Quest Holdings Stock

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I'm Paulina, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Quest Holdings Conference Call and Live Webcast to present and discuss the first half 2026 financial results. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Quest Holdings management. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alexandros Roustas, I'm the Investor Relations Officer of Quest Holdings. I'm joined today by Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis, our Group CEO, and by Mr. Markos Bitsakos, our Deputy CEO and CFO. Today, we are presenting the financial results of the first half of 2026, the 6-month period ended by the 30th of June 2026, and we'll be happy to answer your questions at the end of the call.

I will now pass the microphone to Mr. Markos Bitsakos for his opening remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The first half of 2026 was a solid and productive period for Quest Group. Consolidated revenue grew by 9.8% year-on-year. Earnings before tax increased by 19.2%, and earnings after tax and non-controlling interest rose by 25% to EUR 25.5 million. These results reflect the continued execution of our strategy and the resilience of our core business segments, and they came in ahead of our budgeted targets. Turning to the main drivers of the period. On the positive side, the Apple ecosystem, both wholesale and retail, IT services at Uni Systems, and ACS Postal Services were once again the principal engines of growth as in the first quarter.

The trend, therefore, remains unchanged. On the side of challenges, I would highlight 2 areas. First, the renewable energy. As you know, following last year's divestment, the segment recorded only limited revenue and earnings before tax. Of course, this was anticipated and is fully reflected in our full year planning. The year-on-year comparison for this segment is, therefore, not a meaningful indicator of trend, and it simply reflects the completion of our repositioning in the energy sector. The second area is IQT Romania, which recorded a substantial decline in revenue and posted a loss for the period.

That said, looking across the earnings before tax performance of all subgroups and segments, we are pleased to report that with the exception of the energy sector and the marginal 5% decline at IQT, every other subgroup delivered year-on-year growth ranging from moderate to substantial growth.

Let me now turn to our financial performance in more detail. Consolidated revenue reached EUR 750 million, up by 9.8% year-on-year. Growth was broad-based, led by IT services by 21%, postal services, and commercial activities. Consolidated EBITDA amounted to EUR 52.8 million, is up by 11.2% year-on-year. The blended EBITDA margin stood at 7%, improved versus the last quarter, Q1 of this year.

Consolidated earnings before tax reached EUR 39.1 million, an increase of 19.2% with the EBT margin rising to 5.2%. Earnings after tax amounted to EUR 28 million, up by 25.2%. And lastly, earnings after tax and non-controlling interest, the figure which is attributable to Quest Holdings shareholders, reached EUR 25.5 million, an increase of 25%. It should be noted that both EBT and earnings after tax grew faster than EBITDA due to lower interest expenses versus 2025, as well as dividend and extraordinary profits arising from capital gains mainly from our participations such as the one in Fourlis.

Overall, the first half of 2026 demonstrates consistent top line growth, solid profitability across our main operating segments, and continued improvement in the bottom line for our shareholders.

Now turning to the balance sheet. Quest Group closed the first half of the year with a net cash position of EUR 31.3 million, well above the corresponding level of last year. Relative to year-end of 2025, when net cash stood at approximately EUR 107 million, the reduction reflects 3 factors.

First, the seasonal working capital buildup that typically occurs in the first half of the year, particularly in commercial activities. Second, the dividend distribution of EUR 42.3 million. And third, our investment of approximately EUR 28 million in Fourlis during the corresponding period. Excluding the new investments, we expect net cash to recover in the second half as working capital normalizes.

Total available liquidity, cash plus undrawn committed credit facility, remains comfortably above EUR 200 million, providing ample capacity for both operational needs and strategic initiatives. The capital expenditure in the first half amounted to EUR 32.8 million, broadly in line with our phased annual plan. Full year CapEx is budgeted at approximately EUR 60 million with a meaningful portions reserved for potential acquisitions and new investments. With this overview of our performance and financial position, I will now hand over to Alexandros for the detailed segment review. Thank you.

Thank you, Markos. Let me now take you through each of our reporting segments in more detail. First of all, the Commercial Activities segment, which includes the Apple Notebooks, companies iSquare and iStorm, the IQT Group, Info Quest Technologies subsidiaries. The Clima sector, which is [ GED ] and Quest Clima, Quest on Line, and Benrubi. So the Commercial Activities segment reported aggregate revenues of a little more than EUR 0.5 billion, EUR 507 million in the first half of 2026, compared to EUR 450 million in the first half of 2025, which is up by 7.8%. The EBITDA of the segment was EUR 20.8 million, which is up 10.8% year-over-year with an elevated EBITDA margin of 4.1%. EBT reached EUR 11.4 million, which is up by 15.4% versus the first half of 2025.

Now within the segment, the key insights are the Apple network drove the majority of the segment revenue and growth and showed strong momentum across both product and geographic markets. iStorm's 20-store network, 15 stores are in Greece and 5 in Cyprus, continued to perform well, with Cyprus representing a strategically important and high-performing market. The Clima sector typically records a stable and slightly improving half 1, significantly outperforming the market.

Benrubi, which we currently own 70% of this company at that point, contributed positively to the segment profitability, reflecting the growing and stable contribution of this acquisition. Now going to the IT services. And when we say IT services, we mainly mean the Uni Systems Group.

So the segment, which also includes international subsidiaries and Greek company -- company based in Greece, which is Intelli, reported revenues of EUR 159 million in the first half of 2026, which is up by 21.1% versus the first half of the previous year. This is an exceptional growth rate and reflects the continued execution of a high backlog of complex IT contracts and the increasing demand for IT services. The segment's EBITDA reached EUR 15.4 million, an increase by 23.2% year-over-year with an elevated EBITDA margin by 9.7%. EBT grew by 32.9% to EUR 12.6 million with an EBT margin of 7.9%. Uni Systems continued to benefit from strong demand for digital transformation, cloud infrastructure, and large public and private sector IT integration projects.

The pipeline remains robust, and we expect this to continue, supported also by the defense sector. Now going to the Postal Services, which is mainly ACS. The Postal Services segment reported revenues of EUR 83.1 million at the first half of 2026. And this performance is up by 8.4% versus last year -- last year's half, which was by then EUR 76.6 million. The segment's EBITDA reached EUR 15.9 million, which is an increase of 19% year-over-year, making ACS the segment with the highest absolute EBITDA contribution in the first half of 2026. EBITDA margin improved to 19.1%, up from 17.4% in the first half of 2025. It's a very big growth.

And EBT grew by 13.4% -- sorry, EBT grew to 13.4%, which is EUR 12.3 million. Growth was driven by continued expansion in e-commerce parcel volumes and by network efficiency gains powered by recent investments. The fundamentals support ACS growth, rising e-commerce penetration, and the expansion of our local network remain intact.

Now last, the renewable energy sector. The Renewable Energy segment reported minimal revenue of EUR 0.7 million in the first half compared to EUR 4.8 million in the first half of 2025. This sharp decline reflects the divestment of approximately 36.7 megawatts of photovoltaic parks completed in 2025 and is fully expected.

Quest Energy currently retains approximately 8 megawatts of capacity and has a portfolio of greenfield renewable projects under development. The segment recorded a small positive EBT of nearly EUR 0.4 million, EUR 400,000 that is, in the first half of 2026. We remain selective on new investments in this segment given current market conditions. I will now pass the microphone to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for the outlook.

Good afternoon from me too as well. I'm Apostolos Georgantzis, and for those who just joined, I'm the Managing Director of Quest Holdings. As Markos and Alexandros have outlined, the first half of 2026 presented a positive course across our principal operating segments. Revenue grew by about 10%, while EBT grew faster, and earnings attributable to shareholders grew by nearly 25% year-over-year. Both ACS and Uni Systems delivered standout performances, and the commercial activity segments remain on a solid growth trajectory, altogether outpacing the drop of our profitability in the renewable energy sector caused by the sale of most of this business.

We entered the second half with a clear momentum, a healthy balance sheet, and a well-defined strategic agenda. The second half is historically stronger than the first, accounting for approximately 53% of the full year revenue and a slightly higher part of the profitability and the current trading trend support [indiscernible].

Let me now provide you our current view by segment for the remaining of the year. Regarding the first segment, which is the commercial activities for the full year 2026. We expect commercial activities to continue growing. The Apple ecosystem remains a multiyear structural growth driver, and we are well positioned across both wholesale through iSquare as well as retail through iStorm.

Benrubi is also expected to make a meaningful contribution to our full year performance. Following the expected seasonal uptake, the Clima sector should [ decrease ] its profitability during the whole of the year. Our focus remains on improving EBITDA margins, while with the gradual gains expected as we optimize the cost structure, was expected to get even further improved within 2027. That was regarding the Clima sector. Regarding IT services and Uni Systems, Uni Systems continues to benefit from a strong contracted backlog and a solid pipeline of new opportunities.

We expect double-digit revenue growth for the full year with profitability growing broadly in line. Demand for complex IT integration and digital transformation projects remain strong in Greece and abroad, and we continue to invest to sustain our competitive position. Going to the third sector, which regards ACS and the Postal Services. For the whole year 2026, we expect ACS to deliver accelerated revenue and EBITDA growth versus 2025, supported by higher commercial volumes and ongoing network efficiency gains.

