms of crude oil slate, especially for light and sweet crude. Lastly, for what concerns our commercial operation, it is continuing to be above historical level and slightly above the one achieved last year, mainly for higher results in compulsory stock sales and in the inventory hedging. The costs were totally in line with our higher variable costs, mainly related to our consumption, compensated by lower fixed costs, largely driven by the lighter level of maintenance activities that were carried out in this quarter compared to last year. Looking at the CapEx level in the quarter, it was EUR 45 million, bringing the total amount for the first half of the year to EUR 72 million. This amount is a bit less than expected, due to some delay that we expect to recover in the second half of the year. For what concerns our industrial and marketing margin, in the quarter, it was $9.4 per barrel, compared to $12.1 per barrel of the previous quarter. The reduction of $2.7 between the two quarters is due to the reduction of the margin available in the market, that, as it's shown by the EMC Reference Margin, dropped by $3.7, going down from $8.2 to $4.5. For what concerns our premium over the EMC Reference Margin, in the second quarter, it was $4.9, bringing the overall premium on the first half of the year at $4.5 per barrel, at the upper end of our guidance. The higher premium is mainly due to the better than expected performances, and notwithstanding the average level of crude differential, which is still a premium compared to Brent, that, as you know, is the reference crude for our benchmark margin. In the renewable segment, in line with our target, Helianto photovoltaic plant started its operation on the twenty-first of June, and contributed for 2 GWh to the total production of the quarter. Q2 EBITDA was approximately EUR 5 million, EUR 2 million above the results of the same quarter of last year, and increase in the EBITDA was driven by an increase in the electricity production, partially offset by the effect of our lower electricity tariff. The production was 21 GWh higher than last year, mainly thanks to stronger wind condition and higher mechanical availability. The average tariff for this quarter was 81 EUR per megawatt hour, down from 87 EUR per megawatt hour in Q2 of last year. It's worth remembering then, in this quarter, we are entirely selling our electricity at market value, while last year, we had the impact of the price cap, both at 61 EUR per megawatt hour and at 118 EUR per megawatt hour. In addition, it's worth to mention that, in 2024, on 13% of our production, we received incentives equal to 42 EUR per MWh. Finally, in the quarter, we invested about EUR 4 million, and these are entirely related to the activity for the development of the Helianto plant. Looking at the evolution of our net financial position, in this quarter, we see that it is positive for EUR 11 million. Our funds from operations in the quarter was positive for EUR 81 million, and additional cash was generated by the reduction of our working capital, which was mainly due to the rebalancing of our commercial credit at a level closer to the one that we were having at the beginning of the year. The cash generation was more than compensated by the EUR 142 million for dividend payment, the EUR 50 million for capital expenditure, and finally, the payment of taxes for about EUR 65 million. Let me now hand over to Franco. Okay, thank you. Thank you, lot. I will conclude our presentation with our outlook for the year, and I will start from our operation activity. Indeed, after the turnaround in the first half of the year of the alkylation plant, the distillation unit, LP 2, and the Vacuum V 1 unit, and also with the slowdown of the power plant. In the next quarter, we will have some maintenance activity on our sulfur recovery plant, while in the last quarter, planned maintenance with related cleaning of the Topping T2 and the Vacuum V 2 unit, as well as other minor maintenance works on the power plant. Overall, the crude oil runs are expected to be between 97 and 99 million barrel, and 7 million barrel will be a complementary feed stock. We expect also to reach IGCC power production over 4 TWh, 4.1-4.2 TWh. Of course, all under the essentiality regime. In terms of fixed cost, we confirm our guidance at EUR 380 million-EUR 400 million. That is below the level of last year, thanks to the optimization initiative started, which are offsetting the inflation impact. CapEx, we confirm the guidance at the level of EUR 170 million-EUR 180 million. With the aim also to implement some additional technical upgrades in order to improve energy efficiency, but in any case, to maintain plant in fully operational and in a competitive standard. Having said that, in terms of refining margins, Saras premium over the EMC Reference Margin is confirmed in the middle part of the $3.5-$4.5/barrel guidance range, as we have seen in the previous speech, due to the softer forecast for gasoline and diesel crack spread, that in any case shall remain above historical averages and the persistent squeeze of the discount on the sour grade. As far as the renewable business is concerned, the activity will be focused on the completion of the Helianto plant, and further investment will now depend on the authorizations that will be obtained for the construction of new farm in our pipeline. So due to the moratorium in Sardinia, this business for the time being, we're not expecting additional investment. As far as net financial position is concerned, we shall retain the existing robust financial structures and the positive positions at the end of the year. So thanks for your attention. We are available to take your questions. 