Aurubis Stock

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the analyst call. The conference will be recorded. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode. The floor will be open for questions following the presentation.

Let me now turn the floor over to Elke Brinkmann, Head of Investor Relations.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Q3 2025-'26 conference call. We will walk you through the results for the first 9 months of our fiscal year.

With us on the call are our CEO, Toralf Haag; and CFO, Steffen Hoffmann. After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] Before we start, let me draw your attention to our disclaimer. We will make forward-looking statements today. These are based on current plans and expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially.

That being said, let me now turn the floor over to Toralf Haag.

Thank you, Elke, and good morning and good afternoon from sunny Hamburg. Before we dive into the details later in the presentation, let me provide you with a high-level overview of the performance in the first 9 months.

Operating EBT increased significantly by 31% to EUR 374 million compared to the previous year, in line with expectations. Operating EBITDA came in at EUR 570 million. The improved performance in the first 9 months was supported by markedly higher earnings in Q3 of fiscal year '25-'26, where operating EBT came in at EUR 149 million, a 23% increase versus Q2 of the current fiscal year. Net cash flow was minus EUR 28 million, considerably below last year's EUR 357 million. This is mainly due to the temporary buildup of the intermediate product inventories to supply the phased commissioning of the expanded tankhouse in Pirdop.

As just highlighted, the increase in inventories is a temporary effect, which by the fiscal year-end, we expect the net cash flow to be above the prior year level of EUR 677 million. As alluded to in our Q2 analyst call, free cash flow before dividend came in as expected, significantly negative at minus EUR 365 million compared to minus EUR 211 million last year. Based on our latest planning, we continue to expect the free cash flow before dividend to break-even at a minimum for the full fiscal year '25-'26.

Operating return on capital employed increased to 9.4%, up from 9.1%, reflecting improved earnings performance and partly offset by the temporary inventory buildup. In light of the improved results after 9 months and our current planning, from today's perspective, we anticipate operating EBT to come in around the upper end of the forecast range for the '25-'26 fiscal year.

Let us now have a look at how the market environment developed over the last quarter. Against the backdrop of an exceptionally tight market environment, sulfuric acid was one of the most supportive earnings drivers during the third quarter as the ongoing Middle East shipping restrictions and the Chinese export ban for sulfuric acid are lifting prices to new highs.

European spot copper premiums remained at high levels, supported by healthy demand for refined copper. In recycling markets, spot refining charges for scrap #2 stayed above prior year levels despite a moderate easing during the quarter. By contrast, concentrate markets remain very challenging. Spot TC/RCs for copper concentrates declined further and remained under pressure as smelter demand continues to outpace mine supply.

With regard to the price environment of our key metals, copper continued its upward trend during the third quarter. This was supported by robust demand expectations and a constructive market backdrop. Gold and silver remained at historically elevated levels as well, although both metals saw some consolidation compared to the exceptionally strong levels reached earlier this year.

The euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate fluctuated during the quarter, but remained within a relatively narrow trading range. As always, bear in mind that there is no direct one-to-one relationship between spot price movements and our reported earnings. As part of our exposure are hedged and some effects materialize with a time lag.

Now I would like to hand over to Steffen. He will walk you through our performance in the third quarter and the financial results for the first 9 months of the fiscal year.

Thank you, Toralf. Good afternoon, and a warm welcome from my side as well. Let me start with the key figures for the third quarter. Overall, Q3 marked another step-up in profitability. Operating EBT increased to EUR 149 million, up 23% compared to the previous quarter. Apart from achieving a higher metal result, we leveraged the opportunities of the tight sulfuric acid market earlier than we had hinted at in the last conference call. Along with improved recycling RCs, these positive earnings contributions compensated for the drop in concentrate TC/RCs.

Net cash flow amounted to minus EUR 189 million compared to plus EUR 169 million in Q2. Cash generation remains a key priority for us. However, in the last quarter, we built inventories to ensure a smooth ramp-up of our strategic projects. In addition, we had some seasonally higher levels of finished goods. Thus, the weaker cash flow should be seen as a temporary effect that should be reversed by the end of the fiscal year '25-'26.

Looking at Page 7. Let's switch to the 9-month overview. Group revenues increased by 29% to EUR 17.8 billion, mainly reflecting higher metal prices and solid operating performance across the business. Operating EBT increased by 31% to EUR 374 million. The earnings drivers in the first 9 months were largely consistent with those seen in Q3. Higher contributions from the metal result, recycling activities, sulfuric acid, and copper products more than compensated for the continued pressure on concentrate TC/RCs.

As mentioned for Q3, net cash flow was impacted by temporary inventory effects in the third quarter and therefore, amounting to minus EUR 28 million compared to plus EUR 357 million in the prior year. Operating ROCE improved to 9.4% from 9.1% and increased for the third consecutive quarter, supported by the strong earnings momentum despite an increase in capital employed.

Coming to our sources of income, you will see that gross margin increased to around EUR 1.7 billion, up by roughly EUR 140 million versus the prior year. The increase was driven not only by higher copper and precious metal prices, but also by a strong operational performance in the first 9 months of fiscal year '25-'26, as higher production volumes across the group provided an additional uplift. Please bear in mind that the same period last year was impacted by the planned maintenance shutdown in Pirdop.

The metal result increased its contribution from 37% to 43% of gross margin, benefiting from higher metal prices and the stronger production performance. In contrast, the share of TC/RCs and recycling RCs declined from 27% to 21%. As expected, the tight concentrate market weighed on earnings, although recycling charges developed more favorably and partly cushioned the impact.

Products and premiums remained broadly stable at 36% of gross margin. Healthy demand for copper products and a stronger sulfuric acid contribution helped offset the headwinds from raw mat markets. Overall, this development illustrates the strength of our multimetal business model. Pressure in one earnings component can be compensated by opportunities in others.

On Page 9, let's now dive into the multimetal Recycling segment. The segment generated a gross margin of EUR 589 million, an increase of EUR 87 million compared to the prior year. Within the gross margin mix, the metal result increased its contribution from 46% to 51%, benefiting primarily from higher prices for gold, silver and copper. The share of refining charges decreased from 44% to 39%, which is mainly due to the shift in distribution of the gross margin drivers. On a higher gross margin basis, refining charges still contributed a higher absolute earnings amount than in the prior year. Products and premiums remained stable at 10% and continue to provide an additional earnings contribution.

The stronger earnings profile translated into operating EBITDA of EUR 162 million, up from EUR 97 million, while operating EBT increased to EUR 87 million from EUR 36 million. Importantly, operating ROCE improved to 3.8% from a low 0.6%, reflecting the improved earnings performance despite continued growth investments and an elevated capital employed.

Turning now to the performance of the CSP segment. The segment generated a gross margin of more than EUR 1.1 billion, an increase of around EUR 50 million compared to the prior year. Products and premiums remained the largest earnings contributor with a share of 50%. This is broadly in line with last year, highlighting the continued strength of our copper products and sulfuric acid businesses.

The metal result increased its contribution from 32% to 38%, benefiting from higher copper and precious metal prices. As expected, contribution from treatment and refining charges declined from 19% to 12%. Despite higher production volumes, we were faced with softer TC/RC levels that gradually roll over into our contracts, although not to the same extent as the development we showed earlier for the spot market.

Concentrate throughput increased to 1.9 million tonnes, while sulfuric acid sales rose to 1.8 million tonnes. The increase in sulfuric acid earnings reflects both higher volumes and higher prices. The volume increase benefited from the absence of the Pirdop shutdown, which was carried out in the prior year, while higher sulfuric acid prices started to contribute more meaningfully to earnings in Q3. As a result, for CSP, operating EBITDA increased to EUR 461 million from EUR 436 million, while operating EBT rose to EUR 355 million from EUR 342 million. Operating ROCE came in at 15.5%, below last year's 17.6%, which was mainly driven by an increase in capital employed of around EUR 200 million.

Turning to Page 11. Let's now take a look at cost development in the group. Total costs edged up by about EUR 60 million, 4% increase to EUR 1.48 billion, largely on account of footprint expansion. The main driver was higher scheduled depreciation and amortization of EUR 37 million, reflecting our investment activities and the ramp-up of strategic projects. The uptick in personnel cost is also in part attributable to our increased footprint and the associated higher average headcount, as well as to general wage inflation. Other operating expenses decreased slightly to 20% of total costs with logistics and administrative costs being the largest components. With a share of 9%, energy costs were broadly on par with the prior year level, thanks to an effective energy management and hedging.

On to the cash flow bridge on Page 12. Starting with operating EBITDA, which was at EUR 570 million, offset by a EUR 525 million increase in net working capital, which reflects the impact of higher metal prices, seasonal effects and the ramp-up of our strategic projects.

Aurubis has a track record of generating reliable cash flows. However, as we regularly highlight, cash flow at any reporting date can be influenced by temporary balance sheet effects. Including tax payments of EUR 73 million, net cash flow amounted to minus EUR 28 million compared to plus EUR 357 million in the prior year.

Cash outflow for investing activities totaled EUR 322 million and was primarily related to Aurubis Richmond and the new precious metals refinery in Hamburg. As I have mentioned during the Q2 conference call, we expected a significantly negative free cash flow for Q3 of this fiscal year '25-'26, mainly due to temporary inventory buildup in connection with the phased commissioning of the tankhouse expansion in Pirdop as well as normal seasonality. So in light of this, the free cash flow of minus EUR 365 million came in as expected.

Cash generation remains a key management priority, and we continue to expect net cash flow for the full year to exceed the prior year level. We also remain on-track to achieve a free cash flow before dividends at least at breakeven level for the full fiscal year.

After P&L and cash flow, let me briefly touch on our balance sheet and key financial ratios. The equity ratio stood at close to 49% compared to around 56% in the prior year. While the equity increased by more than EUR 250 million, the mentioned increase in balance sheet in total more than compensated for this effect.

For the full year, we expect the KPI to be closer to the level of the previous year. In consequence of the change in the net financial position, our debt coverage increased to 1.0 from 0.6 in the prior year, which is still well below our target of not more than 3. Considering that we are executing one of the largest investment programs in the company's history, a ratio of 1.0 remains very moderate and underlines the continued strength of our balance sheet.

Capital expenditure decreased significantly versus last year, reflecting that the strategic CapEx program is almost behind us. Capital employed increased by around EUR 630 million to EUR 4.8 billion, reflecting both our strategic growth investments and the temporary working capital buildup, which we highlighted earlier.

Let's now turn to the outlook for the key drivers of our business for the remainder of the current fiscal year '25-'26. Overall, the raw material markets remain competitive but manageable. Our diversified sourcing setup and long-term supply relationships continue to support stable operations despite challenging market conditions. Concentrate markets are still the most demanding area. We continue to expect concentrate availability to stay tight and TC/RCs to remain under pressure as global smelting demand continues to exceed mine supply.

In recycling, markets conditions remain broadly stable. While a modest seasonal decline in availability is typical towards summer, we currently see no material change in the overall supply situation and continue to view recycling markets as supportive.

Regarding the euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate, we maintain our previous view despite some fluctuations in the last quarter. And the outlook for sulfuric acid remains highly favorable. Given the Chinese export restrictions and ongoing logistical disruptions, we anticipate the current market environment to prevail.

Metal prices continue to provide support, particularly for copper and precious metals and demand for our copper products remains healthy. Thus, the outlook remains intact overall, as we are actively navigating challenges.

Based on our performance of the first 9 months of the fiscal year, we confirm our full year guidance of EUR 700 million to EUR 800 million operating EBITDA and EUR 425 million to EUR 525 million operating EBT, and expect the EBT to come in at the upper end of the guidance range.

For the operating ROCE on group level, we maintain the communicated level between 10% and 12%. For net cash flow, we expect to be above last year's level as the previously discussed temporarily higher inventory levels should be reversed until fiscal year-end. Following our net cash flow guidance and the projected reversal of inventory buildups, we also continue to anticipate a free cash flow before dividend at least at the break-even level for which we see ourselves being on-track. Still, please bear in mind that the usual working capital fluctuations in high metal price environments may affect our free cash flow at the balance sheet date.

Having outlined all of this, let me remind you that all of these guidance figures are built on our current market assumptions, as usual, and do not account for major unforeseen disruptions.

With this, I'd like to hand back over to Toralf.

Thank you very much, Steffen. I would like now to turn to our strategic projects and start with Complex Recycling Hamburg, where we have reached an important milestone during this quarter. After first production in May, we officially commissioned the plant and celebrated its inauguration in July. The project was delivered as planned, demonstrating our disciplined approach to project execution.

Since startup, the ramp-up has progressed well, and we exceeded our internal targets for the first 9 months of operation. This success reflects the excellent preparation and collaboration of the teams on site. We have already reached the targeted feed mix of internal and external raw materials. This is encouraging from both a technical and a commercial perspective. Looking ahead, we will steadily increase throughput, and we expect the plant to contribute to the group's earnings through TC/RCs and metal results incurred from complex raw materials. Overall, CRH is proving to be a success as it strengthens our smelter network by unlocking the unique opportunities it offers.

Let me now walk you through the recent developments in the U.S. We consider Aurubis Richmond a key pillar of our growth strategy and step by step, we are moving ahead technically and commercially. That being said, during the last quarters, we already indicated that ramping up the greenfield smelter is taking longer than originally anticipated as we experienced technical challenges during ramp-up. Accordingly, we corrected the expected EBITDA contribution from Richmond for the fiscal year '25- '26 to a level below breakeven.

The longer ramp-up of key equipment is causing commissioning of both phases to overlap, leading to an overall longer ramp-up period. From today's perspective, ramp-up for Phase 1 will be completed in fiscal year '26-'27, and ramp-up for Phase 2 in fiscal year '27-'28, respectively. Furthermore, given the overall heterogeneous and dynamic nature of the recycling market, raw material qualities and quantities have naturally shifted from the original plan as well, which impacts the technical side to some extent, too.

Against the background of the technical and commercial issues, Aurubis Richmond's mid-term earning profile shifts out by 1 year. We are actively addressing both angles, the technical as well as the commercial ramp-up. In light of the longer time needed, we expect that in the current fiscal year, Aurubis Richmond will contribute to the group's earnings to a similar degree as last year. This is based on today's reiterated guidance for fiscal year '25-'26, where we see ourselves at the upper end of the EUR 425 million to EUR 525 million corridor for the group.

For the outer years, positive effects resulting from higher metal prices and improved commercial terms support the earnings outlook, while the forecast also reflects the updated assumptions on ramp-up timing, the feed mix, and metal contents.

After full technical and commercial ramp-up, as of today, we expect the medium-term annual EBITDA contribution from Richmond to the Aurubis Group to be in a healthy territory, not exactly at the previous year target -- at the previous target level, still in the triple-digit million-euro region. As I stated in the beginning, we are convinced that Aurubis Richmond creates a foundation for us to further grow in the U.S., and we are managing the technical and commercial complexities of the business.

Finally, I would also like to briefly update you on the tankhouse expansion in Pirdop, another important cornerstone within our strategic investment program. This project is designed to remove a bottleneck in our production network and increase annual cathode production by 120,000 tonnes. Construction work and installation of the main equipment have been completed. The gradual commissioning process is now underway, and we expect operations to commence in autumn 2026. Once fully ramped up, the expansion will increase cathode production and contribute to our gross margin through higher products and premiums while also optimizing logistics costs. With this project, we add another building block to our smelter network, increasing resilience and seizing opportunities.

Coming to a close. Let me summarize the key takeaways from today's presentation. For the first 9 months, Aurubis delivered an operating EBT of EUR 374 million, which is 31% above the prior year level. Operating EBT in the third quarter is at EUR 149 million and is supported by an improved metal result, increased revenues from processing recycling materials, as well as from sulfuric acid and copper products.

Our cash flow in the third quarter was temporarily impacted by an inventory buildup, largely in connection with the strategic projects, which we expect to reverse until fiscal year-end. Thus, we maintain our target to achieve a free cash flow before dividend breakeven at the minimum for the fiscal year '25-'26. On the back of our improved performance, the group operating return on capital employed increased while still being dampened by the temporary inventory spike.

With respect to our strategic project pipeline, we continue to make progress. CRH was officially inaugurated. The tankhouse expansion in Pirdop is close to commissioning. And in Richmond, we are addressing the extended ramp-up and shifted earnings profile.

For the remainder of the fiscal year, we expect that higher metal prices, earnings from recycling raw materials, as well as higher contributions from the copper products and sulfuric acid business will mitigate the effects from the challenging concentrate markets. Therefore, we confirm our guidance for the fiscal year '25-'26 and expect operating EBT to come in around the upper end of the forecast range of EUR 425 million to EUR 525 million.

With this, I would like to hand back over to Elke Brinkmann.

Thanks, Toralf and Steffen. Before we open the line for your questions, I would like to provide you with an overview of the next events. Our annual report for fiscal year '25-'26 will be released on December 2nd, and followed by the Q1 publication on February 4th, and the AGM on February 11th.

That being said, I'll now hand over to the operator for the first question.

[Operator Instructions] We already have a few questions submitted. The first question goes to Deutsche Bank from Bastian Synagowitz.

I've got a couple, and I will take them one by one, if that's okay. And maybe starting off on guidance here. So I guess if we take the upper end of your guidance, it implies a flat pretax of around EUR 150 million in the fourth quarter. And I guess you've got the Lunen standstill, which is now completed, which reverses roughly EUR 10 million in earnings. You've got the sulfuric contributions, which will be higher, which you mentioned already as well as the metal result. Just looking at the prices of gold, silver and copper, I guess, there should be still definitely some room to go considering your hedge duration. I guess all of these are pretty positive drivers and potentially powerful. And you mentioned TC/RCs, but I guess those are mostly contracted. So what is going against you here to basically still basically just guide for flat EBT in the last quarter? And what are the points to keep in mind? That's my first question.

Thank you, Bastian. So I think it's important to reiterate here that during the course of the year, we have increased the guidance 2x. With this call, we stayed within the guidance range, but we added the language that we see ourselves at the upper end of the range. We did not say the upper half. We said the upper end of the range. So what we are trying to say here is that we look into a good fourth quarter. We look into a quarter 4, that should be in the similar ballpark as Q3, but still for the full year within the range at the upper end.

So if we look at the drivers here, obviously, sulfuric acid helping a lot, helped quite nicely in Q3. But yes, there is an upside in Q4 versus Q3. On the metal for the time being, I would assume it can be similar, Q4 as Q3 on a good level, similar. Same for products on a similar level, but a good level. RCs similar on a good level. And then I think there's two things. One is TC/RCs, where we have seen a gradual more difficult situation during the quarter. So we make our assumptions here on the fact that the Q4 TC/RC impact should be visible versus Q3.

And then finally, what you always see, at least at our end in the seasonality of cost in the last quarter of a fiscal year, we would expect that costs are a bit more pronounced, a bit more expelled. But once again, we are trying to send a constructive message here on Q4, and we are quite happy with how the year is evolving.

Okay. Great. Very clear. Then maybe moving on to the situation in Richmond and I guess you basically cut your expectations for the project as most people just turned a bit more positive given the policy backdrop, I guess, the metal prices, and it's also pretty decent scrap RC levels over in the year. So some of the factors which you highlighted as to why you're cutting the target here sound a bit more temporary in nature, which are really the drivers for you to impair the outlook structurally? And is there also any early indication on where you expect the EBITDA number for the project contribution to go next year? Maybe also just adding to that, has your D&A schedule changed with the delay?

Yes, Bastian, let me start on the structure, we -- firstly, like we said in the presentation, we firmly believe that this is the right investment and that this will significantly contribute to Aurubis earnings in the future. The main reason is the technical ramp-up, where we experienced some difficulties, which you can say is, on the one hand, normal when you have a greenfield expansion. On the other hand, we had to adapt our technical capabilities to also to the feed mix, which is a little bit different in the U.S. than it is in Europe. So we are in a, I would say, in a learning phase there, but we are producing metal, so -- but it's below our expectations. But we are confident that this will improve over the course of the next month.

So the main reason for the delay is some technical issues we have in Phase 1. We don't expect that we have the same amount of technical issues in Phase 2, when we ramp that up because we will learn from Phase 1. The commercial terms, like we said, we are establishing ourselves in the market. We don't see this as a major issue going forward. We have established relationships with the raw material, with the recycling suppliers in the West, because we have this relationship before. So there's long-term trusted relationships.

We are currently well supplied in the plant, and we continue to play a role in that market. And we are positive on the overall outlook of the recycling market for the future, also in the U.S. because copper demand is rising. And as you know, they cannot fulfill all their copper demand by internal sources, not by concentrates and recycling materials. And we also think there will be some benefits in the next months by the further tightening of the U.S. Government of the export of recycling materials to other parts of the world.

So in summary, again, the main cause for the -- what we mentioned for the delay is technical issues in the ramp-up of Phase 1. Maybe Steffen, to the outlook.

Yes. Bastian, you asked about, let's say, an indication for an EBITDA for next year. I mean, we all know that today is probably not the point in time where we want to guide for next year. But still to get into the topic you alluded to, Toralf said in his speech that the earnings profile for Richmond shifts out by 1 year. We did start this fiscal year with an ambition to achieve EBITDA breakeven for this fiscal year. We stated today that this is not the case anymore. But if you apply this rule of thumb of shifting out by 1 year, we roughly can say that, obviously, we definitely want to achieve an EBITDA breakeven next year.

Okay. Okay. Great. That's helpful. And the D&A schedule, I guess, has not changed versus the original guidance?

Right. It has not -- sorry, we were muted here. It has not changed. That's correct.

Got you. Okay. And sorry to come back just on the structural shift. So from what I understood, you basically maybe walked back a little bit the EUR 170 million EBITDA contribution target, which you had given earlier. And I guess you wouldn't have done that if you would still expect EUR 160 million or maybe EUR 150 million or whatever. So it seems like we may come in below that number. Did I understand that correctly? And again, from everything you talked about earlier, the sound all like very temporary basically headwinds, which I guess you say yourself, you will be fixing over time. So if you walk back the EUR 170 million, what are the lasting headwinds relative to what you were aiming for before?

You're correct that today, we are saying that we see the EBITDA contribution from Richmond to the Aurubis Group in healthy territory, but not exactly at the previous target level. You just alluded to the figure but it's still in a triple-digit million euro region. With that, we are not saying that it's exactly where this triple-digit million-euro region starts. So it's somewhere between where it starts and where we initially guided. We would now -- as we talk here about, let's say, a mid-term period, and so let's say we talk about the next 3 years ahead.

I'm sure in this dynamic, but also a very promising U.S. market, there will always be some premise changes. So that's why, as of today, we will not shoot exactly for a new figure. But what we are trying to say, it's below this lower end of what is a triple-digit figure and what has been before. So let's say, a double-digit million-euro gap between what we had initially said. What we mentioned here is based on a view of, let's say, the next 2- , 3-4 years that we are basing ourselves on. It would not make sense to look out further into the future. And let's say, this technical ramp-up situation that Toralf has described is probably more a thing of the next 2 years.

The commercial ramp-up is obviously, also a decisive endeavor now for the next 2 years, and this is where we base ourselves. And perhaps to frame it a bit, because obviously, it's absolutely right that we focus here on Richmond. But to frame it a bit, we also want to make the point that with all the strategic initiatives that the company has launched in the last years, we are confident to stay within the envelope of an EBITDA improvement in the mid-term for Aurubis Group of EUR 260 million. So even though we talk today about a certain piece of setback on Richmond, I think it's important to make the point that we are very comfortable as of today with the mid-term EUR 260 million EBITDA for the group.

Okay. Great. Very clear. Then just maybe coming back again to the bigger picture here and the implications for the project. So maybe taking the mid-point of what may be the new target contribution for EBITDA and then also considering, I guess, the latest or the last disclosed budget and cost inflation, and maybe also the higher start-up cost, it becomes technically quite difficult for the project to still hit the 15% ROCE target, which you have on group level. And I guess the project has been footing on the view that there is abundant availability of scrap, and now that has been part of the reason for cutting the EBITDA target.

So I guess, unless something materially changes, the logical conclusion would be that building another recycling smelter in the U.S. may no longer make sense. I guess what are your thoughts here? And how does this impact your ambition to do another growth project in the U.S. at all, would be great to have your thoughts on that side.

Outlook on the U.S. market and the evaluation of different strategic alternatives has not changed. The demand for copper in the U.S. will grow strongly over the next years and decades, driven by data centers, energy infrastructure and defense. And recycling will -- is and will stay an important pillar to satisfy that demand. So operating a metallurgical plant, we have to, like we said, adapt and fine-tune. But our view on the U.S. market, it remains unchanged.

We continue to explore opportunities to grow further in the U.S. while we are building the Richmond business. And we see U.S. as an attractive growth region. And these strategic alternatives, as we said before, consider different alternatives, which also could potentially include another recycling smelting capacity.

Okay. Just again, like from taking the parameters on the existing projects where you have visibility, again, you're not hitting your 15% return target. And I guess, is then the logic that, again, also the recycling smelter you would only do if you would get government support, like the budget and CapEx...

We take a more long-term view, and there could be also synergies between different facilities and other strategic aspects. So we see not only the mid-term view of our return on capital, but also the long-term and strategic view. And under this consideration, it could definitely make sense.

And if I may add, Bastian, I think you were also referring to subsidies, right? We have made the point that for Richmond, we basically did not enjoy scale subsidy programs that in the meantime has evolved. So if we were going on with something, let's say, one of our key considerations would obviously be to become eligible to attractive U.S. Government support and that could perhaps bridge a certain gap.

The next question goes to Bank of America, Jason Fairclough.

I'm afraid I'm going to jump on the Richmond train as well, if that's okay. But I'll try and keep my questions kind of short. Just in terms of the capital employed -- and maybe this is one for Steffen. What is the capital employed today for Richmond? And what will it be by the time the facility is fully ramped up?

Jason, we understood very clearly your question, and I just look at a colleague to give me the figure. So if you have further questions, then go ahead with your further ones, and we'll get to you, obviously, in a very few minutes.

Okay. So second question then. So your new guided earnings -- triple-digit millions. I think previously, you and I talked about EUR 2,400 per tonne of blister didn't feel like it was a credible one. If I pick a number, let's call it, EUR 120 million, still EUR 1,700 per tonne of blister feels to me quite aggressive versus other recycling operations. So I'm interested to understand why you still think this facility can be so much more profitable than other recycling operations.

Yes, Jason, I remember very well the exchange we had on that, accompanied by a very nice chart in the office, I remember that well. Yes, I mean, if you look at the U.S. recycling market and RC, the U.S. market versus other regions of the world, you definitely see a gap or, let's say, an uptick on the margin on RCs in the U.S. And this is still the case. Actually, when we updated our business case, we were quite happy with the commercial terms we're seeing. What has changed as a part of the update, and Toralf has alluded to that is rather the mix of the core feed, but it's not the commercial terms. So in a nutshell, commercial terms that we are seeing are quite favorable and different than in other regions of the world.

Second piece to your question is that with the setup of Richmond, we are basically targeting especially those pieces of the value chain that are quite interesting. And that's why as of today, Richmond is not going all the way to the anode and the cathode because that part of the value chain that Richmond is addressing is a more profitable one. And obviously, metal result and metal price development is really supporting the case here.

Okay. So if we think about the derisking...

Sorry, Jason, your question on capital employed for Richmond is around EUR 800 million to EUR 850 million.

Okay. In terms of the derating of the profitability, is it higher operating costs? Or are we actually just going to end up with lower blister production?

Both.

Both -- okay. And I guess, lastly, to come back to this tariff question, where are you...?

Sorry, Jason, I need to be more precise. It's both pieces. So let's say it's higher cost. And it's on the revenue side, it's lower revenues, but it's not lower quantities, but it's lower revenues because of unfavorable mix.

And so should I read into that, that there's less pressures than you thought there might be?

No, that relates to -- we need to show a certain piece of flexibility on the input mix. So we need to deviate a bit from the core feed we initially had in mind. And with, let's say, alternative feed, there is, from a margin perspective, a less favorable mix than in the initial business case.

Okay. So last one, I don't know where you guys are with thinking about tariffs. If we get tariffs in the U.S., do you need to think about building a copper refinery? Can you build a 60,000 or 70,000 tonne copper refinery? Is that too small?

Yes, of course, we can build that. No, we haven't specified the tonnage, but it would be at least that range what you said.

Okay. And in terms of -- as it stands today, you're shipping blister copper out of the U.S. And of course, the blister copper is full of good stuff. Is there any, let's say, concerns around that from the U.S. administration that they're losing critical minerals to Europe?

Jason, the blister we are producing, they have all the valuable metals in it, as you know, like gold, silver, and other precious metals. And in order to unlock the value from the blister and to capture the synergy potential, that we also -- we ship this to Europe and use the capabilities there, but we also have then the possibility to ship back to the U.S., the finished product. So this is how the value chain we envision to work in the future.

[Operator Instructions] The next question goes to Adahna Ekoku from Morgan Stanley.

I think we've touched a lot on Richmond. I just have one follow-up on that mix point. Can you just give a bit more detail on what exactly has changed on the mix from your initial assumptions? And is there anything, especially maybe with regards to policy that could change or increase your flexibility on the mix that you thought you might have had?

The effects cannot be isolated as all the aspects are interconnected and the market remains dynamic. So we deal what we have today. We -- as we have entered the market now on a broader scale, we have built a clearer view on the raw material qualities and which of them fit best in the current operational phase of our plant. The other raw material streams are mostly alloy scraps, where different metals need to be separated in our process. So we are still in this process. We are convinced that we have an attractive offering to many of our suppliers. However, we need to bear in mind that existing buyers are adapting their commercial terms as well in order to keep the material flowing. So it's a complex subject.

The raw material is complex. We have -- like Steffen said, we have some minor deviations in our assumptions or compared to our assumptions in the mix. It is, for us, the most profitable, of course, if we have more complex materials, which have higher metal -- higher precious metal content. And here, we are seeing some deviations, which is a little bit unfavorable, but nothing to be concerned about.

Okay. And then maybe just on sulfuric acid. So you've touched on the kind of quarter-over-quarter improvement. Is there any way you can help us to quantify this? And just especially on the contracts, should we still assume that this is 85% contracted? Or have you perhaps shifted slightly more to spot pricing? And then also on this, thinking about the step-up into Q1 as well, is it fair to assume that's similar to the quarter-over-quarter step-up we're seeing this quarter? Or how can we compare these?

Well, as we have said for this fiscal year, the majority, around 85% of our contracts for sulfuric acid, the sale of sulfuric acid have already been contracted. So we only enjoy a minor part of our exposure to spot pricing, even though we benefit from it, but it's a minor part in the next fiscal year. There's also a certain part contracted already. But there, we will enjoy a larger portion of our contracts where we are negotiating right now in the coming months to be not at spot rate, but at, of course, higher prices than we have contracted for this year.

Okay. And anything -- any color on the quarter-over-quarter development?

Yes, I can give you a bit of color here. I would think that the sulfuric acid piece in Q4 will contribute. If we look Q4 versus Q3, I would see an upside of a small double-digit figure out of sulfuric acids, Q4 over Q3. That's, I think, what we can say. And perhaps to give one more data point for the full year, for this fiscal year, the full fiscal year, it could be in the ballpark of EUR 180 million out of sulfuric acid.

Next question goes to Maxime Kogge from ODDO.

So my first question is a follow-up on the growth project envelope. So we are you reaffirmed the target to reach EUR 260 million, and that's despite the lowering of the target for Richmond. But that implies that other projects are running ahead of expectation. Can you perhaps shed some light there on which projects are outperforming versus your expectations? I guess CRH is a big building block, but is there any other project that is performing better?

You're right. We talk about 11 strategic projects. The mid-term, the total contribution for the sum of them is the EUR 260 million, which we confirm as well today. And Richmond is one of them, obviously, the most prominent one, but one of them. So what are projects that -- what are other projects and where are they on the contribution? I would refrain from now giving figures on all the 11, but I would love to do it a bit more qualitatively. The ones that I would like to highlight in terms of upside contribution potential is the CRH, so complex recycling Hamburg, that is a very successful project, just has started.

Another one I would like to highlight is also what Toralf mentioned in his speech is the tankhouse expansion in Pirdop, where obviously, the upside is on getting out a significant amount of cathodes. And this, coupled with a nice copper price helps us also on the EBITDA line. And then I would mention 2 more recent projects that are already ramped up and a few months more already in operations on the Belgium side -- ASPA and BOB, that are also now delivering up to their plans and also delivering pieces of contribution that help delivering the EUR 260 million figure.

Okay. That's helpful. And second question is on the concentrate sources. So you've hinted that some structural changes going on there. So we've seen actually Antofagasta agreeing on an index-based system for its Phase 2 contracts with the smelters. Let's see what the negotiations around the new yearly benchmark is.

The result is expected somewhere in October. But do you see a risk that the whole market price switches to an index price, an index-based pricing system for the services, and that would make obviously more difficult for you to impose yearly or multi-yearly contracts, which has been your way of operating up to now?

Maxime, as we always said, our long-term portfolio and capability to treat more complex materials when it comes to concentrates enables us to get better terms than the spot prices that are indicated on the market. However, we cannot escape the fact that the availability, like you said, on concentrate is tight and that puts pressure on our terms. From today's perspective, we need to assume that the negative TC/RCs environment will play a role in our negotiations for concentrate supplies in the calendar year '27.

At the same time, however, the miners are also looking to secure sulfuric acid supply where, as we said, where the market is scarce. Both markets are somewhat intertwined, and those might be the subject of our talks with the mine suppliers. Mine supply and refined copper production are connected as well. And so this all plays into role.

So while we expect that the negative TC/RC trend on spot prices will continue for a while, so we don't expect the short-term recovery. Like we always said, we are not linked to the spot prices when we do long-term contracts. And with the additional negotiation subject of sulfuric acid, we think we have a good basis here to come to, let's say, good agreements for Aurubis, in the -- in relation to the current market environment.

