DEME Group NV (DEME) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Carl Bussche, Head of Investor Relations at DEME. And it is my pleasure to welcome you to DEME's Half Year 2026 earnings call and webcast titled, Strong First Half Results, On Track For Another Record Year. Joining me today are DEME's Chief Executive Officer, Luc Vandenbulcke; and our Chief Financial Officer, Stijn Gaytant. Both Luc and Stijn will take you through the presentation, which will be visible on screen during the webcast. Slide 2 briefly outlines the agenda. Luc will kick it off with the exact summary and Stijn and Luc will then take you through the group's financial performance and the results of our 4 segments. We'll also highlight several key projects before Luc will then conclude with the outlook. After the presentation, we will open the floor for any questions you may have. So without further delay, I'll hand it over here to look for the exec summary.

Thank you, Carl, and good morning to everyone. As you all know, 2026 is a very special year for DEME. We will be celebrating or we are celebrating our 150th anniversary. And I would like to begin by personally thanking our employees, both our current employees but also our past employees, because their hard work and determination have shaped DEME into the global group that we are today. Their commitment, as you will see, is once again reflected in our performance. as we delivered the strongest first half in DEME's history. Let me now walk you through the key highlights and financial results for the period against a backdrop of rapidly evolving market conditions, we delivered more than EUR 2 billion of turnover, and that for the fourth consecutive half year period. At EUR 2.2 billion, DEME delivered its strongest first half top line performance ever. We also achieved record first half EBITDA of EUR 466 million, which corresponds to a margin of 21.6%. Net profit reached a record EUR 215 million, which is an increase of 20% compared to EUR 179 million a year ago. The order book stood at EUR 7.1 billion, was somewhat below the level reported a year ago, it remains healthy and robust. We continue to see supportive market fundamentals, healthy tendering activity and a substantial project pipeline. Together, this should help us to keep the order book in good shape. And in this anniversary year, I'm pleased to say that 2026 is shaping up to be another exceptional year for DEME reflecting our strong first half performance and the visibility we have today, we are raising our guidance for the year. For 2026, we now expect turnover to slightly exceed the 2025 level and the EBITDA margin to stay in line with the 2025. Our brand-new offshore assets, the Norse Wind and the Norse Energi have successfully entered service and are currently executing their first projects. which is reinforcing our position at the forefront of the Offshore Energy market. In addition to that, we have continued to invest in our dredging fleet. We have ordered a new [ hopper ] dredged with a capacity of 22,000 cubic meters, which is expected to be delivered somewhere in 2029. So that's it for the highlights. I will now hand over to Stijn, who will walk you through the financial highlights in a bit more detail. Stijn.

