Nemakb De Cv Stock

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. I am Denise Reyes, Nemak's Investor Relations Officer, and I am pleased to host today's call along with Herve Boyer, Nemak's CEO, and Alberto Sada, CFO, who are here this morning to discuss the company's business performance and answer any questions that you may have. As a reminder, today's event is being recorded and will be available on the company's Investor Relations website.

Herve Boyer, our CEO, will lead off today's call by providing an overview of business and financial highlights for the quarter. Alberto Sada, our CFO, will then discuss our financial results in more detail. Afterwards, we will open for a Q&A session, which participants may join live or submit written questions via the Q&A function.

Before we get started, let me remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nemak undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

I will now turn the call over to Herve Boyer.

Thank you, Denise. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. During the quarter, our top line increased 22% year-over-year, reflecting a stable industry environment in North America as well as contributions from the recently acquired operations in Europe and the rest of the world. The e-mobility structure and chassis applications segment represented approximately 14% of our revenue during the quarter, highlighting the continued evolution of our portfolio and the increasing contribution of these applications to our overall business.

This strong performance reflects the benefits of our diversified footprint and the strategic actions we have undertaken to broaden our capabilities, customer base and geographic reach. EBITDA totaled $174 million, increasing 21% year-over-year, reflecting disciplined execution across the organization and continued progress in our integration and operational initiatives. As we move forward, our focus remains on capturing the opportunities created by our expanded platform, leveraging the strength of our broader portfolio and further enhancing operational efficiency across the organization. We believe these efforts will strengthen our competitive position, support sustainable financial performance and drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.

Turning to recently acquired operations, I'm really pleased to report continued progress across all work streams. The integration process has been positive and aligned to plan, supported by close collaboration between teams and encouraging results in the areas ranging from operations to commercial to finance and technology. Based on the work completed to date, we continue to see further potential for value creation across the merged organization. Annual synergies are currently estimated in the range of $20 million to $40 million with benefits beginning to materialize in 2027 and building thereafter.

Beyond the financial benefits, this acquisition represents a transformative milestone for Nemak. It significantly expands our technological capabilities, customer relationship, geographic reach and participation in attractive growth segments, particularly within e-mobility, structure and chassis applications. Importantly, it also broadens our product portfolio with highly engineered aluminum and magnesium components, strengthening our position in advanced lightweighting solutions. The strategic rationale of the transaction is already reflected in increased commercial activity, a more robust order book and a growing pipeline of opportunities with both existing and new customers. I am particularly encouraged by the cultural fit we see across the organization. We are increasingly operating as an integrated and effective team, leveraging our combined strength and expertise to better serve customers, accelerate value.

During the quarter, we successfully completed the refinancing of our 2028 euro-denominated senior notes, which is an important milestone in proactively managing our capital structure. The transaction combined access to the Mexican capital market with bank financing, allowing us to extend our debt maturity profile and enhance financial flexibility. This outcome reflects the confidence of our financial partners and our continued commitment to maintaining a disciplined financial profile while supporting the company's long-term strategic objectives.

Now turning to commercial activity. We continued to build momentum in new business awards. During the third quarter, we secured approximately $220 million in annual revenue from awarded contracts, bringing our year-to-date total to approximately $620 million. This result already exceeds the $440 million of awarded business secured during full year 2025, underscoring the strength of our commercial execution and customer engagement across regions.

The mix of awarded business included 70% in the ICE powertrain segment and the remaining 30% in e-mobility, structure and chassis applications. This reflects both the continued relevancy of our ICE business and the progress we are making in expanding our participation in higher growth applications. From a customer perspective, approximately 20% of the awarded business was secured with Chinese OEMs that we recently added to our portfolio. This reflects the progress we are making in broadening our customer base and expanding our presence in the world's largest automotive market. These efforts are fully aligned with our strategy to diversify our customer portfolio and adapt to evolving market dynamics while creating new avenues for profitable long-term growth. During the quarter, we achieved several important production start-up milestones across our product portfolio.

In the e-mobility structure and chassis applications, we launched a state-of-the-art magnesium cross-car beam for a premium European OEM manufactured in Austria. We also initiated production of advanced longitudinal members and shock towers for another premium OEM in Europe, North America and China. These structural components support large SUV platforms across internal combustion, hybrid and fully electric vehicle applications.

Beyond our established customer base, we are also expanding our reach with OEMs in China. To this end, we launched innovative and lightweight shock tower programs with 2 leading Chinese OEMs, further strengthening our commercial position in one of the world's most dynamic automotive markets and highlighting the growing relevancy of our capabilities on leading Chinese manufacturers.

Furthermore, these platforms are powertrain-agnostic, therefore, diversifying our exposure to different propulsion systems and supporting long-term growth opportunities across a broad range of vehicle architectures. At the same time, in the ICE powertrain segment, we started manufacturing the first Rotacast V8 engine block at one of our facilities in Germany. This highly integrated and technically demanding application underlines the versatility and competitiveness of our proprietary technologies.

We also launched production of a complex 7.3 liter cylinder head in North America, a highly engineered component that combines lightweighting, durability and high-performance requirements. Overall, these launches reinforce the continued relevancy of the ICE powertrain segment and our ability to deliver differentiated and complex solutions to leading automotive manufacturers. I am also pleased to share that our commitment to operational excellence continues to be recognized by customers across different regions.

During the quarter, our operation in Chongqing, China, received the Quality Excellence Award from Beijing Benz Automotive, recognizing the team's consistent delivery performance and reliable quality. In addition, our operation in Chennai, India, received the Supplier Sustainability Award from Tata Motors in recognition of its wastewater management initiatives and strong commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship and operational excellence. These recognitions reflect the dedication of our teams around the world and reinforce the trust our customers place in Nemak as a reliable partner.

This concludes my remarks. Thank you for your attention, and I will now hand the call over to Alberto.

Thank you, Herve. Good morning, everyone. I will begin with the highlights of the quarter and an overview of the automotive industry developments across our key regions, followed by a review of our consolidated and regional financial results for the third quarter of 2026. During the quarter, revenue increased 22% year-over-year, mainly reflecting the incorporation of the acquired operations and higher aluminum prices.

EBITDA grew 21% to $174 million, supported by the contributions from the recent acquisition and progress on the integration and operational initiatives. In addition, we successfully concluded the refinancing of our 2028 senior notes, which extended our debt maturity profile, diversified our sources of funding and reduced our refinancing risk.

Turning to the automotive industry. Market conditions remained mixed across our key regions during the quarter. In North America, consumer demand remained resilient. Light vehicle sales were stable year-over-year, while industry inventories remained steady at approximately 51 days of supply. Production in the region declined approximately 4% year-over-year during the quarter, mainly reflecting extended summer downtime in certain OEM operations. Regarding the USMCA, following the July review, the agreement remains in force and discussions among parties continue.

We reiterate that under Nemak's commercial agreements, our customers take possession of our products ex works at our facilities. Therefore, they are responsible for logistics and export and import activities, including any applicable duties or tariffs. In Europe, light vehicle sales increased approximately 5% year-over-year during the quarter, supported by broader model availability, improving affordability and continued electrification trends.

Battery electric vehicles continue to gain share and now represent nearly 1/4 of new vehicle registrations. However, regional production declined approximately 1% year-over-year as stronger demand continued to be largely supplied through imports, particularly from Chinese manufacturers. In addition, lower exports and elevated energy costs remain headwinds for the industry. On the regulatory front, the legislative process continues on the European Commission's proposal to introduce greater flexibility in the post-2035 CO2 framework, which will replace de facto ban on internal combustion engines with a 90% emissions reduction target. If adopted, this would reinforce the role of hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains throughout the next decade, an area where Nemak remains well positioned to support its customers.

In China, market conditions remain challenging. Light vehicle sales declined approximately 24% year-over-year during the quarter as the impact of government incentive programs moderated and demand for internal combustion vehicles continue to weaken. Vehicle exports remained a key support for the industry, partially offsetting softer domestic demand. Nevertheless, light vehicle production decreased approximately 6% year-over-year during the quarter. In South America, industry conditions remain favorable. Light vehicle sales grew 11% year-over-year, benefited from new model launches, fleet renewal activity and healthy labor market conditions, particularly in Brazil.

In turn, regional light vehicle production increased approximately 3% year-over-year during the quarter, supported by manufacturing investments, new production lines and the continued expansion of local operations by Chinese OEMs. Overall, global light vehicle production is expected to reach approximately 91.5 million units in 2026, nearly 2% lower than last year, with China accounting for most of the decline. Outside China, the industry outlook remains broadly stable and Nemak's diversified geographic and technology footprint positioned well to navigate this environment.

Turning to our financial results. Revenue was $1.5 billion, a 22% increase versus the third quarter of last year. This performance was driven by the incorporation of the acquired operations contributed $158 million as well as higher aluminum prices. ICE powertrain revenue totaled approximately $1.29 billion, while e-mobility, structure and chassis applications revenue amounted to approximately $214 million, representing 14% of consolidated revenue.

EBITDA was $174 million, 21% above the $143 million reported in the third quarter of 2025 and 2% higher sequentially. The improvement was due mainly to the contribution from the acquisition, a favorable product mix and commercial negotiations. EBITDA margin was 11.6%, broadly stable versus last year. Operating income totaled $25 million compared to $26 million in the same period of last year, affected by noncash asset write-offs of approximately $24 million and extraordinary costs related to our footprint optimization initiatives.

SG&A was $112 million, in line with the recurring level of approximately $110 million per quarter that we anticipated on our last call and compared to $80 million in the same period of last year. The year-over-year change is related to the incremental expenses from the acquired business. In turn, net income was approximately breakeven in the quarter, mainly reflecting the impairments recognized during the quarter and higher financial expenses, including onetime costs related to the refinancing. These factors were partially offset by an income tax benefit. This compares to a $25 million net income reported in the third quarter of 2025.

Turning to the balance sheet. Net debt was approximately $1.76 billion at the end of September, broadly unchanged from the end of June. Cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $320 million. On a pro forma basis, the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at approximately 2.8x, while the interest coverage ratio was 4.9x. Our commitment to deleveraging remains unchanged, and we continue targeting leverage levels closer to the 2.0x over the medium term through EBITDA growth, disciplined capital allocation and free cash flow generation. During the quarter, we fully refinanced our EUR 500 million, 2.25% senior notes due in 2028. The transaction was funded through a combination of local bond issuance in Mexico and the bank loan.

The local bond issuance for MXN 7.4 billion was swapped into approximately EUR 371 million through a cross-currency swap at a blended euro cost of approximately 4.36% based on reference rates at closing. The bank facility was for EUR 130 million with a 5-year maturity. With these transactions, we have now completed the liability management for 100% of our outstanding notes.

As a result, we extended the average life of our debt from approximately 3.2 years to 4.0 years, reducing refinancing risk and diversifying our funding sources while keeping a debt profile aligned with our global currency exposure. Capital expenditures totaled $100 million during the quarter compared to $70 million in the same period of last year. The incremental CapEx was mainly driven by investments associated with our Augusta, Georgia facility, which remains a strategic priority as we prepare for future structural and e-mobility programs. We continue to apply a disciplined approach to capital allocation.

Moving to our regional results. In North America, revenue increased 15% year-over-year to $747 million, driven by higher aluminum prices and product mix. EBITDA increased 9% to $73 million as product mix and commercial negotiations more than offset the impact of the appreciation of the Mexican peso. In Europe, revenue increased 30% year-over-year to $522 million, primarily due to the incorporation of the acquired operations and higher aluminum prices. EBITDA increased 32% to $66 million, reflecting the contribution from the acquired operations. In the Rest of the World, revenue increased 32% year-over-year to $231 million, reflecting the contribution of the acquired operations. In turn, EBITDA improved 34% to $35 million.

Overall, this quarter reflects progress in integration and a stronger financial foundation following the refinancing. We remain focused on accelerating synergy capture, improving profitability and strengthening free cash flow generation. Supported by our diversified footprint, solid liquidity position and proactive approach to capital management, we believe Nemak remains well positioned to continue creating sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders.

I will now turn the call back over to Denise.

Thank you, Alberto. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A portion of the event. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

I have two questions on my side. The first one on the impairments, right? So which plants does the $24 million footprint optimization impairment relate to? Is that the legacy Nemak plant? Or is it the Austria plant originally from GF Casting? And should we expect more charges or restructuring cash costs in the fourth quarter and into 2027?

And the second question still on GF, just to clarify, I was under the impression that the Georgia facility was going to begin operations already in the third quarter. So was there a reason for a delay? Or was that just wrong, let's say, I had misunderstood. And again, the estimate here of top line accretion from this plant still is the $170 million to $200 million annually, correct?

Thanks for the question, Jonathan. Let me just answer the first one related to the impairment that we performed this quarter, that relates to a legacy Nemak plant, which has been operating with a lower volume, and that's part of our overall strategy to consolidate revenue on -- or volume to the different plants. Will there be more in 2027? That's something that we are analyzing. So certainly, we will keep you informed. But for sure, I mean, we're always looking for ways how to optimize our footprint in the most optimal way.

And Herve speaking, Jonathan, when it comes to your second question for the new greenfield in Augusta, Georgia. So no, you got it totally right. So the plant is currently ramping up. We started deliveries a couple of weeks ago. We got the okay to ship from our customers, BMW at a very limited volume so far, and then we are ramping up step by step.

There is a quite sophisticated ramp-up plan supported both by China and by Augusta until Augusta can gradually increase the throughput. And the numbers of -- that you just communicated when it comes to the outlook of the revenue remains valid. It seems that this vehicle has been very well welcomed in the market. So we have even a push from our customer to see how we could supply more parts and having a steeper ramp-up.

No, perfect. Very clear, Herve. And now, Alberto, just a follow-up to that. The Austria plant in Herzogenburg, right, that one still hasn't been written off completely, right? That's still going to flow in the fourth quarter, I assume.

Correct. That's still to happen.

The next question is from Emilio Fuentes from GBM.

My first question is on the synergies from GF Casting Solutions. Could you specify where you're seeing the most significant benefits? And if you have seen some of those figures you commented already reflected in this quarter's EBITDA? And I have a second question on Europe and Rest of World markets. Could you give us a guidance on where do you see EBITDA margins normalizing after the integration?

Thanks for the question, Emilio. Related to synergies, and I think we have made comments on this in the past. We're expecting this to be somewhere between the range of $20 million to $40 million on a recurrent basis. And those come from a combination of different aspects. We have made a very thorough exercise on how to deliver value from the integration of Georg Fischer, and they come from both our ability to implement best practices all along.

Georg Fischer Casting Solutions had great operations. They also had opportunities. So I think both ways, there are means of us to improve efficiencies and capitalize that as potential benefits. We also have scale effects that come from our ability to buy at a larger scale. And ultimately, we have ways how to optimize our overall footprint as we have discussed with the adjustment of our plant in Austria. So it's a combination of different elements.

We also have opportunities to improve our CapEx figures by using existing equipment on both sides with the business that we have on our backlog. So it's a combination of multiple things. Most of them go through the P&L. Other ones are more cash flow driven, but that essentially adds to the entire synergies figures. We are not seeing those yet in the third quarter of this year. Those should be gradually materializing next year.

And then related to your question related to the ongoing margins. I think what you see right now in terms of margins for our European operations reflect pretty much as well as the rest of the world, how we're seeing things with the addition of the consolidated business. Certainly, there is seasonality on our results, as you can see also on the quarterly developments. But ultimately, we see those figures not changing that much from what we see them right now aside from that positive effect of synergies as we move along in the next year.

Our next question is from Michel Galvez Bautista from Principal.

I have 2 questions. One is related to CapEx. I heard and I read that it was mainly oriented to Georgia. So I would like to understand which customers and committed volumes are supporting the megacasting facility? And when does it reach positive EBITDA? And what happens if the ramp-up is delayed?