At the corporate level, GLS holds a call option over the remaining 80% of ACS, with the final decision resting solely with GLS to be decided at the end of October. Regarding renewable energy, following the park divestments, Quest Energy revenue contribution is expected to remain limited for the rest of 2026.

The segment which focus on developing its greenfield renewable energy portfolio while maintaining a disciplined and careful, and selective approach to new investments. Current estimates indicate approximately EUR 1 million revenue and an EBT margin above 15%. Now going on the full picture or the whole group. On a consolidated basis, our full year 2026 guidance remains for a slight revenue growth versus 2025 and EBITDA slightly higher compared to last year. 2025 divestment from the energy sector is expected to affect 2026 EBITDA by approximately EUR 8 million. However, even include this impact, both EBITDA and EBT are expected to grow.

The actual progress on continuous operation is much higher. The strong growth of the first half performance, particularly in the IT and postal sector, reinforces our confidence for this outlook. Our 2026 estimates assume, however, no prolonged adverse impacts on energy prices, basic goods, or consumption arising from the situation in the Middle East.

Our financial position remains strong, allowing us to pursue any selective growth -- inorganic growth investments. That's all for me for now, and I will hand back to Alexandros to continue the discussion.

Thank you, Apostolos. That concludes our prepared remarks for the first half of 2026 results for Quest Holdings. We are now happy to open the floor for your questions. Please feel free to ask about any aspect of our financial performance, our segments, our balance sheet, or our outlook for the remainder of the 2026.

The first question is from the line of Natalia Svyriadi with Eurobank Equities.

Congratulations on the very strong H1 results. I have 2 questions to start with. I was wondering if we could discuss a bit on the IT segment. Now that the RRF is officially closed and okay, you have a very big backlog. How long would this backlog take to be implemented? And what we should be expecting going ahead from here? It officially closed in August. So I assume H1 numbers are very strong. And maybe is there any chance we will see a slowdown in H2 on this respect, or because of the very big backlog we wouldn't expect something there, especially in the margins, which were really good. This is one question on the IT. And I would like also an update on the CapEx you discussed on the budgeted CapEx. Maybe we could take this later.

Natalia, I didn't quite understand the question about the CapEx. Can you repeat it?

Yes. About the CapEx, I would like an update. You said you have a budgeted CapEx of EUR 60 million, which I assume includes Fourlis almost EUR 30 million. And you have already done less than EUR 5 million CapEx if you exclude Fourlis in H1. So what should we expect? I would like an update what we should expect in 2026 or in H2, if you prefer?

Okay. I can start -- this is Markos Bitsakos speaking. I can start with the second question, Natalia, about the CapEx. As you said, we have done already -- almost EUR 33 million. Out of the EUR 28 million (sic) [ EUR 33 million ], around EUR 28 million refers to Fourlis investment and EUR 3.5 million is attributable to ACS. Now about the rest of the year, I can only guess that we're going to be lower than the EUR 60 million that we have projected in our budget. And I would say that I'm expecting the overall CapEx to range between EUR 40 million and EUR 50 million.

And why is that? Because ACS is deploying its budgeted CapEx on a slightly lower pace, let's say, than anticipated. And about Fourlis, I'm not sure we are not today in a position to tell you if we're going to proceed with a new investment or not. Let me say that the EUR 60 million budgeted CapEx was at first containing not only the investment in Fourlis, but also some smaller M&As that we had in plan. This is still in the process. It could be done, but I'm not in the position to tell you that there is something definite on this CapEx side. So, all in all, we expect something in the range of EUR 40 million to EUR 50 million.

Natalia, this is Apostolos. We come to the first question. As we explained, about -- it was about the IT services sector and Uni Systems, I understood. As explained, the first quarter -- first half was particularly strong, partly due to the timing of the project milestone deliveries. However, the underlying growth driver is structural as Uni Systems operates in a high contracted backlog, strong pipeline visibility, which is -- and is well positioned in a market where the demand for large-scale IT infrastructure and digital transformation continues to grow. Therefore, we expect double-digit revenue to growth for the full year and the trend of the first half to continue more or less the second half.

Additionally, regarding the question about the RRF, we expect that the trend for demand of IT projects will continue for Uni Systems even in the RRF -- after RRF, let's say, era. And the 3 areas of growth, which will affect Uni Systems' growth is, first of all, the first regards to the public IT public sector project tail regarding the maintenance of the projects executed until 2026. The second is -- comes from new public project from the Greek government to continue the digital transformation of the public sector, which have been announced. And the third, which is also very significant, from new projects in defense, where the company started to participate and in which we expect as of next year gradually to have revenues also from this sector as well.

Great. So the backlog will continue rising and declining at the same time. How long would it take for this like EUR 650 million backlog you have now currently to be implemented? I like to see it in the numbers. Would that be like a 5-year or a 10-year period or something like that? I'm trying to understand the magnitude.

For sure, it's not 1 year, but it's also not 10 years. I would say we're somewhere in the middle. It's between 3 and 4, maybe in some particular cases, even 5 years, but it's within this range, 3 to 5 years, I would say. But again, it's not -- the backlog is ongoing. It's not something that's static. As you know, you have new projects coming in and others going out. So when you see that even after the RRF, the backlog stands at a very high level, it seems that several projects are coming in, which means that there is a continuation for the growth.

The next question is from the line of Yiannis Kalogeropoulos with Beta Securities.

Can you hear me?

Hi, Yiannis.

I have a question regarding the margins in all operating segments of your businesses. We saw particular strong EBITDA margin during Q2 in all segments. That is both in the retail business, in the IT services business, and the courier business. Should you guide that these especially elevated margins are sustainable for the remaining quarters of 2026 as well? And if you could elaborate a bit on each segment, where is that attributed?

And the second question regards the potentiality of sale in the courier business. I reckon that the option lies solely to the German side. If they come up with a decision of taking the remaining -- of buying the remaining 80% and providing that you did not alter -- on the contrary, you diminished a bit your CapEx guidance. Is there a possibility or a better -- a higher chance that should the transaction materialize, you would feel more confident in providing that there are not other opportunities of buying some other businesses or companies to remunerate shareholders with an extra amount by the end of the year?

This is Markos. To answer the first question about the EBITDA margins and the improvement that, as you correctly said, it's quite improved in the second quarter and whether this is sustainable or not. I would say that the business segments that provide the biggest enhancements in EBITDA margin was IT services and the courier business. We believe that both for IT services and courier, we are very optimistic that we can sustain this improved EBITDA margins also in the second half of the year and not only that, for the IT services is largely depends on the quality of the projects that we obtain and the way that we execute them.

As far as the Courier and Postal Services, this is a more concrete, let's say, reason of EBITDA improvement, which is based on the efficiency that ACS has with the new investments made over the last years, mainly in the central hub. So yes, the answer is we are very optimistic that we can obtain the improved EBITDA margins.

And if I may add, Markos -- Yiannis, you may have seen that the margin of the commercial activities on the second half -- sorry, on the first half is better than the first 3 months. And the reason for that is the fact that the Clima sector kicks in during the half due to seasonality. And this is an activity that has nice gross margins, so they add up. So this is something that you -- normally, you will see every year. So the first quarter will be a bit weak in terms of margins. But after summer comes, so during the first half or the first 3 quarters, the Clima sector will kick in, hopefully, and this will improve the margins of the commercial sector.

So Alex, the Clima implies -- you mean that the Clima segment will sustain its -- will sustain commercial activities EBITDA margin even in Q3 at the level we saw in Q2, and then it will most probably decelerate a bit in Q4, correct?

For sure, for Clima, this stands for Clima. Now in the whole blend, I'm not sure how this will act. But normally, if nothing else changes, what you say is what you expect will happen. It will perhaps improve the whole sector's margin a bit more. But it depends on the sales of the whole blend. For the Clima sector, what you say is 100% accurate.

And on the second front, the second question regarding the potentiality from GLS of purchasing ACS and the potential extra reward to shareholders given that no other investment opportunities arise during H2 2026.

Yiannis, this is Apostolos. I think that we -- regarding the potentiality of the buyout of the remaining 80% from GLS is a decision standing within GLS, and we're going to know about it by the end of October. Should the proceeds happen, I mean, and we have a full sellout of ACS or the remaining 80%. Our plans, as we also mentioned previously, and it's something that we've done many times in the past, include the remuneration of our shareholders for a good sale as well as using part of the outcome for new investments.

The amount due for the remaining 80% should be around level of EUR 300 million, correct?

More or less, yes.

And should GLS step back from the agreement, you are obliged to buy back the 20% that you have already sold and been paid for around EUR 80 million, EUR 78 million, I think?

We're not obliged, but we have the option, but we will do it because we will get it at a discount. And we don't have a problem if such a thing happens as the company is operating very well and is performing, has very good cash creation. Therefore, either way, I believe it's going to be a good case for our shareholders.