Thank you, Luc, and also from my side, a very good morning to everyone. Now let me walk you through the key highlights of our first half year performance. Our order book stood at EUR 7.1 billion compared to EUR 7.5 million in the same period last year. and EUR 7.6 million at year-end 2025. The order book continues to provide a healthy visibility. This should also be viewed in the context of the record turnover that we have delivered during the first half of this year. As such, group turnover was up 2% to almost EUR 2.2 billion. This was driven by the sustained performance of our 2 largest operational segments, which both saw revenues further increasing. Our EBITDA stood at EUR 466 million, representing a margin of 21.6%, which is comparable to the previous year. This result was driven by the Offshore Energy segment, which has seen profitability normalized from its peak 2025 levels as well as a strong rebound in our Dredging & Infra segment where the EBITDA margin improved to 22% from 12% a year ago. Depreciation and impairment expenses amounted to EUR 235 million, and we're pretty much in line with last year. For the first half of '26, this included the depreciation of the Norse Wind and Norse Energi, while last year, we had the depreciation level, amongst others driven by an accelerated depreciation of an Offshore Energy [indiscernible] asset. As such, EBIT for the period reached EUR 231 million. It represents 10.7% of turnover and is an increase of 3%. Net financial result amounted to minus EUR 23 million compared to minus EUR 9 million in the same period last year. The delta is partially explained as you can expect by the interest component on the EUR 700 million green term loans that we had taken up in 2025 to finance the Havfram transaction. Current taxes and deferred taxes account for minus EUR 50 million, which reflects an effective tax rate of 24%, broadly in line with the effective tax rate year-on-year of 23%. Now a particularly strong contributor this semester was a large portfolio of joint ventures and associates, which generated a contribution of EUR 59 million. It reflects good operational performance and mainly favorable project phasing across several businesses in Japan, Taiwan and Europe, complemented also by solid results from our concessions activities. Now given the strong contribution in the first 6 months, we do expect a more normalized contribution from the joint ventures and associates in the second half of '26. Now the combination of solid operational execution, strong recovery in Dredging & Infra, resilient Offshore Energy performance and the higher contribution from joint ventures and associates resulted in a net profit increase of 20% to EUR 250 million. And this translates in earnings per share of EUR 8.53 compared to EUR 0.08 in the first half which means we continue with DEME's track record of delivering profitability and also creating shareholder value. Now in relation to balance sheet items, the operating working capital was minus EUR 835 million, this compared to minus EUR 742 million in the full year '25. So we have had an improvement of EUR 92 million in the last 6 months. And we had minus EUR 817 million in the first half year of '25. So that means around 20% of the turnover that remains well within our historical operating working capital range of approximately 19%. Now DEME's investments, so excluding financial fixed assets in the first half amounted to EUR 227 million, and they included the final construction payment for the Norse Energi, which we paid beginning of January project-specific investments, lifetime extension of vessels and also capitalized maintenance and repairs. The investments in the first half of '25 were EUR 141 million. Now supported by sustained strong operating results, improved working capital and despite a higher CapEx compared to prior year and a higher paid out dividend of EUR 130 million. The free cash flow rebounded to EUR 231 million. If you compare it with the first half of '25, you make extraction of the Havfram acquisition, that figure was EUR 123 million including with Havfram was minus EUR 440 million free cash flow, mid '25. Now taking the aforementioned elements into account, the net financial debt decreased to minus EUR 291 million, compared to minus EUR 418 million in the first half of '25 and minus EUR 391 million at the end of '25. So as a result, the net financial debt over EBITDA ratio is currently 0.3, it was 0.5 at midyear '25. And related to cash and cash equivalents, as of end of June '26, it stands at EUR 845 million compared to EUR 709 million year-over-year and end of '25 is EUR 846 million. Now let's take a look at the general overview of the order book. Now at EUR 7.1 billion, DEME's order book remains above the EUR 7 billion threshold for the fourth consecutive year and continues to provide a healthy visibility for the remainder of the year and a solid foundation for future operations. Now while the order book is somewhat lower than the higher levels reported during the previous 2 years, this evolution should primarily be seen in the context of strong project execution and as such an order to turnover conversion which contributed to DEME delivering a record first half year turnover. In addition, order intake in offshore wind is currently affected by the timing of investment decisions, while a number of large U.S. offshore wind projects have been successfully completed and a search, therefore, are running off the order book. I said before, we consider the current order book to be healthy and also very well balanced. It is supported by continued demand across all our core markets. That has been achieved despite a limited contribution from both United States and the Middle East as you can imagine, reflecting the current political and geopolitical environment in those regions. If you look at the geographical breakdown, Europe remains clearly the largest region, representing 80% of the total order book. The exposure to the Americas market declined to 5%, down from 10% on a year-on-year basis, clearly reflecting, as mentioned before, the successful completion of the projects in the U.S. and a somewhat subdued order intake environment. Looking at the order book runoff profile, we continue to enjoy strong visibility for the remainder of approximately EUR 2.1 billion scheduled for execution in the second half of the year, supporting again, our confidence in the guidance provided for '26. Now for '27, the order book currently reflects volumes below the level reported in the past 2 years. And looking a bit further ahead, the volume scheduled for execution in '28 and beyond remain broadly consistent with previous years. underlining the continued depth and also the resilience of DEME's project pipeline. Now as mentioned earlier, revenue increased by 2% to EUR 2.2 billion. As Luc already mentioned, the highest first half revenue level ever for DEME's history. Growth was driven by the 2 largest operational segments, Offshore Energy revenues increased 6%, Dredging & Infra delivered a further 2% increase and 2 together were more than sufficient enough to compensate with a lower contribution from Environmental. If you take a step back, and we're talking about 150 years of DEME, it is remarkable that the revenue generated during the first 6 months