Vicat S.A. ($VCT)

Welcome to the Vicat First Quarter 2026 Presentation. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to Hugues Chomel, Deputy CEO and Group CFO; and Pierre Pedrosa, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Vicat Q1 2026 Trading Update Presentation. I am Hugues Chomel, Deputy CEO and CFO of the Vicat Group. I am joined by Pierre Pedrosa, Head of Investor Relations. On Slide 2, as a preliminary remark, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the forward-looking information presented here reflects our current assessment of expected trends across the group various markets and should not be regarded as forecast. Starting with the key highlights of the quarter on Slide 3. The group delivered a solid start in an international environment that remains particularly complex. Organic sales growth was strong at 8.5%. This performance was driven by price increases in Europe, a pickup in volumes in the U.S. and strong momentum in emerging countries. Once again, this illustrates the strength of Vicat's model, which is built on a balanced geographical presence across developed and fast-growing markets. On a reported basis, sales grew 4.1%, taking into account persistent foreign exchange headwinds. On the back of this first -- of this robust first quarter, we confirm our full year 2026 guidance with a slight like-for-like growth expected in both sales and EBITDA. Lastly, we have updated our geographical segmentation in order to better reflect business trends and to align more closely with our internal organization. You can see this new segmentation on Slide 4. The new Europe regions combines France and the former Europe region, namely Switzerland and Italy. These three countries have comparable business mixes, common strategies and similar growth drivers. The new Europe region represents 41% of group sales in Q1, which makes us a clear beneficiary of the European residential recovery when it materializes. The new Asia-Mediterranean region brings together the former Asia and Mediterranean regions, which already shared a common management structure and similar exposures to emerging markets. This new region accounts for 22% of group sales in Q1. The Americas and Africa regions remain unchanged and account for 25% and 12% of sales, respectively. Noticeably, all 4 regions delivered growth in Q1. Let me now turn to the Slide 5 for a closer look at sales growth evolution. As I mentioned, the group delivered strong like-for-like sales growth of plus 8.5% in the first quarter. This performance was broad-based with solid like-for-like growth in 3 of our 4 regions and particularly strong contribution from Asia-Mediterranean and Africa. Sales were up organically by more than 20% in both regions. While Europe stabilized, the Europe -- the Americas also delivered significant like-for-like growth at plus 7.7% with a rebound in the U.S. Recent acquisition accounted for a plus 1.4% scope effect. As expected, foreign exchange remained a significant headwind in the quarter with a negative impact of 5.9% or minus EUR 52 million. This mainly reflects the weakening of the U.S. dollar, the Turkish lira and the Indian rupee against the euro over the period. As a result, group sales stood at EUR 922 million, up 4.1% compared to the first quarter of 2025. Let me now briefly go through the highlights of each geography, starting with the new Europe region on Slide 6. With sales of EUR 381 million in Q1, Europe as a whole stabilized organically at minus 0.9%, supported by positive pricing momentum across the region and was up 1 point on a reported basis. In France, Cement volumes were slightly down due to adverse weather conditions and municipal elections. Prices increased mainly to offset higher electricity costs triggered by the shift to a new electricity contract with EDF, namely CAPN, as well as CO2 implied costs. An additional price surcharge has been announced effective in May to offset the effects of the energy crisis. The French residential market, which is a key growth driver for Vicat in the region, continues its soft landing. While leading indicators are somewhat encouraging, the recovery should remain modest and gradual this year and more skewed towards the second half. In Switzerland, the pattern was similar with positive price momentum helping to keep our Cement activity stable following a very strong start of the year in 2025. Overall, Europe demonstrated good resilience in Q1 with solid pricing momentum. Turning to the Americas on Slide 7. The region delivered a strong quarter with sales up 7.7% on a like-for-like basis and 3% on a reported basis, reaching EUR 228 million. In the U.S., Cement activity rebounded, driven by volume recovery in California. This was helped by a favorable base effect and also some early signs of improvement in nonresidential demand, particularly in the Southeast, supported by data center-related activity. The residential market, however, remained weak and will most likely remain so as long as interest rates stay high. Brazil also reported a solid performance as Cement activity continued to grow, supported by healthy demand in the Midwest region and by the contribution from readymix. As the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro, sales in the region were affected by negative FX impact. But overall, the Americas delivered a solid performance with encouraging signs in the U.S. Moving to the new Asia-Mediterranean region on Slide 8. As I mentioned, like-for-like growth was 21.2%, but largely offset by the depreciation of local currencies against the euro. On a reported basis, sales grew 2.9% to EUR 203 million. While all four countries delivered like-for-like growth, the main drivers were India and Turkey. In India, volumes increased, while prices remained stable at a low level. Turkey continued to deliver a