Webuild Aktie

Good morning, and welcome to the Webuild Full Year 2025 Results and 2026 Outlook Conference Call. On today's call, we have Pietro Salini, Chief Executive Officer; and Massimo Ferrari, General Manager, Corporate and Finance. Please note, this conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand you over to your host, Pietro Salini, to begin today's conference. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our Annual Conference Call. It is a pleasure to be here with you and to celebrate the conclusion of our 3-year business plan.

Let me begin with some context. The past 3 years have been exceptionally complex. Unprecedented inflation affecting both our geographies and the core component of our operation, a significant increase of interest rates and currency volatility, geopolitical structure changes, supply chain bottlenecks and persistent labor constraints. Notwithstanding that, we've not only delivered well above plan industrially, financially and commercially, but it also went through a structural transformation.

Now you have in front of you a new company with significant higher scale and unique execution capabilities on high complexity projects, an order backlog among the strongest in the industry, both on size and quality. Webuild has become more profitable, proving to be resilient and strongly derisked with a strong balance sheet and we focus on cash generation. Last but not least, we delivered 160% of total shareholder return over the last 3 years.

Now let me walk you through the evidence. Slide 4. Moving to Slide 4, starting with execution. Over the plan period, more than 45 infrastructure projects were delivered across multiple countries. Many others have started despite some challenges and are being carried out according to the plan. We are talking about some of the most complex infrastructure worldwide that improve quality of life for millions of people.

One example is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the largest hydropower facility ever built in Africa. We also delivered strategic projects for sustainable mobility, Milano Metro Line 4, Riyadh Metro Line 3 as well and the new bascule Unionport Bridge in New York. Today, Webuild is the leading infrastructure player in Italy and one of the top players in Europe and Australia. Globally, the group is #1 in water sector.

Our unique and integrated set of capabilities make the real difference when complexity is high, from advanced engineering procurement to large-scale project management and in-house construction technologies. This is the reason why clients continue to select Webuild as their partner. This success is powered by people.

In the last 5 years, Webuild hired and upskilled more than 14,000 people each year all around the world. This shows our ability to attract talent and our structural contribution to local economies. Today, around 95,000 people work for the group. Thanks to scale, Webuild is able to develop internally highly specialized skills, skills that are difficult to replicate in the industry. Over 3 million training hours were delivered across the plan.

Safety remains a cornerstone. Webuild is the top performer among European peers in health and safety. And this is our distinctive marks in more than 50 countries. Our lost time injury frequency rate improved from 2.79 in 2022 to 2.23 in 2025, which is a significant improvement.

Our global activity is supported by a supply chain of 17,500 companies worldwide. A qualified supply chain is the key enablers of execution. It offers the resilience to navigate global uncertainty. It also drives efficiency and innovation across projects and local communities.

Slide 5 shows two clear and simple messages. One, the financial targets set out under the plan were outperformed. Two, the improvement in profitability is not a one-off. It's a structural result of the new business model. We delivered faster growth.

Revenues grew annually at 19% versus the 10% expected into the plan, reaching in 2025, EUR 13.6 billion compared to the EUR 10.7 billion planned by the business plan. ForEx was a headwind. At constant 2022 exchange rates, revenues would have been EUR 1.5 billion higher. This represents a remarkable 68% growth compared to 2022.

Profitability improved significantly. EBITDA margin increased from 8.6% from 7.2% in 2022. EBITDA reached EUR 1.2 billion, above the EUR 1 billion planned target, more than double 2022 levels.

Three structural levers explain this improvement. First, stronger contract management and derisking. Our contract model was redesigned to identify and address risks even earlier than before. Price revision formulas are now included in most of our contracts. New contract models such as progressive design and build and incentivized target costs were adopted, particularly in North America and Australia. Webuild has been able also to renegotiate some of major contracts on the backlog in order to rebalance risk and return.

Second, cost discipline. Through disciplined overhead and indirect cost management, we delivered EUR 200 million of savings above the EUR 180 million planned target.

Third, Lane turnaround. Lane reached EBITDA breakeven in 2025. It refocused on core markets, selected lower risk work, tightened controls. Its legacy projects are almost completed with the settlement of claims underway. Lane is also doing very well in terms of order intake.

Slide 6 is about financial discipline and balance sheet strength. Gross leverage declined sharply from 4.5x in 2022 to 2.6x in 2025. Net cash stood at EUR 770 million at year-end 2025 on a normalized basis, adjusting for ForEx and a cash-in that slipped into early 2026. This was achieved despite EUR 2.5 billion of CapEx strategically invested in equipment such as tunnel boring machines, which expand capacity and support future cash generation. We did not just stay with a positive net cash position as targeted in business plan, a meaningful net cash buffer has been built. Credit markets recognized this progress. Fitch and Standard & Poor's upgraded us to BB+, a double notch improvement in 3 years.

Slide 7 covers commercial performance. Order intake exceeded the planned target by EUR 13 billion. As a result, construction backlog reached EUR 51 billion at the end of 2025, one of the highest in the sector. But it's not about size. The [ matter ] that counts is about quality. The backlog has been progressively derisked, thanks to a greater focus on developed markets, which choose the market where to operate, a more balanced contract structures and a selective bidding where 80% of tenders were awarded to us on best technical offer, not on price, thanks to our execution capabilities.

The outcome is a larger backlog with a significantly improved risk profile and higher earning visibility. Before handing over to Massimo, let me highlight the most important point. The platform is built record backlog, people, capability, governance, risk discipline, partners, financial strength. The next step is to leverage this platform for a sustainable and selective growth, improvement of marginality and cash generation.

Massimo, over to you.

Thank you, Pietro. Before I go through the results, let me remind you that we are presenting the recurring performance of the business. You can find details of the adjustments in the presentation appendix.

Let me start with Slide 9. As Pietro mentioned before, Webuild delivered double-digit growth in revenues, EBITDA and EBIT in 2025. Revenues reached EUR 13.6 billion, up 15% versus 2024. 67% of revenues were generated outside Italy. EBITDA reached EUR 1.2 billion with an 8.7% margin and EBIT rose to EUR 705 million with a 5.2% margin. Both EBITDA and EBIT margins improving year-on-year. Planned targets were exceeded and results came in above upgraded 2025 guidance, as you remind. Net income reached EUR 280 million, up 13% versus 2024 despite a significant negative ForEx effect.

Let's see in detail some P&L lines. Financial income was EUR 126 million, down EUR 60 million, mainly due to a reduction in average balances of deposits with banks. Financial expenses decreased by EUR 24 million. This drop reflects, among other factors, the lower utilization of corporate credit lines, the lower cost of variable rate debt and higher expenses related to the bond issued in 2024 and July 2025.

The net exchange result was negative for EUR 73 million, impacted by the performance of U.S. dollar, Saudi real and Ethiopian birr against euro. These effects tend to end up being neutral over the course of the year and most of them are non-monetary.

Slide 10 focuses on the streamlined of the cost base. The structured cost efficiency plan on indirect and overhead costs generated more than EUR 200 million in savings. That is above the plan target of EUR 180 million. Multiple initiatives contributed, optimization of external spending, shared service among projects, automation, branch rationalization and project-specific actions. This is not a one-off effort.

Cost discipline remains a structural priority for the group. The focus on cost efficiency will remain in place in the coming years with continued actions on overhead and indirect cost project and also we will start on the direct cost of the project to support margins and cash conversion, mainly leveraging on innovation and also artificial intelligence.

Turning to Slide 11. Reported net income stands at EUR 240 million, plus 23%. Over the last 3 years, over EUR 205 million in dividends were distributed. For 2026, Webuild is proposing EUR 0.081 for ordinary shares and EUR 0.26 for savings shares for an overall amount of dividends of around EUR 80 million with a payout ratio around 25%. It would imply a dividend yield around 2.7% at current share price.

Let's move to Slide 12. Our net financial position stayed strong despite significant CapEx of around EUR 960 million, so approx of EUR 1 billion in 2025. Reported net cash was EUR 363 million at year-end. There are two temporary effects that impacted the reported net cash, foreign exchange effects and just a timing effect linked to a Dispute Adjudication Board's decision on an Italian project. The cash-in was expected to occur in 2025, but it was received at the beginning of 2026.

Normalizing by these two effects, net cash would stand at around EUR 770 million above our EUR 700 million guidance. EUR 700 million.