of '26, so this year, exceeded DEME's total full year revenue in 2020. It clearly illustrates not only a significant growth achieved over the recent years, but also our ability to scale the business while maintaining strong profitability levels. Another important characteristic of today's DEME is the diversification in the business portfolio. As you can see from the segment breakdown, the revenue is well spread across our core activities with Offshore Energy representing 52% of the turnover and Dredging & Infra 42%, a balanced earnings platform, which allows us also for different project cycles. Now when we look at the geographical breakdown, we remain firmly rooted in Europe with more than 60% of the group turnover realized in '26. Revenues in Americas declined as anticipated and Asia represented 12% of the group turnover compared to 15% in the prior year period. And Africa increased its contribution to 9% of group turnover, reflecting continued activity across a number of projects and further also supporting the geographical diversification of the group. Now going to the segments. In the first half of 2026, the Offshore Energy's order book stood at EUR 3.7 billion. Moderating from the '24 and '25 peak. This is due to the strong order to revenue conversion and also the timing of the new offshore renewables investments, which are temporarily lagging the roll-off of the U.S. projects. Meanwhile, the Offshore Energy team secured some new offshore wind projects like Zeevonk in the Netherlands and Katagami in Japan. And of course, we also continue to pursue a healthy pipeline of opportunities. Now with successful execution in U.S., Taiwan and Europe. The segment delivered another strong performance with turnovers of EUR 1.2 billion, increasing from the [ EUR 1.14 million ] half of '25. Now as the graph illustrates, offshore energy has been on a strong and sustained growth trajectory over the past 5 years. This translated into a strong first half performance with the segment achieving its highest revenue level ever. One point worth highlighting is that 2% of Offshore Energy's turnover in the first half was related to nonrenewable activities compared with 9% a year ago. Now while turnover remains an important metric, it can vary considerably for a similar level of vessel activity depending on project scope, supporting services and also local requirements. Now as the CFO, I therefore, plays equal, if not greater emphasis also on profitability. And in that respect, I'm pleased to see that the segment delivered a solid result, reporting EBITDA of EUR 322 million and maintaining a high EBITDA margin of 27%, supported by disciplined project execution and a continued focus on operational excellence. EBITDA was EUR 36 million below the record level achieved in the first half of '25. However, the prior year result, as you will remember, included a one-off cancellation fee and a gain on the sale of fixed assets. The asset disposal loan, for example, contributed already EUR 70 million to the EBITDA last year. And then on the right-hand side, you will notice the fleet utilization. It was lower than last year with an occupancy reaching 18.2 weeks or 70%. And it reflects a combination of different factors. We have, on the One AI hand, the entry of Norse Wind and Norse Energi entering the fleet. And starting their first projects, respectively, at the end of quarter 1 and the end of quarter 2 of this year. Then the size that you had, for example, the Orion and the Sea Installer, which are relocated from the U.S. East Coast to Europe. And of course, in addition, we also had some several scheduled repairs of other vessels. Now for Dredging & Infra, the order book remained healthy at over EUR 3 billion, broadly in line with the level reported a year ago. and continues also to be supported by a solid tendering momentum, diversified opportunities across multiple geographies. E-contracts were concession for Port of Paranaguá in Brazil, several port-related contracts in Tunisia, India, Indonesia as well as a range of new projects along the West African coast. As such, turnover increased by 2% year-over-year. showing the resilient market demands and also a very robust fleet utilization. Now the most notable development was the significant improvement in profitability. The EBITDA margin rebounded to 22% and so a nominal EBITDA contribution of EUR 212 million compared with 12% in the first half of '25. It reflects, again, a strong combination of improved project execution good project progress and also a higher vessel utilization level, where especially the [ cutter suction ] rigid fleet, particularly showed a good recovery. It's also important to remember that the first half of '25 was impacted by losses incurred on our Belgium offshore infrastructure project work. And then during the first half of '26, substantial progress has been made on this project itself. Now as a result, Dredging & Infra return to profitability levels that more accurately reflect not only the underlying quality of the segment but also the earning capacity of the business. For Environmental, the order book increased to EUR 337 million which is supported by new contract awards in Belgium and the Netherlands and also complemented by the first significant project outside the [ Benelux ] region. Revenue amounted to EUR 131 million compared to EUR 142 million, first half '25. The decrease is mainly related to project phasing while in the meantime, we continue, of course, our works on several long-term remediation and flop protection projects in Belgium and the Netherlands. And during the period also, the team also started working on the Port of Bagnoli project in Italy. Such EBITDA amounts to EUR 15 million. It corresponds to a margin of 11% and is compared to 15% a year ago. Now at the same time, the segment continued to invest in future growth through the expansion of its sole treatment facilities and also the further scale-up of the CARGEN active carbon solution, and supporting its long-term growth ambitions in Environmental remediation. So despite maybe temporary project phasing effects on revenue and also on profitability, the Environmental strengthened its order book expanded its geographical footprint and continued investing in future grown platforms. And the last segment, the Concessions. They reported a net result of nearly EUR 10 million compared to EUR 5 million in the first half of '25. Why is that while wind production did improve compared to the prior year, but remained below historical levels. While on the other hand, Port Concessions activities continue to provide a recurring contribution to the results. The segment continued to operate wind farms also in Belgium and is advancing with the Bowdun project in Scotland. And is also moving ahead with carefully selected upcoming tenders in Belgium and international markets. Concessions team has achieved several important milestones, and I briefly already made the reference to the concessions for Port of Paranaguá in Brazil for 25 years. I think overall Concessions portfolio continues to generate recurring earnings, create strategic growth opportunities and also supports the value creation across the wider of the DEME Group. And with that, I hand over to Luc, who will discuss some of these developments in more detail.