So you have the right of first refusal to buy back the 20% should GLS not materialize its purchase. And the agreement is to buy it at a lower price than the one GLS initially paid, the EUR 78 million, correct?

We have the option to buy back the shares that we have sold 2 years ago at a discount versus the initial price sold. So -- and should this happen, we're ready to do such an action and proceed with this buyback of the shares.

The decision mainly initially is driven in GLS hands to decide whether to proceed. Should GLS does not proceed with such option to buy the remaining shares, then we will do it.

And one last question, if I may. You mentioned in your press release that your current stake in Fourlis remained almost unchanged in Q2 at 12.5%, for which you spent around EUR 28 million. Are there any plans to further increase this stake for the time being? Or you would -- you will remain firm to that stake for the whole 2026 and see what comes up next year?

The actual percentage increased a bit during the second quarter, but it's not a lot. So it stands somewhere in between 12.5% and 13%. I don't recall around 12.8%, somewhere there.

It's a little bit less than 13%.

Yes, a bit less than 13%. As Markos has mentioned, we are considering all options. But at the moment, we don't have any decision made to increase this position. It could happen, however, in the future. It also regards to whether the case of ACS goes forward, which will bring us ample of cash to do new investments.

Are there any other plans of exploiting Fourlis, i.e., let's say, in the front of the real estate because you have a [ REIC ] on your own. I mean the major shareholder of Quest Group is also a shareholder in BriQ Properties and Fourlis has also a stake -- in a minority stake, 47% in Trade Estates. Are there any thoughts or plans of exploiting it as one entity like merging it or...

Look, Yiannis, this is something that is not so much relevant to Quest's outlook, to be honest. [indiscernible] better to ask this BriQ as it's not something that we could give you more feedback about it. However, I would say it's premature to think such a thing. We're only minority shareholders in Fourlis, therefore, should something like that be an option or an opportunity for the future, it should be considered later on, should we increase our participation and should that be [indiscernible] Trade Estates and BriQ Properties.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further audio questions. We will now take the written questions from our webcast participants.

Thank you again. So I see 4 questions, but I'll say that 3 of them are already answered. They are regarding the CapEx, Fourlis investment, and the option of ACS and the GLS potential acquisition. So we have already answered this. There's only one question, I think, that we have not answered. It's whether we have any other activity in Romania apart from this of Xiaomi. I will let Markos respond to that.

Okay. So regarding Romania, what I have explained and said during the presentation of the first 6 months about Romania was referring only to IQT Romania, which is serving Xiaomi. Do we have any other activities? Yes, we do have. Uni Systems is also present in Romania. Romania is part of the international activities of Uni Systems. We are present in the market quite a few years now. We have a subsidiary company established in Bucharest.

We are quite happy with what we are doing there. So there are 2 distinctive segments. One is Uni Systems Romania and the other is IQT Romania serving only Xiaomi. What I said about Romania, I repeat, was referring only to IQT Romania, which is Xiaomi.

So thank you, Markos. Ladies and gentlemen, I see no other questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for any closing comments. Thank you.

We are so pleased with our first half performance and remain focused on delivering our full year commitments. We look forward to updating you with our progress in due course. I would like at this point to thank you all for your presence and to wish you to have a very pleasant afternoon. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Maria, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Quest Holdings conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the first quarter 2026 financial results. The event today provides the opportunity for participation via audio conference and live webcast where a presentation deck is provided for your convenience. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Quest Holdings management. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alexandros Roustas. I'm the Investor Relations Officer of Quest Holdings. I'm joined today by Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis, our Group CEO; and Mr. Markos Bitsakos, our Deputy CEO and CFO.

Today, we are presenting the financial results for the first quarter of 2026, the 3-month period ended on 31st of March 2026, and we'll be happy to answer your questions at the end of the call. I will now pass the microphone to Mr. Markos Bitsakos for his opening remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I am Markos Bitsakos, Deputy CEO and CFO of Quest Group. The first quarter was a solid and encouraging start to the year for Quest Group. We delivered consolidated revenue growth of 11.4% year-over-year, and we grew our earnings before tax by 10% and earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest by 13.8%, reaching EUR 10.4 million. These results reflect the continued execution of our strategy and the resilience of our core business segments.

The 3 main drivers of our first quarter performance are the Apple ecosystem, both wholesale and retail, the IT services by Uni Systems Group and ACS Postal Services. Further analysis will follow by Alexandros Roustas. I should also flag one area of challenge, the Renewable Energy segment, which recorded very limited revenue in the first quarter of '26.

Following the divestment -- the divestment of the vast majority of our photovoltaic parks in 2025. Of course, this was expected and is already reflected in our full year planning.

The comparison to the first quarter of 2025 is therefore not meaningful as a trend indicator, but it simply reflects the completion of our energy sector repositioning. Let me now turn to the detailed financial performance for the first quarter of the year. Total consolidated revenue reached EUR 365.5 million, an increase of 11.4% year-over-year versus EUR 328 million in the last quarter of 2025.

Growth was broad-based, led by IT services, Postal Services, and Commercial Activities. Consolidated EBITDA amounted to EUR 22.1 million, is up by 4.3% year-over-year versus EUR 21.2 million in the first quarter of '25. The blended EBITDA margin stood at 6.1%.

Consolidated earnings before tax reached EUR 15.2 million, an increase of 10% versus last year, which stood at EUR 13.9 million. EBT margin was 4.2%, broadly stable year-over-year. Earnings after tax amounted to EUR 11.4 million, up by 14.3% Earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest, which is a figure attributable to Quest Holdings shareholders reached EUR 10.4 million, an increase of 13.8%.

Overall, the first quarter of 2026 results demonstrate consistent top line growth, solid profitability from our main operating segments and continued improvement in the bottom line for our shareholders. On the balance sheet side, Quest Group closed the first quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of EUR 152 million on a consolidated basis.

After accounting for total borrowings, the group's net cash position as of March 31 stands at EUR 65.2 million. I would note that the net cash position at year-end 2025 was higher at approximately EUR 1007 million. The reduction to EUR 65.2 million at the end of the first quarter reflects the typical seasonal working capital buildup that occurs in the first quarter, particularly in the Commercial Activity segment, and it is fully in line with our expectations.

Moreover, in the first quarter, we invested approximately EUR 24 million in Fourlis. We expect net cash, except for new investments to recover at the second half of the year as working capital normalizes. Our total availability in liquidity, means cash plus undrawn committed credit facility remains comfortably above EUR 200 million, providing ample capacity for both operational needs and strategic initiatives.

Capital expenditure in the first quarter of the year was modest and broadly in line with our phased annual plan. The full year CapEx is budgeted at approximately EUR 60 million with a meaningful portion reserved for potential acquisitions and new investment.

With this overview of our performance and financial position, I will now hand over to Alexandros for the detailed segment review. Thank you.

Thank you, Markos. Let me now take you through each of our reporting segments in more detail. First of all, the commercial activity segment, which includes the Apple network, which is companies iSquare and iStorm; the IQT Group, which is Info Quest Technologies and subsidiaries; the Clima sector, which is [ G.E. Dimitriou ] and Quest Clima and companies such as Quest on Line, and Benrubi reported aggregate revenues of roughly EUR 245 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared to roughly EUR 225 million in the first quarter of 2025, which is up by 8.7%.

EBITDA for the segment was EUR 8.2 million, up by 5.4% year-over-year with an EBITDA margin of 3.3% EBT reached EUR 3.9 million, up by 8.5% versus the first quarter of 2025.

Within the segment, the key highlights are the Apple network, which is, as I said, iSquare wholesale and iStorm retail drove the majority of the segment revenue and showed strong momentum across both products and geographic markets. iStorm's 19 store network, 15 stores in Greece and 4 in Cyprus, continue to perform well with Cyprus representing a strategically important and high-performing market.

The Clima sector, which is [ G.E. Dimitriou ] and Quest Clima, typically records a weak first quarter due to the seasonality in the heating and cooling markets. We expect a strong recovery from the first -- second quarter onwards. Benrubi, our 70% owned subsidiary contributed positively to segment profitability, reflecting the growing and stable contribution of this acquisition.

Now going to IT Services, which is Uni Systems Group, including its international subsidiaries and Intelli, a company acquired some years ago, reported revenues of EUR 80 million in the first quarter of 2026, up by 23.4% versus the first quarter of 2025, which is EUR 64.8 million. This is an exceptional growth rate and reflects the continued execution of a high backlog of complex IT contracts.

The segment EBITDA reached EUR 7.1 million, an increase of roughly 15% year-over-year with an EBITDA margin of 8.9%. EBT grew by roughly 22% to EUR 5.8 million with an EBT margin of 7.2%. Uni Systems, continued to benefit from strong demand for digital transformation, cloud infrastructure and large public and private sector IT integration projects.

The pipeline remains robust, and we expect this to continue. Postal Services, ACS. The Postal Services segment, ACS, reported revenues of roughly EUR 40 million in the first quarter of 2026, up by roughly 12% versus the first quarter of 2025. It's the strongest quarter growth after the COVID era. Segment EBITDA reached EUR 7.1 million, an increase of roughly 19% year-over-year, making ACS the segment with the highest absolute EBITDA contribution in the first quarter of 2026. EBITDA margin improved to 17.7%, up from 16.6% in the first quarter of 2025, and EBT grew by roughly 12% to EUR 5.4 million.