Okay. That's helpful. And just following on that, you mentioned that the 2 subjects in the -- sulfuric acid and TC/RCs are important point, but I would have thought that sulfuric acid was only needed for operations by the miners. So it's not necessarily the same miners that need sulfuric acid and those that have to use the concentrate. So could you share with us the share of sulfuric acid within your mix that is sold to the miners? Or is that somehow a secret?

Maxime, we don't give these concrete numbers, but you're right, it's a smaller part of our business of our total sales of sulfuric acid. The share of sulfuric acid we sell to mines is a smaller share. And as you know, the mines, they do both. They do the leaching process and they also produce concentrates.

[Operator Instructions] The question goes to Kepler Chevreux, Boris Bourdet.

Just a very quick follow-up on Richmond. To check that, I understand quickly. So your first assumption was on a certain quality of mix. So now my understanding would be that you are missing in this mix, maybe some precious metal content that would explain the double-digit structural decrease in your EBITDA mid-term contribution. Yes, that's the first question. Just to check.

You're right, Boris. It's on the one hand, it's the content of certain metals, but also it's the TCs, it's the RCs and other terms and the conditions. So it's not only that, but that's also part of that.

Okay. And do you think you might find a solution if the United States government further increases the -- refrain the capacity to export recycling materials that you would keep better kind of materials for the domestic market, that would improve your metrics going forward? Or is it unlikely?

Yes, this would be conceptually positive for us because it increases consequently, of course, the availability of all sorts of recycling materials and also of more complex materials. So this would be positive for us, yes.

And maybe a word on free cash flow. So you're guiding for free cash flow before dividend payments being at least breakeven this year despite the minus EUR 365 million year-to-date figure. So that means a strong reversal in Q4 for net working capital, I guess. But I was wondering, looking at your CapEx number, it's EUR 373 million year-to-date. It seems to be behind the intended number of EUR 670 million. Do you stick to that guidance? Or what could be the right number to look at in CapEx? And yes, that would be my question.

Well spotted, Boris. So on the CapEx side or let's say, the cash CapEx, it's not likely that we will, let's say, spend that much in Q4, that would remain to, let's say, the old target. So let's say, there -- as of today, we think that cash CapEx could be probably below EUR 600 million. So this will also obviously then support the free cash flow generation.

And then generally on, let's say, the general improvement on working ourselves down from the seasonally high stock levels. So we have a clear plan how to reduce working capital and deliver on the full year target. So it's about destocking of inventory. It's about selling our copper products into the market. For example, on copper products in the summer period, there's less of a production here due to German summer and Belgian summer vacation schedules. So we had more on stock. That's kind of a usual thing. So it's about now selling those highly attractive copper products to the markets, being it on the rod and shape side, being it on the cathode side.

Second point is a clear targeted decrease of intermediates. So let's say, we have a clear plan as we speak, working capital is going in the right direction. And this, coupled with what you spotted well on, let's say, the cash CapEx, all that together makes us confident that we will achieve free cash flow target of at least breakeven before this year.

Very clear. And the last question is on TC. How much does it represent today of the group's gross margin? And do you confirm it cannot go below 0?

Yes. I mean, on the first piece of your question, you saw that on Page 8, from a gross margin perspective, TC/RCs for both businesses was, let's say, 21%. And as we talk about TC/RCs, so then we focus on the CSP segment. And there on Page 10, we saw that the TC/RCs for the primary side, this is where the pressure is, were, let's say, only 12%. And I cannot confirm that it will never be 0.

Yes, but it should never go below 0. I mean, we see negative spot rates on the market. Is there a possibility that one day, your contracts might include negative commercial terms? Or do you have a sort of a floor?

If the spot level is super negative, and I mean, we will always differentiate ourselves, emancipate ourselves visibly from, let's say, a more spot market level. But if the spot market level is very depressed, we can also not rule out that it would be 0 or a bit below 0. But it will always be significantly better than the spot market.

So that was the last submitted question. We do still have some time. So I will repeat the key combination in case anyone has some follow-up question. [Operator Instructions] We have Bastian from Deutsche Bank back on the line.

Just a very quick one on CapEx. Steffen, you mentioned CapEx will now be around EUR 600 million or actually below. So does that mean that the EUR 70 million will be moved to next year's budget. So next year will be more like EUR 620 million or so? Or is this a cut elsewhere which is sustainable?

Bastian, you can rely on our ambition that we want to build the curve of bringing CapEx down. So we are not guiding today, but our ambition is that next year should not be above this year.

Last question from Maxime, ODDO. You are on the line.

Yes, if I can stay on the subject of sulfuric acid, because I think you said that you will finish the year with about EUR 200 million, EUR 180 million of sulfuric acid contribution. But if we look at the spot prices in Europe, multiply that by your sulfuric acid production, yes, we had close to $800 million of revenues there. And my understanding is that there are very limited associated costs. So is that a credible figure somehow if prices stay where they are now? Or is there anything we should be aware of to not -- I mean, to apply some kind of discount to the prices?

As we said before, the vast majority of our exposure this year has been already fixed or covered by long-term contracts, which were fixed before the sharp increase of the prices for sulfuric acid. And secondly, also when we go into negotiations for the remainder of the part and also for next year, we are, I want to say, almost also interested in long-term relationship with our customers. So we're trying to take not too much advantage of the current spot price situation.

So thank you, everyone, for your questions and participation. And with that, I hand over to your host.

So the IR team will, of course, be happy to answer any further questions you may have. I would now like to close today's conference call, and thank you for your attention. Enjoy the rest of the day. Thank you, and goodbye.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Analyst Call.

[Operator Instructions]

Let me now turn the floor over to Elke Brinkmann, Head of Investor Relations.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Q2 2025-'26 Conference Call. We will walk you through the results for the 6 months of our fiscal year.

With me on the call are our CEO, Toralf Haag; and CFO, Steffen Hoffmann. After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Before we start, let me draw your attention to our disclaimer. We will make forward-looking statements today. These are based on current plans and expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially.

That being said, let me now turn the floor over to Toralf Haag.

Thank you, Elke, and good afternoon from beautiful Hamburg. Before we dive into the details later in the presentation, let me provide you with a high-level overview of the performance in the first 6 months. Compared to the previous quarter, Aurubis achieved a significant increase in earnings in quarter 2 of fiscal year '25, '26. Operating EBT came in at EUR 121 million, a 15% increase versus Q1.

In the first half of '25, '26, we delivered robust results, broadly on par with last year and in line with market expectations. Operating EBT came in at EUR 226 million and operating EBITDA increased by 3% to EUR 351 million. Net cash flow was EUR 161 million and below last year's EUR 190 million. This is mainly due to higher net working capital in connection with increased metal prices. Free cash flow before dividend improved to minus EUR 63 million compared to minus EUR 151 million last year, supported by over EUR 100 million less CapEx spend.

Operating return on capital employed was 8.1%, down from 10.2%, reflecting higher capital employed for strategic projects and lower earnings in previous quarters. In the recent quarters, key drivers of our business have developed in our favor, such as persistently high metal prices, improved recycling markets as well as healthy copper product and sulfuric acid markets. Against this background, we have raised our guidance of the operating EBT in the current fiscal year to EUR 425 million to EUR 525 million.

Let me now take you through the market environment. Sulfuric acid has certainly been an area of attention in the last quarter as Middle East shipping restrictions tightened the global sulfur market. As a result, sulfuric acid spot prices moved up sharply and even stayed above the already high levels. Supported by overall good physical demand, European spot copper premiums increased compared to the end of 2025. Still, premium levels remain volatile. European spot refining charges for scrap #2, increased further, driven by high metal prices and hence, better scrap availability. In contrast, spot TC/RCs for copper concentrates stayed in negative territory, reflecting the still tight concentrate market.

With regard to the price environment for key metals, gold and silver prices outperformed copper in Q2. In doing so, both precious metals once again reached new all-time highs before easing somewhat due to the conflict in the Middle East. The copper price was overall stable at historical high levels. The strong performance of these key metals supported our metal result as we will see later on. The euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate was broadly stable versus Q1 and therefore, had limited effect on our Q2 results.

On a general note, please bear in mind that there is no direct one-to-one relation between the price development shown here and our P&L. As we hedge parts of our earnings, some of the effects will only become visible with a time lag. I would now like to provide some color on the Middle East situation and the effect on Aurubis, since this is a frequently discussed topic in many calls and meetings. As we do not receive concentrate from the region and purchase only limited scrap volumes there, our exposure from a sourcing point of view is very limited.

On the sales side, we also have no major exposure to the Middle East for metal products or sulfuric acid. Direct risks are, therefore, low in the short term. Indirectly, higher oil and gas prices do impact energy and freight costs, but this is manageable. At the same time, sulfur supply disruptions and potential export restrictions support sulfuric acid markets as production of sulfuric acid from burning of elemental sulfur remains the largest source of sulfuric acid. The disruption of cathode exports from Iran and potential disruptions of SXEW production in consequence of the lack of sulfur supply could support global premium levels.

Overall, from today's perspective, we anticipate more medium-term opportunities than risks for Aurubis. In light of the current geopolitical situation, I would now like to provide a deep dive on sulfuric acid. Until 2030, global sulfuric acid demand is expected to grow further by about 3% annually, mainly driven by fertilizers and metals. At Aurubis, we produce more than 2 million tonnes annually and sell it to a diversified customer base. This base spans fertilizers, metals and chemicals with a focus on Europe, Turkey and North Africa.

Around 85% of our sulfuric acid is sold under large annual contracts with quarterly or semiannual pricing. About 15% is sold on the spot market, mainly to overseas customers, giving us exposure to spot prices. In '24, '25, sulfuric acid contributed roughly EUR 125 million to the gross margin with a high conversion to EBT. Before I hand over to Steffen, let me give you a brief update on the U.S. tariffs, where an updated ruling was published on April 2. The updated U.S. tariff regime continues to bolster domestic copper recycling and therefore, Aurubis Richmond.

A key change is that duties on copper semis and selective derivatives now apply to the full customer value, not just the copper content. More importantly, however, U.S. origin copper that is smelted and cast in the U.S. but refined elsewhere and reimported to the U.S. can now qualify for a reduced 10% rate. While strict traceability requirements need to be fulfilled, this ruling creates access for U.S. origin copper to Aurubis' European smelter network. In this respect, our smelter network adds flexibility and enhanced supply security to our U.S. customers as well.

And now let me hand over to Steffen Hoffmann, who will take you through the details of our financials.

Thank you, Toralf, and welcome from my side, too. Let's move to the financial details of the first 6 months, and I would like to start with the key KPIs of the second quarter. Quarter-on-quarter, our profitability clearly improved. Operating EBT significantly rose by 15% from EUR 105 million in Q1 to EUR 121 million in Q2. The main drivers were considerably higher earnings from processing recycling materials and from copper product sales.

Net cash flow turned from minus EUR 8 million in Q1 to plus EUR 169 million in Q2, benefiting from, among others, an improved operating EBITDA. Let's switch over to the aggregated 6-month overview. Group revenues increased by 23% to approximately EUR 11.3 billion, mainly due to higher metal prices, especially for precious metals. Operating EBT was stable at the prior year level. A higher metal result as well as slightly higher earnings from processing of recycling raw mats as well as copper products and sulfuric acid sales offset lower concentrate TC/RCs.

Net cash flow was EUR 161 million, below last year's EUR 190 million, reflecting higher inventories in connection with high metal prices. Operating ROCE decreased to 8.1%, which is attributable to lower earnings in previous quarters as well as our growth projects that are still in the implementation phase. These projects are reflected in the EBIT in form of ramp-up costs as well as in the capital employed and will unfold their full earnings impact in the medium term once ramp-up is complete.

Moving on to the split of our gross margin, which is a good reflection of our multimetal strategy and the diversification of our earnings drivers. The total gross margin for H1 was about EUR 1.1 billion, up from approximately EUR 1.08 billion last year. Overall, the contribution of the metal result to our gross margin increased year-over-year, which can be attributed, in particular, to the strong development of metal prices. Compared to last year, products and premiums remained broadly stable, reflecting the ongoing healthy demand for copper products.

Year-on-year, the contribution from sulfuric acid was slightly higher, which is, however, masked on the slide due to rounding effects. In contrast, the total of TC/RCs and RCs was down versus previous year, mainly due to the tightness in the concentrate market and the subsequent pressure on TC/RCs. The contribution of RCs for recycling raw materials was actually slightly up versus the prior year. Here again, rounding effects distort the picture. Long-term supply relationships and our focus on complex raw materials contribute to mitigating headwinds, in particular from challenging concentrate markets. This shift in the contribution of different earnings drivers resembles the resilience of our business model, which we continue to enhance with strategic projects, such as Richmond and CRH as well as the tank house expansion in Vietnam.

Now let's move on to the segments, starting with Multi-Metal Recycling. The gross margin increased by 11% to EUR 387 million. Main driver for the development was a stronger metal result, which has been supported by higher prices for gold, silver and copper. Refining charges for complex recycling materials also improved and largely offset slightly lower throughput. Altogether, this translates into a disproportionately large operating EBITDA increase. Absolute EBITDA rose from EUR 84 million last year to EUR 103 million. Despite an around EUR 13 million higher level of depreciation, the operating EBT improved to EUR 56 million from EUR 51 million. Considering the EBIT of the last 4 quarters, operating ROCE declined to 1.2%. This was attributable to weaker financial performance due to one-off effects and project-related ramp-up costs incurred in the previous fiscal year.

At the same time, capital employed increased by 30%, primarily as a result of significant growth investments, especially in Richmond. In Custom Smelting & Products, the gross margin of about EUR 710 million is composed of 51% products and premiums, 36% metal result and 13% TC/RCs for concentrates and RCs for recycling input. The slight gross margin reduction to prior year's level was caused by sharply lower concentrate TC/RCs, trends we have seen over past quarters and anticipated in our guidance.

On the positive side, higher metal prices and product sales had a positive impact on the segment's performance. Likewise, concentrate throughput increased to 1.25 million tonnes, reflecting good operating performance in Hamburg and Pirdop. This enabled higher sulfuric acid sales amid strong market conditions. In line with a slightly lower gross margin, operating EBITDA was at EUR 279 million. Operating EBT was at EUR 211 million, reflecting year-on-year EUR 10 million higher D&A in the segment. Operating ROCE remained strong at 16.5% and only slightly below last year's 16.8%.

Capital expenditure in the first half was below EUR 150 million and used mainly for the construction of the precious metals refinery, complex recycling Hamburg and the Pirdop tank house expansion. Let's now take a look at the cost development in the Group. Total costs rose by EUR 30 million, a 3% increase to EUR 949 million. The main driver, however, was higher scheduled depreciation and amortization of about EUR 23 million, reflecting our investment activities and the ramp-up of strategic projects. Personnel costs rose to general wage inflation and higher average headcount in line with our footprint expansion.

Other operating expenses decreased slightly to 20% of total costs with logistics and administrative costs being the largest components. Energy costs declined to 8% of total cost, thanks to effective energy management and hedging. Let me now deep dive into our cash flow bridge. Operating EBITDA was EUR 351 million, offset in the order of EUR 152 million due to increased net working capital in connection with higher metal prices. Within the net working capital position, increased inventories accounted for close to EUR 0.5 billion and higher receivables for nearly EUR 240 million of cash outflow. Elevated metal price effects were, however, not limited to the asset side, liabilities increased as well by more than EUR 0.5 billion.

Including the outflow in taxes, net cash flow came in at EUR 161 million, down from EUR 190 million in the prior year, but clearly improved from the minus EUR 8 million at the end of Q1 of this fiscal year. Cash outflow for investing activities was EUR 250 million, driven mainly by spending on Richmond, the new precious metals refinery in Hamburg, CRH in Hamburg and the Pirdop tank house expansion. Interest paid was limited to just EUR 10 million. So free cash flow before dividend was, therefore, minus EUR 63 million. This is an improvement of nearly EUR 100 million compared to the prior year and predominantly achieved by lower CapEx spending.

Looking ahead, for Q3 of this fiscal year, we expect a significantly negative free cash flow, which is due to normal seasonality and is in line with our internal planning. And then for Q4, we expect a significantly positive free cash flow. And for our full year, we remain on track to achieve our free cash flow target above breakeven before dividend for the full year. Before we move to our outlook and guidance, I would now like to take you through some of our balance sheet KPIs. The equity ratio on an operating basis was 48.6%. The decrease compared to previous year was caused by the expansion of the balance sheet, driven, in particular, by higher working capital that negatively offset the addition of EUR 175 million in earnings to the equity.

But let us put the equity ratio into perspective, though. The close to 50% level is still very solid and clearly above our larger than 40% target. And in the next quarters, we expect to return to the 50% levels again. Debt coverage defined as net financial liabilities over rolling EBITDA increased to 0.6, also a result of higher working capital, yet is still well below our ceiling of 3.0. Capital expenditure for the first 6 months was EUR 232 million, down from EUR 340 million, reflecting progress in completion of strategic projects as well as disciplined execution.

Capital employed increased from EUR 4.07 billion to EUR 4.35 billion, reflecting growth investments and higher working capital. Let's now turn to the outlook for the key drivers of our business. Since our last update in February 26, our view on some macro drivers has improved. Overall, raw mat supply remains tight, but manageable, due to our long-term contracts and diversified sourcing. Still, let it be mentioned that given headwinds and volatilities in our sourcing markets, it is also a stretch for our commercial teams to secure the right quantity and quality at the right time and place.

Concentrate TC/RCs remain under pressure reflected in the red-ish signal on the chart. For recycling, material availability in the recent quarter has improved somewhat, among others, due to higher metal prices, and therefore, we've been seeing better market conditions. Such improvements in market terms tend to trail the actual development and therefore, take effect in our P&L with a time lag. Accordingly, we are taking a slightly more positive view than we did in February and have added a touch of green to the yellow traffic light.

The euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate environment remains largely unchanged versus our previous assessment. Given the tight supply situation in the consequence of the Middle East crisis, sulfuric acid markets are very supportive. Correspondingly, we've colored the asset outlook completely in green. Metal prices, especially for precious metals and copper remain persistently on a high level, and demand for our products remains strong, in particular, for wire rod.

Overall, this improved backdrop underpins our higher confidence regarding the outlook for the second half of the fiscal year. Based on the performance of the first half year as well as the improved outlook for key drivers of our business, we have lifted the full year forecast for fiscal year '25, '26 last Friday. We now expect operating EBITDA between EUR 700 million and EUR 800 million. Operating EBT is now expected between EUR 425 million and EUR 525 million for the Group.

Within this overall range, we expect EBT of EUR 370 million to EUR 430 million for CSP and EUR 115 million to EUR 175 million for MMR. For MMR, this takes into account that although ramp-up enrichment is making progress, a breakeven on EBITDA level will still be a stretch this year. We have factored this caution into the segment's EBT range. We are now targeting an operating ROCE between 10% and 12% at Group level with CSP at 15% to 17% and MMR at 8% to 10%. For net cash flow, we expect to be above last year's level despite higher working capital, which is in part due to higher metal prices.

We continue to aim for free cash flow before dividend at least at the breakeven level and are on track to achieve this target. This being said, please bear in mind that usual working capital fluctuations in high metal environment may affect our free cash flow at the balance sheet date. All these guidance figures are based on our current market assumptions and exclude any major unforeseen disruptions.

And with this, I would like to hand over back to you, Toralf.

Thank you, Steffen. Before we wrap up today's presentation, I would like to update you on our strategic projects. With its first melt on March 23, Complex Recycling Hamburg in short CRH was successfully hot commissioned. Since then, the plant has been ramping up gradually with the first blister copper having already been supplied to the Hamburg primary smelter. CRH is a brownfield expansion that optimizes material flows and improves metal recovery at the Hamburg site. It allows us to process internal intermediates and around 32,000 tonnes of external complex raw materials per year.

CRH will contribute to the Group's gross margin via TC/RCs and RCs as well as via the additional metal result and thereby supports our Multi-Metal strategy. Turning to the other 2 projects that are in or near commissioning. At Aurubis Richmond, Phase 1 is making progress. The central equipment has been commissioned, including key furnaces and supporting systems. We are gradually increasing the share of complex feed materials in Phase 1 as the ramp-up advances. Construction work for Phase 2 is largely finalized and commissioning is the next step. In parallel to the technical activities, we are also scaling up our sourcing efforts and developing our North American supplier base in order to secure feedstock to operate the 2 Richmond phases. Building up the technical and commercial ramp-up curve takes time. In Pirdop, the tank house expansion is in its final stage. Technical installations and construction work are essentially complete. Current activities are focusing on testing and ensuring equipment operability. The gradual start of production is scheduled for summer 2026, which will increase refined copper capacity to about 340,000 tonnes from around 220,000 tonnes today.

Coming to the final slide of our presentation, I would like to summarize the first half year. Quarter-to-quarter, we improved our EBT by 15% and achieved EUR 121 million in operating EBT. In half year 1, EBITDA of EUR 351 million exceeded last year, while EBT of EUR 226 million was in line with both the prior year and market expectations. The main positive drivers were higher metal result and slightly higher earnings from recycling materials, copper products and sulfuric acid. Free cash flow improved on a like-for-like basis as this year's dividend was paid in Q2 instead of Q3, while net cash flow was lower due to higher working capital.

Operating ROCE is temporarily subdued because of our high investment activity and ramp-up costs, but these projects will support returns in the medium term. We achieved important milestones in our strategic CapEx program, first melt and first blister at CRH, continued progress in Pirdop and Richmond Phases 1 and 2. For the full year, we see metal prices at a high level and expect earnings from processing of recycling materials to be better than anticipated. We also expect our copper product business to perform well and now also expect earnings from sulfuric acid to improve in the second half year.

Therefore, we raised our fiscal year '25, '26 guidance to operating EBT of now EUR 425 million to EUR 525 million, and remain on track to achieve at least a free cash flow breakeven before dividend payments.

And with this, I would like to hand back over to Elke Brinkmann.

Thank you, Toralf and Steffen. Before we open the line for your questions, I would like to provide you with an outlook on the next event. On August 6, we will publish our results for the first 9 months of '25, '26. And our annual report for fiscal year '25, '26 is due on December 2.

That being said, I will now hand over to the operator for the first question.

[Operator Instructions]

The first one is from Adahna Ekoku, Morgan Stanley.

Maybe just starting with Richmond and to clarify on the EBITDA contribution. So last quarter, you guided us to be breakeven. I think just now you mentioned that breakeven will be a stretch for this year. Is that correct? And if so, what has driven this change?

Yes. Adahna, thank you for the question. Like we said, we had the first melt in September '25. And since then, we've successfully gone into commissioning and ramp-up. Since then, we are gradually ramping up the plant. We have our first blister shipped to Europe, and we have stepwise increased the intake of complex recycling material, which is important. because with this, we allow more valuable -- the recovery of more valuable metals from scrap.

And like we said, Phase 2 is approaching the finalization of construction and will be coming to the commissioning. The ramp-up curve of the project implies that the buildup steadily moves forward. The slope of the curve may be steeper in certain periods and flatter in times of larger technical efforts. Due to some technical challenges in Q2 that are meanwhile solved, we were facing some delays in the recent ramp-up. So from today's perspective, we expect Richmond to end the fiscal year a bit below EBITDA breakeven. This assumption is part of the new and increased group guidance.

That's really clear. And maybe just following up on the U.S. Do you have any updates on your thinking regarding the next steps for the U.S. footprint, just especially given the changes to the tariff regime last month that you outlined in the presentation?

Well, as we said before, we are in close contact with the U.S. administration on evaluating potential further steps. However, there is nothing imminent at this point. Our priority lies on the ramp-up of the Richmond plant.

The next question is from Daniel Major, UBS.

Congratulations on a good set of results. The first one on sulfur. You also provided quite a lot of detail, so it's very useful. Can you just try and give us a little bit more flavor on the earnings sensitivity and how it relates to those kind of pricing contracts. So you did about $65 million of gross margin from sulfur -- sulfuric acid, sorry, in the first half of this fiscal year. If prices were to stay at this sort of level, what kind of uplift will we see in the second half? Is it as simple as if the price doubles, we should just add an annualized EUR 120 million to EBITDA? Is that the way we sort of should be thinking about the sensitivity?

Daniel, this is Steffen. So as we've shown on the charts, you know that also in the sulfuric acid business, we are not very much exposed to the spot market. So 85% of the portfolio is based primarily on annual contracts with quarterly or semiannual pricing mechanisms and only 15% exposure on the spot market. So what I can say is in the guidance increase where we increased both ends of the range by EUR 50 million, and we were kind of labeling the EUR 50 million due to better metal prices environment, better RCs and better sulfuric acid, roughly 1/3 of that. So call it EUR 15 million, 1-5 to EUR 20 million would be attributed to an additional H2 effect on sulfuric acid.

Okay. So yes, so if we were to think about that EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million on the second half, yes, it would be fair to assume if prices stays here, that would continue and actually be higher into fiscal year '26, '27. Is that fair?

That's correct.

Yes. And then my second question, you mentioned around improved scrap contribution, improved scrap availability in Europe in response to the higher pricing environment. How do you see the broader scrap market? Is that sustainable? Are there any updates on legislation with respect to potential restrictions on scrap exports from Europe?

Well, Daniel, overall, like we said, the RCs are improving slightly. We see increased availability in general in Europe and U.S. with the higher metal prices. Nevertheless, we have to face also the Asian competition on the European market and also the U.S. market. So this is counterbalancing that. We expect some regulation in Europe to come. I mean, there's already some regulation in the U.S., but we expect some regulation in Europe to come hopefully in the -- in due course. But so far, there is no timing that we can relate to. So these are the 2 counterbalancing effects.

Okay. And then one final one, and I'll go back into queue. The broader dynamics in the smelting industry, you've seen this like continued negative move in the treatment charge with smelting companies, including yourselves, still generating resilient earnings because of free metals, sulfur, precious pricing, et cetera. I guess my question is, are you seeing any pressure or discussions around negotiating the other variables of profitability in a very tight concentrate market, i.e., reduced payability, reduced free metals as China continues to stretch for getting enough concentrate?

Daniel, no, we don't see that pressure, high pressure on these other aspects of our contract negotiations. I think here, it really pays out our -- like you mentioned the word resilience that we have a diversity of our supply base. We work with many mines together, and we have long-term relationships, and we also have a tight link to them. So we have a security of supply, but also apart from the TC/RCs quite stable other conditions.

The next question is from Maxime Kogge, ODDO BHF.

So first question is a follow-up on sulfuric acid. I think you provided some insight on your earnings sensitivity. But I mean, if we take a high-level view, it's difficult to actually make out what capacity has been actually destroyed, what is just temporarily disrupted because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. What's your view on that? What's your take on the actual disruption level and how long it could take for them to come back to the market? So that would be my first question.

Yes, Maxime, we don't have detailed numbers on this question, how much capacity has been destroyed. We see restriction -- export restrictions from certain countries, which is helping the spot market. I think more importantly is what we've provided in the slide that we have a mid- and long-term strong demand of sulfuric acid, which is growing steadily and supported by different industries like the chemical and fertilizer industry. So I think this is important. But how much the important development of this market, but how much has been destroyed, we don't have the answer.

Okay. Fair enough. And second question is on new capacity coming online in Europe. So there will be, on the one hand, the tank house at Rönnskär by Boliden, which will restart again by the end of this year. You also have a big recycling facility in Spain at Atlantic Copper coming up in the coming weeks actually. What do you think the impact will be on refining charges for the Atlantic Copper project and on cathode premia for the Rönnskär tank house? Do you expect to suffer as a result from this increased capacity?

No, we don't expect any direct impact on our RCs because like we said before, the demand for our copper products for cathodes, but also other copper products remains intact and is growing over the next years. So we don't expect any direct impact of these new capacities.

All right. And just the last one. So it's on TC/RCs. So far, the Chinese smelters have been able to avert a negative scenario where the benchmark would be below 0. So that was the case in 2026. But since then, the TC/RCs have plunged further into negative territory. You yourself quite immune because, I mean, you have your own contracts, but you still have some earnings sensitivity, some sensitivity to the benchmark level. So do you think a scenario where the benchmark comes below 0 can be again avoided next year given the recent evolution of the market?

Well, we cannot speak for the benchmark. And as we always said, our long-term contracts are not so much linked to the benchmarks. We expect midterm the TC/RCs to recover because of the overall market situation. But in our opinion, also, it takes some time. So we don't expect a short-term strong recovery of the TC/RCs.

[Operator Instructions]

And the next question comes from Bastian Synagowitz, Deutsche Bank.

My first one is just a follow-up on the operational challenges there, which you mentioned with regards to Richmond. Is a low double-digit headwind the right ballpark when we think about what the second quarter earnings impact has been? And then also, has there been any other effects which you had in the second quarter, maybe which are a little bit more in the one-off in nature, any disruptions, for example, also from hedge rolls and so on? That's my first question.

And then maybe related to that and the other projects you've got going on, maybe you could give us a quick update on how the other projects are doing at the moment and what the latest overall expectations are with regards to EBITDA contribution this and next year? I'll stop there.

Yes. Maybe first on Richmond on the assumption of the headwind we had, your assumption is right. It was low double-digit million in the Q2. Maybe Steffen, on the hedging question.

Yes, Bastian, I think you're referring to a remark that was in our documents on CSP kind of about offsetting effects from realization of hedging transactions. It's a bit of technical comment here. I think the most important message is both segments, MMR and CSP benefited from the contribution of a higher metal result, which is linked to overall higher price levels. Further spot-driven upside was capped in CSP due to hedging, which is our normal course of business to avoid risk.

And the effect was recognized in the CSP segment as the derivatives in question were allocated to CSP-related legal entities. So it's really a very technical effect. I would not overemphasize it. Key message is we earn good money on the metal price side. We do not enjoy all record high spot levels due to our hedging strategy, but this is obviously the right approach for us.

Can I maybe just -- sorry, can I maybe briefly follow up? Just on the duration of the hedge book, is it fair to assume that the main impact from the, I guess, the very strong metal prices is mostly coming in, in the second half of the calendar year, assuming maybe like a 12-month duration in the hedge book?

It's basically coming in all the quarters of this year and also for next year. So as we speak, for this fiscal year on the precious metals, we are hedged at around 75%. I think at another occasion, we did say that for next fiscal year, in silver, we are already hedged at 60% in gold already at 50%. And that comes in every quarter. Obviously, it's fair to say that hedging decisions have been taken 9 or 12 months in advance.

So let's say, what you see in this Q2 might be kind of a consequence of hedging decisions that have been taken 9 or 12 months earlier. And so it comes quarter-by-quarter.

And maybe, Bastian, on the other questions of the other strategic projects, as we've reported before, ASPA and Bob in Beerse and Olen, they have come on stream. They are now at the planned capacities and CRH is also coming on stream and also looks like it's going according to plan. And the other 2 big projects, which still need to be fully implemented are the tank house in Pirdop in Hamburg. And both these projects are on track from -- also from a budget standpoint.

And what does that mean for the overall contribution, I guess, the contribution now in '26 as well as what you now expect in '27?

Well, Bastian, you know that for, let's say, the impact of the strategic projects, we were guiding that in the midterm, so meaning in the fiscal year '28, '29, we expect a contribution of EUR 260 million overall. And we would not give, let's say, the more detailed picture now on each fiscal year. And speaking overall and with regard to the projects that Toralf just alluded to, we are in a comfortable position to achieve this midterm target.

Okay. Got you. Fair enough. Then just one last question and just coming back on sulfuric acid. Now I guess, even when taking into account your contract structure, is there any reason why spot pricing shouldn't be coming through pretty much in full in the last fiscal year quarter?

I agree with you that obviously, the impact that we see out of the dynamics Toralf described earlier related to the Middle East, the impact should be rather in Q4 than in Q3. So what I said earlier to, let's say, EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million increase in the fiscal year, most of it should be coming in Q4. And once again, visibility is also low, and we do not know to what degree this favorable pricing level will continue. But you're right, major impact should be in Q4.

But then, of course, looking at the EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million and your exposure to sulfuric acid volume-wise, I guess, makes the EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million look very low. So I don't think you've been at the upper end of guidance factoring in -- you've been factoring in anything near the current spot price. Is that correct?

I mean you know that when we give a new guidance, then our focus point is the midpoint of the guidance. So when I quote the EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million, this is in focus to the midpoint. If you would want to argue more towards the upper part of the guidance range, then the impact of sulfuric acid would be more meaningful than the EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million.

And at current spot, is there any guidance you could give us on like how maybe the fourth quarter exit run rate will look like, obviously, when the metal results will probably strengthen further and particularly sulfuric and maybe the scrap side will obviously start to support as well. Would it be wrong to say that yield should be above the EUR 200 million pre-tax run rate possibly?

I mean, I know where you want to get with me, and I would love to stay where we were. We said EUR 125 million last year, targeting a midpoint of the guidance with a larger impact of Q4. I would add, let's say, the EUR 15 million to EUR 20 million. Now talking about exit run rate out of Q4 into the next year, I would love to have that discussion with you later in the year. We still have a few months to prepare for that discussion.

At the moment, there are no more questions in the queue.

[Operator Instructions]

Everything seems quite clear. So with that, thank you very much. We are closing the Q&A session, and I'm handing the floor back over to the host.

Thank you. The IR team will, of course, be happy to answer any further questions you may have. We would now like to close today's conference call, and thank you for your attention. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you, and bye-bye.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and a warm welcome to the analyst call. [Operator Instructions] Let me now turn the floor over to your host, Elke Brinkmann, Investor Relations.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our call on the results of the first 3 months of fiscal year 2025-'26. We are here with our CEO, Toralf Haag; and our CFO, Steffen Hoffmann, who will walk you through the figures for the first 3 months of 2025 and '26 and current developments at Aurubis. We will first take you through the presentation and then open the line for your questions. [Operator Instructions]

But before we dive, a short reminder of our disclaimer on forward-looking statements. Today's capital markets presentation contains forward-looking statements about Aurubis plans and expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.