Yes. Thank you, Stijn, for this comprehensive overview of the financials. The next part of the presentation, as you know, I will take you a bit more into depth into some of our key projects of the last half year. And let's start with Offshore Energy. So you see a map here. I will take you through it a bit from left to right. We'll start in the United States. And in the U.S., the Offshore Energy team successfully completed all the works now on the Vineyard Wind project as well as the cable activity installation activities for Empire Wind 1. That leaves us with one ongoing project that is the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind projects, where our teams have completed the installation of all 176 foundations all transition pieces and all offshore substations. Orion and Sea Installer, which were active there have crossed the Atlantic and they have commenced new projects in Europe, meanwhile, in the second quarter of '26. Now the remaining activities on Coastal Virginia for the year include inter-array and export cable installation as well as some rock placement operations. Then we go to the other side of the map in Taiwan. We are making good progress, both on Hai Long and on the Fengmiao project and our recently upgraded jack-up vessel the Sea Challenger has started installing turbines at Hai Long. And at the same time, on Fengmiao, difficult word, Fengmiao, Green Jade has completed all pin pile installation and has successfully installed the offshore substation and the top side on top of it. The vessel also started jacket installation works now recently in August. Going to Europe, the team installed all 62 jacket foundations on the Dieppe–Le Tréport offshore wind farm in France, and they also commenced the installation of the inter-array cables. In the U.K. our cable Viking Neptun continued cable installation activities at Dogger Bank C, and the vessel was also busy at the Baltic Power project in Poland. In the Netherlands, closer to home, the team began cable installation works on the IJmuiden Ver Alpha Nederwiek 1 project. In Germany, we continued -- or we completed rather, the activities at He Dreiht, and we continued the work on Nordlicht 1 and Nordseecluster A. And the preparations for wind under project are also underway. Now let me take the opportunity to take you a bit more in depth in some of our main projects as examples. The first one is Nordlicht 1 which is starting to take shape in the German North Sea. We were awarded the contract for the transport and installation of 112 foundations at both the Nordlicht 1 and Nordlicht 2 projects as well as the scale protection at both wind farms. Orion has installed the first monopile in July and now already completed approximately 47 monopile installations. I think this is a remarkable achievement and a clear [indiscernible] how a high-performing asset and that combined with the expertise and the execution capabilities of our team can really deliver outstanding productivity offshore. Following the installation of the first monopile foundations, Sea Installer already commenced the transition piece installation as of early August and has already installed about 20 units. With this project and others, DEME is further expanding its extensive track record in German waters, both in the North Sea and the Baltic. And as you know, over the years, we have contributed to many German offshore wind projects, just to give a couple of them, [ Kaskasi ], [ Mercure ], famous [ Mercure ] project, [ Ogus ], [ Albatros ], [ Goldwind and Borkum refuel ] And we go to the second project, and we are seeing a picture here of the Norse Wind and we are delighted that, that new jackup has already smoothly entered into service and is already performing the second project. And now that area is [indiscernible] offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. This follows from the first one, which was the successful completion of its first project at the [indiscernible] wind farm also in Germany. Norse Wind operates from the port of [ Esburg ] in Denmark and can transport and install up to 5 turbo insets per cycle. The vessel installed the first Norse cluster turbine around June. By the end of the year, all 44 Vestas turbines are expected to be in place. And once completed, Nordseecluster is expected to generate around 6.5 terawatt hours of electricity annually. Now we are going to France, and we're looking here at the Dieppe–Le Tréport offshore wind farm. DEME was here awarded several contracts for the wind farm, including the transport and installation of the pin piles and jackets. The foundation and top side for the offshore substation and the inter-array cables. We deployed our jackup installation vessel -- or jackup vessel innovation to install all jacket foundations. And we also commenced the installation of the inter-array cables. During this latest campaign, we reached quite an important milestone. We have already installed 200 foundations in French waters in just 5 years of operations over there. Then we are going to a project in Taiwan, Fengmiao 1 in the APAC region, where DEME's joint venture, [ CDV ] has been busy in the first half, particularly with the Hai Long and as I mentioned before, Fengmiao offshore wind projects. We achieved a double milestone at the Fengmiao offshore wind farm, deploying Green Jade and completing both the Pin pile campaign and the transport and installation of