And the second one is about deleveraging. What net debt-EBITDA trajectory do we expect throughout 2027? And how much of it comes from EBITDA synergies and debt reduction? And what happens to the negative outlooks at S&P and Fitch if it's not achieved?

All right. Thank you, Michel. Herve speaking. Maybe I will take the first part of your question, and I will hand over to Alberto. So this site in Augusta, Georgia, I think we already communicated about that, will supply BMW for the new SUV platforms in the U.S. for lateral side members. So gigacasting with a tonnage of 6,100 tonnes. So we expect the plant -- the ability to turn to a positive EBITDA will obviously depend on the ability to ramp up the volume, and we expect this to happen as soon as next year.

What if ramp-up is delayed, like any other business, obviously, this will be subject to discussion with customers in order to find the appropriate solution. Nothing really different here. It is clear that it is a strategic initiative that has been also supported by the customer. So the customer is really engaged and willing to make it a success. This is extremely important, including providing the support as needed to make sure that we create all the foundations to have a positive outcome and for them the ability to supply those very complex parts out of the U.S. Alberto?

Yes. And then related, Michel, to your question on leverage. Sorry, do you have a follow-up?

No, sorry.

On leverage, yes, as we have communicated, I mean, it is our intention to continue pushing leverage lower with a, let's say, medium target of achieving 2x, 2.0x net debt to EBITDA. And that's going to be eventually reached with increase of EBITDA as well as cash flow generation as we stabilize capital expenditures and reduce, therefore, the net debt. So that's going to take a little bit of time, but we are pushing in that direction.

As you know, we have increased increment in 2026 associated with the acquisition. And part of that, let's say, the benefit of the acquisition, both on EBITDA base as well as synergies will contribute to the EBITDA expectations going forward. And those 2 elements combined should allow us to start reducing our leverage in 2027. We'll share more color on that as we share our full year figures in the next session.

The next question is from Inigo Alvarez from GBM.

My questions are regarding CapEx outlook and free cash flow generation. So with the Georgia plant expected to begin production in the fourth quarter, how should we think about capital intensity and free cash flow generation in 2027? And also how much investment remains to be deployed at Georgia? And should we expect CapEx to normalize as the current investment cycle winds down?

Yes, Inigo, thanks for the question. Yes, related to the investments, the CapEx outlook, as we have shared, the peak when you look at it compared to previous year is associated with this very important project for us. We should expect to have most of that investment concluded by 2026. There is a little bit of a carryover in 2027, but not to the extent that we have deployed CapEx this year. So we should be gradually seeing that number coming down.

But certainly, that number could change depending on the amount of new business awards. And there, I think it's -- let's say, it's a rolling forecast -- a moving forecast, sorry, where that connects with new business wins. We are promoting and looking for as much as we can to add new business where we can use existing assets. And that's part of the objectives that we have. But certainly, the final number will be for 2027 will be shared with our financial figures in the next conference call. So that will have, at the end, that will have an effect on our free cash flow, which we'll also share there. It is our expectation to gradually be generating more cash flow as a combination of both adjustments on the CapEx as well as an increase in our operating results.

The next question is from Isaac Gonzales Coppel from GBM.

Just a quick question. Could you help us quantify the EBITDA contribution from the commercial negotiations during this quarter?

Thanks for the question, Issac. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to provide specific details on those, as there are confidentiality elements on those negotiations with customers. But certainly, that's part of our business. And as we have done in the past, those commercial negotiations have been significant in previous years as we have dealt with adjustments on the EV side, which, as you know, have changed across our customers. But at the end, we also have other negotiations outstanding. So they happen along the years, sometimes smaller, sometimes higher, and that obviously have an effect on the financial results.

So this quarter, we had a few negotiations that were closed, and those would be from time to time present on our business going forward. Yes, the majority of the growth is a combination of multiple factors, one of them being commercial negotiations.

Thank you. There are no more live questions, and we will now move on to the written questions. We have from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank, 2 questions. The first one reads, what are the implications that you expect for Nemak operations related to the recent hybrid car deal between the European Union and China? And the second question is, can you provide more details on the footprint optimization mentioned in your press release?

All right. So Herve speaking, thanks for the question. So indeed, that deal in addition to the recent proposal between France and Germany is really aimed at protecting the regional industrial labor and content. So when it comes to Nemak, we have a broad and diverse European network footprint to support growing regional content requirements. So for us, this can be only seen positively because to limit the import of Chinese cars will obviously benefit the local customers -- the local OEMs, sorry, customers for us, which are the one that we are serving today.

So we expect a rather positive impact for us. When it comes to the footprint and the restructuring, so I think we have communicated on the adjustment of our footprint to adjust to the new demand and the change of product mix for us. So it relates mainly on 3 plants so far, one in Austria that we mentioned, one in Mexico and Alberto talked about this one. And we have another one in Czech Republic. And that's what is in the agenda today. Obviously, this is a constant exercise for us to evaluate the footprint, and we will continue to do that as we go through the next cycles of budget and strategic planning.

Thank you, Herve. And there are no further questions at this time. With that, we conclude today's event. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating. Please feel free to contact us if you have any follow-up questions or comments. This does conclude today's earnings webcast. Have a good day, everyone.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. I am Denise Reyes, Nemak's Investor Relations Officer, and I am pleased to host today's call along with Herve Boyer, Nemak's CEO; and Alberto Sada, CFO; who are here this morning to discuss the company's business performance and answer any questions that you may have. As a reminder, today's event is being recorded and will be available on the company's Investor Relations website. Herve Boyer, our CEO, will lead off today's call by providing an overview of business and financial highlights for the quarter. Alberto Sada, our CFO, will then discuss our financial results in more detail. Afterwards, we will open for a Q&A session, which participants may join live or submit written questions using the Q&A function.

Before we get started, let me remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nemak undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. I will now turn the call over to Herve Boyer.

Thank you, Denise. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. During the period, our revenue increased 19% year-over-year, primarily driven by contributions from the recently acquired operations and higher aluminum prices. While our underlying business remained broadly stable across key regions and customers. This solid top line performance highlights the resiliency of our ICE powertrain business and the execution of our growth strategy alongside a clear focus on translating this momentum into improved earnings generation. Within our global operations, we observed a particular dynamic in North America, where results reflected the ongoing adaptation of our operations to a changing production mix with higher ICE volumes than originally anticipated, primarily driven by market conditions. This shift has resulted in temporary extraordinary expenses as we align resources accordingly.

Going forward, we expect these nonrecurring items to gradually taper off. Within this context, EBITDA declined 6% year-over-year, reflecting the impact of these temporary factors in North America, a negative ForEx exchange effect related to the Mexican peso and a high comparison base that included onetime effects. On a sequential basis, however, our financial performance improved with the EBITDA margin expanding from 9% in the first quarter to 11% in the second quarter, reflecting the initial benefits of our improvement plans and greater production stability. We are also advancing targeted initiatives to further optimize our manufacturing footprint, particularly in Europe with the objective of enhancing efficiency, adjusting capacity utilization and strengthening our overall cost structure.

As we pursue these objectives, we remain confident in our ability to deliver improved margin performance. As I continue to deepen my understanding of Nemak, my initial positive impressions have been borne out, particularly regarding our technical capabilities, long-standing customer relationships and the strength of our operations. From a strategic perspective, Nemak is well positioned to capture value on both fronts, the resiliency and scale of our core ICE powertrain business and the long-term growth opportunity in e-mobility, structure and chassis applications. Our ICE powertrain business remains solid, supported by long-term customer programs, efficient use of existing assets and a strong cash generation profile. Due to the strong and sustained demand of ICE vehicle, we are confident this segment will remain highly relevant over the next decade.

We are also making consistent progress in expanding our presence in e-mobility, structure and chassis application. In recent years, we have built a strong strategic foundation to capitalize on this opportunity, which is further enhanced by our recent acquisition. We are taking disciplined steps to continue developing our capabilities, improving our commercial position and scaling our participation in these technologies.

Overall, our strategy is to maximize the value of our ICE powertrain business while advancing our position in e-mobility, structure and chassis applications, translating this dual positioning into improved margins, stronger cash flow and sustainable long-term value creation.

Turning to the recently acquired operations. We continue to make solid progress across all work streams, with successful conclusion of the initial 100-day integration phase. During this period, we ensured full business continuity and maintain seamless customer deliveries while successfully onboarding new colleagues into the organization. In parallel, we have begun integrating global systems and sharing best practices across operations. We have identified a number of synergistic opportunities across all work streams, and that will allow us to pursue the long-term value creation potential of the transaction. We now estimate these synergies to be in the range of $20 million to $40 million and expect to capture the full benefit by 2027.

As we move forward, our focus turns to execution with emphasis on capturing synergies, advancing systems and process harmonization and strengthening our joint value proposition. Integration is progressing as expected, and we remain confident in delivering the anticipated strategic and financial benefits. Building on this progress, one of the key assets within the acquisition is our facility in Augusta, Georgia. This project is an important milestone in expanding our manufacturing footprint and advancing our capabilities in structural castings. The site has been developed as a highly automated state-of-the-art mega casting facility in the United States, supporting the production of large structural components.

Construction of this facility is substantially completed. Key equipment has been installed, and the first production shot successfully achieved, marking an important step forward operational readiness. This phase is critical to ensuring consistent quality, operational efficiency and cost performance as volumes increase. We expect to begin operations in the second half of this year and will focus on ramping up production and achieving stable operations through 2027 and 2028.

Turning to commercial activity. Year-to-date, we have secured approximately $400 million of annual revenue in awarded contracts. Of this amount, around 60% corresponds to ICE powertrain programs, while the remaining 40% relates to E-Mobility, structure and chassis applications. This is consistent with our balanced positioning and reflects the continued relevancy of the ICE segment alongside the growth potential of our E-Mobility, structure and chassis applications segment, which accounted for 13% of consolidated revenue during the quarter.

In terms of customer engagement and recognition, I am pleased to highlight that Nemak received Porsche supplier quality rating for 2025, achieving an A-grade classification at our Altenmarkt and Dillingen facilities in Europe. This recognizes our ability to constantly meet demanding standards across quality, delivery and operational reliability. It also highlights the breadth of our capabilities in ICE powertrain and e-mobility, structure and chassis applications, reinforcing our position as a trusted partner to a leading premium OEM.

We are also actively engaging with emerging OEMs, particularly in China, as reflected in the organization of two recent technology days with some of our new Chinese customers. These events provided a focused platform to showcase our comprehensive portfolio of solutions across ICE powertrain and e-mobility, structure and chassis applications as well as our multi-material capabilities. Throughout these interactions, we held multiple high-level meetings with senior leadership and engineering teams with in-depth discussions on application development, further technologies and potential areas of collaboration. This engagement translated into tangible outcomes, including multiple commercial leads, technical inquiries and follow-up activities such as plant visit and additional meetings.

We believe that strengthening our relationships with Chinese OEMs will reinforce our presence in key markets and position Nemak to capture further growth opportunities. During the quarter, we made solid strides in the e-Mobility, structure and chassis applications segment, supporting customers across multiple regions with the start of production of several key programs. In Europe, we advanced important structural applications, including starting production of a mega brace for Ford, which is manufactured using high-pressure die casting technology. In addition, production of a full EV battery housing for Mercedes-Benz EQ platform is ramping up at our new facility in the Czech Republic. This multimaterial solution leverages our recently integrated joining and assembly capabilities and highlights our ability to deliver complex integrated systems.

In China, we continued to expand our presence with leading OEMs through multiple program launches. We started production of a shock tower, marking our first aluminum high-pressure die casting component for SAIC. We also initiated production of an EV differential case for BYD at our facility in Kunshan, leveraging the capabilities of our recently acquired operations. And in addition, we began production of a large shock tower for Li Auto at one of our facilities in Suzhou, further improving our position in high-growth EV platform. Overall, these program launches reflect the breadth of our capabilities from large structural components to complex multi-material systems and show our progress in scaling our participation in the e-Mobility, structure and chassis applications segment across regions and customers.

Turning to innovation. R&D and product development are highly active with a strong pipeline of projects across key areas of the business. Our development initiatives are further strengthened by the combined platform resulting from the recent acquisition. Our current portfolio project focuses on four main areas. First, we are advancing differentiated product with existing assets, while we continue to see ample opportunities, particularly in high pressure die casting and structural components.

Second, we are driving improvement in margin and competitiveness across our core processes, including optimizing cycle times and enhancing process parameters, thus improving overall efficiency and cost performance. Third, we are leveraging sustainability as a commercial differentiator. We've continued progress in developing low-carbon alloys and solutions aligned with our customers' decarbonization goals. And finally, we are exploring opportunities to expand our market participation supported by our growing technology portfolio and our ability to extend our capabilities across a broader range of components and applications. Together, these efforts reflect our commitment to innovation as a key driver of competitiveness, profitability and long-term value creation.

In sustainability matters, I am pleased to share that Nemak was included in the Dow Jones best-in-class indices for the seventh consecutive year. This recognition reflects our excellent environmental, social and governance practices as well as our commitment to integrate sustainability into our strategy and operation. In particular, it highlights our focus on operational efficiency, emissions reduction and responsible resource management, along with our dedication to transparency and strong governance standards.

This concludes my remarks. Thank you for your attention, and I will now hand the call over to Alberto. Thank you.

Thank you, Herve. Good morning, everyone. I will begin with an overview of automotive industry developments across our key regions followed by a review of our consolidated and regional financial results for the second quarter of 2026. During the quarter, revenue increased 19% year-over-year, mainly reflecting the incorporation of the recently acquired operations and higher aluminum prices. EBITDA declined 6% compared to the same period of last year, primarily due to lower amount of commercial compensations, foreign exchange effect from the Mexican peso appreciation as well as extraordinary operating costs associated with adjustments in some production lines in North America, which are running at high utilization rates.

Turning to the automotive industry. In North America, market conditions remain generally resilient. Vehicle inventories remain largely unchanged between 49 and 50 days of supply, reflecting a balanced supply and demand environment. On the production side, output decreased 1% year-over-year to 3.9 million units, while OEMs continued awaiting initial discussions regarding the renewal of the USMCA.

Regarding the USMCA, Mexico and Canada both confirmed support for extending the agreement while the U.S. opted to continue working toward an updated version rather than renew the current terms. This opens an annual review process as the parties work toward alignment ahead of the treaty's 2036 term. Importantly, the agreement remains fully enforced today with existing preferential tariffs across North America continuing without interruption. Talks between the parties continue with topics like automotive content rules and Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum reportedly among the areas under discussion.

We reiterate that under Nemak's commercial agreements, our customers take possession of the products on an ex work basis at our facilities, taking full responsibility for all logistics, export and import activities including duties. We remain confident in the strength of our North American operations, and we'll continue to monitor the process closely.

In Europe, sales have been supported by electrification increasing 3% year-over-year to 16.9 million units, also on the back of vehicle imports, mainly from Asian OEMs. In turn, production decreased 6% to 3.9 million units due mainly to lower exports to the United States and China, which may benefit our American customers. In China, market conditions remained challenging during the quarter, contracting 22% year-over-year on a SAAR basis to 22 million units, mostly related to reduced subsidy programs and recent policy changes that introduce caps on incentives, which have influenced consumer behavior. Despite softer domestic demand, production has remained supported by strong export activity, decreasing only 3% year-over-year to 7.5 million vehicles. In South America, industry conditions remain positive supported by favorable lending activity, fleet renewal programs and resilient consumer demand, increasing sales on a SAAR basis to 3.1 million units. In parallel, production in the region grew 4% to 700,000 units, supported by strong export activity.