Growth was driven by continued expansion in e-commerce parcel volumes and by network efficiency gains. The fundamentals supporting ACS's growth, rising e-commerce penetration and the expansion of our locker network remains -- still remain intact.

Hence, the Renewable Energy segment reported minimal revenue of roughly EUR 300,000 in the first quarter of 2026 compared to roughly EUR 2 million in the first quarter of 2025. This sharp decline reflects the divestment, as Markos said previously, of approximately 36.7 megawatts of photovoltaic parks completed in 2025 and is fully expected.

Quest Energy currently retains approximately 8 megawatts of capacity and has a portfolio of greenfield renewable projects under development. The segment recorded a small positive EBT of roughly EUR 200,000 in the first quarter of 2026. And we should say here that we remain selective on new investments in this segment given current market conditions.

I will now pass the microphone on to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for the outlook.

Good afternoon from me as well. I'm Apostolos Georgantzis, Quest Holdings Group CEO. As Markos and Alexandros have outlined, the first quarter of 2026 was a positive quarter across our principal operating segments. Revenue grew by double digit at around 11%, while EBITDA grew by 10% and earnings attributable to our shareholders grew by 13.8% year-over-year.

Both ACS and Uni Systems, delivered standout performances, while the commercial activity segments remain on a solid growth trajectory. We entered the second quarter with a clear momentum, a healthy balance sheet and a well-defined strategic agenda.

The second quarter is historically our second strongest quarter of the year, accounting for approximately 23% of our full year revenue and the current trading supports our confidence for growth. Let me now provide you our current view by segments for the remaining and the whole year 2026.

Regarding the Commercial Activities for the full year 2026, we expect continuous growth -- sales growth in Commercial Activities. The Apple's ecosystem remains a multiyear structural growth story, and we're well positioned across both wholesale with iSquare and retail to iStorm to get this growth.

We also expect Benrubi to deliver a meaningful full year contribution. At the same time, the Clima sector, following expected seasonal quarter 1 slowdown should return to positive profitability during the second quarter. Our focus within this segment is on improving EBITDA margins as we see a gradual path for improvement as we optimize the cost structure.

Regarding the second sector, which is IT services, mostly regards to Uni Systems. Uni Systems Group continues to operate with a high backlog of contracted work and projects exceeding EUR 650 million as a pipeline of growth and new opportunities. We expect double-digit revenue growth for the full year with profitability growing in line. The demand environment for complex IT integration and digital transformation projects, both in Greece and internationally remains strong, and we are investing to maintain our competitive position in this space.

Regarding the third sector, which is Postal Services and ACS. In this sector, we expect accelerated growth for ACS revenue and EBITDA during 2026 versus what happened in the previous year, driven by e-commerce volume growth and continued network efficiency.

Finally, regarding the last sector, the renewable energy sector, Quest Energy's revenue contribution will remain minimal for the remainder of 2026 following the park -- the divestments from the photovoltaic park at the end of 2025. This segment is focused on developing in greenfield new renewable portfolio, but not at a large scale. We remain disciplined and selective in any new energy investments due to the situation in the energy market. And the estimated figures regard for the whole year to about EUR 1 million in revenue with about 15% EBT margin.

Now going for the whole group. On a consolidated basis, our guidance for the full year is the following: we expect a slight revenue growth versus 2025 in revenue, while EBITDA and EBT to be similar levels -- at similar levels to the prior year. It should be noted, however, that the divestment from the energy sector last year negatively affects the comparison to 2025 in the EBITDA level by about EUR 8 million. Based on the continuous operation, both EBITDA and EBT -- on the continuous operation, both EBITDA and EBT are expected to grow.

The strong first quarter performance, particularly in IT and Postal Services reinforces our confidence for this guidance. These estimates for 2026 are based, of course, on the assumptions that there will be no prolonged adverse development in energy prices, basic goods and consumption as a result of the war in the Middle East.

Our financial position is robust. Our net cash position of more than EUR 60 million at the end of the first quarter and the available total liquidity exceeding EUR 200 million gives us the capacity to pursue both selective inorganic growth as well as to continue rewarding our shareholders with an attractive dividend policy.

Let me pass you back to Alexandros now.

Thank you, Apostolos. That concludes our prepared remarks on the first quarter of 2026 results for Quest Holdings. We are now happy to open the floor for your questions. Please feel free to ask about any aspect of our financial performance, our segments, our balance sheet or our outlook for the remainder of the 2026.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Natalia Svyriadi with Eurobank Equities.

I would like if you could elaborate a bit on the picture you've been seeing in demand trends after the war, if you've seen any impact in consumption and Commercial Activities. I assume IT services have a big backlog, so are not as affected. But what about commercial courier e-commerce? If you could give us a picture there?

And what are the key risks that could risk your guidance for 2026? Would it be the energy that you said or mostly the decline in consumption? I also have a question on the IT segment. Why the EBITDA margin was dropped in Q1 and if this is something that we should see in the quarters ahead or it was depending on the mix of product? And I was also wondering if you could say anything about the rent division. You have a lot of cash piled up there. And what are you going to do if you do not find any projects there?

Okay. Natalia, thank you for all your questions. I'll try to -- we'll try to respond if we forget something, please ask it again.

Yes, of course.

So starting from the commercial business, we see a flat demand during the first quarter. I would say, in some months, is also low demand. I mean, less than it was last year. So the landscape, I wouldn't say that it's very promising after the war. Having said that, we managed, as you see, to overcome this and still managed to grow mainly by gaining market shares. We don't know how this evolves during the year. We hope that we will remain at least at this stage of single-digit growth or low double-digit growth. I think that what we are doing in this landscape is very good.

Now regarding the risks and threats, as you mentioned, first of all, it's a decline in demand, a higher decline in demand than what we've seen during the first 4 months. We are referring to the 3 months, but the landscape doesn't change a lot during the 4 months. That's why I'm referring to 4 months. A risk also comes from our expenses because due to the war or due to the increase in fuels, we see that the expenses are growing.

And we must be very careful because this could be a threat for the low lines, the EBT and the EBITDA. So we are very careful about that, and we are watching it very close. And it's not only the transportation costs, but are also payroll costs, utility costs, rents, everything. So more or less, this is the case about the commercial sector. Now regarding the courier sector, Apostolos, I think, would address that.

Yes. Thank you, Alexandros. Just to add to what Alexandros said, we gave you the situation for the first quarter. We have an idea also for the -- for April until today. So, so far, we are managing to cope with increased energy costs for the group as a whole. We believe that these levels are, let's say, manageable, but we are not sure exactly what is going to happen in the future. This depends a lot on the -- at the moment as well, energy prices are subsidized partly by the government. As you know, the petrol price in the gas station.

Therefore, we don't see the real effect that happens -- the real prices of petrol have gone at a much higher level. Now we assume that this situation is going to gradually fade out, and we're going to come back to a normality. Otherwise, it might be possible that if we see a continuation of these petrol prices at these levels or at higher levels, this would affect also the consumption and would affect all the market, not just ourselves. That's why we're a bit cautious on that with this respect.

Apart from that, with this difficult environment, we are managing to do quite well and growing in most of our sectors. And one of these main sectors is also courier sector, ACS. It's driven by both the growth of e-commerce, but also by gaining of some market share of the company and operating with having executed significant investments already, both in the hub, which we have the automated hub that we have as well as in the last mile with the rollout of the lockers. We seem to be growing on a quite efficient way, managing also to improve the margins. So we are also positive for this segment that will continue to grow for the rest of the year. Taking in mind, of course, that the risk there that we mentioned before would be affecting also the consumption should this situation continues or evolves.

Now going to the cash question that you had, that we have a lot of cash available. It's correct. We already made an investment in Fourlis of about EUR 24 million during -- most of it was during the first quarter. We expect also to give an increased dividend, as we explained in our previous call, of about just above EUR 40 million during the next month. The general assembly of the company is expected on the 10th of June.

And at the same time, we have open eyes, seeking new investments. Should we see an opportunity, we will be able to grab it quite quickly. Let me also pass now to Markos to give you some explanation about the drop of EBITDA in the IT services sector that you mentioned just for the first quarter. Markos?

First of all, let me clarify, we are not talking about the drop in EBITDA as an actual number, which has increased by 15% versus last year. We are talking only about the EBITDA margin, if I'm not mistaken. So the EBITDA margin has a difference year-over-year of 70 bps, not even 1%. So this is not a huge difference. And it's logical with a company like Uni Systems having to deploy hundreds of IT projects within more than 1-year period. So it is an often symptom, let's say, on the EBITDA margin when you deploy the projects. We believe that in a full year time, I mean, by the closing of the current year, the EBITDA margin will go up again. I hope I have answered your question. If you want something else, please tell us.

