Rubis Aktie

Welcome to the Rubis 2026 Half Year Results presentation. [Operator Instructions]

Now I will hand the conference over to the speakers to begin today's conference. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. I'm very delighted to be with you this morning to present Rubis' 2026 half year results, which are very robust. I'm joined by Jean-Christian Bergeron, Managing Partner and CEO of Rubis Energy; and Marc Jacquot, Managing Partner and Group CFO. Thank you for being with us today.

I will start with the key highlights of the first half. Jean-Christian will then take you through the operational review before Marc comments on the financial performance. I will then come back for the wrap-up and Jean-Christian will present the outlook before we open the floor to your questions.

So let's start with the key messages of this H1. Rubis delivered another strong operating performance in H1 2026. What matters here is not only the level of growth, but also the exceptional quality of the team's execution despite a volatile and uncertain environment. All product categories and all regions contributed positively. This once again demonstrates the strength of our diversified model across geographies, customer segments and products. In Energy Distribution, volumes were up 9% and gross margin was up 16%. This was not only volume growth but also mix pricing discipline and efficient inventory management in a very volatile oil price environment.

Photosol continued to develop in line with this trajectory with a secured portfolio up 20%, 22% year-on-year to 1.5 gigawatts, while Power EBITDA increased by 13% to EUR 25 million. At group level, this translated into EBITDA of EUR 434 million, up 18% and net income group share of EUR 191 million, up 17%. Cash flow from operating activities came to EUR 223 million, this was lower year-on-year, but it should be rated in context. The decrease mainly reflects higher working capital needs due to higher oil prices over the period. It does not change the underlying quality of Rubis' cash generation profile.

The balance sheet remains healthy. Capital allocation remains disciplined, and the first half is strong enough for us to upgrade our 2026 EBITDA guidance to a range of EUR 775 million to EUR 825 million. In short, H1 2026 demonstrates 3 things: strong delivery, effective execution in a volatile environment and a growth underpinned by strong fundamentals.

I will now hand over to Jean-Christian for the operational review.

Thank you, Clarisse. Good morning, all. The main point I would like to make is that performance was well balanced across our activities and territories. So LPG fuels and bitumen all contributed to profitable growth but each with different drivers. And that is exactly the strength of our model. We are not dependent on 1 market, 1 product or any single driver of performance.

So starting LPG. Volumes were broadly stable, as you can see, up 1% and gross margin increased by 9%, reflecting a more profitable business mix and strong execution across our key markets. So in Europe, growth in France and Spain, driven by continued momentum in autogas and further market share gains largely offset softer demand in Portugal and Switzerland. In Africa, profitability improved quite significantly in South Africa supported by customer growth across both segments, the packed, the cylinders and the bulk segment, while Morocco benefited from a progressive recovery of industrial demand, mainly ceramists, improved sourcing conditions and disciplined commercial management. More broadly, LPG continues to illustrate the strength of our model. Our historical positions are quite concentrated in markets that still offer attractive growth potential, while our teams remain focused on value rather than volume through portfolio optimization, sourcing excellence, pricing discipline and strong operational execution. We continue to expand earnings at a faster base than volumes.

Now moving to fuels. Volumes increased by 6% and gross margin grew by 13%. So retail activity benefited from a strong traffic trends across East Africa, by the way, not only in Kenya but also in Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and that was also supported by a more favorable pricing framework. The continued recovery in IT also contributed positively to the performance. In C&I, commercial and industrial activity, it was another quite a meaningful contribution, especially in Kenya and IT offsetting the impact of increased price competition, price pressure, I would say, in Guyana and to some extent in Jamaica. Finally, Aviation continues to deliver very solid momentum across the Caribbean, and that is supported by the sustained growth of the tourism sector.

Before leaving fuels, let me briefly highlight the strong progress we are making in lubricants. Lubricants continue to establish themselves as one of our key growth engines for the future. I'm pleased to report that the business is developing fully in line with our expectations with already very encouraging results in Kenya and significant opportunities for further expansion across East Africa and other markets on the continent.

Turning now to bitumen. The business, as you can see, delivered a very, very strong first half with volumes up 44% and gross margin up 54%. And this performance was driven by continued growth across Africa, notably South Africa and Gabon, but also in most of our other African markets with maybe the exception of Nigeria where we experienced kind of slowdown in demand. However, profitability in Nigeria remained very strong, thanks to favorable project mix and excellent operational execution. So the increase in bitumen volumes also reflects our expansion into Europe, as you know, operations in Antwerp are progressing according to plan and we are particularly encouraged by the positive feedback we continue to receive from customers regarding both quality of our products and the level of service we provide to them. This definitely reinforces our confidence in the long-term prospects of the business in Europe.

But as always, with bitumen, it's important to remember that this is a project-driven business. Performance can vary from one period to another depending on project timing and execution. So nevertheless, we remain structurally very confident in this activity. Demand continues to be supported by significant infrastructure needs across our markets, while these benefits from a differentiated logistics platform that provides a clear competitive advantage.

So overall, the first half, once again, demonstrates the resilience and growth potential of our Energy Distribution business across LPG, fuels and bitumen, we successfully captured market opportunities where conditions were favorable while maintaining pricing discipline in more competitive environment. Importantly, our performance is not only driven by execution. Our core businesses are well positioned in markets with attractive long-term growth fundamentals. At the same time, we continue to develop new growth engines, including, as I said, lubricants, but also non-fuel retail activities within our service station network and solar and broader energy solutions for industrial customers. I'll get back to that in a moment. So together, these initiatives are expanding our growth opportunities, enhancing the quality of our earnings and reinforcing our capacity to create sustainable value over the long term.

Turning now to renewable energies. Photosol reached a very, very important milestone in the first half with the start-up of the Creil solar plant. At 200-megawatt peak, it is the second largest solar plant in France, and this represents a significant step forward in the ramp-up of the Photosol portfolio. Assets in operation increased by 32% while electricity production rose by 28%. This is exactly the type of progress we want to see projects moving from development into operation and gradually making a growing contribution to cash generation. The secured portfolio reached 1.5 gigawatt peak, up 22% year-on-year, while Power EBITDA increased by 13% to EUR 25 million. These results definitely demonstrate that the platform -- the Photosol platform continues to mature and that the value embedded in the portfolio is increasing -- increasingly translating into operating performance.

International diversification is also progressing, and we have 44-megawatt peak currently under construction in Italy. We remain disciplined in our expansion strategy. Our objective is not growth for the sake of growth, but the development of projects that meet our technical, economic and risk return criteria. So as I said before, beyond Photosol, Rubis Énergie is also developing renewable energy solutions that are closely connected to our existing customer base, our C&I customers including sustainable aviation fuel, for instance, in Kenya or in French [indiscernible], solar solutions for commercial and industrial customers, for instance, in Jamaica or in East Africa. So as a result, our renewable energy activities are developing along 2 complementary tracks: first utility scale solar through Photosol and second, customer-driven energy solutions through Rubis Énergie in Africa and the Caribbean.

Marc, over to you to speak about the financial results of the first half. Thank you.

Thank you, Jean-Christian. The operating momentum described in the previous section, translated into strong financial results for the first half. EBITDA increased by 18% to EUR 434 million, mainly driven by retail and marketing. This reflects strong demand with volumes up 9% as well as efficient inventory management, pricing discipline and improved margins across most of our activities. Net income group share increased by 17% to EUR 191 million, showing that the operating performance translated directly into the income statement.

Cash flow from operating activities stood at EUR 159 million. As expected, it was impacted by higher working capital requirements, mainly linked to the increase in oil prices over the period as well as the payment to the French Competition Authority of the EUR 64 million, Corsica fine. Importantly, before changing working capital, the cash generated by the business was up more than 15% compared to last year. After EUR 90 million of CapEx, net of Photosol non-recourse financing and excluding the Corsica fine, free cash flow stood at EUR 75 million. This remains a solid level in the context of higher working capital requirements and helps us keep our balance sheet healthy and give us the capacity to finance future growth.

Looking now at the EBITDA bridge. EBITDA increased by EUR 65 million year-on-year or 18% with retail and marketing contributing EUR 59 million of that increase. And let's focus on the main elements, starting with Africa. It contributed the most with volumes up 3% and EBITDA up 33% to EUR 122 million. This was supported by 2 main factors. The first retail margin improvement in East Africa following regulated margin adjustments; and second, solid commercial momentum, both in fuel and LPG in disrupted markets. Bitumen was also a key contributor with higher volumes and margins, notably in South Africa, Gabon and Angola.

Moving now to the Caribbean. Volumes were up 10% and EBITDA increased by 12% to EUR 124 million. Haiti continued its recovery in both volumes and margins. Volume also increased across the rest of the region, but unit margins were lower, reflecting the weaker U.S. dollar against the euro and the pricing pressure in Guyana and Jamaica.