This year, advanced payments had a negative impact on the net financial position for around EUR 300 million. There was an important part of the order intake that came at the end of 2025, beginning of 2026 with advances will be cashed in 2026. So year-end net cash remained at the strong despite high CapEx and advanced payments being a net outflow in 2025, making these results even more significant.

On Slide 13, there is the balance sheet. Fixed assets increased due to CapEx plan. Working capital reflects the strong growth in production activity as well as the reduction of advances I told earlier. Equity declined mainly due to losses attributable to non-controlling interest and to effect of the U.S. dollar performance mainly against the euro.

Gross debt remains stable at around EUR 3.1 billion. Gross leverage continues to strengthen, reaching 2.6x, a significant reduction from 3x level recorded in 2024. It compares to peers at around 4x on average.

Moving to Slide 14. Our financial structures remain robust. This is confirmed by the upgrade received by the rating agency mentioned by Pietro, before. Our total liquidity position remains strong at EUR 2.4 billion (sic) [ EUR 3.4 billion ].

Revolving credit line stands at around EUR 950 million. In 2025, EUR 450 million debt were refinanced. Cost of debt stands now at 5.1%. Our debt maturity profile is well -- very well, let me say, distributed through 2031 with an average debt duration of 3.4 years, mostly at fixed rate. This shield us from any market volatility in the short term.

Going to Slide 15. Let's have now a look at our commercial performance. Order intake in 2025 was EUR 13.2 billion. In early 2026, around EUR 2 billion new projects have already been awarded.

Quality is key. More than 90% of 2025 order intake comes from low-risk countries. The geographic mix is well balanced with roughly half outside Italy, confirming our international footprint across Europe, mainly North America, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

Slide 16 illustrates our order backlog that amounted to EUR 58 billion. It includes EUR 7.5 billion of backlog in concessions and operation and maintenance business. Construction backlog stood at EUR 51 billion. It gives us visibility and predictable revenue development. Around 90% of this construction backlog is located in low-risk markets. The vast majority of our clients are public and most contracts include inflation protection mechanisms through price adjustment formula that we mentioned before and in other meeting or conference call.

I now leave the floor to Pietro to introduce the guidelines for future developments.

Thank you, Massimo. Before I start with the outlook, we are planning an Investor Day early June to present the new 3 years business plan.

Let me highlight that this backlog covers 100% of the actual level of revenues in 2026 and '27, and a very large part of the portion of 2028. So we have a great visibility. This is very important in the present scenarios.

Let's turn to Slide 18. Scale matters today more than ever. I think of it this way. Every year, we generate about EUR 1.8 billion of additional revenue. That is like creating a top 50 European player year-after-year and adding it to Webuild. Scale means flexibility. It means resilience. It means the ability to stay disciplined when the environment becomes more volatile.

The next question mark is infrastructure demand. We see demand remaining very strong.

Moving to Slide 19. The megatrends that are fueling infrastructure investment are clear: climate and energy transition, water security, urbanization. The new drivers are accelerating, defense infrastructure, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence. Webuild is positioned to address these trends. This is visible in the numbers you can see on the next slide.

In Slide 20, our near-term commercial pipeline stands at EUR 91 billion. More than EUR 19 billion are tenders submitted and awaiting outcome. Around EUR 9 billion of tenders are under preparation. But the key point is not just volume. It is quality and risk profile. The demand is there, it is visible and it's concentrated in the markets where Webuild is the strongest. We are in a position to be selective and disciplined on risk-adjusted returns.

As closing remark, EUR 9 billion of the commercial activity are in areas currently affected by the military conflict in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia. We are closely monitoring the latest development.

Turning to Slide 21. This slide brings together the key elements underpinning our 2026 outlook. We are entering 2026 with scale and global footprint, industrial visibility supported by the order backlog and the demand that remains strong. At the same time, with the conflict in Middle East area, the global order is experiencing a new profile.

Let me first clarify that our activities in the area are currently limited to Saudi Arabia, where operations continue regularly and safely in agreement with clients and with our security protocols. The fundamentals of our business remain strong. But considering the current geopolitical and macro backdrop, we have taken a prudent approach, providing 2026 guidance on a directional basis. Revenues are expected broadly in line with the record level reached in 2025. They are supported by the significant backlog and global footprint.

The focus remains on improving margins, strengthening operating cash generation and maintaining a positive net cash position. That said, the group is already looking beyond 2026. Record backlog, people, capability, risk discipline and strong balance sheet provide a solid starting point for the next phase.

Thank you for your attention. We are now ready for Q&A session. To keep the discussion focused and efficient, we would encourage questions on strategy and the main initiatives supporting the group current and future financial performance. If any follow-up questions on figures, tables or specific technical details from the presentation, the Investor Relations team will be, of course, be available after the call. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Emanuele Gallazzi of Equita SIM.

I have, let's say, three questions. We can go one-by-one. The first one is on the Australian business, basically because looking at the commercial pipeline you reported, there seems to be a strong acceleration in the opportunities over there. Can you just update us on the country and on how the execution of your main project is going?

This is Pietro Salini speaking. I'd say, we have no effect now on our projects ongoing. There is no particular effect. I told you before that the only project that is inside the area of Middle East is our projects in Saudi Arabia, which is a very safe country and they are going as on business-as-usual basis. And of course, we look at the present situation with a prudent approach, but I don't see any practical effect at the moment.

That was my second question. Actually, my first question was on Australia, not the Middle East, but even the Middle East was my second question. So, on Australia if you can comment on the commercial opportunity over there.

There is a very large pipeline in Australia. This, of course, as you know, Australia is becoming our largest market and it is a pipeline not only of an important pipeline of projects, but especially a very important pipeline of project of complexity and scale, which are the project in which we perform best, in which the experience and capability and competence of Webuild are having an advantage on competition.

I think that we are working closely with clients on a number of very large projects in a way of looking at the project together and to be selected in the future as their contractor. I think that this is the way in which you minimize risk and you can maximize or, let's say, a very reasonable margin of return from those projects with diminution -- a very important diminution of risks.

Very clear. And my last question is on the M&A. I think during your last conference call, you rolled out basically big M&A. Is it still the case? Or are you looking at something, let's say, more material on this side? We clearly have seen the press reported potential interest for Rizzani, but any comment on this side will be helpful.

We are, of course, opportunistic. We see where we have a special opportunity. And we look at vertical integration possibilities that could implement the EBITDA that remains inside the group for sectors like special foundation design and other possibilities in which the services that we purchase outside of the group are important every year. So I think that the first thing, of course, is to remain cash positive. This is the essence of the plan -- with the plan, so of course, we have to limit our appetite in this sense in order to remain in a situation in which the rating agency expectation remains inside the metrics that they have designed for us.

And this is for us a very disciplined approach to the market. As you know, we have limited equity and so we have to remain inside this frame in order to remain with the present upgraded financial profile.

The next question comes from the line of Andrea Belloli of Banca Akros.

I just got one on Lane. If can you give us some update on the Lane's turnaround and maybe more in general also on the U.S. market?

Thank you, Andrea. This is an important question because for us, Lane was in the past, not only a potential activity, but also a source of problem. We have to solve legacy project that in the past have underpinned our performance there. And now finally, we changed the people. We put a very good team there. We made a completely different pipeline of order intake with a selective approach to projects, also teaming up with Webuild tendering departments. And I think that we -- these things are now going to pay out, and they are paying out in this year with the turnaround.

The market in the U.S. is booming. We can see that from the very beginning of the year, we had a very exciting -- I cannot say the project specifically, because the clients didn't allow us to make the disclosure so far. But I think that we have already done the plan for what was envisaged into the order intake of Lane just in the first 2 months of the year. So I think that the situation for Lane in U.S. now is very bright.

And we see a number of products of the scale, magnitude, the partnership that we want to have. So I think that being now in U.S., it is something that also gives us an additional strength into this present worldwide scenario being such -- being having these strong pillars, one in U.S. and one in Australia. I think it's very well balanced to the rest of the world in terms of visibility and in terms of also predictability.

Absolutely correct what Mr. Salini said before. Let me add that the market is booming, notwithstanding the situation. We are not, of course, affected by tariffs because we are working with a U.S. company. And we are working also in some areas that are defense related where Lane was present before with a very successful story.

The next question comes from the line of Matteo Bonizzoni of Kepler Cheuvreux.

The first question relates to the book-to-bill. Your book-to-bill was very strong in 2021 and 2023, also driven by key awards in Italy. Then it flattened to around 1 in 2024 and '25. My question is, what is your outlook for the book-to-bill in the next year? And also if you want to provide maybe some color between -- on the outlook in Italy versus other countries? And also, I'm curious to know, you mentioned just in the last question, U.S. Are you looking also at some opportunities, I don't know, in growing area like data center or this growth business segment, let's say, which would be new for you in any case?

