Holcim Ltd (HCMLF) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning. Welcome to the analyst and investor conference call of Balsam's first quarter 2026 trading update. My name is Dan Pomerant, and I'm joined today by our CEO, Mirjan Gutovic, and our CFO, Stefan Kirzner, to present our financial results. Following the presentation, we will open the floor for questions. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star 1 on the telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered the queue. If you want to remove yourself from the queue, you may press star two. Webcast viewers might submit their questions in writing via the dedicated field on the screen. In the interest of time, please limit yourself to two questions. And now, I'm happy to hand it over to you, Emilian. Thank you, Ben. Good morning to you all and a warm welcome to Holcim's 2026 First Quarter Trading Update Conference. Stefan and I are pleased to be presenting our numbers to you today and we look forward to taking your questions afterwards. As you have seen, we have delivered a strong start to the year. There was a robust organic growth in net sales of nearly 4%, driven by leading positions in the highly attractive markets where we operate. The 8.3% organic growth in our recurring EBIT was even stronger, and this was driven by our premium and sustainable offering, our strict cost discipline, and operational excellence. With our resilient and proven business model across all economic cycles and market conditions, after this strong start to the year, we are confirming our 2026 guidance, which includes a further increase of our industry-leading margins versus 2025. Turning to the regional highlights now, as you can see in Europe, there was a sales acceleration in March and price over cost was positive, partially offsetting the impact of weather on t...