Finally, Europe. EBITDA increased by 25% to EUR 78 million, boosted by the contribution from the new bitumen activity. Excluding bitumen, volumes were flat, with unit margins benefiting slightly from robust autogas sales. Support and Services was broadly stable, down 2% while renewable electricity production increased by 42% reflecting the growing contribution of Photosol assets in operation and a good solar load factor in H1.

Let's now look at our P&L which is quite straightforward for this first half. As you can see on the top of the P&L, EBITDA reached EUR 434 million, up 18% and EBIT increased by EUR 54 million or 21% to EUR 307 million. Our D&A increased, mainly reflecting our new bitumen activity in Europe and the growing number of solar assets in operation. The cost of net financial debt only increased a bit, mainly reflecting new plants commissioned at Photosol. Other financial income and expenses were mostly linked to the hyperinflation in Haiti and interest income on the receivable from the sale of Rubis Terminal to I Squared Capital. Overall, profit before tax increased by 19% and net income group share reached EUR 191 million, up 17% year-on-year. The tax rate was slightly higher than last year as 2025 benefited from some income tax at a reduced rate. So the message here is quite simple. The strong operating performance translated directly in our income statements.

Turning now to the net debt and cash flow generation. The group maintained a healthy balance sheet. Corporate leverage stood at 1.3x EBITDA at the end of June 2026 despite higher working capital requirements linked to the oil price environment and the payment of the dividend in June. Adjusted free cash flow, net of Photosol non-recourse financing reached EUR 75 million, EUR 69 million lower year-on-year. This mainly reflect the EUR 173 million in adjusted working capital requirements, and I say adjusted, it's excluding the EUR 64 million Corsica fine paid in May. Corporate net financial debt stood at EUR 885 million, representing 2x the EBITDA. Our undrawn revolving credit facility amounted to EUR 333 million. This gives us the financial flexibility to continue investing selectively while preserving a solid balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation.

Thank you, Marc. Before moving to the outlook that will be presented by Jean-Christian. Here are the key takeaways from the first half. So first, H1 2026, as you have understood, was very strong with EBITDA up 18% to EUR 434 million, and net income group share up 17% to EUR 191 million. Second, this performance is driven by several factors: strong demand everywhere, effective execution, favorable business mix and efficient inventory management in a volatile oil price environment. Third, cash flow from operations was impacting by working capital in the context of volatile and high oil prices, but the underlying cash generation profile remains robust. The balance sheet is healthy and stable with corporate net financial debt at 1.3x EBITDA. And finally, the first 6 months enabled us to upgrade our EBITDA guidance to a range of EUR 775 million to EUR 825 million. This reflects our confidence in the group's operating trajectory while remaining mindful of high oil prices, more competitive pricing conditions in some markets. and of the project-driven nature of bitumen.

Thank you, Clarisse. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, and as already highlighted by you, Clarisse, we are confident in raising our 2026 guidance based on the key assumptions which have not changed. So the upgraded guidance is justified, of course, not only by our strong first half performance but also by our positive outlook for the remainder of the year. So in the Caribbean, we expect the continued recovery of our Haiti operations, supported by tourism growth and the ongoing development of the Guyana and Suriname economies while the pricing environment is expected to remain more challenging in Jamaica and Guyana. In Africa, we anticipate continued growth in East Africa, both in terms of volumes and margin as well as increasing bitumen volumes across most of the geographies, particularly in South Africa. In contrast, I said it before, demand in Nigeria is expected to remain under pressure during the second half.

In Europe, our bitumen operations should continue to ramp up, delivering strong volume, albeit with lower margins, as you know. At the same time, LPG volumes are expected to remain resilient, although growth is likely to moderate compared with the strong trends seen in the first half. So against this backdrop and taking into account the strength of our first half performance, we now expect to be in the range of EUR 775 million to EUR 825 million compared to the previous guidance.

So to conclude, H1 2026, once again demonstrate the strength and resilience of our Rubis business model, diversified, cash generative, operationally disciplined and well positioned to capture long-term growth opportunities while maintaining a strong and healthy balance sheet. So thank you for your attention, and we will now be happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Hi, everyone. So we have our first set of questions from Emmanuel Matot. The first one is about working capital evolution over H2 based on current oil prices. The second one is regarding the situation in Nigeria in the bitumen business for H2. And the last one is about Photosol's 2027 road map and is it realistic?

Thank you, Emmanuel, for your question. Regarding the working capital evolution in H2, I would say, in general changing working capital varies and depending mainly on inventory levels and oil price evolution. So this first quarter, the main drivers of the increase in working capital was the price of the products that increased a lot, a few effects on the volumes as well, but in the majority, it was linked to the evolution of the oil price. That is the first comment.

So in H2, when you see the barrel today at $100, of course, it could have a further negative -- slightly negative impact compared to the beginning of the year. If it comes back to the $90 level, it should be -- the change in working capital should be flat in the second half. And if it goes down, it will have a positive impact roughly. Second comment on the working capital. Keep in mind that the number you see in the cash flow statement include the payment of the Corsica fine, so for EUR 64 million. Then I will let Jean-Christian comment on the Nigeria.

Thank you. On Nigeria, we just acknowledge the tough situation in terms of volumes for the first half, and we see a second half more or less within the same trend. I just want to appreciate the fact that despite volumes a bit on the lower side, we have a very positive unit margin. So in terms of P&L impact it will not be visible at all in 2026. Once again, you know that bitumen is not something that we can fully be in control of because you can have new projects. You can have projects which are a bit delayed. There are many, many factors. And in Nigeria, for the time being, and we have election next year, so it might be also lead to the kind of uncertainty. We have a couple of slowdown in different projects that we are working on. So nothing, I would say, concerning in the long term. But yes, for sure, in 2026, Nigeria will not be the best-in-class in terms of volumes. But once again, I do insist on that, profitability will remain at a very steady level.

And regarding your question on Photosol 2027, we remain confident in Photosol trajectory and its 2027 EBITDA target. The teams are delivering in line with our expectations. Projects takes up to 7 years to be built. So we have a pretty good visibility on that. While the environment is more challenging than anticipated, but the underlying trends supporting the development of renewables remain quite positive. And I am thinking here about electrification of the economy in Europe, development of data centers that give us confidence in the future of this energy. And we are adapting pragmatically the place of -- the pace of our investment to the current environment. Some of the CapEx initially planned for 2024-2027 period may be deployed over a longer period of time. So as for the rest of our business, we adjust to the situation we face pragmatically.

Maybe following on Photosol, we have 2 questions, 1 from [indiscernible] at CIC CIB the other one from [indiscernible]. The first one is your development costs have declined between H1 '25 and '26. Is this strength set to continue? And the second one about Photosol is, can you elaborate on why power EBITDA increased not in line with your production in H1?

In terms of development cost, we reduced a little bit the pace of our development. But the trend is -- the development cost should be between EUR 20 million -- I would say, the difference between EBITDA -- power EBITDA and consolidated EBITDA should be between EUR 20 million and EUR 20 million, okay? So no drastic changes, but we reduced it a bit. And the other question...

Was about power EBITDA versus production.

So there is -- there is a small difference between power EBITDA and production linked to the Creil project, notably. The Creil project was commissioned progressively and went through an extended testing phase. And during this period, a meaningful part of the production was sold at relatively low spot prices rather than under the higher contract tariff. So it creates a small discrepancy this quarter.

And still on Photosol, there is a question about the decline in Photosol CapEx. Is it reflecting lower activity in the French market? And do you expect international to ramp?

The lower level of CapEx in H1 mainly reflects the phasing of construction projects rather than the change in development for this quarter. For the rest of 2026, which is that H2 will be higher than H1. But again, as I was mentioning, we are adjusting the CapEx program of Photosol to take into consideration the political environment in France.

We then have several questions on margins. The first one is [indiscernible] about unit margin for the lubricant business and the non-fuel retail business in Africa.

Well, first of all, I would like to remind you our commitment to grow the lubricant sales. I said it before. Just to give you on the first half, we have increased our lubricants sales by 20%. So we are definitely getting there. The unit margins, obviously, I'm not going to disclose them because it's a bit confidential, but they are very strong, as you know if you know the lubricant business. So it's becoming step-by-step a key contributor to our gross margins, and we'll continue to develop that. In terms of non-fuel income. You know our strategy to create a full and comprehensive ecosystem in our service stations.

So today, we have more than 550 shops. We have more than 60 in the pipeline. So we continue to grow. We're also developing partnerships with a well-known brand, mainly a food brand and maintenance -- car maintenance brand, and we have 150 partnerships in the pipe. So you can see the momentum is very strong. and we are expecting, again, a strong contribution from the non-fuel activities in our gross margins. So this is today where we stand. But we said it last time that these are 2 new growth drivers for the company, and we are delivering that.