This is understandable, I think. Yes, I can understand it. It's the mix of the costs going in. I was just wondering if it was something that had to do also with the costs going up, and that's why we should expect it to remain lower for the remainder of the year. That was mostly on the IT, my thoughts, is it something sustainable because of the cost increases we were discussing.

No, this is not the case. The costs are quite similar on what we used to have last year. But don't forget that when you pursue an increase in revenues like Uni Systems, which has surpassed an increase of 23% in this first quarter, you cannot be very selective on the EBITDA margin of each particular project. So the more revenue you want, you have to be less selective, let's say, on the EBITDA margin. Overall, we have quite a good EBITDA growth of 15%...

Yes, yes. Great.

Just to add up to Markos's reply also that -- just to clarify that, for example, Uni Systems and IT services, I would say probably that the least affected by energy prices because the effect of energy prices in the cost structure is minimal here. So there's no effect in this segment by energy prices.

Okay, great.

If there is something, it's very minimal.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for any closing comments. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Dear all, we would like to thank you for your participation and the continuous interest in Quest Holdings and its prospects. We are encouraged by the first quarter of 2026 performance, and we remain focused on delivering on our commitments for the full year. We look forward to sharing our first half results with you in due course. I wish you to have a nice afternoon. Thank you again.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and have a good afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I'm Costantinos, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Quest Holdings conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the full year 2025 financial results. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Quest Holdings management. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alexandros Roustas. I'm the Investor Relations Officer of Quest Holdings. And as usual, I'm sitting here with our CEO, Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis and our CFO, Mr. Markos Bitsakos. Today, we are here to present you the 12-month period of 2025 financial results and answer your questions.

Now I will give the microphone to Mr. Markos Bitsakos for his opening remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm Markos Bitsakos, Deputy CEO and CFO of Quest Group. 2025 was another strong and strategically important year for Quest Group. We delivered, once again, record performance across all key financial metrics supported by disciplined execution, diversified revenue streams and strong market positioning across our core sectors. While the first half of the year presented operational and market challenges, our teams responded precisely. The fourth quarter was strong, especially regarding EBITDA generation and accelerated our full year EBITDA performance beyond initial expectations. Most importantly, we closed the year with strong growth, improved profitability in continued operations and a very solid net cash position, reinforcing the resilience of our business model and of course, our ability to execute consistently. Let me briefly outline the primary drivers behind our performance in 2025.

First, the IT sector delivered exceptional momentum both domestically and international. Demand for complex integration projects increased significantly driven by the quick recovery and [ resilience facility ] as well as broader European digital transformation initiatives. Our technical expertise and execution capability position us strongly in this environment, enabling us to secure and deliver high-value projects that supported both revenue growth and margin expansion.

Second, we continue to benefit from sustained strength across the Apple ecosystem. The iPhone remained the principal growth engine complemented, however, by solid demand across the broader product rates. This translated into strong results for both iSquare, which is our wholesale distribution arm and iStorm, our retail network, which continue to expand its footprint. Importantly, this growth is not short term. It reflects a multiyear trend of consistent demand and strong brand positioning.

Third, the additional Benrubi expanded our commercial portfolio and contributed positively to consolidated EBITDA and earnings before tax from its first year of integration. This acquisition aligns with our strategy of disciplined value accredit expansion in the complementary business segments.

Fourth, our courier business experienced a moderate recovery from international parcel volumes that occurred during the final quarter of the year. This supported improved margins and profitability for ACS contributing to the strong year-end finish.

Finally, reflecting both the profitability and confidence of the group's financial strength we distributed in 2025 an increased dividend of EUR 0.30 per share, which stands for 4.2% yield totaling approximately EUR 32 million, I repeat during mid-2025.

Let me now turn to the financial performance of the full year. Total consolidated revenue reached approximately EUR 1.5 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 10.9%. Growth was primarily driven by commercial sector performance and the inclusion of Benrubi from February onwards. Consolidated EBITDA amounted to EUR 107 million is up by 17% year-over-year, exceeding our initial forecast. Consolidated earnings before tax is EUR 71 million, increased 9.3% compared to 2024. Earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest stood at EUR 48 million marking a 2.2% decrease year-over-year.

This drop derives from two main reasons. The first and Obviously, the most important is the minority rights, which is 30% in Benrubi and 20% in ACS. The minority rights stood for EUR 3.7 million last year in 2025. And lastly, the increased taxes. The amount of the increased taxes is about EUR 3.5 million. So altogether, exceeds the EUR 7 million. Overall, these results demonstrate consistent top line expansion accompanied by disciplined cost management and improved operating leverage. As always, we closely monitor several core operational and financial indicators such as the blended EBITDA margin, which improved to 7.3% up from 6.9% in 2024. And the return on equity, which is strengthened to 19.2%, reflecting efficient capital deployment.

Let me now focus on our balance sheet, which is a very important and key area of our strength. Quest Group finished 2025 with net cash of EUR 107.6 million compared to EUR 82 million at the end of 2024. This strong net cash position enhances our strategic flexibility enabling continued investments, disciplined acquisitions and ongoing shareholder returns. The significant increase in net cash was driven by a EUR 36 million cash inflow from the sale of the majority of our photovoltaic parks from Quest Energy, but also through the strong cash flow from operations. Additionally, capital expenditure stood at EUR 39 million, which is EUR 18 million below the initial budget. EUR 10 million of this decrease is related to lower ACS CapEx due to slower local rollout and delays in other infrastructure deployments. The remaining reflects postponed smaller acquisitions with Quest Energy -- within Quest Energy and Uni Systems. Overall, we believe our financial position remains robust and provides a solid foundation for continued growth.

With that overview of our performance and financial position, I will now hand over to Alexandros for the detailed sector review. Thank you.

Thank you, Markos. Now diving deeper into our segments. We observed that the commercial activities which consists of several companies: Info Quest, iSquare, iStorm, Quest on Line, Clima Quest, GED, FoQus, Team Candi, IQT Cyprus and Benrubi as of February 2027 continued to grow by roughly 12% at the sales level, while EBIT increased by 24% year-over-year mainly boosted by Benrubi integration and the decreasing interest rates. IT services sector sales, which is mainly consists of Uni Systems, also improved by roughly 11%, while its EBITDA grew by about 30% mainly augmented by improved operational efficiency. Postal services, which is ACS. Sales of Postal services increased by 3.6%, while also EBIT grew by about 8%, assisted by improved operational efficiency due to the new hub and last mile automations. Sales growth was driven purely from the second half of the year. And last but not least, Quest Energy segment sales were lower by roughly 6% due to adverse weather conditions and curtailments with lower profitability before taxes, mainly due to the EUR 4 million one-off balance sheet adjustments caused by the sale of the photovoltaic parks.

Now let me pass over to Apostolos to provide the outlook.

Thank you, Alexandros. Good afternoon from me, too. I'm Apostolos Georgantzis, Managing Director of the group. As already has been explained by Markos and Alexandros, most of our segments grew during 2025. EBITDA grew double-digit growth, while Q4 was strong, allowing us to be optimistic for 2026.

In more detail per sector, the outlet for the whole year 2026 is the following. Regarding the first sector, which is the commercial activity sectors, we estimate growth in sales and a similar or slightly lower EBITDA caused by increased operational costs. Regarding the IT services sector, this segment is continuing to be positively affected by strong demand in IT services, while it has a high backlog of signed projects exceeding EUR 700 million. In this segment, continuation of sales and profitability growth is estimated for the whole year 2026.

Going on to the Postal Services sector. Our estimation for 2026 includes accelerated growth in sales and profitability mainly driven by e-commerce growth as well as increased market share. We continue to invest in developing our own last-mile locker network which currently amounts for about 1,400 lockers. Finally, our renewable energy production sector, our estimation is for a strong decline in sales and profitability due to the sales of more than 90% of the parks during 2025. Our estimation regarding [ Fourlis ] continuous operations stands at about EUR 1 million in sales and about 15% EBITDA margin.

Now going on the consolidated basis, initial estimations for the whole year 2026 include a slight sales growth and similar or slightly lower EBITDA and EBIT versus 2025. Slight growth in sales and profitability is estimated for the continuous operations. These estimates, however, assume that there would be no prolonged developments in the energy prices, basic goods and consumption as a result of the war in the Middle East. Quest Group current position is solid with above EUR 200 million in cash and available credit line lines, allowing us to continue our planned growth investments as well as to endure hardships.

Now let me pass back to Alexandros.

Okay. That was our brief overview for the full year of 2025 as well as the outlook for the full year of 2026. We are happy to answer your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Svyriadi, Natalia with Eurobank Equities.

Yes, I would like to ask what are your current year CapEx plans? Given that you are a bit delayed also in your ACS CapEx, what is the rollout there we should be expecting for 2026? And if you could elaborate a bit on your investment strategy regarding the stake in [indiscernible], you have been taking. If there is something behind this, we could discuss.

And I also have a question on commercial activities. You're saying that for 2026, the outlook is for sales growth, but fairly constant or a bit lower EBIT. Where does the EBIT lower come from? What would be the trigger for this?