strong performance, benefiting from a low comps in Q1 and well-oriented demand in Central Anatolia. Egypt posted a decent performance supported by prices -- price momentum despite being impacted by a calendar effect that will be offset in Q2. Overall, the region's performance highlights the strategic value of our exposure to emerging markets. Despite persisting foreign exchange headwinds, they remain a key area of growth for the group. Let's finally turn to Africa on Slide 9. Africa was also a strong growth contributor in Q1 with like-for-like growth of 22.2% and a very similar increase on a reported basis at 21.1%, bringing the region sales to EUR 110 million. This performance was notably driven by strong momentum in our aggregate activities in Senegal, where demand is supported by major infrastructure projects. In the Cement activity, we are moving ahead with the ramp-up of Kiln 6, which is already delivering a significant improvement in our production costs in the region. On Slide 10, we provide a deep dive into our aggregate assets in Senegal, which have been performing well for the past 12 consecutive months. We operate 2 aggregate quarries in Senegal, one producing basalt and the other limestone with a combined annual capacity of more than 3.5 million tonnes. The Diack quarry dedicated to basalt production is the largest aggregate quarry within the group. It allows us to be the market leader in Senegal on this segment. We are currently benefiting from an acceleration in aggregate volumes in Senegal following a year of relatively -- relative wait and see. After the new presidential team took office, there was an extensive audit period of a major infrastructure project in Senegal, which penalized activity in 2024. Since Q2 2025, the market is accelerating, supported by solid demand. Highway projects such as Dakar-Saint Louis and Mbour-Kaolack as well as more specialized infrastructure projects, including preparatory works for the port of Ndayane and coastal reinforcement works on Goree Island, all required by [ basalt ] and represent strong upcoming growth drivers. Moving now to Slide 11 on our energy bill and the way we manage our exposure to energy costs. In 2025, the group energy bill amounted to EUR 513 million, representing around 13% of group revenues. This cost base is mainly composed of fuels used in our processes, which account for slightly more than half of the total, followed by electricity, which represents around 1/3 of the bill. and transportation fuels mainly related to our logistics activities. If we take a closer look at our thermal energy bill, it is largely based on coal, petroleum coke (sic) [ pet coke ] and alternative fuel, which are increasingly used as a part of our climate strategy. As a reminder, the best way to hedge against inflation risk is to increase the rate of alternative fuels. The group is already at 37% in 2025 and is targeting 50% by 2030. Our exposure to natural gas remains very limited at group level and is primarily concentrated in the United States. The group has implemented a systematic hedging strategy tailored to each market. For fossil fuels, we typically hedge around six months ahead by combining inventories and orders in transit. For electricity, we deploy hedging only in countries where power markets are deregulated. In other countries, electricity managed locally under regulated tariffs. Finally, for transportation fuels, we use indexation mechanism and when necessary, voluntarily price increases to mitigate higher diesel prices. Altogether, this hedging policy provides effective protection against short-term volatility. However, it does not make us immune to a prolonged increase in energy costs which is why we monitor very closely the evolution of the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for energy markets. Turning now to full year outlook on Slide 12. While the Q1 performance marks a solid start for the year, we remain cautious and mindful of the persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties. Therefore, the group confirms its outlook for 2026, which is a slight growth in both sales and EBITDA on a like-for-like basis and net industrial CapEx of around EUR 290 million. This is, of course, subject to the absence of significant escalation or prolonged continuation of the conflict in the Middle East, given its potential impacts on energy costs and on the macroeconomic environment. And lastly, let me reiterate on Slide 13 that while the current international environment clearly calls for prudence, Vicat is well positioned to benefit from significant medium-term growth drivers across all its regions. Several of them have already become visible. Firstly, Kiln 6 in Senegal is already improving significantly our operational costs in Africa. In France, the TELT project will provide multiyear support to activity. The gradual recovery of the French residential markets when it materializes, will represent an important catalyst for the group. While the pace of recovery is likely to remain measured in the near term, the leading indicators are still well oriented. In the U.S., residential recovery remained at a low level, which implies meaningful recovery potential once interest rates become more supportive. Lastly, -- some emerging markets in the Mediterranean area offer attractive midterm growth opportunities, including potential reconstruction needs once current conflicts eventually resolve. To conclude this presentation, we believe that Vicat is well positioned to combine resilience in today's environment with attractive growth opportunities for the years ahead. This reinforces our confidence in the group trajectory and value creation potential. Thank you for your attention, and I will now take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Arthus Piot from -- on Field Investment Research.