We have 2 other questions on margins. The first one from [indiscernible], the second one from [indiscernible]. The unit margin in retail and marketing is down both in Europe and the Caribbean. Could you give us the main moving parts for each region and what to expect for H2? And the second one is how much of the gross margin improvement in H1 comes from structural factors versus temporary inventory gains linked to oil price volatility?

In terms of retail margin. So Europe is not significant because the volumes are very low, but you may know that in Corsica, we are suffering a lot because of the pricing policy from TotalEnergies. So that's a fact. We cannot do much about that. But of course, it has a very strong negative impact in terms of unit margin. We are trying to follow the pricing policy not fully. So the impact is negative, both in terms of margins and volumes. So we hope situation will change, but we obviously have no clear indication regarding the TotalEnergies strategy in terms of pricing.

Now in the Caribbean is a bit of pricing pressure in 2 countries, Guyana and Jamaica. In these 2 countries, you have state oil companies impacting the pricing at the pump. In Jamaica, it is the Petrojam Refinery giving some lower price, and we try to compete. Obviously, when you want to protect your volumes, you need to reduce your price at the pump, therefore, kind of reduced unit margin and same in Guyana. So we don't know what is going to happen in the second half, but we are a bit cautious and we prefer to consider that will continue to meet some more difficult -- more difficult situation.

Now if you look at the other question......

H1 gross margin improvement and structural versus...

It's definitely structural. We have some positive, I would say, margin evolution in East Africa. You remember the commitment that the Government of Kenya took 2 years ago to support the industry in increasing the unit margin. They did the job. Thank you for that, by the way. And we are now much comfortable and we can continue to invest and to grow the business. And we have also in Zambia, some positive news also in terms of unit margin. So all in all, combination of volumes and better unit margins. We are very confident that it's very promising in the long term. But we don't have so much of, I would say, inventory positive effect in terms of retail activities because it's most of the time a regulated framework. So the plus and the minus in terms of positive or negative inventory effects are taken into account by the pricing structure as far as retail is concerned.

We have a question about the level of CapEx to anticipate for the full 2026.

So usually, what we say for Rubis Énergie is that the level of CapEx is normative one is between EUR 180 million and EUR 200 million. So we will be in this range. And for Photosol as mentioned, H2 will be higher than H1.

And now we have 2 questions about the impact of interest rates on the group and how sensible we are to interest rate evolution?

The good news is that our leverage and our debt is quite close. So the impact is limited because our base is low. And in terms of coverage, we have 2/3 of our debt that is covered through swaps or tunnels.

[indiscernible] from Finance Connect is asking us to give some color about the different impacts of changes in refining margins on our business and also change in inflation.

At this level, we only have the SARA refinery. And you know that it's a refinery where the net income is guaranteed by the government of France. So there's no positive or negative impact of the margins. Now if you look at the big picture, definitely, what is quite maybe, I would say, new is that despite the increase in the oil price, we also see a strong increase in the refining margins worldwide. So it has a negative impact obviously on the -- and price to customers.

And the only question we have and that we have obviously anticipated that in our guidance is to see what kind of a positive or negative impact the pricing of our products is going to affect positively or negatively the demand for petroleum products. So that's where if obviously, refining margins are very high. Therefore, the price to end customers will be also higher and it might have a negative impact on the demand. So impossible to say, of course, but we are very careful about how the situation is evolving in the coming months.

Another question about emerging economies and the changes in U.S. dollar versus euro in the macro environment. The impacts for the global business.

Euro in terms of euro-dollar, we have 40% of the group EBITDA that is exposed to euro, it's 60% -- 60% is exposed to USD. So we had some translation effect. And the rule of thumb that we have is that EUR 0.0 of changing the euro-dollar creates EUR 3 million variation in the EBITDA. This is something you can keep in mind.

Last question from Mourad was about the Support and Services business. Is there further growth to expect?

The Support and Services business is mostly driven by our fleet and of the freight rate. So this business must remain stable, and it will remain stable in the future.

A question from Emmanuel Matot about, is there any sizable M&A deal under consideration?

Emmanuel, M&A in the coming years, it will be a question of opportunity matched with our existing business and valuation, of course. We have the agility, the capacity and liquidity to seize opportunities in the market, but we need to find a good match. So what we can say today is the potential areas of interest includes independent players in LPG or fuels in Africa or Caribbean. Opportunities in Europe, if we have synergies with our existing business and of course, expansion in bitumen, as we have done it in Europe, we could find some other opportunities to increase our bitumen European business. So that's all I can -- we can say today, for instance. But -- if we go further in interesting M&A targets, we will be informed by the right medium.

This ends the question-and-answer session. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing remarks.

Thank you all for being with us today. We are happy to answer any other questions you may have. Do not hesitate to send an e-mail to call me. And we'll be on the road in the coming days, today in Paris, next week in the U.S. and week after in Asia. Talk to you soon. Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome to the Rubis First Quarter 2026 Trading Update Presentation. Now I will hand the conference over to the speakers to begin today's conference. Please go ahead.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for joining us today for Rubis Q1 2026 Trading update. You have here on the call, Jean-Christian Bergeron, who is the Managing Partner of Rubis and CEO of Rubis Energie; and myself, Marc, Managing Partner and CFO of the group. Let's have a look, this quarter was one of a very strong operating performance again. The energy distribution business saw strong growth both on volumes and margins in all geographies. The volumes increased by 12%, driven notably by aviation fuel and C&I in the Caribbean and Bitumen in Africa and Europe. Overall unit margins were roughly stable at plus 1% versus previous year. And we observed 3 coherent months. March is in the continuity of January and February.

However, we have seen over the last weeks of Q1, a few precautionary purchasing behaviors here and there, but nothing significant. Since January, we launched our Bitumen business in Europe, which is performing well. In the renewable electricity production, our development continues in line with plans with an increase of the portfolio of 6% versus December 2025 and 32% over a year, which is quite encouraging for the rest of the year. The Creil project, which is the second biggest PV plant in France is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of Q2. One important fact also to underline is that none of our business is directly negatively impacted by the war in the Middle East.

I remind you that we have no operation in the region. Our supply is managed at regional level. And in the only region where we operate, which could be at risk, which is East Africa, supply is directly by local governments. However, we are monitoring the situation in an agile and local way and are confident about our ability to navigate this volatile context. So all those elements makes us confident about 2026, and we reaffirm our guidance. I'm now handing the floor to JCB to go into further details of the activity.

Thank you, Marc. Good morning to all of you. As highlighted by Marc, and you can see that on the slide Q1 2026 delivered a strong momentum across both volumes and margin as margin sales increased by 12% and gross margin grew by 13%. All business lines contributed positively with a particular mention for our bitumen activities.

By the way, our bitumen activities, following a strong 2025, continue to deliver excellent performance in both volume and margin. What are the key drivers of this performance? First of all, LPG. LPG +5% volume and +9% gross margin. Activity was quite strong in Europe across all segments.

By segments, we mean, bulk cylinders, notably with Switzerland, leading, driven by a very robust, bulk demand. Growth also resumed in Portugal. We were struggling a bit in Portugal, but it's getting better now. Autogas remain a key growth driver, especially in France and Spain. In Africa, performance was quite solid, especially in South Africa, where the cylinder segment drove most of the growth during the quarter.

As far as fuel is concerned, as you can see, +10% volume, +8% gross margin. Despite strong volume growth, we need to acknowledge that gross margin increased at a slower pace, reflecting a slight decline in unit margin.

This is obviously mainly driven by the months of March, where the Middle East crisis and rising international crisis led to continued price pressure across many retail activities and across our C&I commercial industrial activities. In the Caribbean, very dynamic activity, although margins were impacted by an unfavorable Euro-USD translation effect that we are not used to that.

Retail performance was extremely strong in both Africa, particularly Kenya, by the way, and the Caribbean with Haiti, Guyana, showing a very robust demand. The commercial and industrial segments, C&I, has also performed extremely well, mainly driven by Haiti and Kenya.

Last but not least, the aviation business was extremely strong in the Caribbean, especially in Barbados, Bahamas, mainly due to the peak tourism season over there. In Kenya, as you recall, this is a very competitive, highly competitive market and we are not fighting too much to keep the volumes because it would definitely give us some very low, even sometimes negative margins.

We are just awaiting the end of that cycle before reengaging more actively in the different bidding processes. Bitumen, we talked a lot about Bitumen. It's again one of the main achievement for the quarter, first quarter 2026. You can see impressive numbers, +44% volume, +49% gross margin.

Overall Bitumen volumes increased by 44%, driven by both the ramp-up of our European operations. You do recall that we started operations in Antwerp, Belgium on the 1st of January, we are now quite on the right mode to deliver the targets that we set to ourselves. Obviously we have also a continued expansion in Africa, where in Africa only volumes grew by 18%.

