First, let me highlight what drove the performance. We saw growth in both shipment volumes and the value of goods transported. North America and Brazil performed particularly well, as did the rest of the world. At the same time, we continue to operate in a challenging environment. Geopolitical tensions remain elevated, particularly in the Middle East. China continues to be soft and trading remains uneven across the luxury sector, with hard luxury and jewelry performing better than average. Against this backdrop, our extended network and global expertise remain a real strength as we continue to adapt effectively to the evolving environment. We believe the performance in the first half demonstrated the flexibility and the resilience of our business and the strength of our market position. Let's now look at the progress we are making in our strategy on slide four. At our full year result, we retained our priorities for growth, expanding our network, developing our client and service offering, strengthening the business through improved execution and share of wallet gains. Six months on, we have made strong progress across each of these areas. Let me start with our network. Our new hubs in Vietnam, New Zealand, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia are now operational and have started to contribute to revenue. Preparations are continuing in Indonesia and the Philippines, and Paris remains on track for opening by the end of the year. Around 20% of our network is currently at an early stage of scaling. These locations are operating below their full capacity, although much of the investment is already in place. Typically, we expect locations to progress towards full operating potential within around 18 months of launch. We are also expanding our services offering. During the first half, we launched our partnership with SWISS WorldCargo and Swissport in Amsterdam to provide secure ground handling and storage of valuable cargo. At the same time, we are evolving our new division dedicated to diamonds and precious metal. This initiative broadens our addressable market and creates opportunities to do more with both existing and new clients. Overall, we have delivered the key milestones we set ourselves. Much of the infrastructure and capability for this phase of expansion is now in place, and we expect the pace of incremental investment to moderate. Our focus is now more on building utilization across the expanded network and developing our new activities. As these investments mature, we expect their contribution to revenue to increase. Let's turn to the financial highlights on slide five. Revenue for the first half was EUR 187 million, an increase of 6.2% at constant currency. Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 47.8 million, slightly ahead of last year. As expected, the adjusted EBITDA was slightly lower at 25.5%, reflecting the investment phase I have just described. Net profit increased to EUR 25.7 million. Cash generation also remained healthy, and we handled the period with a net financial position of EUR 78 million. I'll now take you through the main drivers in more detail. Starting with revenue, slide six, both shipment volumes and the value of goods transported contributed to organic growth in the first half. Currency was a small headwind, mainly reflecting the weaker U.S. dollar. Overall, the underlying revenue performance was positive, with growth coming from both activity levels and the value of the goods moving through our network. Turning to our service lines on the next slide, international service remains our largest activity, representing around 65% of the Group revenue. Revenue increased by 3.8%, supported by higher shipment volumes and higher average values across both existing and new routes. Domestic services performed particularly well, with revenue up 12%. Higher international service volume also supported domestic activity, particularly in France, Germany, Italy, and the U.S. Warehouse and logistic services declined by 7.2%. This is mainly reflect lower activity in China compared with the first half of last year. Growing markets including Italy and South Korea provide some offset here. Finally, special and other services grew by 3%, or 6% at constant currency. This was achieved despite the postponement of some events, notably in Dubai. We also saw growing demand for our hand carry services across the network. Now, let's look at the performance by region on slide eight. Europe, our largest region, continued to grow at 4% year-on-year, with strong contribution from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.K. In Asia, Japan and South Korea performed well, but this was more than offset by continued weakness in China, which drove a decline of 10% year-on-year for the region as a whole. Vietnam is still a new operation, but activity is picking up and the hub has started to contribute to revenue. North America and Brazil was the standout performer. It is now our second-largest region by revenue contribution. Growth of 18% year-on-year or 22% at constant currency was supported by increased activity among strategic clients in the U.S., higher value of goods transported, and the impact of higher gold price in Brazil. Rest of the world also performed well, particularly in India and Dubai, despite continued tension in the Middle East. Our new Saudi hub has also started contributing as planned. Geographically, the picture remained mixed, but notably strength across a number of our markets more than compensated for the areas where conditions remained difficult. Turning now to profitability on the next slide, adjusted EBITDA was EUR 47.8 million, up 20 basis points compared to last year, with a margin of 25.5%. There are two main factors to keep in mind when we look at the margin. The first is the weaker performance of part of Asia. The second are current investment cycle. As I mentioned earlier, a significant part of our network is still at early stage or in scaling. The