Then the second question is, these are two numerical questions, but on very relevant topic. So I would expect the company to answer to this question. CapEx in 2025 approached EUR 1 billion, so EUR 960 million. Can you provide an indication for '26?

And finally, working capital consumed just over EUR 0.5 billion of cash flow. Also in this case, what is the outlook for the net working capital evolution next year, in particular in relation to the delta between contract assets and contract liabilities?

Yes. For the numbers, I will leave the floor to Massimo and to the team. But for the -- of course, in the business plan that we present to the market early June, as I said, you will have all the details of the new business that in the next 3 years and that will make Webuild even more productive in terms of marginality and cash. So I think for the time being, we cannot give colors. I say that in the present situation, one thing I want to take off, is that we are not giving a precise guidance for the 2026 not because we do not -- we think that there are risks.

But we think that in this situation, giving a precise guidance on cash flow that is done day-by-day and without taking into consideration the possibilities that the client have to as a reaction to the present situation is, it is unprofessional. I would say that we are looking at the present turmoil as a tipping point in where the world is and then giving precise numbers, notwithstanding the situation is unprofessional. So I have no fears, because as I said to you, the present backlog gives us a very important visibility over the next 3 years, not only on '26.

So we could give them simple numbers that are out of calculation on what is the revenues and the investment and whatever else connected to the backlog we already have and then the contract we already have to perform. But I think in the present scenario, this is unprofessional.

So let's say that we hope that in June, all the situation will be clear and along with the business plan, we can also stick to numbers, as we said before, as we always have done in the past and that we outperform every time that we have given even if they were higher than the expectation of the analysts and the people that follows us.

So please, Massimo, do you want to...

So regarding the working capital, we expect for 2026 a positive contribution. This should be supported by the cash-in of advances on projects awarded in 2025 and early 2026, as mentioned by Pietro, also by some Dispute Adjudication Board decision. So the contribution that we have in the budget is very material for the working capital.

Regarding -- let me just confirm and give you some other color on the book-to-bill. 2025 was another very strong commercial year with, I mentioned before, more than EUR 13 billion of new order.

We also enter 2026 from a very strength position, supported by a solid backlog. This means we do not feel pressure on order intake in the short term. We can remain selective with a clear focus on margin quality, cash conversion and risk discipline.

When I look at the commercial activity also in Italy, we are -- we already submitted or we are studying and submitting many billion of new potential order. We have still some order that could come from Saudi Arabia that is the main or the only market in Middle East where we are very active.

And as Pietro mentioned before, the commercial activity was particularly strong, and we already paid for engineer, project advisers and so on, mainly in Oceania and North America. Oceania, meaning not only Australia but also New Zealand, for instance.

So the market also in Italy, we can be selective. There is no more support coming from the PNRR, but there are some other very important projects that will be interesting for us and supporting the GDP growth for the Italian country in the coming years.

So did we miss something in your question, Matteo?

No, no, it's okay. On the CapEx, maybe you have answered, I was not -- I was distracted. Have you indicated the CapEx for this year?

Yes. This year, we expect around EUR 900 million and that we spending that, the cash -- the net cash position we expect will be positive.

The next question comes from the line of Alessandro Tortora of Mediobanca.

I have, let's say, two questions, okay? So the first one, let's say, just a clarification on, let's say, the current sales outlook for this year. So basically, the assumption is, let's say, to assume a stable, let's say, sales, which means also that the contribution you see, let's say, from Middle East today is assumed, let's say, as pretty stable. So just a clarification that, let's say, roughly over EUR 1 billion sales from Saudi Arabia is a contribution that you see, how can I say, not affected by the current situation in Middle East. This is the first question. And then I go with the second one.

Sorry, we missed some words, for the line that was not clear. You were asking us -- can you repeat it shortly? Sorry, Alessandro.

Sure, absolutely. See, see, Massimo, it was not related to, let's say, to your guidance on sales. Now whether you are guiding, let's say, this stable, let's say, sales level. So the assumption, let's say, behind Middle East and for Saudi Arabia is basically today, let's say, awaiting, let's say, any further update on that area, you are assuming basically also a stable contribution from Saudi Arabia and your sales assumption.

Yes. I think that for the time being, we don't assume any negative effect on what is coming out from Saudi Arabia. I think that due to the situation in the oil, even if the price of oil, even the investment in Saudi Arabia could even improve or being larger. I see that we can expect some positive outcome in some part of the world, not only negative outcome. So let's see what happens. For the moment, we have no particular worries coming out from Saudi Arabia.

In general, as Pietro mentioned before, we are considering very seriously the situation, the global situation not only for just one country or one variable because it's a very discontinued point in the global order. So as the VIX and the volatility in the market, all the markets is telling us, is very prudent and very serious to look at the evolution of the global situation in order to disclose any more punctual target.

Understood. And then -- sorry, the question was -- the second question was on -- you mentioned before the work you did over the last 2 years on changing and having effective contract formulas. So the question relates mainly, let's say to two important projects you have in your backlog. Clearly, the first one is Snowy 2.0, when I read press article mentioning that it is going to come some kind of project cost reassessment. So just your view on this because I recall it now that you changed the formula. So if you believe that, let's say, this new format is able to protect you on this cost update?

And the second question is on Trojena -- Trojena Dam. I recall it, also in this case, some press article mentioning that, let's say, spending in the region was shifting for downsizing the line, maybe changing the scope, focusing on data center. So just to understand also your view on these two projects, which are not pretty big for you.

Sorry. Microphone shut down. I didn't see it.

I'm saying about Snowy, I think that we told before and everyone that we made a re-contract -- a contract reset with the client changing from a remeasurement contract with target cost plans, which, of course, changes the risk apportionment and the marginality of that. This is a positive outcome. The contract is performing well and the appetite for contract of this type of [ contract ] in Australia is growing.

They want to invest into sustainable energy and sustainable energy without this type of pumped storage, do not have the same effectiveness. So I think that this will not only be a very important plant for Australia, but also will be something that we can leverage on around the world. We have done a fantastic job there, and we are doing a fantastic job there.

So I think that Australia is looking at the relationship with contractors in a different way, the partnership and this is another very important in which you change the risk apportionment so far. You remember many contractors in the past had problems in Australia. But at the end, the government understood that it is not on a confrontational basis that you solve your infrastructure in a different way in partners shipping. And this is what they are doing with us and with other contractors at the time. So I think that Australia is a very important market for us in the future. And is doing exactly the type of complex infrastructure that we are best at doing.

Out of Snowy, what already mentioned before in the speech, it's very important that we are adopting a very different contracts model also for the pipeline. This is very important because the cost of the engineering commercial activity and also the structure of the contracts if we are able to win it. So the environment around the world, mainly in Australia, but also in the U.S. and Canada is changing rapidly and it's very consistent with a different business model that could generate more stable cash in the long run.

Massimo, if I can add on NEOM because this is something that has been on the press, the rumors about scale down of NEOM. For now, the payments of Trojena have been so far regular. Production is progressing well. There may be in the future some slowdown. We cannot predict it, but a change in the scope of the project is not foreseen at the moment. Anyway, we expect that the market in Saudi Arabia as we physically see now, it is important. So if the governments are reducing on the one side, probably we'll have different projects in other area where we are present like in Riyadh, for instance, in Diriyah, where we are very large contractor there. The Saudi infrastructure market remains highly significant. We have witnessed a shift in funds to initiative aimed at developing Riyadh and in preparation for the Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034.

All right. So there are no more questions at this point. I will hand it back over to the speakers for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you for attending this call. Of course, we are very positive in the future, especially on the business plan that we present. To us, at the moment, I repeat because it's important that we create the platform. We outperform our business plan '23, '25 in a substantial way. And I think that the condition for the future are very similar for the 2025, 2028 business plan in which finally the scale, the dimension, the competence, the people are now there and that we can extract from that platform profitability and cash.

This is it. Thank you for attending the call and see you at the Investor Day in early June.

Thank you very much. Have a good day.

Good morning. This is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Webuild First Half 2025 Results Conference Call. Our call today is hosted by Pietro Salini, Chief Executive Officer; together with Massimo Ferrari, General Manager, Corporate and Finance. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Pietro Salini, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our conference call on Webuild's 2025 first half results. I am Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of the Group; and with me Massimo Ferrari, our General Manager, Corporate and Finance. It's a pleasure to be here today to share with you a strong set of numbers and provide you with an update of the group's strategies and targets.