Again, the quarter marks the launch of our Bitumen activities in Europe, Antwerp, with a very encouraging start that reinforces our confidence in the future of the Bitumen business in Europe. In Africa also, by the way, the performance remained strong, notably in Nigeria, but not only, most of the countries contributed very positively.

South Africa, for instance, stood out supported by additional storage capacity that we commissioned in Durban. Growth was also further driven by our entry in India last year and the increase in our stake in Angola. Remember we moved from 35 to 95% equity in Angola. Gross margin increased quite significantly, as I said, 49% year-on-year with, I would say, contribution across all countries and unit margins remaining quite at high level throughout the quarter. Small comment on support and services. You can see a small decline by 7% of revenue. It's not at all an issue.

It's even, I would say a positive, a positive number because it just shows that we have increased our in-house activities and because as you saw, our volumes were quite impressive, so we just had to privilege our in-house activities and reduce a bit our usual trading activity. Nothing as such that we should be worried again about. Now let's turn to this Photosol. Again, good news. The secure portfolio reached 1.5 GW, up 6% versus the last year, end of last year, and 32% year-on-year. Revenue amounted to EUR 12 million compared to EUR 11 million last year.

It's a +14% growth, and this growth is slightly lower than the increase in operating asset that mainly due to timing effects in the commissioning of new solar farms. Now if we move on to the 2026 outlook, as you can see, Q1 performance for 2026 was fully in line with the outlook we provided to you at the time of our full year results. Once again, it definitely highlights the strengths of our multi-country, multi-product strategy underpinned by strong operational execution and confirming the agility of the Rubis business model.

Despite the current context in the Middle East, which has had no significant impact on our business so far, we expect in 2026 the Caribbean to remain well-oriented, supported in particular by the ongoing recovery in Haiti, the continued strong momentum in Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, as well as I said before, the strong global momentum in aviation in the Caribbean.

In Africa, the retail business should remain the key driver of performance alongside Bitumen and more and more lubricants. We can see lubricants more and more in Africa also becoming a significant contribution to our results. We discussed about the launch of our Bitumen operations. That started well, and it's encouraging. LPG is also performing strongly, and renewable electricity continues to develop.

You understand from Jean Cristian that we are confident to confirm we are aiming at EUR 740 million to EUR 790 million EBITDA within the framework of assumption that you have here on the slide, meaning hyperinflation impact unchanged versus 2025 and constant EUR/USD rate. So we thank you for your attention, and we are ready to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

We have a few questions. So first question from Emmanuel Matot. Are there any large countries that have decided to cut fuel prices, resulting in selling at a loss?

Thank you, Emmanuel. Globally speaking, we didn't face so far any situations as far as capping of prices is concerned. So we have, I would say, the usual countries. Kenya is capping the price. But once again, it has no impact in terms of margins because the fact of capping the prices is just putting putting the government of Kenya, for instance, the subsidies that they pay us.

So eventually, it might have a slight impact on our financing cost, but absolutely not in terms of margin. And by the way, it's not a bad -- it's not necessarily a bad scenario because when you have a capping process being in place, it means that for customers, it's less painful. So it means the pressure on demand. So I would say it's positive and negative at the same time, positive because it maintained quite a high demand and a negative because it might increase our financing cost if governments are not being on time with the subsidy.

We have Kenya and Guyana a bit, but I think we are back to normal now. More or less it was quite okay. Once again, you need to understand also that the key impact in terms of pricing will be more in April and not in March.

Why because there's always a lag effect, and when the international prices are high or they are increasing like we saw it in March, the impact is more due to stock effect, due to the pricing formula that we have. It's more on the month of April. You also asked how did April go. So far, April did quite okay. We had more pressure on the sales for sure, as I said. For two reasons. First of all, because the prices now are getting a bit higher, and also because the precautionary purchases that Marc talked about. Obviously it means when the tanks are full, you buy a bit less in April.

Nothing dramatic as such, but for sure the volumes that we saw in March might be a bit less in April.

In terms of unit margin, so far, we don't have any significant issues. Let's see. It's a bit early to comment on April, but April should be obviously a bit below March in terms of volumes and margin.

Emmanuel asks also what should we make of the M&A remarks? Can you confirm that you are exploring opportunities for significant acquisitions? As mentioned previously, Emmanuel, the group remains attentive to any opportunities that could make strategic sense and serve the economic interest of the shareholders? You know we have the leverage and the firepower to make acquisitions and this is our target to continue to expand. As usual, of course, if any potential option we consider or anything become concrete, you know, we would of course share it with you as we have always do.

Jean-Luc Romain, could you please give us details about volumes and profitability in Haiti? How does it compare to what Rubis would consider a normal situation Haiti?

Thank you, Jean-Luc. In Haiti, 2 things need to be mentioned. First of all, there is since a couple of months a rebound in the demand in the country. The situation has improved a bit, it's not completely definitely back to normal. The situation in terms of security, even if still very tough, is now better under control, so we can see that the business activities, economic activities are not back to normal, but are slightly improving. We are benefiting from that rebound in terms of demand. Also we are benefiting from the fact that we have set up a more efficient logistic organization. We bought some barges from the U.S.

Barges are kind of a big ship where you can put some trucks. We load the trucks at our depot, we put the trucks on the two barges that we have, and then we can move around the island and supply more, I would say more supply safer locations. That has helped us a lot to increase our volumes. That is the main reason why now Haiti is on a good move. We, you have seen that UN is also keen to fight the gangs that are messing up the country. They have set up a suppression's, [ again ] suppression force.

Already, I think 1,000 soldiers from Chad have reached the country, and more are to come.

They are talking about 5,000-6,000 troops that should be going to Haiti in order to bring the situation more in a safer condition. We are quite hopeful. Obviously, we are monitoring that day after day, but so far, 2025 was better. Q1 2026 is also better, and we are quite confident that we should continue to recover in Haiti. Positive developments are there.

Okay. Jean, you can also question on the load factor for Photosol in Q1, attending actually the 119 gigawatt power production in Q1, implied a load factor. Actually the load factor in France this year was the same as last year at the same time. The difference you see and the match is not perfect in terms of growth just because actually we commissioned new plants at the end of the quarter. You cannot calculate directly the load factor. The load factor was the same this year than last year in Q1.

One question from Hubert. Has the blockage of the Hormuz trade route to Rubis some business in bitumen that can be considered as a windfall effect?

If so, when things normalize, hopefully, what are the odds that Rubis can keep that opportunistically gain market share?

Thank you Hubert, good morning. It's a good question. We don't have so far any significant windfall effect. I think, first of all, our products coming from Mid and they're not going through the Hormuz, neither the Middle East region. We are quite safe in terms of reliability of supply. I think the good momentum we have is mainly driven by the need for more infrastructure in Africa.

We are just benefiting from a global positive environment. No significant windfall effect to gain. A bit in Belgium with some, I would say a positive stock effect that has enabled Rubis to be competitive in that highly competitive market.

Once again, nothing significant. So we are not expecting, if the situation normalize, any bad move.

Once again, it's a very solid and robust business model. We have a supply chain with the ownership of our vessels and with a full integration of our supply chain, with proximity to our customers. We have depot, we have everything in place, and we have a good expertise of the Bitumen business. That is what gives us the confidence that the business will continue to grow. That also why we decided to enter into Europe.

Once again, a highly competitive market because we feel that we have the strength to grow market share in that highly competitive, but once again, extremely big market. Results are not, I would say, conjectural. They are definitely structural, and we are very happy about our Bitumen business, and we'll do everything possible to continue to grow that business.

We have another question from Christopher. Why is the renewable pipeline decreasing by 5% in Q1 versus 2025?

Here you have two effects, the first one actually is you have some projects going from development to secure portfolio. You know that the secure portfolio increased by 32% versus last year.

This decrease is a good news. And also with the PPE3 announcements, as mentioned last year, the ambition in France decreased a little bit. We decided to be more selective, more picky in the projects that enter in the pipe.

The rhythm of a new project entering the pipe will be lower.

We don't have any more.

[Operator Instructions]

It seems that we have nothing more question. We thank you for your attention and feel free to contact Clemence, of course, if you have any additional questions. Our next events are our shareholders meeting on June 10th. And our H1 will be published on September 8th.

Also, we have some, governance roadshow, occurring now. You can download the presentation on our website if you want to have more information about our governance.

Thanks again for your attention.

Thank you. Good day.

Welcome to the Rubis 2025 Full Year Results Presentation. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to the speakers to begin today's conference. Please go ahead.

Welcome to the presentation of Rubis 2025 results. Thank you for being with us today. I am Clarisse Gobin-Swiecznik, Managing Partner of Rubis, and I'm very pleased to be joined today by Jean-Christian Bergeron, Managing Partner and CEO of Rubis Energie. Marc Jacquot, Managing Partner and Group CFO; and Sophie Pierson, Group Chief Sustainability, Compliance and Risk Officer. I will begin the presentation with the key highlights of the year. Jean-Christian will then share the operational highlights. Marc will go into financial performance in more detail. Jean-Christian and I will then present Rubis long-term ambitions, and Sophie will conclude with our renewed sustainability road map.