Let me now turn the floor over to Toralf Haag.

Thank you, Elke, and good morning, good day, good afternoon from Hamburg. Aurubis started the new fiscal year with a sound result that was in line with market expectations. Operating EBT was satisfactory at EUR 105 million, driven mainly by higher metal prices and consequently, a higher metals result. Declining TC/RCs, however, partly offset the positive metal result effect. EBITDA was EUR 164 million compared to EUR 184 million last year, which reflects anticipated higher costs in the overall group.

Net cash flow was slightly negative at minus EUR 8 million compared to EUR 178 million in Q1 of last year. Free cash flow before dividend was minus EUR 103 million compared to EUR 39 million the year before. Higher working capital at higher metal prices was the main factor in lowering cash flows, and both figures should be viewed as snapshots, as Steffen will explain further later in the presentation.

Operating ROCE on a rolling 4-quarter basis decreased to 7.8%, down from 11.7% the year before. This reflects lower earnings in prior year quarters and higher capital employed from our growth investments. Looking ahead to the remaining quarters of the fiscal year, we expect positive effects on earnings, in particular from higher metal prices and strong demand for copper products. In light of these factors, we raised our full year guidance for operating EBT to between EUR 375 million and EUR 475 million. The previous range was EUR 300 million to EUR 400.

Once again, our production figures show the broad scape of our multi-metal competence. I would like to briefly highlight the key drivers. Starting with our input, concentrate throughput went up 5% year-over-year to 630,000 tonnes, carried by a good operational performance. Copper scrap/blister copper output, on the other hand, went down by 5% to 115,000 tonnes. This was caused by our input mix in the quarter. Other recycling materials totaled 125,000 tonnes, slightly above last year. On the output end, the stable performance of our Tankhouse resulted in 285,000 tonnes of cathodes produced. Sulfuric acid output increased by 5% to 583,000 tonnes, right in line with concentrate throughput. Wire rod output remained stable at 201,000 tonnes, while copper shapes output dipped by 15% to 34,000 tonnes.

Lagging demand, trade barriers and imports were the main factors here. In contrast, flat rolled products and specialty wire increased slightly to 22,000 tonnes. Our output of other metals is another indication of the complexity of our feed materials and varies based on the content of those materials. Let me now take you through the market environment. This chart shows the development of our 4 key indicators since September 2023 based on market intelligence.

On the downstream side, European spot copper premiums remained widely stable at a high level in fiscal year Q1. Please bear in mind that premiums for annual contracts differ from spot premiums and will become effective only from fiscal year Q2 onwards. Sulfuric acid prices showed another increase, a move supported by strong demand, especially from overseas markets. On the upstream side, RCs for recycling materials improved in Q1 of the fiscal year because higher metal prices increased the availability of scrap. We expect that this trend will take effect in our results with a time lag.

Spot TC/RCs for copper concentrates stayed at low levels in fiscal year Q1, reflecting the tightness in the concentrate market. Our long-term supply contracts and diversified sourcing, however, help us manage this challenging environment.

Let me now turn to the price environment for key metals and the U.S. dollar. As all of you have taken notice of in fiscal year Q1, gold and silver prices continue to rise and reached all new-time highs. Copper prices also moved up notably as well with an increase to close to $1,000 per tonne in December alone, with an increase of $1,000 per tonne in December alone. The favorable development of these 3 metal prices positively contributed to our metal result as we see later.

Compared to Q1 of the last fiscal year, the U.S. dollar depreciated against the euro. Aurubis' long dollar position remains unchanged at approximately USD 530 million for the fiscal year. 54% of our U.S. dollar exposure is hedged at 1.125. For fiscal year '26, '27, around 40% of the exposure is hedged at a rate of 1.188. As a reminder, please note that there is no direct one-to-one correlation between our P&L and the price development shown here. We hedge part of our earnings and some of the effects are only visible with a time lag.

Before we move on the details of our financials, I would like to share an update on our contracting season. Despite the challenges in the concentrate market, we have already secured a very high share of our supply for calendar year 2026. Through long-term contracts that target complex raw materials, we ensure reliable supply to our primary smelters. This also allowed us to close additional long-term contracts, including agreements with new mining projects.

At the same time, we also ensure we have the flexibility to obtain additional volumes and steer our market presence as needed. For recycling, the market is still short term in nature and visibility is limited. Copper scrap availability still improved compared to the summer, a development supported by higher metal prices. This, in turn, allowed us to secure a supply of scrap that is enough to cover our needs until the end of the second quarter of '25, '26 at the very least. In the U.S., we are focused on securing the supply for Aurubis Richmond in line with the planned ramp-up.

Finally, we are expanding our sourcing presence beyond Europe to broaden our supplier base at the same time as well. In the downstream business, we have mostly wrapped up a very successful sales campaign. Demand for our copper product remains high. This is especially true for wire rod, which we largely supply to the energy, infrastructure and communications sector. We remain on track, moving in the right direction with sustainability, our Tomorrow Metals commitment, foster customer relationships and helps generate new business.

Demand for copper shape and flat-rolled products lagged somewhat behind the high demand for wire rod. This was mostly due to the reasons I already mentioned in detail. Looking at sulfuric acid, we are still seeing stable demand from the European chemical and fertilizer industries. Demand from overseas has also stayed high and is supporting the current market terms. Our asset sales book gives us good visibility in the summer despite the higher volatility on the spot market. This reinforces our confidence that we will be able to maintain this high level during this fiscal year.

And now let me hand over to Steffen Hoffmann, who will take you through the details of our financials.

Thank you, Toralf, and a warm welcome from my side, too. Let me take you through the financial details of the first 3 months of 2025-'26 and touch on the KPIs in this chart. Revenues increased by 25% to EUR 5.3 billion, primarily due to higher precious metal revenues driven by the marked rise in metal prices. Gross profit was slightly lower at EUR 426 million versus EUR 433 million in the prior year quarter. Higher cost of materials more than offset the gross margin increase. Operating EBIT came in at EUR 101 million and operating EBT at EUR 105 million, which is 19% below the prior year level of EUR 130 million.

Compared to the EBITDA, the decrease of the EBT was more pronounced than in the previous year. Personnel expenses increased by EUR 12 million and depreciation rose by EUR 10 million as planned due to strategic projects. The main positive impact on the result was a significantly higher metal result due to increased metal prices, especially for precious metals. Sulfuric acid revenues on par with the high prior year level and sustained higher copper product revenues provided additional support to the result.

Markedly, lower treatment and refining charges with higher year-over-year concentrate throughput, along with a mild input mix-related decline in earnings from the processing of recycling material had a counteracting effect. In addition, anticipated higher expenditures for strategic projects had an adverse effect on the result. With an EBITDA slightly below the previous year, the net cash flow was at minus EUR 8 million, significantly below the prior year level of plus EUR 178 million due to reporting date related higher inventories, coupled with higher metal prices.

Here, I would like to emphasize that this cash flow is a snapshot as of December 31, 2025, and inventory buildups will turn into cash flows in future quarters. In contrast, previous year's Q1 net cash flow was exceptionally high, considering the usual seasonal pattern. Operating ROCE, taking the operating EBIT of the last 4 quarters into consideration, decreased from 11.7% to 7.8%. This reflects lower earnings in previous quarters and higher capital employed due to continued investments.

Looking at quarterly performance. Profitability improved significantly in Q1 of '25, '26 compared to Q4 of '24/'25. Revenues increased from EUR 4.4 billion to EUR 5.3 billion. Gross profit climbed from EUR 380 million to EUR 426 million, driven by a stronger metal result and good smelter performance in CSP. Operating EBT rose from EUR 68 million to EUR 105 million. The previous quarter was still affected by the scheduled major shutdown in Pirdop. One-off effects in the MMR segment also weighed on Q4 '24/'25. Net cash flow declined from EUR 319 million in Q4 to minus EUR 8 million in Q1, mainly due to the buildup of working capital at higher price levels, which will translate into future cash flows, as mentioned before.

Coming to the gross margin. This slide shows the breakup on a group level. Total gross margin was around EUR 546 million, slightly above the prior year level of about EUR 534 million. Metal result was the main contributor to the gross margin and accounted for 45%. This is a step up from last year's 36% and reflects higher prices, especially for precious metals. Products and premiums were the second largest contributor and accounted for 33% of the gross margin. This share is broadly in line with the previous year, which underlines the stability of our downstream business. Higher earnings from products to come as of Q2 fiscal year.

And finally, treatment and refining charges for concentrate and recycling input decreased to 22% of the gross margin, down from 31%. This was mainly driven by the marked decline of concentrate TC/RCs as well as slightly subdued RCs for the recycling material purchased in the months before. As Toralf mentioned earlier, improved availability and higher RC levels will support earnings with some operational time lag, most probably starting in Q2 of the fiscal year. Overall, strong metal prices and solid product demand more than offset headwinds from lower TC/RCs at the gross margin level.

Coming to MMR. In the Multimetal Recycling segment, gross margin increased slightly from EUR 171 million to EUR 177 million. The main driver here was again a higher metal result that benefited from overall higher metal price levels. The strong increase of the metal result was, however, weakened by lower refining charges for recycling materials sourced in the previous months, coupled with a slight input mix-related drop in throughput. In contrast, operating EBIT declined from EUR 28 million to EUR 20 million and operating EBT fell from EUR 28 million to EUR 18 million. Higher expected costs and increased depreciation, among others, at Aurubis Richmond outweighed the gross margin uplift.

Operating ROCE decreased to 0.4%, down from 5.5%. The central factors here were lower earnings and over 20% higher capital employed, mainly for Richmond. Please keep in mind that the rolling EBIT of the last 4 quarters includes quarterly EBITs that were impacted by one-off items. Operationally, the segment's performance was mixed. Input mix-related effects resulting from scrap availability during summer impacted the throughput of copper scrap and blister copper, which moved down from 92,000 tonnes to 83,000 tonnes. Throughput of other recycling materials, however, was stable at 112,000 tonnes, while cathode output in the segment increased slightly to 134,000 tonnes.

In the next quarters, we continue to focus on stabilizing higher throughput levels, while enrichment revenues will gradually start to compensate the operating cost of the plant. And generally in MMR, RCs should pick up. In the Custom Smelting & Products segment, gross margin improved slightly from EUR 362 million to EUR 369 million. The powerful increase in the metal result was largely offset by the decline in concentrate TC/RC. The stable contribution of products and premiums to the segment's gross margin reflects just how robust our downstream business is.

Scheduled comprehensive maintenance in Hamburg with an EBIT impact of minus EUR 6 million, general cost inflation and anticipated cost increases for strategic projects weighed on operating EBIT. It declined from EUR 125 million to EUR 122 million, while operating EBT decreased from EUR 131 million to EUR 113 million. Operating ROCE was 17.8% compared to 19.4% in the prior year quarter. This decline was essentially due to lower earnings.

As in the MMR segment, the rolling 4-quarter EBIT level also took effect here. Concentrate throughput rose from 602,000 tonnes to 630,000 tonnes based on stable operations in Hamburg and Pirdop. In line with higher concentrate throughput, copper scrap and blister copper input increased to 32,000 tonnes and sulfuric acid output went up 5% to 583,000 tonnes. Cathode output reached 151,000 tonnes, which was due to temporarily lower current efficiency in Pirdop is only slightly below the previous year's level. Overall, we are satisfied with the segment's operational performance at the Hamburg and Pirdop plant. We are targeting ongoing high utilization levels to maximize copper supply to the markets.

Let's now take a look at cost development in the group. Total costs amounted to about EUR 464 million compared to roughly EUR 441 million in the prior year quarter. This EUR 23 million increase was significantly driven by higher scheduled depreciation in the amount of EUR 10 million for the strategic projects, which are being executed right now. At about 35% of total costs, personnel costs increased slightly. The main factors here were collective wage increases and expanded staffing levels for our strategic projects. Other operating expenses declined slightly to 21% of total cost with logistics and administration as the main items. Active energy management and hedging helped keep energy cost inflation under control and stable at around 7% of total cost. Excluding depreciation, cash costs totaled EUR 401 million compared to EUR 388 million in the prior year.

Turning to the cash flow bridge. In line with the operational performance of the business, operating EBITDA amounted to EUR 164 million. Compared to the previous year, the main deviation here is from the buildup of working capital, which was strongly influenced by higher metal prices. Inventories were EUR 495 million higher and receivables increased by EUR 176 million. Factoring was EUR 100 million lower than in last year's Q1. On the other hand, liabilities rose by EUR 404 million, partly offsetting the increase. The position other covers valuation changes for financial instruments that we are using for forward sales.

In Q1 '25/'26, the noncash effect amounted to EUR 110 million. Taken together, this resulted in a net cash flow of minus EUR 8 million. Here, I would like to highlight once more that our cash flow is subject to intra-year volatility and that the working capital tends to normalize over the course of the fiscal year. Net cash flow at December 31 should be regarded as a snapshot, in particular, because factoring capacities have not been exhausted in Q1.

Finally, we spent EUR 91 million in cash on investment activities. These were mainly linked to Richmond and the new Precious Metals Refinery in Hamburg. Total free cash flow for the first quarter came in at minus EUR 103 million. Before we move to our outlook and guidance, I would now like to take you through some of our balance sheet KPIs. The equity ratio on an operating basis was 49.9%. The slight decrease was caused by the balance sheet expansion driven by working capital that negatively offset the addition of EUR 81 million in earnings to the equity. Let us put the equity ratio into perspective, though. The close to 50% level is still very solid and clearly above our larger than 40% target. And in the next quarters, we expect to exceed the 50% mark again.

The debt coverage defined as net financial liabilities over rolling EBITDA was around 0.6 in Q1. Again, the increase of this KPI was primarily the result of higher working capital. Our debt coverage is still well below the 3.0 ceiling. Capital expenditure was EUR 108 million compared to EUR 141 million in the prior year quarter. This quarterly decline reflects the progress on completed projects as well as our disciplined approach. When we take the investments made in our strategic projects in recent quarters in account, the operating capital employed was about EUR 4.3 billion. This represents an increase from the EUR 3.8 billion recorded at the end of Q1 '24/'25. Nevertheless, as a bottom line, it's fair to say that Aurubis remains solidly and conservatively financed.

Let us now turn to our outlook for the key drivers of our business. Compared to last year's view on the markets, the outlook for our key macro drivers has improved overall. We all have followed the development of the metal prices. And since we last presented this chart, metal prices have reached even higher levels, which will positively impact our metal result. Regarding earnings from copper products, we anticipated strong earnings levels already last year. Still demand presented itself healthier than previously projected, which supports earnings from product sales even further. So both earnings drivers remain a green traffic light, however, even more positive than anticipated before.

Furthermore, as I've mentioned earlier, we are seeing a stable, if not slightly increasing sulfuric acid demand. Our sales book now provides us with visibility into the summer of '26. So we are taking a slightly more positive view than we did at the end of '25 and correspondingly added a touch of green to the yellow traffic light. For recycling, material availability has improved somewhat due to higher prices, and we are seeing better market conditions than last summer paired with improved market visibility.

At this stage, we maintain a cautious view as expressed by the yellow traffic light, but see the potential for an improvement in the coming months. The U.S. dollar-euro exchange rate remains an important factor as well, and we anticipate headwinds from the depreciation of the U.S. dollar versus the euro. Since we are somewhat mitigating the impact through our hedging strategy, we keep the yellow light here. While we are confident that we will be able to supply all our assets with raw materials, we are still seeing tight concentrate markets.

Consequently, the red traffic light for concentrate TC/RCs remains, in particular, since we have seen a visible TC/RC decline versus the previous year and the corresponding effect in our gross margin. In summary, these developments provide us with higher confidence regarding the outlook for the business in the remainder of the fiscal year. Based on the improved market outlook that I've just shared with you, we have raised our full year guidance for fiscal year '25, '26 last week. As we have highlighted before, the continuous rise in metal prices will have a strong positive effect on the group's metal result. Moreover, we anticipate that higher earnings from copper products and lower concentrate TC/RCs will still be a net positive effect on the EBT.

For Richmond, we expect to achieve breakeven on EBITDA level, meaning on EBT level, the contribution will still be a negative item. Finally, due to the recent depreciation of the U.S. dollar versus the euro, we factor in an additional headwind from foreign exchange. Therefore, we now expect operating EBT to be between EUR 375 million and EUR 475 million, up from EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million. And we now expect an operating EBITDA where the range has equally been lifted by EUR 75 million to be between EUR 655 million and EUR 755 million. By segment, we project an operating EBT of EUR 320 million to EUR 380 million for CSP, which is plus EUR 40 million and for MMR, an operating EBT of EUR 115 million to EUR 175 million, which is plus EUR 35 million versus prior guidance.

As a result, we upgraded the operating ROCE forecast as well to between 9% to 11% at the group level, which is up by 2 percentage points versus the prior guidance. Breaking it down to the segment level, we anticipate ROCE between 13% to 15% for CSP and between 8% to 10% for MMR, also here up each by 2 percentage points as well.

Furthermore, we have refined our net cash flow forecast and expect it to be above last year. This means net cash flow should exceed EUR 677 million for full year '25, '26. And finally, we expect free cash flow before dividend to be at least at breakeven for the full fiscal year. So in other words, we do expect that higher earnings levels will also result in higher cash flows. So the free cash flow guidance is slightly raised to at least free cash flow breakeven.

Having said this, please bear in mind that in context of raw material shipments at record high metal prices, a certain degree of imprecision around the balance sheet date may be unavoidable. And with this, I'd like to hand back over to Toralf.

Thank you, Steffen. Before we come to the final slide of our presentation, I would like to update you on the progress of our strategic projects. To sum up, our strategic projects continue moving forward and every day brings us closer to commissioning. By December 31, around EUR 1.4 billion, which is about 80% of the approved investment volume for strategic projects has been invested.

In Hamburg, we successfully installed the converter for complex recycling Hamburg. This is a key project milestone and commissioning is planned for the first half of this fiscal year '25, '26. That puts it in the current quarter. In Pirdop, the Tankhouse Expansion will allow us to process all anodes produced on site. This will increase refined copper capacity by about 50% to around 340,000 tonnes. Commissioning is also scheduled for fiscal year '25, '26.

In Richmond, we achieved a number of milestones that highlight the progress made on Phase 1. The first blister was shipped to Europe, generating the first revenues for the plant. Depreciation started in Q1 '25, '26, a signal of the site's technical readiness. The first complex melt was carried out on January 28, another important step in the ramp-up. Looking to the Phase 2, commissioning is still planned for this fiscal year.

Reaching the end of our presentation on the first quarter of fiscal year '25, '26, I would like to summarize the key takeaways. We had a sound start to the fiscal year. A higher metal result and strong metal prices drove gross margin expansion despite lower TC/RCs. EBITDA of EUR 164 million and operating EBT of EUR 105 million were in line with market expectations and were carried by good operational performance. Net cash flow and free cash flow came in below last year, in particular on account of working capital buildup at higher metal prices.

Operating return on capital employed was lowered by high investment in trailing earnings. However, as the projects ramp up, they will support returns over the medium term. The execution of our strategic CapEx program is on track. Complex Recycling Hamburg, the Tankhouse Expansion in Pirdop and Richmond Phase 2 are all scheduled for commissioning in '25, '26. For the full year '25, '26, we expect higher metal prices and stronger product business to offset the challenging raw material markets. Therefore, we now expect an operating EBT between EUR 375 million and EUR 475 million and a free cash flow before dividends to be at least at breakeven for the full fiscal year.

And with this, I would like to hand back over to Elke Brinkmann.

Thank you, Toralf and Steffen. Before we open the line for your questions, I would like to provide you with an outlook on the next event. Next week on Thursday, February 12, we look forward to welcoming many of our shareholders at our Annual General Meeting. And on May 11, we will publish our half year results for '25, '26.

With that said, I hand over to the operator for the first question.

[Operator Instructions] The first one is from Adahna Ekoku of Morgan Stanley.

I've got a question on your free metal hedging. So at the Capital Markets Day, you outlined that given the elevated metal prices, you would keep your remaining open position that you had for the rest of this year unhedged. Is there any more color you could give us now on where this hedged versus unhedged exposure is for the rest of the year?

Yes. Thanks, Adahna, for the question. I mean, as we now have 3 months, let's say, advanced in the fiscal year, we've also advanced a bit on our hedging position. I think what I can share here is that for copper, we are hedged for this fiscal year at around 60%. And for gold, silver, talking about the main pieces on precious metals, we are hedged at around 70% for this fiscal year.

The next question is from Bastian Synagowitz of Deutsche Bank.

Maybe starting with -- also with the metal prices, I guess we've seen obviously an amazing volatility there. Given the higher value in metals, do you see that your metal terms are changing for the procurement of raw materials? Or do you still see a pretty stable content in free metals in tonnage terms? That's my first question.

Yes. Bastian, no, we don't see any major change in our contract terms because of higher metal prices.

Okay. Great. And then just moving on to Richmond. I actually touched on that in the presentation. But just on the current weather situation in -- I guess, in the region, has this become effective for the supply of the business? I guess you said that you are relatively well supplied for scrap overall for the upcoming quarter. But I just wanted to understand how far maybe the weather is causing any effects here upstream or downstream? And then also, have you advanced on the next possible steps for U.S. footprint? If you could give us an update there, that would be great.

Yes, Bastian, on Richmond, the weather conditions U.S. don't have any major effect on our supply situation. We are currently well supplied with materials for our ramp-up for, I would say, until summer of this year. We also have the different materials available. So no impact of the weather on our tonnage or mix situation when it comes to recycling materials for Richmond.

Next steps, we are still in the evaluation phase. We are also in contact with the U.S. government for potential funding. But we stick to our milestone. First, we want to get Phase 2 up and running in the course of this fiscal year, and then we will make a decision on further expansion in the next fiscal year.

Got you. Okay. Great. And then lastly, on, I guess, the European market. What are you making out of the European plans for securing access to critical raw materials? I guess we have had a bit of noise on that front in the last couple of days. So what does this mean for you? And are there any implications to you on the project pipeline as well?

Of course, we welcome this, this attention to critical materials in Europe. We hope that also new mining projects will be started in Europe in order to increase the independence of Europe in the magnitude or in the direction of raw materials. Short term, we don't expect any major effect because it takes a while until these mining projects get started or help us supply more concentrates out of mines. But mid to long term, this we see a positive effect for us. We also hope that with this Critical Raw Materials Act that also there will be more focus on the support for the competitiveness of European raw material companies who use raw materials and who produce metals. So we expect more support from the government here. So we see this positive.

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from Maxime Kogge of ODDO BHF.

So first question is on the consolidation wave that we are seeing on the mining side. So now there are talks between Glencore and Rio. There has been already talks concluding into a merger between Anglo and Teck. What's your take on that? Because I guess that from the smelting point of view, it's not necessarily great to have this consolidation. You prefer to speak to Rio and to Glencore separately than to a global player? And would you see the need as well to consolidate on the smelting side to somehow mirror this consolidation on the mining side?

Yes. Thank you for that strategic question. Of course, we monitor these mergers quite intensively. We don't see a big negative effect. We rather see a neutral effect on us because our contracts are, in most cases, directly with the mines, and we have long-term relationships, as you know, with many different mines. So we continue to -- we expect that these long-term relationships and long-term contract agreements will continue.

Consolidation talks on the smelting side, we don't see right now. We have a good market position in Europe. We are building up a good market position in the U.S. with our focus on Europe and the U.S. and our -- as is market position in Europe and our to-be-built market position in the U.S., we feel strong enough to stay independent and not have any further consolidation. So no consolidation plans from our side on the smelting side.

Okay. And just a second and last question is on the wire rod. So this is really the product that is in hot demand right now. So I guess that you're basically at full capacity there in Europe. So would you see a case for expanding your capacity there? The current program doesn't plan any big capacity increase in Europe. Is this a segment where you would perhaps be more inclined to envisage that thing?

As you rightfully said, there is strong demand for wire rod. We see that across industries. We are almost at our capacity, where we still have a capacity limit where we still have some capacity left. First, we want to use or expand -- materialize this excess capacity that we have. And then in the second step, we would think about further expansion. But right now, there are no concrete plans.

Next question is from Daniel Major of UBS.

Just first and a couple of follow-ups on the existing questions. You mentioned 60% of copper and 70% of precious were hedged for this year. What sort of levels are those hedges at?

Yes, Daniel, I think that's the $1 billion question, right? So I think what I can share is that the guidance increase of the EUR 75 million, which is basically linked to more positive view on metals, a very positive view as well on our copper products, a bit more cautious view on Richmond, and obviously, also an update on the foreign exchange. Those comments that we were making were based on, let's say, on data points and on market information from the beginning of this calendar year. So that gives you a rough impression where the metal prices were there. And obviously, we do not know where the next months will go to. But as I said, in the midpoint of the guidance grounds on premises of early calendar year '26.

So if prices persist at this level, you'd be in the range. Is that a fair assessment?

Can you repeat if prices...

If spot prices were the same for the rest of the year, you would be within the range. There's no upside risk of spot pricing. Is that the right way of thinking about it?

That's correct. If prices would stay on those levels of early beginning of January, then we would see ourselves at the midpoint of the range. And if prices would be significantly higher than that or significantly lower than that, then it could be the one or the other.

Okay. Second question follows on from Bastian's question a little bit, but specifically on scrap export restrictions from Europe. Is there any update on time line or kind of parameters around that?

No, Daniel, there's unfortunately no update on the time line. We are in close contact with the political authorities here. They are willing to do something, but we have no concrete time line.

Yes. Next question, just going back to your slide with the variables. So Slide #5, you've seen a pickup in spot refining charges and sulfuric. In terms of the scrap market, you're mentioning improving availability because of the higher price environment. Do you think that's sustainable? Or is this just a destocking of available inventory of low-quality scrap because of the high pricing environment and that will normalize? Or is this a sustainable improvement in scrap availability?

I mean, Daniel, on -- let's say, we all know that on the scrap side, the visibility is limited. So kind of it's the next 3 months. But we do think that for now, it's -- let's say, for the next few months, it is sustainable. For the next few months, we count on higher RCs starting now with our next Q2. We see it coming. Let's say, new material that's going in is coming in with better RCs than the material we were putting in the smelters in Q1, having been sourced earlier or in the mid of '25 or in the fall of '25. So for the foreseeable few months, we think it's sustainable. And obviously, it will be a function of copper price developments going forward.

And then kind of similar question on the sulfuric market. It's not a market I know very well at all. What are the dynamics that have driven the recovery? And again, what's the outlook as you see it in the near term?

I mean also here, Daniel, let's say, visibility is a bit limited. But as I can say it that way, we see it at the time of the CMD or when we did the full year disclosure end of last year, we were giving the sulfuric acid market a yellow traffic light, yellow meaning same level as the very good level last year. And now we added some shade of green to it, meaning it's a bit better than that. And we think this is market driven in some of the subsegments, basically in the overseas -- from our perspective, in the overseas subsegments of the sulfuric acid prices. So here, it's a slight further improvement on real good levels that we see.

And then final one, you also highlight the positive contribution from the strength of products, which is predominantly wire rod. Is there any improvement in other end markets you're seeing coming through? I noticed you had a sequential year-on-year decline in flat products, but is there any signs of life in the other segments outside of wire rod?

Well, as you know, automotive is still at a low level. We see no major improvement there, but we see slight increases on the construction and infrastructure industry. So we see a slight pickup here, but no major pickups yet.

At the moment, there are no more questions in the queue. [Operator Instructions] All right. There is a follow-up from Bastian Synagowitz from Deutsche Bank.

Just on Richmond, I think your overall commentary there on the ramp-up sounded quite positive, but you said in the guidance mix, you basically marked it down a little. I guess Richmond is one area where at least on pretax level, I guess, the FX should actually work in your favor. So what's been driving the markdown?

Yes, Bastian. At the CMD, I think we had a chart that indicated that EBITDA would be a positive level. I think from the scale one could derive that it was, let's say, a plus EUR 20 million EBITDA figure. And as Toralf has said, we feel well with what we have on stock. We feel well also with the commercial terms. I mean what we talked about RCs improving now in Europe. We see similar things in the U.S. So the reason why we scaled it down a bit by the EUR 20 million roughly that I said is basically a few weeks slower ramp-up than we thought last fall.

But I mean, here, you see we are very granular. It's just a few weeks. We are happy that we had the first revenues in Q1. We are happy that we have the depreciation, which is a sign that the system is up and running. But it's really granular, perhaps at the end of the year, we are missing very few weeks of revenues, and that would be it.

So at the moment, there are no questions in the queue. So with that, I would like to close the Q&A session, and I'm handing the floor back over to the host.

Yes. Thank you. The IR team will, of course, be happy to answer any further questions you may have. We would now like to close today's conference call, and thank you for your attention. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day. Thank you, and goodbye.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Aurubis Analyst Call. [Operator Instructions]

Let me now turn the floor over to Elke Brinkmann.

Good afternoon also from my side and a warm welcome to the conference call on the full year results of the fiscal year 2024-'25 of Aurubis AG. We, from Investor Relations are here with our CEO, Toralf Haag; and our CFO, Steffen Hoffmann, who will present the figures for the 12 months of 2024-'25 and current developments at Aurubis.

After the presentation, the floor will be open for questions. [Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, a brief reminder of the disclaimer on forward-looking statements. Today's capital markets presentation contains forward-looking statements about Aurubis plans and expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.

Let me now turn the floor over to Toralf Haag.

Thank you, Elke, and welcome, everybody, to our conference call for the full year results for the fiscal year 2024-'25. Aurubis looks back on a successful year in which our competitor strengths have once again been the foundation of our resilience. The past fiscal year was characterized by a highly dynamic market environment with unprecedented shifts in the market.

The concentrate market swung into a deficit, motivating Asian smelters, in particular, to substitute copper scrap for concentrate. Developments that send TC/RCs and scrap RCs on a downward trajectory. Thanks to our multimetal excellence, our sustainability leadership but also our closing the loop activities with our customers, we were able to fully supply our primary and secondary recycling smelters.

At the same time, demand for metals searched where trade measures redirected material flows and created local deficits. As an integrated copper producer, we were able to reliably supply our customers and ensure the flow of critical metals to strategic relevant industry sectors. Overall, we managed market challenges well, while also achieving key milestones in our strategic growth agenda. One was first melt Phase 1 of Aurubis Richmond. We are well on track and our robust business model was a cornerstone of our resilient performance in the past fiscal year.

On the next page, I would like to give you an overview of the key financial highlights for fiscal year 2024-'25. In line with our sharpened guidance range, operating EBT came in at EUR 355 million. As highlighted before, this result was achieved in a challenging economic environment and includes the successfully completed major shutdown in Pirdop. EBITDA was at EUR 589 million versus EUR 622 million in the prior year, reflecting our solid operational performance.

Operating ROCE decreased to 8.8% compared to 11.5% a year ago. This is primarily due to our ongoing strategic investment program, which is increasing capital employed until the full earnings contributions come through. Net cash flow was a strong EUR 677 million, significantly above the prior year's EUR 537 million level driven by the robust earnings situation and a clear improvement in working capital. Q4 was outstanding with EUR 319 million net cash generation alone.

On the back of a healthy cash generation in Q4, free cash flow, pre-dividend improved by more than EUR 100 million from minus EUR 219 million in the previous year to a minus EUR 95 million. On this basis, we are proposing increasing the dividend to EUR 1.60 per share, up from EUR 1.50, which underlines our confidence in the business and its cash generation. Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, we are confirming our forecast of an operating EBT between EUR 300 million and EUR 400 million, which is expectedly roughly on par with the 2024 and '25 level, as well as free cash flow in a positive territory.

Turning on the next page to our production figures. I would like to highlight once again that Aurubis is much more than just copper. We have a wide array of strategically relevant metals. On the input side, we processed around 2.2 million tonnes of concentrate a slight decline of 4% year-over-year, reflecting the planned maintenance shutdown in Pirdop and operational issues in Hamburg at the beginning of the year.

At the same time, we increased copper scrap and blister input by about 3%, totaling 510,000 tonnes, demonstrating our ability to source and process secondary raw materials. Other recycling material throughput was down by 6% to 510,000 tonnes. On the output side, copper cathode production was stable at 1.1 million tonnes. In line with concentrate throughput development, we reduced roughly 2 million tonnes of sulfuric acid. The picture for other industrial metals, along with precious and minor metals is mixed. While some quantities exhibited fairly stable development or even increased, other metal quantities such as gold dropped versus the prior previous year, which is, to a large extent, a collection of the feed mix in connection with lower throughput levels.

Our output of wire rod and copper shapes was on par with the prior year level. Flat rolled products and specialty wire volumes, however, were down 31%, mainly because of the previous year figures included volumes from the Buffalo plant, which we sold. Overall, our smelter network showed a solid operational performance. Our unique smelter network allows us to supply high-quality products from both primary and secondary sources with a high share of recycled content.

As you can see, the share of recycled content in Aurubis copper cathodes has increased by 1 percentage point to 45%. And all of our copper products contain a sizable share of recycled content as well. We recovered 20 different metals and elements that are contained in our raw materials, such as tin. And here, we achieved even 100% recycled content, which highlights our strong position in circular economy solutions. This is the key strength of our network of plants in Europe and North America and is also a clear competitive advantage in securing supply and delivering sustainable products.

Let me now run through the market environment of our main products and raw materials. Starting with the downstream side. European copper premiums increased significantly after the U.S. tariff decision. And although they came down from the elevated levels in Q4, they stayed clearly above last year's level. Sulfuric acid prices declined from prior year peaks but stayed stable at a relatively high level, supporting our earnings in the CSP segment.

On the raw material side, according to industry reports, treatment and refining charges for copper concentrates on the stock market had fallen into negative territory in the recent quarters. They have now stabilized but remain at very low levels, reflecting the tightness in the concentrate market. This has been strained further by major main disruptions -- mine disruptions towards the end of Q4.