the offshore substation ahead of schedule. And you can see here on the picture, the foundation of the substation. Together, the foundation and the top side weigh more than 8,000 tonnes, making it the largest offshore substation installed in Taiwan, to date. Additionally, we also commenced on Fengmiao jacket installation works this month. So that's it for offshore energy. So we go now to the Dredging & Infra segment. So as you can see on Slide 21, our trading team was busy all over Europe with multiyear maintenance contracts and also new projects just -- let's just highlight a few. We completed maintenance works at Long Gateway, and we made progress on the dredging and reclamation work for a new offshore terminal at the Port of Kuka and that in Germany. In France, the La Chatière Project Le Havre entered its second year. And in Spain, we successfully executed beach nourishment works in the Valencia region while at the same time, several project progressed both in Italy and Greece. In the Middle East, and of course, despite regional market turbulence, which we encountered, the segment still delivered solid operational progress. completing works in Saudi Arabia and continuing activities at Abu Qir 2 in Egypt. The coastal protection works in Gala and Ivory Coast this were finalized. While several dredging projects continued in the West African region. In India, maintenance and capital dredging projects were carried out in Paradip, Vasha and Mumbai. Meanwhile, also our infra activities progressed well. I will come back to the Princess Elisabeth Island and also to the Fehmarnbelt fixed link project in a moment. But at the Austria connection, [indiscernible] emerged and connected. In France, we worked on the Portland Novel project, which entered its final phase following the completion of all civil construction works. Now let me give you with this very beautiful picture here on the screen of the it seems like an ad, but it's becoming an island in the coming weeks. Let me provide some more details to some of the main projects during the first half. The MAS part, as you know, of the TM Edison consortium, constructing the Princess Elisabeth Island and the Belgian North Sea. Following now the second installation campaign, all 23 Kessens have now been successfully installed, and they really shaped the outrules of the future Ireland, and they create a safe harbor for the electrical infrastructure, which will then follow. So as mentioned, the sand filling and the preparations for the Ireland interior are now underway and ongoing. This island, as you know, is about 45 kilometers offshore, and it will really be a cornerstone of Europe's offshore power grid connecting wind farms and also international interconnectors to Belgium. Our projects which we are particularly proud of. Now we're going to the Fehmarnbelt project. On the Fehmarnbelt fixed link project and major milestone was also achieved with the immersion and connection of the projects third already standard tunnel element following months of careful planning and coordination. And you see here a picture with if you look well, the elements slightly under water. This milestone marks the transition to full execution of one of the projects most critical phases of the project, which at 18 kilometers long will be the longest immersed tunnel in the world. To give you a couple of dimensions measuring 27 meters in length and weighing 73,000 tons per piece. Each element must be transported, positioned precisely and installed in a turn trench at depths of up to at the deepest 40 meters. A total of 8 elements will be carried by the immersion pontoons, which you see here called IV1 and IV2, and they are both equipped with high-precision alignment system. A second project here is the Bay of Naples, where we are carrying out marine and environmental works for the redevelopment of what they call the Banoli-Corogio industrial area. This is a high-level side. It will host the 38 Americas scope, which is scheduled to begin in July already next year, so a tight schedule. We are preparing the venue for already the preliminary readers, which will be taking place as of next month. I think it's really another strong example of DEME's ability to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to complex marine because we have works here, environmental work, civil work, stretching works, while at the same time, meeting demanding time lines. The next slide is about a fleet addition. We want to further strengthen and expand our dredging fleet. And as such, we recently ordered cubic meter trailing suction hopper rater, which you can see here on the renter. The new Dredging will support our long-term competitiveness both in capital and maintenance dredging, land reclamation and offshore seabed preparations. It is designed to enhance operational efficiency through a structurally lower cost per tree cubic meters while at the same time, reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity. The delivery is scheduled for 2029. The vessel will be built in China under our supervision and will then be outfitted in Singapore. And we are going now to the third contracting segment, which is environmental. So here again, up in the Netherlands operational works on the Gorkem Wartenberg so-called GOA Doreenforcement project were successfully completed. While our activities continued on other flood protection and infrastructure projects and