So let's start with the key highlights of the year. 2025 has been another record year for Rubis despite the depreciation of the euro-dollar. Against this backdrop, our performance reflects the strength of our integrated model and our strong competitive positions and a quality of execution across all regions and activities. It is also notably the result of the engagement and operational excellence of our teams. Among the key figures, we can highlight, first, strong performance across the board with volumes and margins growing while Photosol continues to expand its secured portfolio.

Second, operational strength that more than offset the weak USD, leading to EBITDA in the upper range of our guidance a 90% increase in net income group share and record cash flow generation. And finally, these results reinforce our solid foundations and fuel our growth ambitions, enabling us to propose a growing dividend of EUR 2.07 per share. This strong financial performance gives us confidence as we move into the next phase of our development.

Moving to Slide 5. Let me explain how our integrated model continues to deliver. We continue to expand our end-to-end energy and mobility services. By being present across the value chain, we reinforced our integrated model, increased resilience and create multiple recurring sources of revenue. Customer proximity and operational rigor allow us to adapt quickly to evolving demand across our geographies delivering flexible and tailored solutions. Operational excellence is not only a driver of performance, but a key enabler of margin stability and cash generation. Through strict capital discipline, efficient working capital management and selective investment approach, we ensure that earnings are consistently translated into cash. This supports both growth and shareholder returns. This robust cash generation provides us with enough flexibility to seize growth opportunities. We prioritize projects and acquisitions that are value accretive, low capital intensity and align with long-term energy and mobility trends. This growth strategy allows us to expand while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

When you combine that operating excellence with disciplined and proactive financial management, the outcome is very clear, a strong and steady cash flow generation, fully in line with our historical standards. This integrated platform ultimately reinforces our fundamentals year after year. First, we delivered consistent operating performance. across different macro environments, we have maintained stable earnings and strong cash flows. Second, this performance is supported by a solid financial structure and prudent capital allocation, giving us strong flexibility to invest while maintaining balance sheet strength. This discipline ensures that growth remains value accretive. And finally, this translates directly into a sustainable and growing shareholder returns. It is our 30th consecutive year of dividends up 2% year-on-year.

So I will now hand over to Jean-Christian that will go deeper in the operational overview of 2025.

Thank you, Clarisse. When we talk about our legacy business, we refer to LPG, fuel and bitumen. So let me start with LPG. Even though Europe is generally seen as a mature market or even sometimes the declining market, we still delivered globally strong performance with volumes up 2% and gross margin up 3%. Obviously, a very positive results in that context. Europe remains our largest market, and we saw good momentum there. Autogas performed particularly well in France and Spain and bulk sales were also very dynamic. When it comes to bulk sales to our B2B customers what we call C&I, commercial and industrial customers, we are seeing a very interesting trend. More and more companies are turning to LPG as an efficient and reliable energy alternative, especially as they look for practical ways to reduce their carbon footprint of their operations without compromising on performance. And this is exactly where Rubis brings strong expertise. Our customers recognize the value we provide.

Moving to Africa, Morocco, Madagascar and South Africa remain the main drivers of our performance. At the same time, we have strong ambitions in East Africa. It is still a developing market with a number of structural challenges, but also significant growth opportunities. And that is precisely why in 2026 we created a dedicated LPG business line for Africa. The LPG market across the continent is expanding rapidly. And we believe Rubis is well positioned to play a much larger role.

Now turning to fuel. Here as well, we saw strong growth with volumes up 4% and margins up 5%. fight. Our key regions remain Africa and the Caribbean. In East Africa, Kenya continues to be the main market. Performance in 2025 showed a clear improvement mainly thanks to the adjustment of the pricing formula. Aviation, however, remain more challenging with a very tight margins airline tenders and our decision not to renew some low profitability contracts. So make it short, we lost the volumes in Kenya, but it was our decision. In the Caribbean, IT delivered strong growth, driven both by the significant expansion of the market and by the optimization of logistics, where we introduced as you know, barges alongside trucks to supply the market more efficiently. So finally, Guyana and Suriname also performed very, very well as we see and we see significant potential in both markets for the coming years.

Let me now highlight our bitumen business, which was one of the strongest contributors to Rubis growth in 2025. Maybe just as a reminder, Bitumen is a product that comes from the oil refining process. It plays a critical role in infrastructure development as it primarily used. It is primarily used road constructions, which accounts for more than 90% of the bitumen applications. In fact, bitumen alone typically represents around 30% of the cost of building a road, making it a key component of major infrastructure projects. So our customers are mainly large infrastructures company, often multinational groups, which provides relatively secure and stable customer base. Where Rubis stand out in this business is our ability to control the entire logistics chain.

Over the years, we have built a fully integrated model from sourcing the product in the Mediterranean region to delivering it directly to end customers. Now this includes fire 5 dedicated bitumen tankers. You may know that includes the tow largest bitumen vessels in the world. We have also import terminals and a multimodal land transport solution that allow us to supply our customers exactly where and when they need the product. Among these tankers, by the way, we have just scrapped one of them, which was quite old and replaced it with a new one, which was under construction since 2013. This new vessel for B2 Ocean is now fully operating. This integration gives us significant economies of scale but also the flexibility to provide tailor-made solutions such as emulsion or polymer modified bitumen often delivered as turnkey solutions with the strong technical support that the teams are providing to our customers.

Over the past few years, we have also expanded our footprint entering several new markets, including Caribbean, Gabon, Liberia, South Africa, Angola and Libya. In 2025, a number of factors supported the strong momentum of the business. Including a strong rebound in demand in Nigeria, the consolidation of Angola. And as I said before, our entry into Libya. And last but not least we increased the capacity, the storage capacity in the South African. During 2025, we also signed a 5-year lease agreement for a 60,000 tonnes storage capacity in Antwerp Belgium, which now enables us to address the European market starting from January 2026, all of this means that today, the business is very well positioned with strong profitability and significant growth potential for the coming years.

So now let me turn to our renewable activities. In Europe, Photosol continued to perform in line with our expectations. The portfolio of assets in operation grew by around 21% during the year and electricity production increased at the same pace. We also commissioned the first phases of the mega solar farm, one of the key projects in our pipeline. The site is expected to be fully operational during the first half of 2026 assets. We also continue to expand internationally with the launch of construction of 2 solar projects in Italy, representing a total capacity of 38 megawatts. Outside Europe, within Rubis Energie more and more of our C&I customers are asking us to support them in decarbonizing their operations and to meet this demand we are also developing renewable solutions, mainly through rooftop solar projects. For instance, in 2025, 3 main projects were commissioned and are now in operation, 2 in Jamaica and 1 in Kenya, representing around 3.5 megawatts of installed capacity. These 3 projects illustrates our ability to design flexible solution tailored to our customers' energy needs.

So we also took another step forward in the Caribbean with the launch of our EV charging offer, further expanding the range of energy solutions we provide in the region. So thank you.

I now hand the floor to Marc, to speak about the key financial figures for 2025. Marc, to you.

Thank you Jean-Christian. What you have just described operationally is directly reflected in our financial performance. At P&L level, our EBITDA is up 7% year-on-year at constant U.S. dollar-euro exchange rate and constant hyperinflation. This performance was mainly driven by the Caribbean and Africa with bitumen as a key contributor. It's interesting to highlight that at constant euro-U.S. dollar and hyperinflation versus 2024 our EBITDA would have reached EUR 772 million absorbing the EUR 40 million headwind related to the weak U.S. dollar and landing above over of EUR 710 million, EUR 760 million guidance range. Net income group share is up 19% versus last year. If you exclude the capital gain from Rubis Terminal sale in 2024, and increase reflect the absence of FX losses related to local currencies this year.

Looking at our balance sheet. Our corporate net financial debt amounts to EUR 602 million at the end of December. Which represents a leverage of 0.9x decreasing by 0.4x versus last year. Cost of corporate debt stood at 4% on average over the year, significantly below 2024 at 5.2%. Last year was impacted by a high and expensive local debt in Kenya. CapEx related to the distribution business increased by EUR 20 million at EUR 185 million. Most of the increase is linked to the new bitumen tanker, which is now at sea and will start its operation during H1 '26, as mentioned by Jean-Christian. Total CapEx in renewable amounted to EUR 190 million. This is in line with the trajectory announced at Photosol Day and is illustrated by both the 110-megawatt operations in 2025 and the 267-megawatts under construction. This CapEx, they are 85% financed through nonrecourse project debt.