This is Markos. I will try to answer the first part of your question about the CapEx that we are planning for the current year. So the group CapEx is planned to be approximately EUR 60 million. Now nearly half of this amount represent a strategic placeholder for potential new investments by Quest Holdings. Have in mind that as we speak, we have already invested more than EUR 20 million out of this EUR 30 million that I just mentioned. We have invested more -- a little bit more than EUR 20 million for the acquisition of Fourlis' 10% participation. Apostolos will later elaborate further on the strategic plans that we have and the reasoning about this acquisition.

Additionally, we have ACS that -- we expect ACS to account for around EUR 25 million new CapEx, primarily directed towards continued local network expansion. And there is also a new hub in Thessaloniki that we are aiming to construct in the current year. So more or less, this is how the new CapEx is split. Almost half of it is as -- for potential new investment and more or less, the other half is for ACS CapEx.

This is Apostolos. To adapt just to Markos' feedback about CapEx, I would like to adapt that if you understand from what Markos said, most of this CapEx regards to growth CapEx. Actually, the group historically needs a relatively small CapEx has relatively small CapEx requirements for a running CapEx which means that most of the investments are expected to bring some future growth in the group.

Now going to the second question about the investments and the rationale behind the Fourlis participations, I would like to mention the following. Quest Holdings is a holding company by its name and nature. Today, the group core activities include distribution of IT products, telecommunication equipment, electrical appliance as well as IT services and Courier services. Over the time, Quest has expanded through a various mix of organic growth, acquisitions as well as selecting divestments, redeploying capital into new opportunities. We recently divested the majority of the energy sector. Additionally, we expect to divest soon from the Courier services sector. The outcome of this investment, divestment will create increased liquidity to the group. Part of these proceeds from the divestments will be returned to the shareholders, while the remainder will be reinvested to new business activities.

We consider therefore that Fourlis, being a good company with a fresh professional management and serious and reliable shareholders with similar values and cultures to Quest operating retail sectors where we currently do not have a strong presence. We therefore believe that over the medium and long term, it has good prospects for improved financial performance, which we expect to be translated to a positive return for our investments. And this is a basic rationale for investing to Fourlis at the moment. We already got 10% of the company, and we believe that it has good prospects of increasing its operational and organic footprint and numbers and therefore, bringing us a good return to our investment.

Let me pass now to Alexandros to give you feedback about the commercial activities question.

Now regarding the commercial sector, first of all, we expect elevated revenue compared to last year. And we, however, expect that we may not reach the same EBITDA or it may be flat and a bit lower. Just give me a second please. Compared to the -- You're talking about the forecast. Correct?

Yes. The forecast for 2026.

About the forecast. Okay. So the reason we expect a similar EBITDA like last year is the fact that costs are increasing and the war in Iran has accelerated this increase of costs and including transportation costs, but also other costs such as payroll costs are increasing. Therefore, and we are afraid that this may not allow us to increase our profitability line as much as the revenue line.

More like a cautionary statement outlook, I would say, as I understand. Okay. Great.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for any closing comments. Thank you.

Dear all. We would like to thank you for your participation and interest in our company and its prospects. We wish you to have all a nice afternoon. Thank you. And a nice Easter as we are just entering the week of Easter Sunday coming at the end of the week. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling. Have a good afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am [ Mina ] your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Quest Holdings conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the 9 months 2025 financial results. The event today provides the opportunity for participation via audio conference and live webcast where a presentation deck is provided for your convenience. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions].

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Quest Holdings management. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.

Welcome, everybody. My name is Alexandros Roustas, Investor Relations Officer of Quest Holdings. As usual, I'm joined today by our CEO, Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis; and our Deputy CEO and CFO, Mr. Markos Bitsakos. We are here to present the financial results for the 9 months of 2025 and to answer your questions. I will now hand over to Mr. Markos Bitsakos for his opening remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone, from me too. During the first 9 months of the year, Quest Group delivered double-digit growth in sales, EBITDA and earnings before tax. Earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest increased by 2.9%, reflecting mainly the impact of the 20% minority interest in ACS. Now looking at our business segments. Revenue growth was primarily driven by commercial activities and IT services. Commercial activities benefited from strong performance in the Apple ecosystem, Info Quest Greece, Clima sector and the Benrubi addition. On the other hand, IT services growth was supported by continued demand from the Greek public sector digital transformation initiative as well as contracts with EU institutions.

EBITDA growth was underpinned by the strong performance of IT Services segment, the integration of Benrubi and the Apple ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Courier segment delivered mid- to high single-digit EBITDA growth, while the Energy segment recorded a slight decline, mainly due to adverse weather conditions and the Greek curtailments imposed to safeguard the system stability. According to our published financial statements on a consolidated basis, key results for the 9-month period of 2025 are as follows: Group revenues exceeded EUR 1 billion, up approximately 10% year-over-year. EBITDA amounted to EUR 73.8 million, which is an increase of 13.4% versus 2024. Earnings before tax totaled EUR 51.1 million, up 17.8% year-over-year. Earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest amounted to EUR 33.6 million, representing a modest 2.9% increase.

This smaller increase in earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest relative to earnings before tax is mainly attributable to the impact of minority interest in ACS and Benrubi. I remind you that in ACS, we now record a 20% minority interest following its partial sale to GLS. And in Benrubi, 30% minority interest is held by the Benrubi family.

Now a few highlights about the performance by business segment. With the exception of Quest Energy, which recorded a slight decline, all other segments delivered year-over-year growth in both sales and earnings before tax. Revenue growth was led by Info Quest Group, the Apple ecosystem, Unisystems and Benrubi, while the earnings before tax growth was driven primarily by Unisystems, Benrubi and the Apple distribution business. Of course, Alexandros later on will further elaborate on the business segments.

Now going to the balance sheet and cash position. As of the end of September 2025, Quest Group reported a net cash position of EUR 1.5 million compared to EUR 45 million net debt in September 2024 and EUR 82 million net cash at year-end of 2024. The decrease from December '24 is fully aligned with our seasonal working capital cycle and consistent with the historical patterns. Moreover, the Benrubi acquisition utilized approximately EUR 31 million, including its net debt. The dividend distribution amounted to EUR 32 million, and we had also additional CapEx across the group totaled EUR 10.3 million.

Now let me pass back to Alexandros to further comment on the segment results.

Thank you, Markos. Now diving deeper into our segments, we observed that the commercial activity segment consisting of companies like Info Quest, iSquare, iStorm, Quest on Line, Clima Quest, GED, FoQus, Team Candi, IQT Cyprus and the new addition of Benrubi as of the 1st of February 2025, continued to grow by roughly 12% at the sales level, while EBT increased by roughly 18% year-over-year, mainly boosted by Benrubi's integration, Apple product sector improved performance and a decreasing interest rates. IT services sector sales, which is mainly Unisystems, also improved by roughly 11%, while its EBT grew by about 28%, assisted by an improved performance in the project mix.

Postal Services, which is ACS, grew by roughly 2% and EBT grew by about 8% at an improved pace versus the first half period, propelled by an improved Q3 in which sales grew by more than 5%.

Last but not least, Quest Energy segment sales stood at slightly lower sales by about 6% due to adverse weather conditions and the curtailments of the grid with flat profitability before taxes assisted by lower interest rates.

Now let me pass over to Apostolos to provide the outlook.

Thank you, Alexandros. Good afternoon from [indiscernible]. I'm Apostolos Georgantzis, Managing Director of Quest Holdings. As Markos and Alexandros have previously stated, most of our segments experienced growth during the 9-month period. Sales, EBITDA and EBT also double-digit increases, which gives us greater confidence that this trend is continued to continue -- is likely to continue for the rest of the year. In more detail by sector, the outlook is as follows. Regarding the commercial activity sector for the full year 2025, we estimate growth in sales and higher growth, double digit in EBT, assisted also as in the 9-month period by the acquisition of Benrubi and the drop of interest rates.

Regarding the IT services sector, this segment continues to be positively affected by strong demand in IT services, while it has a high backlog of signed projects exceeding EUR 700 million. Double-digit growth in sales and improved profitability are estimated for the whole year. Going to the Postal Services sector. Our estimates regarding -- regard single-digit growth in sales and profits at increased pace versus the reported in the 9-month result. We continue to invest in developing the last mile locker network, which currently exceeds 1,250 lockers, while currently about 50% of deliveries are performed through this locker network.

Finally, for the renewable energy production sector, our estimation for the whole year is for a slight decline in sales and similar or slightly lower to last year EBT. However, the divestment of the 90% of the photovoltaic parks will lead to a significant change in this segment in the future. Now summing up all of this. On a consolidated basis, our estimation for 2025 is positive for revenues and profitability. We once more reiterate our estimate for the growth of 2024, while EBITDA is estimated to surpass EUR 100 million. This estimation has been also validated by the course of the 9-month period. Quest Group's currently cash position is solid, allowing also to endure any hardships as well as to pursue any opportunities for new investments.

Now let me pass back to Alexandros.