Furthermore, tightening scrap markets led to declining refining charges for recycling materials, particularly in Q4. Overall, we saw favorable development on the product side but faced headwinds from raw material markets, especially for concentrates and scrap. However, please bear in mind that there are no direct one-to-one correlation with our P&L. We are actively managing to remain independent for short-term fluctuations.

Let me now turn to the price development of -- for key metals in the U.S. dollar. As you are all aware, gold and silver prices increased sharply in Q4 of '24-'25 up 44% year-over-year and at new all-time highs, driven by macro and geopolitical factors. In comparison, copper prices remained relatively stable with a moderate increase towards the end of the quarter.

This favorable development of key metal prices positively contributed to our metal result as we will see later. The U.S. dollar euro exchange rate moved into a tight range over the period with the U.S. dollar depreciating from the levels at the beginning of the year. Aurubis long U.S. dollar position remains unchanged at approximately USD 530 million for the fiscal year with 54% of the U.S. exposure hedged at a rate of 1.125 for the fiscal year '26-'27, around 40% of the exposure is hedged at a rate of 1.188.

And now I hand over to Steffen Hoffmann for more details on the financials.

Thank you, Toralf, and a warm welcome from my side too. Let me take you through the financial details of fiscal year '24, '25 and touch on the KPIs in this chart. Our revenues increased by 6% to EUR 18.2 billion, mainly reflecting higher metal prices. Gross profit decreased slightly by 4% to EUR 1.6 billion as did EBITDA, which came in at EUR 589 million, which is minus 5%. Operating EBIT came in at EUR 358 million and operating EBT at EUR 355 million, 14% below the prior year. Compared to the EBITDA, the decrease of the EBT was more pronounced as in '24-'25. Depreciation increased by EUR 20 million as planned due to our strategic projects.

A higher metal result significantly increased earnings from sulfuric acid a robust contribution from product sales, as well as lower legal and consulting costs positively impacted the result. However, lower concentrate throughput and reduced TC/RCs lower earnings from processing of recycling materials and the anticipated higher ramp-up costs and depreciation for strategic projects weighed on the results.

Net cash flow improved significantly to EUR 677 million from EUR 537 million, underscoring the strong cash generation of our business. Our operating ROCE for fiscal year '24-'25 was 8.8% against 11.5% the year before, reflecting the investment phase we are currently in. Looking on the next chart at quarterly performance. Q4 showed clear improvement over Q3. Our operating EBT increased by 19% to EUR 68 million. Higher concentrate throughput following the successful completion of the Pirdop shutdown in Q3 supported earnings despite lower TC/RCs.

Please keep in mind that the shutdown was completed in Q4, so a minor portion of the shutdown still affects Q4. In Lunen, we recognized a EUR 10 million environmental provision in Q4, while Q3 was impacted by EUR 12 million additional depreciation on the at equity investment. Net cash flow almost doubled quarter-over-quarter to EUR 319 million, mainly due to the significant improvement in net working capital.

Moving on to the split of our gross margin, which is a nice representation of our multimetal strategy and the diversification of our earnings drivers. You saw this breakdown at our Capital Market Day, and we decided to provide you with the same breakdown for the 12-month period as well.

In total, gross margin was at around EUR 2.077 billion, broadly in line with the prior year level of about EUR 2.1 billion. Please bear in mind that our former FRP site in Buffalo was still included in the overview for fiscal year '23-'24. Compared to the previous year, the metal result share increased mainly on account of strong precious metal prices but the higher copper price contributed as well.

Here, we see again that Aurubis is more than just copper. We are multimetal and we will continue to strengthen this profile through targeted investments. However, declining concentrate TC/RCs weighed on the overall gross margin, while the scrap RC share remained stable. Still, our strategy of building on long-term partnerships and more complex materials shielded us to some extent from the extreme developments visible on the spot market.

In products and premiums, higher asset prices supported the group's gross margin, partially counteracting the TC/RC decline. And with respect to product premiums, I'd like to reiterate that Buffalo was still included in the previous year. Overall, the balanced mix of these earnings drivers helped us to mitigate volatility in individual markets and once more underpins the resilience of our business.

Let me now go into segment performance, starting with Multimetal Recycling. MMR generated an operating EBT of EUR 13 million compared to EUR 79 million in the previous year. Operationally, the throughput of recycling materials was slightly above the prior year level. However, in an environment of declining refining charges for recycling materials. The second half of the fiscal year was characterized by a challenging market environment with an impact on RCs, volume and mix.

Additionally, compared to fiscal year '23-'24, the segment's performance was impacted, in particular, by higher ramp-up costs for strategic projects, especially at Aurubis Richmond, and furthermore, as we've alluded to, an impairment on an equity investment in the amount of EUR 12 million and a provision for a planned environmental measure in the amount of EUR 10 million weighed on the segment's performance and can be treated as a one-off. The ROCE declined from 5.6% to 0.9%, reflecting both the lower earnings level and the increase in capital employed, mainly due to Richmond. Overall, we are not happy with this level at MMR and we'll focus on improving the financial performance going forward.

Turning to the segment's gross margin. Overall, the gross margin increased slightly to around EUR 640 million versus EUR 623 million in the prior year despite the tightening scrap markets. This increase is attributable mainly to the segment's metal result which benefited from higher metal prices. refining charges for recycling input were stable and contributed roughly 45%, very close to last year's 46%. Contribution of products and premiums in MMR remained flat compared to the previous year.

Let's now take a look at the Custom Smelting & Products segment. CSP delivered an operating EBT of EUR 446 million versus EUR 458 million, so almost at the prior year level despite the deterioration of concentrate TC/RCs. The ROCE for the segment was 18.2% compared to 19.6% last year, influenced again by a higher capital base due to investments. Concentrate throughput was at 2.18 million tonnes and sulfuric acid production at roughly 2 million tonnes, both slightly below the prior year due to the major plant shutdown in Pirdop.

Cathode output rose slightly to 582,000 tonnes, and rod and shapes volumes remained broadly stable. FRP products and specialty wire volumes declined to 90,000 tonnes mainly due to the sale of the Buffalo plant in the prior year.

Overall, CSP showed good operational performance in a challenging market environment and delivered earnings broadly in line with last year, despite the Pirdop shutdown. Looking at the gross margin. This, in CSP highlights the different moving parts. Total gross margin was approximately EUR 1.44 billion, slightly below last year's level, reflecting lower global treatment and refining charges, as well as lower concentrate throughput.

Accordingly, treatment charges for concentrate and recycling input contributed around 18% of gross margin, down from 24% in the prior year, mirroring lower TC/RCs and subdued scrap RCs. The metal result increased to 34% from 27% in the prior year, driven in particular by higher precious metal prices and higher copper prices. Products and premiums contributed 48%, roughly in line with last year's figure. This reflects significantly higher earnings from sulfuric acid and robust demand for copper products and here again, the reminder is that last year's figures included Buffalo for 11 months. So while TC/RCs were under pressure and throughput volumes were lower due to the shutdown in Pirdop, we successfully compensated with a stronger metal result and product contributions.

Let us now take a look at cost development in the group. Total group costs were around EUR 1.9 billion, slightly below the EUR 1.98 billion in the prior year. Distribution among the cost categories was quite similar to last year. The decrease in total cost is largely due to the sale of the Buffalo plant and thus a lower asset and cost base. Personnel costs represented about 33% of total cost slightly increasing due to higher headcount, mainly for strategic projects, as well as wage increases.

Our energy costs declined mainly on account of the sale of the Buffalo plant. For the remainder of the group, energy costs were stable due to energy management. Consumables and external services, both around 12% and at 22%, other operating expenses like logistics or maintenance were stable versus previous year. Depreciation and amortization increased as expected due to our strategic investments, bringing total D&A to about 12% of the cost base. Excluding D&A, our total cash costs decreased to EUR 1.665 billion from EUR 1.764 billion in the prior year, reflecting our cost discipline and portfolio adjustments.

Turning to cash flow. We saw a very strong development in '24-'25. Starting from left to right, operating EBITDA of EUR 589 million is the starting point, reflecting our robust financial performance. Net working capital improved significantly driven by higher liabilities, partly offset by higher inventories. Tax payments, however, increased to EUR 92 million on account of the application of the global minimum tax rate in Bulgaria, as well as deferred taxes.

This led to a net cash flow of EUR 677 million, clearly above the prior year's EUR 537 million. Cash outflows for investment activities remained high at EUR 754 million, mainly for Aurubis Richmond, complex recycling Hamburg and the planned Pirdop shutdown. Free cash flow before dividend was at minus EUR 95 million, which is a marked improvement versus the previous year's minus EUR 219 million figure and reflects that the peak of our investment phase is now behind us. In total, we paid dividends in the amount of EUR 66 million, which results in a free cash flow after dividends of minus EUR 160 million. Overall, we focused on strengthening the cash flow profile while executing large strategic projects.

I would now like to move on to some of our balance sheet KPIs. Our equity ratio is 53.5%, slightly below almost 56% last year but very comfortably above our 40% target and above. Our net leverage is again very low at 0.5% and well below our maximum target of 3x EBITDA. Please take note that the capital expenditure of EUR 771 million on this slide includes capitalized own work.

And for this reason, is slightly higher than the cash figure shown on the previous slide. Capital employed increased to roughly EUR 4.1 billion from around EUR 3.7 billion, reflecting the investment program. The net cash flow, as mentioned before, improved to EUR 677 million. So I think it's fair to say overall that the balance sheet remains very solid despite the high level of investments and the financial leverage remains low, giving us ample flexibility.

The next slide is meant as a quick reminder of our updated capital allocation policy and our clear commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet while pursuing disciplined growth and shareholder returns. Besides aiming to keep the equity ratio above 40% and maintaining a maximum net leverage of 3x EBITDA at the fiscal year-end, we provided guidance on how to allocate available capital among approved growth projects and baseline CapEx, as well as dividends.

For the latter, we sharpened our dividend policy at the CMD and foresee a payout ratio of up to 30% of the group's operating consolidated net income in the medium term for fiscal year '24-'25, we stated that we would aim for a 25% payout ratio since the last fiscal year was still marked by high investment activity. So what's now our concrete dividend proposal on the next chart.

Our operating EPS was at EUR 5.97 in '24-'25, down from EUR 7.66 in '23-'24. Main reasons for the decline were the lower operating EBT, as well as higher tax payments due in part to the higher corporate tax rate in Bulgaria, which I mentioned before. Despite the lower earnings base, we propose increasing the dividend to EUR 1.60 per share up from EUR 1.50 per share last year, continuing the gradual upward trajectory in absolute terms. This would correspond to a payout ratio of 27% which is above the 25% target for the transition year that I've just mentioned. It once more underscores management's confidence in the business and its outlook.

While this would increase the absolute dividend, the dividend yield is lower than in previous years due to strong share price performance. Still, the absolute dividend amount and our policy reflects a clear commitment to shareholder renumeration. Looking ahead to fiscal year '25-'26, the mix picture for our main macro drivers that we presented at the CMD remains largely unchanged. Raw mat supply is not ideal but manageable thanks to our long-term contracts and market position.

As many of you are aware, concentrate supply remains tight, and we remain cautious despite some hopeful news flow in recent weeks. Hence, we expect TC/RCs to remain at the low level of the recent months. For RCs for recycling raw mats, we expect a stable outlook, although recent months presented more of a mixed picture. Keep in mind that visibility in these markets is generally limited. The euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate remains affected to watch as it has developed less favorably for us in recent months, but we manage our exposure through our hedging and commercial policies.

The sulfuric acid market is of a more short-term nature as well. And prices have normalized from previous peaks but are still at a sound level. We continue to see healthy demand from the chemical and fertilizer sectors, although with more volatility compared to the previous year. Metal prices and demand for our products are expected to remain supportive overall, especially given structural trends such as electrification and infrastructure investments.

In total, we expect a challenging raw mat environment, though with positive contributions from metals and products. Despite the somewhat mixed macro picture, we expect a sound '25- '26 fiscal year. We maintain our outlook for operating EBITDA between EUR 580 million and EUR 680 million and an operating EBT in the range of EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million, roughly at '24-'25 level.

Bear in mind, please, that the EBT level mentioned includes higher depreciation in the order of EUR 50 million. For CSP, we expect an operating EBT of EUR 280 million to EUR 340 million. On the one hand, this range reflects the lower TC/RC level that affected fiscal year '24-'25 only in part and will now affect '25-'26 on a full year basis.

On the other hand, besides headwinds from the euro-U.S. dollar rate we anticipate higher costs for footprint expansion due to strategic projects like CRH or Tankhouse expansion Pirdop. Higher depreciation will weigh on the segment's financial performance as well.

On the other side, increased material prices, high demand for copper products and improvement in operational performance will offset the challenges but only partially. Still, considering that we are only 10 weeks into the new fiscal year, there might also be scenarios in which the segment's EBT comes in at the upper end of the guidance.

For MMR, our expected operating EBITDA range is EUR 80 million to EUR 140 million. From today's perspective, we do not expect negative one-off items like last year and ramp-up cost in Richmond to impact the segment's performance in fiscal year '25-'26. Furthermore, increased metal prices and high demand for copper, as well as an improvement in operational performance should support the segment's earnings level.

Regarding the development of recycling raw mat markets, we maintain a more cautious view and higher depreciation at segment level will partially counteract the positive items. Also here, they are still 40 weeks ahead of us in this fiscal year. We anticipate net cash flow in the range of EUR 640 million to EUR 740 million, driven by a strong operating performance and further working capital management, which would translate to free cash flow before dividend at breakeven, reflecting the combination of reduced investments and cash generation improvements.

Operating ROCE is expected between 7% and 9% with CSP at 11% to 13% and MMR at 6% to 8%, mirroring the increased capital employed from the investment activities mentioned. Overall, we confirm our previous guidance and expect another solid year. To help you frame the guidance, this slide, which we presented in detail at the CMD, schematically shows how our price change of 10% versus our assumptions for fiscal year '25-'26 would impact our EBT, a 10% change in concentrate TC/RCs, recycling RCs or sulfuric acid prices. Each translates into a low double-digit million euro impact on operating EBT for '25-'26. A 10% change in the euro-U.S. dollar rate or the copper premium would lead to a low to medium double-digit million change of the EBT.

The highest sensitivity is visible in the metal result, a 10% price change across the entire metal portfolio would translate into medium to high double-digit million euro impact. Again, this illustrates that the diversified set of drivers influences our results and the drivers that may have been expected to have a higher weight in the earnings composition I refer to TC/RC turn out to be less dominant. At the same time, we actively manage these exposures.

On CapEx, we are now moving beyond the peak of our current strategic investment program. More than 75% of the existing EUR 1.7 billion strategic CapEx program has already been spent. And the remaining strategic CapEx will phase out gradually as shown here, basically almost everything of the remainder in the new fiscal year. You can see that total CapEx peaked in '23-'24, declined in '24-'25 and is expected to decline further in '25-'26 as major projects are completed or enter commissioning.

Therefore, we are planning with the strategic CapEx in the amount of EUR 350 million, EUR 100 million lower than in fiscal year '24-'25. At EUR 320 million, our expected baseline CapEx falls at the lower end of the EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million range, reflecting our CapEx discipline and the change in our primary shutdown cycle. As strategic projects come on stream, depreciation and amortization will gradually increase, reflecting the higher asset base. As mentioned before, DNA is anticipated at EUR 50 million above the prior year level.

And with this, I'd like to hand back over to Toralf.

Thank you very much, Steffen, for taking us in detail through the financials. The next slide we presented to you at our CMD at our Capital Market Day, and I would like to briefly repeat our path forward to frame the next slide.

The decade of metals has begun and megatrends such as electrification, energy infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and global security are supporting long-term demand for our products and capabilities. Our ambition is to forge resilience and to lead in multimetal delivering impact across five strategic pillars: focused growth, innovation, efficiency, commercial excellence and impact from our investments. We are targeting value-creating growth, where we hold a leading competitive position, and we aim to maximize multimetal yields through innovation in metallurgical know-how.

We continuously optimize our operations for peak efficiency and strengthen our commercial excellence to deep market access and competitiveness. This is underpinned by three key enablers. Sustainability leadership, our performance culture and financial strength. In the fiscal year, '24-'25, we successfully advanced projects into the in-commissioning phase. Including Bleed Treatment Olen Beerse, Aurubis Richmond Phase 1 and the third Solar Park in Pirdop.

BOB has already started commissioning in December '24, and the first phase of Aurubis Richmond celebrated first month in September '25 and is now in the early stages of hot commissioning. Looking ahead to the current fiscal year, important projects such as Complex Recycling Hamburg, Aurubis Richmond Phase 2 and the Tankhouse expansion in Pirdop are planned to go into commissioning and expand our multimetal network.

Projects such as Slag Processing in Pirdop and the new Precious Metal Refinery in Hamburg are still further out with commissioning scheduled in the fiscal year, '26-'27. These projects will create impact by enhancing our recycling capacity improving efficiency and supporting our sustainability and growth ambitions. In the next few minutes, I would like to highlight the 3 key projects for '25-'26 in more detail.

First, Complex Recycling Hamburg or CRH, is expected to start commissioning in the first half of the current fiscal year and will further optimize the metallurgical network in Hamburg. The facility will show -- will allow for about 30,000 tonnes of additional external recycling input per year, increasing our ability to process complex secondary materials. From a gross margin perspective, the project will contribute to strengthen the metal result, as well as our earnings from TC/RCs and RCs.

Second, Phase 2 of Aurubis Richmond in the U.S. will double the intake capacity for complex recycling materials to 180,000 tonnes. Commissioning will be followed by a technical ramp-up phase, after which we expect a material contribution to earnings. Once fully ramped up, Aurubis Richmond will contribute to increasing TC/RCs and RCs, as well as the group's metal result.

Third, the Tankhouse expansion in Pirdop will enable us to process Pirdop's entire anode production directly on site, adding around 50% more refined copper production capacity at the site. This additional cathode production will mainly add to the group's earnings from product and premiums, while also supporting the metal result to a lesser extent.

Together, these projects support our multimetal strategy, strengthen our footprint in Europe and North America and further enhance our resilience. Our commercial excellence pillar, specifically target strengthening the relationship with our partners, downstream but also upstream in particular. Secure competitive raw material supply is crucial for Aurubis.

Here are some of the key agreements we concluded. With Troilus Gold in Canada, we signed an offtake agreement for 75,000 tonnes of copper-gold concentrate based on a positive feasibility study supported by a German government financing package. Our metallurgical capabilities and ability to process complex raw materials allow us to unlock resources and create value together with Troilus.

With Viscaria in Sweden, we have agreed on 25,000 tonnes of copper concentrate deliveries from 2028 to 2035, with an option for extension. This mine project has a strong ESG profile and strengthens European supply.

With Teck Resources, we signed a memorandum of understanding, collaborate on responsible mining and sustainability, focusing on traceability, transparency of ESG performance and credible certification frameworks, building on our long-standing partnership.

In our collaboration with both Viscaria and Teck, our authentic sustainability leadership has been key to building and further strengthening the relationships. These agreements support our long-term raw material security, enhance our ESG positioning and contributes to the resilience and competitive of our supply portfolio.

To summarize, 2024-'25 was a successful fiscal year for Aurubis. Despite planned maintenance shutdowns, one-off items and a challenging market environment, we delivered a solid EBITDA of EUR 589 million and an operating EBT of EUR 355 million, which was comfortably within our guided EBT range. Cash generation improved significantly as is reflected by net cash flow of EUR 677 million, and we aim to improve it further going forward.

We reached key milestones in our strategic product including the first melt at Aurubis Richmond. The proposed dividend of EUR 1.60 per share represents a payout ratio of roughly 27% and reflects our confidence in the business and its long-term prospects. For 2025-'26, we expect an increased metal result and higher contributions from our product business. This will compensate for challenging raw material markets.

With declining annual CapEx, we expect free cash flow generation to improve to a breakeven before dividend, while we confirm our guidance for an operating EBT of EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million, broadly at the '24-'25 level. Overall, we are well positioned to benefit from structural megatrends and to continue delivering on our performance 2030 strategy.

Let me close the presentation by reiterating what makes Aurubis stand out. First, we have a strong market outlook. The decade of metals has begun, and megatrends are expected to drive double-digit growth in our end markets by 2035.

Second, Aurubis holds a leading position as a top copper and multimetal producer in Europe and the U.S., with a unique setup of capabilities in primary and secondary metallurgy.

Third, our strategy focused on growth and resilience, leveraging multiple earning drivers to increase our leadership in multimetal and our impact, efficiency and robustness.

Fourth, we deliver strong financials. On the back of a world-class operations and focused investments, we aim for steady EBT growth and a 15% long-term ROCE target.

Fifth, we are clearly committed to a shareholder value, combining value-accretive growth projects with an attractive dividend policy and potential additional returns of excess cash. In short, performance, resilience and multimetal leadership define Aurubis investment case.

And with this, I would like to hand over to Elke Brinkmann.

Thank you, Toralf and Steffen. I would like to provide you with an outlook on the next event following our Q4 publication. We will publish our Q1 2025-'26 results on February 5, followed by the Annual General Meeting on February 12, '26.

And with that, I would like to ask the operator to take over for your questions.

[Operator Instructions] And first up is Boris Bourdet from Kepler Cheuvreux.

My first question would be on the recent developments you alluded to in your presentation regarding the recent discussions on TC/RCs. We've heard that the Chinese CSPT was committed to reduce the production by 10%. I was wondering whether that would change your view on TC/RCs marginally. And can you share with us where you would expect the benchmark to land, if any?

And also from Slide 11 on TCs, I can make a rough calculation that -- it meant -- lower TCs meant EUR 90 million downward contribution this year. Is it the same kind of contribution you expect next year? That's the first question.

I'll start with the first question, and then Steffen can take on the second question. Yes, you're right, Boris. There was also a publication that the Chinese smelters plan to reduce the capacity, the production output by 10%. And we have not felt that in the spot TC/RCs. But we expect a slight recovery of the TC/RC level. But again, it's going to be a slight recovery in no major recovery.. But this is positive news which unfortunately only will have limited impact so far.

And Boris, on your second question relating to TC/RCs, right? We are flagging that also for this year, we see an impact of declining TC/RCs for copper concentrates. So basically low TC/RC levels are rolling into our Aurubis average terms. You do know that, obviously, a big chunk of our contracts is already concluded.

So call it, at this stage, roughly 85% of the contracts are concluded. So our exposure to direct spot rates is limited but some of the contract language has a certain link to recent market levels. And yes, the overall impact this year is around in the vicinity, let's say, from a year-over-year impact in an EBT bridge, it's a similar impact as we've seen last year versus the year before.

And maybe 2 others. One question would be on yesterday's announcement by the European Commission about the RESourceEU program. It doesn't seem like copper is -- copper scrap is part of what is being discussed at the moment, but could be -- can you share your view on what could be expected from this and discussions you might have with the European Commission?

Well, as you said, this recently announced RESource program does not have copper in the focus. We are more relying on the Critical Raw Materials Act, which was published a while ago, and we are in constant discussions with the European Union to secure more raw materials in Europe, number one, by focusing and allowing -- permitting more mine projects in Europe; and secondly, to limit the export of secondary material out of Europe. So those are the two cornerstones of increased raw material availability in Europe but these discussions are taking their time.

Okay. And regarding the one-offs you mentioned during the call, so the EUR 12 million impairment on the JVs plus the EUR 10 million provision at Lunen. Was that already part of the guidance? Or was that a last minute surprise, meaning that without this, you might have ended up quite above consensus expectations for the full year results? And what exactly is that equity impairment for the JVs?

Boris the two one-offs that you have alluded to that we disclosed separately have been baked in the full year guidance. For example, when we were exchanging with you and the capital market around the CMD, we included that. So we were not surprised by that.

On the equity adjustment or the participation. We have said it's in the MMR segment. It's in the recycling segment. it's related to a battery recycling participation. And in the annual report, you can also find the name. So that's why I don't ask you to go -- to find it out yourself, the company is called Librec, it's a Swiss participation that we are engaged in the battery recycling environment. Obviously, we all know that some of the key premises on the battery recycling market in EU are developing -- are moving time-wise a bit more to the right. So we felt that it was right to take a correction here.

Next up is Bastian Synagowitz from Deutsche Bank.

My first one is on Richmond. So I'm basically just wondering whether everything so far is going according to plan. And are there any roadblocks which have come up -- which have come up since you started the smelting process? And are you also generally happy with the metal KPIs and the performance from what you're seeing so far? That is my first question.

Yes, Bastian, yes, Richmond is going according to plan. We are now, as we have said, in Phase 1, we had some charges where we were smelting simple scrap. Now we are in the process of smelting more complex recycle materials. Right now, we don't see any major roadblocks, but it's too early to say if we meet our metal KPIs or not because we are still in the ramp-up phase.

So we still need to have experience on two sides on the one -- the material mix we are getting in the U.S. in our recycled materials and number two, the production efficiency, that's still too early to say. But so far, it's on track.

Okay. Great. And then on your supplier structure and portfolio, is this coming together as well as you were hoping to? And are you still confident that the availability for the materials you're actually looking for is there in the market and as good as you were expecting?

Yes. I mean we had experience in the U.S. market before because we had contact with suppliers for the supply of scrap material and recycling material for Europe. So they have been long-term relationships. The supplier structure is coming into place. We're getting the mix of different recycling materials in. So normal copper strap, also cables, but also more complex recycling materials like circuit board. So the supplier structure is there. The different materials are there. Like I said before, it's too early to make statements about what result we get out of this material and the efficiency.

Okay. Great. Then my next question is on cash flow and probably one for Steffen. I guess when we look at cash flow in the fourth quarter, you performed actually quite well. I'm wondering whether this has raised the bar for the target for breakeven this year as well? Has this become more ambitious? Or is this very much as you expected, and you're still very confident to hit that target as well. I know you kept that target for breakeven, I guess, to some extent that answers it, but I wanted to just understand how far this may have become a bit more of a stretched target now.

Yes. I think I can say that the way we could end the last fiscal year was slightly ahead to what we initially had in mind. So we had small smile on our face, let's put it that way. Now talking about '25-'26 and cash flow, we are expecting a net cash flow of EUR 640 million to EUR 740 million.

And we've also said that the cash relevant CapEx would be expected to go down versus last year by roughly EUR 100 million. So depending on the point in the range that is chosen from a net cash flow guidance perspective, free cash flow breakeven could be rather modest or more significant I mean we still have 40 weeks ahead of us in the fiscal year. So let's not nail ourselves down on whether it will be exactly a breakeven before dividend or whether there is a slight upside, we are at the guidance where we are, and we are confident that we will achieve the targets. And that's what I think we can say at this stage.

Okay. Great. Fair enough. Then my last question is just on, I guess, your maintenance schedule, and I saw that you've been bringing forward the smaller maintenance still set in Hamburg now into November, I think originally, there was scheduled for May. Was there any particular reason behind it? I guess it's a small one, so I wouldn't think so, but just wanted to understand what's been driving this.

No, Bastian. This is normal maintenance planning where we have different influence factors, the availability of materials for the maintenance. So it's a combination of many factors why the maintenance planning was adjusted, but no major incidents.

And we're coming to the next questioner, It is Adahna Ekoku from Morgan Stanley.

Can you help us with some more detail on the mix picture you're seeing for recycling RCs? How are the levels now as compared to the summer where I think European scraps RCs were at around EUR 250 per tonne. So where do these kind of stand now? And have you seen any green shoots at all to consider going into next year? Thank you.

Yes, Adahna, we have seen a slight recovery of the recycling markets when it comes to -- also when it comes to scrap when it comes to the tonnage and also a slight improvement of the RCs, but we have not seen a substantial improvement.

And maybe just to follow up on that, is that improvement from kind of any increase in economic activity or slightly lower exports or just kind of general improvement?

We think it's mainly the function of, again, a higher copper price and therefore, higher availability of copper scrap.

And the next question comes from Felicity Robson from the Bank of America.

Could you provide some color around timing on commissioning for a strategic project for next year, especially around the second phase for Richmond, please?

Well, Felicity, as we said in the presentation, we plan the commissioning of Phase 2 in the year -- in the calendar year 2026, it strongly depends on how we process now with Phase 1. So our current assumption is that we will commission it in the mid -- in the summer of 2026.

[Operator Instructions] And we have a follow-up question coming from Boris Bourdet from Kepler Cheuvreux.

Thank you again. One broad question and one technical. The first is, what would you say has been the main change since the 8th of October where at the time of the CMD you have observed in the market? That's one question.

And the second is on the tax rate, since there is a higher tax rate in Bulgaria. Would you share any guidance for the tax rate into next year?

Well, on the first question, what was changed since October 8? There are no major changes in our assumptions there's maybe slight changes that we have a little bit improved situation like we discussed before on the availability and on the RCs on the recycling market. And we have some positive news on the concentrate market when it comes down to China capacities but we have not seen a big recovery in the TC/RCs for concentrates. So very slight changes, no major changes.

And Boris, on the tax rate, absolutely right, in '24-'25, we had a higher tax rate. I was alluding to that, 2 reasons one-off special item related to Buffalo on the deferred taxes. Secondly, a topic that's not a one-off, which is a topic to stay higher tax rate in Bulgaria, according to Pillar 2 now with a 15% minimum tax rate in Bulgaria. All of that resulted with the mix of results that we have from our footprint resulted to a tax rate of 26% and in last fiscal year. And I would assume that we are in the same ballpark also for this fiscal year.

[Operator Instructions] Thank you. There are no further questions.

Okay. Thank you. The IR team will, of course, be happy to answer any further questions you may have. We would now like to close today's conference call, and thank you for your attention. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day and a beautiful Christmas time. Thank you and goodbye.

Good afternoon, London. And because we're streaming this event also through the web, we're also wishing a good morning to all our participants from the U.S. Welcome to the Aurubis Capital Market Day 2025. Thank you very much for coming. I hope you all had safe travels here. And I hope you're also as excited as I am about today's presentations. My name is Ken Nagayama. And since the beginning of the year, I'm heading the Investor Relations department at Aurubis, after having had several other positions in the company for the last 17 years.

Actually, I started out my career in IR at Aurubis in 2008, and I see some familiar faces here in the audience which is great to see that you're sticking around with this great company and the industry. So in that capacity, I'm delighted to be your host today, and I'll guide you through the next couple of hours and moderate the sessions throughout the day.

But before we dive into the agenda, some organizational remarks, safety first. In case of an emergency, we'll follow the illuminated green signs at the seating through that door and exit through the staircase through one of the exits on the ground floor. Don't take the elevators. Number two, all registered participants here in the web can ask questions throughout the whole event. You just have to click the Q&A button at the top of the screen. And then you can enter your questions. Number three, we have released the press release for today's Capital Market Day on the web. And as we speak, the presentation slides for the event should also be on the web so you can download them, read them while listening to the feed.

[Operator Instructions] So now let's go straight into the agenda. Our full Executive Board is here, and we'll kick it off with a panel discussion where the Board will talk about their priorities and their focus areas. We will continue with a view on the markets and the competitive positioning of Aurubis. And after that, we will update you on our revised strategy before we will give you a first opportunity to ask questions here in the auditorium or virtually.

After the break, we will dive deeper into the U.S. growth story. And we'll have a session where we will welcome 2 guests from 2 esteemed business partners for a panel discussion here on stage to discuss working with Aurubis and the value we create in partnerships.

The final presentation of the day will be an update and a deep dive into our financials, our midterm outlook and our updated capital allocation policy. And then we will follow that presentation with another round of questions. Our CEO, Toralf Haag, will then close the day and our dense program with a couple of reflections.

So with no further ado, let's jump right into the first point of our agenda. For a bit more than a year, this Aurubis leadership team has been in office. And today, we would like to use the first 45 minutes to give you within the scope of an interactive panel discussion, the opportunity to learn more about the team, their priorities and why they are excited about the future of Aurubis. Therefore, I would like to welcome our Executive Board to the stage. And first, with more than 30 years of experience in metals and the process industry and now having returned to Aurubis after 20 years, please join me on the stage Toralf Haag. Welcome, Toralf.

Thank you.

To move on, with a great passion for metals recycling, she's been part of this industry for 3 decades with a focus on circularity and commercial innovation. Welcome Inge Hofkens, COO, Multimetal Recycling.

Thank you, Ken.

Great to have you here, Inge. Up next, I would like to introduce you to a colleague with a strong record in operational excellence, who, as I've learned over lunch, was not just 10 years at the helm of Aurubis Bulgaria, but 11 years and 2 months, if I'm correct. Welcome to the stage, Tim Kurth, COO, Custom Smelting and Products.

Thank you.

Welcome, Tim. And finally, I would like to introduce you to a gentleman who has gained intense international experience in Corporate Finance in a very global and very process-driven industry. Let's welcome to the stage Steffen Hoffmann, CFO at Aurubis. Thanks for joining us. And while many in the audience will have had several interactions one-on-one with you guys before, I'm sure we're all excited to learn about you and your priorities in this discussion.

And I'd like to kick it off with you, Toralf, and ask you, you joined Aurubis more or less a year ago and completed your first year at the end of August. And very simply, how has it been returning to Aurubis? What have you learned? And is there any difference between the Aurubis now and the Aurubis you knew from 20 years ago?

Well, luckily, there is a difference after 20 years. The company has developed quite significantly. I must say I met a lot of people who were there 20 years ago so this was nice to come back. 20 years ago, we only had 2 smelters. We had the first steps into recycling, we were focused on Europe. And we had some multimetal portfolio, but it was limited. And now 20 years ago, Aurubis is much bigger. We have a network of different smelters and different plants. We are more international. We're going not only Europe, but also now into the U.S. And I think we have now a very good portfolio with 20 different metals. And yes, I think we are much, much better positioned now than 20 years ago.

What has always been the case back then and now is that the people were very loyal to the company. We have great metallurgical expertise, the employees, it was 20 years ago and is now also. And we also always were a financial stable company, so this was -- this has kept over the last 20 years, and that's what we are today also.