Turning to our financial results. Please note that all 2026 results include the consolidation of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions operations. Revenue was $1.5 billion, representing a 19% increase versus the second quarter of last year. This improvement is driven by the incorporation of the recently acquired operations contributing with $157 million and higher aluminum prices and to a lesser extent, to favorable foreign exchange effects in Europe and rest of the world. ICE powertrain revenue totaled approximately $1.3 billion, while e-mobility, structure and chassis revenue amounted to approximately $197 million, representing 13% of consolidated revenue. EBITDA was $171 million, below the $182 million reported in the second quarter of 2025. The year-over-year decline reflects the high comparison base associated with onetime compensations recorded last year as well as increased operating expenses in North America related to higher production at some facilities and the adverse effect of the Mexican peso appreciation against the U.S. dollar, which more than offset the contribution of the acquisition.

Operating income totaled $49 million compared to $77 million in the same period of last year, mainly reflecting the lower EBITDA performance, extraordinary costs related to the acquisition and higher depreciation and amortization from the integrated assets. It's worth noting that SG&A this quarter includes these extraordinary costs as well as the reclassification of costs from cost of goods sold to SG&A related to the previous quarter, which altogether add up to approximately $15 million. Excluding these extraordinary effects, we expect recurring SG&A to be in the range of $110 million per quarter. Net result was a $13 million loss, driven by the lower operating income and higher income tax, partially offset by lower noncash foreign exchange losses.

Turning to the balance sheet. Net debt stood at approximately $1.76 billion at the end of June. As anticipated, net debt levels remained stable despite the normal seasonality of working capital requirements during the first half of the year, combined with financing needs associated with higher business activity and the integration of acquired operations. Importantly, we expect working capital consumption to normalize progressively during the second half of the year. On a pro forma basis, the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at approximately 2.9x versus 2.4x at the year-end, reflecting the seasonal working capital increase as well as the debt incurred for the acquisition of GF Casting Solutions.

Despite this increase, our commitment to deleveraging remains unchanged. We continue targeting leverage levels closer to 2.0x over the medium term through a combination of EBITDA growth, disciplined capital allocation and free cash flow generation. In turn, interest coverage ratio was 5.2x which compares versus 4.9x last year. Cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $284 million, providing ample liquidity and financial flexibility. In turn, capital expenditures totaled $110 million during the quarter, above the same period of last year. The increase was mainly driven by investments associated with the Georgia facility which remains a strategic priority as we continue preparing for future structural and e-mobility programs. We continue applying a disciplined approach to capital allocation, prioritizing projects with attractive returns and leveraging existing assets whenever possible.

Moving to our regional results. In North America, revenue increased 2.5% year-over-year to $704 million, supported by stable volume and higher aluminum prices. In turn, EBITDA declined 31% compared to the same period of last year to $61 million, largely affected by the appreciation of the Mexican peso as well as higher operating costs associated with elevated production levels in certain programs.

In Europe, revenue increased 39% year-over-year to $571 million, primarily due to the incorporation of GF Casting Solutions operations and favorable foreign exchange effects. EBITDA increased 17% compared to last year to $80 million, reflecting the contribution from the acquired operations, partly offset by one-off commercial items. In the rest of the world, revenue increased 34% year-over-year to $229 million, benefiting from the additional operations incorporated through the acquisition and a favorable product mix. EBITDA improved 21% to $30 million as a result of the contribution from the expanded operations.

Overall, we remain focused on executing our strategic priorities while maintaining financial discipline. The integration of GF Casting Solutions continues progressing according to plan, and we remain committed to accelerating synergy capture, improving profitability and strengthening free cash flow generation. Supported by our diversified footprint, solid liquidity position and proactive approach to capital management, we believe Nemak remains well positioned to continue creating sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders.

With this, I would like to turn the call back over to Denise.

Thank you, Alberto. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A portion of the event. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from Isaac Gonzalez Coppel from GBM.

Just a quick question. Could you elaborate on the extraordinary expenses associated with the high production levels servicing the North America facilities? Should we expect this cost to continue in the upcoming quarters?

Yes, this is Alberto. Yes, as highlighted, we have been for this present year, ongoing with extraordinary additional expenses at certain operations in North America, primarily driven by increases in certain platforms. As we know, North America market has been focusing on maintaining for longer term, the ICE applications, particularly the high displacement type of components, so that is unfortunately having extra cost on our operations that have been there for the first quarter and second quarter. The amount of those extraordinary expenses range between $7 million to $10 million for the region, and we expect those to gradually be phasing off in the next quarters as we stabilize and as we move forward with certain adaptations on the equipment to handle the new variance requirements by our customers.

The next question is from Emilio Fuentes also from GBM.

EBITDA guidance, currently, it's around $640 million. How comfortable do you see yourself reaching this target especially since you would have to see a meaningful acceleration in the second half given your first half performance?

Herve speaking. Thanks for the question, Emilio, and I will let certainly Alberto complement. I think the guidance is still there. If you look at our performance for the first half, you see a difference between Q1 and Q2. Q1 was particularly low, so Q2 is more reflective of what we are capable to do, and as we just mentioned, we are also gradually getting better in our North American operations, which has had to adapt to this new business environment, so we are still on track to deliver the guidance. Alberto, can you comment?

Yes. No. I mean, it's totally in alignment with that. And as you can see, the sequential improvement is quite visible, and we'll start also seeing more contribution for the integration of Georg Fischer as well as stabilization on these extraordinary costs, so yes, at this point, we'll be comfortable with the guidance.

And if I may add, you mentioned the contribution of GF Casting on revenue for the quarter. I don't know if I heard it right, was it $157 million?

Yes.

The next question that we have is from Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

I have three quick questions. First, just to confirm the extraordinary expenses for higher volumes in North America, those are $7 million to $10 million per quarter, just to confirm that it's per quarter. The second question is if you could share a little bit more on the expected synergies from GF, the $20 million to $40 million, where are they stemming from? And the third one, the company has mentioned a lot the investments made in the new Georgia facility, but if you could share what is the expected top line tailwind or maybe what is the improvement or increase in capacity volumes that is expected from this facility? .

Okay. Thanks for the question, Jonathan. So the improvement that Alberto mentioned, yes, is a quarterly -- of the costs, sorry, is the cost for the quarter, so that's -- we don't expect that to go down to zero this quarter, but to significantly reduce already in the third quarter, and we are monitoring it and I am personally monitoring it very closely, almost on a daily basis, at least on a weekly basis, so I can confirm and can be extremely confident on our ability to reduce those extra costs in the third quarter.

The second question relates to the synergies, and we have already announced some restructuring in Europe, right? So the consolidation of the production is one, obviously, streamlining the fixed cost in order to maximize the marginal improvement coming from this incremental revenue is another area which we are addressing in order to generate those synergies on top of many other aspects, and we have a very structured program management integration process, where we really tackle all the facets of the businesses. We don't -- we try not to leave anything uncovered in order to really maximize the synergies, and something I can tell you, I'm still in my discovery phase of this company, but it is extremely clear for me that this deal is highly synergistic for us.

And the last question relates to the top line of Georgia factory, so midterm. Obviously, all this is based on the volume of our customer, but we expect revenue to top at a level of $170 million to $200 million a year.

The next question is from Isaac Gonzalez Coppel from GBM. The next question we have is from David Cervantes from Actinver.

Well, you have said that you do not expect any negative impact from the USMCA review and that current contracts pass through any tariff cut to customers, but the specific proposal on the table during this week in this turnaround is not a new tariff, it's a tightening of the rules of origin to require a higher share of U.S. specific content with interregional value content calculations.

Can you walk us to Nemak's current sourcing mix by country within North America, specifically what share of your regional content today will still count if the U.S. pushes for a U.S. origin threshold rather than a North American-wide one, and whether your pass-through contracts cover a scenario where you lose duty-free access rather than face a new duty?

Yes, David, thanks for the question. I think as highlighted, certainly, the situation on the USMCA discussions is quite fluid, and we'll have to see how things evolve. But for sure, the content of origin is something that's on the table, and that relates certainly to what took place even on this renegotiation of USMCA that took place a few years ago under the first administration of President Trump. And there, you may recall that the rules of origin changed from North America percentage content of 62.5% to 75%. At the end, that I believe turned to be very positive in general for the industry, altogether as there was more regionalization of production and therefore, for the supply base as well.

Going forward, it's still to be seen what that regional content may look like. There could be some U.S. content, which is already included in this USMCA negotiation, but applies specifically to assembly of vehicles. It doesn't apply to particular components assembly, so certainly, that drives certain localization to the U.S. of assembly operations of vehicles, not necessarily production.

At the end, I think we do have the means to support the current levels of regional content. And certainly, they need to be increased. Certainly, we will find ways how to do that. Recall that most of our cost is on one side is the aluminum, which gets sourced regionally in most cases. But to the extent that we need to source more, certainly, we will move in that direction with the adequate commercial adjustments to our customers if that represents any type of incremental costs. But at the end, as highlighted also, the ex works component of our commercial agreement gives full responsibility of our customers to any situation related to duties and tariffs.

So we don't -- this is not a pass-through. This is essentially their work. They are the ones that do the whole import process. We don't do any import process. And they are the ones that if they need to pay any duties, it would be paid by them. It's not us going back and asking for a refund, but it's them doing the whole import activity themselves, so we feel confident on that. Certainly, we work together with our customers to minimize the impact. If at the end, this means, let's say, fulfilling certain regional contents, and if that means additional cost for us, we will certainly pass it on to the customers.

There are no more live questions, so we will now move on to the written questions. The first question is from Declan Hanlon from Santander. Can you provide a same-store sales comparison, excluding the GF business for the second quarter or provide a pro forma comparison as if the GF business was owned the second quarter of 2026. 2025, I guess it was.

Yes. I think this was already explained. I mean we have revenue from Georg Fischer of $157 million on the second quarter, so if we compare legacy business quarter-over-quarter, that is an increment of close to $80 million on a revenue basis.

The next question is also from Declan Hanlon from Santander. Could you please quantify the working capital impact during the quarter?

Yes. Working capital, as discussed, has a seasonality effect. You can see that from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter, there was an increase in working capital from the first to the second quarter working capital stayed, I would say, in all practical means fairly stable. We should be seeing that working capital going forward reduced, particularly as we end the year in 2026.

The next question is from Oleksiy Soroka from ING. Is there an impact of the aluminum prices on the profitability?

Yes, I think aluminum prices, as noted, these are full pass-through components to our customers, so certainly, we have different means of acquiring aluminum to the extent that the formulas reflect correctly our costs, we're fine. If the formulas don't reflect the cost, we certainly sit down with our customers to negotiate any potential adjustments that we have done in the past. For now it's a full pass-through.

And I will switch back to the live questions, since we have an additional question from Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

Just because nobody asked before, if the team could share what was the EBITDA margin at GF during the quarter. And Alberto mentioned the reclassification of costs towards SG&A, if you could share a little bit more color on that as well, please? .

Second one, yes, we had -- I mean, as we're going through the integration of Georg Fischer, we have unfortunately an issue last quarter where we had certain cost of goods sold, or let's say, SG&A costs book on cost of goods sold. So we had to reverse that effect. And we also have a little bit of -- a lot of it, we had also extraordinary expenses of the integration in the second quarter, so altogether, that was $15 million. So about half of that is the reclassification, the other half are integration costs. And that's why when you normalize for those effects, the ongoing SG&A costs should be in the neighborhood of $110 million with the SG&A cost of Georg Fischer integration.

And the EBITDA margin at GF, is that something you're opening or...

No. Actually not -- we are not providing yet guidance but I think at the end, GF margin is consistent with what we are expecting from the company with what we had in the past, so it won't deviate too much from the average that you see on our consolidated figures. I mean a little bit plus, depending on certain seasonality effects, but in general, I think we are quite satisfied with the way that the EBITDA performance has taken place in Georg Fischer, which is consistent with what we had seen during the due diligence phase.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time, and with that, we can conclude today's event. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating. Please feel free to contact us if you have any follow-up questions or comments. This concludes today's earnings webcast. Have a good day.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Webcast. I am Denise Reyes, Nemak's Investor Relations Officer, and I am pleased to host today's call along with Herve Boyer, Nemak's CEO; and Alberto Sada, CFO, who are here this morning to discuss the company's business performance and answer any questions that you may have. As a reminder, today's event is being recorded and will be available on the company's Investor Relations website.

Herve Boyer, our CEO, will lead off today's call by providing an overview of business and financial highlights for the quarter. Alberto Sada, our CFO, will then discuss our financial results in more detail. Afterwards, we will open for a Q&A session, which participants may join live or submit written questions via the Q&A function.

Before we get started, let me remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nemak undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

I will now hand the call over to Herve Boyer.

All right. Thank you, Denise, and hello, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's first quarter 2026 earnings webcast. It is a privilege to address you today in my first earnings call as Nemak's CEO. I am honored by the Board's confidence in appointing me to this role, and I look forward to building on the company's strong strategic and operational foundation. I would also like to recognize Armando Tamez, for his long tenure and the solid base he helped establish for Nemak's ongoing development and success.

Throughout the transition period and in my initial days as CEO, my focus has been on listening and gaining a deeper understanding of the business by spending time across our operations, visiting different Nemak sites and engaging with our teams and customers. What stands out is the high level of commitment across the organization, the depth of our operational capabilities and the quality of our long-standing customer relationships.

From a strategic perspective, our main focus at this stage is clear: to deliver a seamless integration of the recently acquired Georg Fischer Casting Solutions operations. From a financial standpoint, our objectives are clearly defined and embedded in our day-to-day activities. Our priorities remain unchanged: disciplined execution, profitability, cash flow generation and deleveraging. These goals are supported by a prudent and selective approach to capital allocation, ultimately maximizing shareholder return. Such principles are well understood across the company and guide decision-making process throughout the organization. I would also like to thank our investors and the financial community for your continued engagement and interest in Nemak. We value the ongoing dialogue and the opportunity to discuss our performance and priorities with you.

Now I would like to turn to our first quarter 2026 results and give you an overview of our performance during the period. During the quarter, our top line increased by 15%, outperforming the underlying market. This growth primarily reflected in Europe and the rest of the world was driven by the integration of GF Casting Solutions Automotive business, which was effective on February 1 of this year.

EBITDA declined by 15%, mainly reflecting extraordinary effects, including a reduction in onetime commercial compensations, extraordinary expenses in North America and the impact of the Mexican peso's appreciation against the U.S. dollar. Nonetheless, as this extraordinary effects subside, we remain highly focused on translating revenue growth into improved profitability while continuing to strengthen free cash flow generation and deleveraging.

Turning to a key strategic milestone in February, the acquisition of GF Casting Solutions Automotive business received full regulatory approval and closed successfully. With the transaction complete, our focus is now on disciplined integration ensuring continuity for customers and executing the value creation priorities of the acquisition.

As we integrate GF Casting Solutions into Nemak, we are pleased to welcome 2,500 highly skilled employees, their talent, expertise and deep industry experience strengthen our organization and knowledge base. Following this acquisition, Nemak's global manufacturing footprint has expanded to a total of 53 facilities worldwide. The addition of operations in Austria, Germany, Romania, China and the United States enhances our presence in key automotive regions and strengthens proximity to customers, supporting disciplined execution across our global operations. These additional facilities also support the ongoing evolution of our product portfolio with growth in the e-mobility, structure and chassis applications segment, roughly doubling its revenue contribution from 9% to approximately 18%. The complementary nature of Nemak and GF Casting Solutions capabilities expands our reach and our ability to support customers across a broader range of vehicle architectures.

The development of our product portfolio further strengthens our positioning in higher value segments and support long-term growth opportunities. In parallel, the acquisition enhances our material capabilities with advanced solutions across aluminum, magnesium and other materials. We are now able to address an even wider range of customer requirements from lightweighting and structural performance through strength, precision and efficiency using the most appropriate material for each application.

Building on this combined strength, Nemak now offers a unique range of advanced casting and assembly solutions across multiple processes and applications. Our capabilities span high pressure and low pressure die casting, proprietary technologies, ductile iron casting and integrated assembly. In particular, within high-pressure die casting, the combined platform provides broader capabilities for complex giga castings used in structural components and battery housing.