Thank you, Apostolos. That was a brief overview for the 9 months of 2025 as well as the outlook for the full year. We are now happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions]

The first question comes from the line of Svyriadi Natalia with Eurobank Equities.

I hope you can hear me. Congratulations on the very strong quarter. I have a couple of questions. I will -- I wanted to ask something on the commercial activities and the ACS. So on commercial activities, I was trying to figure out the EBITDA on a like-for-like basis because Benrubi was added, and this is very improving, especially our margins. But I got the feeling that the like-for-like business, excluding Benrubi, was down in the quarter. And I was wondering what was the reason on this reduction in EBITDA, if this is the case in Q3. That was a question on commercial activities.

And then I have a question on the ACS. If you could give us some numbers for the CapEx you're looking for the lockers for this year? And maybe if you have an estimation for next year. Obviously, this year is almost through, but if you're doing any more CapEx until the end of the year on that? And maybe a more general question on the macro environment in Greece and what you've been seeing in the international markets also abroad, like in Romania, if you could give us some highlights there.

Okay. Natalia, this is Alexandros. Thank you for your question. So Benrubi results, consolidated results for -- since February that we consolidate, it's EUR 15 million on the upper line, which is sales, EUR 3 million at the EBITDA line and EUR 2.8 million at the EBT line. So you're right that [indiscernible] was not that good on the Commercial Services segment, but for 2 main reasons. One is the Epafos business, which last year produced an extraordinary EBITDA due to special projects that they served and they were not recurring. So now they are back to their normal numbers. And the second reason is the Romania business, which didn't -- although it expansive [indiscernible] that it produced last year. So these are the main factors that affected the results.

Okay. So the ex-Benrubi number was from nonrecurring items. So if I understand correctly, mostly.

Exactly.

That we had last year. Okay. Great.

Now Natalia, this is Apostolos. The second question was about ACS and the CapEx. The CapEx for the locker network, if I am correct.

Yes, yes.

The line wasn't so good. Just to confirm.

Yes, yes. Okay.

The question was what is the expected CapEx for the end of the year? And what is the estimation for next year?

Exactly.

The expected CapEx -- most of the CapEx of ACS for this year regards to lockers. So the estimation is that the CapEx for this year will end up for ACS about between EUR 10 million and EUR 11 million, somewhere there on that range, depending on how quickly we'll be able to roll out the lockers, more lockers because we're on a fast track rolling out process. And we estimate something similar for the lockers for next year. Our aim is to surpass the 2,000 lockers at the end of the next year. And mainly, we will be able also to be close to 3,000 lockers by the end of next year. At the same time, we also are exploiting third-party solution for the lockers, such as the lockers of screws to whom we have a partnership for operating for these lockers as well. Therefore, we're going to be able with a mix of own lockers and third-party screws lockers to very quickly surpass 3,000 lockers or maybe reach 4,000 lockers in operation.

But just with regard to our CapEx for the lockers, we expect this year to be above EUR 30 million. The vast majority has been executed in the 9-month period. And we believe an additional similar number for the lockers for next year.

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Kalogeropoulos Yiannis with Beta Securities.

Two questions from my side, if I may. Are there any plans on the cash that you are going to receive from the sale of the Energy segment? And how do you plan to deal with it or exploit it? That's the first one. And the second one refers to the potential sale of the remaining stake, the 80% stake of ACS to GLS to the German courier operator. What was the reason if there is one, for not exercising the option this year? And how likely do you forecast that this option will materialize, this call option will materialize next year?

This is Markos Bitsakos speaking. As far as your first question concerning the cash that we will get from the energy sale. First of all, let me clarify that the agreement with the buyer provides that this will be consummated until the end of the year. However, keep in mind that there is certain formalities about the sale that we should follow. And this transaction could be consummated on the beginning of 2026. What is still remaining to be obtained is the FDI approval from the governmental authorities. So it may go beyond the end of the year. However, -- so this will be consummated in -- by the end of the year. We are talking about approximately EUR 36 million. We don't have any specific plans right now that we can share with you. The amount is not huge, it's not small. We will examine all options.

Okay. This is the question number one. The second question, this is Apostolos.

The second one relates to the potential ACS sale.

Correct with GLS.

And the option of GLS and why it didn't -- why -- if you could comment or say why not materializing this year and GLS maintain the option for next year if it exercises.

Yes, correct. As we have explained in the past, GLS had the option to exercise this acquisition, the remaining 80%, either at the end of October 2025 or at the end of October 2026. According to our knowledge, nothing has changed in their intentions, and they just prefer to take this decision next year as it would be associated also with estimate improved figure for ACS. Therefore, our understanding is that they intend to proceed with this transaction, but they prefer to do it next year at the end of next October.

And should it materialize, should it finalize because the amount that you will receive it is quite huge, the around EUR 300 million, EUR 296 million, if I remember correctly. Any plans on the exploitation of all these cash reserves that you might have and that will distort the picture of your balance sheet, I mean, with all these huge pile amounts of cash sitting on your balance sheet?

Yes, this is Markos again speaking. When this will be materialized and as you said correctly, we're going to find ourselves sitting on a huge -- as we always did in the past, if you remember, whenever Quest Group had a substantial sale of assets, producing a large amount of cash, we usually reward our shareholders with a substantial percentage of the profits by distributing extraordinary dividends. And we also examine all the possibilities on either acquiring another company or -- we examine all options about our portfolio of Quest Group. But primarily, what we should do, I repeat that we always reward our shareholders with an exceptional dividend.

Okay. And one follow-up question, if I may, on the IT services and the ACS businesses. The EBITDA margins, the elevated EBITDA margins that we saw in Q3, should we exploit them for the next year as well? I mean, with all the CapEx that has been done and is to be done. Should that materialize in stabilizing EBITDA margins in the tune of 18% for ACS and above 10% for the IT services?

Yes. Yiannis, this is Apostolos again. Starting for the ACS business, which you mentioned has already done and is continuing to invest a lot in the last mile development with the lockers. The answer is yes because the more the lockers, it brings operational efficiency in the OpEx, which improves the margins. Furthermore, the more volume comes in and if the market grows at a higher pace, which seems to be happening over the second half of this year already, this would mean that also efficiency from the hub investment that we've done a few years ago will also push further a bit the margins. So all together, will help the margin to be improved.

Now going to Unisystems. Again, the answer here is, again, yes. As this mix, this profit margins comes from improved and more sustainable projects that seem to be continuing in the future. Therefore, last year, we had some projects which were not performing so good, which decreased a bit the performance, whereas this year, we seem to be running at much more efficient operations, improving the margins and leading us to higher margins, which we believe would be continued in the future.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for any closing comments. Thank you.

Dear all, we appreciate your participation and interest in our company and its future. We look forward to speaking to you during our next full year IR call, which is going to be in the beginning of next year. We extend our best wishes for a pleasant end of the year and a joyful Christmas season to all of you. Wishing you all a pleasant afternoon, and thank you a lot.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and have a good afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I'm Vassilios, your chorus call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Quest Holdings Conference Call and the Live Webcast to present and discuss the First Half 2025 Financial Results.

The event today provides the opportunity for participation via audio conference and live webcast, where a presentation deck is provided for your convenience. [Operator Instructions] And the conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Quest Holdings management. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alexandros Roustas, Investor Relations Officer of Quest Holdings.

As usual, I'm joined today by our CEO, Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis; and our Deputy CEO and CFO, Mr. Markos Bitsakos. We are here to present the financial results of the first semester of 2025 and to answer your questions.

I will now hand over to Mr. Markos Bitsakos for his opening remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Markos Bitsakos, and I serve as the CFO and Deputy CEO of Quest Group.

During the first half of this year, supported by the addition of Benrubi to our portfolio, Quest Group delivered double-digit growth in sales, EBITDA and EBT. Earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest came in slightly above last year's levels, reflecting the impact of the minority rights of 20% in ACS and 30% in Benrubi as well as the increased corporate income tax.

Now looking at our business segments. Growth was primarily driven by Commercial Activities and IT Services. Within the Commercial Activities, sales were sponsored by the Apple system, in FoQus Greece, Clima Sector and the Benrubi addition.

In IT Services, the demand was fueled by the Greek public sector digital transformation projects and from contracts with EU institutions. EBITDA expansion was underpinned by IT Services, the Benrubi integration and the Apple ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Courier business recorded low single-digit growth and the Energy segment posted a slight decline mainly due to adverse weather conditions and grid curtailments imposed to safeguard system stability.

According to our published financial statements on a consolidated basis, key results for the first half of 2025 are as follows: The group revenues reached EUR 683 million, up approximately 10% year-over-year, led, as I previously said, by Uni Systems and further supported by the Apple network, the IQT subgroup and the newly acquired Benrubi.

The consolidated EBITDA came at EUR 47.5 million, 14.2% increase versus 2024. Earnings before tax totaled EUR 32.9 million, up by 20% year-over-year. And earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest amounted to EUR 20.4 million, representing a smaller increase by 1.4%. The smaller increase in earnings after tax and noncontrolling interest relative to earnings before tax is mainly attributable to 2 factors. First, the significant increase in taxes during the first half of 2025; and second, the impact of minority interest on ACS and Benrubi profits. Higher tax burden arises from deferred taxes from time differences in revenue and expense recognition, mainly at Uni Systems and ACS, where IFRS and tax reporting create occasional mismatches. Several bonuses were distributed as profit distribution, which elevated the corporate tax slabs, and the related amounts were granted in June 2025, following the tax filing of 2024.