For the group, the total amount of CapEx spend, excluding the nonrecourse debt reached EUR 217 million versus EUR 183 million in 2024, which represented an increase of 18%. Overall, 2025 reflects strong operating performance, absence of FX losses related to local currencies solid cash generation and disciplined investments.

Now let's take a closer look at our activities turning to Slide 13. Retail & Marketing. Retail & Marketing delivered a solid performance across the board with EBITDA increasing by 4%. Let's focus on Africa. Three highlights in Africa. First, the bitumen. Bitumen margins increased less than volume, this is the base effect from Q1 2024 when [indiscernible] devaluation impact was passed through to customers. However, the bitumen business was very dynamic this year with demand resuming in Nigeria after 2 difficult years. We increased our participation in our Angola subsidiary to 95% and now consolidated it globally. We also incorporated a new entity in Libya, Jean-Christian mentioned that earlier. Second one In Africa is retail. Retail is contributing well and the impact of the new pricing formula in Kenya is now showing in the margins. Third one, aviation. Aviation is more volatile and it's facing higher pricing competition, leading us to reduce our volume for the moment.

Let's have a look now at the Caribbean. Caribbean region was dynamic. The region contribution is impacted by hyperinflation. Hyperinflation had a less positive impact on EBITDA this year by EUR 17 million. Excluding this impact, EBITDA for the Caribbean increased by EUR 15 million and it was driven by Haiti, where the measures we have taken in our logistic management are truly efficient. Barbados, Barbados won a significant C&I contracts for power generation, which both the volumes, but slightly dilutive on margins. And Jamaica, Jamaica also performed well despite supply conditions slightly less favorable than last year. So considering the impact of the weak USD in the region this performance is particularly good this year. In Europe, the momentum was strong and illustrates the increasing demand for autogas and a gain of market share in a market on which we are challengers.

Support & Services remain stable, which is normal as the segment usually flexes with our Retail & Marketing activities. Our Renewable electricity production EBITDA stands at EUR 47 million. This is up 32% year-on-year. In line with our road map, our development expenses have increased, reflecting the acceleration of the growth of this business, resulting in a consolidated EBITDA at EUR 23 million. Overall, this confirms the strength of our product and geographic diversification.

Moving now to the P&L on Slide 14. Net income group share is up 19%. If you exclude Rubis Terminal equity gain from 2024. This is the result of our strong operating performance together with the less expensive local debt and reduced FX losses related to local currency. EBIT is slightly down versus last year. impacted notably based on new plants commissioned by Photosol and the effect of hyperinflation. Interest costs are down, thanks to lower cost of debt in Kenya. As you know, last year, Rubis recorded significant FX loss particularly in Kenya and Nigeria. Local currencies were more stable and the strategies we put in place to mitigate the FX risk have proven efficient. So we didn't incur any FX losses in 2025. As for taxes, nothing major to flag the OECD Global Minimum Tax is now fully integrated in our normal order. Overall, Rubis demonstrated agility and delivered solid financial results, showing it's cash generation.

Finally a word on our financial debt on Slide 15. Total net debt stands at EUR 1.2 billion with corporate debt at EUR 602 million, maintaining a low leverage of 0.9x at corporate loan. Our liquidity level is high with more than EUR 450 million undrawn RCF in addition to our EUR 760 million cash on balance sheet. The main variation in 2025 came from record operating cash flow of EUR 735 million, which is up 10%, reflecting the good operating performance combined with the absence of FX losses, a EUR 34 million positive impact from change in working capital as in 2024 in the context of low oil prices. Self-finance CapEx of EUR 217 million, which you can see in the dark pink on the graph and total CapEx, reaching EUR 376 million. And our usual June dividends to be paid to shareholders but also to minority interest and general partners.

The second installment received following the sale of Rubis Terminal, 2 installments remain and will be received in 2027 and 2028 for EUR 86 million each. Nonrecourse debt reaches EUR 564 million at year-end. The increase between '24 and '25 is in line with the renewable investment net of SPV debt amortization. Overall, our balance sheet remains solid with ample liquidity to support our future growth. This strong fundamentals underpin our confidence and strategic firepower.

With that, I will hand over the floor to Clarisse and Jean-Christian to present how we intend to build on the strong and accelerate our development.

Thank you, Marc. So behind these numbers, there is a model and that's why I would like to briefly highlight with Jean-Christian before we move to our ambitions. Rubis is a leading distributor of energy and mobility solutions with strong position in Africa, the Caribbean and Western Europe. What makes us different is not only our footprint, but the way we operate. First, we master the whole value chain from sourcing to storage and distribution. This gives us control, flexibility and reliability in markets where supply continuity is critical. Second, we built on the ground expertise and proximity to our customers.

Our teams operate locally, understand market specificities and adapt quickly to changing environments. Third, we are advancing sustainability and decarbonation for our own operations and for our clients. This reflects our [Technical Difficulty ] And finally, we continuously capture opportunities across energy segments and mobility services, from fuels and LPG to bitumen, renewals and retail. These trends form the foundation of our ambitions for the years ahead. Importantly, they are combined with favorable structural trends across our geographies. Our growth ambitions are rooted in clear long-term demand dynamics. So Jean-Christian over to you.

Thank you, Clarisse. Let me now briefly share how we see demand evolving across the regions where we operate. In the Caribbean, the steady increase in tourist flows supports both energy demand and airline traffic, which naturally benefits to fuel distribution activities and aviation sales. In Europe, electrification is gaining momentum, supported by public policies, regulatory frameworks, this trend further strengthen the relevance of our renewable platform, mainly in solar development.

In Africa, the main drivers remain urbanization and strong demographic growth, we can see expanding cities, growing mobility needs and ongoing infrastructure development that contribute to sustained demand for fuels, LPG and bitumen. We are also seeing strong growth in convenience retail, especially in Africa and the Caribbean as consumer habits evolved and the retail markets remain fragmented. This creates opportunities to expand proximity services within service station networks. More and more stations are becoming true multiservice hubs for everyday needs with the positive impact, not only on what we call nonfuel revenues, but also on fuel sales. So all together, these dynamics show that our strategy is aligned with clear and long-term demand trends across geographies.

This slide shows how we build growth from our historical strengths. On the left-hand side, you see our legacy businesses, fuel, LPG renewable in Europe, Europe and bitumen in Africa. These activities from the backbone of Rubis. They provide scale, infrastructure strong local positions and resilient cash generation. But what now matters is how we leverage these trends to unlock new drivers, of course. And this is what you can see on the right-hand side of the chart, our strong positions and brand equity in Africa and the Caribbean give us a solid platform to further expand our retail activities.

In particular, we focus on 2 key levers that generate additional income and trade revenue. The first one the development of nonfuel activities across our service station network. We are talking here about convenience stores, restaurants and other services that closely match customer expectations when they start at our service stations. Second, leveraging our strong forecourt presence to further grow lubricants and LPG sales within our service stations. And the same logic applies to renewables. We are moving from solar projects in Europe to supporting energy transition in Africa and the Caribbean with solution tailored to local markets. This strategy deployed...

[Technical Difficulty]

Strong organic performance building market share, improving execution and strengthening our positions where we already operate. At the same time, we remain attentive to external opportunities as we have always done when we invest, we do so selectively in businesses that complement our portfolio and create long-term run. And throughout this process, we remain rigorous in how we allocate capital ensuring strong returns, controlled risk and a solid balance sheet. This balanced approach allows us to grow, diversify and capture new opportunities while maintaining resilience in a volatile environment. With that framework, let me now tell how sustainability supports and strengthens this strategy.

Our growth ambitions, financial discipline, sustainability ambitions and strategic priorities, all require consistent execution across our markets. Sustainability is fundamental to how we think about our future. At Rubis, sustainability is not an isolated initiative. Since our first road map in 2022, it has structured the way we approach our responsibilities and long-term commitments. It supports our ambitions by reinforcing local accountability, measurable impact and long-term consistency. It provides a framework that helps translate strategy into action country-by-country, business by business. This is how we ensure that our ambitions are implemented in a responsible and consistent way.

With that, I will now give the floor to Sophie to present of our Sustainability road map.

Thank you,Clarisse. Indeed, sustainability supports and reinforces our ambitions. Our Rubis approach to sustainability, the component of our operational excellence. In concrete terms, this contributes to making us more relevant to our customers, particularly by offering them a wider range of lower carbon products and services to making us a more attractive employer and to making us more efficient by managing our risks and our costs. Let's move on to the next slide to discover our renewed road map. Think tomorrow 2030 is part of a logic of evolution and continuity. It builds on the first road map launched in 2022, which laid the foundation of the second road map. This program enabled us to set clear objectives, engage all our business units and structure our actions to deliver sustainable performance. The review of this period highlights a significant achievement of the set objective reflecting the collective mobilization of the teams.