the sand supply project for the port of Rotterdam. At the same time, preparatory works are underway for a major remediation project at Sippel Airport in Amsterdam, and the activities are scheduled to start there in the second half of the year. In Belgium, Austral will and the BFleproject forged ahead. And at the same time, we also carried out maintenance works on the river moves. In addition, Sol investigations were initiated for the redevelopment of the former Acramital site near [ Lies ]. Environmental also continued to expand and upgrade soil treatment centers, both in Belgium and the Netherlands and through the CARGEN joint venture, the segment is also scaling up the volumes and the commercial capacity of its activated carbon filtration solutions. Now on to some of the key projects. First one is the fall -- our environmental team continued to make solid progress here at the former BASF site in and so in Fibe that is under a public private partnership where we are responsible for the purchase, the remediation and the redevelopment of a 65-hectare contaminated site, which you see here on the picture. Our work addresses boat contaminated soil and groundwater. We have already removed existing infrastructure. arcane is famous for its iconic green wood and stilt houses. Reinforcing the dike is a complex undertaking that requires customized solutions to preserve the island's cultural and historical character. For example, the design closely follows the original dike line, preserving views of the specific landmarks. To limit disruption, most of the work is carried out from the water. The dike is being strengthened in phases using tailored engineering methods for the soft crane conditions, which we encounter over there. set for completion in '28, Martin will be protected against high water for at least another 50 years. Now to conclude the segment review, let me turn now to concessions. A couple of key projects. We continue to operate our wind farms, obviously, in Belgium, and we have advanced on the Bowden concession project in Scotland. Meanwhile, our port concession activities continue to deliver recurring contributions and create new growth opportunities. In March, we signed the 25-year concession contract for the marine access channel of the Port of Paranagua in Brazil, which I will outline in a bit more detail on 1 of the next slides. The team continues to manage and further develop its portfolio of port participations, including Portland Novel in France and the Port of Tucuman Oma. At the Port of Duco, operations were temporarily impacted at the start of the conflict in the Gulf region. But despite this, we are making headway. On the infra side, concessions concluded the sale of its stake in the Blankenburg tunnel projects in April, which resulted in a gain on disposal amounting to EUR 2.6 million. our Deep Sea mineral exploration subsidiary, GSR, signed an MOU with Japan-based deep ocean resources development, and that is covering a pilot mining test. The test is intended to validate the operational and environmental performance of an integrated commercial scale mining system. In our green hydrogen activities, Hypo Energy continued to advance its projects both in Oman and Egypt. And for HighPoint Dokum, OC and they may have an agreement to take over BP's stake, and both partners will now continue developing the project together. This is now a picture of our project in Portland Novell, where the civil construction works were successfully completed in the first half of this year. The new deep sea bird, welcomed already its first Roroships in December 25. And as you can see on the picture, the new liquid bird terminal, so the arrival of its first vessel now recently in June. And finally, on to our outlook for the remainder of the year and 2027. Despite global economic turbulence and continued uncertainty in the Middle East, we still remain confident in DEME's ability to deliver strong financial results. This confidence is supported by our solid order book, a healthy balance sheet attractive market fundamentals and diversified activities. For 2026, we expect turnover to be slightly above the 2025 level with an EBITDA margin in line with 2025. Our 26% capital expenditure outlook remains unchanged at approximately EUR 450 million. And this includes upgrade, repair and maintenance investments in the fleet, but also the payments for the completion of the Norse Energi and already the initial investments related to the new oparation. For 2027, and based on the visibility we have today, we expect to maintain strong profitability with EBITDA broadly in line with 2025 despite a somewhat lower top line. As mentioned at the beginning of my presentation, 2026 is a remarkable milestone year in our history. We have been shaping horizons around the world for 150 years. You can explore our history on the special anniversary website, where we are sharing 150 very inspiring stories about our pioneering people, projects and innovative breakthroughs. So with this, I conclude my part of the formal presentation, and I will now hand you back to Carl, so that he can start the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] So without further ado, I think we're ready now to take the first question, and I see that we have already people lining up in the webcast and on the conference call line. Let's start with the first question from Guy Sips from KBC Securities.