Let's go to Slide 4, first half 2025 results, strong performance across the board. Let's begin, which highlights our strong first half results of 2025. This semester once again demonstrates the resilience and scalability of our business model, even amid a persistently complex macroeconomic environment. We have delivered robust growth across all key financial metrics, reflecting not only solid market demand, but also the strategic and operational improvements we have implemented over the past few years.

We have a record revenue growth, accelerating operational scale. Revenue for the first half reached a record high of EUR 6.7 billion, marking a 22% year-over-year increase. The strong top line performance is the result of both organic growth across key markets and the ramp-up of newly acquired and initial products. The growth validates our selective intake strategy and our ability to execute efficiently on a growing and diversified backlog.

Number two, EBITDA growth and margin expansion, efficiency initiatives paying off. EBITDA exceeded EUR 560 million, reflecting a 38% year-over-year increase, a clear signal of improving profitability. EBITDA margin has significantly expanded driven by greater selectivity in project acquisition, stronger contract management and price revision mechanism and the early impact of our cost efficiency program, which we'll cover in more detail later in the presentation. This level of profitability achieved in the first half give us a strong head towards delivering on or exceeding our full year profitability targets.

Number three, on track to exceed full year target. It is worth emphasizing that the construction industry is typically second half weighted in terms of revenue and margin recognition due to seasonability and project execution cycles. This means that our first half outperformance places us well ahead of schedule to meet our upgraded 2025 target, target that were already revised upwards compared to the original 2023-2025 business plan.

Number four, balance sheet strengthening, lower leverage, stronger liquidity. We have also delivered meaningful progress on our financial structure. We closed the half with a net cash position of EUR 275 million. And when adjusted for currency fluctuation, which Massimo will detail shortly, that figure is rising to EUR 419 million. Gross leverage was reduced to 2.6x, down from 3.0x at the end of 2024, despite our continued investment in project modernization and working capital. Importantly, gross debt has remained stable, confirming that improvement in leverage was not driven by deleveraging alone, but very strong operational cash flow generation.

Number five, commercial momentum, back on visibility and order coverage. On the commercial front, we have secured over 50% of our full year order intake target, positioning us well ahead for continued growth in the second half. Our construction backlog now stands at EUR 50 billion, a historically high level that provides multiyear visibility and stability. This backlog not only secures the revenue base for the remainder of the 2025, but also give us significant coverage for several years beyond, ensuring continuity of operational and earnings.

In summary, the first half of 2025 confirms the success of our strategic transformation and operational discipline. We are delivering double-digit growth in revenue and profitability, improving our financial structure and maintaining strong commercial traction in our core and growth markets. We are well positioned to outperform our 2025 guidance, generate long-term shareholder value and continue strengthening the fundamental of our group. Likewise, building on global industrial sanctions powered by people, innovation and impact.

Moving to Slide 5. Let's take a step back and look at the broader picture and how far we have come in recent years, not just in terms of financial performance, but in scale, strategic relevance and global impact. Strategic growth from national leaders to global industrial players. Over the last few years, we have made significant and deliberate investments to elevate our position. We've gained scale by winning and executing increasing complex projects across multiple continents. We have invested heavily in innovation, technology and digital tools to enhance project efficiency, risk control and sustainability. And we have expanded our international footprint, strengthening our presence in core markets like North America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. This action has transformed us in one of the Italy's largest industrial player, not only in the construction business, with a role that goes well beyond infrastructure. Today, we are strategically enabler of economic growth and national competitiveness.

Positive impact beyond financial metrics. The project we deliver generate tangible and massive impact. They drive GDP growth by mobilizing investments, creating jobs and improving productivity through better connectivity. They enhance quality of life by upgrading health care, mobility, energy and water infrastructure for millions of people. And increasingly, they contribute to national and regional security through resilient dual-use infrastructure that supports both civil and strategic objections. In short, our work as a transformational impact, economically, socially and environmentally in the region we serve.

Human capital is driving force behind our success. All of these progress is possible because of the passion, professionalism and commitment to our people. With a global workforce of over 95,000 people, we are proud to be a company that empowers people to grow, contribute and lead. We maintain a highly skilled talent base, supported by robust and evolving system of training and upskilling. In just the first half of 2025, we delivered over 400 -- sorry, 450,000 hours of training across technical, managerial and safety disciplines. Over the past several years, we have consistently maintained an average of 13,500 new hires per year, demonstrating our strong ability to mobilize talent at scale and increasingly critical differentiator in today's global construction market. We believe human capital is the most important asset, especially as we embrace new technology, digitization and sustainability across all aspects of our value chain.

Ready for the next phase of growth and value creation. Thanks to the scale we have built, the financial strength we have secured and the deep execution capabilities we have proven. We are now well positioned to enter the next stage of our strategic journey. The next chapter will focus on accelerating innovation, higher-margin project origination, greater integration with private capital and broader global impact, delivering sustainable, resilient and intelligent infrastructure for the future.

I now hand over to Massimo, who will walk you through the results in more detail.

Thank you, Pietro, and good morning, everybody. As customary, before I go through the results, let me remind you that we are presenting the adjusted figures to represent the recurring performance of the business, but you can find the details of the adjustments in the appendix.

Let's start from Slide 7. We continue to grow, keeping a sharp focus on margin improvement and cash generation. As Pietro already mentioned, it has been a semester where all key financial indicators achieved double-digit growth. Revenues stood at EUR 6.7 billion, up 22%. This growth is driven by the development of key projects in Italy and abroad, such as the high-speed railways between Milan-Genoa, Verona-Padua and Palermo-Messina. The Snowy 2.0 hydropower plants in Australia, the metro station projects for Sydney Metro and the tunnel package of the Northeast Link in Melbourne. In Saudi Arabia, we have the Trojena dams.

The balance of our activity has further improved with more than 90% of revenues in developed economies, where there are clear rules, political stability and faster payment cycles. More than 65% of revenues are outside Italy. Australia is our second biggest market with 29% of revenues. In the Middle East and North America, we generated 13% and 8%, respectively.

EBITDA and EBIT have both reached new records. EBITDA was more than EUR 560 million, up 38%, while EBIT was EUR 375 million, up 65%. By the end of the first half of the year, we usually achieve about 40%, 45% of the full year revenues. On EBITDA, it is normally 35% and 45%. This year, however, for both revenues and EBITDA, we reached more than 50% of the full year target. We are ahead of schedule compared to the targets that we have revised upward just a few months ago.

Meanwhile, our margins improved by 100 basis points and more in respect to the first half of 2024. This confirms the steady profit growth trend we have established in recent years. All of this reflects our success in executing backlog, streamlining operations, controlling costs, settling disputes as well as mitigating risk.

On Slide 8, we have the P&L below EBIT line. We posted a net income of EUR 132 million with a strong growth of 61%. This is despite some large negative effects of ForEx, as you know. Financial income was EUR 61 million, decreasing by EUR 21 million mainly due to a reduction in average balances of deposits with banks and lower interest rates.

Financial expenses were EUR 136 million, basically in line with the first half of 2024. The increase was partially offset by a decrease in interest expenses, thanks to lower average debt on corporate credit lines. Net exchange results have negatively been impacted by the performance of the U.S. dollar and Saudi real against euro. On this point, let me remind you that besides short-term swings, profit and loss resulting from exchange rate fluctuation ended up being neutral over the course of a number of years. We experienced it in the past 10 years many times.

At the bottom of the slide, we show the reported net income of EUR 107 million, that almost doubled. You can also see the reconciliation to the adjusted net income. The adjustments refer to accounting nonmonetary items, such as EUR 14 million for the amortization of the positive gain we registered in 2020 relating to Astaldi acquisition and EUR 10 million relating to the Clough acquisition.

Let's turn to Slide 9. Our net cash position stood at EUR 275 million, extending a positive trend for the fifth semester in a row. The decrease for December 2024 is explained by several factors. First, the seasonal cash absorption that is typical of our business cycle. As shown in the slide, the net cash position differs by over EUR 60 million -- EUR 600 million between the first and second semester. The only exception was last year's first half that was boosted by the strong order intake at the beginning of the year.

Second, the acceleration of the group's investment plan announced earlier this year, which will unlock incremental growth and profitability in the coming years. In the first half of 2025, CapEx amounted to around EUR 450 million.