In the spirit of continuity and heightened ambition, certain key objectives are being renewed or further developed such as safety objectives within the new road map in order to continue the progress already underway and to support the group transformation in the phase of environmental and societal challenges. Our renewed road map represents a new step in structuring and formalizing our commitments towards 2030. It is important to mention that it was built in collaboration with our colleagues in the field. So it is organized around 4 pillars: climate, environment, social and society. And the main evolutions compared to our previous road map are, first, formulizing a standalone climate pillar. Climate was obviously integrating into our first road map in the environmental pillar, but it now stands as a dedicated pillar reflecting the increasing importance of energy transition and decarbonization across our activities.

The second evolution is the establishment of a closer link with business, in particular by integrating targets the development of low-carbon products to complement our existing offers and the development of cleaner solutions in Africas. That's 3 other pillars, environment, social and society continue to guide how we manage our impact, support our teams and contribute to the territories where we operate. Together, these 4 pillars provide a coherent and operational framework aligned with our strategy and embedded in our model.

So let me now illustrate this framework work with 4 concrete commitments out of 16 as highlighted on Slide 26. So first, on climate, we are still committed to reducing operational emissions while accelerating diversification towards low-carbon activities with an ambition to multiply our low-carbon EBITDA by 5x by 2030. By low carbon EBITDA, we mean biofuels and solar electricity and services related to these products. Second, on environment, we are committed to conducting a biodiversity assessment on all our industrial sites and solar parks located near a sensitive area with a view to implementing appropriate action plans.

Third, on social, we will deploy a We Care policy across all our geographies to ensure consistent, high-quality social protection for all our employees regardless of local regulatory differences. And fourth on society, we are committed to providing access to cleaner cooking solutions to 3.7 million people in Africa which is a measurable initiative directly linked to the local development. To find out more all the 16 commitments are detailed definitions and baselines on our website.

Thank you for your attention. I will now give the floor to Clarisse to conclude the presentation.

So let me wrap before opening the floor to Q&A. First, so we saw very strong commercial and operating performance. This year across our all geographies and businesses. Second, our seamless execution and agility delivered record cash flows, which illustrates how our robust and healthy our business model is whatever the context. Finally, these achievements make us confident about the future and enable us to propose as before, a growing dividend at EUR 2.07 per share. So despite the current conflicts in the Middle East, and I'm sure we'll come back on it, which, in fact, remains contained at stage for 2026. We anticipate that the Caribbean will continue to perform well, in particular with the recovery of IT as Jean-Christian told, the strong dynamism of Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados.

In Africa, retail should continue to be one of the key drivers of performance together with bitumen. In Europe, we have just entered and launched our bitumen operations in Amberg. So we are very happy of this development. But just keep in mind that for 2026. It will be a transition year and the renewable electricity in Europe continue to develop as planned. So all in all, with a healthy balance sheet and a stable leverage ratio. We are aiming at EUR 740 million to EUR 790 million EBITDA within the framework of the assumptions, just described.

So I think that's all for the presentation. So thank you a lot for your attention, and we are ready for taking your questions.

First question from Orbis Lewis at Kepler Cheuvreux. Given the excellent economics of the bitumen business, why not make an arbitrage and invest less in renewals to focus on this very promising activity that is more in line with our historical business model.

The question is not really a matter of arbitrage, but it's a matter of opportunity. As you know, our renewable business is financed at 85% through nonrecourse debt, and it does not hamper our ability to invest in the distribution business. And actually, this is reflected as you can see in our leverage as it is below 1 today.

You're right Marc. On the top of that, I can add that we are taking any possible opportunities in Africa. We have done some significant growth in 2025 and in 2026. As I say, we are entering now to Europe, and we expect some significant growth in Europe. So there's no arbitrage, as you said Marc, it's just a combination of growing businesses, and we take a full opportunities to grow both of them.

Still on bitumen, we have two questions from Hubert. Can you confirm the reasons why the growth of the gross margin on the bitumen activity is not in line with that of revenues, 28% revenues and 18% net gross margin. And the second one is about the Libyan market, what are the riskd and opportunities, who are the customers and are there local contractors or non-local nationals?

The revenues reflect the price of the products we sell and the margins, okay. It generates some volatility in our revenues that are totally decorrelated from our performance. So we engage you to really focus on our margins and EBITDA, if you want to understand the performance for this.

As far as Libya is concerned, it was a good opportunity because we managed to acquire the only importation depot that does exist in Libya. The market is quite significant. We are talking about 200,000 tonne plus. It's a growing market. So far, we are just supplying the market to our depot. The customers are coming to the terminal, they are offloading. They are taking the product from our terminals. So we don't have any trucks moving on the roads. We don't have any significant inland operations. So we are quite confident that it will be a good addition to our bitumen in Africa. We are using the supply chain that is making our success in the West Coast of the Africa. So just a positive addition. And once again, we don't see risk, we see opportunity to grow bitumen business.

We now have two questions from Jean from CIC CIB, about the situation in the Middle East and the impacts on the supply chain on the business and in particular in East Africa.

What we so far -- because things are evolving rapidly. So far, we don't see any negative impact. Most of the markets where we operate, we are not concerned by the situation in the Middle East. So we mentioned East Africa. You can also add to Africa operations in Libya and Madagascar. So far, all the supply chain has been moved to Singapore. So we are getting the product from Singapore. It's very smooth. And we are not facing any specific issue with that change of supply chain. So I would say so far, so good. So we don't see once again any negative impact so far in our businesses for this.

We have two questions that are linked from Mourad Lahmidi of BNPP, should we expect a negative working capital effect due to the spike in crude prices? Should we expect a short-term squeeze in unit margins? And we'll go back to the CapEx activity.

The change in working capital depending on inventory level at year end mainly depending on the oil price evolution. So in the particular context of one price going up, of course, the working capital will be higher.

In terms of unit margins, Marc, what we can say, we are operating in many, many markets where the markets are being regulated by government. So we don't see any positive or negative impact. Just because once again, margins are being regulated by high authorities. Where the market is deregulated to us and to our proximity with our customers to explain to them that the price is increasing, and we need to increase the price accordingly. So we expect to protect our margin. And once again, we don't see any major impact, major risk with that increase of oil price. By the way, we came across the same situation in 2022. And don't forget that the kind of level we are observing today was also the same in 2022. And we managed, and there was no significant impact on our sales and no significant impact on our business models.

Let's now move to Photosol with a question from Jean-Luc Romain about PPE 3 energy policy impact on Photosol. Will it accelerate or slow down in development. And also a few questions around 2027 targets. The delays related to France and the CapEx level expected for '26 and the split between corporate and nonrecourse base.

The publication of PPE 3 provides long awaiting the policy visibility after a prolonged period uncertainty. So for us, that confirms PPE3 confirms that solar remains a strategic pillar for France decarbonation. Within the framework that prioritize system balance, electrification and long-term deployment rather than short-term acceleration at any cost. It also implies from 2026, '27 and '28, moderation of near-term solar deployment in France. But it preserves a clear and robust longterm growth strategy to us for instance. So in the short term, this environment favors, we think that would favor experienced developers with high-quality, well-executed projects and our pipeline, the Photosol pipeline remains fully aligned with these long-term objectives.

Looking ahead, the plan supports sustained growth in decarbonized electricity, increasing demand for flexible and grid compatible solar assets and future upside from storage and system services. So to manage short-term variability and support our path towards 2027 EBITDA targets, we have also taken mitigation actions, notably international diversification and a more selective disciplined approach to new project intake focused on quality returns and visibility.

So we have talked before about our development in Italy. So we have team with 15 people. We have 42 megawatt that will be operational at the end of 2026, 40 more in 2027. We have a pipeline that is incremental with also storage projects and we have quite a big secured pipeline in France. So -- and we have proved that we can convert permitted price and operational since all those years. So the results for 2025 are good. The plan for 2026 is following what we have what we have announced in the Photosol Day. So for now, we are not worried at all.

A quick question from Mourad about going back to high prices. Have you seen some countries starting to think about cutting current prices?

Not yet, for the most not yet. For sure it might happen if the situation continues like that. But once again, to cut the price, it means that the prices are regulated. So no impact on our unit margins. It could even be a good news because if they cut the price, it means that the demand will be remaining solid because of the cost of accessing the product for end customers will be more reasonable. So we don't see that today, and we don't see that in the long term as an issue if some governments decide to cut the price.

A question from Nicolas about the cash proceeds from the sale Rubis Terminal. How much are you expecting in 2026 and beyond.

Nicolas, we are expecting 2 installments one in 2026, one in 2027 of EUR 86 million each.

One question from Mourad Lahmidi of BNPP, how much of the EUR 233 million dividend cash out is related to the statutory dividend to general partners.

The amount is EUR 11 million related to 2024 and paid in 2025.

I can see also a question from Nicolas asking about the net income of Rubis Photosol.

The net income group share of Rubis Photosol amounted in 2025 to negative EUR 30 million.