Yes. First of all, congratulations with very good results. I have 2 questions. The first is on your 2027 outlook. What are the main drivers? Building looks behind this resilience in profitability. Can you give some more color on this one? And the second question is on first recent acquisition of Main you are historically working closely with independent equipment providers, such as ticket rather than vertically integrated -- integrating these capabilities -- how do you view Catalysts acquisition on Main and going forward? So will you densify your relationship with equip or other players.

Thank you, Guy. Look, I think a bit of color on '27 outlook.

Yes. Good morning, Guy. Thanks for your question. Yes. You were your first question is about the outlook for 2027. Now I mentioned, I think, during my presentation that we base this on the fact that we continue to see supportive market fundamentals. There is I see across our activities, a healthy tendering activity. And of course, following on that, I tend to see a good pipeline of opportunities. And based on that, I think we expect that those factors will contribute to a positive evolution of the order book in the coming months. But maybe your question was also a little bit the flavor. And maybe I should give a little bit more granularity on the segments. So maybe very shortly, if I take them in the order, we have them offshore energy. There, I think we need to distinguish a little bit between the short term and the long term. And what you do see that our U.S. large offshore wind farm projects, we are now on the largest one will complete this year. You know that these American projects contribute strongly to turnover. And that is, let me say thanks to or due to, however you see it, the regulatory requirements with the Jones Act. So that increases the turnover. And also U.S. was a new market. So a lot of the supplies were coming from Europe. So a lot of logistics also. So you see that, that is a contributor to higher turnover. The market, which is, let's say, discontinued a bit in the U.S. is rapidly being replaced by the European and the Asian market, where we see our next growth phase happening. But of course, that lags the U.S. turnover runoff because of course, we have a good fleet occupation, which we see, but the turnover in these European and Asian projects is some somehow lower because you don't have the Jones Act, you have a bit less logistics. So that's a little bit what we are seeing right now. And so we see a little bit of a timing effect, but we don't really see a deterioration in the profitability profile of that business. And we also see that there the -- I would say, the next growth cycle is developing. You see that. You have seen the recent auction activities. In the Netherlands, in Denmark in Korea. So there, we see a take off. We see good, let's say, customer discussions. You also see the OEMs, which bring the positivity in the market. And it's the same as we see the long-term drivers are firmly intact. then maybe going a little bit to trading and infrastructure. Yes, you have seen we had a good occupation. We think this is a robust segment. generating solid and also resilient results. You have seen that over the past months. I see a lot of tendering activities I would say, across the world, including the Middle East, where clients are continuing to tender and negotiate, but some of them obviously waiting for a more stable situation. So there Also, I think we have a strong basis for the sustained performance and project awards in the near future. And then if I look at the somehow smaller segments, then you're coming to Environmental and the Concession business, maybe taking them together, yes, they -- we expect that they will continue to contribute, I would say, their fair share to the group's profitability.