Thank you, Toralf. Steffen, moving over to you. You also joined more or less a year ago, but other than Toralf, you didn't have the experience of working at Aurubis before. So you didn't really know what you're getting into. So what was it that convinced you to take this plunge and join us? And what surprised you since joining the company? And was there any specific moment where you realized, "Oh, I really took the right decision?"

Yes. Thanks, Ken, for that intro. Well, obviously, having been in automotive for quite some time, we learned it the hard way what it means when supply chains don't work. So the importance of critical supply chains, the importance of raw mats, hit the automotive industry the hard way. And when I was heading Treasury and Investor Relations of the other company, I experienced what it means when factories stand still because of supply is not working. So let's say my fascination for the metals and mining industry in the forefront of driving the transformation for the industry has been grown intensively. Obviously, I was intrigued by the offer to join Aurubis, intrigued by the offer to -- for the role being part of this newly built Board and excited about the prospects of the company.

As a finance guy, you do your personal due diligence when you're in the process of thinking whether you change the team. And my due diligence was very clear. Aurubis counting on super important megatrends, recycling, regionalization, metals, multimetal for transformation. So there were many tick marks and then looking -- I always jokingly say, I'm one of the few guys who was reading the annual report from first page to last page, and obviously, seeing the financial health of the balance sheet, seeing the good underlying profitability and also the growth potential all was comforting me and giving me, yes, great support to go for this assignment.

On your question, what impressed me? Definitely, the quality of the team and the organization, and has there been a specific moment where I realized that it's the right thing to join the team? Actually, it's every day, not only like yesterday, with a certain share price movement. But every day, also today, I'm super happy being part of this wonderful team.

Great to hear that. I'd like to move over to you, Inge, and on that note, you've been around in the industry and you know it inside out, and you had various functions around purchasing sales. You manage large-scale operations, and you've also been with Metallo for 27 years. With your experience, can you share with us what excites you about metals recycling? And what -- how is Aurubis also evolved over time, how you perceived it?

Okay. Very exciting industry, which we are in and I'm super happy to be actually this long in this industry because it excites every single day. It's highly dynamic, very volatile. And so constant change. And it is also a business which is highly competitive, and that means that you have to always keep on the top of your toes, which is great from that perspective.

And as the communities, as we in life, are also bringing a lot of new products to life, a lot of new applications to life. With every new application, every new product coming to life, you get also new waste streams and new type of materials that come into the recycling chain. And that, of course, brings a lot of challenges because there is a lot of different compositions of all these materials. But at the same time, it gives also great opportunities to find new ways to treat it or to treat these kind of materials with existing equipment trying to reshape what you have at hand.

So very exciting from that side because on one hand, we also have to take care of the past, whatever the past has been bringing on to life from products, we have to take care of what is presently there, and we have to think of what might come in the future. So the dynamic between those different types is really what excites me most. And what is also really, really nice is that being in this business means that you have to tie up, understand your partners really well in the respect of what are their needs, what are their ways of going and to just go through the thinking process altogether so that you can be actually a reliable partner in both directions.

When you come to the question of Aurubis, how does Aurubis evolve? And for many years, I was a kind of a customer and a supplier to Aurubis, super happy, I think that we did onboard Aurubis Group, because Aurubis has really made a fantastic involvement. And I think Toralf you said it also in 20 years that you have been also in and then out, and then back into the company, a lot has changed. And where Aurubis in the past was really like a primary smelter. It really evolved to becoming a multimetal and recycling leader, which is really great to see.

We really have an edge when it comes to processing -- complex processing where all these metals come together and separating them. I think this is really what stands out for Aurubis Group. We have also focused -- a real good focus in the group on value delivery so looking to where is the value in our materials that we get, but not only from the materials but mainly also with those we work, whether it's the suppliers, whether it's the customers and everyone involved there.

So with that, I think Aurubis today has evolved into a true partner and also recognized as an industry leader while setting standards for the industry. And I think from -- the fact that we have grown or homegrown as a German company, today, we also grew into a real true international organization.

Wow, quite an evolution you've witnessed there. Tim, I'd like to turn to you. And of all the Board members, you've served the longest time at Aurubis, and Inge just spoke about these multimetal capabilities. And in your experience, what is it that enables these capabilities? And is there some most memorable moment from your time in Bulgaria, where you would say that reflects this expertise for you?

Yes. Thanks, Ken. Yes, definitely the most competitive advantages for sure is smelter network, what proves it every day. And as Steffen said that he's happy every day to work with us, he and the team for us, Inge and me. It's also very important to have all these days because we always would like to beat yesterday, right? So therefore, in operation, I think this is the goal we would like to achieve. Therefore, you need as well, let's say, different metallurgical capabilities, which we do have on board. We have a great team on board. We have a great network over there and then also the capabilities to run our network.

Then you need also a certain reliability in our network with our smelters and with our -- all our plants. I think this is what we are striving every day. And what is also important for a network is that the network is supporting always each other. So every -- always site is supporting the other side, which is, first of all, important for the sites. But as well also important for all our suppliers, our partners and also our customers. And at the end, what I said already 2 times is that we are striving for a very high utilization rate.

Luckily for us, not for the others is that it's very hard to replicate. Therefore, yes, we do believe that we are always 1, 2 steps ahead over here.

Coming to your second part of the question, what is the highlight from these 11 years and 2 months because, as I said earlier, every day counts. So therefore, I'm so picky on that. We developed together with my team, Pirdop 2 plant, which is still able to cast all, let's say, anodes for all the tankhouses. We do have 5 in the group, for all the group tankhouses with 2 casting wheels, and that's quite an achievement. And yes, point out and support again is the message how -- what we are understanding how our networks should run.

And also, yes, I would say, is also, let's say, a 2-side metal, as all metals have 2 sides that doing these time, we also developed Aurubis Bulgaria to become one of the largest taxpayer in the region, which then also point out how important Aurubis Bulgaria is, at least for Bulgaria and also the region.

Pretty impressive. Now Toralf, I would like to get back to you and ask you whether you could speak a bit about your 3 to 5 top priorities within your first year? What was that? And where have you made the progress?

Well, it's no secret that 2 years ago, the company Aurubis went through some rough times. We had some adverse effects, which affected the mood internally but also the trust externally. So our top priorities were: number one, health and safety, to get our health and safety track record back on track and also to take care of the people. Priority #2 was planned security that these events don't happen again that happened 2 years ago. So there we invested a lot of money and a lot of efforts to increase the security in our plants. And luckily, in the last years, there have not been any -- last year, there have not been any serious incident in this respect. So I'm quite happy with the progress we're making in health and safety and also in plant security.

Priority #3 was gaining back the trust from our stakeholders, from the capital markets, but also from the supplier side, from the customer side, from the banking side, from the government. And here, we are not stopping where we are, but we continue to build trust to our stakeholders because it's very important not only because we are a public company because we are -- as we think an important player in the whole metals industry.

And the other 2 priorities I want to mention is, first, to get the return on our CapEx. We've been, as you've seen, as you know, through a high CapEx phase over the last years. Now it's time to cash in to get the returns of this CapEx. So we are very diligently following up on the milestones to finish these large CapEx projects, but then also to get the return to increase the return on capital employed. And last but not least, one other priority is to further develop our culture in our company to develop more towards a performance culture. This is one thing which hasn't changed that much 20 years ago. The culture is still a little bit technology-driven and German-driven. So we're trying to get more into a performance-oriented culture. We have a lot of activities going on there, also leadership programs. So those are the top 5 priorities from my standpoint.

Okay. And just to follow up on that. I know we have a separate session later on, on the outlook. But could you just briefly state what is your priority for the priorities for the next couple of years? If you look back, that was last year, but now looking ahead?

Well, the top priority for the next year is to get the CapEx return to get the cash out of the significant investments we have. That's what we stand here as a team to deliver the return, the cash return on the CapEx. We are also focused in the next year on free cash flow. We will get to that later, but we want to get back into a phase where we produce significant free cash flow in order to give return to the shareholders, but also to do some more investments.

Thirdly, is further strengthen our multimetal portfolio. Like I said, we've gone a long way, but I think we can still do more to focus not only on copper, but also on the metal -- other metals, we are extracting from the concentrates and recycled materials to get them more into market and also to expand our market power here.

And last but not least, priority is regional expansion. We'll also get to that later, but our focus right now is to further increase our capacities at our European networks and also now to expand into the North American market, which we are very convinced of this market is very attractive for us from a market standpoint, but where we can also bring our expertise to the market. So those are the top priorities for the next years.

Very good. I'd like to follow up with you, Inge. Just following up on Toralf's points and speaking now to the metals expert, Inge Hofkens, what is, in your view, the Aurubis' role in multimetal? And what is our right to win in this game versus our peers? And where do you see the biggest opportunities for Aurubis in the next couple of years?

Okay. So for us, as Aurubis definitely this whole value potential in our raw materials, whether it's primary, whether it's secondary materials that is definitely what is standing out. And as I said, this getting more complexity into the product side of things coming to life on markets. This -- we have to deal with also when it comes to the processing of these materials.

For sure, demand is -- and specifically for copper is very much increasing with all the megatrends happening. Copper is highly in demand so we expect 20% of growth or more on that matter. Tin demand just to name another one, will grow for about 40% and we have all of these other metals that are around that have similar growth opportunity.

So on the one hand, we have real big demands, scarcity of material on the other hand, and at the same time, raw material complexity, all coming together. That is where Aurubis also has its point where we can bring in really our value because we are capable of dealing with that complexity. We are able to recover those metals. And there is about 20 different metals in the portfolio and really focusing on each and every of those elements to get them out of the raw materials and bringing them back in the cycle. That is really where the edge goes, and then translating that into where is some more opportunity, for sure, there is a lot of talk also about circularity and what circularity can bring to life. Circularity is a concept. It's a big word and it always covers a lot. But thinking it in truly profitable business models and trying to bring them to life. That's really where there is a huge opportunity that lies ahead for us.

And also push for local production. I mean we hear it every day everywhere that is kind of want to have strategic material and metal available in local regions that is, of course, giving another opportunity. And with that, the fact that we are already very much into this recovery, we cannot do this without our expertise, without our people that bring the expertise. And this -- both combination of the expertise and our people, I think this is for Aurubis absolutely an unmatched advantage.

Great. Thank you. Steffen, back to you. I mentioned before, you've joined us from a process-driven industry and you worked a lot on international context. From a CFO's perspective, what are your priorities for Aurubis? And how do you and the team contribute to us achieving our ambitious targets?

One of my priorities is obviously helping installing a performance culture and a bottom line orientation. I think after strong, important and meaningful strategic CapEx program, we are now to enter a phase of payback. So it's now payback time in the next 2 to 3 years. With regards to payback, I would primarily obviously refer then to the cash flow. I live a bit the philosophy that EBIT is an opinion, but cash is reality. So we, as a team, we really want to see cash improving significantly in the next years to come, starting with this fiscal year, where it's our ambition to reach the free cash flow breakeven before dividend. We'll talk about that in more detail. And that's the overarching goal. And then obviously, what are enablers for that, ensuring that the projects pay off if things would develop on some premise in a more difficult way, we need to find ways to counter steer, to act, to maneuver in order to bring the things home in time and in budget.

It's good in those volatile times to work on self-help measures, being it on the cost side, being it on the net working capital optimization side. We'll talk about that. And then obviously, working with you, working with the capital market on the appropriate return, on the appropriate participation and on the right level of capital allocation, and working with you with regards to the equity story in the sense of explaining our company even better, making it more transparent and thereby still being able to safeguard legal boundaries and so on and so forth.

Okay. Thank you. Tim, the priorities that Toralf just mentioned included operational excellence, health and safety, plant security and because you've been managing large-scale operations for more than a decade, I'd like to ask you how do you make operations better and stronger. So what was your secret ingredient in Bulgaria?

Yes. Thanks for that question. For sure, the secret is not just to name and to list these ingredients. The secret is more to execute and to live those ingredients, right? For sure, you have to have a strong team. And Steffen mentioned that, that he was happy that when he came first that he really realized that he has already a strong team, and we do believe that we have also in the other areas, these kind of strong teams with whom we can really execute what is in our list to be executed. We need for sure also the same level of trust. We should live the same values. We should have shared goals. And at the end of the day, this is still hard work to execute.

And what is very important for me, and I mentioned that at the beginning, is really the collaboration across all the sites, including the smelter network. I mentioned already that we have got several tankhouses. The tankhouses are for sure, integrated part of the single plant, but we created kind of a smelter tankhouse network where all the 5 tankhouses are really talking to each other, and they have got the same challenges and the same task. And there regarding automation and so on and so forth, they can just work much closer together, develop great ideas and also compete a little bit so that we can really get every day better.

The same is for sure also, and you mentioned that explicitly and Toralf as well, the topic with safety and security. And also over there, this is really a core point for all of our -- of all of us. And there, it's also very important that we are learning from each other that we are challenging each other and that we are really getting better each and every day.

And the secret, let's say, ingredients or sauce who's just binding everything together is for sure, the collaboration we are living and that we are learning from each other, and this is, yes, more or less the foundation of our success.

Okay, very well. Thank you. Toralf, back to you. And in one of your previous answers, you mentioned leadership and you're very vocal about leadership within our organization. Can you share how you think about the concept of leadership? And what are your leadership principles? And maybe just to add to that, how do you get an average or a good company to become a great company, maybe to hear your thoughts on that one.

Well, like you said, leadership is close to my heart. I think we have huge potential at Aurubis to develop more leadership skills and also to develop our culture. In my opinion, the best is if you have a combination of the European or German trades like reliability, quality and so on and combine that with an Anglo-American team-oriented cultural approach, like I said, this is one of our top priorities in the company. We started that right a year ago. We are making some good progress, but this doesn't happen overnight. It's a multiyear program, but we are working on that to have more feedback culture, to have more open discussions. Also, they have a failure culture and to talk not only about each other but with each other and for each other. And this is very important for us.

We have launched a program, which is called Powerful Performance. Of course, all these programs also have to result in improved KPIs in our cash flow and earnings. There's only one KPI, which is more important and that is health and safety. We want to bring down the LTIs that we have. But everything else, also the cultural program has to end up in performance. That's why we call it powerful performance. And I think we're making good progress there. There's huge potential. I think there's still more to come. And I'm quite happy how the organization is accepting these programs, how they are -- how they're dealing with it. And of course, we are promoting only leaders who share this thought of performance culture. And if they don't share it, then we find other ways for them. So we're quite consequent and disciplined on this.

Okay. Good to hear that. Tim, but just to follow-up quickly up on what Toralf just said, how does leadership and performance culture that was just elaborated on, how does that impact operations?

Yes, first of all, we have to face the truth that every site and every operation is quite different, right? And we are acting in not so many, but we are acting in quite different countries from Finland to Italy, from Spain to Bulgaria and now as well in the U.S. I also -- I'm absolutely convinced that every site needs as well as its own specific vision on its own. And this means that it's not excluding that we are working together and that we are sharing best practices, right? So this is, for me, really the key success factor.

And when I started witnessing 11 years, where we have worked a little bit in a different way that this is really a key factor. And just to give you one example, we had last financial year, it means this calendar year, a very big shutdown in Bulgaria, 60 days, EUR 150 million investment into this shutdown. And afterwards, we have heard nothing from it. And this is how we would like to execute shutdowns, right? We do not want to go into a shutdown afterwards, the troubles are becoming either they are the same or the troubles becoming a different way, right?

And there -- we are now taking really the lessons we learned from these shutdowns to the other sites and to the other plants and working much more closer together that this is a kind of benchmark and shutdowns are then really back to their core that they should stabilize the operation and that we are going then forward in a much better shape. This is one example.

And to be a little bit more, let's say, specific over here, we are now exchanging also operation teams between, in this case, between the primary smelters in Hamburg and also in Bulgaria, in operations but also in maintenance because we do believe and we do see now already, we are harvesting these weeks and days, the effects of this collaboration, and it's really great to see how the teams are challenging each other and that the results are coming much better so that we are, at the end, having a much more stable operation with also much lower costs.

And the same is for sure coming to, let's say, the recycling plants where we are also going into the direction that we are gaining much more knowledge of management of impurities so that we can also there how to say, free up a lot of operational opportunities, and this is what is really making us and me personally very happy that there is much more to come.

Inge, speaking about performance culture and the role that it plays for us at Aurubis, could you share one aspect that is particularly important to you?

Well I think my colleagues already said a lot of them, but it stands without a doubt that no culture goes without the actors in it without the people. And in Aurubis, there is really a great -- there are great people and they are exceptional, not only in the expertise as mentioned, but also super passionate about what they bring to the table, what they can do, but also what it means working within Aurubis organization and to recognize that strength that we have in all and each of our colleagues around, this needs some working because it's not just if you have passionate people that it works as a whole. And I think Tim said it also, collaboration is really, really key. And the way on how we collaborate together is absolutely a part of getting that culture all together in the right way to get that motivation out.

Now how do we do that? It sounds and can be maybe really logic that we need to do some active listening here. And this is something we might have not done always the best in the past. So that's really something where we want to put a great effort into that we use also the maximum out of each and everyone to bring that to the table.

What can we do on the other side, of course, is really share very precise information that everybody can also use in that collaborating together so that we can get the results and get really -- yes, really performance on all the angles that we want.

And with collaboration, obviously, we bring in all these different perspectives. As Tim said, culture wise, we do have very much different cultures, not only any more, let's say, the origin culture we started off as a company, but that is actually making us stronger and it's better to have them very tough discussions and have big discussions because those will bring us really to the next steps. And it will not only -- it does not only bring new ideas to the table, but it drives also a lot of efficiency in the way on how we work.

And the more efficient we become in the way on how we work, the more time we have also for new innovation and new things to happen, not only within our own organization, what we do internally, but also how we can spread that with all our partners that we are working with.

Okay. And to round this up on the performance culture part, Steffen, how do you define performance culture? And is there a particular stance you would take from the finance angle?

Yes. Will try to be brief. It's -- we need a good mix of hard facts and soft facts. Hard facts, obviously, KPI-driven, I've talked about cash, cash conversion, cash generation. Just an example on the project side, paybacks IRRs, but it's much more than the hard stuff. It's also the soft factors, think for a company like ours risk management is crucial. Anticipating risks, mitigating risks, having a backup plan, thinking in scenarios, encouraging that people talk about potential risks early. The earlier we talk about risks, the better. So speak-up culture is an issue. Toralf alluded to that one. And finally, it's all about trust, trusting each other. Without trust there is no performance.

Very good. I'd like to round up this whole session here now with a question to the 4 of you, and I'll start again with you, Toralf. The question is, Aurubis has a bright future because it's not actually a question, but please complete that sentence.

Aurubis has a bright culture because we power the world with sustainable metals, which are indispensable for all the megatrends.

Great. Inge, same question for you. Aurubis has a bright future because?

We have exceptional people. We create unrivaled solutions for our business partners and shareholders, and it embeds us even more strongly so going forward in the ecosystem.

Okay. Tim, I think by now, we've got the gist. Aurubis has a bright future because?

Yes, because we are going to unlock our full, let's say, potential, not only in operations, but also the entire organization. And as I said earlier, we are going to continue to be 2 steps, at least ahead of our competition.

Very good. Steffen, do you want me to read the question?

I think Aurubis has a bright future because we have a resilient business model, a healthy financial situation, and it's in the DNA of Aurubis to seize the opportunities in the decade of metals.

Great. So thank you very much for this very interactive panel here, Toralf, Inge, Tim, Steffen. I believe we're going to continue with Toralf. We will see Tim, Inge and Steffen later today again. So thanks a lot for this first session. And some of the aspects that we just heard will certainly hear throughout the presentations of the day.

So now we're going to turn to the second or the first presentation, but the second session of today's Capital Market Day, and we will provide an update on the markets and our competitive positioning. For this presentation, we have Toralf here on stage, and Toralf will be joined by Seonag Doherty, who has joined Aurubis as Head of Strategy. And since August, she is also heading our corporate development team.

She brings along a decade of experience in corporate development, transformation and has had leadership roles in consulting, energy sectors and other industrial areas. And it's really great to have you here, Seonag, and I believe you've had a particularly intensive program that you pushed through over the last couple of months. So yes, thank you very much for joining us here. Toralf, Seonag, I believe the floor is yours.

Yes. Thank you, Ken. Let's talk about the market. You see here some quotes. I strongly believe that we are entering a new area for copper and also for the other metals that we produce, away from being commodities or just input per material, all the metals we produce are going to be essential for infrastructure, for energy transition, for transformation, but also for managing geopolitical risks. So I think we are just well positioned in this new megatrends. We are at the epicenter of -- with our metals.

First, the AI, artificial intelligence and digitization will drive a lot of demand for our coppers. Energy and infrastructure that's going to be big investment programs over the next years where we will benefit from. Geopolitical realignment. We see this geopolitical risk and everybody is looking to keep the metals in their country or in their continent. So this will also boost the demand. And critical raw materials are in focus, and they become more and more in focus. I see that when I talk to politicians in Berlin, or Brussels or in Washington, it's coming on the top of the agenda of the government and every government sees the need to secure raw materials for their respective countries or continents.

Here we see the 6 megatrends or the 6 sectors where our metals will have an increased demand. It's, of course, the area of electrification. It's the area of artificial intelligence and advanced technology. It's also the defense and security and a lot of copper goes into the defense industry, renewable energy, of course, wind and solar, mobility and transport but also urbanization and infrastructure. And you see at the bottom, the metals we produce, many of them go into these different sectors. So I think this is also one of the strengths of Aurubis that we supply many sectors, many industries. So we have a good diversification of automotive is going well -- that well, infrastructure and energy is going well. So we have a nice balance here, but overall, the megatrends play into these industries.

Here are some facts since which some of you might know, but some of you might not know, until 2035, there's going to be 200,000 new wind turbines. And in these big wind turbines, that's up to 40 tonnes of copper so a lot of copper demand.

Another big market demand that we see is the new data centers up to 30,000 tonnes of copper are in these data centers and a lot of data centers being built in Europe, but also in U.S. and the other parts of the world. We see an increase of new electrical vehicles, 50 million plus. And of course, electrical vehicles have much more copper content than the combustion vehicles. It's 2 or 3x fold in an electrical vehicle.

We have an increased demand of gold, which you see from the copper price because people see this as a safe haven, not only the dollar anymore, increase in solar panels, where we have increased demand for silver but also for tellurium. And last but not least, a significant increase in the electronics industry. These are also supported by the government programs like EUR 600 billion, which was just announced in Europe in infrastructure and modernization of the industry. So we will benefit from that, and also the investments in the tech industry. So all these factors that this will come, this will drive demand. This will drive demand for copper, but also for the other metals that we will produce that we are producing.

Here, you see some selected metals with expected growth rates. Copper is expected to grow by over 20%. Over the next 10 years, gold by 26%, silver by 10% and tellurium because of the large demand in solar panels, but also in other applications even by 80% and tin, which is becoming a more and more important metal for us by around 40%. So the demand side, the market side for us is very strong. That's why we invest so much in the increase of our capacity because the market is there. And it's not -- it's a structural growth. It's not a short-term growth, it's a long-term growth, which is structural, which is very important for us when we make these huge CapEx investment because we would only do them if we are sure that this long-term structural growth is there and it's there for all the metals we produce.

But of course, it's not all shiny and great. Of course, the market demand side is very, very strong, and I'm 100% convinced it will stay strong over the next years and decades, but we also have some headwinds. On the concentrate market, as you know, it's pretty tight. We'll get to that later, but TC/RCs are under pressure especially from Asian competitors, also the recycling materials. The markets, the availability of recycling material is under pressure because of competition from the Asian markets.

Battery metals, we will get to the topic of battery recycling later, but there has been a slowdown in the market development. And the question is, where is going to be the market for battery recycling? Is it going to be in Europe? Or is it going to be in Asia? We have supply chain disruptions, which we have to manage and, of course, the global competition. China, they have 55 smelters, in Europe, we have 15 smelters. And in U.S., we have 3 smelters. So there's big competition, but not only in China, but also in India.

So these are the challenges -- the major challenges that we face, but we are very confident that we will manage them because we have a resilient business model, and we have our answers to these challenges. We'll get to that later.

Why are we convinced that we will manage these challenges and why we continue to play a very important role in the multimetal market? Our business model has a lot of USPs, competitive advantages. The 5 most important one is, number one, the multimetal excellence. We are not only excellent since over 150 years in producing copper, but we also have the excellence to extract other metals like gold, silver, tellurium, tin, zinc, nickel and so on. So we are getting better and better there. We have a robust and resilient business model, which shows that also the TC/RCs are at a bottom right now, but we are still able to generate cash flow with our business model.

We have authentic sustainable leadership. We don't focus on sustainability, not only since the last year where it's become on vogue, but we've been doing it for many, many years. We produce much less CO2 per tonne of copper than our competitors. We do that at our Hamburg site, but also in Bulgaria and also at our new site in Richmond, U.S., we put the highest environmental standards in our facility, invested this, number one, because we think it's important, but number two, also because the customers more and more ask for it, that we produce sustainably, and that's also one important factor why the mines like to work together with us because we work together on programs how to make the whole value chain more sustainable and more environmental friendly.

And we work with Circle Solutions with our business partners. We are a very service-oriented company. So we constantly try to find new ways to get the whole metal flow in the circle going with recycling, with input materials, with getting it back into the cycle. There's a lot of optimization possible not only within our own network and with our network with our customers and suppliers, but also in the whole industry.

And last but not least, we are fully integrated copper producers. So we cover a lot of parts of the value-added chain, which is also USP this Aurubis has. This is an overview, and now I'd like to hand over to Seonag, who will dive a little bit deeper in these USPs that we have.

Thanks a lot, Toralf. And very happy to elaborate a little bit further on those. As Ken alluded to earlier, we've been quite busy in the past months updating our strategy, and we're very happy to share some details around that with you today. And of course, we've built our strategy on our competitive strengths.

So let's go through each of these 5. And I'd just like to talk a little bit more about each of them so you can understand what's really behind the taglines. And the first is our multimetal excellence. And really only together do our individual smelters realize their full potential. And that's why our smelter network is at the heart of our multimetal excellence.

Our network, as you know, it's unique in our scale and its capabilities. And it's the interconnectedness of these capabilities and really deploying the individual strengths of the network to maximize the full potential of it. Let's just take a few of our sites as examples. Hamburg, which is specialized in precious metals refining or Beerse, which can treat very low-grade materials, separating complex alloys that not many have the capabilities to separate like lead and tin or our recycling facility in Lünen, which can treat a whole range of different recycling materials.

And it's because of the unique capabilities of each of these sites working together and our internal metallurgical expertise to really get the most out of the raw materials we're working with and route that to the right facility where we can optimize the metal gains that we get out of that in total. And that's why we have benchmark metal recovery.

Together with that, high metal recovery rates, we also have a very low waste approach, meaning that we produce very low waste in our production processes, and we seek to turn all of the input materials into valuable and salable products. One example that we've recently done as well, just looking to our Hamburg site, taking the residual industrial heat and turning that into heating, district heating for the city of Hamburg.

We also, as a company, we have a real affinity for complexity. No one else can handle complexity like we do. And we can process different combinations of complex materials that contain copper, tin, nickel, precious metals, but also very high levels of other impurities. And these are streams also that many other players can't handle effectively. So when we talk later about the commercial expertise and tapping into new material streams, this is really key for us. We do this flexibly adapting to different shifts in markets and customer requirements and supply flows. So bringing that all together, we're able to leverage that network to the best of its ability.

Looking at our second competitive strength. Here, we have our fully integrated copper producer. And while we pride ourselves on being a multimetal company, frankly, the only company with the ability to process so many different complex materials, one of our competitive strengths, of course, is the fact that we are an integrated copper producer. We're involved at every step of the value chain so from raw materials down to fabricated products.

And just looking around the circle that you see on the screen here, our supply base is built on this powerful dual of primary raw material, but also secondary recycling materials. And that gives us a lot of flexibility when there are fluctuations and variations in the market. We're able to make the best combination and leverage the synergies out of the processing capabilities that we have for both.

With our integrated network, we also are able to recover, as Toralf mentioned earlier, 20 different metals and elements. So beyond copper, that covers other elements and coproducts like nickel, tin, zinc, selenium, sulfuric acid and iron silicate to name a few. We then look also to our breadth of fabricated products from wire rod to continuous cast shapes, to flat-rolled products as well as a number of other specialized minor metal applications. So we're really a one-stop shop to serve multiple different customers and industry needs.

And it's the strong ownership that we have across the full value chain, again, from sourcing raw materials down to the fabrication of products where we have strong internal capabilities don't have to rely excessively on third parties for any individual step along the way. And that builds in a certain downside protection, protects our operations from disruption and it also ensures this reliable, sustainable supply for our customers.

Another unique strength of our company is a business model which is robust in its breadth and also resilient in its earnings diversification. And that didn't happen by chance, and Steffen has alluded to that. That's been a process of nearly 160 years now. We've been purposefully building and strengthening our portfolio and adapting our business model to what it is today.

And there's a few aspects of that. The first one is that we're not dependent on a single market or product. So by serving a broad range of different end industries, it's a certain built-in diversification that our portfolio benefits from multiple different underlying macro trends and economic drivers that are linked to the different segments that we serve.

We've also made on the other hand, a very wide range of different strategic investments in our portfolio to grow that multimetal portfolio, increasing capacity, expanding geographically, and continuously strengthening also internally our technical capabilities.

If we look to the supply side there, we also built in quite some diversification. We've got an expansive long-term global supplier base with over 1,000 business partners. And that builds also a certain supply reliability even in volatile markets.

And finally, all of this is underpinned by a solid balance sheet and strong net cash flow, where we've been able to finance a number of our strategic investments in the past years from that cash flow. And as Steffen has also indicated a financial discipline, where we carefully invest where we see the most value. So taken all together, these different elements, make Aurubis' business model resilient through market challenges and also capable to deliver on our strategy even in uncertain times.

Another key strength of ours we pride ourselves in the fact that we are a leader in sustainability. And when we talk about sustainability, we mean sustainability in a way which is tangible for our customers and for our business partners. It's not an add-on for us, so it's truly embedded at the heart of what we do and how we operate. And we turn that leadership into impact in 3 distinct ways. The first one is through stronger relationships. So we are setting standards, and we play a significant role in the value chain connecting suppliers to OEMs. So building a certain amount of trust through that value chain as well.

Second is shared standards. So we make our sustainability transparent both by implementing but also by advocating for certain standards across the industry, such as the Copper Mark, where today, about 95% of our cathodes are also Copper Mark certified. And the third aspect is in better products. So our products have, as mentioned previously, below average -- below industry average environmental and carbon footprints, looking at gold, silver and tin, we're more than 50% better than the global average and for copper, it's even higher, more than 60% below global average. And this, combined with our high quality helps to meet the rising expectations both of regulators and our end customers.

So for us, it's not just an obligation, but it really is a source of competitive differentiation and strength. And we regularly hear that also from our business partners and perhaps we will do so later today as well.

And then to talk about the last component of our competitive strength, and that's the ability to create circular solutions together with our business partners. Today, we have more than 150 closing the loop collaborations across copper, but also other metals. And these partnerships ensure that production residues and scrap get returned to our network so collected and returned and we can transform them back into the high-quality metals that are needed to serve a broad range of industries and also the mega trends that we saw earlier.

And what differentiates us in our offering are 2 aspects. One, we can accept and what we offer to our business partners. We can accept mixed recycling materials so handling complex refinery scrap, and we can even work with small scrap quantities. So it opens up the door for a number to be able to participate -- a number of partners to be able to join.

And on top of that, the second aspect is we're able to provide customized logistics solutions as well as flexible financial arrangements. So we make it also convenient in order to participate in that. It makes the corporation with Aurubis, not only technically attractive but also commercially efficient and reliable.

So in essence, by doing this, we can strengthen long-term partnerships. We can secure critical metal supplies that we and the broader industries require. And we can also demonstrate through that, how circular solutions are not just an environmental benefit, but a true strategic and commercial advantage for us and for our customers.

So taking that all together, the 5 competitive advantages. It's not one individual that sets Aurubis apart, but it's the combination of these 5 that we've carefully curated and strengthened over time and continue to build up that create our USP so to speak. And it secures our role as a partner of choice and particularly an increasingly resource-constrained world.

Thank you, Seonag. Let me wrap this section up by underlying our ambition. Starting from a position of strength, as just presented, Aurubis is committed to further strengthening our position as a leading copper and multimetal producer, setting industry standards in sustainable and efficient production. Our goal is not only to maintain leadership, but to set the benchmark creating value through sustainable practices, efficient operations and a continued focus on innovation. This ambition captures the essence of what we stand for, turning complexity into value, responsibility, reliability and shaping the industry for the future.

Thank you, Toralf, and Seonag for these insights. It was quite an outlook you provided. And I must say the future is truly made of metals, sounds at least like that when you look at the figures. To keep us in time and because it also perfectly ties in with the presentation we've just seen, I would like to now continue with our presentation on the revised strategy. And for that purpose, Toralf and Seonag, will stay on stage, but I would like to invite Inge and Tim back to the floor. Warm welcome again.

And in the next part, we will dive deeper into how we're planning to capitalize on this market outlook and to use our competitive positioning within the scope of our strategy. And I believe you will kick us off with a small recap video on strategic projects, Toralf. Am I right?

Yes.

Very well.

Before we dive into the future, let's recap what we have done in our strategic initiatives so far.

[Presentation]

So just to give a little bit more details on the -- what we have achieved so far. Here you see the project we have realized when we set our strategy in 2021, we said we're going to implement all these CapEx projects. So here you see the CapEx projects that we have completed. We have completed the industrial heat in Hamburg about -- over 20,000 households in Hamburg benefit from our industrial heat. This is also a pilot project for whole Germany, and it's win-win. We make some money. And we have some sustainable and efficiency -- efficient energy supply for the households in Hamburg.

We've invested in the Anode Furnace 2.2. So we are hydrogen-ready. If hydrogen becomes available at competitive prices in the certain form, we can use it, and we can have our main elements of our plant use the hydrogen instead of gas. We have done the ASPA investment in Beerse, we'll get to that. We have invested in the Solar Park to also use here, renewable energy in Pirdop. We have completed the BOB investment, the Bleed Treatment in Olen. We have completed the Phase 1 in Aurubis Richmond later. We just had our first smelt ceremony there. We had another solar park in Pirdop. And in this year, the started fiscal year and the next fiscal year, we will complete our complex recycling new plant in Hamburg. We will complete the Phase 2 in Aurubis Richmond. We have another tankhouse expansion in Pirdop, another solar park. And then the following year, some slack processing optimization and our big precious metals refinery operation in Hamburg.

By the way, you're all certainly invited to look at these new plants. If you want to travel to Hamburg or Beerse or Richmond, you are really invited. You have to look at it. It's really impressive. We also -- everybody wants to see Richmond at the moment. We don't let anybody in, especially in our competitors, but for you, we would make an exception and give you a plant tour here.

Talking about Richmond, David Schultheis will elaborate on that later. Here, you see it's the first greenfield smelter in the U.S. Like I said before, there's 55 smelters in China. There's 15 in Europe, and there's now just 3 in the U.S., 2 primary smelter and 1 recycling smelter. So we are the first recycling smelter. And of course, we asked the question, why didn't anybody do it before? And the answer was they have either the money but not the technology or they have technology and not the money. And now we bring both the technology and investments. So we are very proud that we achieved this. You see a picture of it here, investment over EUR 740 million, 240 new jobs, and we confirm our EBITDA return of EUR 170 million.

The other projects, which have been completed, you see here, ASPA, we completed in Beerse. It's a newly developed hydrometallurgical process where we can have quicker recovery of precious metals than in Olen, the Bleed Treatment, which is more efficient, and we can recover through that process better copper and nickel. Then the complex recycling in Hamburg, which will be starting up beginning of next year where we further optimize the smelting process, where we will have additional 30,000 tonnes of recycling material as input. And here, we are also able, what Seonag alluded to, that we are able to process complex material. This is one -- another plant where we will be able to process very complex recycling materials and also get a nice return out of this facility.

And then last but not least, the completed tankhouse expansion in Pirdop, which is under way. And with this, we will increase the capacity by 50%. So these are the major milestones, which we will have completed or will complete in the next years in order to get our cash returns.

Coming to the subject of battery recycling. We have invested quite some money in battery recycling. We have a good recycling process for the black mass. We have a demo plant in Hamburg, which is working. We have a network. And -- but we have realized that the market is still at a very early stage. And like I said earlier, we're not sure yet if the market for battery recycling will evolve very strong in Europe or in Asia. That's why we decided an Executive Board to make no further investments in battery recycling once we target to invest in a huge plant. We decided not to do this, but we are now in discussion with partners and joint venture or other collaborations where we can bring in our technology and still realize the value that we have generated. But like I said, no major further investment in this field, which will also help our free cash flow generation in the next years.

Let us now show a video going forward, how we see the strategy going forward for Aurubis.

[Presentation]

So as you just saw in the short preview there, I'm very pleased to be able to share with you today our updated strategy, Aurubis' Performance 2030 where we have a clear focus, and that's to forge resilience and to lead in multimetal. Looking at the 5 areas that you see across the page, these are the core action fields that we'll be focusing on. So with impact, we're moving from a phase of heavy investment into a phase of generating the cash and delivering on those investments that we've made, integrating those in the best way into our network and really generating the synergies from them.

With commercial excellence, we are deepening our market access. We are improving our competitiveness by getting closer to suppliers, by broadening our sourcing footprint and also investing in service levels, for example, in the areas of lab and sampling for faster automated solutions, and that's going to allow us to tap into and secure new and existing material streams, which are growing.

With efficiency, we're doubling down on operational efficiency to optimize the different material flows in our network and really get the most out of our existing asset base. With innovation, we are applying best-in-class technologies and process know-how and putting our own metallurgical expertise to best use in order to be able to handle more complex materials in our network and expand thereby our portfolio and our multimetal production.

And finally, with the fifth aspect of focused growth, we are targeting growth where Aurubis has clear advantages. For example, in North America, Richmond is just the start. We'll hear about that further. But let me be very clear here. Our strategy is not about growth everywhere. It's about focused growth in areas where Aurubis has a clear advantage and where we lead. And all of this is underpinned by 3 enablers that will be core and will be essential and our tools, so to speak, in our toolkit that will help bring our strategy to life and make that successful.

The first is our sustainability leadership. The second is our performance culture. We heard a lot about that and the focus and how we're leveraging that, those best skills and capabilities that we have internally. And the third, of course, is our financial strength. And this will allow us to deliver responsibly, but also to invest in future opportunities. And all of this built on a foundation of megatrends. We heard a lot about the various megatrends from electrification of everything, the investments in energy infrastructure, significant growth in artificial intelligence and advanced technology, but also global security and defense, which is growing. And these form the foundation, which drive demand for our metals. But very clearly, we are also powering or we are enabling those megatrends in the coming decades.

So in short, Aurubis Performance 2030, it's about turning our strengths, our competitive advantages into long-term resilience, delivering impact, driving competitiveness, improving efficiency, innovating for the future and growing where it makes the most sense. And I'd like to ask our COOs, Inge and Tim to take us through each of these and elaborate a little bit more detail on some of the areas and projects that will be coming out of these 5 areas.

Okay. Thank you, Seonag. I'll start with the impact. And as already mentioned a couple of times, harvesting the invest, what that means for us and how we turn that to life. I'll walk you through a couple of things that we decided together with this new Board, we sharpened our strategy execution philosophy. And that means that we are doubling down on our core business and deprioritize activities that have little synergies with our core business. It means also that we select projects and -- or that we are more selective in the way on how we prioritize projects and investors who are most compelling in the value creation and that are, of course, a strategic fit with what we do.

We raised the bar when it comes to overall thresholds and have decided to go for higher thresholds when it comes to new strategic projects, as well as raise the bar in our way on how we view risk for each and every new strategic project proposal that comes to table. We follow an asset-light orientation that has also been said already before. And in general, also with a CapEx or a very strict CapEx discipline. We apply greater execution discipline as a whole, and that means that we have a more focused resource allocation, best practice project experience and management and bringing in all the lessons learned from all these projects that we are currently driving in this road map to bring them in a structured manner into play.

And obviously, across the assets and the portfolio and the project portfolio, we continuously look at it and optimize it in order to have -- and to continuously sharpen our competitive edge here.

So we streamlined our pipeline. And this is just giving you a reflection of how we do that without mentioning each and every project. But what we did here is really go in each and every idea in each and every way of turning that into project life initiative or project or whatsoever, that we truly focus on the growth on multimetal, not only copper also all the other elements that are in there, we significantly reduce the CapEx intensity. And we have taken the decision, as Toralf mentioned, not to further invest in battery recycling.

For our projects in implementation, we are fully committed to deliver its full value of what we intended it to be. And we have ensured also that the pipeline is robust enough to maximize synergies and to optimize the flows across the network and for all those coming online. And once we fully have ramped up this invest of EUR 1.7 billion, program will get us to a contribution of EUR 260 million of additional EBITDA per year.

Going to the second pillar. This is really all about commercial excellence. Of course, when we are not commercially excellent, it is very difficult to be a good, reliable partner. What are we doing here, the focus here is threefold is really to secure a stable supply and diversity -- diversified supply diversification across our portfolio in terms of supply is super important. We improved our service levels that we bring into life for our suppliers as well as strengthen partnerships with those that maybe do not -- that the ones that know us already and also for new partners to come to life.

And we develop also new outlets for our products and core products so that we build in resilience on that side. Just to give you a couple of ideas on how we are bringing that commercial excellence way more to life is that we have decided also to expand our geographical sourcing footprint. We have already a first active office in the Middle East with our Dubai office, this is a way also to grow and to get closer to markets that are a bit further away from our classical and typical European markets.

We are currently developing, as mentioned already before, solutions with our customers to better understand the dynamics with -- that are happening also in the organizations with our customers and what we can bring to the table in closing the loop, bringing all the metals that are being found in our materials also back, either directly to them or to their sub suppliers for that matter.

We also want to tap here very clearly more and more in this urban mining, something we do already today. But as I said earlier, we have way more type of materials coming to market, with also bringing in new elements, which are also sometimes not so easy just to name one graphite comes into our flows, but also tackling those elements. We are very much focused on that one.

Highly important for our business. It's a proper sampling and assay, understanding what is the value in the materials and what contents of metals we do have. For that, we are very much focused on being faster, to get faster through the process and also bringing in automation so that we can do things that helps us also fastening that one and so that we can get to faster settlement and faster payment also turned around.

We tap into new material sources. I kind of said it also before already. Graphite coated copper for us, typically from battery production. This is a field which we are looking into, and turning this initiative into life so that we can treat those materials and all of the type of feedstock that brings something new, we really tap into it, looking into it, and try to translate it into something we can also process in our flows.

And then last but not least, also the way on how we communicate with our business partners, all of the communication that is needed in terms of you name it, deliveries, exchanging assays, fixations on contracts and whatsoever to be very transparent with them in a very easy communicating way. That is what we are bringing forward by bringing in some extra automation here.

And then I hand over to Tim.

Yes. Thank you, Inge. Yes, coming to the third area, again, a little bit deeper efficiency. What do we mean with efficiency that we do mean that we are extracting the most value from our existing assets and from the network setup. What means unlocking next level operational excellence. This means that we are placing a high priority on deeper rendering, meaning also removing constraints in our production steps, streamlining processes and applying also new technologies so that we can increase our throughput and also stabilize our production further.

One concrete example over here is our convert operations. So currently, we are developing new process model and technology to run a more efficient converter process with shorter cycles. What does it mean? That means, for sure, higher output and ultimately, also increase the anode production. We are really based on result the need, as I said earlier, to -- for large new capacity investments.

Digitalization also Inge mentioned that plays a critical role in increasing our efficiency. And this is -- we are using it by advanced analytics with automation and also with digitalization of our monitoring systems, so that we can further improve our material flows, minimizing downtimes and ensure, again, stable and also predictable operations across all our smelter network. And this combination of process optimization and also digital tools allow us to be, let's say, much -- to do much more with our assets we do have in place, again, increasing our efficiency, reducing the cost per unit and also strengthening our competitive position.

Another example over here would be the material flow optimization for efficient processing. And if you are having a closer look, how we are going to optimize the existing material flows we can look into our precious metal bearing intermediates. So today, we are working on implementing a process to streamline these intermediates by debottlenecking and accelerated treatment route, which is these days at full capacity. And that means the overflow intermediates will follow or have to follow longer and higher cost route.

After implementing this project, we will be able to treat a larger share of the intermediates via the accelerated route. This means, again, that instead of having 2 process pathways, we consolidate both flows into the faster and more efficient route. This is resulting then into shorter processing times, have also a positive impact on net working capital and is also reducing the processing costs and also in proving then the profitability.

Coming to the next and fourth block that's innovation. Innovation for sure a buzzword, but we do understand in Aurubis that we are focusing on measures which will help us to maximize our multimetal yields. One example, so we would like to leverage our technical expertise to unlock additional values from increasing the complex and high-margin materials. So our primary and secondary raw materials as well as our intermediates contain impurities, which include as well valuable minor metals and also elements.

But in running our smelting and refining processes, we're facing limitations. There's only a certain amount of impurity capacity within our different products, especially in our anodes. By optimizing the treatment of intermediates, we can free up the capacity for impurities within the anodes. And this gives us at least 2 advantages. One -- the first one is that this will allow us to process more complex and higher-margin impurity containing raw materials. And secondly, it enables us as well to increase production of minor metals because the increased capacity for minor metals containing input materials.

Then another and last example for improved product quality through innovative process enhancement is that we are going to work on our quality of the sulfuric acid. Today, Aurubis is producing one product in standard and one product in premium quality. The premium product has a lower level of impurities, and we can achieve through an additional cleaning process that we are going to process the entire volume in the more attractive way, and this will make us also much more attractive for our industrial clients. That means in the future, we will produce 100% premium quality of these produced volumes. And again, this will enable us to play in the level of the higher-margin market segments and also generate higher value and added value for our customers.

Thank you, Inge and Tim for explanations. I will wrap it up with the last pillar with the focused growth where we are going to invest and how much. You saw this slide before, but it's playing also a role here in our growth. So we will only focus in areas where we lead, and we will only focus our investments in the areas where we have a competitive advantage. So it will be a very focused investment program here over the next years.

From the regional standpoint, we looked at many regions in the world, of course, we looked at the Middle East, we looked at India, we looked at Asia, but we also looked at South America and Africa. We came to the conclusion we are going to invest further in our capacities in Europe, and we are going to significantly invest in North America. So those are the 2 markets that we will focus our investment program in the future.

If you look at the mega trends and in the metals that we produce, our CapEx program, our growth will be in increasing the capacity for these metals, but not only for copper, but also for the other metals. So everything we do will be driven by megatrends, but investing in these capacities because the market demand there, we are 100% convinced will be there. So we invest in increasing the capacities for all these materials and benefit from the high growth rates in the various areas.

Let me summarize our strategy performance 2030. This -- it's driven by performance by resilience, but also by multimetal. We have 5 pillars of our strategy. We're going to focus on the impact of our investment of the high CapEx cycle that we have experienced in the past and this will we finish up. We will invest heavily in commercial excellence to be closer to our customers, but also suppliers to be faster, more professional and gain more value out of the value chain. We'll focus on efficiency, making our existing assets more efficient. There are still room for improvement to gain more cash out of here. We will continue to invest in innovation, also to be ahead of our competition. And we will focus our growth on the metal -- the capacities for the metals that we produce right now and regional, we will focus on Europe and North America with our enablers of sustainability, performance culture and financial strength. We are very convinced that in 2030, Aurubis will be a much stronger company, much more resilient and a better performing company than it is today.

This concludes our strategy session, and now we are -- I think we're happy to -- now you have listened a lot. Maybe we do now a break here with the presentations and open up for your questions. Ken, you can moderate it, please.

Well, you're just taking away my part. So maybe we just continue with you as a moderator. But thank you very much, Inge, Seonag, Toralf and Tim. I think this was really insightful regarding how we want to proceed in the next couple of years. And now that we've spent a lot of time presenting now we're turning the floor over to you guys in order to get some questions and answers. We've got Steffen back here on the stage as well. [Operator Instructions]

And I saw that here right in the front, we have Jason Fairclough from Bank of America. Just as a organizational remark, please also state your name and company in case I may not recognize you from 17 years ago.

Nice to see you again, Ken. It's Jason Fairclough from Bank of America. Can you talk a little bit about the projects. So it's, I think, EUR 1.7 billion. Around the world, we look at projects and they're late and they're over budget, and then they're not performing the way they're supposed to. How are things going? Are you on time? Are you on budget? Is that EUR 1.7 billion number still good?

Yes. That number is still good. We are on time and budget largely. There have been some delays, but no major delays. We have completed now Richmond. We think we are going to be on time and budget also for Richmond Phase #2. We finished ASPA and BOB on time and in [ parallel ] in Olen. We are very confident that the complex recycling new plant in Hamburg will finish on time. That is so far on track and even a little bit below budget, and also the precious metal plant in Hamburg is a little bit below budget and on time. So far, so good.

But I think here, we still have some more potential to improve to be even more disciplined. But from the EUR 1.7 billion we have spent like we shown before, 70% so far. And we are confident that we also spend the rest of time on the budget. Yes.

Just as a follow-up, how do we think about the plan in terms of refining copper in the U.S., right? So the rules seem to be changing a little bit from memory, your plan is to send the anodes back to Germany for refining. Is that really going to work on a go-forward basis? Or do you need to think about building a copper refinery?

This is working. I mean, right now, we're making blister copper there. And part of this at the beginning, the majority of this, we will ship back to European plants and make cathodes out of it. Part of it, we can also sell in the U.S. to other cathode producer. But one of the options we'll get to that later is to expand further downstream to also have an anode and cathode production in the U.S. That's one of the options. But the decision we will make next summer, we are right now calculating the business plan. And first, we want to of course, see that Richmond is running and producing the tonnes that we anticipate, but this is one of the options. But the business plan is also working with where we stop right now with blister copper.

Okay. We have the next question over there. But before you go ahead, Boris, just one remark. We will have a session on the U.S. and financials in the afternoon. So if there are specific questions to guidance financials, please keep them for the afternoon. Steffen will be more than happy to give you some more color on that one, just as a heads up. And over to you, Boris.

Okay. I have to push. I'm Boris Bourdet from Kepler Cheuvreux. So you've provided your vision to 2030. Obviously, the growth is mainly on multimetal recycling. So how do you look at the split of earnings contribution by divisions between the customary supply products and smelting products and the multimetal recycling part?

Steffen, Boris, I will come to that later in my presentation, and we'll also give some additional further transparency that we have not yet given without spoiling that, I would want to make the point that, let's say, we stand on various legs. We stand on 3 healthy legs being at the TC/RC side, as one leg being in the products and premium side as another lag and being at the metal balance side as the third leg. And within the 2 legs, we even give more granularity later in probably 45 minutes or so.

In tendency, the metal balance piece will further increase. As we see it now, and later, you'll see it on the chart, the impact of the TC/RC leg has gone a little bit less important, obviously, with TC/RCs going down. So metal balance getting more important, and product and premium also being very healthy and having a lot of upside and some of you commented yesterday, we have not commented yesterday, but we've seen what you've commented yesterday which also goes in the same direction that products and premiums is a healthy business for us.

And just as a follow-up on the premiums. When you build your vision to 2030, what is the kind of premium that you embed in your calculations?

Well, we will not give single figures on a premium. As you know, it's the resultant of bilateral discussions between us and customers. But once again, we think we are very well positioned. If I recall it right, there is 9 rock plants in Europe. There are 5 being part of the Aurubis family. So it should give us a certain weight in the market and in all subsegments of the world, copper seems to be needed, seems to be grown. There is a scarcity of copper prices increase. So I think all traffic lights are green, but also in the future, copper products and premium can play a healthy role for us.

Okay. Thank you. I think we have one question over here from Bastian.

Bastian Synagowitz, Deutsche Bank. So my question is just on the EUR 260 million EBITDA number, which you've been putting out for the strategic expansion. And I guess you've been underwriting this today, but from memory, this has been around for quite some time, and we've seen a significant degree of volatility in some of the drivers, I guess, a very large component of that is free metals, and I guess, particularly the prices of the metals out there, which you're processing and selling has been going up significantly. So could you give us any sense for where that number actually stands? If you were to really to check that today. I guess there must have been obviously some movements in the numbers. So if you could give us just any -- I guess, any sense where that stands? Because primary, again, I think all of that budget has been done on reasonably conservative mid-cycle assumptions?

So I believe that would be one for you, Steffen, but you may want to come back to it in the afternoon.

Yes. So just to short fast forward is we are stating the same figure as the former management has stated. It's not that we would not have done a health check to this. And we did a significant health check on each project with regards to the question of budget, EBITDA contribution and timing. And the composition has changed slightly, but not meaningfully, but the sum is the same. So we confirm the same figure, but not by repeating what has been said earlier some years ago, but just by being convinced that it's the right figure that went through our health check, especially obviously on the largest project among the EUR 260 million, which is Richmond, the EUR 170 million, and Toralf alluded to that one. Here, the composition really has changed a bit, but we can enjoy the overall same contribution in a similar timing that was initially targeted for.

It's true that, obviously, metal price improvements help us here. And it's also true for the U.S. that on the cost side, we probably at the beginning, would not have included everything, I mean I said in one-on-ones with you that obviously, Richmond one was -- it was the first greenfield investment for Aurubis. It was after COVID. It was in a high inflationary environment. So I would say that's probably the biggest change that I could outline that we were not cautious enough on the cost piece in Richmond. However, we could well compensate with metal prices in Richmond.

And I'll -- later in my section, I talk a bit about the contribution more qualitatively of the strategic projects to the 3 clusters of our profit pools being a TC/RC being it products and premium and being in the metal balance. So our health check confirms the EUR 260 million. Our health check confirms that the EUR 260 million will be fully blown seen in the bottom line in '28, '29, you will see later a chart from me that basically says in '26, '27 or starting with '26, '27, the majority of the EUR 260 million should arrive in the bottom line, '25, '26 with regards to contribution of those programs is a bit still a transition year with a positive but minor impact. And I would leave the rest for later in the afternoon.

Maxime Kogge from ODDO BHF. So actually, looking at the presentation, I'm quite surprised that there is no new project announcement because up to 1 year ago, I mean, Aurubis did an announcement of a major project every couple of months. So that could give the impression that the company was very aggressive over aggressive. But now I feel that the company has totally reverted its stance and it seems to be perhaps very conservative. Can you shed some color on that? And perhaps, can you tell us regarding your objectives? I feel that you're very happy with Europe. It's mature. So does it mean that the bulk of growth CapEx now will go to the U.S. with Europe only being invested for maintenance? So that's my first question.

I think that's one for you, Toralf.

Yes. I mean we continue to invest. But like we said, we're coming out of a very high CapEx cycle. And the main target for this management team is now to bring to consolidate to focus on the priorities that we laid out to bring stability and confidence and trust into the company and its stakeholders. We want to produce free cash flow this year and also the next years. But that doesn't mean that we don't continue to invest. I mean we have a baseline investment, but we will continue to do strategic investments. One, of course, is further investments in U.S., but the other one is also further investments in our European facilities. We also said for the -- for last year and for this year, we're not going to do any M&A because we have -- we focus our resources in bringing these big projects. I mean, the complex recycling program in Hamburg and the new precious metal hub, they are huge projects. We have to bring them home, but we are very confident that we will bring them home.

I think we also have to manage the engineering resources that we have that we not try to do everything at once. We are a company with 7,000 employees. We're not like a huge company. Like I said, we also looked at the Middle East, there's large opportunities there for recycling smelters India. But there, we also have to focus our resources. If we would be a larger company, we could do this, but being a company with 7,000 employees, I think we have to focus, focus on the returns. And this is our target right now. But this doesn't include strategic projects. We have a lot of strategic projects in the pipeline, which we don't announce today, but there will be announcements in the course of the fiscal year where we continue to invest. But we couldn't time it today. So sorry about that.

And if I can add to what Toralf has said, I mean what is strategy? Strategy is about saying what you do, but strategy is also about saying what you don't do. So on what we do, I think Toralf has said everything, bring home the strategic projects and then also with smart investments, work on improving debottlenecking and getting more out of the assets. Toralf has just said, there will be further investments coming. And when we look at one of my charts later on, we will see that for that, we see, let's say, a mid-million euro digit figure annually for those further smart investments. We have clearly said, Toralf has clearly said that the major potential strategic decision could be on the U.S., but it's too early to talk about it.

And then what is it strategies about what we don't do. I think a major decision of our Board has been that we will not engage with further capital allocation on the battery recycling.

Okay. And just a second and last one is on your recycling input sourcing rate, which is 44% currently. So I think in the past, there was an objective to bring that up to 50% by 2030. Is that still the case? And where do you see the ultimate rate that could be possible for Aurubis because the more recycling you have, I guess, the more profitable you as well?

I think that's one for you, Inge.

Yes. I think the goal of getting to 50% in 2030 is still there and is still follow through. At the same time, demand for copper is high, and that means also that private resources are needed to fill that demand. So most probably balancing out 50-50, I think we will see for a while.

All right. And then I think we have some questions from the web, Apparently, the announcement that you need to use the Q&A button worked. So I think one is for you, Steffen, which was -- would you please give an approximate IRR of the projects you talked about? Could you elaborate a little bit on what is the threshold there?

Well, I would stay with the KPIs that we disclosed publicly, the threshold for everything we decide from now on is that the projects have to pay into the ROCE target of 15%. Internally, we also look at IRRs, and we look at paybacks. Internally, we have been more ambitious on paybacks. So we want to bring the paybacks down. First of all, in the single year phase and then the lower the better. We favor obviously also digital projects with a very low single-digit year figure. But I would not want to single it out now on a project base. The key message is everything we are doing has in the midterm, be accretive to the 15% ROCE target.

Okay. And then we have another one, which I believe is something for you, Toralf. The statement not to invest any further money in battery recycling. Is this a recent decision what stands behind this? Are there any additional motives or findings which contribute to that decision.

While we made this decision as an Executive Board and also in coordination with the Supervisory Board in the last month, and the main driver for that is the market because the market has been delaying. And we -- like I said before, we are not sure where the market is going to play. So what we have developed from a technological standpoint is really good and it's really value creating, but the only motive is the timing of the market and the location of the market where the market will be. Those are the 2 reasons why we decided not to invest right now further.

Okay. And I believe there is one more for you, Steffen. Toralf just mentioned that there will be no major M&A in the medium term. Regarding the treasury shares that Aurubis holds, what is the plan for these right now?

Well, the treasury shares have been acquired some years ago with kind of a clear prescription title by the authorization of the AGM, which is linked to M&A and potential refinancing needs. We have a super healthy balance sheet. I think we could bear more leverage. So I'm not excluding that at one point in time, we could use it as on the refinancing side. But at the moment, I don't see the necessity, Toralf did not execute M&A forever. If he was talking about priorities, we were talking about our ambition and energy for doing more in the U.S. So perhaps at one point in time, we could use treasury shares for a potential thing, but once again, nothing is decided and nothing is on the table at the moment.

I don't see this -- I don't think it makes sense to cancel them now because our intention is not to limit the free float. We also do not want to bring our largest shareholder in a difficult situation if we were canceling shares, and we would lift them above 30%. So at the moment, they are there, they are a cushion. Admittedly, it's a bit ineffective. It will not stay there forever, either refinancing or M&A. Let's say, I personally would think in a 2 to 3 years' time period, we will find a meaningful way. Perhaps last message on that one. The company bought the shares at a relatively low price in the 40s. So at least it has been a relatively decent investment, but I don't want to carry them around for the next 10 years, but I also would not think that something happens this year.

All right. And I think we have another question from the audience.

Dan Major from UBS. Most of my questions for the finance segment. But just one on the kind of product premiums and pricing in the market. The narrative seems to have moved away from the customer wanting to pay premiums for low carbon or green material to resource security at a kind of regional or national level. Are you seeing any appetite for green premiums and any of our products or indeed, are you seeing any appetite for strategic buyers to step in and pay a premium for locally sourced material either in the U.S. or in Europe?

Inge, do you want to take that one?

Yes. I think low carbon footprint is appreciated still. So in that sense, I think customers do want to see that. And in general, it's all about also diversification. And of course, we cannot talk for the customer, but a customer in itself also wants to have a diversification in the portfolio. And it's a matter often as much as securing raw material supply and being a reliable supplier on that one, I think, is key in that matter.

Okay. So just to follow on that, I mean, customers might appreciate the low-carbon nature, but are they willing to pay for it?

Always difficult to see when you are not on the customer side, I would say.

Okay. We've got another one from the Internet from clients on the call. And I think that's probably one for you, Seonag. Could you shine a bit more light on battery recycling deal with the Swedish company, Talga. I believe that has been something your team has been working on.

Yes. You may have seen the recent press release from Talga. So we have also alluded to that in when we spoke about the commercial excellence pillar. We've signed an MOU with Talga, and that's related to supplying graphite from graphite-coated copper foils where we're developing some capabilities there. There's going to be increasing volumes of that material in the European market coming from a range of batteries. And we have the capability to separate the copper from the graphite and we'd be supplying that to Talga. So that would be the recent announcement that you've seen there.

Okay. It seems like we don't have anything from the net right now. Any further questions from the audience at this stage? Jason.

Just a follow-up on the problems that you inherited from the previous management team. So there was the security issue or the fraud issue or the controls issue or whatever we want to call it. Do you feel comfortable that you've put systems and processes in place that we won't have a repeat of that?

Yes, we are confident about that. Of course, we started our plant in Hamburg. Just to give you some figures, we installed 1,100 cameras in Hamburg. We have drones controlling the area. We have new security companies engaged. We control all the entrances so we have started an insider campaign that we -- so we're doing a lot of -- and it was also my personal focus and Tim Kurth's personal focus in the first year. Now we're rolling out these security measures on the other plants.

So we are confident that we put enough CapEx in there, but also enough personal commitment. It's also, of course, a cultural thing to get the people here on board. So no, we feel comfortable that this is now under good control, plant security. Of course, never 100% sure for these high copper and gold and silver prices, they jump over the fence and steal some rod that happens. But we are confident that this will not happen in a major organized way.

Tim, any additions on the health and safety side here?

I mean, Toralf mentioned most of them regarding security. And there's also, again, the network working and helping a lot, right? So what has been experienced by Hamburg and you politely, let's say, phrased it. And we are also rolling it out to the other plants and see if we do have certain gaps as well in the other plants, and then we are going to improve it immediately. And what we have seen also lately is that other peers are already confirming that we are one step ahead of them. So we really made a lot of progress and a lot of speed, unfortunately, with these events, the last couple of 2 years.

Regarding health and safety, it's the same also there. We have now a complete new team on board on the start. We are also working very much together. We do have a one of the portions of the -- regarding safety on board, and this is also a program which is going to run another year. And with a clear message that after that 1 year, we will be -- this will enables us then to work also on our own.

All right, very well. Then time flies. We're a bit ahead of schedule. I regard that as a personal achievement here. On this note, I would like to give everyone a break until, let's say, roughly 15:05 so that we can all grab something to drink, something to bite, which will be set up outside of this auditorium. So thanks a lot for this first session. Thanks for your answers. Thanks for your questions, and see you back here at 15:05.

[Break]

Hello again. Welcome back. I think it's such a great video with such a great beat. You can't watch it enough, right? So thanks again, coming back here in time. And now we dive into the second part of our Capital Market Day, where, first of all, we'd like to expand on our latest developments in the U.S. Then thereafter, I'd like to talk a little bit with 2 various team partners on the commercial side about how we create value in partnerships. Before then Steffen will give us a roundup on the financial outlook, midterm guidance and capital allocation.

David Schultheis, who you certainly all remember from 2 years ago is our President and MD of Aurubis Richmond. David, come join me on stage. And David, I believe you had some very particularly busy days over the last couple of weeks and months, and we're all happy to hear about that. Floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Ken. Hello, everyone. As you just heard from my colleagues, Toralf and Seonag, the U.S. growth story as part of focused growth is a key pillar of the Aurubis strategy. Since the inception of Aurubis Richmond, we have seen significant progress and dynamic developments. We've seen significant progress in the construction and commissioning of the facility, leading to the recent first smelt and start of operations of Aurubis Richmond. We also saw dynamic developments in markets, international trade flows and the investment environment in the United States.

Clearly, Aurubis Richmond is strategically attuned and well timed as the United States prevails as a very attractive market with great opportunity for sustained growth. Let us now have a look at the individual developments.

Addressable markets for metal shredders, insulated copper wire and printed circuit boards in North America are expected to grow approximately 25% over the next 10 years. In other words, our U.S. recycling market remains large, attractive and growing. The underlying growth drivers are strong and enduring. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and the substantial build-out of data centers in the United States are powerful tailwinds for our business. Atlanta, Charlotte, North Virginia, these are examples of key clusters of data center deployment in the United States. All of these areas are only a few hours away from Augusta and thus well within the catchment area of our Aurubis Richmond plant.

Additionally, Augusta lies in the heart of what is called the battery belt. As for public reports, Georgia and South Carolina alone have attracted $30 billion to $40 billion in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing investments since 2018. These trends demand increased investments in energy production and infrastructure, which in turn feed our target recycling markets.

Next, let's narrow on import and export by taking a closer look at the refined copper import statistics. For the United States, copper is officially classified as a critical mineral and for a good reason. First, copper is an indispensable input for strategic technologies and industries as Seonag and Toralf already highlighted earlier in the presentation.

Secondly, the United States remains highly dependent on imports. Each year, approximately 1 million metric tonnes of refined copper must be imported, covering nearly half of America's total demand. And this dependence, as you can see, is set to grow. Industry projections indicate that the supply gap could widen by 50%, reaching around 1.5 million tonnes by 2035. That makes supply chain resilience strategic imperative. Closing that supply gap isn't optional. It's essential. The U.S. will need additional capacity from both primary production, new copper mines and secondary production, advanced recycling facilities. Because new mining projects often take a decade or more to realize the near-term solution must come primarily from recycling. This is where Aurubis Richmond comes in.

Our investment is perfectly timed. It is the largest and most technologically advanced multimetal recycling plant ever built in the United States and casts a bright light on Aurubis and its contribution to keeping recycling materials inside the United States.

Under the authority of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the U.S. administration recently concluded that a heavy reliance on copper imports poses a significant risk to national security, opening the door to tariffs and trade restrictions. In August 2025, a presidential proclamation, introduced new measures to regulate the imports and exports of copper-based materials, impacting the U.S. copper market. The restrictions aim to secure domestic supply while encouraging greater investment in primary and secondary smelting, refining and fabrication capacity, the ultimate goal, the more resilient supply chain, in the U.S. in providing American industry with critical metals.

Looking ahead, these tariffs and trade restrictions also create a favorable investment climate providing Aurubis with a strong platform to further pursue and expand its U.S. growth ambitions. In anticipation of the start of operations, preparations for the ramp up steadily intensified over the past months. Early in 2025, the local commercial team started buying smaller volumes across all 3 material categories, to build an initial inventory for Aurubis Richmond. In this regard, Aurubis is able to leverage its long-term presence in North America and to use the existing supplier relationships for the volumes that we will need. We have even earmarked key suppliers for first year volumes.

In the summer of 2025, we then significantly increased our commercial activities and we're able to quickly secure several attractive annual contracts with key suppliers. Accordingly, inventory levels have risen steadily over the past couple of months, and are expected to increase tenfold between June and the end of this year.

Now we get to the highlight. In September, 2 weeks ago, we reached a very important milestone for Aurubis Richmond. Together with our partners, we celebrated the first smelt. An important precursor of that event is the official receipt of our certificate of occupancy, which we received in early August. The certificate of occupancy signifies that we are -- it confirms that the site is ready for operations. This milestone is based on significant construction and commissioning advancements. Let me share some numbers with you.

We invested about 2 million man hours to build and commission our new facility. That's the equivalent of about 1,000 people working for an entire year. We used 3,500 metric tonnes of steel, about half the amount used for the Eiffel Tower and we installed 25 miles of pipes and 28 miles of electric cables, each about the distance of a marathon.

I'm especially proud that all of this was achieved with an excellent safety record. It reflects the dedication and professionalism of our teams and our partners. With Phase 1 now underway, Aurubis Richmond is firmly positioned at the forefront of the U.S. multimetal industry, as the first of its kind, state-of-the-art secondary smelter for complex recycling materials in the United States. Given the successful start of operations in September, the team and I are now fully dedicated and focused on working towards the ramp-up. The planned ramp-up profile for Aurubis Richmond is shown here, applying a 12-month rolling window. While this perspective understates the actual run rate in terms of throughput that we will achieve in every single month, it does highly correlate with the realization of our facilities full potential described by the business case and our budget.

Having realized first smelt in September, we're off to a great start and on schedule for the ramp-up of Aurubis Richmond. Before handing over to Toralf Haag for our perspective on Aurubis Richmond's attractiveness as an investment and platform for continued growth, we would like to share with you a visual impression of Aurubis Richmond's facility in operation.

[Presentation]

Yes. Thank you, David. I want to thank you again and your team for the great achievement, and I want to emphasize again that this is the first recycling smelter in the U.S. of this kind, and we think we have a substantial first-mover advantage here. We also can confirm our return here that we will return out of this investment, EUR 170 million in EBITDA in the fiscal year '28 to 2029. And of course, there's certain milestones that we have to achieve until then. But right now, we are on track to achieve these milestones.

But this is the foundation for further growth in North America, our first big investment. If we look at further investments that we will potentially do in North America, there's a lot of funding schemes right now developing in the U.S. We didn't get any funding from the government for Aurubis Richmond, but we are quite confident that with the variable funding schemes that are developing right now and critical materials becoming high on the agenda of the -- also the U.S. government that there will be possibilities to fund some further investment.

What are our options? We are looking at different options right now. The first one, of course, is the vertical expansion that we multiply our Richmond facility and move to the West Coast, where there is also a big market and also a lot of scrap available. The second option we're looking at is a vertical expansion that we go further downstream, build an anode furnace and also a tankhouse and potentially also a rod plant at our facility. We have the site available. We have the land. So this is another option we're looking at and third option is strategic partnerships. There's a lot of players in the U.S. who are there present already, and there's some other players who are coming to the U.S. racket right now. So there's a lot of opportunities to join forces and join risk for further investment. So all options are on the table, investment in the secondary side, the downstream side, but potentially also on the primary side, if we get the funding from the U.S. government. So we will keep you updated on what we decide on here.

Yes. This concludes our presentation on the North America side. Thank you, David, again. Thank you.

Thank you to both of you, Toralf and David. I think it's a very great overview about what you and your team have achieved over there. So congratulations also from my end, and I believe the video gives a really, really lively impression of how it looks there, and what the size and the magnitude of the site actually is.

Now I would like to turn to a bit of a different topic, but that links back to the competitive advantages that Seonag spoke about before and the commercial excellence pillar that Inge explained earlier today. Aurubis is right at the center between resource development, generation of recycling raw materials and downstream products, which were essential or which are essential for these advanced technologies. So collaboration along the value chain characterizes the interaction between our business partners and us, and we're happy to have 2 important partners here with us today.

It is my pleasure to announce and welcome Laura Colli here to me on the stage. Welcome, Laura. This is your podium, which you will -- you will be there. And Laura is Chief Procurement Officer at Prysmian, the world's leading cable and systems company specializing in energy and telecommunications infrastructure. I hope that was in a simplified way, concise enough. And -- but you're also leading the global purchasing with a very strong emphasis on sustainability and supplier partnerships as well as strategic supply chain resilience. So again, very, very warm welcome.

So now let's turn upstream. Strong relationships, further upstream in the value chain ensure that we can reliably supply our partners on the product side. For this reason, I'm happy to have Colin Hamilton from Teck Resources with us here today. Colin is part of the commercial leadership team at Teck and is, amongst others, responsible for market research. I think many of you may know Colin from his more than 2 decades in the metals and mining sector. A warm welcome to you. And I believe, similar to Laura, you're also one of our key contacts when it comes to discussing potential options to create more resilience along the whole value chain.

And last but not least, and not just because only 3 is a party, I would like to welcome Martin Sjöberg to the stage. Welcome, Martin. Martin is our Head of Commercial and has the responsibility for all our commercial activities on the primary side as well as on product marketing and sales. And with more than 20 years of commercial experience under his belt, I think he's a great partner to have this discussion with today and therefore, welcome, Martin. I'll take a slot over here or take the spot over here so that we can stand very nicely around the table.

And I would like to start with you, Martin, and before we turn to Laura and Colin. And I would like to ask you to give us a brief overview on Aurubis' customer and partner landscape more broadly and as well on the partnerships with Prysmian and Teck in particular.

Okay. Thanks, Ken. I can certainly do that. Maybe the first thing to mention is that we have a truly global footprint when it comes to our suppliers and as well as our sales. For our sourcing and sales activities, we have suppliers on several different continents and a healthy mix between traders and miners. The same is valid for our downstream business. And as you heard before, our end products and our refined metals is going to various different segments, and that's part of creating the resilient business model that you heard more about earlier today.

One thing to mention also is when it comes to new mining projects, we often involve ourselves very early on. And thanks to our I would say, vast experience as well as our financial strength, and most of all, our capability to process complex material, we're often viewed as a partner of choice. And from that, we can get steady supplies.

What I also like to highlight is our long-term view with business partners, meaning that for many of them, we are in the business for decades. And we also have a big volume -- healthy volume of long-term supplies, and that gives us the reliability that our operations needs in return in terms of getting the feed, and it also gives us a very limited spot market exposure. And I think having Prysmian and Teck here with me on stage is a great 2 leading examples of this long-term collaboration. So thanks again for coming.

Thank you very much. It's really my pleasure and honor to be here today.

Thank you, Martin. Just sticking with you just for a minute. And to follow up on what you just said about the long-term partnerships. So if you put yourself in the shoes of our customers and suppliers, what are -- what do you say, the main reasons that these bonds are so strong?

I think the first thing that comes into my mind is reliability, meaning that our smelter, tankhouse and product foundry networks gives us a lot of possibilities to continuously be an off-taker from our suppliers, whether that's mining, feed or the recycling feed. And this, of course, also gives stable production or makes us being a stable supplier to our customers of refined metals and products.

And our metallurgical and process technology knowledge also allows us to work very closely to our partners, whether that's finding solution for more recycle -- more complex material to process or on the downstream side to develop new products or manage the volume growth. And this is also backed by our financial strength and as you heard, the willingness from our top management to continuously invest.

And the final thing that I'd like to mention and you'll hear more of that later, is that -- is our strong sustainability standing. So we are continuously investing in ways to -- in a responsible and sustainable way process raw material. And as an outcome, we will have a big volume of refined metals and products with a carbon footprint clearly below the industry average. And that resonates very well with our business partners and taking Prysmian here on stage 2 leading example of this.

We have summarized all of this under our Tomorrow Metal sustainability promise. And as a market participant of scale in the center of the value chain, I believe that Aurubis can take the leading flag of transforming the whole industry. And again, this resonates very well with Teck and Prysmian. And I think here, we can collectively cooperate to improve the whole value chain from mine all the way to final products.

Okay. Wow. I would like to move over to you, Laura, and thanks again for being here with us today. Could you, first of all, provide us with a brief introduction to Prysmian and explain from your perspective, also where Aurubis comes into play and what role we play in your business?

Yes. Okay. Just you introduced Prysmian, Prysmian is a leader as a global leader in the energy and telecommunication cable system industry. This is an Italian company, headquarter is in Milano, Italy. We design, manufacture and supply a wide range of cable. Our portfolio include high-voltage, submarine cable, fiber optic, medium and low-voltage cable in all the industries in the energy, transmission and power grid and telecom.

So saying that our global position put us in a condition that probably we are the larger consumer of copper worldwide. And then in this position, for sure, the partnership with our supply chain is absolutely crucial and is fundamental. So we are approaching a new journey coming from cable manufacturer to world-class solution provider in a world which is extremely challenging.

So then the importance of the quality of product, the quality of copper that you're going to provide the reliability of suppliers. You mentioned, reliability is a key word to build up together a resilient supply chain and to approach the growth in the market as the best we can and to give and to provide value to our customers.

So in short, so reliability, sustainability the same innovation for new product, which is extremely important is one of the pillar of our strategy, represent really the values that Aurubis can provide to us over decades of collaboration with us.

Okay. Thank you very much. Colin, now over to you. Could you briefly -- I suppose, most of our audience is -- knows who Teck Resources is. So could you still briefly introduce your company and also highlight what are the most critical topics that you expect from a partner like Aurubis?

Absolutely. Thank you, Ken, and thank you to my fellow panel. It's great to be up here with you. Teck is a Canadian headquartered mining company. And we focus on base metals and critical minerals and things that are crucial to that fuel to materials transition. And as part of that, I mean, when we think about what do we need from a partner, there's 2 words, my fellow panelists have mentioned them. Resilience is definitely one. Resilience is about being there. Who is that first call that you make when you want to sell something. Who when you have a problem, who can form that solution? I would say for us, I mean when we were setting out our LME schedule for next week, Aurubis is the first meeting in the calendar. So that is very important. So resilience is one, reliability is the other. Just say, doing what you're going -- you say you're going to do and having a vision.

We know that when we talk to Aurubis, do we say, well, we want to be here, and this is why we're all here today. I think that's actually absolutely crucial. When you think about planning your business for us, building a mine is a long-term commitment, and we need a partner that has that long-term commitment to the industry as well.

And I imagine that ore bodies are not all the same. So you always need someone who understands what is going to come along with the product you may be producing. Over back to you, Laura. And you alluded to the topics, reliability, product quality, sustainability, what are the most critical topics for Prysmian where Aurubis can provide a solution. And can you maybe also share an example how we collaborated in the past and have supported each other through challenging times and market volatility?

Yes, it's quite easy to answer to this question since we laid all together the COVID time. So then for sure, during the COVID pandemic when all the global supply chain were under unprecedented stress, Aurubis continue to deliver with high quality of product. So -- and guarantee continuity of business for us and in respecting our commitment to our final customers.

And on top of that, thanks to Aurubis, we truly created and strong trust on our customers since of reliability of supply. And an additional topic which is extremely important is even the responsiveness and the transparency in the communication that Aurubis always demonstrated to us, which is extremely important in a time where -- so communication and information are truly fragmented or delay.

And finally, the technical capability that even in challenging times, you always demonstrated just to guarantee, as I said, a high level of quality and even in a challenging project to demonstrate the right level of agility, the right level of flexibility to serve at the best our customer.

So then finally, so what Aurubis done over the COVID time is not only help us to overcome challenges, but even to build together a stronger supply chain, a resilient supply chain.

Okay. Great to hear. And I must imagine you have very challenging and demanding customers yourself. So happy that we can be a part of the solutions you need. Colin was just a lot about the long-term partnerships. And can you, from a Teck's perspective, also elaborate a little bit on the value of long-term partnerships, in particular, for a mining company?

Yes. So it's a great question. When we think about partnerships, we have to think of life of mine partnerships. We want someone who's there when we produce that first ore and someone who's there when we close and rehabilitate that operation at the end of life. And as you alluded to before, again, I mean it's not like ore body is the same. Things change constantly. And we're always having to engage with our partners to say, look, this is what's coming.

So having that shared view of where we might be in 3 to 5 years' time and what might be coming and how that plays into the wider value chain that we're talking here today is absolutely crucial when we were thinking about planning projects, when we're thinking about executing projects and we're thinking about what we should do and even how we should do it because it's very easy to be siloed and say, well, we're going to just sell this into the market. And that is not a great business strategy. You need people who are there, and you know we'll be there to answer the phone to talk you through solutions through the life of a project.

Okay. And Martin, now having heard these 2 perspectives from upstream and downstream when you think about working with Prysmian and Teck, so what is it that comes to your mind first? What stands out to you?

First of all, thank you for the nice question. I can just say that also echo that it's very mutually understood that we have great collaboration also with our commercial teams and their likes on your side, both. So this is truly an example of an excellent, let's say, partnerships that we had that spends for decades already. For Prysmian, I mean, Laura, you mentioned already, how we are intensively working on to find new products as well as improving quality and manage the volume growth that you are ahead of maybe to add just one more thing is that we're also trying to find very creative solutions when it comes to recycling meaning how do we collect and utilize the production scrap that is falling in your processes. And this is something that really we are exploring more, more and more intensively.

For Teck, I think there's mainly 2 things that stands out. One is the resource development for new mines and the other is technical solutions. So for developing mining assets, I would mention Quebrada Blanca 2 as a perfect example of how we, in a very early stage engaged ourselves in the process and that how we also back that up by government-backed anti-loan facility to finance this.

And also for technical collaboration, we have jointly in very close collaboration established a metallurgical solution to process high arsenic ore bodies, which is another good example on how we can find solutions by working closely together.

And again, I would also like to highlight again our sustainability collaboration. Again, that's resonates very well with us and something that we want to do jointly. And I'm also very -- I mean -- and again, this is really strengthening our Tomorrow Metals position even more, having you on board for this, and I am also excited to announce that not long ago, we had signed an MOU with Teck, which includes strategic operation on traceability technology, as well as improving the transparency on the carbon footprint, which I know that the downstream customers really are asking for and also other improvements when it comes to ESG metrics and responsible sourcing.

Thanks, Martin. Now let's look a little bit further down along the value chain. Prysmian serves fast-growing sectors. We just had the topic of having quite demanding customers, and when you evaluate your suppliers, Laura, in particular, also for future capacity expansions, what criteria make Aurubis stand out versus other peers?

Yes. Thanks for the question. I can even mention the journey that we started in Prysmian accelerating growth. We mentioned over the Capital Market Day in the last March. So the ambition to grow in EBITDA to achieving EUR 3.15 billion in 2028, and even continue to grow in organic way, thanks to transmission segment but even continue to grow in U.S. So it's important to the last acquisition of Encore Wire. So -- and then we became the leader in wire and cable in U.S. as well in white building.

So then basically, the trend that we are following right now in terms of growth need of solid partnership. And then talking about reliability for sure, talking about a commitment -- a mutual commitment to growth together. So -- and I mentioned U.S. U.S. is extremely important for us. It's 40% of the total revenue of Prysmian is in U.S. And then for sure, we are looking for a very solid and very reliable supply base in U.S. guarantee to ensure the growth considering even the trends of data center boosting and electrification and the new infrastructure needed in U.S.

So then, you mentioned sustainability. Sustainability is one of the pillar of our strategy across the globe. So this is exactly what our customer is asking to us to be focused on sustainable product to be focused on sustainable supply chain and sustainable sourcing. And thanks to low carbon copper, thanks to all the alignment on the ESG target that we run together, we can guarantee even this requirement to our customer.

And you just mentioned the topic of the U.S. You want to grow in the U.S., 40% of your revenue comes from the U.S. given we have these supply chain realignments globally, how critical is our footprint in Europe and the U.S. for your business?

Okay. You already mentioned the growth in the market -- U.S. market driven by data center, electrification, renewable energy. And as well as Europe, which continue to be a very important region for us. So the organic growth in Europe is driven by transmission segment. And we have a very strong pipeline over the next year. So for sure, the 2 main geographies for Prysmian are U.S. and Europe. So we operate globally in all the other regions. However, the core business is still in the 2 regions, then we are looking for having a strong supply base in both as Aurubis can provide to us.

So regionalization is something that is becoming more strategic over the year. So okay, the global trading policy of Trump and then we are producing locally. So that we are producing U.S. and then the acquisition of Encore Wire strength our position in the U.S. in a consistent way as well as we have a very strong position in euro across all the segments.

Okay. Very clear focus, Europe and North America. Colin, back to you. How would you describe the collaboration, cooperation with Aurubis? And how has it evolved over time? And what sticks out today?

I think the key to any partnership is trust, whether that's personal whether that's business. And trust takes a long time to build but can be destroyed very quickly. But trust makes everything easier. It makes everything easier to be able to -- for administration for just saying, look, this will happen. Now I would say, I mean, we've had a 20-year-plus relationship with Aurubis. And probably start as a transactional relationship. We sold you -- we said we produced this here you have some copper concentrate.

Over time, we realized we had a lot more shared values, particularly around sustainability and just basically how to operate in the world. And with that, that has then become the strategic relationship where we say, well, what would our customers think and what would their customers' customers think and it's actually very important. We can't -- we don't have a direct line to Laura. We rely on people like Aurubis to give us that insight as well to allow us to plan our business. So again, it's this more holistic value chain-based approach. And it's much more important Laura mentioned the fact that governments are so much more interested in what we do these days.

And as part of that, you need to have those reliable partners, both upstream and downstream, wherever you are in that value chain.

And you mentioned the fact about learning about your customers' customers requirements. How does that actually impact how you start approaching new mining, new resource development projects? How does that come into play when you look at a new asset?

Well, of course, I mean, we have a portfolio of assets. We were looking at what's the demand going to be? So we need that feed through on what demand will be. We also think about the economic viability of it. So what else do we get with it? Can there be other opportunities? Multimetal companies like Aurubis offer a lot more options in that regard than perhaps some of our other more standard custom smelter partners. So that's quite crucial to us.

Okay. Thank you. We've talked a little bit about global megatrends, Laura, but maybe to drill a little bit deeper into that topic, what are the trends that are influencing your business currently the most? Where do you see the most poll, so to say, for high-quality copper? And how -- maybe to add on to that, how can we support to deliver on these requests?

Yes. First, the energy transition is a major driver, especially in Europe, which remain our most relevant market for transmission, as I said. U.S., I mentioned again, is growing a lot, is driven by upgrade of the expand power grid. So the data center digitalization, rollout of AI, so many drivers even in U.S. creating demand growth. And for sure, Aurubis can support by continuing to supply in a reliable way and giving -- ensuring the continuity of business for us. And considering even the rise of electric car and vehicle, which accelerated a lot, even the growth worldwide and particularly in U.S. So we really need to have a continuity of our supplier and mainly partner embrace the same commitment to grow.

So the -- as I mentioned before, regionalization of supply chain, it's still extremely important for us and reshaping how we operate completely. And finally, the geopolitical and supply chain turmoil, continue to add complexity. And it's extremely important that our partner continue to be flexible, agile and follow us on a quick reaction in front of turmoil in front of new challenges.

And at the moment, what I could say and thanks Aurubis for the cooperation is Aurubis is helping us to stay ahead of global trends. And then it's my chance to thank you for that.

Colin, would you concur if you look from Teck's perspective, are these the trends where you follow as well? I mean, amongst others being responsible for market research, anything to add here or...

I could talk about it whole day again. No, I think to me, what is really interesting is that I don't worry so much about demand. I mean I think we're in this interesting since you look at -- if I think of my career, in metals and mining, China has basically driven 100% of copper growth. But you look at what China has done in terms of moving to basically an electro state. You can say China is the world's first electro state and I look at the resilience that has driven geopolitically, if you want, in China, there's a lot of debate over it. But there's no doubt that China is less reliant on oil than it was before. So as we go through this global shift from petro states to electro states, that means a lot more copper demand, a lot more electrification.

People talk about metal super cycles, and we believe on an electricity demand super cycle, and metals just feed into that. So my worry is not on the demand side. My worry is on supply and trying to -- those are in the mindset, trying to keep up with the pace of growth we're seeing. But I do think that it's generally appreciated even at the government area now that grids are the one thing you need for global economic resilience, particularly in a world where artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a geopolitical battleground.

Okay. I'm not worried about demand. I think that's a positive news for you as well, Laura. Martin, now we've heard that from Prysmian and from Teck. Is that consistent with the conversations you're having in the broader industry? Any additional color you could provide to this outlook?

I would just say that it is certainly of importance of everything that you mentioned for us also. And with my, let's say, when I engage with my commercial team and regardless if it's our primary suppliers, recyclers or end customers, we're working very closely to our customers and trying to find new solutions to this. And very often, we also involve our R&D colleagues. And as an outcome of this, of course, this could be then that we find new reliable -- supply reliability, whether that's being the steady offtake or material like you said, Colin is a great importance for you or for that matters, being able to deliver a volume of sites with the right quality to our downstream partners that you highlighted here, Laura.

And just to mention something more. I think in many areas also the test sampling and value estimation is of great importance. And also there, it requires us to work very closely to our partners to develop this together. And I think also there, we have multiple examples where we have successfully done this going from a pure transactional basis to more like a partnership and trust that you were highlighting, Colin.

And I think that being in business with Teck, for example, for the last 2 decades, even though we are not the miner, we start to get a very quite good understanding of the what is important for our business partner, like a mine, and we work very closely together, and we can then ensure a smooth offtake and jointly let's say, enables each other's growth, which also drips down all the way to our downstream partners eventually to manage this growth of metal demand that we are seeing.

Okay. we've touched the topic of sustainability before, but I'd still like to go one level deeper and try to get a better grasp of how important sustainability is in your industry, Laura and where would you rate the value? I mean we had a lot of discussions over probably the last 12 months. So what is it still worth, what is still the relevance. I think in this room, we're all convinced that there is a huge relevance to it. But I would still like to get a better understanding there. And where would you also rate Aurubis on a global scale?

Yes. Okay. Thanks for the question. Sustainability for us is a key pillar of our strategy. And then it's central to our industry as well. So -- and then at Prysmian, sustainability is not just a responsibility. It's a driver of innovation and growth. So then we challenge ourselves to be -- to reach a target, a very ambitious target in sustainability. So we announced the reduction by 60% of Scope 1 and 2 within 2030 and net zero minus 90% in 2035. We decided really to accelerate the net zero from 2050 to 2035. And we are the only one or the first one, at least in the industry, in the sector.

So on top of that, we commit even to deliver more than 55% of our total revenues as a sustainable product. So a combination of things driven by our -- so internal challenge, but even what the customer is requesting to us, to provide more sustainable product as well as to foster sustainability mindset inside of the supply chain in the supply base.

So -- and then the providing low-carbon copper to us with high level of quality, but mainly embrace same ambition in sustainability on the ESG target for the future is absolutely pivotal and fundamental for us to continue to build up this partnership with Aurubis.

So really driving it through the supply chain?

Absolutely, yes.

Colin, same question to you. What's Teck's stance or your view on the sustainability angle in the mining industry?

Sustainability is a prerequisite to doing business. And I mean, even if you think financially, the most -- the companies with a focus on sustainability tend to be the best financial results. That's how they run their businesses better and in the right way. Mine industry historically has had a bad reputation for sustainability. I do think that's changing. And I'm a firm believer that as we push towards a more responsible sourcing future and the MOU that we recently signed is kind of a testament to that, that we can change that opinion over time.

What the mining industry, I think, is doing better and we, as a company, try to do is listen. We listen to our communities. We listen to our customers. We say, what do you want? And we change our business to that. So when Aurubis buys copper concentrate from Quebrada Blanca, they know it's not continental water that's gone into that.

When we come towards the end of a mine life, you know that, that will be rehabilitated. We look to nature positive future. So to us, it's absolutely core at what we do. And it's become less of a sexy topic, if you want, over the past year. That does not mean it's not more important. And this is why we are delighted of saying that MOU Aurubis around traceability and supply chains and making sure that when Laura gets a copper that when it's come from the primary supply source you can trace all the way through the system. You know the carbon footprint and you know when you're selling it to your customers, what's going in there is done in the right way.

Thank you, Colin. I would like to switch a bit the topic now to another aspect that you mentioned before about innovation and also try to grasp the value of innovation within such a partnership because it is a very dynamic industry. So could you maybe elaborate a little bit more on the value of innovation?

Okay. Innovation is a cornerstone of our relationship with our customer. So -- and we believe that is not innovation without partnership, which is upstream and downstream. So we started since years to cooperate with our suppliers with Aurubis to develop new product to think about a new solution that can serve the best our final customer. Sustainability, as I said, is part of the innovation journey for sure, but not only to identify new processes more efficient, try to provide a new solution to our customer and then in this way, create value for all the value chain.

Innovation for Prysmian is not only an effort, it's a network of collaboration of cooperation, which is extremely important and it's like a co-designing together with our suppliers, with our customers as well to shape the future.

And I suppose, Circular Solutions fall right into this department. Colin, and the same question also for you, how are you thinking about innovation, how innovative would you say is the relationship with Aurubis?

Innovation of a mining company don't necessarily go hand in hand, but what I would say, there's a couple of things that I think the -- we're in a world where we move a lot of material around the world between us. And that is something that we're starting to see new solutions come through on. And sometimes that's just simple engineering, sometimes it really is proper and how can we change things.

But also, I mean, we talked a lot about -- people are asking us for different types of metals than before. And maybe we had something in our ore body that well, it was previously going to waste. We can talk to Aurubis, can we possibly recover this because the world needs it. And I think that's very important.

Okay. And speaking about these minor metals like bismuth, et cetera, which come along in the ore body and sometimes they're a nuisance and sometimes they are value. I would like to take a step towards the final questions in this panel discussion before we wrap it up. And I would like to ask all 3 of you, when you look ahead now, let's say, 5 to 10 years, what role do you see for Aurubis? And how -- what role does Aurubis play in your future business success? And maybe you can start with you again, Laura.

Okay, for sure. So continuing to play a strategic role in Prysmian's business to continue to be -- to provide a reliable product and then build up a trust and long-term relationship. So high quality, so sustainable products. So working in a circular economy is giving us value on this aspect, which is extremely important for our final customer. So continuing to be rely on supply across geographies. So then for us, it's extremely important to have local presence in the region where we are growing. We are committing to grow with our final customer.

So then helping us to build up a resilient supply chain, value chain. High quality, I already said and then continue to work in a transparent in a very responsive way and to guarantee and to build up value altogether to the entire value chain.

Okay. Thank you. Colin, your thoughts on that.

We're a time in the world where you need leaders, and this industry needs leaders. We want to be a leader in the mining side. I would say Aurubis is the natural leader of the smelting community, particularly as we look to build greater optionality in supply chains, more resilient supply chains, as we mentioned before.

I think there will be -- that leadership will come through interactions with government and then putting it through a common front because there's a lot of when you get governments involved in industries and as I mentioned before, we've never seen that the state we have now. You need strong leadership to say this is the right thing to do here because there's a lot of noise that comes along with it. You need the companies that know what they're doing and Aurubis is certainly #1 on that list. That's what you need to be able to have those interactions.

As we mentioned before, we're in a world where we're looking towards more circular economy behavior, building -- getting that behavioral shift. So sustainability, as I said before, it's maybe less sexy than it was before. But still, Europe is the leader there. And the business practices that come through there on the mining side, we're looking at things like the consolidated mining standard initiative, so that when a customer gets product, they know it's come to Aurubis business also a very good partners in the copper market, which will flow into that over time. So just a strong leader in a changing global world.

Wow. Thank you. So Martin, now you've heard the voices of your business partners, but I'd also like to close now this discussion with your final reflections on where you see the business relationships in 5 to 10 years from now?

Maybe just to repeat that, as you heard at trust is the good relation is that we have an excellent foundation to continue to build on, in my view. And Again, Aurubis has really been in the center of this value chain. We are ready to take that leadership and I believe that we already are also, but we would need also to jointly to work together on the full value chain. And I think we have started this up now especially when it comes to the initiative and sustainability, all the way from mine through us for the responsibly smelting and refining the material that comes from the mine and finding more circularity, more recycling solution and in the end, provide end products to your customers, Laura of the highest quality. I think that we have more to set there.

And I think for the new, let's say, assets that you will be developing for sure, Aurubis will stand there and be prepared to be the off-taker of choice for this material. And also to you, Laura, I mean, with your vast expansion plans that you have, we want to, let's say, mirror that and work next to you and also going into different geographical areas, selling more products and so on. So I think that we have an excellent base to continue to build on.

Very good words to close this session. Thank you very much, everyone.

Thank you.

This was really fun. Lets give applause. Thank you very much. And as mentioned before, it was a lot of fun having you here on stage discussing the topic together with you. And once again, it was great that you could make the time.

Now heading to the last presentation of the day, ladies and gentlemen, after this glimpse into our commercial boiler room, I would now like to hand over the final presentation of the day to Steffen Hoffmann, who will now join me here on the stage. Welcome again, Steffen. And you will now dive into some interesting details on our business model and provide you with some more color on the financial outlook for the next couple of years, as well as our updated capital allocation policy. But before you start, Steffen, just one last reminder.

[Operator Instructions]

So with no further ado, over to you, Steffen.

Thank you, Ken. You basically laid out the agenda for my section here. Insights on the business model, guidance for the new fiscal year and midterm, and then obviously, also on capital allocation. Well, since I joined Aurubis a bit more than 12 months ago, I've had many conversations with many of you, but also with many of colleagues who join us virtually today. And there have been a number of questions that usually came up, and I wanted to take the first few minutes to address some of these questions and trying to shed some light on three frequently asked questions.

One on the power dependency on certain earning drivers. The other one on TC/RCs and if or how they can be approximated? And the last one on the returns of the important strategic CapEx program. So I'll start with our earnings drivers, and we've alluded to it already a bit in the first Q&A. These are the earnings drivers that are the major focus in many of the conversations, you may recognize that the inner circle here of this chart, you recognize that from the reporting, we show that on a quarterly basis with the 3 dimensions, but you also realize that the outer circle has now 6 dimensions. So we give a bit more of transparency.

And let me allude a bit here. Obviously, also, as we show a development over time over the last 4 years, I think the important message is that our earnings profile is much more diversified than often assumed sometimes in the quarterly calls, we spent a lot of time on TC/RCs and we're always trying to get across that there's a bit more that's relevant for our bottom line than just the TC/RCs. So important message, diversified earnings profile; and secondly, no earnings driver is significantly overweighted you see that the three clusters being TC/RCs, RCs, products, premiums and the metal balance, all of them have their importance in the share.

If we look at the development over time, obviously, the weight of TC/RCs and on the recycling side, the RCs lost importance. I mean, it's somehow a no-brainer as TC/RCs were significantly under pressure and are under pressure. It's also less of an earnings driver. You also see, and I think there was some noise yesterday in the market. You also see on premiums and products that this is an attractive and a growing contributor. Half of the increase comes -- in our case, from sulfuric acid. The other half of the increase is obviously from the product premiums.

On the metal result, you see here that we give a bit more granularity because we separate copper, gold and silver from the other metals. You see that copper, gold and silver in the metal result are of growing importance quite visibly. And they account for more than 1/4 of the total gross margin which is roughly the same share as TCs and RCs together.

Another question that we often get is, can you give us more granularity on the level of the earnings drivers, what's the impact of the earnings drivers? So you don't see euro figures, but you see kind of qualitatively categories, 3 categories. The lower bubble, the smaller bubble ranging accounting for a low double-digit million euro impact. The large ones for the mid-to-high double-digit million one and the one in between low to mid double-digit million euro. So what's the message here?

And then obviously, we showed the sensitivity to a change in the price, for example, of plus/minus 10%. In line with what we've outlined on the previous slide, the sensitivities to all individual earnings drivers are manageable. Not one of them is in a magnitude that it would overweight, overshadow everything. That's why I'm saying all of them are manageable, just taking -- walking them through quickly. TC/RCs and recycling RCs for instance, lead to a low double-digit million euro impact, all of that is calculated on basis of this new fiscal year. So the way how we look at EBT for '25-'26, if TC/RCs increased or decreased by 10%, we would think that this would have a low double-digit million euro impact on our bottom line.

If we go on -- look at sulfuric acids, it's a similar sensitivity, the smaller bucket, although the gross margin share is comparably low. I would say that any change translates directly into the bottom line. That's why it's still a good contributor from sulfuric acid side.

Going to the medium category, FX and copper premium impact earnings by a low to mid double-digit million euro figure. And I think it's not a surprise. The highest sensitivity is visible in the metal results, so a 10% price change across the entire metal portfolio translates into mid-to-high double-digit million euro. Here, I would want to add that, let's say, in the calculation, in the sensitivity, we have taken account of the exposure we have. So here, we have taken into account the sensitivity applies only to the open exposure, so not to 100% of the free metal adjust to that share that is open.

So obviously, besides sensitivities and ups and downs, it's obviously also important for us as a management team to manage that and to mitigate sensitivity. So for TC/RCs for sulfuric acid and for product premiums, we run the business via diversified contractual portfolios with limited exposure to spot markets and we've heard that from you, Martin. And I think in the conference calls, we often refer to the point that usually we try that we are at least 90% secured contractually and less than or maximum 10% only being exposed to the spot market. So that's obviously a way of mitigation of short-term impacts.

On FX and on the metal result, we used to a certain amount, hedging with that, I mean, forward sales to again planning security and manage volatility.

Another frequently discussed topic is the TC/RC level, especially in this year. And the question whether it can be approximated. As you know, for contractual reasons, we do not provide exact figures, but I think the good news is that they can be approximated using publicly available data and I don't want to lead you in all details through the algorithm, but the IR team is prepared for follow-up questions. Just briefly, what -- how do we think the algorithm is looking like.

So from our disclosure, take the throughput volume and the TC/RC gross margin of the CSP segment then deduct the RCP. So the scrap, the blister and the other throughput, divide the result in the euro value by the total concentrate throughput and then convert euros into dollars, and then you get approximately the blue line. And it works quite well, and it even works with ChatGPT and Kai and AI.

So when you have the blue line and the brown line is obviously publicly available data from CRU spot price, we see a gap. And what does this gap tell us it obviously tells us that we are not doing so much on the spot price on the spot market. Secondly, it tells us that there is a value for long-term contracts. It goes in both directions. And it also tells us that the higher complexity of the raw mats that we are able to deal with and we heard that in the last hours quite often, and the leading role in sustainability that we can play, help us here differentiating the blue line from the brownish line.