As we move forward, we are working diligently to capture the synergies associated with the acquisition as quickly as possible. This effort involves structured and detailed work streams across the organization focused on cost efficiencies, operational alignment and leveraging the combined platform to expand our reach and value proposition with both existing and new customers. As these initiatives advance, they are expected to progressively support profitability, free cash flow generation and long-term value creation.

Turning to new business. We continue to pursue a robust pipeline of approximately $1.9 billion in annual revenue for potential opportunities across key segments. This pipeline reflects ongoing customer engagement and positions us to capture further growth in a disciplined manner. In parallel, we are continuing to see extended ICE powertrain contracts, supporting the long-term use of existing assets and reinforcing the free cash generation profile of the business.

During the period, we advanced several strategic programs that reflect the strength of our product portfolio and our presence in the e-mobility, structure and chassis applications segment. For BMW's Neue Klasse platform, Nemak is a key supplier supporting multiple components, including the battery management system bottom and the stack-up sleeve leveraging our high pressure and gravity casting processes to support BMW's new engineering designs. These programs incorporate advanced sustainability features, including production with 100% clean energy. In parallel, we have begun producing a longitudinal member for the Porsche Cayenne EV, making our first application for this component for Porsche and reinforcing our position in premium vehicle architectures for high-pressure die cast body in white parts.

Moving on to sustainability. Nemak continues to be recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project, having achieved an A- Company Rating, placing us once again, within the leadership band. In addition, I'm really pleased to share that Nemak earned an A score in CDP Supplier Engagement Rating reflecting our strong engagement with suppliers on climate-related risk and emissions reduction initiative. Moreover, we remain well on track with the objectives established under the Science-Based Targets initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. For Scope 1 and 2, our target is a 28% reduction in emissions, while for Scope 3, we're aiming for a 14% reduction. Together, these actions underscore our commitment to disciplined execution and long-term value creation through responsible operations.

As I look ahead, I am highly encouraged by what I see at Nemak, spending time with our teams, visiting our operations and engaging closely with customers has really reinforced my confidence in the strength of our capabilities and the depth of our talent across the organization. I have been particularly impressed by the commitment, the resiliency and the problem-solving mindset of our people who continue to deliver in a dynamic and very demanding environment.

From an operating perspective, I have also been very positively impressed by the range and sophistication of the product processes and technologies across the company. The wide set of manufacturing capabilities we have developed across casting, machining, joining and advanced assembly represent a clear and valuable competitive advantage in the market. This depth of know-how allows us to support customers with greater flexibility, scale solutions across regions and consistently deliver complex, high-value products. With this foundation, I am confident that Nemak is well positioned to navigate challenges and continue building long-term value.

This concludes my remarks. Thanks for your attention, and I now hand the call over to Alberto. Thank you.

Thank you, Herve. Good morning, everyone. I'll begin with an overview of light vehicle sales and production across our key regions, followed by a review of our consolidated and regional financial results for the first quarter of 2026.

During the period, we delivered a favorable top line performance, demonstrating resilience in an evolving demand environment and integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions. However, EBITDA declined year-over-year reflecting a high comparison base from commercial compensations recognized in the prior year. Foreign exchange headwinds from the appreciation of the Mexican peso and extraordinary expenses in certain North American facilities.

We made solid progress integrating Georg Fischer Casting Solutions as we are aligning processes, commercial practices and operating standards across expanded footprint. While the quarter included seasonal and ramp-up dynamics, we remain focused on cost actions and operational initiatives to support performance in the coming periods.

Turning to the automotive industry. In the United States, light vehicle sales were approximately 15.7 million units on a SAAR basis, 5% down year-over-year. This reflects a high comparison base driven by pull ahead sales in anticipation of reciprocal tariffs in early 2025. Underlying demand continues to be supported by a healthy labor market and sustained consumer interest. North America light vehicle production totaled approximately 3.7 million units, 3% below year-over-year as OEMs maintain disciplined inventory management in response to evolving demand signals. Importantly, USMCA compliant production continues to benefit from the exclusion of parts tariffs, an advantage that supports Nemak's North America operations.

In Europe, light vehicle sales were approximately 16.9 million units on a SAAR basis, 3% up year-over-year driven by increased demand in EVs and supported by higher imports. Regional production was approximately 3.9 million units, 3% below the same period of last year due to lower export activity and changes in product mix. OEMs continue to adapt their product strategies by expanding hybrid offerings and adjusting powertrain road maps in response to their evolving regulatory environment, including the expected review of the 2035 ICE transition time line.

Nemak's European operations are well positioned to support customers across powertrain technologies. In China, light vehicle sales reached a SAAR of approximately 21 million units, 12% below the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a seasonally soft February and a recalibration of purchase incentives. Production totaled approximately 6.5 million units, 10% below year-over-year, though continued government support through trade-in subsidies and purchase incentives through 2027 supports a constructive medium-term outlook.

In South America, we saw a strong quarter with light vehicle sales growing 25% year-over-year to 2.8 million units, supported by favorable lending activity and fleet renewals with production up approximately 4% to around 700,000 units. With global light vehicle production forecast at approximately 92.1 million units for 2026 and against the backdrop of energy price volatility and evolving trade policy, the industry has proven resilient and Nemak's diversified geographic and technology footprints position us well to navigate the environment.

Turning to our financial results. Please note that 2026 includes the consolidation of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions effective since early February. In the first quarter of 2026, Nemak's revenue was $1.4 billion, up 15% year-over-year, reflecting the incremental effect from the acquisition as well as higher aluminum prices and a positive foreign exchange effect from the appreciation of the euro.

During the quarter, ICE powertrain revenue totaled $1.2 billion, while e-mobility, structure and chassis revenue was $189 million, supported by the consolidation of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions beginning in February. E-mobility, structure and chassis represented 14% of our consolidated revenue in the quarter. As highlighted during our previous conference call, from now on, we will provide segmented revenue information to provide more color on the development of our business.

EBITDA was $128 million, compared to $149 million in the first quarter of 2025. The year-over-year decline reflects a high comparison base, which was benefited by commercial compensations, increasing the comparable base. The contribution from Georg Fischer Casting Solutions was more than offset by extraordinary expenses associated with higher production in certain American facilities, the adverse impact of the Mexican peso appreciating against the U.S. dollar and increased expenses, partly related to the integration costs.

Operating income was $18 million compared to $15 million in the same period of last year, primarily due to lower EBITDA. In turn, net income was $21 million compared to a net loss of $16 million in the same period of last year, supported by a $16 million noncash effect from foreign exchange gains related to the euro appreciation and income tax adjustments related to positive deferred taxes.

Turning to the balance sheet. Net debt was $1.79 billion at quarter end, compared to $1.6 billion at the end of the first quarter of last year. Current debt levels reflect the seasonal effect of working capital as well as the acquisition, which was funded with a mix of cash, vendor financing and assumed debt. With no significant near-term maturities, we maintain financial flexibility as we navigate the current macroeconomic environment.

Cash and cash equivalents were $256 million. On a proforma basis, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2.8x versus 2.5x at the end of March 2025. And our interest coverage ratio was 5.5x compared with 5.0x a year ago. Capital expenditures totaled $113 million in the quarter compared to $64 million in the first quarter of 2025. The increase primarily reflects investments to support the ramp-up of our Augusta, Georgia facility. Over the course of the year, we'll continue to evaluate opportunities across our regions to improve profitability and utilization including consolidating volumes and where appropriate, adjusting our footprint. This reflects our commitment to operating excellence and more streamlined global operations. We initiated actions to optimize our European footprint, including the intention to end production within the next 12 months at the Herzogenburg facility in Austria, which was part of the Georg Fischer Casting Solutions acquisition. This decision follows a review of market developments and persistently low production volumes at the site, which have negatively impacted its outlook.

As part of this process, remaining products and customers' programs will be relocated to other Nemak facilities in close coordination with our customers. We are committed to managing the transition responsibly, supporting involved employees and ensuring continuity for our customers throughout the process. While we continue to prioritize deleveraging our most recent annual general shareholders meeting approved up to MXN 1 billion, which approximately adds to $57 million for share repurchases. We intend to continue buying back shares as we believe the current price does not reflect the company's intrinsic value. As of today, the shares held in treasury represent close to 7% of shares outstanding, which we plan to cancel at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to be convened later this year.

Moving to our regional results. In North America, revenue was $676 million, up approximately 5% year-over-year, driven by higher aluminum prices and product mix. EBITDA was $54 million compared to $69 million in the same period of last year, primarily due to higher labor costs related to the appreciation of the Mexican peso, a high comparison base related to commercial negotiations and extraordinary costs associated with increased production in certain product lines in North America.

In Europe, revenue was $524 million, up approximately 27% year-over-year reflecting the consolidation of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions and aluminum price dynamics. EBITDA was $50 million, down approximately 17% year-over-year, reflecting a high comparison base due to customer negotiations of last year's, which more than offset the contribution of the acquired business and the favorable impact from the appreciation of the euro.

In the Rest of the World, revenue was $199 million, up approximately 26% year-over-year, driven by the incorporation of Chinese operations from the recent acquisitions and improved product mix. EBITDA was $23 million, up approximately 17% year-on-year, supported by operating initiatives and incremental contribution from the acquisition. As we move forward, Nemak is well positioned to capture the growth opportunities created by the integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions. Our focus remains on disciplined execution, accelerating the capture of synergies and leveraging our expanded platform to pursue new commercial opportunities. At the same time, we continue to prioritize operating efficiency, free cash flow generation and a prudent approach to capital allocation. These priorities underpin our confidence in our ability to enhance profitability and create sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders.

This concludes my remarks. Thank you for your attention. I will now hand the call over to Denise.

Thank you, Alberto. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A portion of the event. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank.

First off -- first of all, Herve welcome, and we wish you all the best as the new CEO of Nemak. And I have a number of questions here, but I will refrain myself and ask only 3 of them. The first one has to do with the outlook in Europe. I think Herve can give us his expertise regarding the European market, especially for your operations and for the auto industry, keeping in mind or what we see is a flooding of Chinese new brands entering the European market and that could have important -- we are concerned with the operations of your key clients there. So anything that you can shed light on what's the situation in Europe, that would be very helpful.

The second question that I have is regarding the American market, the U.S. market, we have seen over the past quarters how V8 engines, the demand for large engines has been very supportive to your operations there. Is there a change given the fuels, the high fuel prices you expect -- or your clients are anticipating any change in demand for V8? Is this going to be more hybrid. So going forward, are we seeing delays from your clients because of the uncertainty?

And the final question is regarding what you mentioned about the footprint. If I understand correctly for now you are looking for opportunities to adjust the footprint by reviewing which operations you can maybe shut down or close and move production to other ones so that you have more efficient way of operating going forward. Is that correct? Or are you also thinking about potential divestments to improve your footprint globally? Those are the few questions.

All right. Thank you, Alfonso, and thank you for your best wishes and your questions. So I will take them one by one. So the situation on the European market, yes, we see that China -- Chinese OEMs already targeting Europe as a key market that we see the increase of the market share of the Chinese OEMs. So that's definitively something we are carefully looking at. That's also something that can now create an opportunity for us. That's a challenge for -- definitively for our base and our legacy customer base. This can be an opportunity because with the integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions, we are also now adding new customers in our customer portfolio, BYD for instance. And we're already in talks with Chinese OEMs in order to assess the possibility to support them outside of China, Europe, South America is also part of the discussion.

One thing that can also influence Europe is definitively clear, some discussions at the European community level, right? Those guys, they are trying to come with a common view, which is definitively partly a challenge for imposing a certain level of local content for the Chinese OEMs to produce locally and or to sell cars in Europe with moderate tariffs. And this is also something that can potentially influence positively our ability to further penetrate those Chinese OEMs.

When it comes to the U.S. market, yes, definitively, the demand for big blocks, V8, 6 cylinders is -- has been quite high and is still high. So we have not seen any inflection, any reduction in the demand so far. We are still producing at maximum capacity level for the Detroit 3, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.

When it comes to the footprint, and I would appreciate that Alberto can also complement my answer. So definitively, that's a constant exercise for us to assess the equation between the capacities that we have and the market situation. So we are assessing and also already implementing. We recently announced some plant closures. So we will definitively adjust the footprint as needed. Meanwhile, that we're also working on lowering the breakeven point of each of the sites in order to make them more competitive and increase the level of sustainability. So yes, footprint adjustment is on the agenda of this company, and we are actively working on it. Alberto, maybe you can complement.

Yes, sure. Alfonso, Just to further complement what Herve just mentioned, I think, as you may have seen on some recent news that we're working on that direction. And as Herve mentioned, we are constantly evaluating the current footprint and the operating levels that we're working at different facilities to look for opportunities to adjust our operations.

And our focus has been on reassigning potentially volume capacity from plants -- from one plant to the other one, but we are not considering any divestment of operating facility. At some point, we might divest real estate and assets, but we're not thinking of the divestment of any of the facilities.

The next question is from Andres Cardona from Citi.

I have 2 questions. Regarding the new disclosure and for me, in particular, the EBITDA per unit was a very useful tool. I was wondering if the best metric to follow nowadays is the EBITDA margin to try to forecast the company. The second question is if you have seen any impact on the -- from the Middle East conflicts in, I don't know, fuel prices, electricity prices, gas prices, perhaps you are more exposed in the European side of it. And the third one is if you could share the number of the extraordinary cost to consolidate GF Casting?

Thanks for the question, Andres. Yes, as you correctly point out and as we commented on our last call, we discontinued the equivalent unit metric because it's becomes extremely difficult to calculate one equivalent component after incorporating first after growing on the structural and EV segment; and second, with the integration of Georg Fischer just becomes a metric which at some point, doesn't really make too much sense. So that's why we are discontinuing that, but we are giving more disclosure on the segmented revenue side.

So to your point, going forward, I think the best metric to project will be EBITDA margin. And certainly, we'll provide guidance on the different elements that move margin up and down, either by further activity or aluminum prices or something else. So I mean, I hope that supports the case better. And I think a real driver of the business value creation will be how fast or slow we can continue growing on the new segment, as you will be probably seeing on this segmented information.

Related to your second question about the impact on the Middle East conflict, certainly, we're monitoring the situation very closely. At this point, we have had no effect on any of our facilities, no meaningful one. The only, let's say, consequential effect that we're seeing on that front is the -- as you are aware, the increase in energy prices, particularly in Europe. But European operations, most of them have already firm contracts on price of energy at the facilities for the majority of the consumption.

So for at least for 2026 and a portion of '27, most of those energy costs are hedged in the operations. So there may be some marginal effect but not meaningful at the point in time. And certainly, what's important to continue monitoring is the potential consequential effect on potential vehicle sales, which at this point hasn't had any effect. As long as the oil prices remain on a temporary basis at a high level, we should not see any effect. But certainly, if that level stays on a fairly long basis, then we'll have to see how the market in general reacts. But so far, we have not seen anything else.

And related to your last question about the cost of the integration of Georg Fischer, I mean, certainly, we have been moving along on a very careful process to integrate the facilities. We started that since before the actual approvals with all the right limits that we could do before getting the formal approval from the antitrust authorities, but we have already started working on PMI, which help us to a very smooth transition on day 1.

So the expenses that we have incurred are associated with legal expenses as well as the cost to set up the new systems, images and continued support from third parties. So those expenses during the quarter were mid-single -- mid to low single digit amounts or not really meaningful amount versus the value and synergies that were expected from the Georg Fischer operations.

The next question on the line is from Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

Good luck to Herve in your new role. I have 2 questions on my side. First one for Herve, if you could shed light on what is your main objective or mandate for the next 12 months/year ahead or where you expect to spend most of your time? Will it be on cost discipline and capturing the potential revenue pipeline that you mentioned earlier in the call of the $1.9 billion. If that's the case, what would be the time line for capturing this? Or will it be integrating GF? So what will be -- what will you be most focused on?