Yes. Thank you, Luc. So the second question of Guy, if I resume that correctly, it's about reference to Catalyst acquiring bank and strategic hammer equipment. So how -- what is our take on that?

Yes, yes. So on the takeover itself, I think I prefer to be consistent in our messaging and not comment on the transaction itself. But let's say, on we do not really see that this transaction materially affects our own ability to access the equipment market. That's 1 thing. Secondly, you have to understand, installing foundations is a pretty diversified activity with pretty diversified challenges. If I look at EM, you say we're talking about make talking about hammering, but we are installing suction buckets. We have taken over SPT, as you know. We've been doing quite some drilling works. We have a strong partnership with Heron you have our participation in GBM. In the Netherlands, we use vibratory hammers. Noise mitigation is 1 of the things which we occupy in the future. So a lot of diverse evolutions. We are strong believers in what we call horizontal integration. Horizontal integration, which means that we want to present full packages to the clients. Being, as you know, turbine installation, foundation installation, soil investigation turbine yes, the turbines cable installation erosion protection. and having partnerships framework agreements with the supply chain for those kinds of tools. I think that's, for us, a better way of approaching that. So I think we -- that's a little bit our view on that.

Thank you, Luc. I think we'll shift to the next question from Philip Ngotho from Kepler Chevreux.

2 as well, if I may. Yes, so then also comment back a little bit on Catalent, but not then on other point. I'm just wondering if you could maybe talk about what you're seeing in terms of competition capabilities. Keller, of course, announced that just installed their first resonation installation work on Hornsea at we're already announcing cost that they would like to move more into which we offer a complete installation. Services as well and engineering. So how do you see that evolving? Is the competition increasing on that side? And also maybe on in terms of supply to the market. They just announced also to new builds. So what's your view there? What are your own plans and how do you going towards 2030 there? And maybe the last question is on how from the earnings contribution, how much do we already see this year? And what is the delta 2027, 2026.

Yes. Okay. Thank you, Philip. I think probably the first question, Luc, also 1 for you on catalog and yes, so them adding vessels and the competitive capabilities there.

Yes. I think thank you for your question, Philip. I think I gave part of the answer already in the previous answer, but let's say, in terms of capabilities and competitors' capabilities, let's maybe take it on our capabilities because I prefer not to dwell too much on the competitors in DEME highlights. The we are adding capacity in a number of ways. You have seen that we have, of course, added half from we are investing in trenching support and cable laying vessel. So we're adding capability there. And then secondly, we also are adding capacity to the fleet in terms of, let's say, operability it's not always about just adding vessels. We think we have a very good mix of vessels. And your question was pointing at Foundation works. For instance, if you look at, we have a very good mix of what is called in the market, the floaters, the Orion in so many pictures of them and our minimum 5 large jack-up vessels, our capabilities for different foundation installation types very good and strong engineering capabilities, which we share across our segments. And to give you an example, we are working on the Nordlicht 1 project. We started early July. And Deutsch Wood. I think by the end of August, we will have 50 monopiles in the ground. So it's also improving the capability. I think we have a strong offering there, being able, which we have said in previous cases, obviously, to face competition in terms of supplier demand, you referred to new orders. I think they were known already in the market. And again, I can only point out the strength of our own fleet which we have. So I think that's a little bit what I would like to comment to that. In terms of exact half from earnings. That's a question which I happily pass to Stijn.

Thank you, Luc. Now half from it was already mentioned. So North Wintergreen started end of quarter 1 contributing north end of quarter 2. What is typically for these kind of contracts because, of course, we took over the order book of EUR 530 million from the acquisition from together with the vessels is that the current contracts are on, of course, more on a day rate model. That means that the top line contribution is a bit less between you see that profitability remains very attractive. And it also shows Norse Wind finished their first project and is already on the way working for the second one. So it is contributing as we expected, for sure.

Moving to Thijs Berkelder from ODDO.

Okay. Well, first, congrats with the strong performance. My question is also on hammering. And a specific question, if I'm correct, you just offshore Germany tested quips new Hemera technique, called IT filing or post filing. -- which coring my understanding, should make it possible to install monopile as fast as with existing techniques as well as with the much lower noise footprint. Then you confirm this massive progress of this new hammering technique. And what will this mean for your future installation vessel plans? Second question is on guidance only guide on group turnover not much on the contribution of your JVs and associates, while these now represent close to 30% of your bottom line earnings. It may be possible to give more specific guidance for your net earnings expectations going forward, I understand not now maybe and maybe better to have specific margin expectations per segment.