Actually, I have four of them. So the first one would be assuming all fuel and power prices remain at current levels, what additional cost inflation should we expect in H2 2026 as your hedge roll over? Then about the price increase that you mentioned in May in Europe, can you give us a bit more detail, please? And several U.S. cement companies announced price increase in April. You are mentioning July. Does that mean that the price increase in Alabama and Georgia were not successful? Or have you chosen a different timing for commercial reason? And lastly, have you ever seen any -- have you seen any additional price increases from cement producer in Brazil, India, Turkey or Egypt? -- due to higher pet coke and transportation costs following the start of the [ conflict ] ?

Thank you for your multiple questions. I will try to remind all of them. Yes. First of all, regarding price -- energy price increases, as we have detailed in the presentation, we are not directly exposed to petroleum and very little on gas. So the likely inflation mostly would come through pet coke and coal and to a lesser extent, electricity in unregulated tariffs. What we will try to do if current levels are maintained is to aim at neutral price cost variance during the year, announcing price increases ahead of actual cost in our P&L. So your various other questions will give me the opportunity to illustrate that movement. We have announced an energy price surcharge in France effective in May of EUR 3.5 per tonne. So that will allow us to cover the current price impact, and we will adjust with time depending on the evolution of situation, knowing that we have had this experience in the 2022 crisis of trying to inform the market as early as possible of our intention in this field. In the U.S., we have indeed pushed our price increases to July. And we are in an inflationary environment, both to some extent, from energy and to wages. So we are committed to pass a price increase. It is nevertheless a little early to comment the market reaction to that. We have well noted other players' commitment to managing inflation as well. Regarding emerging markets, we have had a good price evolution in Brazil so far this year, that is indeed more than covering inflation at this point. There has been a high single-digit price increase in April in India. In Kazakhstan, typically, prices are finally catching up from previous year's cost increases, and we have a high double-digit number year-to-date. Turkey and Egypt, we are having significant price increases that allow us to cover inflation and including in the hyperinflation context we do have in Turkey. And in Senegal, we were able to have one price increase -- mid-single-digit price increase in Q1 and a slightly smaller one in April. So that can illustrate our capacity to be -- to manage inflation in the different emerging markets.

The next question comes from Ebrahim Homani from CIC.

I have three, if I may. The first one is about the organic growth do you expect in the -- which dynamic do you expect in the next quarters in terms of organic growth in Europe, especially in France? My second question is about your guidance. I know that Q1 is a small quarter. But with the advance you took in Q1 regarding the organic growth, are you more optimistic about your guidance and also your leverage? And my last question is about Senegal. You now have a positive price effect. Is the competitive environment better than it was the last quarters?

Thank you, Ebrahim, for your questions. I mean it's difficult to predict organic growth going forward. We can nevertheless share a few comments regarding France. As you know very well, advanced indicators, housing starts and permits have been improving for quite some time now. However, at this stage, it is not reflected in our volumes on our catchment areas. So the timing of a recovery remains very uncertain at this stage. And our central assumption is a slight and gradual recovery from H2 onwards. Nevertheless, we -- as you know very well as well, the political context, specifically the mounting agitation around the presidential election also calls for some prudence in the general business confidence. Regarding our guidance, you may remember that we have indeed delivered a very good Q1, and it is a good start of the year. Nevertheless, as you know, Q1 is a small one, and that does not allow to straightforward extrapolate to the full year. So the situation of Middle East and its already its impact on energy prices is clearly a headwind. And furthermore, it does deteriorate the macroeconomic visibility. So today, the impact has been limited. Hedging strategies give us time to react and to put in place necessary price increases. As I just mentioned in your previous question, French volume remain low at this moment and the improvement is uncertain. So that -- all that give us confidence that we can achieve our guidance, but also draw attention to some prudence. Finally, in Senegal, I think the market acknowledge that there has been significant inflation in the recent years and the low level of prices is not sustainable. So I think the 2 adjustment -- price adjustment we have witnessed in Senegal so far are just a reflect of common economic sense, but inflation needs to be passed to the market.

Now move on to the written question. We have 2 questions from Auguste Deryckx from Kepler Cheuvreux. So first question, could you share what leading indicators you are currently monitoring in France, permits, housing starts, order book, and whatever you are already seeing early signs consistent with this expected H2 volume improvement?

Thank you, Pierre, and thank you, Auguste. As I just mentioned, we are indeed monitoring those leading indicators. that have turned positive in the middle of last year. Historically, we have never demonstrated a clear time gap between the variation of those indicators and cement consumption. So we do expect this recovery to materialize somewhaet. But as I commented earlier to Ebrahim's question, we believe this will remain limited in '26 and late in the year.

Second question. You delivered strong volume growth in Q1, partly supported by a favorable base. How should we think about the sustainability of this momentum over the rest of the year? How do you see the balance evolving between volume and pricing?

Yes. As mentioned and as pointed out in your question, the Q1 realization benefits from a favorable base in several countries and more specifically in U.S. and in Turkey and to some extent, in Senegal as well. So -- and as confirmed in our guidance, we are not seeing such high growth on a full year basis. As mentioned as well, we will be proactive on price increases to pass on any additional price inflation effects as much as we can. So this may support the top line, but probably in less positive volume environment with differences from one market to another. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, if we don't have a further question, thank you for joining us today. The next event will be our H1 results on July 29. In the meantime, Pierre Pedrosa and myself remain available and are looking forward to meet you during our upcoming roadshows and conferences. Have a good day.