And the second question to Alberto, if you could shed some more light on the higher costs in the quarter that had gross margin. How recurring are they? And what will be the normalized level of gross margin for Nemak given the volatility of recent quarters, right? You have the one-off compensation last year, now GF Casting should be a tailwind given its richer mix. But when should we expect a normalization or an improvement flowing through the results as in the first quarter, you have these extraordinary expenses related to higher volumes in North America. So these 2 questions.

All right. Thank you, Jonathan, and thank you for your wishes. So when it comes to my personal agenda for the next 12 months, I think I would mention 2 words or 3, one is continuity, definitively, and we want -- I want to make sure that as I'm getting more familiar with the company. I got a chance to listen to our people, better understand the company and also listen to the customers.

The second element and that was part of the presentation today is definitively this integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions. This is something which is really strategic for the company and which can be really transformative when it comes to the ability to step by step change the product portfolio of what we do produce and keep growing the top line of this company. So definitively, this integration, the first phase was really to secure the continuity, which was done successfully. I could appreciate all the work which has been done upfront before the closing. And since then, we have a very structured program management integration, which is supported by a third party.

And the objective is to maximize the level of synergies that we can extract out of this operation in order to benefit the long-term run rate profitability of the company. And last but not least, obviously, within a year, we expect as well -- I expect as well with the team to potentially adjust and revisit the strategic plan of the company in order to keep transforming the company and positioning it for the future.

Yes. And Jonathan, related to your second question about the financials of the quarter, yes, as you correctly indicated, and as I highlighted on my initial talks, 2026 first quarter was affected by a certain number of items. We had, on one side, a high comparison base in 2025 because we had still certain onetime commercial negotiations that materialize at that time. But this quarter, we also have, unfortunately, extraordinary expenses related to this very high run rate of large engine applications, particularly in operations in North America and the integration costs that I just mentioned.

So all together, these extraordinary expenses are in the neighborhood of close to $15 million to $20 million in the quarter. So it's quite a significant amount, and as we gradually stabilize operations in Mexico with those higher demands, those part -- a big portion of that, those elements should be phasing out in the rest of the year. We may still have a little bit of extraordinary costs in the second quarter because the demand has been way higher than what their facilities can cope with, but we are doing all the adjustments to our operations to make sure that we can cope with that increase in demand. So yes. So those are the main drivers on the results, which unfortunately, that was compensated or was partly compensated -- or that's why you don't see so much of the effect of the acquisition contribution in the quarter.

The next question on the line is from Emilio Fuentes from GBM.

My question is regarding whether you've heard or see any stop start production requests from North American and European customers related to the inability to source memory chips or other electronic components. Do you see any risk on that side similar to what we saw coming out of the pandemic?

Yes. Emilio, Herve speaking. No. So at this stage, we don't see anything of that. As I said, we see the demand the customers being very strong and remaining very strong in North America for what we do supply over there. It is clear that we are also in a very dynamic environment. So nobody knows exactly what can happen. And since COVID, we have seen that uncertainty was certainly one of the key elements of our industry. But so far, we don't foresee anything when it comes to the level of activity coming from a potential shortage of microprocessors.

Our next question is from Pablo Dominguez from Debtwire.

And also congratulations, Herve, on the appointment. I have a very brief follow-up on the comments on the divestments and then 3 questions on GF operations and the transaction. The follow-up is if you could remind us what those around $26 million in assets held for sale referred to? And then regarding the GF, out of those $189 million in revenue for the e-mobility, structure and chassis segment in 1Q '26, how much does that corresponds to GF? Then regarding the GF debt, if I recall correctly, in the previous call, you mentioned that you were assuming $44 million in debt from GF. But looking at the VNV report, I'm seeing that you are disclosing around $63 million in Georg Fischer debt plus $17 million in debt related to the Georgia plant. So that would amount to $80 million.

So I'm wondering if those $80 million is the final amount of debt that you eventually assume? Or is that after the closing of the transaction and through the end of the quarter, you increased the debt related to Georg Fischer. And then lastly, I'm wondering whether -- I saw in the balance sheet the line short-term and long-term other provisions amount, the combination of those 2 amount to around $140 million as of the end of March compared to only $10 million as of the end of December. So I'm wondering whether you are including there the remaining installments for the acquisition of GF. And if so, whether that's nominal value or discounted at present value? And if it's not there, where you are accounting for those future payments?

Thanks, Pablo, for your questions. Yes, the -- what you see on the balance sheet as assets are for sale, those are certain operations that we have already discontinued, particularly one operation in Mexico, which was -- became idle, and we moved part of that production to our office facilities in Monterrey. So part of that is the real estate that we have there, plus other assets that we are also keeping from other facilities that -- or other facilities that will be also being sold in the next months. But again, these are all real estate and other assets within those facilities that are in the process of being closed.

Related to your question around the assumed debt, the -- as you correctly point out, and as we discussed, the $80 million -- the $44 million of debt is what we assume from the integration of Georg Fischer. There is also vendor financing associated with the transaction, so that amount adds to the total amount that you see there on the balance sheet.

Out of the -- your second question related to the other revenues. So revenues of structurals and EVs that we reported the $189 million the amount of that, that corresponds to Georg Fischer acquisition stands at levels close to $100 million of the new component sales of the acquired entity.

And last but not least, you correctly point out these other provisions, that's where we included those other amounts that are pending with the seller. If you recall, we highlighted that we will be holding certain amounts for any type of contingency that could happen in the future. Those amounts will be released on a yearly basis for 5-year periods, depending on those contingencies, not materializing. So most of the account relates -- or a big portion of that account relates to that.

So Alberto, can we assume that -- so those amounts that appear in the balance sheet and those other provisions liabilities, is that cash that the company will be disbursing? Or simply if no contingencies emerge they will disappear from the balance sheet, but there will be no cash flow related to that?

Exactly. If no contingency happens, we will release it. If there is a contingency, we will keep part of that, but it's not the entire $140 million. I mean that includes other accounts as well, operating ones. But then there is a portion of that, that relates to those holdbacks that will be released if no contingency happened.

Okay, I see. And a follow-up on the business from GF. So you said that around $100 million are coming from GF. So that means that it would be around only $90 million for Nemak legacy E-mobility, Structure and Chassis compared to $110 million in the same quarter of last year. So what's the reason for that decrease?

Yes, maybe that $100 million might be around $90 million, $95 million around, I did mentioned a small amount. But yes, the corresponding effect of the Nemak side is fairly stable, maybe a small reduction of $10 million, and that's essentially the way some production schedules are being laid out in the year. So the amount of SEV of the legacy business part is relatively stable from last year to this year.

The next question on the line is from Chelsea Colon from Nuveen.

I have 3 questions. The first one, just following up on the last one on GF. Can you disclose about how much EBITDA came from GF in the quarter?

We're not disclosing exactly the amount of EBITDA of Georg Fischer as it's, again, embedded in the entire business. But what we can tell you is that their EBITDA contribution is pretty much aligned with what we were expecting on a yearly basis. You recall, we had on the EBITDA levels the company has amount to levels close to between $70 million to $80 million. So pretty much aligned with that on these 2 months that we are consolidating the business for. Certainly, that number will start becoming more positive as we ramp up Augusta and as we continue developing businesses, both in Europe and Asia.

Okay. Great. And secondly, can you just clarify, is there any impact at all to you guys with regard to the change in the aluminum tariffs in the U.S. and aluminum-related products?

Yes. No, no impact to us on that side. The components that we deliver to the U.S. are not subject to any of the tariffs on the Section 232 of aluminum.

Okay. So your components are exempt. Is that because you're sourcing the aluminum from like the approved trade partner countries?

Well, it's 2 components. On one side, you have that Section 232, which is the special investigation on the imports of primary aluminum and our products don't qualify for any of those products listed on the Section 232. And then second, under USMCA, our components by meeting the regional minimum content, those get no tariff associated with the reciprocal tariffs that were enacted.

Right. I just thought that there was a change in the past few weeks to the 232.

Yes, our products are not part of the annex of the products listed on that -- on the section.

Yes. Okay. Got it.

Yes. The change was to add tariffs not only to the aluminum portion of those items listed there, but the entire value but it did not increase the list of items. Well at least not our products were not included in the list because our products are high value-added types. So they are not products that maybe disguised as products but eventually end up being just primary aluminum.

Okay. Great. Understood. And then lastly, in terms of capital allocation, you mentioned that you plan to continue on share repurchases and your leverage has ticked up a bit. So I'm just wondering how we should think about capital allocation going forward in terms of prioritizing deleveraging versus share buybacks versus growth?

Yes. We will continue -- I mean certainly, the main focus of our capital allocation is to assign capital for our strategic opportunities that we have. We anyhow keep a very tight control on the capital spend. The numbers this year, as I say, was guided in the previous conference call, increased because certain acquisitions -- certain investments that we're doing in the U.S. for the Georg Fischer operations, but we are not planning to increase that any further. And with the cash that we're generating from the business, we should be able to self-fund those investments. And any remaining cash will be used partly to buy some shares as we have done in the past. As we indicated, we have already an approved program of up to $50 million of buybacks of shares. We're not expecting to use everything, but we will certainly continue doing in a similar manner as what we have done in the past.

So that gives us still some room to continue deleveraging by generating some extra cash and as well as the effect of the EBITDA contribution on our leverage. So I would say that in order as far as the strategy of the business with a very good, let's say, with a very strict objective to keep that to the minimum and then use the remaining balance to primarily delever and a little bit of share buybacks.

The next live question is from Andres Cardona from Citi.

I'd love to get some ideas about how you are thinking of the USMCA negotiation? What are you hearing from your advisers, consultants about what seems maybe more regional content, perhaps introduction of USA content type of thing. So just wanted to hear from you, what are you hearing? What are you thinking how it could affect your business dynamics?

Thank you, Andres. Herve speaking. I'm going to take this one and give a shot. I mean, the way we see it, I see it. And I'm quite fresh in this business, but I have a quite long experience in this automotive industry and in the U.S., in particular, I think we are really on the safe side. So nobody knows exactly what this new USMCA rule could be. But when we look at the nature of our business, we have a setup, which is largely production in region for region, and we have local sources of material. So I do not expect any negative impact coming from the renegotiation of the new USMCA rule in 2026. Once again, seeing is believing. Let's see what comes out of those negotiations. But so far, all the indications that we have received are rather positive and confirm that this is going to continue as it has been so far without any impact for us.

Okay. There are no more live questions, so we'll move on to the written questions. We have 2 questions from Declan Hanlon from Santander. The first one refers to the extraordinary expenses and commercial compensations, which were already addressed. The second question reads, please discuss the level of working capital cash usage in the first quarter?

Yes. Let me answer that second question. The -- as you know, the seasonality of working capital is quite high during the year. Normally, the working capital drops by the end of the year associated with the reduction in activity from our customers and then picks up as that production picks up further. So this quarter was no exception with, let's say, a fairly large increase in working capital. Part of that is associated because we have extraordinary positive working capital situation in the end of 2025. So part of that growth that we saw is associated with the normal cycle. And another part is the normalization of the extraordinary positive element that we saw on the last quarter of 2025.

Thank you, Alberto. The next question is from Javier Garza Lozano from Citi. How would a sustained rise in aluminum prices affect the company's sales and margins in 2026 and beyond?

Well, certainly, we have seen aluminum prices increasing, particularly because of the situation that we saw in the Middle East. Some of you may be aware, some of the primary smelters located in the area were affected by some of the military actions that we're seeing there. So that unfortunately trimmed a little bit the capacity globally of primary aluminum. And that, together with the energy prices has pushed the aluminum prices to a higher level. But remember that all -- in all our cases, aluminum is a pass-through.

So we essentially pass on the price effect of aluminum to our customers through the formulas that we have with an adjustment period normally stands at about 1 month. So every month, we adjust those prices. We just have a temporary effect while the price gets adjusted, but that gets normalized quickly. So we don't see ourselves with any, let's say, net effect associated with the higher aluminum prices other than we will see an uptick in revenue for that reason with no down -- with no bottom line -- real bottom line effect. And certainly, that may drive a little bit of lower perceived margins when you look at it on a percentage of sales basis. But we will certainly be disclosing that as we move along. But for now, the impact on the net margins is on the absolute is very, very small. Only a little bit of net lag, but when you look at the margins, there may be a little bit of a reduction on the percentage, but not on the absolutes.

The next question is from Rodrigo Sanhueza from Santander. Can you give some color on your net leverage target? What are the main upside, downside risks to that number? And how are you thinking about handling the upcoming debt maturities?

Yes. Yes, just to highlight, as you saw, the leverage ratio increased a little bit in this quarter, and that was mainly associated with the acquisition of Georg Fischer, which we booked in February this year. So we will see a slight uptick from the 2.4x that we have been trading in the last year to levels of close to 1.8x. This should gradually be reducing to levels closer to what we had last year, not there, maybe a little bit higher, but we should be reducing that leverage ratio as we move along the year and generate cash.

Our targets remain the same. We're looking for eventually achieving something close to the 2x net debt to EBITDA, which should happen within the next 2 years, if everything goes well. And as we continue focusing ourselves on deleveraging by both cash generation as well as increase in EBITDA. And related to our debt maturities, as some of you may be aware, we have no major maturities for the next 2 years. So '26 from now to the summer of 2028, there are no major amortization. Our first amortization happens in the summer of 2028, and for that specific amortization, we are actively looking for opportunities on how to address that amortization. We will certainly be sharing with the financial community once we take decisions on how to proceed, but we will act as prudent as we can in terms of the refinancing of that facility. So we will be working on that diligently. That's something that most likely will happen at some point this year, but certainly, provided that the market is at favorable levels.

Thank you, Alberto. There are no further questions at this time. And with that, we conclude today's event. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating. Please feel free to contact us if you have any follow-up questions or comments. This does conclude today's earnings webcast. Have a good day.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Webcast. I am Denise Reyes, Nemak's Investor Relations Officer, and I am pleased to host today's call along with Armando Tamez, Nemak's CEO; and Alberto Sada, CFO, who are here this morning to discuss the company's business performance and answer any questions that you may have. As a reminder, today's event is being recorded and will be available on the company's Investor Relations website.

Armando Tamez, our CEO, will lead off today's call by providing an overview of business and financial highlights for 2025 and the company's outlook for 2026. Alberto Sada, our CFO, will then discuss our financial results in more detail. Afterwards, we will open for a Q&A session, which participants may join live or submit written questions using the Q&A function.

Before we get started, let me remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nemak undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

I will now turn the call over to Armando Tamez.

Thank you, Denise. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Webcast. I will begin with an overview of our 2025 results and strategy execution before moving on to our 2026 guidance. Throughout 2025, Nemak remained focused on strategic and financial objectives, demonstrating resilience amid an increasingly complex trade environment. Supported by a solid commercial position, the company successfully navigated shifting external conditions while continuing to advance financial priorities. Given the slower pace of electrification, Nemak leveraged opportunities in the ICE powertrain segment while also maintaining a steady progress in the e-mobility, structure and chassis application segment, ensuring a balanced and adaptable market position.

Full year EBITDA was within our guidance range at $591 million, reflecting the company's continued focus on operational discipline and profitability. The top line remained stable at $4.9 billion, supported by resilient customer demand despite the changes in the global trade landscape. Continued efforts to enhance operational efficiency contribute to generating positive cash flow and reducing our debt by $130 million year-over-year. A key highlight of 2025 was the announcement of the agreement to acquire Georg Fischer Casting Solutions. This acquisition is a milestone and represents a significant step forward in strengthening Nemak's long-term strategic position.

The business brings highly complementary capabilities in lightweighting, enhances our skills in high-pressure die casting and expands our offering of complex aluminum and magnesium components for the e-mobility structure and chassis application segment. In addition, the acquisition broadens our global footprint and customer reach, particularly by providing meaningful access to leading Chinese manufacturers. Building on this strategic step, in February 2026, the acquisition received full regulatory approval and closed successfully. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all GF Casting Solutions employees joining Nemak.

We're excited to bring together two highly talented and complementary teams. With the transaction now completed, we are fully focused on executing a disciplined integration plan, which is essential to realizing the full value of this acquisition. Effective integration will allow us to align operational processes, capture cost synergies, accelerate technology sharing and ensure continuity and service excellence for our global customers. By combining the strengths of the two organizations, we are positioned to unlock meaningful operational, commercial and innovation opportunities in the years ahead. Another important remark for the year is the successful ramp-up of production at our new facility in the Czech Republic, dedicated to e-mobility components.

This plant incorporates advanced joining and assembly technologies and is now manufacturing highly complex engineering components that support our customers' electrification programs. This achievement underscores our ability to adapt to evolving market needs, strengthen our global footprint and expand our advanced manufacturing capabilities. In 2025, we secured $440 million in annual revenue from awarded business across our global operations, of which 85% corresponded to ICE powertrain programs and 15% to e-mobility, Structure & Chassis applications. The significant amount of ICE business awarded underscores the extended life cycle of this segment while still capturing opportunities in e-mobility and Structure & Chassis components.

Importantly, most of these programs will utilize existing assets, reinforcing our disciplined approach to capital allocation and helping drive a meaningful reduction in CapEx. In parallel, we are pursuing a robust pipeline of approximately $1.9 billion in new business, positioning ourselves to capture future growth opportunities across our key segments. We remain firmly committed to delivering competitive and cost-effective solutions to our customers, reinforcing our focus on operational excellence and long-term value creation. Moving on to innovation. Throughout the year, we continued to build on our technological capabilities, advancing key initiatives to enhance process efficiency and expand our technical toolkit.

Across our operations, we made meaningful progress in improving the high-pressure die casting process, implementing efficiency and cost optimization measures and scaling these improvements across additional facilities to broaden their impact. We also enhanced our real-time job floor information system, adding an AI-powered layer designed to transform complex operation data into actionable insights. This reflects our ongoing commitment to leverage advanced technologies to strengthen process control and improve our competitive position. Moving on to sustainability. I am pleased to share that Nemak achieved an A- rating from the Carbon Disclosure Project for the second consecutive year, once again, placing us within the leadership band, which is the highest tier of CDP's scoring system.

This recognition reflects the company's strong environmental governance, our comprehensive science-based actions to reduce emissions and our commitment to transparent climate disclosure. We are proud to see our efforts consistently recognized at this level. Once again, we pledge our long-term dedication to responsible operations and climate stewardship. In addition to progress on climate initiatives, Nemak was again recognized for its commitment to people and workplace excellence, earning top employer certification in Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Poland and the United States. Notably, Nemak ranked in the top 5 certified companies in Brazil. This distinction reflects the strength of our people-focused practices, including talent development, organizational culture and employee well-being.

Achievements such as these underscore the importance we place on creating an environment in which our teams can grow, innovate and contribute to long-term value creation. We recognize the key role our employees play in advancing the company's strategy. And despite our high marks, we continually seek to improve.

This concludes my initial remarks. Thank you for your attention. I will now hand the call over to Alberto.

Thank you, Armando, and good morning, everyone. I will begin with an overview of Nemak's business performance for the full year and fourth quarter of 2025, followed by a summary of industry developments and financial results.

During 2025, we continue to prioritize free cash flow generation through sustainable margin improvements and disciplined capital allocation. On the results front, both the fourth quarter and the full year 2025 had a high comparison base versus the same periods of last year due to customers' onetime compensation. During the year, we saw stable industry performance across our main markets as global light vehicle sales increased 3% to 91.7 million vehicles, while light vehicle production increased 4% to 92.9 million units.

From a regional perspective, during the fourth quarter, the seasonally adjusted annual rate for light vehicle sales in the U.S. was 15.7 million units, 5% lower than last year, mainly due to the rollback of the EV tax credits. For the full year 2025, this metric increased 2% to 16.4 million units as consumers continued showing resilience amidst affordability concerns, partially offset by OEM incentives. Light vehicle production in North America during the fourth quarter decreased 2% year-over-year to 3.6 million units amid cautious production schedules and certain supply chain disruptions with inventories stable at 46 days of sales. For the full year 2025, production was 15.2 million units, 1% below the 15.5 million units in 2024 due to the same factors.

In Europe, light vehicle seasonally adjusted annualized sales increased 7% in the fourth quarter to 17.4 million units due mainly to increased imports and higher sales of entry-level vehicles, supported by stable macroeconomic conditions. For the full year, light vehicle sales were 16.4 million units, up 2% year-over-year, driven by similar dynamics. During the fourth quarter, light vehicle production in the region decreased 2% year-over-year to 3.8 million units, due mainly to reduced export demand as well as supply chain constraints, particularly microchip shortages. For the full year 2025, light vehicle production totaled 15.4 million units, 2% lower than last year due to the same factors.

In China, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of light vehicle sales declined 4% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to 27.2 million units, due mainly to the expiration of local government incentives. For the full year, light vehicle sales in China were 27.1 million units, 6% up compared to the previous year. This is attributed to intense competition among local OEMs and government trading incentives as well as export activity. In terms of light vehicle production, China posted 1% and 10% year-over-year increases for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, respectively, amounting to 9.6 million and 32.7 million units, driven by domestic and export demand.

In Brazil, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of light vehicle sales for the fourth quarter and full year 2025 was 2.9 million and 2.6 million units, respectively, reflecting a steady growth in the quarter and a 3% year-over-year increase for 2025 on resilient consumer behavior. South America's light vehicle production experienced a 4% decrease year-over-year in the fourth quarter of '25, amounting to 0.8 million units due to calendar effects. On a full year basis, light vehicle production in the region increased 2% year-over-year to 3.0 million units due mainly to stable local demand and higher exports.

Turning to our financials. Volume increased 2% and decreased 3% compared to the fourth quarter and full year 2024, totaling 9.2 million and 38.4 million equivalent units, respectively. This was due mainly to customer inventory management strategies due to geopolitical pressures and the declining e-mobility adoption rates among our customers during the year. Despite this, full year volume exceeded the high end of our guidance of 37 million units. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 totaled $1.2 billion, 1% higher than during the same period of 2024 due to higher volume and higher aluminum prices. For the full year, revenue was $4.9 billion, stable year-over-year.

Lower volume was partially offset by higher aluminum prices, the carryover effect from repricing achieved in previous years as well as favorable effect from the euro appreciation. During 2025, we continue to navigate alongside our customers, the transition between ICE and electric powertrains, relying in our talent, footprint and technology, which enable us to deliver solutions independently of the propulsion system of the vehicle. Our electric mobility, structure and chassis applications segment accounted for 9% of our total revenue, highlighting our ability to adapt across different electrification scenarios.

EBITDA for the fourth quarter and full year 2025 decreased 25% and 7% year-over-year, totaling $117 million and $591 million, respectively. This reduction was related to extraordinary launching expenses and currency effects in North America in addition to high comparison effect from commercial negotiations recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. In turn, EBITDA per equivalent unit for the fourth quarter and full year were $12.8 and $15.4, respectively, down 26% and 4% year-over-year, respectively. During the fourth quarter, we recorded impairments and reorganization expenses for $85 million related to footprint optimization initiatives. This included the write-off of assets in our facilities in Monclova, Mexico and most in the Czech Republic, where we are ramping down and ceasing operations and we relocate production to nearby facilities, respectively. This amount compares against $83 million in 2024.

All this said, during the fourth quarter, the company recorded a $56 million operating loss compared to $39 million loss in the same period of last year related to the aforementioned impairments and reorganization expenses. For the full year, operating income was $97 million, which compares to $145 million in 2024 due to the same factors. During the quarter, Nemak reported a net loss of $100 million compared to a $51 million loss in the same period of the previous year. Net result for the year was a $116 million loss compared to a $25 million profit in 2024, mainly due to the combination of the aforementioned impairments and foreign exchange losses mainly related to the effect on our liabilities of the appreciation of the euro against the dollar.

Excluding these noncash effects of impairments and foreign exchange losses, the net result for the full year would have been a $75 million profit. Turning to our financial position. Our net debt at the end of the quarter was $1.4 billion, a sequential improvement of $190 million and 9% lower year-over-year. Cash flow generation during the quarter was strong, driven by extraordinary favorable seasonal net working capital dynamics. Our cash balance as of the end of December was $516 million. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2.4x, stable versus 2.4x in the previous year. In turn, the interest coverage ratio improved to 5.5x from 4.9x at the end of the same period of last year. Capital expenditures in the fourth quarter and full year 2025 were $99 million and $306 million, respectively, a 9% and 21% reduction compared to the same period of 2024. We remain committed to streamlining our capital investments.

Moving to our regional results during the quarter. In North America, revenues declined 1% year-over-year to $653 million due to high comparison base associated with onetime commercial negotiations in the fourth quarter of '24. EBITDA was $43 million compared to $121 million in the same quarter of last year. The year-over-year reduction reflects extraordinary operating expenses of approximately $30 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, primarily related to production ramp-ups and the appreciation of the Mexican peso, combined with the high comparison base from onetime commercial negotiations recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. In Europe, revenue increased 5% year-over-year to $410 million despite lower volume due to the translation effect of the appreciation of the euro. In turn, EBITDA in this region was $55 million compared to $19 million in the prior year, reflecting improved operating efficiencies and a favorable currency translation effect.

Revenue in the rest of the world was $160 million, up 2% compared to the fourth quarter of '24, due mainly to favorable volume and product mix. EBITDA in this region increased to $20 million, benefiting from the same factors. Related to capital allocation, during 2025, we repurchased around 68 million shares. And by the end of December of 2025, the shares held in treasury represents approximately 6.8% of our total outstanding shares. We will propose the cancellation of these shares in an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, whose date we will announce in due time. As a reminder, our Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 4. We kindly invite you as shareholders and to ensure your shares are represented. For any questions or inquiries, please contact our Investor Relations department. As recently announced, we successfully closed the acquisition of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions automotive business for an enterprise value of $336 million on a cash-free and debt-free basis.

The upfront closing payment amounted to $216 million funded with existing cash. This reflects the agreed base purchase price, the inclusion of $113 million of cash at closing and customary adjustments, including the assumption of $44 million of financial liabilities. The remaining consideration consists of holdbacks and a portion of vendor financing to be paid over a 5-year term. We are very pleased with the successful completion of this transaction, which strengthens our strategic positioning, expands our technological capabilities and enhances our overall business profile. We will start consolidating Georg Fischer Casting Solutions operations effective February 1, 2026.

As our product portfolio has significantly evolved over the years from primarily cylinder heads in the 1990s to a broader range of products, including engine blocks, transmission components, structural parts, battery housing assemblies and now even additional materials such as magnesium and other alloys through the integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions, the relevance and comparability of our historical equivalent volume metric has diminished. Given the increasing diversity of products and materials, calculating a meaningful head equivalent measure has become less representative of our business. Accordingly, starting this year, we will discontinue reporting equivalent volume and instead provide further visibility into our revenue by segment. Our financial guidance will focus on revenue, EBITDA and capital expenditures, which we believe better reflect the performance and strategic direction of the company.

In summary, during 2025, we continued executing our disciplined financial agenda, reducing net debt, streamlining capital investments and strengthening free cash flow generation. With the integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions, we are reinforcing our competitive position and advancing our ability to create sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders. This concludes my remarks. I will now turn the call over to Armando.

Thank you, Alberto. I will now provide an update on our outlook for this year. We expect to see a resilient industry environment with stable volumes across our main regions. Trade dynamics will continue to play a relevant role throughout the year; however, we are well prepared to face these developments as we will continue to rely on our solid commercial foundation, prudent financial decisions and close communication and collaboration with our long-standing customers. Effective consolidation of GF Casting Solutions began in February, and it is incorporated accordingly in our full year guidance.

This integration strengthens our portfolio and further positions us to meet customer needs across regions. Nemak will maintain a selective and strategically focused investment approach, consistent with our capital allocation priorities. In parallel, the incorporation of GF Casting Solutions will require additional capital to advance the completion of a new manufacturing facility in the United States. Given these considerations, I would like to announce our guidance range for 2026. Revenue in the range of $5.3 billion to $5.5 billion, EBITDA in the range of $630 million to $650 million and CapEx ranging from $385 million to $395 million. As we close, I would like to briefly address the leadership transition announced earlier this year. After 42 years at Nemak, including 13 years serving as CEO, I will be concluding my tenure in this role by the end of March.

This planned succession reflects our commitment to long-term value creation and strategic execution, and I am confident that Nemak is well positioned for the road ahead. The Board has appointed Herve Boyer as CEO effective April 1, 2026. Herve brings extensive global experience in the automotive industry, and I am certain he will provide strong leadership as Nemak enters its next chapter. I want to express my appreciation to our entire team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, financial analysts and all the stakeholders for the trust and partnership throughout my tenure.

It has been a privilege to work together to advance Nemak's strategic priorities and strengthen our position in the industry. My passion for the automotive industry remains strong, and I look forward to watching Nemak thrive. With that, we conclude our presentation and would now like to turn the call over to Denise to open the Q&A session.

Thank you, Armando. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A portion of the event. [Operator Instructions]

The first question is from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank.

Armando, first of all, congratulations for all these years in Nemak. We will be missed without any question, but a great job in very challenging times that have apparently will continue. The first question that I have, I have 7 questions. I will not use my time with that many. I will have only a few. The first one is, if I understand correctly, you mentioned that you will not report volumes anymore. So this is something that -- is this correct? Because definitely, we need to have a metric on volume going forward to understand what's going on in the company. So I just want to clarify that point.

The second is if you can provide some color on what happened with the working capital in 2025 was very strong. So I just want to understand what drove that. Apparently, part of that was working capital. And what is your expectations for the first half of the year, maybe? And finally, any comment on the [ USMCA ] renegotiation outlook? This is very important, as you know, in July, we have to come up to see if there is any conclusion of this process. It's going to start. But what is your view on how this could drive the North American business unit of Nemak if there is no -- especially if there is no agreement. And with that, I will stop for now my questions.

Thank you, Alfonso, for your kind words. Related to volumes, one of the things, and this has to do a lot with the recent acquisition of GF Casting Solutions. As we have mentioned before, the company -- the acquired company is producing a lot of different components that are, for instance, even in different materials, including aluminum, magnesium and iron. And it was very, very difficult to homologate to the current, let's say, parts that we are making. So for that reason, we are deciding to only report volumes -- I'm sorry, revenues, EBITDA and CapEx going forward. We tried several exercises, but it was almost impossible to really homologate what we are doing today.

Yes. And Alfonso, this is Alberto. Related to your second question on working capital, certainly, we had a very favorable closing of the year on the working capital accounts. And as you know, I mean, as a company, we always are looking for ways how to optimize our cash needs. In this particular end of the quarter, we had extraordinary benefits on the working capital side that would revert most likely on the first quarter. So around the entire, let's say, turnaround of working capital, which normally on a seasonal basis is lower in the end of the year, about $60 million would be most likely reversed on the first quarter of 2026.

So it's -- part of it is temporary and other part is part of our push towards improving improvements in working capital. And then related to your third question on USMCA, we'll have to see how everything evolves. I think it's also important to highlight that our products are all compliant. Everything that we do in Mexico that gets exported to the U.S. either directly or indirectly is fully compliant with USMCA rules. So I mean, so long as everything stays the same, we shouldn't see any impact in the development of our business in North America.

Yes, we're close to the administration to make sure that everything is correctly incorporated into the negotiations.

That's very clear. But yes, the volume thing, we need to talk later about it because we really need to have some metric to work with.

For sure, Alfonso, but as Armando highlighted, it becomes very difficult to give a head equivalent measure. In the past, one or two products was fine, but now with multiple products with multiple value adds the weight relationship doesn't have any more a correlation with the revenue. But we'll give a little bit more color on different segments on the revenue side. So I hope that, that can help better on your models going forward.

The next question is Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

I also have three questions on my side. So please bear with me. The first one of the $85 million in charges in the quarter, right, if you could walk us through how much of this is recurring and if you expect these markdowns to continue in the coming quarters or years. This has been impacting results in the last 3 years or so, as you know. So just wanted to understand where we are in this process of reassessing assets. And the second question, on gross margins. Fourth quarter is historically softer given seasonality and there was no commercial negotiations or tailwinds in this quarter.

So should we assume the last two quarters of gross margin at around 9% is somewhat the new normal for Nemak post these one-offs? Or do you see recovering back to the 11% level in the next quarters or so? And if that is the case, how come? And the third one -- last one as well on CapEx full year came in slightly above the guidance range. So if you could shed some light on this as well, please?

Yes. Thanks, Jonathan, for the questions. Related to the first one on the impairments and extraordinary charges that we registered this year, these are fully aligned with the need to realign and reallocate capacity where we have -- volumes where we have capacity. So based on that, we had to take certain footprint decisions to optimize our operation. And therefore, we had to write off a few of those capital assets on our books. We do that all the time. We had a similar figure last year where we had to write off certain of our EV assets. In this case, there was other ones.

And yes, going forward, as of now, I mean, we see smaller figures, but we will have obviously to assess how everything develops. And yes, based on how some of the volumes move on, we will see if there is a need to do something else on the right side or not. But for now, I think most of it was done for now. Related to your second question on margins, yes, as you correctly point out, last year, particularly in the fourth quarter, it was heavily influenced by one-offs commercial claims that we closed with certain customers. So meaning 2024. In 2025, there was less activity on that front as of the closing.

So at the end, the EBITDA margins that we're expecting should fall between the 12% range going forward on average based on revenue. And that essentially takes care, yes, all the combined effects that we see going forward. On one side, we saw that there were extraordinary expenses this last quarter related to special costs that we had in our operations in North America. But also there are things that may have both positive and negative effects related to how the evolution of the exchange rate happens as well as on the mix effects. So I think on an EBITDA basis, around between 11.5% to 12.5% would be what we would expect for the year.

And last on the CapEx guidance. On the CapEx side, it is certainly calendarization effect. It's hard really to put it down to the last million. I think at the end, we closed pretty much within the guidance, plus/minus a few millions. So if we are a little bit higher, a little bit lower, most of it has to do with calendarization of the CapEx.

We will proceed with the next question from Andres Cardona from Citi.

Regarding the EBITDA CapEx, could you give us a sense of how much of the EBITDA is coming from the recently closed acquisition, so we can have also a picture of the legacy business.

So your question, Andres, is on the CapEx for guidance?

No, EBITDA, the EBITDA, like how much of the EBITDA is coming from the new business and how much is coming from the legacy business?

Well, yes, I mean, we will certainly give you a little bit more color around how everything evolves in 2026. As indicated, it's both the EBITDA from Nemak and 11 months of Georg Fischer. So at this point, we're not breaking down the EBITDA on, let's say, on the both effects. We'll certainly be sharing a little bit more color about that on a regional basis as we move along the year. But you can easily make probably a little bit of calculations based on what we performed last year, perhaps a little bit less of associated claims and then everything on top of the number that we're giving is associated with Georg Fischer.

The next question is from Alejandro Azar from GBM.

Alberto, Armando, before my questions, just to add my congratulations to Armando on an outstanding 42-year run at the company, wishing you the best in your next ventures, Armando. Now switching to my questions, and I have 3. The first is a follow-up on working capital, Alberto. How much of the benefit is structural and sustainable versus timing related and potentially reversing in 2026? That would be the first one. The second one is on GF Casting Solutions integration. If in your guidance, you are accounting for synergies you already noticed. And if not, if you can share with us the top 2, 3 levers that we should see?

And how should we expect synergies to show up in EBITDA maybe in 2026 or perhaps 2027? And my last one is on AI and automation. If you can share a bit more color on where are you most advanced on these topics across your footprint? And if you are seeing meaningful productivity or cost benefits yet? Any examples would be really helpful, guys.

I'll take the first question, Alex, related to working capital. As we have seen in previous years, there is seasonality on how working capital moves up and down. And what we see normally at the end of the year is the reflection of, let's say, reduced activity at our customer plants as they stop for holidays and they do scheduled maintenance and the like. So a portion of that seasonality picks up again in the first quarter. So we will see a reversal as we have seen in previous years.

And on top of that, we will see about $60 million of additional, let's say, of those extraordinary elements that we saw in December reversing most likely in the first quarter. So on a, let's say, seasonal basis, we see a recovery of working capital. And then part of that -- or let's say, on top of that, we will see a little bit of the one-offs that we saw in December coming back.

So for the full 2026, you expect to require additional amounts of working capital?

For the full ' 26, at least the $60 million that we saw on an extraordinary basis, unless there is any extraordinary happening at the end of -- or, let's say, during the year, we will see, yes, at least $60 million, let's say, benefit that we saw this year.

Yes. Thank you, Alex, for your nice words. I appreciate it. Related to the GF integration and synergies, this is a very important point for us, Alex. We retained a firm that has been helping us in the past, in the major acquisitions that we have made to really focus in a very dedicated team and plan to get the best integration possible. We are true believers that integration of acquired companies is key. We already, for instance, contracted this or hired this external adviser with a lot of experience not only in the industry, but also with Nemak. And we already started actually since last year, to plan ahead what were the main, for instance, potential synergies.

We visited all the GF Casting Solutions plants that they have in Europe as well as in China and the facility that is under construction and planning to be launched this summer in the U.S. And certainly, that has a cost, but also we are expecting in the midterm to reach synergies in the range of about $30 million to $40 million. We are fully committed. The company is fully committed to achieve those synergies. Of course, it will take some time. The main drivers for those synergies are related to sharing best practice and improving productivity, also best practices and sharing on the commercial front, how we can, for instance, get better pricing with some customers as well as better contracts as well as CapEx avoidance, which I think is very important in this industry, especially to, again, better use existing capacity.

So those are some of the areas, Alex, that we are targeting. Of course, there will be some additional synergies. And if we find any redundancies, certainly, we would try to become leaner. So you will see, again, in the midterm, or expected, for instance, synergies, as I indicated, in the range of $30 million to $40 million that will be added value, in addition to getting, for instance, a relationship with very important Chinese OEMs and improving also our market position. So those are -- related to your last question in the AI, and this is an area that Nemak has devoted a lot of technical resources, and we're making very good inroads and very solid progress in terms of using, for instance, AI. We have invested heavily over the last probably 14 years in our company in installing a monitoring system in which we have a real-time data that it is available.

We can, for instance, get every single facility, every single product line with real-time information of the products that we're making. That has been helping us a lot because we have a lot of different parameters that we need to control. And certainly, that has helped us in terms of getting better, for instance, quality, getting better productivity and so on. And with the help of the artificial intelligence, now what we are doing is in some of the plants, we are using these techniques and facilities to help us predict potential issues that we may have in the operations. And that has been already deployed in some of our facilities in Europe as well as North America.

And certainly, we are planning to install similar approach in our facilities in China as well as the new facilities that we are acquiring from Georg Fischer. So those are some of the areas that we are taking advantage. This is on the operational side. In addition to that, of course, on the administrative side, we are using AI to help us again get some of the operations that we are normally doing in a much faster way. And certainly, that is helping us to reduce cost and optimize resources.

If I may go back, Armando, the $30 million to $40 million in synergies, do you think it's better to think that as free cash flow given you talked about CapEx?

I think it's a combination of both CapEx avoidance as well as, for instance, also improving our productivity, improving our cost position, improve our commercial front. So it will be a combination of both increasing EBITDA in the midterm as well as reducing CapEx.

Thank you, Alex, and thank you, Armando. We will move on to the written questions. We have one question from [ Pablo Dominguez from ION Group. ]

The question reads, how -- does the 2026 CapEx guidance include the upfront payment of the GF acquisition? Also, does it include the additional CapEx needed for GF U.S. plant under construction? And if not, how much CapEx will the plant require during 2026?

Yes. The CapEx guidance for 2026, it's only associated with the capital expenditures of both the Nemak legacy business and Georg Fischer. So it includes the investments that Georg Fischer has for the new -- or let's say, the old Georg Fischer has for the new facility in the U.S. in Augusta. And the payment for the acquisition is not included in the CapEx guidance.

Thank you, Alberto. We received another live question from [ Isaac Gonzalez from GBM. ]

I have a last question. I'd like to ask you by taking out volumes on the revenue, are you willing to open by segment or by EV/SC and ICE? Is it possible?

Yes, [ Isaac, ] thanks for the question. And as I highlighted before, I think in order for everyone to get a little bit more granularity on how the business develops, we'll share the revenue on a per segment basis. So I think that will help see how the business is evolving. With the cooperation of Georg Fischer, that segment grows significantly. So you'll start seeing some of the -- yes, how the revenue develops both on the legacy as well as on the new segments.

The next question is from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank.

Yes. Just a follow-up. Well, one, this is more than a question, a request. Years ago, Nemak had a very interesting guidance on how the breakdown of future sales between legacy business ICE and EV markets will unfold over time. It was very helpful. I mean it was very important for us to understand. In the end, the situation -- the market situation was very different to what you were expecting, what we all were expecting.

But it would be a great way to understand, especially with the integration of GF Casting to see or to have some sense on where is Nemak going from here and what are your expectations regarding future growth, both in the legacy and new business lines. So that is more than a question -- a request that would be very interesting to see. The second -- the question is only regarding dividends. We see buybacks, but any comments on when dividends would be back?

Thanks for the question, Alfonso. I think in the past, certainly, we were informing on a quarterly basis, for instance, how our EV and structural, components portfolio was growing. I think we will need to recalculate based on certain volume reductions that we have seen in different regions of the world. As I indicated, we are seeing a significant higher appetite in the industry overall for ICEs. So I think we will need to recalculate and also add I think 80% of revenues that are coming with the acquisition of GF are for the new products or the EV and structural components. So only 20% is in the powertrain. So I think the team, certainly, we will be able to recalculate and provide certain guidance on the two main components that the company is making. So certainly, we will share that.

That will be fantastic, really helpful. And any comment on the dividend?

Yes. I think the company certainly before the pandemic was giving a substantial amount of money in terms of dividends. Now I think the entire Board and the management team have been a little bit more prudent in terms of, again, first, looking how we can reduce our leverage. And then, of course, once the company is in a more reasonable leverage, which is below 2x net debt divided by EBITDA, I think the company will be in a position. And certainly, in our projections, we are looking that the company will be able to generate enough free cash flow to reduce our debt as well as pay dividends, but not this year.

The next question is from [ Hinden Barredo ] from PGIM Group.

Just two quick ones for me. Can you remind us what the -- how much the closing payment is for the GF acquisition? And also, are you planning on issuing possibly new debt for the new manufacturing plant? Or are you just thinking about generating that with internal cash flows?

Yes, just to remind us, it was highlighted before, the payment that we did for Georg Fischer was $216 million, a little bit higher than what we had said before because we acquired the company with cash on their balance sheet and acquired a little bit of loans that they had on their balance sheet.

And then on your second question, can you just repeat that, please?

And the second question is for the new manufacturing plant in the U.S., are you planning on maybe issuing new debt for that? Or are you just going to fund that with internal cash...

Yes. No, good question. With the CapEx that we have on our guidance, we should be able to cover that with our own cash and generation of the company. So no, we will not issue any substantial debt other than just maybe some liability management here and there.

We will move on to another written question that we have from [indiscernible]. Hello, everyone. What is the expected free cash flow in 2026? And with a market value of less than $600 million, are you expecting to ramp up on buybacks?

Yes. Well, thanks for the question, Diego. We don't give any guidance on the free cash flow for the year. We expect it obviously to be positive. And for that reason, we'll continue with our share buyback in the same way that we did in 2025. We'll present that on our next general assembly for approval, but it will be consistent with what we have done in the past.

Thank you, Alberto. There are no further questions at this time. And with that, we conclude today's event. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating. Please feel free to contact us if you have any follow-up questions or comments. This does conclude today's earnings webcast. Have a good day.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Webcast. I am Denise Reyes, Nemak's Investor Relations Officer, and I am pleased to host today's call along with Armando Tamez, Nemak's CEO; and Alberto Sada, CFO, who are here this morning to discuss the company's business performance and answer any questions that you may have.

As a reminder, today's event is being recorded and will be available on the company's Investor Relations website. Armando Tamez, our CEO, will lead off today's call by providing an overview of business and financial highlights for the quarter. Alberto Sada, our CFO, will then discuss our financial results in more detail. Afterwards, we'll open for a Q&A session, which participants may join live or submit written questions via the Q&A function.

Before we get started, let me remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's future financial performance and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nemak undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

I will now turn the call over to Armando Tamez.

Thank you, Denise. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Nemak's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Webcast. This quarter, our top line remained stable compared to the same period of last year, supported by the continued resilience of the automotive industry. EBITDA declined 15% year-over-year, ending the quarter at $143 million. This change is primarily explained by a high comparison basis in the same quarter of last year when we benefited from one-time commercial adjustments as well as the typical seasonality of the third quarter, when summer shutdowns and major maintenance activity take place.

While these dynamics were particular to this quarter, for the full year, we expect to achieve the high end of our EBITDA guidance, at $600 million with capital expenditures totaling $290 million. Our focus remains firmly on executing our strategic priorities and positioning the company for long-term value creation. In line with this commitment, we recently announced the agreement to acquire the Georg Fischer Casting Solutions' automotive business, a milestone that will mark an important step forward in strengthening Nemak's capabilities and a significant advancement in our strategic journey.

Georg Fischer is an outstanding player in the industry and its capabilities are expected to be highly complementary to Nemak. This transaction is well aligned with our strategic focus and technical strengths in lightweighting. It will enhance our business profile and be accretive from both a commercial and operational standpoint. It will also expand our innovation platform and extend our reach in R&D, particularly in high-pressure die casting technology.

Additionally, we will be able to broaden our product offering, particularly in high complex aluminum and magnesium parts for the e-mobility, structure and chassis application segment, which continues to offer ample potential for future growth.

From a geographic perspective, the integration of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions will increase our footprint in Europe and China. The transaction perimeter includes: 2 manufacturing plants in Austria, 2 in Romania, a tool shop in Germany, an R&D center in Switzerland, 3 plants and a tooling shop in China and 1 facility currently under construction in the United States. This new plant will be dedicated to highly engineered structural components, and it is expected to begin operations during the second half of 2026.

In addition to footprint diversification, this transaction will provide a valuable entry point to serve important Chinese OEMs, including BYD, Denza, Geely, Hongqi, Li Auto, Nio, Xpeng and Zeekr among others. Beyond the opportunities with new Chinese customers, this acquisition will also positively impact business with our existing Western customers. This includes Audi, BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Stellantis, Volkswagen and Volvo, among others, reinforcing our commitment to serve a diverse and globally-recognized customer base.

As part of this transition process, we're eager to welcome a highly skilled and experienced management team, along with a dedicated workforce of approximately 2,500 employees. We look forward to the integration phase ahead and the opportunity to combine the strengths of 2 competitive and complementary cultures. The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals across the various regions involved. While we expect to close by the end of the year, the timeline continues to follow the procedures established by the respective regulatory bodies.

Moving on to commercial activity. During 2025, we have secured $250 million in awarded business across all our regions, 80% in the ICE powertrain segment and the remainder in the e-mobility, structure and chassis applications segment. These new programs will mostly reuse existing assets, deploying capital efficiently while continuing to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions to our customers.