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 touchtone phone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. We kindly ask to pick up your phone when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. We will pause for a moment as the callers join the queue. The first question is from- Alessandro Pozzi from Mediobanca, please go ahead. Good afternoon, thank you for taking my questions. I have two. The first one is more on the, let's say on the second half of the year, you know, OPEC is likely to increase production, and I was wondering how you are preparing for it, and do you envisage a potential change in your in the crude slate, when you will have more volumes, let's say, from potentially even from the Middle East? The second question is that refining margins have been coming down since the start of the year. And I know that you part of your sales are in Italy, but you also are very much exposed to international markets. I was wondering, where do you see pockets of strength in demand, or how you see demand for oil products based on your sales? And maybe the final one on net cash by year-end, if you can give us an update on where you see net cash by year-end, basically. That's all for me. Thank you. Hello, Alessandro. Take the first one on OPEC. So, it's difficult to forecast what OPEC is going to do. They promised to release a little bit more crude towards the end of the year, but given the actual prices of Brent below $80, maybe they will change their mind. And in any case, with the end of the year, beginning of 2025, so it's too early now to forecast a sensible change in the crude slate and potential benefits, to be honest. And, Alessandro, what concerns the net cash, Franco mentioned before, the expectation is to have it positive, at level closer to the one we have today. It's worth to remember that in the second part of the year, we will be, we will have some cash out related to tax, and the anticipation of the excess duty, which would be relevant in the, in the fourth quarter, and, and the, the capital expenditures that we expect to be in the range of, of EUR 100 million. So all in all, we expect to, to have a stable, cash position. Then, of course, as you know, it's always dependent from the scenario and the performance, but this is the, the expectation. Thank you. And then maybe, if you can, elaborate on how you see demand based on your product sales internationally? But as we mentioned, the global oil demand is still growing. 1 million, more or less, all the agencies are pointing to an additional 1 million barrel per day of growth. As usual, as we commented in the previous calls, all these incremental demand is basically concentrated in far Middle East, maybe North Africa, instead Europe, OECD is decreasing. So in any case, oil demand is still growing for this year, and also marginally lower the four coming years after 2024. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Massimo Bonisoli from Equita. Please go ahead. Good afternoon. Thank you for the presentation. I have two questions. The first question concerns the relationship with your new owner. Do you already have an idea of the potential synergies with Vitol on the supply of different qualities of crude and distribution of refined products? And the second question, if you can give us an indication on the contribution of Helianto to third quarter EBITDA at around this level of electricity prices of multi-market, let's say? Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Massimo, for your questions. As has been very declared by Vitol in their strategy, all the companies purchased are operating as separate companies. So what Vitol intends to do is to work with us and with the other company in order to develop the business, and also to help us in better understanding the commodity market, to create some new idea in order to manage inventories, and to exploit all the potential opportunity that could arise from this market. Having said that, Saras is a complex refinery, and what you are expecting that the contribution of Vitol can- The big opportunity for us in order to exploit all our capability in the commodity market, that is the Vitol core business. And in addition of this, of course, we can add to our commercial traditional commercial activity, the dimension of the international trading. Having said that, the Vitol Group acquired the stake a few weeks ago, so it's very difficult to say any potential synergy in term of quantity or in term of new opportunities. In term of Helianto, the contributions for the next month, the next six months, we can tell you later on is what is. In the range of EUR 5 million? EUR 5 million, something in that region. 5 million for the second half, you mean? Yes, correct. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kamath Ramachandra from Barclays. Please go ahead. Hello, thanks for taking my question. I have a couple. More from the point that we are defined. Refinery revenue has been quite strong across the region. Ram? Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Ramachandra. You're sounding a lot muffled, so if you're using the speaker phone, may we request to use the handset mode, please? Oh, that is true. I can hear. Is it better now? I'm using my headphone on the speaker. Is it audible now? Sorry, from here, it's very difficult to, to have a comprehension of what you are saying. Okay, no problem. Thank you. So, Mr. Ramachandra, if possible, you can disconnect and please reconnect to have a better reception, and please try again. So now, 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. If there are no other questions, thank you. Okay, we can wait, in case, Ram wants to connect. Ram is able to reconnect. Yes, sir, there are no questions at this moment. Okay. So, okay, thank you very much, and I, I hope to talk to you in the next quarterly meeting. Okay, bye. Bye. Thank you. Have a good afternoon. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones.