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Good day, everyone, and welcome to CCU's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call on August 5, 2026. Please note that today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Claudio Heras, the Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Welcome, and thank you for attending CCU's Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. Today with me are Mr. Eduardo Ffrench-Davis, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Diego Munizaga, Financial Planning and Investor Relations Manager. You have received a copy of the company's consolidated second quarter 2026 earnings release. As usual, the call will start by reviewing our overall results, and then we will move on to a question-and-answer session. Before we begin, please take note of the following statements.

The statements made in this call that relate to CCU's future financial results are forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual performance or results to materially differ. These statements should be taken in conjunction with the additional information about risks and uncertainties set forth in CCU's annual report submitted to the CMF and in our Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, both documents available on our website. It is now my pleasure to introduce our CEO, Mr. Eduardo Ffrench-Davis.

Thank you very much, Claudio, and thank you all for joining us today. It is my pleasure to share with you our second quarter '26 financial results for the first time as CEO of CCU, company in which I have worked for more than 20 years, and I am proud to lead at a time that we need to look to the future with a strength and conviction that has always characterized us as we face a particularly challenging context.

Nonetheless, we have always shown a long-standing track record of adaptability and for sure, execution. Therefore, to continue successfully shaping our future, I would like to mention some relevant changes that we have defined. We have designed the strategy Vamos por Más, which is built on our 4 main pillars: First, the first pillar, increase our focus on businesses. The second one, boost operational synergies; the third one, act with greater agility; and fourth one, accelerate our transformation. These pillars are oriented to generate growth and to respond to the new demands and challenges of the market. To support this strategy, we will execute changes in our organizational structure as well as strengthening our internal processes and capabilities to remain at the cutting edge of new trends while enhancing our technological transformation. This transition will be implemented gradually throughout this year with our main focus being to ensure operational continuity and for sure, performance. I am confident in the commitment that has always characterized all the CCU employees.

And together, we will prepare CCU to successfully navigate current and future challenges. Regarding our second quarter performance, CCU delivered a solid 59.4% consolidated EBITDA expansion, mostly driven by a robust set of results in our main operating segment, Chile, which expanded EBITDA 26.2%. The international business operating segment also contributed to a higher EBITDA by posting a 25.8% lower EBITDA loss. As we continue facing a soft consumption environment in Argentina. On the other hand, the wine operating segment contracted EBITDA by 61.9%, sharply impacted by unfavorable trends for the wine category globally and a higher cost of wine. I will now pass the call to our CFO, Felipe Dubernet, who will give you further details about our performance by operating segment during this quarter. Felipe?

Thank you, Eduardo, and good morning, everyone. Consolidated net sales grew 4.8%, almost fully explained by 6.4% higher average prices in CLP as volume declined 1.5%. Higher prices in Chilean pesos were mostly a consequence of revenue management initiatives in all our operating segments. And in terms of volumes, the 2.5% increase in the Chile operating segment was offset by decreases of 7.4% and 13.7% in international business and wine operating segments, respectively.

Gross profit grew 6.8% and gross margin improved 76 basis points. MSD&A expenses rose 3.3% due to higher distribution expenses associated with higher oil prices during the quarter and restructuring expenses in Argentina and in the wine operating segment. This was partially offset through ongoing efficiency initiatives, mainly in logistics. As a percentage of net sales, MSD&A expenses decreased 62 basis points. In all, EBITDA grew 59.4%. Regarding net income, we recorded a higher loss from second quarter of 2025, mostly due to a nonrecurring negative effect of CLP 6,068 million from an impairment loss related to our business in Bolivia and lower income taxes in second quarter of 2025 coming from a nonrecurring positive tax effect in Argentina.

In terms of our segment, the Chile operating segment expanded top line by 1.5%, explained by 2.5% higher volumes gaining overall market share versus same quarter of last year, partially offset by 1% decrease in average prices in Chilean pesos. During the quarter, the nonalcoholic categories grew mid-single digits, outweighing the low single-digit decline in alcoholic categories, which encompasses beer and spirits.

Flavored low alcohol ready-to-drink products led by brands such as Stones in beer, Mistral and Kantal in spirits continue to show excellent results with volume growing double digits in the quarter and representing 8.3% of total alcohol in this segment as of June 2026. Average prices contracted due to mix effect in the portfolio, partially offset by revenue management initiatives in all categories.

Gross profit increased 9.4%, mainly driven by lower direct costs, mostly coming from the 5% appreciation of the Chilean pesos against the U.S. dollar, impacting favorably our U.S. dollar-denominated costs, partially offset by higher aluminum prices. MSD&A expenses grew 3.5% below inflation, although as a percentage of net sales increased 71 basis points due to expenses pressures coming from higher distribution costs, partially offset by efficiencies.

Altogether, EBITDA recorded a 26.2% increase and EBITDA margin expanded to 264 basis points. I would like to mention that during the quarter, CCU acquired a 49% equity interest that Nestlé Chile held in our subsidiary, Aguas Nestlé. After this acquisition, CCU reached 100% ownership in this subsidiary, allowing us to further consolidate our leadership in a steadily growing water industry in Chile, which is expanding low double digit as of June 2026.

Following the transaction, we will maintain our strategic relationship with Nestlé, continuing the distribution of the ready-to-drink coffee-based beverage products and water brands in Chile. In International business operating segment, net sales increased 15.7%, driven by 24.9% higher average prices in Chilean pesos, partially offset by a 7.4% contraction in volumes. Higher average prices in Chilean pesos was due to revenue management initiatives, mainly with price actions in Argentina in line with inflation.

Volumes in these segments were below last year, mainly explained by Argentina due to a high single-digit contraction in beer and water industries and a difficult business scenario in Bolivia, marked by social unrest and [ loans growth ] that disrupted our operations.

Gross profit increased 20.8% expenses grew 7.6% as a percentage of net sales decreased 460 basis points. EBITDA resulted in a 25.8% lower loss versus second quarter 2025. During the quarter, we incurred in restructuring expenses in Argentina by CLP 1,408 million. The wine operating segment posted a top line drop of 14.1%, mostly driven by the 13.7% decrease in volumes as average prices contracted 0.5%.

Lower volumes were driven by industry contraction in export and domestic market in Chile. The decline in average prices were lower due to a negative mix effect in the portfolio and a stronger Chilean peso against the U.S. dollar, which impacted negatively export revenues. These effects were partially offset by revenue management initiatives. Gross profit fell 26.9%, mostly due to cost pressures from a higher cost of wine, partially offset by efficiencies in manufacturing. MSD&A expenses dropped 3.7%, mostly due to the lower business scale. Altogether, EBITDA decreased 61.9%. During the quarter, we incurred in restructuring expenses amounting CLP 1,633 million. To navigate the difficult scenario in the wine business, we will continue pursuing efficiencies and keep developing a strategy of accelerating high-margin innovation. In this regard, as of June 2023, flavored low alcohol ready-to-drink products based on wine almost doubled versus last year, mostly driven by the launch of the single-serve can version of our brand [indiscernible], among other brands backed by our multi-category production capabilities. Regarding our main joint venture and associated business in Colombia, we posted mid-teens volume growth during the quarter. We are focused on that country on building brand equity and scale to enhance profitable growth in the future. Now we will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Our first question comes from Alejandro Fuchs from Itaú BBA.

I have 2 very quick ones, if I may. The first one, I wanted to see if maybe you could elaborate a little bit on how you see the competitive environment in Chile, especially on the soft drink market. Anything that has changed in the last couple of months? And maybe how do you see the rest of the year? And then the second one, in terms of alcoholic, especially beer in Argentina, we saw volumes continue to be pressured despite the sporting events this quarter. So I wanted to see if you could break down for us what do you expect for the rest of the year and if there was a positive impact or not given the sporting event in the country?

Alejandro. I will take the first question from Chile. In terms of competitive environment in Chile, especially in the soft drinks, always this is a very mature category compound by different segments. Actually, we operate 9 segments within that micro category. And it has always been very competitive. But we believe that the trends will continue. All the better-for-you products, all the healthy products such as waters, flavored waters, juices, functional products are growing, and we will see that they are continue growing.

We have a strong position in terms of market shares in those categories, and we will invest in those categories in order to get more innovations and to push the mix on those category. Within the CSD categories, we are doing a great job with Pepsi within the cola segment and with strong brands in the flavor subsegment as well. But we believe that the soft drinks will continue growing mainly through better-for-you products, which we believe that we have a very, very strong position. The second question, the beer in Argentina, I will pass that question to Felipe.

Alejandro, yes, the second quarter, as you noticed, we decreased our -- the beer industry contraction was high single digit. However, we are comparing particularly, let's say, high comparison base in the second quarter of last year. you know in quarter 3 volume collapsed as this is in line with a significant rise on interest rates in Argentina, unemployment due to all the macroeconomic adjustment that were done in Argentina last year.

So we should look or see a recovery in volumes in second half of 2026. One, because of the company base in quarter 3 on the one hand. But also what we are seeing now is a continuous improvement in volume trends in Argentina since March. if we adjust seasonally adjust the volumes in Argentina, we are seeing a recovery month-on-month since March. A more stable macroeconomic scenario in terms of inflation and devaluation in Argentina, yet has not translated into a more dynamic consumption environment. However, everything is volatile, and this is a forward-looking that I cannot make sure to you, we should see a more robust consumption environment towards the end of the year as we have seen, let's say, some good signs in March in terms of improvement of volumes.

Our next question comes from Fernando Olvera from Bank of America.

My first question is related to the strategic plan that you mentioned in your initial remarks. Maybe if you can give some color of what are some of the targets that you are planning to achieve with this new strategic plan in the medium term? That would be great. And my second question is related to Chile. How do you expect consumption to behave in the remaining of the year? And maybe if you could share some initial thoughts about 2027 considering the mega reform approved by the government?

I am very optimistic for the future. So I will ask you both questions. The first one around the new strategy. For sure, this new strategy will be part of our new strategic plan. We are going to create a new strategic plan based on 2 main things. The first one is going to be a 4-year plan looking forward to the 2030 and setting some KPIs for that year. And the second thing is we are going to interrupt the current strategic plan to create a new one -- and this new strategic plan is based on the strategy format that I talked on the beginning of this presentation. This strategy is based basically in 4 main pillars, and I will explain a little bit more further on these pillars. The first one is to focus on businesses, which is not mean that we haven't had focus on business, but we will strengthen our focus in our businesses, separating or differentiating our core businesses with our high potential businesses. We are going to go deep in our multi-category strategy with focus on each single category. leading distinct consumption occasions and growing volume and margin across all our operations.

We are going to be very focused on consumer occasions and to go deeper in those occasions and satisfy consumers in different places, times with our multi-category portfolio, which is something that we really believe that is very strong.

The second one is operational synergies. We will reach greater productivity and efficiencies, leveraging our multi-category strengths and the reduction of redundancies. We are looking for the whole company. We have done a first single act like synergy in wines and liquors especially in the domestic Chilean market. But we have several more things to come in order to get more synergies, leveraging our multi-category spirit and occasion.

The third one is agility. We will implement a greater autonomy to respond to the market. We are living in a very volatile market with accelerated changes, and we want to be more agile in order to respond those changes. Less operational friction we have called or[ toolbox ] and a real-time control in our operation with leaner and more connected structures. And the fourth one is transformation. We have been very -- we are doing some transformation, especially with digital tools in sales, for example, with in our logistics and planning, integrating new tools, people and tools, structures and processes and industrial in our facilities as well. But we will go big on that with an architecture based on new processes and technologies, putting the digital transformation as the #1 enabler of synergies and mainly growth. So that's answering your first question.

Fernando, obviously, more is coming in our strategic plan. And for sure, I cannot say anymore. But this is the main mindset that we are creating in order to have a new strategic plan focused on profitable growth based on our main capabilities.

The second question is about per capita consumption or volumes trends in Chile. Of course, we received the yesterday actually, and was a good thing. But obviously, we cannot say that we are -- as a country, we are ready to grow as we have done in the past. But we still believe that our categories are facing a new trend.

For sure, we cannot avoid the downtrend that we are facing with alcohol. But we believe that our categories with innovation and certain things we can turn around that situation. The wine situation is basically -- it's a global one, but we have seen some early stages of early green -- how do you say, the green graphs with, for example, [ gleces ] ready-to-drink products -- we launched our new wine ready-to-drink products, I don't know, 1 month ago, and it has been very, very successful. So we believe that we can turn around this alcohol down trade in the domestic market.

And on the nonalcoholic business, as I mentioned before, we see that our portfolio, better-for-you portfolio based on waters, flavored waters, juices and nectars and functional, we are #1 in all of those categories. We believe that we'll continue growing, integrating new consumer occasions and satisfying consumer needs that are eager for more alternatives and not only based on CSDs. So we believe that in terms of per capita consumption will be a second semester in order to see how the economy is turning around in a positive way, but we believe that our portfolio, it's prefer to turn around the that we faced on the first semester.

Tax reform. Let me complement what Eduardo has said regarding tax reform. I think it's a good news for the country, the approval of the new tax reform reducing corporate taxes in Chile. When will this come to more consumption is something that we cannot predict. But however, in the long term, it's a good news for the country to boost investment in the country, to boost employment. Of course, this could boost the consumption for our products. But as you know, there are many variables or many other inputs that are key for the level of consumption.

Our next question comes from Felipe Ucros from Scotiabank.

Perhaps a few follow-ups on the new strategy and the upcoming midterm plan that you're still working on. And I realize that you're still working on the plan, so it's probably a little too early to have definitive answers on this, but perhaps you can give us some initial thoughts on 3 things that I'm curious about. The first one is hedging. CCU has stood out within the publicly traded industry as one of the only companies that doesn't hedge, right? And there's some chatter in the market that this generates different pricing needs than your competitors. So just wondering if within your strategy, there are any changes that you plan to make around this or perhaps bring to the Board for potential changes.

The second side is wine. Obviously, it seems like you're already doing some restructuring there and you're innovating quite a bit. But wondering if there's like a bigger transformation around the approach and the strategy that you guys have had towards the wine segment. perhaps whether you'll try to accelerate premiumization or any other things that you plan to change there?

And then the last one is for Colombia, where you guys have had a decent performance this quarter. Just wondering if there are any changes that you plan on that side of the business?

Three main questions. I will pass the first one to Felipe and the second one to Felipe Dubernet and the second one, third one, I'm going to respond directly.

No, our policy regarding hedging of commodities for exchange rate remain unchanged. This is a policy that is reviewed every year by the Board of CCU. But as of today, remain unchanged. So now Eduardo will answer you the question regarding the 2 important business of wine and Colombia.

Yes. Regarding wine, for sure, we are facing an important trend globally. We are an important player in Chile for sure. But -- and at the same time, we are an important player outside in the export. So we are doing, I think, 2 main things. The third one is not only integrating liquors, which we have an important ammunition or power in Chile with the wines in order to get synergies, but also we are doing this in order to fulfill consumer needs that we believe that are coming together.

Today, the consumer is not only choosing product by product, it's choosing based on consumer occasions. And we believe that together in Chile with a portfolio combining wines and spirits, we can satisfy better to our consumer and for sure, increase volumes through that strategy. In terms of global export, we are focusing our main capabilities on BSP on exports, on exports, increase our footprint outside, getting more markets within the company and basically strengthen our position in terms of production, getting synergies and efficiencies from there.

So we believe that wine could -- we are just in some place, some pieces. For sure, we are facing a very important global trend. But we believe that we can start in turning around that situation with this strategy. For sure, we have to see how it evolves, but we are taking decisions around that business now. In Colombia, we still believe that we have a very, very important or plenty of space to grow over there. Colombia is an interesting country. It's facing a change in his government now.

For sure, it's -- we are leaving a very, very good, good momentum in Colombia. We are double-digit growth with beer and Manta over there. And we are plenty of innovation and a new strategy setting up to Colombia in order to get more of this country. Colombia for us in this strategy, Vamos por Más is a core country for us. We are there to grow, and we are there to win some battles. So we are going to strengthen our position in Colombia, and we believe that we can create momentum of -- continue the momentum that we are facing on that.

Great color. Maybe if I can do one follow-up on the cost decline, less strategic, but -- you did mention that the cost of wine had increased, and I thought that kind of stood out in stark contrast to what [indiscernible] reported where they're having much lower cost of wine and a very strong harvest. So just wondering why you think there's a difference. Perhaps it has to do with the regions, different climate in different regions, maybe with the suppliers of grades that you guys use. Just wondering if you can comment a little about that differential?

I pass this to Felipe. Yes, I pass this question to Felipe. I pass this to Felipe Dubernet.

Okay. Yes, Felipe, regarding the wine cost, as you know, this year, we are facing a particularly unfavorable input cost in terms of wine cost in our P&L as the whole industry. As you mentioned and as you mentioned, a competitor also, we have had a positive wine harvest this year. That will reduce going forward, our cost of wine as we reduce, of course, inventory levels that are depending on how we evolve in the volumes.

So we see in the business that is suffering a lot, not only in consumption, but also in the input cost side, in the exchange rate side for our export business this year a lot. So at least we are seeing some green grass in the horizon now with the input cost of wine going forward. But as I said, will depend on how we deplete our inventories going forward.

Our next question comes from Thiago Bortoluci from Goldman Sachs.

And I think my very one question is for you, Eduardo. Once you take the CEO role and evaluate the situation in Chile more broadly, how satisfied would you say you are with the price points and price sensitivities, price relativities in each of the categories in Chile? And do you think there is any particular segment that needs a more focused targeted shift or strategic pilot in the next 6 months? And related to this, how inflation and oil prices particularly impact your pricing decisions, particularly for the second half of the year? I know you have already implemented a price adjustment. How much of your underlying cost inflation is covered with this?

Well, as you see in the presentation, we have a very strong results in Chile. Chile mainly through the different categories from the 2 categories keeping our momentum and market share with the beer category and improving our prices and the excellent development of nonalcoholic business, improving our market shares and improving our prices, we are facing a very good position regarding the second semester. In that terms, obviously, there are always opportunities in terms of pricing. Consumers are less willing now to take lease prices, increase on lease prices as we have done in several companies have done in the past.

So new technologies and new strategies are -- we have to put it in place. So in our new strategy, revenue growth management is important -- has an important role in our strategy. Obviously, revenue growth management is a huge area that we can go deep dive, but there are several initiatives like, for example, let me give an example, the TPO initiatives, trade promotion optimization within the modern trade and several and use of algorithms. We have a proprietary algorithms called sales, which is helping us our revenue growth management in traditional trade that we have -- we can help us to drive price without hitting the consumers and hitting all the places and SKUs at the same time.

So technology processes and intelligent based on algorithms will help us to improve our mix, not only driven by prices, but also driven by channel and format or pack types mix. So I'm confident that we have done a very good job on prices within the first semester, and we will continue with new tools doing a great job on the second one.

Our next question comes from Alvaro Garcia from BTG Pactual.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Okay. Sorry about that. Eduardo, Felipe Eduardo, congrats on the new role. I have a question on the Nestle transaction, the water transaction in Chile. One, I mean, it's a pretty hefty transaction from a financial standpoint. So I'm wondering if that -- how you're thinking about sort of leverage heading into 2027, how you're thinking about the dividends into 2027. So that's one aspect of the question. But the other is sort of whether it changes the operating model for that business specifically? I'm guessing the answer is no. But maybe on brands, maybe just like 100% ownership, does that give you more flexibility on brand strategy in water specifically? So if you could speak to any specific changes on the back of that transaction?

And regarding your question, let me answer it with the strategy. As you know, the water business is growing a lot. And within the water business, we have different kind of products. We have mineral waters, which satisfy certain part of the consumers, purified water, which compete directly with tap water actually and flavored waters. Our strategy remains the same, but with this acquisition, we are going to strengthen certain part of that strategy. We will continue creating momentum with Cachantún as the #1 mineral water within the country. As you may notice, we have launched several innovations with Cachantún, Strong Cachantún, the black one has been very, very successful, not only competing against water business, but also getting momentum and getting consumer occasions from CSPs, which is something that is very interesting in terms of the water penetration. Within the -- so we will continue with that.

Regarding the flavored water, you have seen that flavors are growing, different SKUs are growing, different pack types or PPA strategies are getting momentum as well. We have launched several innovations, especially with gas -- and they are creating, again, an important growth coming from different categories and not only coming from the water categories. And finally, Purified Water Purified Water, we have been -- we switched our strategy from Nestle [indiscernible], Nestlé, which was a license fee coming from Nestlé to our Manantial brand and Manantial has done a very, very great job. Now we are incrementing our market share in a sustainable manner and with a strong numbers against our competitors.

And at the same time, taking volumes from tapwater, which is in Chile, at least is a huge, huge undercover market. So we believe that with this acquisition, we will strengthen our -- we will make more agile our decisions around the water business, and we will on growth. And regarding leverage questions, I will pass the question to Felipe Dubernet.

Yes, the leverage, as you noticed, increased from 1.7 last quarter to 2.4% this quarter. This is due because we used the cash we had on hand that came from the issuance of the 1.4 international bond we did in 2022. So it was a very good proceed of this acquisition because it's accretive on the one hand. So it would enhance -- further enhance our net income going forward as we have 100% net income from this business.

So going forward, at the end, as we see -- if we could see a recovery going forward in Argentina that has a terrible second half on last year and the growth on the strong results we are delivering in Chile, we should converge towards the middle of the range that we have defined between 1.5, 2.5 net financial debt EBITDA going forward. So certainly in quarter 4 or not certainly, but we look that with good perspective on reducing the leverage.

Regarding dividend policy, as maybe you know and it's in the financial statement, the policy in CCU is to distribute at least 50% of net income, and this is maintained in this coming exercise or coming in this year. For 2027, we need to wait until the shareholder meeting, which is typically in April, if this policy changed or not. But the policy remains the same to distribute 50% of the net income at least...

Our next question comes from Rodrigo Alcantara from UBS.

Just want to touch base again on Argentina. I guess the answer was very clear, right, from a macro perspective and totally get it. It's hard for us to predict, right, what to expect in the second half. Still was not clear for me. The share performance, right, when you look at your number and another brewer, right, just wondering if you can help me understand what you attribute this share performance we observed during the quarter, specifically in beer, right? If you can give us granularity on the portfolio, the brands, Heineken portfolio and your own brands?

And what are you planning to do in order to revert that share-wise, again into the second half? And very quickly would be on to when and when to expect, right, the launch of Heineken Ultimate if following the launch in Brazil, it would be fair to assume anytime soon, could be in Argentina as well. Those would be my questions.

The first one regarding the market share in Argentina, well, we our numbers, we have Nielsen numbers, and we see our market share in Argentina year-to-date very -- growing a little bit, but flat in that terms. For sure, we are eager for more as we are saying. And we believe that our new strategy that we are trying to put in place in Argentina for the next year will get more -- a little bit more market share. We have a very strong national brands, but also we have a very interesting local brands in Argentina that they are doing or could be do a greater job region by region.

So at least our numbers say that we are stable in terms of market share in Argentina and actually gaining a little bit on value market share comparing the volume market share because as Felipe mentioned in the presentation, we have done several price increase during the last quarter. Regarding the Heineken Ultimate, for sure, we have a very strong pipeline in terms of innovation. Heineken Ultimate is trying to reach consumer occasions that are not satisfied by the typical normal beer products that are in the market in Brazil is doing a great job, and we are seeing to integrate that innovation in several operations within our business, not only in Argentina, but in other places as well. So news are coming soon.

Our next question comes from Maria [ Paula ] from Nestle.

So I've got 2 questions about the Colombian market. And the first one is, is the current expectation for Colombia to continue delivering mid-teens growth? Or are we -- or are there any anticipated changes to the growth trajectory moving forward? And the second one is as part of the Vamos por Más strategy that is Colombia one of the core countries and this strategy aims to deliver higher quality and more profitable growth, should we expect Colombia to continue relying primarily on the value segment as a growth driver? Or will there be a stronger strategy focused on premium brands moving forward?

Maria, thank you for the 2 questions. Regarding the first one, for sure, it's difficult now to predict -- it has always been difficult to predict the future. But now in Colombia, it's more difficult because governments are changing. So we will see how is this new government set up in Colombia. Regarding of that, Colombia is definitely a place that we believe that we have plenty of space for growth. We truly believe in that market.

We have been there -- obviously, we have a furious competition over there, but we believe that we have built a strong branch -- and certain parts of Colombia, we are doing really, really well, for example, in Cartagena. So we believe -- we still believe -- we believe in Colombia, we don't know if the market, the industry will grow at the same pace that we have done in this last quarter, but we believe to increase our competitive position over there. In terms of our portfolio, Colombia is a very mainstream portfolio compared to other regions or other countries within Latin America, and it's dominated by our competitor over there.

So we believe that the way that we can improve our profitability over there is to compete asymmetric with a different portfolio. So we will increase our portfolio in terms of different brands, set in different places and try to reach profitability with that strategy on the future.

Our next question comes from Kevin Zavala from UBS.

Just want to question regarding distribution expenses. This quarter remained a source of pressure despite some efficient initiatives already underway. So if you could explain which components are driving the increase such as fuel, labor, fleet utilization, et cetera. And in relation to that, I mean, which business process are the first targets for your digital investment? And I would like to hear from you what do you expect the most tangible benefits, whether either sales effectiveness, demand for casing, procurement, manufacturing, logistics from this investment in digital?

Kevin, we have some trouble with the system here, but we solve it. So I'm Felipe. So I will take your first question. We have some noise problems, but I think you were wondering about how oil and distribution expenses are impacting our P&L. So I will take this part of the question. The second part regarding the future, I will -- Eduardo will take it.

So as you noted, we build KPI that is expense -- total expenses. It does include production costs, distribution costs or D&A as a whole. So despite the higher distribution cost because of oil pressures we had, we have been able to reduce our overall expenses over net sales by 56 basis points in a consolidated basis, which is very good and keep our expenses below Chilean inflation, 3.8% Chilean inflation in the period is 4.2%.

In my view, this is good because at the same time, we were investing more, especially in Chile behind our brands that is building the future. So at the end, having this external pressure of oil in distribution costs on the one side. But on the other side, higher level of inflation. But on the other side, being able to invest more for the future for our brands, I think, is the perfect equation for a company like us, and this was particularly good this quarter. If you look and we are implementing efficient initiatives in all key aspects of the business with good results, mostly in logistics. That in his previous role was led by Eduardo as he was the Head of the non-alcoholic business and the logistics in Chile. And also, I forgot to mention that we have restructuring costs in 2 business that are suffering such as Argentina and the wine business that if we exclude those effects, our total expenses on a consolidated basis will be around 3% growth. So this is much less than inflation.

Of course, and then I will pass to Eduardo, -- looking at the future, we need to improve our margins. That's sure, especially going towards our pre-pandemic margins that we have, and this needs more efforts in terms of synergies and efficiencies. So Eduardo will make a comment and then come back.

Yes, Kevin, of course, within the new strategy that we have presented, the Vamos por Más transformation is a key pillar, not only for getting efficiencies and improve our EBITDA margin, but also to be a fuel for or enabler for growth, which is something that is for top line growth, which is something that this kind of business needs in order to be better, stronger and with higher margin as well.

So the digital transformation, as Felipe has mentioned, has been very, very successful, not only with low-hanging fruit initiatives, but also some Stage 1 initiatives, but we have done it silos by silos now. The future and the new structures that we are setting up is going to integrate all the transformation activities because if I am making a transformation in logistics in order to improve our logistics system, it's not 100% connected with sales transformation. Sometimes there are inefficiencies within that.

So the new structure and the new strategy for us is going to integrate the end-to-end value chain and set an appropriate structure in order to get that transformation and end-to-end system and also integrate IT and AI capabilities within that structure at the same time. So we are going to be more agile and penetrate silos and be end-to-end in order to get that transformation. And of course, there are plenty of examples for that, but real-time control now, for example, control towers in logistics, planning, commercial, industrial are, for example, a key system that we are going to put in place in order to get real-time synergies because when you are managing, for example, an efficiency on a line, but you are looking back that numbers 1 month with 1 month, you cannot make the adjustment -- the necessary adjustment to get the efficiencies on real time. So it's just an example. Obviously, more things to come, but future is an important -- or transformation, sorry, on the future is a key point of our strategy.

Thank you so much. I'm not seeing any more questions. So perhaps I can hand it back to the CCU team for the closing remarks.

So thank you. Thank you all. Thank you, moderator. Thank you all the people who have listened this Q&A session and listened the presentation. Thank you for the people who have done the question. I am very optimistic and I'm very eager for more. So in this new role in CCU, I've been here 20 years, 21 years, I've been -- I born in this company, but I'm looking with several challenges and optimism in the future.

So finally, we have to navigate these current challenges and volatile business context and keep projecting CCU's future. We will act with more agility and more focus while delivering synergies and efficiencies across all our operating segments, together with the strengthening of our portfolio to adapt to new consumer trends by growing in high-margin innovation category is key for our plan. Working with collaboration, we will be prepared with the strength for our 2027 and 2013 strategic plan with more focus, more synergies, more agility and more transformation. Vamos por Más, thank you very much for attendance, for your attendance and see you in the next chapter.

This concludes the call for today. We are now closing all the lines. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, everyone, and welcome to CCU's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call on the 7th of May 2026. Please note that today's conference call is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the line over to Mr. Claudio Las Heras, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Welcome, and thank you for attending CCU's first quarter 2026 conference call.

Today with me are Mr. Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. [ Diego Mier y Terán ], Financial Planning and Investor Relations Manager; and Mrs. Carolina Burgos, Senior Investor Relations Analyst.

You have received a copy of the company's consolidated first quarter 2026 earnings release. The call, as usual, will start by reviewing our overall results, and then we will move on to a Q&A session.

Before we begin, please take note of the following statements. The statements that we will make in this call that relate to CCU's future financial results are forward-looking statements, which, of course, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to materially differ. These statements should be taken in conjunction with the additional information about risks and uncertainties set forth in CCU's annual report and in Form 20-F recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and quarterly report that's also available on the CMF and our website.

It's now my pleasure to introduce our CFO, Mr. Felipe Dubernet.

Thank you, Claudio, and thank you all for joining the call today.

We started the year 2026 with a strong set of results in Chile, our main operating segment, while we continue to face a soft consumption environment in Argentina and a particularly weak business context in the wine business.

In terms of financial results, consolidated EBITDA was flat versus last year, growing 0.1% as the robust 13.7% EBITDA growth in the Chile Operating segment was offset by contraction of 18.6% and 50.1% in the International business and Wine Operating segment, respectively.

In the quarter, consolidated net sales were flat, growing 0.2%, explained by 1.8% higher volumes, almost fully offset by 1.5% lower average prices in Chilean pesos. Consolidated volumes were driven by a 3.9% expansion in the Chile Operating segment, more than offsetting the decreases of 1.7% and 5.9% in the International business and Wine Operating Segment, respectively. Lower average prices in Chilean pesos were mostly due to a negative currency translation effect in Argentina coming from the 28.7% depreciation of the Argentine peso against the U.S. dollar being partially compensated by revenue management initiatives.

Gross profit grew by 1.4% and gross margin improved 55 basis points, mainly due to lower direct cost and efficiencies.

MSD&A expenses were practically flat in Chilean pesos, offsetting with efficiencies, other expenses pressures and restructuring costs in Argentina. As a percentage of net sales, MSD&A grew 23 basis points. In all, EBITDA margin was stable at 16.1%. Net income was down 6.8% from last year.

In terms of our Operating segment, in Chile, top line expanded 3.9%, explained by higher volumes as average prices were flat. Higher volumes were driven by high single-digit growth of nonalcoholic categories and overall market share gains in alcoholic and nonalcoholic categories.

Alcohol products, which encompasses in this segment, beer and spirits decreased low single digits, although flavored low alcohol ready-to-drink products volumes grew low double digits. Flat average prices were a consequence of a mix effect in the portfolio, mainly due to the growth in nonalcoholic, particularly in water.

Gross profit increased 10.2% and gross margin rose to 278 basis points compared to last year, mainly driven by lower costs coming from the 8.1% appreciation of the Chilean peso against the U.S. dollar, impacting primarily our U.S. dollar-denominated costs and efficiency gains in procurement and manufacturing costs, partially offset by higher aluminum prices.

MSD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales grew 31 basis points. Altogether, EBITDA increased 13.7% and EBITDA margin was up by 173 basis points, reaching 20.0% EBITDA margin.

In the International Business Operating segment, net sales recorded a 6.7% decrease driven by 5.1% lower average prices in Chilean pesos and a 1.7% contraction in volumes. Lower average prices in Chilean pesos were a consequence of a negative currency translation effect in Argentina and negative mix effect, partially offset by price actions in line with inflation on a year-to-date basis, although still lagging annual inflation in this country.

Volumes in these segments were below last year, explained by Argentina to a mid-single-digit contraction in beer in a stable market share scenario, partially offset by a low single-digit decrease in the nonalcoholic category.

As a result of the challenging scenario in Argentina, gross profit contracted 10.7% in Chilean pesos and gross margin decreased by 218 basis points due to cost pressures. MSD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased 54 basis points due to efficiencies. In all, EBITDA contracted an 18.6%. Excluding the beforementioned restructuring cost in Argentina, EBITDA would have contracted 10.4%.

The Wine Operating segment posted a top line drop of 7.2%, mostly driven by 5.9% lower volumes and 1.4% lower average prices. Weaker volumes were explained by the contraction in both exports and our domestic markets, in line with the industries.

The lower average prices were mostly as a result of the appreciation of the Chilean peso against the U.S. dollar and its unfavorable impact on export revenues together with mix effect, partially offset by revenue management initiatives in domestic markets.

Gross profit was down 21.8% and gross margin deteriorated by 589 basis points, mostly due to higher cost of wine.

MSD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales were flat. Altogether, EBITDA decreased 50.1% and EBITDA margin was down 508 basis points. Regarding our main joint venture and associated business, in Colombia, we posted mid-teens volume growth during the quarter, continuing on a positive path of building business scale. We are focused on building brand equity to enhance profitable growth in the future in this country.

Now I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Mr. Fernando Olvera from Bank of America.

The first one is related to Chile. If you can explain or give us some color what were the drivers of the high single-digit growth of nonalcoholic drinks? And how do you expect volume to behave in the quarters ahead? That's the first one.

Okay. Fernando, would you like to make me the second question right now. You have two questions...

Okay. Sure. The second question is regarding the solid gross margin expansion that you delivered this quarter. How are you thinking about costs the remaining of the year, considering the volatility of aluminum prices and the strength of the Chilean peso? I mean, both questions are related to Chile.

Okay. Thank you, Fernando, for your question. First, your first question regarding the good expansions we have had on the nonalcoholic category.

I would say that there are differences between products in terms of growth. As you know, soft drinks in Chile, we have a high per capita consumption compared to the rest of Latin America. So this category particularly grew something flat or very low single digit.

However, the rest of the categories show a very good growth, especially driven by water. This is, I think, is more related to consumer trends, some innovation we have had and continued growth of enhanced water or flavored water with natural juices such as the Mas brand. In fact, in all this category of water that also encompasses the enhanced water, we grew double digit.

There are other liquids that regain growth such as juices growing mid-single digit. So -- and also all the functional ones that we would highlight energy drinks and sport drinks. So I would say very low growth in soft drinks. However, very high growth in all the rest of the portfolio. And it's more related to consumer trends, I would say, this -- particularly very good growth in the nonalcoholic category in Chile.

Going forward, I would say we -- it's difficult to do forecast, especially when the consumer is under pressure given increases in oil, inflationary pressures. So it's difficult to say how this would evolve going forward because as you know, particularly in Chile, oil prices, gasoline prices were passed through the consumer very quickly.

So -- and as you mentioned, linking with your second question, it's a very volatile scenario, not only for us in terms of input cost, but also for the consumer in terms of how its own cost would evolve and this would impact our demand of products. But so far, very good results in the nonalcoholic category.

Regarding input cost, I would highlight that it's not only aluminum but also oil prices that impact our distribution costs. These, I would say, are the main drivers of higher input costs that currently we are having linked also with all the plastic-related packaging materials such as PET, polyethylene and polypropylene that we use especially for packaging.

So as you mentioned, we delivered a solid gross margin in Chile, driven by, of course, the appreciation of the Chilean peso, but also efficiencies in manufacturing and in procurement. Going forward, I would say every day is -- today, I saw Bloomberg and oil prices were down 5%, but maybe in a week, we could have plus 5%. So it's very volatile. However, we have took actions since the beginning of this rally on prices, especially as you mentioned aluminum but also oil and we have in end of March, April increased prices across the portfolio.

Our next question comes from Constanza Gonzalez from Quest Capital.

I have 2 questions. The first concern is about Chile EBITDA margin. Are there any strengths that can be replicable for the rest of the year? Are these levels sustainable for the remaining of the -- of 2026?

And my second question is regarding Argentina. Do you expect a recovery in volumes in the coming quarters?

Yes. Regarding EBITDA margin, as you mentioned, yes, we have had a nice expansion in terms of EBITDA margin because we had overall better prices than last year in the categories we suffered from mix effect, that is logical when you sell more nonalcoholic than alcoholic products, of course, we will have an impact on price per ton, okay? Also unit cost help us during the first quarter.

Going forward, your question, I repeat what I have answered to Fernando Olvera in the previous question. At the end, we are suffering from a very volatile scenario. We are trying to do everything to compensate this new input costs, but we need to be careful because it's a balance between volume and price. As I mentioned, we have increased prices in Chile end of March, beginning of April in all the categories. And also, we are searching for additional efficiencies in order to compensate the effect. But it's very volatile and it's too early until the conflict is not reaching an end and still we are suffering with this volatility in oil prices and also aluminum prices and other packaging materials, as I said, where it is difficult to do a proper forecast.

[indiscernible] of course, we have scenarios internally. But so far with the price increases we did, more or less, we are able to compensate. However, as I mentioned, we could face or we could find a more soft consumer in terms of the consumer not only consume or buy our products, but have other needs, for example, to run the car. And now he's paying more for the gasoline for his car. So we need to be very careful.

Regarding Argentina volumes, yes, the first quarter, I would say, was soft, still soft. We decreased our volumes in nonalcoholic, as we mentioned, mid-single digit. However, the first quarter of last year was a very high comp. In the following quarters, I'm sure we will be seeing a growth when you compare quarter 2 against quarter 2, quarter 3 against quarter 3 and quarter 4 against quarter 4. And this is related because the last 9 months of last year were particularly weak in Argentina.

Now I think we face a more stable macroeconomic situation since. However, with a lot of inflationary pressures, I would say. We have high inflation in Argentina. We have been able so far to increase prices in line with inflation as we kept a lag from last year. Last year, with -- our prices increases were below inflation. So overall, in Argentina, I would say we have more favorable comps. However, we don't see an extraordinary good recovery. However, it's more stable so far.

I have a follow-up question. Can you give us a sensitivity in EBITDA according to the volatility in prices in oil -- oil prices?

Yes, I would say in terms of the impact on oil prices, we have direct effects that are completely direct because all the contracts and the drivers are particularly linked to oil prices, such as distribution cost. This has a significant impact and other costs such as gas that is very energy intensive.

I would say that each $30 per barrel of oil increase, we are talking something like $30 million direct impact of oil prices, but this could be compensated on the other hand by the appreciation of the Chilean peso. Each 1% of appreciation of the Chilean peso is about $4 million. So if we have 10% of appreciation of the Chilean peso, we are talking about significant magnitude to compensate. But this has the original effect, but because at the end, it will depend how this would evolve in terms of the volatility we are seeing today.

[Operator Instructions] We have a follow-up question from Fernando Olvera from Bank of America.

I have just a quick one regarding the wine business. If you can share what is your outlook for the remainder of the year? And if you have seen any signs that suggest volume stabilization or even a recovery of the market.

Thank you, Fernando. I would say overall, the wine consumption in the world, Chile is not the exception. And also overall in the world, wine it's consumption is declining. So the end we need to think differently when it comes to innovation in order to focus on key markets and key products or key brands especially in the domestic market.

The outlook going forward, I would say the export business is different than the domestic one. I think the domestic one will continue to experience a decline on that. But this could be transferred this consumption to beer consumption or to other kind of alcoholic beverage such as the low alcohol ready-to-drink flavored alcoholic products it's a switch of the consumer.

So I would say the outlook is not positive in our view because at the end, we are experiencing what the world is experiencing in terms of this particular category. However, there are opportunities in the export market as there will be certainly consolidation in the industry. And also, we have enough scale to operate in different markets in the export business.

So because at the end, in terms of market share of our exports of the total Chilean wine that is an overall brand in the world, I would say we will be growing. In the domestic, I would say it's more declining. But however, focusing on more profitable products and on innovation.

Okay. Felipe, in that regard, have you considered selling the wine business?

No. No, because it has synergies, especially in the domestic market. And as I said, the export business will be growing its profitability and market share. Also consider that the wine business, particularly this year is very affected by cyclical wine cost. The last harvest was almost normal, let's say. However, this year, we have a particularly perfect storm, lower consumption globally, as I said, and particularly domestic -- in the domestic business, but we have a very high market share. So I would say, as I said, the strategy is to focus more on a more profitable portfolio, doing efficiencies and because in the route-to-market, we have synergies so far.

Okay. Great.

We have a question from Santiago Petri from Franklin Templeton.

Can you please provide us volume breakdown in percentage terms between alcoholic and nonalcoholic in Chile and international?

No. Santiago, thank you for the question. As we stated in the press release, we made the disclosure between how much was the growth between alcoholic and nonalcoholic. That's why in the nonalcoholic, we grew high single digit, and in alcoholic, we declined low single digit. So -- and this is what we can say.

On the other hand, particularly in Chile, we gained in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic products market share. In the other market that the other important market that is Argentina, we also stated that we decreased the alcoholic consumption -- the alcoholic volumes by mid-single digit. On the other hand, we grew the alcoholic -- nonalcoholic portfolio by low single digit. So that's the scope.

[Operator Instructions] Okay. It looks like we have no further questions at this point. I'll be passing the line back to the management and IR team for the concluding remarks.

Thank you to you all for attending this conference call. In summary, during first quarter of 2026, we delivered a robust performance in Chile, our main Operating segment and faced challenging business environment still in Argentina and particularly in the wine business.

Looking forward, we will continue working until the execution of CCU's 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, and its 3 pillars: profitability, growth and sustainability, which will be crucial to face the singular moment that the global economy is going through given current geopolitical conflicts, which have materially increased costs globally, increasing inflationary pressures.

Our company is not exempt from this, forcing us to act with caution and deploy our resiliency and adaptation capacity to navigate this uncertain and volatile scenario. Regarding this CCU already took at the end of the quarter, proactive actions of revenue management initiatives, and we will continue reinforcing efficiency efforts, and managing CapEx priorities. All of these initiatives aim to offset the negative impact of the current scenario.

Thank you to you all, and I wish you a wonderful afternoon. Thank you to you all, and I wish you a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you very much. This concludes today's conference call. We'll now be closing all the lines. Thank you, and goodbye.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to CCU's Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call on the 25th of February 2026. Please note that today's call is being recorded.

At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Claudio Las Heras, the Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Welcome and thank you for attending CCU's Fourth Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Today with me are Mr. Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer; and Carolina Burgos, Senior Investor Relations Analyst.

You have received a copy of the company's consolidated fourth quarter 2025 results. As usual, the call will start by reviewing our overall results, and then we will then move to our Q&A session.

Before we begin, please take note of the following statements. The statements made in this call that relate to CCU's future financial results are forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause that outperformance or results could materially differ. This segment as well should be taken in conjunction with the additional information about risks and uncertainties set forth in CCU's annual report in Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and also at the annual report submitted at the CMF.

It is now my pleasure to introduce to Mr. Felipe Dubernet.

Thank you, Claudio, and thank you, you all for joining the call today. During 2025, CCU posted a strong set of results in its main operating segment while it faced a particularly challenging year in Argentina and in the wine business, especially during the second half of this year. Isolating the nonrecurring gain from the sale of a portion of land in Chile in 2024, consolidated EBITDA decreased 2.9%. On pricing segment, Chile posted a robust 7.8% EBITDA growth, which was diluted by the 29.5% contraction in International Business operating segment and a 14.9% drop in the wine operating segment. In addition, net income was down 16.3%. Under the same criteria and isolating Argentina, consolidated EBITDA would have grown mid-single digits in 2025. In terms of business scale, consolidated volumes reached 36.2 million hectoliters, expanding 7.3% versus 2024. Organic volumes increased 0.6%, fully driven by the Chile operating segment, which expanded 1.1%, recovering growth after 3 consecutive years of contraction.

In terms of our strategy, during the year, we moved forward in our strategic 2025-2027, a strategic plan and its 3 pillars: Profitability, Growth and Sustainability. Regarding profitability, as mentioned, our core operating segment, Chile expanded EBITDA by 7.8%, well above inflation and EBITDA margin grew 48 basis points, while we keep growing in high-margin innovation and the dividend efficiencies in every aspect of the business.

Regarding our Growth pillar, we strengthened our regional footprint by successfully integrated in Paraguay, PepsiCo's beverage portfolio and snacks distribution. Furthermore, we posted volume growth in our water business in Argentina in a tough business scenario and increased our [ beer scale ] in Colombia. Also to meet evolving consumer trends, we posted double-digit growth in low alcohol and ready-to-drink beverage products in Chile, innovating and consolidating our leadership in this high growing cost category segment, which involves beer, wine and spirits in the context of soft industries.

Regarding Brand Equity, we recorded a solid performance in Chile, increasing brand equity levels being key to expand overall market share. Finally, as of sustainability in our Juntos por un Mejor Vivir strategy within the [ current ] pillar, we kept reducing industrial water consumption.

Regarding the [ profitability ] pillar of our strategy and in the year that we celebrated 175 years of history, we reached important milestones. We obtained a high level of employee satisfaction, got certified in Chile and Argentina as a Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute, moving up in cadet ranking of citizen brands and got rewarded as one of the companies with best practices in corporate governance by the survey La Voz del Mercado 2025.

From a quarterly perspective, Consolidated volumes rose 0.6% fully driven by the Chile operating segment. Our financial results were below last year, mostly explained by a challenging business scenario in Argentina, together with a high comparison base in [indiscernible] country and headwinds in the wine operating segment. This was partially compensated by our main operating segment, Chile, which continued in a positive part of results. Consolidated EBITDA contracted 17.2% where the 6% expansion in the Chile operating segment was more than offset by the 44.5% and 45.2% EBITDA contraction in the international business and wine operating segment, respectively. Net income contracted 25.7%. Consolidated EBITDA isolating Argentina would have expanded low single-digit in the quarter.

In terms of our segment performance, in quarter 4 2025, the Chile operating segment top line expanded by 5.5% as a result of 4.1% increase in volumes and 1.3% higher average prices. Volumes were boosted by non alcoholic categories. Average prices were driven by the revenue management efforts, offset by negative mix effects. EBITDA has reached 6% mostly due to a 9.1% gross profit expansion, partially offset by 10.1% higher MSD&A expenses.

Regarding gross profit, the rise was driven by higher volumes, lower cost pressures related to favorable prices in some raw materials with the exception of [ our NIM ] and the appreciation of the Chilean peso against the U.S. dollar which is positive on U.S. dollar linked costs, partially compensated by higher costs from our PET recycling plant [ circular ]. On the other side, MSD&A expenses funded mostly associated with higher distribution expenses [indiscernible] larger marketing expenses to support revenue.

In International Business Operating segment, net sales recorded a 36.3% decrease, mostly driven by lower average prices and a 4.6% volume contracts, highly driven by a high single-digit contraction in the beer industry in Argentina. The decrease in average prices in Chilean pesos was driven by Argentina, impacted by negative translation effect, pricing below inflation through the year and negative mix effect. The later was partially compensated by efficiencies. [ In all ], EBITDA dropped 44.5%. The Wine Operating segment posted a top line contraction of 16.8% driven by 9.7% drop in volumes, together with 7.9% decrease in average prices. Lower sales was driven by both exports and domestic markets. The weaker average prices were mostly explained by stronger Chilean peso and its negative impact on export revenues and negative mix effects in the portfolio, partially compensated with the revenue management initiatives. EBITDA contracted 45.2% also impacted by the higher cost of wine.

Regarding our main joint venture and associated business. In Colombia, volumes reached 2.4 million hectoliters in 2025, increasing 6.1%. We continue to build a robust brand portfolio and sales execution in Colombia which is the path to long-term volume and financial [indiscernible].

Now I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

[Operator Instructions] So our first question is from Fernando Olvera from Bank of America.

The first one is regarding the volume growth seen in Chile this quarter, if you can comment if this was favored by the alliance with Nestle highlighted in the press release. And some additional questions, sir, if you can share what was the performance of beer during the quarter and also how these low alcohol products that you have mentioned will favor volume performance in 2026.

Yes. We -- thank you, Fernando, for your question. Yes, we have a robust growth in Chile growing 4.1% driven, as we highlighted, by the non-iconic category. However, our spirits unit view a mid-single digit thanks to a very good performance on all the non-alcohol ready-to-drink flavored products of that category. So it was a very good quarter where we do overall market check in the quarter. So -- and this drove good growth in the overall set.

Regarding the year -- the quarter, in general terms was good. We experienced flat volumes against the same quarter of 2024. And seasonally adjusted, was a bigger quarter than quarter 3, let's say, seasonally adjusted. So experiencing seasonally adjusted growth the [ beer category ].

You are asking a more overall question regarding alcohol consumption. The capital alcohol consumption decreased mid-single digits something like 4%. We are still calculating because it depends on the population estimates. So -- but overall, decreased 4%.

Regarding, specifically, in beer, we come back to 2019 per capita consumption. But following, as we highlighted consumer trends we are delighted of the growth, and we are experiencing in all our low-alcohol ready to drink flavored products portfolio, which grew [indiscernible] the 20%, more than 20% and reaching in the Chile operating segment, practically 7% of the mix. And this encompasses proposition on beer as mixers. We are very satisfied of the growth we are experiencing in the [ Stone ] brand and all these different labors. And also in the spirits, where all the low-alcohol flavored products are growing practically 25%. So the consumer is moving towards these products. And fortunately, we have a high innovation grade on that specific category and where CCU has more than 80% of market share of the overall market.

Our next question is from Felipe Ucros from Scotiabank.

Thanks, operator. [Foreign language] Thanks for the space. A couple of questions on my side. One, a little more short term and the other one a little more long term in nature. So the first one on SG&A in Chile, you've been generally posting improvements in your SG&A to sales ratio over the last couple of years. So I was a bit surprised to see you back track this quarter. SG&A grew a little bit faster than sales, and you did mention in the release that it came partly from investments in marketing. So can you comment on this and whether you expect to continue this investment at a higher level? And also, if you could talk to us a little bit about where that investment is going? Perhaps it's just additional spending to give some impulse to the [ RTD ] category that is new for you? Or perhaps it's something you're having to do in beer to keep it at neutral volumes?

And then the second question, a little bit longer term, it has to do with the fact that beer has been lagging nonalcoholic beverages for quite some time at this point, right? And there's probably more than one thing at play here. So just wondering if you can comment about the different rates of volume growth that you expect there. In a tough environment, it's expected beer would underperform because it's more discretional. But there's also this structural migration from consumers away from alcoholic beverages. So just wondering if you can comment on the difference between those two factors and how it's impacting you looking ahead.

Felipe, thank you for your question. Regarding the marketing investment, it was mainly driven by the year. As also we had a low comparison base in quarter 4. So it was a temporary -- [ more ] investment in quarter 4 2025 compared to quarter 4 2024, and essentially went to support our premium portfolio. So I think this is to build a stronger premium portfolio because at the same time, price growth in beer was in the quarter in line with inflation, which is very good, a little bit above inflation. So it's a different combination on the P&L, but nothing to worry about.

Regarding your question more on the long term, we think in the future, our winning non-alcoholic portfolio will continue to grow with especially water business in both a pure -- plain water. We had a tremendous success on [indiscernible] strong gas proposition. Also, we continue to grow at a high rate on our favored or enhanced water portfolio with [ brand mass ]. So all of these is driving the growth on our colleague that should grow in line with private consumption in our view. And especially the category where we did.

Regarding alcohol, the situation, as I mentioned in the previous question, in the year, specifically, we come back to the per capita consumption in 2025 that we had in 2019. But bear in mind that 20 years ago, per capita consumption in Chile in 2014 was 44 liters per capita, in 2019, 52 liters per capita and in '25, 52 liter. So I think overall, this category, we cannot forecast the future, but should stabilize the overall beer category around 0% to 1% growth and would be driven by the low alcohol beer propositions.

We recently launched in January with great success Cristal Ultra but also we lead specifically the low alcohol ready-to-drink portfolio of flavored products or mixers, which I mentioned in the previous question, growing a lot. So this would certainly sustain growth in the near future. But again, these are projections and -- but we are following consumers closely all the consumer trends. That's [indiscernible].

If I could do a quick follow-up on the first one. Do you expect this higher marketing spend? I know there was a comparison base, but should we expect it to grow at more historical levels going forward? Or do you expect a higher marketing spend going forward?

No. The marketing range would be the same.

Our next question is from [ Guilherme ] [indiscernible] from [ Apple Capital ]. What is your pricing strategy in Chile going into 2026 for alcoholic and for non-alcoholic beverages? To what extent do you plan to raise prices or do you plan to take advantage of lower cost pressure to be more aggressive in gaining share?

Overall, the company historically is aiming to grow prices in line with inflation. As in the last years, you know our input cost inflation was much higher than inflation. We have some lag in terms of recovering profitability that we have in the past. Still, we have this lag. So overall, our aim is to take every revenue management initiative. But this could be by rising prices, which is the less sophisticated answer to your question in terms of pricing, but also launching higher-margin innovation. In fact, the portfolio that is growing, the low alcohol ready to drink flavored products are at a premium in the case of beer compared to the mainstream beer. So you could increase prices or your revenue per hectoliter in different ways. But bottom line, the aim is not gaining share to pricing or promotions, more sustaining the market share in the long term through brand equity and marketing investments and high-quality produce rather than trying to gain share with aggressive promotions. So the aim is to increase prices. But always, you have a market of competition, but the aim is to increase prices in line with inflation.

Our next question is from Constanza Gonzalez from Quest Capital.

I have two questions. The first one regarding the environment in Argentina. Could you give us more detail about the trend in construction that you are expecting for this year? Some recovery in the volumes? And secondly, I would like to ask you about the CapEx for this year. Thank you.

Thank you, Constanza, for your question. Hope you are doing well. Yes. Regarding Argentina, the alcoholic industry was very soft, I would say, declining industry we are in the year have affected specifically also beer and not -- even wine was more dramatic but in beer, we have a decline in this. And the thing is that towards the end of the year, we saw some runway improvement. During the quarter, we had a terrible November in terms of weather because every weekend we have rain. So with rain, you don't do barbecues, you don't drink beer. So at the end, we have this terrible weather. Despite this terrible November, seasonality adjusted volumes in quarter 4 compared to quarter 3 improved 4%. This is what sustained my statement that we saw a gradual improvement. We don't know, we don't have clarity if we exclude the weather we had in November, maybe this would be an improvement of high single-digit seasonally adjusted. Today, we are seeing, let's say, a gradual recovery in terms of volume in Argentina. It was -- two questions -- second question [indiscernible].

Costa, could you repeat the second question because I had a sound problem.

Sure. I asked you about the CapEx that you are expecting for this year.

Yes. Regarding CapEx, we will be investing depreciation. No more than appreciation.

Our next question is from Aldo Morales from BICE Inversiones. Can you please explain if this negative inflection point in Argentina in ARS seems to continue over the next quarters. Also, can you please explain how persistent could be this negative pricing scenario in wine [ VSPT ]?

Aldo [indiscernible] you. So Aldo, yes, 2025 -- yes, in a broader perspective, in 2023, our prices, our beer prices in Argentina were above inflation. In 2024, slightly above inflation. We saw big numbers. And in 2025, we were below inflation. So 2025 in terms of price was not a good year for beer in Argentina. Although, looking at the future, we have increased prices in December, effective in January so that this would lead some improvement in profitability in the near future, along with gradual improvement. I mentioned that we saw towards the end of last month.

Regarding the other question regarding why, this is due to mix effects mainly in exports. As in the domestic market, we increased prices above inflation. So it was mostly due as export prices and was due to mix effects.

Our next question is from Thiago Bortoluci from Goldman Sachs.

Thanks, Felipe, for the presentation and for the questions. I would just like to move back to the discussion on pricing in Chile, right? During your remarks, you mentioned that essentially beer prices are growing with inflation. Your headline prices are growing a bit below inflation, which suggests all else equal that your price mix for nonalcoholic is negative, right? Obviously, there are a lot of moving parts here. I would just like to understand how much of this is mix, how much of this is like-for-like and more importantly, particularly for non-alcoholic, what's the strategy going forward?

Overall prices -- the Chile operating segment increased price by 3.5% in the year. Price effect was something like 4.3% and mix effect something like 0.8% that was the impact of mix [indiscernible] product. In the last quarter, we have more mix effect due, as I said, accelerated water sales during the quarter. Regarding specifically in non-alcoholic, as I mentioned, the pricing strategy would be to at least increase prices in line with inflation.

Our next question is from Martin Zetzsche from Fundamenta Capital. How should we think about margins in Chile finishing in 2026, given the favorable levels for the Chilean peso?

Martin, I will not provide a specific number for margin or during 2026 is forward-looking. But as you mentioned in your question, we are facing favorable effects in Chile, which would certainly impact positively our raw material and this would come more in effect in quarter 1 of this year because we carry out some inventory in quarter 4 of specific raw materials such as [indiscernible] because this is why you didn't see, as a full extent, the benefit of having a lower exchange rate in Chile. However, there are also some [ signals ] in some raw materials, specifically aluminum, where we are seeing high, very high prices, above $3,000 per tonne aluminum comparable of what we saw in 2022. So that's a bit of concern, but this should be more than compensated by exchange rate, as you pointed out. So taking into account this, we should be seeing a favorable EBITDA margin, positive expansion of EBITDA in 2026. But again, this is based on assumptions that could change during the year.

Our next question is from Alvaro Garcia from BTG.

Felipe, I was wondering if you can maybe comment on the nonalcoholic front in Chile, on the performance of Pepsi Max, maybe how it's positioned relative to Coke Zero or to other competitors in China. So maybe specific commentary on maybe some of the better-performing products in Chile would be helpful.

Yes. In Chile, we do have Pepsi Zero, we do not have Pepsi much. To highlight, Pepsi Zero is doing very well, tremendous success in Chile. In fact, the coverage of soft drink category grew in the last quarter low single digit, which for this category of being Chile, a high cost -- high consumption level of [ CSP ] is a very good growth in Chile. And of course, Pepsi has been increasing brand equity and market share in the last few years. So overall, but what is really driving the category, the water business, especially enhanced water products are growing double digit during the quarter and other products such as ready to -- specifically functional brings growing mid-single digits.

Our next question is from Nicol Helm from MetLife Investments. Can you elaborate on your financial policy going forward in terms of net leverage and capital allocation? S&P has maintained the company on negative outlook for some time. Do you expect to preserve the current rating? And are there any specific measures you're taking for this?

Thank you, Nicol, for your questions. If I understood well, you are asking about net financial debt EBITDA ratio? Yes, the aim is to maintain the notch that we are having with the risk [indiscernible] so it's something below a ratio of 2. Today, we are finishing with 2. In terms of net financial debt to EBITDA is to maintain or even decrease if the business do better. But we don't have a specifically policy on that. But however, the aim is to maintain the specific notch that we have within the risk announced.

We'll now move on to our final question from Santiago Petri from Franklin Templeton. Hello. Thanks for the presentation. could you guide us on your raw material cost expectations for 2026? What impact would that have on your margins?

Santiago, yes, specifically, we'll answer the question more for Chile. Starting by the -- what has been positive today, as we mentioned in previous question, is the appreciation of the Chilean peso. We have some sensitivity on that, that each 1% appreciation is something about [ to CLP 4,000 million ] of better results at the consolidated basis because it's also considering the offset we would have in the export revenues we had in the wine business. So is positive on that, but I would not predict, of course, the exchange rate scenario. But if this is maintained, we are talking about a significant amount of money. Last year, the average rate was CLP 953 on this year, now the spot is CLP 960. So we are talking about 10% of significant amount of money. But this, as always, is being compensated by higher aluminum prices that we are suffering and higher PET recycling prices. As you know, we have a loan in Chile where 15% of the plastic bottles should have reached the local recycling PET and prices on that are the higher in Latin America.

So to answer your question, we are seeing, overall, a positive scenario on input cost, thanks to exchange rates.

Thank you. We would like to thank everyone for the participation today. I will now hand it to the CCU team for the closing remarks.

Okay. Thank you. Same to you all for attending today. To conclude, in 2025 in context of soft industries, we posted solid performance in our main operating segment, Chile, recovering volume growth after 3 years of volume contraction and expanded EBIT and EBITDA margin. However, consolidated results were weaker due to a difficult macroeconomic scenario in Argentina, together with the contraction in the beer industry in this country and strong headwind in the wine business. We look to the future with optimism as CCU's core strength remain solid.

Our focus will be on continue developing our 2025-2027, the strategic plan reinforcing our three strategic pillars, profitability, growth and sustainability with a special focus on profitability through revenue management efforts and efficiency and high-margin innovation growth. Finally, I would like to send my gratitude to all our more than 10,000 employees in a special year for our company as we celebrated our 175-year anniversary. Their dedication and commitment with the said CCU principles: Excelencia, Entrega, Integridad [indiscernible] have been key to navigate challenging times. We will continue to work to ensure sustainable and profitable growth for CCU.

Thank you all, and I wish you a wonderful afternoon.

That concludes the call for today. We'll now be closing on the lines. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to CCU's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call on the 6th of November 2025. Please note that today's call is being recorded.

At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Claudio Las Heras, the Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Welcome, and thank you for attending CCU's Third Quarter 2025 Conference Call. Today with me are Mr. Felipe Dubernet , Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Joaquín Trejo, Financial Planning and Investor Relations Manager; and Carolina Burgos, Senior Investor Relations.

You have received a copy of the company's consolidated third quarter 2025 earnings release. The call will start by reviewing our overall results, and then we will move into a Q&A session. As every quarter, before we begin, please take note of the following statement. The statements made in this conference call that relate to CCU's future financial results are forward-looking statements, which, of course, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to materially differ. These statements should be taken in conjunction with the additional information about risks and uncertainties set forth in CCU's annual report in Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and in the annual report submitted to the CMF and available on our website.

It is now my pleasure to introduce our CFO, Mr. Felipe Dubernet .

Thank you, Claudio, and thank you all for joining the call today. In the third quarter 2025, CCU posted higher operating results and increased profitability versus last year in a volatile and an uncertain business scenario. Consolidated EBITDA grew 4.6% versus last year, mainly driven by our main operating segment, Chile, which in the context of soft industries expanded EBITDA margin through gross margin improvement and efficiencies, maintaining the positive trend in financial results throughout the year.

The International Business Operating segment also expanded EBITDA versus last year. Within the segment, we are facing a very challenging scenario in Argentina, where the beer industry contracted mid-single digit during the quarter. On the other hand, the Wine Operating segment posted a lower EBITDA driven by weaker domestic markets in Chile and Argentina together with a higher cost of wine. Our year-to-date results show that our path to recover profitability remains on track, supported by our 2025-2027 strategic plan, which prioritize profitability through revenue management efforts and efficiencies.

Regarding our main consolidated figures in the third quarter 2025, net sales were down 1.1%, explained by 2.2% lower average prices in Chilean pesos, partially compensated by 1.2% volume growth. Gross profit decreased 2.9% and gross margin was down 79 basis points. In addition, consolidated MSD&A expenses in Chilean pesos dropped 4.7% due to efficiencies and a favorable translation currency effect from Argentina.

In all, EBITDA expanded 4.6% and EBITDA margin expanded 60 basis points. For the first 9 months of the year, and excluding the nonrecurring gain from the sale of a portion of line in Chile in the second quarter 2024, consolidated EBITDA expanded 9.9%.

In terms of our segments, in the Chile Operating segment, top line expanded 1.8% as a result of a 2.4% increase in average prices, partially offset by 0.6% lower volumes. Higher average prices were explained by revenue management efforts in all the categories. This was offset by mix effects between alcoholic and nonalcoholic categories. Volumes were below last year due to soft industries, mainly in alcoholic categories.

Gross profit and gross margin expanded 3.6% and 75 basis points, respectively, due to lower cost pressures related to favorable prices in some raw materials, which compensated higher costs from our PET recycling plant, CirCCUlar. MSD&A expenses grew 3.2% below inflation in spite of higher marketing expenses and as a percentage of net sales increased by 46 basis points. Altogether, EBITDA increased 4.8% and EBITDA margin expanded 41 basis points. Isolating costs and expenses associated to CirCCUlar, EBITDA would have expanded 10.2% and EBITDA margin by 117 basis points.

In International Business Operating segment, volumes posted a 5.3% expansion, although net sales contracted 8.9%, driven by 13.5% lower average prices in Chilean pesos. The decline in average prices in Chilean pesos was mainly due to the 42.2% devaluation of the Argentine peso against the U.S. dollar and a very challenging pricing scenario in Argentina, where prices grew below inflation and negative mix effects within the beer category.

The volume expansion, excluding AV, the recent acquisition in Paraguay was mainly explained by Argentina, fully driven by the water category, while beer volumes contracted in line with the industry. Regarding our other operations, Bolivia and Paraguay posted higher volumes and Uruguay contracted low single digits. Gross profit decreased 16.6% and gross margin contracted 382 basis points. MSD&A expenses were down 19.2% and as a percentage of net sales decreased 552 basis points. In all, EBITDA grew 73.1%, driven by all geographies in the International segment.

The Wine Operating segment posted a top line expansion of 1.6%, mainly driven by a 4.8% rise in average prices, while volumes were 3% lower. The higher average prices were mostly explained by a weaker Chilean peso and its favorable impact on export revenues and revenue management initiatives in the domestic markets. Volumes contracted due to a 6.3% decrease in Chile domestic market, in line with the industry. partially offset by 4.5% growth in exports.

Gross profit decreased 1.6% and gross margin deteriorated by 128 basis points due to cost pressures from a higher cost of wine and higher U.S. dollar-linked packaging costs. MSD&A expenses rose 4.5% and as a percentage of net sales increased 78 basis points due to higher marketing expenses. Altogether, EBITDA decreased 12% and EBITDA margin was down 224 basis points.

Finally, regarding our main joint venture and associated business in Colombia, we delivered low double-digit volume growth, outperforming the industry. We continue to build a robust brand portfolio and sales execution, which is the path to the long-term volume and financial growth.

Now I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Constant Gonzalez from Quest Capital.

I have a question regarding the international segment, specifically in Argentina. Are you expecting a recovery in prices for the fourth quarter of this year? And also, what are you expecting for 2026? Are you expecting a recovery in prices and volumes? And secondly, could you tell us more about the environment that you are seeing in conception in that country?

Thank you for your question regarding Argentina. Yes, in the second semester, we are facing a much more challenging scenario in Argentina, let's say, decline especially in the third quarter of the volumes, especially in beer, while the water business is growing mid-teens, let's say. The point of that, as you indicated, is that with prices that are below inflation. In fact, we are practically 9% below the inflation this year, year-to-date. We have increased prices in our side, but the scenario is competitive. The market share are rather stable, but we expect in the near future because everybody needs to recover profitability. Price increases, that's key in order to recover the profitability of the industry.

Regarding volumes, let's say, we have maybe a more stable scenario in Argentina after the elections, where the government would -- is expected to, let's say, to decrease the uncertainty and its financial issues regarding -- especially the U.S. dollar. On the other hand, it is expected to do some reforms in this new Congress. Regarding the near future, we expect an increase in private consumption, but more than that, in this increase in private consumption that is expected to be next year, 3%, it would be different among different consumption categories.

Maybe as you know, many Argentinians changed their car at the beginning of the year. So they have had some records in car sales. And normal people -- so I'm considering myself normal, I do not change the car every year. It's a very bad business. So maybe some of these resources from the consumers would come back to our categories, especially categories that are more linked to have fun as the beer -- responsible, responsible consumption of beer. And to regain momentum in the industry in the near future, along with -- we hope recovery of the overall economy.

So we have had a bad third quarter. However, we expect recovery next year, I would say, and also more price adjustments to be at least in the near future in line with increase.

Our next question is from Thiago Bortoluci from Goldman Sachs.

I'd like to turn the conversation back to Chile, right? Obviously, there are different dynamics playing out there. But what I see from the consolidated numbers is your pricing growth moderating, actually printing even a little bit below inflation, while I wouldn't call it for a material decline in volumes, but volumes slightly down meaning -- I know probably these efforts to be less aggressive on pricing, let's say, are not necessarily resulting in a stronger demand. Could you please elaborate more how you're seeing pricing versus volume growth versus competition, market share across the different categories, soft drinks and beer please? And more importantly than that, how much space you see for eventually more pricing to be implemented in each one of those going forward?

Thank you, Thiago. Good to hear about you. Thank you for your question regarding Chile. Let me make very clear on price because I saw your report and then commentary now. Price in general per category are in line with inflation or above inflation. The thing that you are seeing is the entire segment, Chile that is showing a price of 2.7%, 2.4% quarter-on-quarter, but because there is a big mix effect between alcoholic categories and nonalcoholic categories. As the industry in alcoholic categories is declining, I have a negative mix effect in price. Excluding that mix effect, prices are increasing 4%, which is above inflation. So I need to make this precision because I read your report.

The competitive dynamic, I would say, is very competitive, Chile, as you know. In terms of market share in the overall beverage industry, I would say we gained slightly share compared to previous quarter and quarter-on-quarter compared to same quarter last year, also we gained some share in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic categories because now we see the market as alcoholic and nonalcoholic, especially when you have industries that are declining and they are shift between industries. So I would say it's very competitive, but thanks to our brand equity, our revenue management strategies, our execution while we have increased prices in alcoholic and nonalcoholic categories, we have been able even to slightly gain share.

The point regarding going forward in price always, we have an aim of optimizing our revenue management in all the categories, of course, to regain profitability, of course, there is competition. Alcoholic categories, especially wine, but also beer, the industries are very soft, are declining. The one that is declining the most is wine. But beer is also a decline in the third quarter, the industry. The only one that is growing low single digit in alcohol is spirit, thanks to the ready-to-drink where we lead innovation, will lead the market in this fast-growing category, which are the spirits ready-to-drink.

Also, we have low alcohol or nonalcohol beer and all the shandies and the flavored beer such as, as an example, the Lemon Stones brand in Chile, where we led the market and it's also growing. Innovation is key in this scenario, okay? That's the answer, Thiago.

That's helpful, Felipe. And if I may, a follow-up in Chile, right? Obviously, I know this is a harder answer, but would love to pick our brains on that. I guess, across the world, we are seeing, in general, declining volumes in beer, right? 2025 has been an atypical year in some regions, you have adverse weather, you have obviously volatile macro, particularly across South America. What's your assessment of this weakness in beer, particularly for Chile? Would you say something more temporary? Would you say there is a structural component related to the consumption occasions, new generations, preferences? And what is CCU doing itself to try to revert this trend?

Thiago, it's not useful to -- in alcoholic, I prefer to talk about alcoholic categories rather than specific because we have different pictures in different segments, let's say. As I said in my previous answer, the one that the industry is declining more is wine. This is a global trend and has been for many years and also a Chilean trend in the last 10 years. Wine, the per capita consumption in 2014 was 13.5 liters per capita. And in 2024 was 10.5. In the opposite of beer in 2014, per capita consumption was 44 liters per capita and last year for 54 liters per cap. There is no single explanation.

We carried out very scientific or [ values ] based on data and on quantitative and qualitative, what are the reasons maybe this year in 2025, we saw a further decline from where we were in 2021 or what we have experienced in previous year. And there are high numbers of factors that came from, and you pointed out correctly, is how much money has the consumer.

The economy has not been brilliant in the last years in Chile growing 2% on average or less than 2%, huge adjustment interest rate. Interest rates are declining now. The perspective of the Chilean economy should be better in the next 2 or 3 years. Copper prices are on the roof, thanks to the climate change and all of this. There are a number of projects that Chile with enhanced GDP. So we are positive about the economy in Chile in the near future.

And this -- if we have this, maybe we will see a better perspective for overall categories, not only alcoholic but also nonalcoholic categories. But there are other reasons that are linked to alcohol consumption. One example is unsecurity. People feel very unsecure in Chile than it was 10 years ago. The sense of going out to on-premise, having a beer or having a cup of wine and let's say, the on-premise was in Chile 10%. And nowadays, it's 5% to 6%. So -- and this is linked to unsecurity.

All presidential candidates, in 10 days, there will be presidential elections in Chile. The #1 priority is unsecurity. And when you ask the consumer, why you are not consuming so much alcohol or why are you not going out and having, as you said, in Brazil, a [Foreign Language] or a [Foreign Language] in French. Now because I feel unsecure to go in the night, so I prefer to stay home and not miss my friends. So -- there are many reasons, Thiago.

But we expect because we have studied other realities such as the U.S. market. The U.S. market is declining a lot to beer consumption. But however, there has been some period of history where we have seen rebounds on consumption in specific categories. And the category that is performing very well because it is linked to trends is the ready-to-drink category in spirits, but also variants of beer, where you have flavor, you have low alcohol content, beers that are more seasonable. So innovation is key because we led the categories, especially in Chile, the alcoholic category. And innovation is key to, let's say -- and it's a key pillar of our strategic plan to overcome the situation, let's say.

Our next question is from Fernando Olvera from Bank of America.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Great. Perfect. The first one is related to costs. If you can comment, Felipe, regarding the outlook on costs for the fourth quarter and 2026 would be great. And my second question is related to CapEx also for next year. I mean, considering the soft demand that we are seeing overall in alcoholic beverages, what is your initial thoughts on CapEx for 2026?

Fernando, good question about the cost and commodities. I will give you a medium term, let's say, 2026 as our cautionary statement, I don't do forecast. But what we are seeing, we are doing the budget right now. We are seeing favorable news in practically all the commodities, except aluminum compared to 2025 and also compared to 2024, not yet at the level of prices of commodities that we had pre-pandemic, 2019. But we are seeing better news in barley, sugar, virgin, PET, resins, pulps that was a big hit, especially on juice in the next 2 years.

So we are seeing a material, let's say, better commodity prices with the exception of aluminum. We are talking about an easy a projection about $10 million of better commodity prices in U.S. As I said, my #1 commodity is the U.S. dollar, and it seems stable in Chile, at least Chile, which is account for 70% of the EBITDA exchange rate seems stable going forward.

And along with a lot of initiatives in terms of efficiencies in Chile that are linked to procurement, let's say, the strategic sourcing also design to value. We always see at our packaging or our formulations in order without affecting at all quality, however, doing in a more valuable or more cost-effective way to deliver the same benefits to the consumer. The consumer is first. However, we always look -- and we work on new material, new specification to reduce cost.

And third is what we call nearshoring that is to have closer production of our raw materials and packaging materials to our breweries or factories, let's say, to decrease logistic costs. And in that side, also we have a strong efficiency program. So we saw a better scenario with the exception of aluminum for next year that is increasing practically in our projection 5%.

On the other hand, what is -- and we have highlighted this year, we have had higher cost and expenses linked to the CirCCUlar. CirCCUlar is about introducing recycled packaging in our PET bottles up to 15%. And so far, this has had a significant impact in our EBITDA, about [ CLP 10 million ], roughly $12 million of extra cost and expenses year-to-date. On a yearly basis, this year would cost us something like CLP 15 billion. But overall, the aluminum is increasing, but all the rest is in better shape. We have efficiencies, so we expect a better scenario for raw materials and packaging materials going forward.

No, that's great insight. And what about CapEx, Felipe?

CapEx, I will hand over this question to my colleague, Mr. Joaquin Trejo, Financial Planning Manager.

Thanks, Felipe, and thank you, Fernando, for your question. Regarding CapEx, we actually estimate to close the year slightly below what we published in our annual report between 10% and 15% below the published figure for 2025. And looking ahead, we don't actually see major CapEx needs for capacity as the volume trend is what Felipe mentioned earlier, but rather focusing on technology. We are changing our IT system for sales and distribution and also innovation to address this new consumer trend that Felipe also mentioned in previous questions, and also regulatory requirements.

The ratio we like to look at is the CapEx over sales, and we forecast it to be below 6% going forward. And also, this is why the CapEx over depreciation ratio should be at some point below 1% going forward, where the new projects are actually a smaller amount compared to previous years where we had, for example, the CapEx for the CirCCUlar plant. But this is also offset by some CapEx carryover from 2025 that is going to be transferred to 2026. But in general terms, Fernando, that's the trend we foresee.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question is from Claudia Raggio from Provida AFP.

Could you give us some color on the sales volumes of beer in Argentina on October?

Yes, I would anticipate that we have had in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, we saw decline also in October. So we have maintained in alcoholic the same trend we have in quarter 3. And in water, practically flat, small decline in water business.

Thank you. We'll give it a few more moments for any further questions to come in. It looks like we have no further questions. I'll now hand it back to the CCU team for the closing remarks.

Thank you all for attending today. In summary, in the third quarter 2025, our main operating segment in Chile continued in a trend of financial results and profitability in the context of soft industries and higher costs from CirCCUlar. The later was boosted by gross margin improvements, efficiencies and lower prices in raw materials. International Business Operating segment posted higher EBITDA, although results were negatively affected by a challenging scenario in Argentina due to a tough deceleration in consumption. The Wine Operating segment contracted EBITDA due to a higher cost of wine and weak scenario in domestic market, while export grew mid-single digits.

We will keep executing our 2025-2027 strategic plan and its 3 pillars: profitability growth, enhancing innovation, and sustainability. With special focus on profitability, supported by both revenue management efforts backed by our strong and diversified portfolio of brands and efficiencies across all operating segments and functions. Thank you very, very much for attending today, and I wish you a wonderful end of day.

That concludes the call for today. Thank you, and have a nice day.