Third, cash in hand from advance payments will be concentrated in the second half of the year. As you have seen, many major orders were finalized recently and several other significant orders are currently being finalized. In contrast, the repayment of advanced payments continued at a normal pace with ongoing project execution, leading to a net reduction of advance payment of about EUR 400 million in the semester.

We also experienced some adverse effects from currency fluctuations, particularly on cash held in dollars and reals impacting some EUR 140 million. We remain confident in our ability to meet and probably overachieve our year-end target of net cash above EUR 700 million. This is a target revised upward in March, a key point to remember. This confidence is underpinned by the collection of approximately EUR 500 million in advance payments in the second half for orders already acquired, the settlement of some contractual variation we are working on and the normalization of working capital. For example, in July, several important milestones in Australia for about more than EUR 100 million, just to give you an idea, were successfully collected as scheduled.

In addition, we might have lower spending on CapEx of around EUR 150 million to EUR 200 million. So having probably a target being close to EUR 1 billion versus EUR 1.3 billion that we expected at the beginning of the year.

In terms of gross debt, we have been able to keep it at stable levels of around EUR 2.9 billion, which we consider sound and sustainable for our size. In fact, thanks to the growth of the business, our gross leverage ratio continues to its steady downward trajectory, reaching 2.6x, reflecting our commitment to maintaining a solid financial structure and preserving a strong balance sheet.

Let's turn to Slide 10, which shows the main numbers of our corporate debt and the liquidity profile. The figures presented have been pro forma adjusted for the liability management operation, which occurred after the end of June. With the new EUR 450 million bond issued in July, maturing 2031, with successfully refinancing the bond expiring in December 2025 and partially 2026. The new issue was highly successful. It was 2x oversubscribed, and this allowed for a larger issue at a lower yield of 4.125%, reflecting 0 new issue premium despite global geopolitical volatility.

We ended June 2025 with a comfortable liquidity position of EUR 3 billion, including EUR 900 million of undrawn RCF lines. Almost all of our corporate debt is at fixed rates with an average cost of about 5%. The debt has a duration of more than 3.5 years.

Lastly, we achieved, as you know, a BB+ upgrade from Fitch, that is just one step away from investment grade. Fitch highlighted that our improved business profile will remain solid with strong revenue visibility and enhanced contract structures that allow us to pass on incremental cost, thus supporting margin.

I will now leave the floor to Pietro for business update and outlook.

Thank you, Massimo. Slide 12 -- turning to Slide 12. As mentioned earlier, we believe Webuild is now poised to enter the next phase. This next chapter is based on the foundation we have already laid, our technical expertise, our resilient and diversified business model, the scale we have reached across key markets and the financial strength that now supports disciplined expansion and innovation.

So what are the key levers that will support this next phase? Let me briefly walk you through the 4 core pillars we will rely on to shape Webuild of tomorrow. We will go into greater details on each of the slides as follows. First, a solid order backlog, visibility and scale already in hand. We are starting from a position of strength with 50 billion construction backlog already secured. This gives us a multiyear revenue visibility, a strong foundation of diversified projects across geographies and continued operational momentum across both public and private infrastructure sector. This backlog represents not only scale, but quality with an increasing share of contracts that are technically complex, margin accretive and aligned with our long-term strategic objectives.

Number two, favorable market dynamics, significant growth opportunities ahead. The infrastructure market remains an upward trajectory with continued investment plan across sectors of sustainable transport and mobility, water and energy infrastructure, climate resilience and environmental protection, digital and strategic dual-use infrastructure. We have already captured part of this momentum through our current pipeline, over EUR 6.5 billion in orders year-to-year and another EUR 1.8 billion, where we are best forever. But the opportunity is much larger. Our teams are actively working on a pipeline of future projects, not yet included in our financial guidance, including mega projects in Italy, U.S., Australia and Saudi Arabia.

Three, margin strengthening. Operating model transformation paying off. One of the most significant improvement in recent years has been on profitability. Thanks to more selective breeding and improved contract structure, better price adjustment mechanism, a new model of contract risk management and disciplined execution supported by digital tools. We have significantly improved margin and expect this trend to continue. Margin expansion is a key pillar of our future value creation, and we are confident that the tools are now in place to deliver sustainable improvement.

Number four, stronger cash generation, unlocking financial flexibility. Lastly, we are entering a phase of enhanced cash flow generation. We are seeing tangible progress in accelerated collection and working capital optimization, tighter financial discipline across project execution and a more robust balance sheet now in a net cash position of EUR 275 million, that would be EUR 419 million if it's adjusted for ForEx. These improvements allow us to reinvest in growth, pursue selective M&A and maintain flexibility as we navigate future market cycles.

In summary, we are confident Webuild is positioned to scale new heights in coming years. With a strong backlog, favorable market condition, improving margin and solid cash generation, the foundation is set for sustainable long-term value creation.

Let's now take a closer look at each of those 4 pillars in the next slide. Turning to Slide 13, we provide a detailed breakdown of our total backlog as of June 30, 2025, which stands at a robust EUR 59 billion. The figures confirmed our strong commercial positioning and provide a solid foundation for future growth and strategic execution.

Number one, backlog composition balanced across construction and concession. Out of the total EUR 59 billion, EUR 50 billion comes from our construction backlog, which remains one of the largest in the industry. An additional EUR 8.8 billion comes from concession, operation and maintenance, O&M contracts, providing long-term recurring revenue streams and diversification of our business model. The substantial construction backlog alone provides full coverage for our 2025 revenue target and ensures visibility for at least the next 4 years, which is critical for medium-term planning and strategic capital allocation.

Number two, adjusting for pricing and currency impact, underlying momentum impact. It is important to note that this June 2025 backlog does not yet include EUR 3 billion in additional projects where the group is already the best bidders of the contract that has been formally awarded after June 1. When including these projects and adjusting for the negative impact of EUR 1 billion due to currency fluctuation, the backlog remains substantially in line with our year-end 2024 year. This reinforces the idea that our commercial momentum is continuing into the second half and any short-term foreign exchange effect has not materially impacted the strength of our underlying operation.

Number three, geographic footprint, low-risk markets and strong diversification. Approximately 90% of our total backlog is concentrated in low-risk jurisdictions, consistent with our strategic focus on market stability, legal clarity and contractual reliability. Italy accounts for 38% of the backdrop, reaffirming our strategic role in the country infrastructure development and our leadership in key national projects. Australia contributes 16%, reflecting continued success in securing large-scale technically advanced projects in a mature risk-sharing marketing environment. This geographical distribution ensures portfolio resilience while also positioning us well to capitalize on public investment cycles in some of the world's most attractive infrastructure markets.

Number four, sustainability, a purpose-driven backlog aligned with global goals. We are proud to report that nearly all of our backlog is directly aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. In particularly, over 70% of our backlog is tied to sustainable mobility projects, including high-speed rail, metros, light rail and road networks designed to reduce emission and improve access and promote inclusive growth. This alignment is not incidental. It reflects a deliberate strategy to focus on projects that not only deliver economic value, but also create positive environmental and social impact. It is also positioning us as a preferred partner for institutional investors, governments and multilateral agencies.

In summary, our EUR 59 million backlog as of June 2025 gives us scale, revenue visibility and strategic clarity. When including awarded project post June and adjusting for FX headwinds, our backlog remains consistent with 2024 levels, demonstrating resilience and commercial traction. With 90% of the projects in low-risk countries, a growing share of recurring concession revenues and a deep commitment to sustainability, we are structurally well positioned to deliver long-term responsible growth.

Let's go to Slide 14, robust order intake, sustaining momentum into 2025. As of today, we have secured EUR 6.5 billion in new orders year-to-date, confirming our continued strong commercial momentum. This puts us at over 50% of our full year target, demonstrating solid progress and visibility despite a high base of comparison following the exceptional performance between 2022 and 2024. This robust pipeline reflects both our technical leadership and our strategic focus on high-quality, low-risk geographies, which together support sustainable long-term value creation.

Number one, order intake focus on strategic low-risk markets. A defining characteristic of our recent wins is the geographic and risk profile. Nearly all of our 2025 order intake to date has come from low-risk, high-stability markets, aligned with our strategy to prioritize jurisdiction with solid giga framework, stable macro environment and strong infrastructure investment plan. This disciplined approach helps protect margin, reduce execution grid and ensure higher cash flow availability from new projects.