And last, as usual, there are nondeductible expenses recorded in certain subsidiaries. To give you an example, as a result of what I mentioned about the increased taxes, Uni Systems, recorded an effective tax rate of 39%, which, of course, is expected to normalize in the near future, while ACS recorded an effective tax rate of 32% for similar reasons.

Now going to minority interest. In ACS, we now record 20% minority interest following the partial sale of ACS to GLS. And in Benrubi, a 30% minority interest is attributable to the Benrubi minority shareholders. To give you the pictures of the minority right impact, the relevant amount for both companies for this period is approximately EUR 1.9 million.

Now going to the balance sheet and the cash position. As of the end of June 2025, Quest Group recorded a net cash position of EUR 0.6 million compared to EUR 28 million of net debt in June 2024. An 82 min net cash at the year end of 2024. The decline from December 2024 is the outcome of 3 main reasons. The Benrubi acquisition, which absorbed approximately EUR 31 million from net cash, meaning acquisition of 70% including its debt, plus the rest of the CapEx, which stood at EUR 7.6 million. The second reason is the dividend distributed in June, which was circa EUR 32 million. And lastly, the seasonal working capital cycle, which is always more demanding in the first half of the year.

So now we'll give the presentation back to Alexandros.

Thank you, Markos.

Now diving deeper into our segments. We observed that the Commercial Activities segment, which I remind that it consists of several companies such as Info Quest, iSquare, iStorm, Quest on Line, Clima Quest, FoQus, Team Candi, [ ITT ] Cyprus and Benrubi as of the 1st of February this year. Continue to grow by roughly 12.4% of the sales level, while EBT [ phased ] by 36% year-over-year, boosted also by Benrubi integration and the decreasing interest rate.

IT Services sector sales, which is mainly Uni Systems, also improved by roughly 10%, while its EBT grew by about 19%. Postal Services, that is ACS sales were flat and EBT grew by about 5%. It should be noted here that sales were affected by fewer working days versus last year and slowing growth.

Last but not least, Quest Energy segment sales stood lower by about 8% due to adverse weather conditions and power grid curtailments, as Markos said, with a slight increase in profitability before taxes.

At this point, we should note that on August 8, 2025, Quest Energy signed a binding agreement with international independent power producer for the sale of a significant part of its portfolio, representing a total installed capacity of roughly 36.7 megawatts for approximately EUR 36 million on a debt-free and cash-free basis. The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of customary conditions present. As previously communicated, the energy sector has not been a main strategic focus for Quest Group, contributing marginally to consolidated results.

In early 2024, we suspended new investment in this segment due to grid curtailments and substantial delays in the approval process for greenfield projects. This partial divestment enhances our liquidity while allowing us to closely monitor developments in the energy market.

Now I should pass over to our CEO, Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis to provide the outlook.

Thank you, Alexandros. Good afternoon from me too. I'm Apostolos Georgantzis, Quest Group CEO.

As already been explained by Markus and Alexandros, most of our segments grew during the first half. EBITDA and EBT grew at double-digit growth rates, allowing us to be more optimistic for the positive cost also for the remaining year.

Now going into more details of sector, the outlook is as follows: Regarding commercial activity sector, for the full year 2025, we estimate growth in sales and higher growth, double digit in EBT, assisted also by the acquisition of Benrubi as well as from the drop of the interest rates.

Regarding the IT Services sector, this segment continues to be positively affected by the strong demand for IT Services, while it has a high backlog of signed projects exceeding already EUR 700 million. And in this sector, we also see double-digit growth and improved profitability for the whole of the year.

Going to the third sector, which is the Postal Services sector. Our estimations for 2025 include a low single-digit growth in sales and higher profitability growth, mainly driven by e-commerce growth as well as from efficiency improvements. We also estimate the second half to be stronger than the first half. At the same time, we continue to invest in developing the last mile network of the company, which currently amounts to about 1,100 lockers in operation.

Finally, the Renewable Energy sector and Quest Energy, for this sector, our estimation for the full year is for a slight drop in sales during the first half and similar to slightly lower than last year's EBT. Of course, we have to note that the -- as Alexandros explained before, depending on the approval of the transaction regarding Quest Energy, this sector will be affected, but we expect this change to be mainly for the next year.

Now going on consolidated sales. On a consolidated basis, our estimation for the full year is positive for revenues and profitability. Sales are estimated to grow at a high single digit to low double-digit rate, while EBITDA to surpass EUR 100 million. This estimation has only been validated by the course of the first half. Quest Group current cash position is solid with well above of EUR 200 million in cash and available credit lines, allowing us to continue our planned growth investments and to endure any hardships.

Now let me pass back to Alexandros.

Okay. That was our brief overview for the first semester of 2025 as well as the outlook for the full year. We are now happy to answer your questions.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Andriopoulos [ Giorgos ] with [ Piraeus ] Asset Management.

The next question comes from the line of Svyriadi Natalia with Eurobank Equities.

I hope you can hear me. I was wondering if you could remind us, in a way, the investment plans you have in Uni Systems and in the Courier system for the current year? And what should we expect there? And I have 1 more question on the commercial activities. If you have any other brands in view, if you're looking into other corporations in the white appliances segment or something that you could discuss upon.

Natalia, thank you for your questions. This is Markos. As far as the CapEx is concerned, I just remind you that the initial -- our initial plan for the year CapEx was around EUR 55 million. 50% of this amount regard to Benrubi, which is already done. And then 35% was associated with the ACS locker network, which is under -- is rolling right now. We still anticipate to be close to those numbers, if not EUR 55 million, I would guess something in the range between EUR 45 million to EUR 50 million for the whole year.

So this would leave another EUR 10 million to EUR 12 million going ahead, if I understand correctly, from the EUR 33 million you've already written in H1.

Yes. More or less, yes.

Now Natalia, this is Alexandros. Hello?

Hello.

Regarding the white appliances, we don't have anything in our pipeline for the moment. I think that the 2 initiatives we took during the last 2 years, which is Toyotomi in the Clima sector and Benrubi are growing. We have much to gain from these 2 moves in order to absorb them and develop them correctly. And if something comes in our pipeline, we'll see, but we have nothing for the moment.

Okay, great. May I have a follow-up also on the growth rates like in the EBITDA. We are running around 14% in H1. Would this be a safe assumption to have also for the full year, like more or less around these numbers, assuming that Q4 also is a strong quarter usually. So is this something you could see, or should we be a bit more cautious in a way?

Natalia, this is Apostolos. Regarding the question about the EBITDA growth for the end of the year, we expect this trend that we've seen during the first half to continue. Therefore, we expect a growth rate in EBITDA around with the same, let's say, numbers like we've seen in the first half. It could be a bit better as well. But let's stick to the same approximately numbers like we've seen in the first half. So we estimate a similarly good second half of the year, and should some things go well, could go a bit better as well. Now I would like also to add something to what Alexandros mentioned about the white appliances. And though we don't have any particular, let's say, M&A plans at the moment for white appliances. We have plans to expand our current businesses and especially the Clima sector gradually abroad, which will give us bigger footprint and increase sales from this sector in the future.

The next question comes from the line of Andriopoulos [ Giorgos ] with [ Piraeus ] Asset Management.

I would like to ask regarding the performance of ACS. Do you see any normalization in the second half because we saw in the first half, the sales were a bit flat. And also for the commercial activities, I would also like to ask if we should expect a similar growth in sales in the second half and the digital tools for small and medium companies to continue this program.

This is Apostolos, again, Apostolos Georgantzis. To answer to the first question, regarding ACS, our estimation is that the second half will be better than the first half versus last year. So we expect to see some growth over the second half in sales and improve profitability due to efficiencies and other reasons. Therefore, the second half is going to be better than last year, improved versus the course of what we've seen during the first half.

[indiscernible]

Can you repeat? I don't know whether -- I think that's what you asked about ACS. Could you please repeat the second question because it wasn't so clear to us. It wasn't well heard.

Yes. The second question is about the commercial activities. Regarding the digital tools for SMEs program, which goes active for the first half and provided some sales boost. Do you expect this to continue in the second half as well?

This is Alexandros, again. As far as we know, this program will not continue in the second half. However, we are optimistic about the services -- the Commercial Activities sector. The growth you see is not fully caused by the tools. There are several -- all the companies have contributed to this growth. And we are very optimistic for the second half of the year as we stated in our outlook.

Okay. So should we expect a 10% -- around 10% sales growth in total?

Yes, it could be. It could be.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Apostolos Georgantzis for any closing comments. Thank you.

Dear all, I would like to thank you for your participation and interest in our company, and its prospects and look forward to talking to you again in our next IR call in the beginning -- in the end of November, beginning of December. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and have a good afternoon.