The new contracts also highlight the ongoing relevance of the ICE powertrain segment, whose lifecycle has been extended due to the current electric vehicle adoption trends. In line with this, we have also experienced robust demand for V8 and I-6 engines in North America.

In other recent developments, I am proud to share that 4 of the 10 vehicles recognized in the 2025 Wards Auto Best Engines & Propulsion Systems include components manufactured by Nemak. This recognition reflects the trust that leading OEMs place in our technology as well as our ongoing contribution to efficient, high-performance propulsion systems. Notably, this year, hybrid powertrains dominated the list, underscoring the growing relevance of electrified solutions.

Moving on to innovation. The integration of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly essential to our efforts in this area. At Nemak, we are successfully embedding AI into our business practices to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. A clear example of this is the evolution of our patented NORIS system, which stands for Nemak Online Realtime Information System. This system has been running successfully for over a decade as [indiscernible] information system.

Recently, we introduced NORIS GPT, a new AI-powered layer that significantly enhance the system capabilities. Our manufacturing processes involve managing a wide array of variables and parameters. NORIS GPT enable us to quickly turn data into actionable insights, combining this enhanced information with domain expertise to deliver real business outcomes. This advancement reflects our ongoing commitment to innovation and our ability to leverage cutting-edge technologies to heighten our competitive position.

Turning to our sustainability agenda. We continue to make meaningful progress in advancing responsible practices across our operations. Our commitment to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative remains strong. And this quarter, we achieved 2 additional certifications under the performance standard at sites in Europe.

In addition, our melting center in Mexico was certified under the Chain of Custody Standard. This is a key milestone in producing certified alloys for our casting facilities in the country. These milestones demonstrate our continuous commitment to integrating sustainability across our value chain. Moving forward, we plan to have the majority of our sites certified in the near future.

This concludes my remarks. Thank you for your attention. I will now hand the call over to Alberto.

Thank you, Armando. Good morning, everyone. I will begin with an industry overview of the regions where we operate, followed by a discussion of our consolidated and regional financial results for the third quarter of '25.

During the third quarter, the top line remained stable at $1.2 billion, on the back of sustained pricing and a favorable product mix. EBITDA decreased by 15% due to the effect from commercial negotiations in the third quarter of 2024, which elevated the comparison basis and extraordinary expenses during the period. During the quarter, we generated positive free cash flow on the back of operating results and a prudent approach to capital expenditures. In turn, this allowed us to maintain our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio at 2.5x.

Turning to the automotive industry. During the third quarter, light vehicle sales in the United States showed a 5% year-over-year increase on a SAAR basis to 16.4 million units. This was mainly due to a pull-ahead effect prior to the phase out of the Inflation Reduction Act EV incentives and tariff potential impacts.

Light vehicle production grew 3% year-over-year to 3.9 million units, driven by sustained demand. On a SAAR basis, light vehicle sales in Europe grew 2% year-over-year to 15.7 million units. OEMs continue to introduce less expensive trims, therefore, improving affordability. Light vehicle production in the region remain at 3.4 million units, similar to the same period of last year.

In China, light vehicle sales on a SAAR basis increased 7% year-over-year to 28.6 million units, propelled by trade-in programs and government incentives. Light vehicle production increased 2% year-over-year to 7.4 million units, driven by stable domestic sales. In Brazil, light vehicle sales decreased 1% year-over-year and production increased by 3%, driven by export activity.

Moving to Nemak's results. During the third quarter, Nemak's volume was 9.6 million equivalent units, in line with the same period of last year. Volume was driven by stronger production in North America and partially offset by lower production in Europe.

Revenue was $1.23 billion, stable when compared to the same period of last year as updated pricing and the appreciation of the euro offset the absence of the one-off effect from commercial negotiations in '24. During the quarter, EBITDA was $143 million, a 15% decline year-over-year. This was due to the lack of commercial negotiations versus the same period of last year and launching expenses associated with the ramp-up of volumes and mix changes in certain platforms. In turn, the unitary EBITDA margin was $15 per equivalent unit.

Operating income decreased to $26 million from $73 million in the same period of last year. The decline was mainly attributable to lower EBITDA and impairment charges of $17 million related to non-operating assets, primarily in North America. Net income increased to $25 million from $5 million in the same period of last year, reflecting lower net financing expenses and a favorable tax effect from foreign exchange movements, particularly the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar, which more than compensated for lower operating income.

The combined effect of disciplined execution and reduced financial expenses and capital expenditures allowed us to generate during the quarter, a free cash flow of $18 million. This is aligned with the business seasonality and our expectations for the year, and places us in a good position to continue reducing our leverage. In turn, by the end of September, net debt was $1.59 billion, $173 million lower than in the same period of last year.

This is a testament to our disciplined capital allocation and operating efficiency, which more than offset the foreign exchange impact on our balance sheet from euro-denominated liabilities. Looking forward, debt reduction remains a key priority. At quarter end, the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2.5x compared to 2.9x at the end of the third quarter of last year. Conversely, the interest coverage ratio was 4.9x compared to 5.0x in the same period of 2024.

Our cash position at the end of September was $328 million. Capital expenditures during the quarter totaled $70 million, 27% lower than the same period of last year, in line with our disciplined investment strategy that prioritizes projects with adequate profitability.

Moving on to the regional results. In North America, revenue rose 2% year-over-year to $651 million, supported by higher volumes. EBITDA decreased 14% to $67 million, mainly due to the absence of prior year commercial negotiations and additional costs associated with the volume ramp-up of specific platforms. In Europe, lower volume drove the 4% decline in revenue to $401 million. This decrease was partly offset by improved pricing and depreciation of the euro. In turn, EBITDA decreased by 26% to $50 million, mainly due to the lower volume and the absence of one-off customer payments following commercial negotiations on inflation compensations in 2024, which more than offset the benefit from the appreciation of the euro.

In the Rest of the World, revenue increased by 3% to $175 million as lower volume was more than offset by an improved product mix. EBITDA of $26 million was 11% higher, driven by performance and product mix improvements. In relation to the acquisition of Georg Fischer Casting Solutions' Automotive Business, the enterprise value is $336 million.

At closing, we will cover a payment of $160 million with existing cash. The remaining of the enterprise value is structured through a combination of holdbacks not related to performance, but subject to the absence of contingencies as well as a portion of assumed operating and financial liabilities. This portion of the transaction will be funded by a vendor-financing agreement.

Overall, we continue to focus on maintaining profitability even when facing a very dynamic landscape in the automotive industry. We believe the diversification and potential synergies of the Georg Fischer acquisition will lead us to strengthen our value proposition. In conjunction with our customary disciplined execution, we believe these measures will enhance our business profile, delivering value to our stakeholders as we continue to make strides in our commitment to deleverage and create sustainable value for the future.

I will now turn the call back over to Denise.

Thank you, Alberto. We are now ready to move on to the Q&A portion of the event.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from Jonathan Koutras from JPMorgan.

So, I have 2 questions on my side. The first one is on the recent developments on the supply chain side. There was the fire at the Novelis aluminum plant in New York last month, impacting Ford, which is an important client for Nemak. The question is, if you expect any impact or headwind in the fourth quarter volumes stemming from this aside from the typical seasonality?

And the second question, Alberto flagged on the $17 million impairment in non-operating assets in the quarter. So just wondering if this is still related to the recent investments on the EV side and if we should expect a similar impairment in terms of magnitude during the fourth quarter or not?

I will answer the first question related to the Novelis fire. Certainly, we have been in conversations with most of our customers that were, let's say, supplying metal sheet, aluminum metal sheet from Novelis. So far, we have not seen any volume reduction that has affected us. Actually, we continue with very strong volumes in North America. Our customers, in conversations with them, are telling us that they have other sources.

Novelis is a supplier of the Detroit 3 and other OEMs. They told us, in the conversations that we have had with them that they have other suppliers and that they are looking how to expedite also the rebuild of the facility that was affected by this fire in the New York state where the plant of Novelis was located. But so far, we have not seen any effect. We will monitor this very closely. And in the event that we see any type of volume reductions, certainly, we will take the necessary steps to align our cost structure.

And related to your second question, Jonathan, related to the impairments. Yes, as you correctly pointed out, these impairments are related to assets, most of them associated with projects on the EV side that have not been used to the extent possible. And going forward, I mean, we will continue reviewing our asset base to make sure that we have the right accounting for all the assets that are currently being used. And those that will have no use would certainly be written off as we negotiate with our customers for compensations in that case. We review that, I mean, all the time. So, we will report in due course if we have more impairments to do in the fourth quarter.

We have another question from Stefan Styk from Barclays.

This is Stefan from Barclays. I have a few, if you don't mind. First one is, can you quantify the specific EBITDA impact this quarter from last year's commercial negotiations that you didn't have this quarter?

Well, yes, as highlighted, last year, particularly the second half was heavily influenced with commercial negotiations. And as we discussed, I mean, those were very intense processes with our customers that we concluded along the year. So, part of that was reflected on the third quarter of last year. Unfortunately, we cannot provide specific numbers on the potential benefit from those claims as those were confidential negotiations with our customers.

But I can tell you, as indicated that -- yes, a portion of the difference between last year and this year is associated to that comparable that is favorably reflected on the third quarter of last year. We also experienced a little bit of additional costs in certain operations, particularly in North America, which also explains part of that difference.

Okay. On the acquisitions front, just curious how you're thinking about the EBITDA contribution on a run rate basis after you close? I think you disclosed historical EBITDA figure with the purchase memo. But should we expect it to be above or below this? And what sort of ramp-up period are you expecting for integration after closing?

Yes. Thank you, Stefan. As we have indicated already, we're in the process of getting all the necessary approvals by the different antitrust places. And once we get the full approval, which is expected to be at the end of this year, and this is what we are getting from our legal staff, once we have this -- let's say, complete approval on this acquisition, we will provide a guidance of the combined 2 companies, the Nemak and the new Georg Fischer acquisition. We expect to have that one, let's say, available to share during the first conference call that we will have scheduled for January.

Okay. And then if I could just sneak in one more. On the new business that you disclosed, the $250 million in annual revenue going forward, can you give a bit more color on the contract structure on the volumes there and the length of the contracts? And then that's all for me.

Yes. Approximately out of this $250 million worth of new business, 80% is related to extensions and new contracts or volume increases on the ICE or internal combustion engine platform. Those are very interesting contracts. And the interesting part is that we will use existing assets to produce these parts. And this is related, Stefan, to the change, especially here in North America related to the slowdown of the electric vehicle adoption. And some of our customers are increasing, let's say, production of big ICE and hybrid vehicles, and this is why we're getting additional volumes.

And as I indicated, the beauty of this is that most of that will be absorbed with existing assets without any additional CapEx. And in the contracts, certainly, we're signing an extension and also with the new pricing that will be beneficial for Nemak.

The next question is from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank. We'll move on with the next question. The next question is from Alejandro Azar from GBM.

I think I have 3 or 2 if I may. On the transaction with GF Castings, if you can give us a little bit more color on the contingencies, after you mentioned you are going to pay $160 million when the transaction closes and the rest over a 5-year period related to some contingencies. If you can give us more color on those related to what is?

And my second question is also on GF Castings. If you can -- if the contracts that you're acquiring from this company have similar terms to the ones that you have in Nemak, I mean, pass-through, et cetera?

And the third one would be, with this transaction, how does your capital allocation priorities change, thinking specifically on the refinancing or the maturing of the bond, if I'm not mistaken, that you have in 2028? And those are my 3 questions.

Let me respond to first question, Alex, related to the structure of the acquisition of Georg Fischer. As you correctly pointed out, and as I indicated before, we are due to pay $160 million upon closing, upon getting the approvals from the regulatory agencies. And after that, we have a combination of -- a structure, which is a combination of holdbacks, vendor financing and assumed liabilities from the operation.

So, it's a combination from all of those elements. I cannot disclose you all the elements because of confidentiality restrictions with the seller. But what I can tell you is that related to those contingencies, those are the type of elements that you normally have on an agreement, which have to do with unknown items or things that have not been adequately reflected on the structure or on the due diligence that may pop up in the future. So, I would say it's nothing different than what you would expect. And the structure certainly allows us to do an efficient execution of any contingency if they materialize.

And those contingencies have a 5-year, let's say, period?

Yes, what we have is 5 years. If any of the identified, let's say, conceptual contingencies materialize in the 5 years, we will deduct part of that from the pending payment. If they do not materialize, we'll pay them back to the seller.

Related to the contracts, as it's normal practice when we're making an acquisition is that we are not allowed by the antitrust authorities to take a deep look at the contracts. However, in conversations with the management team from Georg Fischer, certainly what they are indicating is that they have similar contracts to the ones that we have in which they are getting the contracts for the lifetime of the vehicle line on the products that they are getting and also normal payment terms, not only in Europe, but also in China.

This is what they have shared with us without getting into any specifics. Once we get, let's say, the approvals, certainly, we will take a look at all the specific commercial contracts and compare those against us. And certainly, if we see any difference, we will address those directly with the customers.

Okay. My worry was actually on China.

Normally, in China, for the benefit of all the entire supplier base is that the Chinese government implemented a new policy in which the maximum payment terms now stands at 45 days, which is normal for China. As you know, we have already operations in China, and these are the normal payment terms that we have. And even with the Chinese customers, they have, let's say, similar contracts to the ones that we have with Western customers.

Okay. And on the capital allocation priorities?

On the capital allocation, one of the things that we are expecting, Alex, is that since the 2 combined companies, once we get the approvals from the regulatory authorities is that we will use existing assets to reduce significantly the CapEx going forward. And in some of the due diligence that we have made, we have seen already the opportunities that eventually once we get the approval, we will capitalize in reusing existing assets and try to go forward, at least in our projections to reduce significantly the CapEx going forward, so that the company will generate higher free cash flow and we will be able to reduce our leverage sooner than originally expected.

Okay. Can I make one more question?

Yes.

From your press release, you mentioned, if I'm not mistaken, it was 2024 or 2023 that Georg Fischer generated $91 million in EBITDA terms. I'm just curious, I understand that that $91 million does not include some plants in the U.S. So, is there any way that you can share with us that plant, how much of the production of Georg Fischer represents? Or I'm trying to get the potential from that point, let's say, like that.

Yes. Just clarifying, Alex. Today, Georg Fischer is building a new facility in the state of Georgia. This is a state-of-the-art facility. Actually, we have visited all the facilities, and we were very impressed. This is a brand-new greenfield facility built in the state of Georgia to support one very important German OEM. And certainly, that facility will be operational in the second half of 2026.

In this transaction, we excluded, or they excluded out of the deal a few facilities, 1 iron casting that was located in Germany that is not part of the deal and 2 small plants located in Italy that were for a different industry that -- those were not part of the transaction. Once we get the approvals from the regulatory bodies, we will be able to share exactly what is the projection on the EBITDA of the combined companies, Alex.

There are no more live questions. We will now move on to the written question. We have 2 questions from Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank. First, how do you see the outlook for Europe in 2026? And second, given the risk of a strict control of rare earth exports from China, how is Nemak and its main customers preparing for potential bottlenecks?

Yes. Thank you, Alfonso. Certainly, this is new information that our customers are trying to, again, understand if there is any potential implications. I think they are trying also, as we speak, to look for alternatives for these semiconductors. And so far, I think that we have not seen a major effect related to this at this point in time. But certainly, we will monitor this very closely. And as always, part of our operational model, in the event that we start seeing a decline in volumes, we will immediately align with the normal cost reduction activities that we have as part of our business model.

Thank you, Armando. There are no further questions at this time. And with that, we conclude today's event. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating. Please feel free to contact us if you have any follow-up questions or comments. This does conclude today's earnings webcast. Have a good day.