Number two, selected high-impact projects secured in 2025. We have secured several high-value, high-visibility projects across our core region, including Australia, where we were awarded a women and babies in hospital in Perth, a flagship health care infrastructure project. It will serve as a center of excellence for women and children care and reinforces our position in health care construction segment in Australia, a market now for collaborative contract models and strong public investment.

Saudi Arabia, we are delivering a cultural and commercial hub in Diriyah, a landmark development as part of the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 diversification strategy. Additionally, we are set to announce award of a major other project further expanding our presence in the Kingdom growing urban mobility market.

United States, in North Carolina, we are leading the expansion and modernization of Interstate 85, a key entity in the U.S. Southeast. The large-scale transport infrastructure project underlines our capability in complex roadway works in North America, one of our strategic growth regions.

In Italy, domestically, we are progressing with the extension of Rome Metro C, adding 5 -- 4 kilometers and 4 new stations. Notably, 2 of those stations will also serve as a geological museum, blending infrastructure development with cultural preservation, an area where our experience is unmatched.

We are also best offer on one lot of Italy next high-speed rail segment, which upon award will further reinforce our leadership in high-speed rail, both in Italy and internationally.

In summary, we have started the year with strong commercial performance with over EUR 6.5 billion of new contracts secured and the quality and diversity of those -- of these new projects, not only in terms of geography and technical complexity, but also social impact, showcases the strength of our positioning in strategic infrastructure company. With a well-diversified backlog, continued focus on low-risk markets and strong visibility on future wins, we are confident on our ability to meet or exceed our full year commercial and financial targets.

Slide 15, short-term pipeline capturing growth across key global markets. Let's now take a closer look at our short-term pipeline, which reflects significant near-term commercial opportunities across our core geographies. This pipeline builds on our established presence, strong client relationship and deep technical capabilities and position us to further accelerate growth through strategic project acquisition.

Italy, number one, transitioning to the post PNRR, which is the recovery and resilience plan era. In Italy, as the country moves into the post National Recovery and Resilience Plan phase, infrastructure development remains a top priority with investment focus on 2 main domains: transport infrastructure, key projects include Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed rail line as well as metro network expansion in major urban centers at Rome and Milan. This project will enhance regional connectivity, reduce travel time and contribute to the decarbonization.

Water and social infrastructure, significant investment is also expected in the renovation of 18 hydroelectric plants along with the construction of new hospital and sport infrastructure, including stadiums. This initiative will modernize essential public services and improve climate resilience.

Webuild is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this momentum as a rational champion and preferred partner in strategic infrastructure project. Australia, a top-tier player in fast-growing markets. Australia continues to represent one of the most dynamic markets in our portfolio. Webuild now ranked among the top 5 contractors in the country. The next wave of investment will be led by the energy and mining sector, particularly hydropower, water infrastructure, energy storage systems and the modernization of electricity transmission grids. Demand is also growing for hospital, [indiscernible] and urban transport driven by population growth and regional development strategy. With a strong track record and local partner ecosystem already in place, Webuild is well prepared to compete and for executing major new projects in this high-growth environment.

The United States, a renewed much push for public-private infrastructure. In the United States, evolving policy and funding frameworks are creating new opportunities for private sector involvement in public infrastructure. The recently approved One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to stimulate broad-based infrastructure development, particularly in energy, defense and civil works. Priority areas include road and bridges, strategic defense and related infrastructure and investment in climate, finance resilience and clean energy infrastructure.

Webuild is actively positioning itself to benefit from this new investment cycle with a focus on public-private partnership model and progressive design deal contracts where we bring added value through every stage of design, cost control and execution expertise.

Canada, ambitious infrastructure expansion across provinces, Canada is entering a period of expansive infrastructure investment with multiple provinces launching the long-term capital plan focused on urban transit systems, including metro lines and lightweight transit, health care and education infrastructure such as new hospitals and schools, hydroelectric and transmission infrastructure in line with Canada's clean energy transition. These investments are aligned with federal and provincial climate and economic goals and present strong opportunities for technical capable, financial sound contactors like Webuild.

Saudi Arabia, mega project driven by Vision 2030 and global events. Saudi Arabia continues to push an ambitious infrastructure agenda in Vision 2030, aiming at our economic diversification, tourism development and national mobilization. Infrastructure demand will be further accelerated by the 2034 FIFA World Cup and Expo 2030, which will require large-scale development in metro and rail networks, new stadium for sports facilities, airports and other strategic urban and intercity infrastructure.

With ongoing projects already in place and strong global engagement, Webuild is well positioned to expand its presence and secure a larger share of the Gulf region mega project pipeline.

In summary, across all of our key geographies, the short-term pipeline remains reaching opportunities ranging from high-speed rail and metros to hydropower, energy infrastructure and hospitals. These markets are not only large and growing, but they also align with our core competencies and strategic ambition. With a proven execution track record and financial operational strength to scale faster, we are ready to capture the next wave of strategic infrastructure investment around the world.

Going to Slide 16, expanding our horizon, strategic growth opportunities beyond the current pipeline. We would like to draw your attention to a broader set of major opportunities on the horizon, projects that are not yet reflected in our current backlog or financial forecast, but which present considerable upside potential. Strategic infrastructure project in development. Among these emerging opportunities, the Messina Bridge, a high profile megaproject that is approved, will connect CCV to the Mainland Italy. This iconic infrastructure development is expected to involve extensive engineering, design and construction phase, offering a substantial long-term contract value.

In addition, we are actively monitoring and positioning for large-scale dam renovation programs, both in Italy and the United States. These projects have been driven by aging infrastructure, increased climate resilience requirements and new safety regulation. They represent multibillion euros investment programs over the coming years and are well aligned with our core technical expertise.

Number two, leveraging the private financing for large-scale projects. We are also increasingly focused on origination of large infrastructure projects that can be structured and financed through private capital and institutional investors. This includes developing projects under concession or public-private partnership models where we can offer clients an integrated solution from design and engineering to financing, construction and operations. This integrated approach where we refer as offering the full package, give us a distinct competitive advantage. It allows us to differentiate our sector by providing clients with a turnkey solution, while also capitalizing on our technical excellence, financial structuring capability and the credibility of our brand and track record.

Water infrastructure and desalination growth, another area with significant potential is the water and desalination sector, particularly in region facing water scarcity or requiring infrastructure modernization. [indiscernible] is a globally recognized brand and specialized expertise in this sector. We are currently exploring several opportunities to develop concession-based water infrastructure projects often in partnership with private institutional investors, which further broadens our reach and reduce risk.

Geopolitical and macro infrastructure investment trends beyond project-specific opportunities are broader macroeconomic and geopolitical trends that are expected to generate sustained demand for infrastructure investments. Ukraine reconstruction, Germany's infrastructure investment plan and NATO 1.5 GDP defense infrastructure commitment, which is now brought to larger numbers. As you know that we have committed as a NATO member state to increase investment in dual-use infrastructure, that is infrastructure that serves both civilian and defense purpose.

For Italy alone, this commitment translate in approximately EUR 30 billion in annual investments based on current GDP network. This will include the roads, ports, airports and communication infrastructure and must meet enhanced standards for military mobility and resilience.

Going to Slide 17, key levers to drive profitability improvement. On this slide, we outlined the 4 main strategic levers we are deploying to sustainable enhance -- sustainably enhance profitability across our operations. Each of these measures is already yielding the results and positioning us to protect the expand margins over the current and future business cycles. In selectivity, focus growth with quality over quantity. We are prioritizing selective bidding with a disciplined focus on projects that align with our risk appetite, margin expectation and strategic capabilities. The emphasis is no longer on volume or low-cost bidding. Rather, we target projects where our technical strength and value-added solutions provide a competitive advantage.

90% of our contract awards between 2022 and 2025 have been secured based on the best technical option criteria, not simply price. Clients increasingly value comprehensive proposals that include innovative engineering, technical excellence and robust health and safety standards. These intake disciplines ensures that new contracts contribute positivity to profitability from the outset and avoids legacy risk associated with low-margin, high-risk products.

New contract standard and dynamic risk mitigation. We have significantly upgraded our contracting strategy and project risk management model to better protect profitability in a volatile global environment. Key measures include price revision mechanism. Our contract now include indexed pricing, process that allow adjustment in response to raw material inflation, labor cost changes and supply chain disruption. We protect our margin from unforeseen cost volatility.

Collaborative contract models were shifting towards more partners and risk-saving agreements, which include incentivized cost -- target cost contracts widely adopted in Australia and progressive design and build contracts increasingly used in North America. These models offer greater transparency, cost control and risk mitigation during project execution.