If we have no more questions, thank a lot to you all for your attention. We remain available on the phone or by e-mail if you want to have more information, we will be on the road today in Paris and next week in London and Dublin, do not hesitate to reach out to us. Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Welcome to the Rubis Third Quarter 2025 Presentation. [Operator Instructions]

Now I will hand the conference over to your host, Marc Jacquot, Managing Partner and Group CFO, to begin today's conference. Please go ahead.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for joining us today for Rubis' Q3 and 9 months 2025 trading update. I am Marc Jacquot, Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Rubis, and I'm joined today by Clemence Mignot-Dupeyrot, Head of Investor Relations. Together, we'll walk you through Rubis' financial performance for the third quarter of 2025.

I am on Slide 2. This third quarter was another one of robust operational performance delivered in a period of lower oil prices and adverse euro-USD environment. Before diving into the details, it's important to remind that revenue trends are not a meaningful indicator of Rubis' performance, as they primarily reflect movement in oil prices with no direct impact on our margins.

What truly matters is our ability to manage inventories efficiently and capture value growth through disciplined pricing. And once again, this quarter, the group's solid operational execution more than offset the unfavorable impact of the weak U.S. dollar.

From an operational standpoint, the Energy Distribution business delivered strong growth in both volumes and unit margins across all products. Volumes were up 6%, with overall unit margin increasing by 3%, leading to total margin increasing by 9% year-on-year.

Let me highlight a few key drivers behind the solid performance, namely bitumen, Haiti and Europe. First, bitumen. Bitumen volumes were up 17% year-on-year. As in the previous quarter, this growth was driven by strong demand in Nigeria, where bitumen is increasingly preferred to concrete for road construction and by the consolidation of our operations in Angola. Gross margin increased by 33% year-on-year, supported by volume growth and a more favorable normalized pricing context in Nigeria.

The second one is Haiti. Activity in Haiti continued to recover across both retail and C&I segments. An additional supply cost was integrated into the pricing formula, leading to higher return margins. On the C&I side, the initiatives we implemented to strengthen our supply mechanism and better manage risk have proven effective in supporting margins.

And the third one is Europe. Our LPG operations in Europe were particularly dynamic this quarter when compared to last year with strong autogas demand in France and higher unit margins all across European markets.

In renewable electricity production, our development is accelerating in line with our plans with the secure portfolio increasing by 25% compared to September 2024. During the quarter, we commissioned an additional 26 megawatts of capacity.

Overall, those results confirm the strength of our diversified business model and position us well to deliver our 2025 objectives.

Clemence, over to you for more details on the activity.

Thanks, Marc, and hi, everyone. Let's move on to Slide 3. As you can see on this slide, for the retail and marketing part of our business, volume increased by 6% and gross margin by 9%. Looking at the global picture product-by-product, starting with LPG, volume were up 3% and gross margin up 6%.

As previously mentioned, activity was particularly strong in France in autogas, and that's also the case for Spain. In Switzerland, small bulk demand remained very dynamic in a favorable pricing environment. South Africa was also very strong on an upward trend, supported by a cold winter. Margins were stable there.

On the fuel side, volumes were up 6% and gross margin up 7%. First, the retail activity. It was broadly stable in the Caribbean with variations from one country to another, all of them offsetting each other.

In Africa, volume growth was really strong in Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia, where we rebranded a few service stations. On the margin side, you might remember that Kenya benefited from a second pricing adjustment for the pricing formula mid-July, and we fully benefited from it.

In the C&I segment, volumes grew by 17% and margins by 26%, mainly driven by Barbados, where we signed a major contract to supply the island's power generation company. Haiti also contributed significantly. Marc already went through this. Demand was also quite strong in Guyana and Suriname this quarter.

On the aviation side, volumes declined by 8%, but margins increased by 8% also. As we already mentioned last quarter, this is the result of a selective approach in Kenya where the management decided not to bid on certain airline tenders, which were not profitable enough. Activity in the Caribbean on the aviation side was still very dynamic. Bitumen, Marc already went through it, volumes up 17% and margins up 33%.

Turning now to Support and Services. Revenue was down 17% to EUR 215 million over the quarter. This is mainly due to the earnings profile of the SARA refinery, which generated some margin volatility as is usually the case in Q3. Trading for third parties on the other hand, was quite dynamic in the Caribbean in Q3 '25. And in Africa, we had a few vessels under dry dock maintenance, which led to a lower bitumen shipping activity.

For Photosol, the secured portfolio now reaches 1.3 gigawatts, up 25% compared to September '24, supported by the 26 megawatts, which were commissioned in Q3, as Marc mentioned before. Revenue amounted to EUR 21 million, up 19% from EUR 17 million in Q3 last year, and this is in line with the evolution of the assets in operation. In terms of development, the total development pipeline, meaning excluding the secured portfolio now stands at 5.8 gigawatts, of which around [ 15% ] related to projects outside of France.

Thank you, Clemence. And moving on Slide 4. To conclude, the third quarter was operationally slightly better than we anticipated. As expected, our results were impacted negatively by euro-U.S. dollar translation effects, around EUR 7 million versus last year and EUR 14 million versus our guidance in terms of gross margin. Despite this, the group demonstrated its ability to deliver strong results in the face of currency and market headwinds.

Our multi-country, multiproduct model continues to prove its strength and resilience, consistently driving performance across all our businesses. With solid execution, robust fundamentals and a clear strategic road map, we are confident that this positive momentum will continue through the final quarter. We, therefore, reaffirm our full year EBITDA guidance expected to range between EUR 710 million and EUR 760 million.

We thank you for your attention, and Clemence and I are now happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

We have a first question from Emmanuel Matot at ODDO BHF, who is asking exposure to Jamaica and the situation in that country following the hurricane. Second question is about the impact of the crew in Madagascar on our business.

Thank you, Emmanuel, for your question. So let's start with Jamaica. First of all, we have 78 people working in Jamaica, and we are happy to share with you that all of them are sound and safe. As a reminder, Jamaica retail and marketing represented 5% of total group EBITDA in 2024. We have there 49 service stations. And as of yesterday, 75% of them were operational. 4 sites were partially operational, and 8 sites were not operational. They were flooded or under the mud.

[indiscernible] and our headquarter are back in operations, loadings resumed within 1 day and product was delivered to our retail sites and our strategic customers. So what we can say is that in Jamaica, we continue to assess the situation. Of course, rebuilding our service station will take some time. Our teams are fully mobilized to ensure the continuity of operation and the service of our customers. And we are covered by insurance for that type of claim with some deductibles that we need to evaluate more precisely.

Now talking about Madagascar. You know the political context in Madagascar was pretty tense with movement initiated by the generation bid, [indiscernible] water and power cuts, inflation, unemployment and [indiscernible] the protest [indiscernible] place end of September and early October, but we can say that they have now calm down after the President was [ instituted ] and the new temporary transition military government is being put in place.

The new government approved the 2026 budget with no negative impact identified for operations in the country. Also during the protest, no loss was incurred. We took all the measures needed to ensure the safety of our employees and infrastructure when event occurred. The only impact we see so far is the shortfall related to a few days of closures of some of our operations, but it is in some very specific zones and the impact is quite limited. Of course, we will monitor closely the evolution of the political situation there.

[Operator Instructions]

We have another online question from Emmanuel Matot, who is asking, why not tighten your EBITDA 2025 guidance? Is the upper end of the guidance still achievable despite the weakening of the dollar?

Emmanuel, our Q3 is indeed a very strong one, and we are confident in reaching our guidance. Keep in mind that about 2/3 of our business is exposed to U.S. dollar directly or indirectly and the translation effect has an impact on our EBITDA. And we monitor this evolution precisely. And that's why we consider that it was not relevant to update the 2025 guidance that we keep as it is.

We have a question from Nicolas Royot, Portzamparc, who is asking, could you please provide an update on the Creil solar site and its commissioning date? Will it be done all at once or gradually?

The answer to this question, Nicolas, is it is done gradually by tranches. Already some tranches were commissioned since February 2025. We have around half of the Creil plant, which is in operation.

Another question from Jean-Luc Romain at CIC Market Solutions. Congratulations on Haiti improvements compared to pretravel usual business and margin, how much would your profits need to increase to go back to usual levels?

Jean-Luc, thank you for your congratulations. But -- Haiti the positive effect we have related to Haiti compared to last quarter was amounting, I would say, to EUR 5 million over the quarter. We still have a long path to go back to the initial performance because the situation in the country is still very trouble, but we are learning how to navigate in this environment. But as long as the security situation remains the same, we will not be back to the level of 5 years ago, I would say.

[Operator Instructions]

It seems that you have no further questions. So we thank you for your attention. And...

We will be on the road today -- tomorrow in Paris with Bernstein, and we remain available by phone or e-mail to organize any type of meeting. Thanks a lot.

Thank you.