But we also see when the blue line -- the brown line goes down, the blue line also goes down. And in other words, this year, also for us, is not a good year from a TC/RC perspective. But still a year where we can smelt in a profitable way. So we are not fully immune, but we are able to shield ourselves from those short-term fluctuations. I hope this gives a bit of transparency and I hope this can help us in the future exchange to getting a bit more and closer together with the models and what we think we are describing.

Another topic that has been often discussed obviously in our exchange also today, is this question and it's an important question on the CapEx program and when will it deliver the returns. So blue line, obviously showing the CapEx line. We have heard several times today that we have surpassed the inflection point on CapEx spend. You know the overall envelope is the EUR 1.7 billion, the last official data point we gave was that as of end of June 2025, out of the EUR 1.7 billion, EUR 1.1 billion being 70% have been spent.

Obviously, we have further spending since then, but the new figure will be disclosed with the disclosure of the annual results. But yes, you can see it from the line here, we are well aware in spending. Spending is well controlled, EUR 1.7 billion is the figure. We don't see the necessity to overrun. And obviously, we are working and having all hands on deck to ensure the brown line.

On the brown line, the EBITDA contribution of the projects, it starts kicking in. We have a low double-digit million EBITDA contribution in the new fiscal year '25, '26, low double digit, and we expect a strong sequential increase in the following years, definitely starting in '26, '27, I think we can assume that from the line that between '25, '26 and '26, '27, this is really when the returns should kick in visibly. And then we expected EUR 260 million being fully there annually in '28, '29. '27, '28 already being very close to the EUR 260 million, and then from there on, we obviously see the EUR 260 million contribution as a run rate.

With those figures, and I referred to discussions I had over coffee, we have not included premises on metal prices to the most bullish scenario. So if the currently discussed bullish scenarios being on gold and copper would materialize, there could be upsides for us as the new management team, it was important to ensure that we feel comfortable with the EUR 260 million more coming from a risk adverse approach. Upside is possible if gold and copper go wherever Goldman or Bank of America or other experts see it, but we have not included all this potential fantasy here.

I wanted to address those 3 frequently asked questions before I would jump into the guidance. And before I come to the concrete guidance for the new fiscal year, perhaps first, kind of a traffic-light summary how we look at key levers, key drivers that described the macro picture. On the raw mat side, obviously, the raw material supply is not ideal. But thanks to the long-term relationships, the long-term contracts and the fruitful exchange between the parties, and with the market position we enjoy. We think it's manageable to get the supply. But obviously, we also need to do something and are eager to continue ensuring that.

There's a red traffic light here, very clearly TC/RCs for this year. So the concentrate supply is tight and TC/RCs have come down. That's not a new phenomenon. But I would say in this fiscal year, it hits us significantly more than last fiscal year. I mean, that's obvious. This fiscal year, we have 4 quarters of depressed TC/RCs. Last fiscal year, we had 2.5 quarters of depressed TC/RCs. So that's a clear negative.

For RCs, the last 2 quarters have also not been very favorable. And let's say, versus that not favorable level, we see a continuation. That's why it's yellow. On a full year perspective, I also could have painted it red because overall RCs in the new fiscal year versus overall RCs in the last fiscal year is lower. So let's say, here, it's a yellow with a tendency to a bit of red.

On the foreign exchange and here for us, the U.S. dollar is important. I mean last fiscal year, we were a bit stronger in the dollar than EUR 1.10. This year, we are somewhere between EUR 1.15 and EUR 1.20. So we have a bit of a downside on the FX side.

Sulfuric acid, it's a yellow that feels a bit for me, still as a green. Martin would highlight that it's always a short-term business, and we can never be sure, but it's not a yellow that concerns me, it's a good and stable situation, I would say, and then come our 2 greens, the metal price, don't need to educate you on that one. And then the high demand for our products where global supply, yes, and refined products has become tighter which obviously means that there is some revenue potential for us on the product side. There has been some noise in the market. And I hope you appreciate that we cannot comment on individual exchange with customers but the green figure or the green traffic light to tell you something.

So the guidance that has been discussed already to a certain degree today on the coffee break. So despite the somewhat mixed macro picture, we expect for '25, '26 to be a year with many important operational milestones and the year, at least from our perspective, with solid financials. On the EBITDA, we see the range from EUR 580 million to EUR 680 million, reflecting the positive business fundamentals as well as first modest contributions from the strategic CapEx program. We've seen the curve before.

On EBT, I would want to be a bit more explicit. So you see we guide EBT approximately on par with the '24, '25 level, considering that we still have 12 months to go in the new fiscal year, '25, '26. We guide the EBT in the range of EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million, having the midpoint of EUR 350 million in mind, which levers do we see more favorable than last year? We talked about that, copper products contribution and metal result and obviously the first contributions from strategic projects, which levers are less favorable than last fiscal year? TC/RC concentrates, RC scrap on a full year basis, foreign exchange, so the weaker U.S. dollar. And then I would want to note that the EBT this fiscal year is impacted by higher depreciation in order of approximately EUR 50 million due to investments made in other words, Richmond now been in action, obviously, changes something on the depreciation side versus last year.

But also important to note, that despite geo and macro uncertainties, we are confident that '25, '26 will be a good year for Aurubis. And the upper end of this range, the upper end of the EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million range is not excluded. But as of today, we shoot for the midpoint, they're still 12 months to go.

Net cash flow, traditionally, we have a high conversion rate, and you've heard about our efforts to reduce working capital, so that should translate in a net cash flow of EUR 640 million to EUR 740 million. This is more than the EBITDA level, right, which underlines our focus on efficient capital usage.

Free cash flow, I really would like to highlight that, because as a management team, delivering healthy free cash flows is really a priority for us. And we want to manifest that in this fiscal year, with the ambition to reach breakeven for the free cash flow before dividend for the full 12 months in fiscal year '25, '26.

On the ROCE, obviously, the increased capital employed related to the strategic projects and the stable earnings will lead to a ROCE between 7% and 9%. It's just a momentary snapshot. We are targeting for steep ROCE improvements in the years thereafter, and I'll come to that.

As macro and geopolitically, it's a mixed picture. It's important to work on self-help measures to be prepared to be ahead of the curve. We've talked about that in conference calls, so we have laid out an efficiency program that will result in a EUR 50 million -- annually EUR 50 million cost saving in the midterm. And we are working on net working capital reduction in the vicinity of around EUR 500 million in the midterm.

On the cost savings side, it's a marathon on various dimensions, consultancy, G&A travel obviously, on the G&A side, here, we talk about dozens or more hundreds of measures in the functions. It has to do with IT. It has to do with preparing company for digitization, has to do with the question of how much corporate center do we want to have or can we afford, has to do with the question central versus decentral, versus the optimum. Does everything need to be done in Hamburg? Obviously, the answer is no. To what degree can we go to best cost countries? So here, we have quite some potential to improve.

On the working capital side, one of the key attack points is that we really prioritize the intermediates that we have in our asset base, prioritize them over the raw mat that's coming in. So a bit historically, raw mats came in, everybody was working on the raw mats, intermediates that are within the company, okay, we can take them later. So now first work on the intermediates, there's a lot of value in it. Another x of attack is that we need to increase the delivery frequency due to the price increases of metal prices, it now really makes sense to shorten the frequency of our product sales.

On the midterm picture, it's a bit slightly better because there's no red, but still quite some yellow and the same level of green that we've alluded to before. So if we look into the midterm on the raw mat supply, we expect some of the short-term tightness to be alleviated by performance measures on the mining side as well as improvement in the overall economic development.

Midterm, we expect concentrate TC/RCs to gradually improve, kind of improve from the low levels, and higher copper prices, in particular, provide an incentive to expand mine production. RCs for recycling, so we see consistent availability of recycling materials, and we expect the RCs for recycling to return to healthy levels. On the foreign exchange, we see the picture not so much changing probably a U.S. dollar around $1.20 is a prudent assumption. And that's where we would look at.

Sulfuric acid is an attractive market, and we only have a short-term visibility, but also we also have no intelligence that now the level -- pricing level revenue potential would be underwater. So we would say it's a flattish development on a good base. And once again, metal prices don't need to educate you. This should be green, and same should be true for the product site.

So where could an EBITDA be in the year '28-'29? I mean take whatever your assumption is for the EBITDA of the year that we've just closed and we don't have the results yet. So starting '24-'25, obviously, we stand here to say that we should add the EUR 260 million for the CapEx projects. And obviously, also coming from a year '24-'25 where ramp-up costs accounting to roughly minus EUR 50 million were included in the bottom line they should be reversed. So I would reverse the EUR 50 million. I would add the EUR 260 million, and then I would add in a nutshell, the EUR 50 million that we are working on the cost side. And this can give us a certain indication with a few ups and downs where we could imagine '28-'29 being.

You see the 3 light blue areas. So what we're trying to say here is that the CapEx program, the strategic initiatives they should help improving the 3 key levers of our EBT bridge, TC/RCs products and metal result. What do I mean with that? I mean obviously, Richmond will help to increase the proceeds out of TC/RCs and RCs through more processed volumes. The tank house expansion in Pirdop will contribute to higher earnings from products and premiums, more cathodes, more earnings from products and premiums. cRH, BOB and ASPA are designed to increase the profitability of the Metals business and also additional metal volumes from Richmond.

And on the other side, the reddish line, a part of the EUR 260 million is obviously the expansion of the footprint with a fully fledged plant in Richmond being in our life. So this is a part of the EUR 260 million. And in the reddish column of the cost for the footprint enlargement, we also need to counter add or to add positively the self-help measures that I outlined on the cost side.

So overall, we are very confident that the business will perform well. We are very confident that we will deliver on those tailwinds from the megatrends, both through the existing platforms as well through the additional investments made in the U.S. And against this background, we expect significant growth as this chart tries to suggest and a strong potential for EBITDA expansion.

On CapEx, we've touched already a bit in the Q&A. It's fair to assume that with yearly maintenance CapEx of EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million. This range reflects the shift in our maintenance schedule of major shutdowns in the primary smelters. You do know that we are changing from every second year of a major shutdown to now every third year. This should help lowering this maintenance CapEx piece, then obviously be assured that the CapEx discipline is a major priority for us. As mentioned earlier, a lot of the EUR 1.7 billion is behind us. And we have a clear plan how much is left and needed and the envelope. We are happy with the envelope. So this should work out well.

Going forward, the CapEx outlook includes new strategic CapEx in the order of low to mid double-digit million euros. So those were things that you heard today, ideas that you heard today, you heard things on expanding the commercial footprint, you heard about intelligent smart investments of bottleneck -- debottlenecking. You heard about intelligent approaches of getting more complex material or using assets in a more effective way. All of that is baked in the gray line. We have decided for today not to put figures on the gray line. What is not baked in the gray line if we were to do a big thing, another big thing in the U.S., obviously, it cannot be in because nothing is decided, and it's not even on the table but with a lot of energy we are working and thinking about that one.

So free cash flow. I think you heard the word from the whole management team today. So the focus is really there. It's obviously a metric that I personally value very highly. Internally, we've been talking about the strong emphasis we want to place on being a cash flow-driven company. So that's definitely something you can and you should expect from us. The ambition is to reach the breakeven this fiscal year for the free cash flow before dividend. And we target to achieve that via 3 levels. The first is obviously increased cash inflow from higher EBITDA. The second is the self-help measures that I've mentioned. And the third one is reduced investment-related cash outflows. So we will pursue this trend in the following years and accelerate healthy free cash flow generation in the midterm.

On return on capital employed, we have touched on that briefly, and let me iterate here that managing capital responsibly is obviously key for us. We are confident that by 2028, '29, so fiscal year '28, '29, we will reach this target of 15% given that the CapEx profile shows gradually decreasing amounts and the peak is behind us. Additionally, we've seen that our assumption is that the inflection point on return is close.

So in line with the sketched increase of the ROCE in the next several years, both segments, CSP and MMR will contribute to the 15% group ROCE, CSP is already close to it or if you look at some quarters beyond it, MMR historically has achieved that is now going through an investment phase. But with our conviction on Richmond, we are sure that we will get there again, in the midterm, once again, '28-'29, we go for the 15% ROCE.

On capital allocation, you have seen our short to release yesterday evening, yes, cash generating and free cash flow is important. So we've reviewed the capital allocation policy. We are committed to a structured and disciplined approach. First priority is to keep the operations running and to comply with environmental standards. Obviously, we would rather try to be at EUR 300 million and EUR 400 million, but that's the range we are giving.

Once this first criteria is fulfilled, we then take care of the balance sheet. So you know our healthy equity ratio. And you know that we're obviously staying below the maximum leverage target after this, and that's important for us. We want to participate. We want you to participate in the company's success via a -- I would call it, a basic dividend as part of a clear policy. And regarding remaining capital, we have thought of 2 options. One option is to expand the asset base to pursue organic or inorganic growth. Another option is to increase shareholder remuneration by paying a special dividend.

With that said, I'd like to translate the framework into concrete KPIs that obviously can be tracked consistently. So we are clearly committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet with a maximum net debt-to-EBITDA leverage of 3x -- 3.0x at fiscal year-end, and a minimum operating equity ratio of 40%.

On the nondiscretionary end, we will execute the communicated strategic CapEx program, these projects will contribute to the 15% ROCE target in the long term. Then we have to stay in business CapEx of the EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million annually. And that was the news of yesterday evening. For the dividend policy, our intention is to lift the payout ratio to up to 30% in the midterm. So starting for the fiscal year '25-'26, we intend for the dividend payout ratio to be at 30%. This dividend level would be paid out in early 2027 after AGM approval.

And for the fiscal year '24-'25, that has just closed, which we would consider having been a transition year with high investment activities, we intend to propose to the governing bodies that have to decide on that, a dividend payout ratio of 25%. So that would be paid out in early '26 after the AGM approval. Last 3 years, on average, we were at 20% payout ratio so far. This next decision, we suggested 25%. And for this fiscal year, that has just started and then to be paid out in '27, we target for the 30%.

For remaining capital, I think it's also important, we intend to allocate it selectively to either additional growth projects if they meet the 15% long-term ROCE target or acquisitions if they meet the 15% long-term target or distribution of a special dividend.

And with that, Ken, I think I would leave it here. And I'm sure we are ready for another Q&A.

Absolutely, and thank you very much, Steffen, for all these valuable insights. And now we will have a second opportunity to ask questions now also in particular around Richmond and the financial update Steffen just gave, I would like to ask the Executive Board back to the stage for the final round of question and answers. Warm welcome again, Tim, Inge, Toralf, Steffen was here all the time. I don't know if I have to remind again for the virtual participants [Operator Instructions] But then having said that, I'd like to hand it over to the audience first, and I think you have the first one, Jason. Let's start with Daniel over there.

Dan Major from UBS. So first question is just going on your sensitivities slide, it was Slide 60. Yes, in terms of your sensitivity to concentrate treatment charge, you've shown a 10% change. What is that based off? Because obviously, the treatment charge is close to 0. So like what is the base for that 10% of not very much is obviously not very much.

Yes. So the base is obviously, if we now look at the -- I don't know whether we can slide -- the chart it -- our base would be our blue line and not the brown line. And obviously, for competitive reasons, we would not give our figure but it would not be a 0. It would be more than 0. And obviously, the 10% of this figure would be, as we say, a lower double-digit million amount, call it, roughly EUR 10 million. I think that's everything I can say. So 10% of EUR 10 million.

Sure. That's useful. And then just a second...

No, 10% equal linked.

Yes. And just a couple of clarifications on the parameters used to set your this year's fiscal guidance. What assumptions have you made for the benchmark? I think the consensus probably sits sub $10 a tonne in terms of the benchmark treatment charge? And then similarly, I'm assuming your financial guidance factors in a premium relatively close to the numbers that were communicated in the market yesterday?

So on TC/RCs, is that something you want to take first Toralf?

No, you go ahead.

Okay. I will not give you the figure you search for. I can say that 10 weeks ago, we would have thought that the market environment develops a bit more favorable on TC/RCs than we think it is now. So that's why we are a bit more cautious on TC/RC development. And that's why it's important that there's other elements in the equation that are green in our language. And obviously, we cannot comment on the agency and news from yesterday, but we can comment that we think obviously that as refined copper is a scarce thing. It's important that this has the right value.

And what I could add is that we somehow see an independency for this year between TC/RCs being under pressure, and premium products being a bit more green. And so there's kind of a compensating effect for us.

Okay. Just one other kind of last financial question. I mean you've been a great narrative of Richmond being close to data centers and EV production facilities, et cetera. But I mean, kind of Jason's question earlier, I mean, you don't actually produce cathode in the U.S. So effectively, the product from Richmond is being imported into the U.S. from somewhere else. I mean what actual advantage do you get from being close to these strong thematics. I mean, are they paying a premium for your product because it's produced in North America shipped somewhere else to be refined and then sent back to the U.S. I mean, what is the actual financial advantage of being located in the region you're located?

I think Toralf will answer.

Well, there's many advantages. There's many indirect advantages. I mean we have the direct advantage of course, if we go further downstream, we have the indirect advantage that we get some funding for further investments that we have there, and we have the advantage that the availability with our plant there, the availability of scrap is right next to us. And the scrap has been exported before. Now it has to stay in the country or it will stay more in the country. So we have access to various sources of recycling material, which we can process.

And we're also collaborating. We're starting to collaborate with these people who invest in these things. So we can -- we'll start discussing also models of circular economy. And of course, the people who invest in these infrastructures and data centers, they also have a big topic with sustainability, where we can help them with circular economy.

And I would add that we have an advantage on the cost side with regards to energy cost. So energy costs in the U.S. for us are 1/3 than in Germany.

Okay. But I'm not a data center specialist, but I suspect data center is not going to generate a huge amount of scrap for you anytime soon, unless they have extremely short shelf life. So is it being located closer industries doesn't improve your availability of scrap, particularly or get your premium?

Well, there's parts of the data center, which gets renewed every 2, 3 years. So there is scrap availability, yes.

All right. Jason?

It's Jason Fairclough, Bank of America. So two questions. First one is just on reporting. So you've talked about this EUR 260 million. And I guess the concern as an analyst would be that it just disappears into sort of the ether and we can actually see it. So from a reporting point of view, for example, will you be reporting a separate result for Richmond so that we can look at the profitability from the asset?

Jason, that's a good point. We have not thought that through yet. It's in our interest that we work with you on the transparency that together, we can follow that. So let's take it with us. I could imagine -- so we definitely will report something. I'm rather thinking of the frequency. Just from my gut, I would probably not do it now on a quarterly basis, but on a yearly basis. But let's take it with us. So it's our obligation to keep it to a certain degree, traceable for you guys.

Okay. Second question is a bit maybe of a philosophical one, but you talk about the gearing to the metal effect. And to me, it feels like that's something that your commercial team has to play with, right? So at the end of the day, you're trying to get these raw materials, the raw materials are scarce. And again, if I think about history, over time, you just pay away more and more and more stuff to get the raw material that you need. So I guess my question is, is that metal effect permanent? Or do we actually just see that being chipped away and eaten away over time?

Our assumption is that this metal effect is permanent. Our assumption is that in absolute euro or dollar terms, it's increasing, obviously, also with metal prices increasing. Why do we think that is permanent because we think that this is one of the USPs and one of the USPs that we really to do a lot that they stay a USP in the future, being able to work better than others with complexity. And if it's true that also in the future, we will have -- and keep that as a USP. And obviously, we invest a lot of money with cRH and BOB and ASPA and so on. So we should stay -- should be able to stay ahead of the curve.

So that's why we think there is a reason, and we continue building up that reason that we can treat complexity better than others, which then, in a consequence, means that we can get a decent amount of metal out of it, free metal out of it.

Do you think there's an ongoing capital cost then associated with maintaining that leadership in treating the most complex concentrates?

I would say in the EUR 1.7 billion package, there's a lot of euros that safeguard the next years, the next x year. So I'm not saying -- I'm not -- I'm now not seeing the next big investment within the 3-, 4-, 5-year time frame to -- that we need to do to be unable to hold it up. I think we have just done it or are about to being doing it, and we now should harvest this for the next decade or so.

Especially with the new investments in the complex recycling center in Hamburg and with the precious metal sites, I agree. We will be able to secure that as least for a decade.

Okay. We have a question from Bastian. I just need to decide who gives the microphone.

Bastian Synagowitz, Deutsche Bank. Maybe just one follow-up on your plans in the U.S. I guess you've stated a number of times that to basically take the next step, you need some government support. Now what's the concept here? Do you aim to hit the 15% ROCE target for such a project, pre-government support? Or do you actually need the government support to basically hit that target just from the, I would say, early stage budgets you're looking at, is that just any sense for the timing on such a decision? That's my first question.

Well, on the U.S. investment, we would need government support if we go into the primary smelting side because that would be a huge investment for us. The other options to have a recycling plant on the other side of the United States or to go downstream into tank house, anode furnace and into rod plant, we can do that out of our own cash flow. So of course, we would, in addition, apply for government subsidies, but we don't need it. We can do it out of our own cash flow. And the return assumptions that we have, they apply without government funding because we want to do that without -- not on the primary side, but on the secondary side and on the downstream side.

Okay. And then just maybe also coming back to shareholder returns. I guess, buybacks is something which doesn't appear to be on the slide. And I guess you briefly touched on it earlier, but maybe can you just spend a few seconds maybe talk about -- talking about it. I think you mentioned that liquidity is an aspect, maybe shareholder structure is an aspect, but is this something which would be in your toolbox in principle?

I mean, in principle, a buyback should be in the toolbox. And I worked in a company that's doing a lot of buybacks and I had the pleasure to prepare that. So I love buybacks generally. But I think in our case, we need to look at it a bit differently. First of all, we have not the highest free float, right? So why reducing it.

Secondly, we have a shareholder that's super close to 30% while bringing that shareholder in an awkward situation. I mean there's always workarounds, but I think the special dividend in that case would be the more logical case. But before we would come into such a decision, we would want to talk to the market anyway and understand what's the preference of the market. But just out of those two points that I was making, we felt that the special dividend would be the easier and more obvious route to go, who knows what is in x years, right.

Okay. We have one question back there. We'll take you first and then hand it over to Alan.

This is [indiscernible] from Morgan Stanley. So my question on Richmond and the input mix. I think the plan here has been to use low-grade scrap as a kind of large proportion of the mix. And on your slides, you kind of showed the inventory build and some rough proportions here. So can we take that as your targeted input mix? And maybe related to this, will you provide any kind of color on byproduct volumes as well?

So as opposed on the input side, there could be one for you, Inge on the byproduct David.

David. David?

So yes, the overview that you saw on the slide for the buildup of the inventory roughly represents the target input mix. In Richmond, as any recycling facility in the Aurubis network is built for flexibility. So we can adjust it going forward. But this is really the material stream and the mix that we're aiming for.

The second part of the question was in terms of volume output. I think we've shared indications on blister copper. We're going to take in about 180,000 tonnes of recycling materials in order to be top-notch in the recycling world. You have to make sure that you're close to 0 waste. So 180,000 tonnes of input material normally equates to about 180,000 tonnes of product, the main products within Aurubis Richmond in order of magnitude is iron silicon to begin with, then our blister copper and then we have the lead tin solder and zinc oxides, but with the iron silicates and the blister copper, we have the two main -- just volume as the two main fractions.

Thank you, David. Over you to, Alan.

Alan Spence, BNP Paribas. On TC/RCs, how do you manage the book there in terms of mines versus traders? And would you look to shift that mix around?

Tim?

The mix between?

TC/RCs, the mix between mines and traders.

I mean this is -- and there's -- we don't expect that there will be, let's say, a different mix in the future. We do have, let's say, our portfolio, what we have today that we do have big trading houses with whom we are working with, where we do have a small mining projects. We are working directly with. I think this is our strategy we are going forward, and there's no intention to change that. And as we said earlier, we really would like to stay on these different legs to have, let's say, to be diversified also on the market and to be attractive as well for both.

Okay. Steffen, in your comment earlier about the kind of counterbalance between the product premium and the TC/RCs, the developments over the last 5 weeks in the markets were Freeport taken some expectations of concentrate out? And conceptually that maybe moving your premium higher, do you think that has been a net benefit or net negative to the profitability?

A net benefit.

Okay. Back to the audience over there.

Thank you for the presentation and all the transparency. That's very helpful. I have one question on the free cash flow. So back to the numbers you presented. So the EBITDA according to consensus figures, is around EUR 600 million. So if we add back the 2x EUR 50 million plus EUR 260 million, we are close to EUR 1 billion, so it's EUR 960 million. EBITDA on top, maybe there will be a bit of working capital improvement within the envelope of EUR 500 million. And then we have to deduct EUR 300 million to EUR 400 million of maintenance CapEx plus low to mid-double-digit figure for growth CapEx. So is it the right number? Is it around EUR 500 million to EUR 600 million free cash flow that we would reach. Is it the right way to look at it in '28, '29?

And a second financial question would be on -- I know that is an opinion and cash is effect. But what would be the associated depreciation that we would have to add to the long-term increment of EUR 260 million EBITDA? And then I will have a strategic question on the U.S.

So on the first one, I see the logic of your calculation. So the first one being your EBITDA and free cash flow calculation, I see a logic there. It's not my figure. I mean, we are not giving a figure, but I think we have a similar logic here. Ken, you want to help out on the depreciation?

So on the depreciation for the next fiscal year, as Steffen mentioned...

EUR 280 million, right?

Exactly. We're looking at EUR 280 million but we can certainly take that offline if you want to discuss it more in the medium term, what ranges we would have to look at there.

Okay. And just on the U.S., you were mentioning some potential partnerships, what could be the form of those partnerships? What are you thinking of as examples? Would it be a JV or something implying some equity or more like a commercial partnership?

Industrial?

Here, we're looking at all range of options, but one most likely scenario is a JV with a local partner or with a foreign partner also going to E.S. -- in order to share the risk and the dimension of the investment, but that is one side. The one side is the equity or investment partnership. The other side is the partnership on the offtake of the blister copper and working on circular models to gain also some traction here on the circular flow of the copper in the United States without equity investments, just partnerships. And there's a lot of people knocking on our door.

Maxime Kogge from ODDO BHF. So the first question is regarding the split of gross margin between the TC/RCs, metal result and premiums in sulfuric acid. Traditionally, you guided for each of these 3 drivers to represent approximately 1/3 of the gross margin. Is that still a split that we should keep in mind or given the downtrend in TC/RCs, you see that evolve?

I mean, with the current TC/RC level, I would think it's less than 1/3, and prospectively, the metal balance free metal result should be more than 1/3. And product and premium is a healthy piece. So TC/RC less than 1/3, product premium with a potential for upgrade and metal result also with the potential for being more than the third.

Okay. And the second question is on the commodity hedging. So you typically hedge the paid metal content, but you also hedge part of the free metal content and somehow that's preventing you from -- I mean, cashing in on the strong rise in copper and precious metals. Is that something you're going to change because at the end of the day, investors, they want to buy Aurubis for its exposure to copper and precious metals. So if you hedge that, I mean, that also decreases your sensitivity to the upgrade in prices?

So you're right. Everything we pay for, everything that has a price tech with it contractually, being it on the copper side or other materials, we hedge in the very second that it arrives and we know how much it is in. So there is no chance and no risk. That's why we talk about that piece that's free. On the piece that's free, we take weekly decisions every Monday morning at 10, we reflect whether we hedge something, meaning forward sales or not. And sometimes we make good decisions and sometimes decisions could have been better with more knowledge afterwards.

So obviously, with precious metal prices, being where they are and going where everybody predicts, we don't really see an incentive to do more. We will keep the open position we have. To a certain degree, we have hedged at historic highs, but we have had so many historic highs in the last weeks and months. So we are of the position that for that piece that is open for the fiscal year '25-'26, we leave it open.

Okay. And just the last one. What is the current scope of the collaboration with Salzgitter in terms of scrap procurement notably? And do you see scope to expand that further given that Salzgitter will use more and more scrap in its sourcing mix with its decarbonization?

Well, we have, I would say, limited cooperation with Salzgitter on this, and we're looking to expand that, but other scrap suppliers are much bigger than Salzgitter. We work more closely with the larger scrap suppliers. So it's a partnership, but it's limited.

Okay. Looking into the audience, it seems like -- Daniel. There you go.

A couple of follow-up questions. I guess at the start of the year some focus on U.S. companies producing critical minerals receiving 45x tax credits and it seems to have gone quiet with copper now classified as a critical mineral, is there any discussion on Richmond potentially receiving 45x tax credits?

David, we have discussions, but nothing concrete yet.

Okay. And then the second one on the scrap market. You mentioned some downward pressure on scrap refining charges. I mean if we look at the global market, I think Chinese refined copper output is up more than 10% year-to-date, and mine supply is probably going to be 0% growth, there's a scenario where the scrap market continues to tighten globally. Do you see that a risk in terms of further downward pressure on those margins? I mean, how do you see the raw materials market rebalancing because there's no concentrate supply. China is not cutting smelting output like where is -- where is it -- what's going to give?

It seems like it's a bit of a twofold question. So maybe the first part of the question regarding the recycling markets that's something for you, Inge.

I think definitely one answer to your question is that within China, there is also a growing domestic scrap markets. And I think we should not underestimate that. Look at the development that China has been undergoing over the last couple of decades, then clearly, the domestic scrap market should be growing there. And I think that is also clearly the path forward that they are taking, which automatically should rebalance scrap markets overall in global markets. Availability of scrap in general, will remain. You will see it everywhere, volumes are definitely there and available. It's all about what the overall competition is looking at and the markets will go there where the recovery rates will be best.

Okay. Then there is one last question from the virtual audience, which is, I think it goes a bit in the direction that Maxim that Boris just asked. And Steffen, I suppose that's one for you. I'd like to get it from [indiscernible] and he asked, I'd like to get some more color on the EBITDA bridge '24-'25 and route to '28-'29, and I suppose it's more along the lines of how to conceptually think about that bridge. You elaborated on the slide, but maybe you can reiterate there.

Yes. On the bridge, I mean this is a simplified bridge. I tried to make the point that between those 2 data points, we see the EUR 260 million kicking in. We see the reversal of, let's say, the initial start-up costs for the strategic projects, and we see the cost self-help measures kicking in. And as I read the question here, there's a reference basically, I think, Claus, what you're saying is you shoot for EUR 170 million EBITDA from Richmond and around EUR 80 million from cathode premiums, stable precious metal contribution. It sounds like there's nothing to be expected from TC/RCs. That's at least the question we got.

So yes, the EUR 170 million are part of the EUR 260 million, I have not mentioned EUR 80 million from cathode premium, so that's not my data point. And I did mention, and you see it on the chart that the 3 blue buckets, there's blue in TC/RCs, blue in products and blue in metals. So I think a part of this question is do you really see a positive contribution out of the strategic project for TC/RCs? The answer is yes, because with Richmond, we will have more material in the system that finally ends in copper products. And obviously, here, TC and RC. So on the RC side, we have with Richmond potential for TC/RCs, what I have not said on that bridge because it's a simplified bridge that independent of the strategic projects between now and '28-'29, we count on TC/RCs increasing to a certain degree. That's what was the midterm outlook. That would be another -- if that materializes, that could be another argument why also TC/RCs would be improving.

All right. Since there are no more questions from the audience, and we don't have any more from the virtual pipeline. I would like to say thank you for your questions. Thank you for your detailed answers. I believe Toralf will remain on stage together with me. And before I will hand over to Toralf for your closing remarks, I would like to, first of all, say thank you again for coming here today for joining us for all the active participation. I hope we kept it interesting for you and that you learned a lot, got a clearer picture of how Aurubis is shaping the metals industry and the future of sustainable metals. And if there are any other questions, then please feel free to reach out to the IR team after this event or in a couple of next days.

Toralf, with that, over to you, the floor is yours for closing remarks.

Thank you very much, Ken, and thanks for listening half a day. We heard a lot about megatrends, strategy execution and about our financial profile that we have at Aurubis. What are the main takeaways we wanted to deliver. First one, strong market outlook. We all believe there's a very strong market outlook for all the metals we produce. We see double-digit growth for all our metals until the end of 2035 and we have pretty good visibility here, not only led by infrastructure and electrification, but also by AI and other developments, the energy transition.

Second takeaway, we have a leading position in Europe, and we are building that position in the U.S. We are #1 in Europe when it comes to primary smelting, but also to secondary smelting. We are the #1 copper recycler in Europe. We have a lot of measures underway to defend this position and to further build on this position. So we will remain the leading copper producer in Europe, and also among the leading copper producers worldwide.

Third takeaway with our strategy, we continue to grow and to build on our resilience, I was very happy that corporation partners here mentioned this as one of our USP resilience. We think this is very important, and we will further build on this on our business model to strengthen this. We have strong financials. Like our CFO, Steffen Hoffmann has said, we have a strong balance sheet. We are a trusted business partner. And we are of the opinion, we've been in place for 150 years will be in place for another 150 years.

And last but not least, we are committed to create shareholder value. We continue to drive the trust with the capital markets. We continue to invest. We will focus our investment on capital projects that give the return, we will focus on free cash flow generation in order to be able to give the returns to the shareholders that we think they deserve.

So all in all, we -- these are the main takeaways we wanted to deliver to you. Thank you again for coming and for sharing. Thanks to Laura and Colin, again, for coming. It was very insightful to see that from our business partners, thanks to the other presenters. And maybe Ken and your team, you can briefly come up and Toralf team, thanks to the team that organized the data, as you know, it's a lot of preparation. So big thank you for organizing this day.

So they will have nothing to do starting tomorrow. So bombard them with questions, and I'm sure you'll get the answers. Thanks for coming. Hope you can join us all for dinner tonight and looking forward to meeting all of you in the near future and continuing the dialogue. You have the most exciting company in front of you. So let's continue with the discussion. Thank you very much. Thank you.