New contract management approach enhanced centralized oversight of contract performance and risk exposure, proactive engagement strategy to anticipate and prevent usage, use of advanced analytics and AI to monitor trends and detect early warning signs across the portfolio, significantly improving response times and contract governance. These modernized approach will reduce legal exposure, shortens the issue resolution time and ultimately enhances overall product profitability.

Cost efficiency, ahead of target going further. Our cost efficiency program launched under the 2023 business plan has already delivered substantial value. We have streamlined direct projects and corporate costs by approximately EUR 180 million, achieving our 2023-2025 target ahead of schedule. This success reflects rigorous overhead management, organizational simplification, procurement of optimization and digitization efforts. We are now entering the next phase of the program, identifying additional cost savings opportunities, particularly indirect project costs, execution efficiencies, subcontractor optimization, logistics. These initiatives are being built into the next business plan, reinforcing our margin improvement trajectory.

Working capital optimization, improving liquidity and financial flexibility. We continue to pursue a structural approach to working capital improvement, which has become a key enabler of both margin expansion and balance sheet strength. Key initiatives include accelerated collection of long-standing receivables, particularly on legacy projects and public sector clients, selective asset disposal, that is to release tied-up capital in noncore assets, enhanced cash collection and payment cycle discipline supported by digital tools and stronger contract enforcement. Our renewed content management practice are also positively impacting cash flow predictability by reducing the occurrence of usage and expediting settlement cycles.

Slide 18, guidance confirm on track for another year of sustainable growth. Turning to Slide 18, we are pleased to confirm our full year 2025 guidance. As you may recall, in March of this year, we revised our target upwards, reflecting the strong momentum we have built in 2024, and our confidence in continued execution across all fronts. This means we moved from what was already an ambitious business plan to an even more aspirational, but achievable set of objectives. Today, we can reaffirm that we remain firmly on track to deliver on those upgraded targets.

A clear path forward. Our first half results give us greater visibility and a strong foundation for the remainder of the year. They demonstrate that growth is solid and accelerating in both top line and margin. Our financial structure is stronger than ever, and our commercial pipeline continues to translate into high-quality backlog. Most importantly, this is not just about short-term performance. We are delivering sustainable growth based on strategic discipline, long-term project visibility and a resilient diversified business model.

Thank you all for your attention and continued interest in Webuild. We are now happy to take your questions in the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from Matteo Bonizzoni, Kepler Cheuvreux.

I have 3 questions, if possible. The first one relates to the guidance. You say that typically the second half is stronger than the first half. Is there any reason for this not happening this year because it seems that you are maybe on track to exceed EUR 13 billion of revenues and maybe to approach EUR 1.2 billion EBITDA at first glance given the trend that you had in the first half. But I would like to check if this year could be different from the usual seasonality. Also, I would like to know what is your ForEx euro-dollar assumption, both as an average in full year 2025, which relates to the P&L and as a point at 31st of December end of the year, which is instead relevant for your net financial position.

And then maybe the second question generally is...

Sorry, Matteo, we have not hearing well your voice. Can you repeat the question, please? You are too close to the microphone probably.

Is there any reason for not being true that second half this year should be standard than the first half, because it seems that if you look at the typical seasonality, you might be on track to exceed your guidance and so to reach maybe or exceed EUR 13 billion revenues in the full year and to be around EUR 1.2 billion EBITDA if we consider the trend, which we saw in the second -- in the first half and usual seasonality. So my question is, this year is going to be different? And also, I was asking...

It's what I told before, the first half is permitting us to be more optimistic than the previous years to overperform in the second half in order to deliver also better than the guidance as a P&L and also as a financial position. But of course, we just reviewed the target 3 months ago for the full year. So we prefer as usual, under-promise and over-deliver.

Massimo, I think that it's better to say that we are confident that we can reach the already very, very optimistic guidance that we gave at the beginning of the year. Of course, at the beginning of the year, the confidence in that was strong. But now after 6 months is even stronger. I would not change the guidance we have. But of course, you can judge by yourself the results in the first part of the year that are going exactly into the right direction.

Okay. I was just asking what is your assumption for euro-dollar both as an average for the full year, which is relevant for the P&L and ending point at the 31st of December, which instead is relevant for the net financial position?

Okay. Let me start for the next -- for the last point. For the next -- for the net financial position, as I told before, we expect to cash in all the advance payments for the awarded projects we got in the first half. Other projects will be close to be disclosed in the coming weeks. Then there are some very important cash in coming from the past. So coming from contact and the work in progress that are still to be paid by the clients. So we have, of course, a detailed bridge. This is why we confirmed the guidance, and we are optimistic on the target for the net financial position.

And the same in terms of production and let me say, marginality, as Pietro told before, we have many actions in place in terms of efficiency and in terms of improving -- keeping the improved marginality that we got in the first half.

Okay. Last question is the market knows that for the full year results, you are probably going to present a 3-year business plan. So now, 3-year business plan, you have exceeded by far the 2025 target more than 2 years ago. So that's fine. My question is what -- I don't want clearly to have any kind of figure now, but can you provide a flavor on your ambition for the next 3 years? Also maybe in relation to the potential award of the Messina Bridge and potentially, do you have any kind of ambition to enter Germany?

Yes. As Pietro mentioned before, we're looking at the opportunity in Germany. We are looking at the different opportunities. The water segment, it will be one of the core development actions that we will take in order to expand not only our EPC business expertise, but also some investment in development in this huge, huge segment, huge business and together with some major players in investment.

I think that could be of interest of everyone. As we said, the growth is important because, of course, the size does matter. But the most important thing is the financial structure of the company. So delivering cash generation is more important than the growth. The growth, as you have seen in our numbers, is not negligible. One, we have grown on the P&L significantly. And the market is booming. So we have not a problem of growth.

We are not facing scarcity of new projects of interesting projects into the future. There is an incredible numbers of projects around the world that are at our interest, that attracts our capabilities and confidence, but the thing is that we cannot take everything because we have to keep a company that is growing sustainable growth. This is what we are saying in this presentation that we are strengthening the capability of a company not only following the market.

The market is enormous, it is booming. There are enormous quantity of projects everywhere, and that this is not a problem. The problem is we have a company, which is now targeting, let's say, more than EUR 13 billion -- more than EUR 12 billion in revenues, which is a side which is unprecedented in Italy. It's a very large industrial player, the manufacturing industrial player, not only related to construction, it's one of the largest manufacturing company in our country. And we have to be sustainable in the future. We have to train our people. We have to look at our organization. We have to follow up the growth and to go ahead and to prevent problems.

So we have to work on this and we have to work on the financial structure. So the market is absolutely not a problem over the next coming years. And the size also is not the only single important parameters. What is it is to make a very sound company. We want to obtain the level of being investment grade. We are pushing this target with a financial discipline. So we think that the growth is in. We have an important growth, not only in terms of P&L, but also in terms of the market cap.

We are delivering what we promised. And I think that our guidance for the year represents a significant growth all the main -- so looking forward, if you look at -- the bridge of Messina is a transformational project, not only for Webuild, but also for the country. It is a world attention. Everybody is looking at this bridge. Everybody is asking us about this bridge. We have decided not to talk about it and not to put inside our numbers. Even if we are very close, I have to say, to the date in which we will be approved by all the latest, let's say, procedural government of the government, which is required. It is the cheapest that is foreseen into the next coming days.

We have done everything. We've done all the design, all the documents, all the preparation is done, all the people is -- everything is there. The team is already on their rooms working already on it, but we do not account for that. It is maybe sometimes you have seen in the press that we also collect some larger share of this bridge in the market. We purchased a part of it. Now Webuild is a very large shareholder of Messina Bridge consortium. So I think that for us it's a very important project. And if, as I imagine, we will start to work on the Messina Bridge, of course, we have to dedicate time and efforts to this very large project. And this will take some time also to follow this world record bridge that is a game changer for Italy, for the technology of Italy. And also for -- I think, also for Webuild that we have a different perception around the world as the single largest builder of high complex infrastructure around the world.

Regarding the ForEx, the budget assumption both P&L and balance sheet was EUR 1.2 billion. So moving to the next one.

The next question is from Emanuele Gallazzi, Equita.

A couple of questions. If you prefer, we can go one by one. Maybe is a little bit easier.

Let's continue.

Okay. That's perfect. Starting from a quick one on the CapEx side because you mentioned, let's say, a new target of EUR 1 billion or EUR 200 million, EUR 300 million short versus the previous target. Just to understand, are they savings or a postponement to 2026?

Well, it's both of them. Of course, it's a mix of it. It's depending on the different timing of execution of certain type of jobs and the starting of projects. So they are reflected in the timing of the CapEx, which was foreseen at the beginning of the year when we made the budget. So we have around EUR 100 million, let's say, more or less of savings and the rest of it is Massimo anticipated to you to maybe too early. It is, let's say, a postponement of it into the future.

Very clear. And the second one is on, let's say, the NATO dual-use infrastructure spending because what we are seeing in the Italian press is that the Messina Bridge and the Genoa breakwater could be among the potential project included in this NATO definition. So can you, let's say, give us more color on this opportunity for you? And do you see -- or do you think there are other projects that might be included in Italy in that specific definition of dual-use infrastructure spending?

Yes. Emanuele, thank you for the question. It is an interesting market that opens up for -- not only for Italy, but for all the countries that make part of the NATO. Of course, you may imagine that the resilience of a country and defense of a country also rely on their infrastructure and how they can move the logistics, hospitals, water and whatever else. But this is a matter that relates to the capacity of the countries to finance those projects. We are talking about projects that are already in the pipeline that are already financed, as you say, the prebuild machine acquisitions. Apart from being a dual use or not, it is an infrastructure which is completely financed by the balance sheet.

So this will make an extra room for those type of infrastructure into the balance sheet of the countries for us in some additional market, but it's not related to the quality of the actual investment. I think that we'll have -- this possibility will give us a boost of the future pipeline more than for, let's say, the short-term pipeline. Of course, this will have countries to do other things because if they are not obliged to spend money on tax or misses and they cannot sort of spend on infrastructure that people need, this, of course, goes in a more sustainable strategy.

The next question is from Alessandro Tortora, Mediobanca.

I have 2 questions, okay? The first one is on the Australian operations. So basically, Australia reported a very strong sales growth in the first half, well above 40% year-on-year. Can you give us, let's say, an update on how the execution of the major project is proceeding here, but also a kind of update on the profitability trend in this country? That's the first question.

There is nothing special to say about Australia going well. We have very good relations with our clients. We are working together towards the achievement of those projects. Snowy 2.0 is now well ahead. We -- everything that had may some, let's say, environmental or permit or rather problems is now fully solved. I think Australia is a very interesting market. It is one of the markets in which I think that we will grow further. We have, as you know, the platform of Clough that makes us being Australian. We are based in Perth. And are an Australian partner, not only a company which is owned by Italian by, let's say, Italian or international company.

So I think that Australia for us is a domestic market. It's part of the domestic market. Like Italy for Webuild, it's Australia for Clough. There is an enormous interest in doing new projects for energy, which is, let's say, very important for the Australian government as a whole, but also for the state for development for the needs in sustainable energy that the industry is requiring. So I think that to us, it remains a very important market and everything is going in the right direction now.

Let me add just some figures. In the first half of 2025, we achieved around EUR 2 billion of revenues coming from Australia. Overall, we have a double-digit EBITDA margin in Australia, and more than 50% of the contracts are in cost-plus approach.

Okay. And then maybe the second question is very briefly, it's on the U.S. side, okay, because we already touched Italy. So in Italy -- sorry, in the U.S., we saw a very -- we see a negative contribution, okay, from JVs, still there in your...

You are saying in the minorities?

Yes. Yes. So can you give us an update also here on the country because I remember that your target was to, at a certain point, also to the new project, okay, to reach a sort of breakeven. So can you...

We confirm what we told to all the investors, all the financial stakeholders. The new pipeline, the new backlog that we acquired since 2 years ago is profitable and cash generator. So we are managing the legacy project coming from the past. We already put also in the first half 2025 some losses coming from old contracts in the U.S., but we are seeing -- we are looking at the end of the tunnel, and we would like to have in late 2025 or beginning of next year, the breakeven also in order to start to enlarge the capability in terms of operation for Lane in the U.S. business. The market is huge. As you know, there are some constraint in terms of federal budget, but there are huge amount of money at state level and mainly at private level for the Italy projects.

The next question is from Enrico Coco, Intermonte.

I have 2 questions. The first is on the Messina Bridge and another one is on M&A. So on the Messina Bridge, I would like to know, first of all, if you will consolidate line by line the ruling consortium? And then the question is, I'm trying to understand the impact of these projects in your numbers. So what kind of impact -- assuming that the contract would be fine by the end of this year, what impact do you expect next year on the P&L? I think it will be small and then growing above, let's say, EUR 1 million sales per year. But then also on the cash side, the question is, if you think the project will be cash positive in each year until completion because I don't know how the down payments will work. For example, you could have down payments this year and then wait for 2 years. In this case, you will have big swings in the working capital.

So if you could say something on the working capital profile of this project and how this will impact Webuild? But also, if you could share some information on the impact on the P&L side. So what kind of impact do you expect next year and then in coming years?

And then the second point and last point on the Messina Bridge. I would like to know if there will be CapEx associated with the project. So kind of investment in new equipment -- construction equipment that you will do to execute this project. And then the second question on the M&A. I would like to know if, let's say, in the next year, you will focus on decreasing the gross debt or you are looking at M&A with the balance sheet we have today. So if you -- if we could expect also some M&A move from Webuild?

Well, let me just start with M&A because probably I didn't make it clear the fact that we want to sustain the cash generation and the soundness of our balance sheet numbers. So I think the M&A, we are not targeting to purchase another company like us. We are not looking at that. We have enough confidence, enough people, enough markets. These things will not add value at the moment. What we are looking at is some suppliers of particular service that we may use recurrency around the world. And so we are looking at more companies that can help us to deliver competence and technical skill and also availability of those services for us around the world. But they are talking about a very small company. So not significant from the point of view of cash absorption and most probably could be done on paper exchanges. So let's say, on something based on the fact that they become part of the group. So this is one thing about M&A.

For the bridge of Messina, as you know, we have decided not to put in our book, not to put in our budget, not to put in our portfolio and not be talk in details about the bridge for a number of reasons. First of all, that we have not signed, let's say, the former contract. So we cannot talk about something that is not formalized, but not, of course, at this stage.

As you know, the numbers are public. So we are talking about a contract of around EUR 11.5 billion, of which we have a very large share of both. And have, of course, some investments, but there are also like the low foreseen, possibility of taking advance payments and down payments from the client. So I think that from the point of view of the cash generation, when you receive the advance payments, there is a positive impact. And at the beginning of it, it will be, of course, cash positive. In the rest of the production, the cash will be released and consumed as the investment goes on and the production goes on. So this is a normal life cycle of any project.

So I don't see any special difference apart from the fact of the technical record this bridge has, but from the point of view of management and from the point of view of the structure of the project in relationship with the P&L of the balance sheet, it is exactly a normal project. Size, it is important, but the rest of it is very similar to any other.

And regarding the consolidation, we will give you more details in the coming weeks.

Okay. If I may follow up on this. The EUR 11.5 billion is just the cost of the bridge itself. But then I think there are ancillary works and I read that these ancillary works will be around EUR 1.5 billion. So let's say, will be involved just in the EUR 11.5 billion, let's say, tender for the bridge? Or you will also get some work from the EUR 1.5 billion ancillary works? And then if I may...

The ancillary part of the project, also the ancillary work are the part of the project. Of course, this is the figure that the government pays -- it is all the projects, including also the cost of the contract Messina, the appropriation of the areas, everything is inside these figures. But the contract has -- I told you is foreseen by the law. So this is the side of the contract, then there will be the different attachment or variation that will be inherent to the project.

And the last one is the kind of profitability you expect from this project. Again, this -- in one of your local markets, you have...

We never comment project by project profitability for obvious reasons, but also because we always refer to a portfolio system. We have more than 170 projects that are going around so far. No one it is -- as you remember, the 10 largest projects that we build makes less than 40%, around 40-something percent of the total revenues. So we try to keep any of those projects into the revenue scale of being one of the numbers. So not the single project that changes, neither the revenue, nor the profitability of the company. So we keep the portfolio in front of us. And whatever it will be from the technical point of view, reputation, et cetera, will be one of the projects of the 170 that we make around the world.

There are no more questions registered at this time. Gentlemen, I hand you back to Mr. Salini and Mr. Ferrari for any closing remarks.

As there are no questions, so let's say, thank you to all of you for listening to our conference -- attending to our conference call. All the best for you and for your holidays, all that are coming in a few days. Thank you.

Thank you very much.