cost base is already largely in place, while utilization and revenue are building. As these operations mature, we expect higher utilization to support both revenue growth and improved operating efficiency. The next slide gives you some more detail on the movement in the margin. The main point I will highlight is personnel cost, which had an impact of 1.5%. We added around 100 employees across the network during the first half. These hires support our new hubs, new business line, and areas where we are seeing increasing demand. This is a larger investment in the capacity we need to support future growth. Looking at the underlying cost base, we continue to maintain good discipline. Cost of service increased at lower rate than revenue. Shipping is our largest service cost, representing around 82% of the total. Above all, shipping costs declined as a percentage of revenue in the first half. This demonstrates the efficiency we can achieve as volume increase and we consolidate activity across the network. We have already covered personnel cost, so I want to repeat that here. Moving on, CapEx. Most of our tangible investment during the period related to our new offices and warehouses, including New Zealand, the U.K., and Vietnam. Maintenance CapEx remained around 2% of revenue. Our intangible investment mainly related to digitalization. We continue to roll out systems across the network, improve data quality and collection, and progress its implementation. Overall CapEx remained stable year-on-year. This remains an asset-light business, and we continue to be disciplined in how we invest. Turning to cash flow on slide 13, operating cash generation remained healthy in the first half, supported by EBITDA and revenue growth. We continue to invest in both tangible and intangible assets as part of our growth strategy. Financial cash flow mainly reflected lease repayments of around EUR 7.5 million and the EUR 30 million dividend paid during the period. As a result, we ended the first half with a cash of EUR 128 million. Finally, our net financial position. We ended June with a net cash of EUR 78 million. Operating cash generation remained strong. This was partly offset by the dividend payment and continued investment in the business. Financial liability also increased, mainly because of the new leases associated with our expanding network. Overall, our balance sheet remains strong and gives us significant flexibility. Before we turn to outlook, I want to spend a moment on capital allocation. Our approach is straightforward. We want to invest for growth, maintain our strong balance sheet, and deliver sustainable returns to shareholders. Our first priority is reinvestment. This includes our network, technology, and digital capabilities, as well as selected opportunities in new business lines. We are also open to M&A where it boosts our capabilities and geographical footprint. Second, we want to maintain a resilient balance sheet. This gives us flexibility to fund future growth opportunities as they arise. Third, we remain committed to a sustainable and progressive ordinary dividend. The dividend for 2025 financial year represents a 56% payoff ratio, well above our 40% floor. Finally, where we have capital behind the needs of the business, we will consider returning it to shareholders. This includes the potential for special dividends. As we announced today, subject to our investment requirements and available cash, the board may consider a special dividend in the second half. Let me finish with our outlook. For the second half, we expect many of the trends we saw in H1 to continue. China is likely to remain challenging and uncertainty in the Middle East continues. We have navigated these headwinds well in the first half, and underlying momentum in the business remains positive. We remain therefore on track to achieve our full-year objectives, and we are tightening the organic revenue growth guidance to 4%-6% above our previous 3%-6% range. We continue to expect adjusted EBITDA margin to remain broadly stable year-on-year, and ordinary CapEx broadly in line with the last year. Behind the guidance, there is an important point I will leave with you. We have added significant capacity to the business over the past two years. Much of the infrastructure and capability is now in place, but the meaningful part of the network is not yet operating at its full potential. Our focus now is on building utilization across this operation. As they develop, we expect them to contribute more revenue and improve operating efficiency. We enter the second half focused on execution and confident in the growth opportunities ahead. Thank you very much for your attention. I will now hand back to the moderator to start the Q&A session. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin our Q&A session. If you have a question, we ask that you please use the raise hand function at the bottom of your Zoom screen. Once your name has been announced, you can ask your question. If you want to withdraw your question, please lower your hand using the raise hand function. Thank you, and a moment for the first question, please. Our first question is from David Kerstens from Jefferies. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Hi. Good morning, Alessandro. Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions. First of all, you said momentum continued into the second half. Can you give an indication what the organic revenue growth was in the third quarter so far against a tougher comparison, I think in the second half of last year? I think you said clearly about, you talked about the drivers for the margin recovery anticipate in the second half to get to the 26% for the full year, and you said the pace of incremental investment will moderate. Is that statement mainly referring to the second half of the year or also in general for 2027 and beyond? Is your network now having sufficient critical mass, and should we see a faster recovery towards the 27%-29% in the medium term? Maybe finally, could you share some indication what is the basis for the special dividend, and what is the minimum level of cash you would like to keep on your balance sheet? Thank you very much. Okay, thank you for your questions. I try to answer to the whole three. For the trends of the Q3, we have a good sensation on what we achieve right now. As mentioned in the discussion before, we would like to tighten a bit our guidance to 4%-6%, because we see the continuous momentum in our business, in our operation till today. It is confirmed. Regarding the investment to moderate, of course, it is a consideration both related to the second half of the year. For instance, we expect to finish the investment in the new Paris warehouse, as we mentioned. It is also true for the coming years. Both second half and the coming years as well, we expect to moderate the pace of the investment. For the special dividends, of course, we can disclose on that, but the point is that, as we mentioned earlier, we know that we have a level of the cash need in terms of operation that allow us to pay a special dividend potentially in the coming months, of course, if not any other sort of special operation arise, because we are always open to see any potential in the market. But if there is not this consideration, we consider that if there are not a growth opportunity to capture, to consider special dividends. Understood. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next question is from Raphaël Lucet from Moneta AM. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Hi, Raphaël Lucet from Moneta. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Our next question comes from Beltrán Palazuelo from DLTV. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Hello. Good morning. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Yeah, we can hear you. Good morning. Good morning, Alessandro, Paola. Congratulations for the strong results. I have a couple of questions, if I may. The first one, you said that in 2026 your current objective is to maintain EBITDA margin. Seeing what you expect, that means that the second half needs now some recouping. Let's say confirm that the second half will, let's say, increase in margin, and then you are seeing that now in 2027, the margins will start increasing. That is my first question. My second question is regarding the special dividend. I think it is very important that you state it now, this, so market doesn't think you are going to have a lazy balance sheet. What type of opportunities now currently you are analyzing? Because I have seen in your balance sheet that the opportunity, the M&A that you have executed in the first half, it has not been material. Are you analyzing any, let's say, material operation that can derail this dividend? Then the amount of the dividend, I think another person asked it in the call, what type of dividend? Is it going to look like the dividend you already paid this year or more small? Then my last question is regarding the leases, because between EBIT and EBITDA, let's say the difference is growing and growing. So let's say in the next four to five years, at what rate will the leases increase more or less, say less than your revenue growth, or what is the expectation? Because the gap between EBITDA and EBIT keeps on growing as you open more facilities. Thank you very much and all the support. Yes. Thank you, Beltrán. The first question was on margin. As I said, we expect margin stable in 2026 because we know that the revenues coming from new opening start to support. Also we expect that Q3 and Q4 are online with our expectation on the markets. The fact that the new employee that we are starting to create more revenues, and on the same time the phase of investment for the 2026 is mainly done. So our expectation is that in the second half there will be an increase to reach the level of 2025 in terms of margin. For the special dividends, of course, we will provide more detail soon, but I can say that will be no higher than what we did in July. This could be considered the maximum level, but it's something that we can discuss after the Q3, and we'll be more precise on that. Of course, everything is subject to growth opportunities that are potentially in the markets. Unless there is these opportunities, we go ahead with special dividend as mentioned before. The EBITDA, as you say, and you refer to the lease. The leases for the future years, I think that the pace of the lease of the future years will grow less than proportionally than the growth of the revenue because the great year investment was the last two year and this year. But the big one, so was the Paris Orly we opening on the end of October. I think we concluded this peak, and we enter in a more moderate phase, and our expectation that the increase on this part is less than proportional than the revenue. To answer to your question. Thank you very much. All the support. Thank you. Our next question is from Robert Jan Vos from ABN AMRO. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Yes. Hi. Can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Hi, all. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one is if I read correctly, you said in the press release the value of the goods shipped increased 30%, but shipment volumes increased 4%. How much of the value increase is related to the higher gold prices, and to what extent is the growth in North America and Brazil a function of these higher gold prices? Second, maybe you can elaborate a little bit on the working capital investments. It was EUR 11 million, if I'm not mistaken, in the half year. Is that a normal buildup, or has it maybe to do with the new openings, and should some of it unwind in the second half? My final question is also on the special dividend. You talked about that you cannot say anything specific on the size at this stage, but what about the timing? Is it likely that you will announce something at the Q3 trading update, or will it be a separate announcement if you decide to do a special dividend? Those were my questions. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for your question, Robert. The first one was related to volume and value. Yes. Volume increased less percentage because there is also the efficiency of the distribution and the consolidation of the flow. There are some impact that reduce the spread, geographical spread, so we have less shipment to some destination. Some for geopolitical crisis, other because the market are softer right now. The number of the shipment is also connected to the destination. Also the consolidation of the flow make a bit of change. The increase of the value is partially driven by, of course, the increase of the value of the gold. This is clear. This also reflected the greater distribution created to U.S. So the consideration that you mentioned is correct. The increase of the value of the gold is something that is related. Of course, there is the general increase of the price of the value that we deliver. So not only the metals behind that, but also the price of the pieces that we moved. This is also true because we are in a different scale in country that create new routes and helping us to load value on a consolidated matter. Regarding the working capital, our expectation is that in the second half, the pace will reduce. This is what we expect for the future. For the special dividends, again, as I mentioned, it's something that we are looking, taking in consideration potential growth opportunities. But very soon, I think that we provide a dedicated communication on that. I think that will arise within the communication of the Q3 results. Okay. That is very clear. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question is from Marc Zeck from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Hey, good morning. I hope you can hear me. I just got one question left. Could you elaborate a bit on the development in China? What is baked into your guidance for the full year? Do you expect a recovery in current growth trends, or will everything stay as soft as currently? What do you see actually in Q3 so far for the China business or everything that goes into China? Any color on current trends would be helpful. Thank you. Thank you, Marc, for your question. No, we don't expect any change in China for the Q3 and the end of the year. The markets there is quite soft. It's not related to our operation, Marc, for the general activity in the markets and the expectation that is reaching a new normal right now, and it will remain stable in the coming months. Thank you. We took it into account in the guidance, of course. Thank you. Our next question is from Raphaël Lucet from Moneta AM. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Our next question comes from Arjan Noordermeer from Centillion Investment. Please unmute your line and ask your question. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. Okay. I have a few questions. You have been talking about 20% of your network that is at 40%-60% utilization. Can we have any expectations for utilization improvements that you expect for this 20% in the second half and in 2027? Another question would be on the margin decline that we saw in Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world. Can this all be attributed to new site costs or also to mix or underlying mature location performance, like any things that are not performing as expected? Can you give a little bit more color on the warehouse segment, and why this part of revenue that happened last year would not reoccur this year, and we saw a negative revenue growth? Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, please go ahead. Okay. Something went wrong with the mix. Sorry for that. Talking about the 20% of network, our expectation that they start to contribute from Q3 and Q4 2026, for instance, especially in country like U.K. In other country, it takes more longer because we are in an early stage of the scaling phase, more in a start-up phase. But our expectation that all the 20% within 18- 20 months will contribute and will be very close to the regime phase. If I can say 2026, 2027, and beginning of 2028, we reach the regime phase in each of the place where are scaling right now. The margin decline in Europe and Asia that you mentioned are not related to different inefficiency in the structure, are related on a different distribution and on a different way of the flow and the distribution. Of course, in Asia, there is the huge impact of the China. In Europe, there is the way to, right now we have created more activity in the domestic market that will boost in the future also the international flow, but that right now are pacing in a different way the margin. We don't consider that is related to efficiency in the mature branches. On the last end, the warehouse segment decline. The warehouse segment decline is mainly due to a difference to an activity that was active in the first four months in 2025 in China that is no longer active. The main difference comes directly to this activity and with the comparison of the previous year. Otherwise, the business is quite good with the opening that we have, for instance, in Thailand last year or the new one that we have in Italy and other activity overall in the world, even mentioning the activity, the new activity that we mentioned for the Dutch market. It's mainly related to the difference between the previous quarter and the previous half year, compared with the China activity. Thank you. Our final question is from Raphaël Lucet from Moneta AM. Please unmute your line and ask your question. This concludes today's Q&A session. Thank you for your participation. I will now hand back to Alessandro for his closing remarks. Alessandro, please go ahead. Thank you all for joining us today and for your continued support. Have a good rest of the day. Goodbye. This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.
Loading workspace