FRRVF
AI Earnings SummaryQ2 2026
Checking for summary...

Earnings Call Transcripts

Q2 2026Earnings Conference Call

Silvia Ruiz: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Sylvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the company's financial results for the first half of 2026. I'm joined here today by our CEO, Ignacio Madridejos; and our CFO, Ernesto Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation were made available on our website yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]. Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, so actual figures may differ. During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and in our website. With all this, I will hand over to Ignacio. Ignacio, the floor is yours.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Thank you, Sylvia, and hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first half of 2026. Overall, the semester saw a strong performance driven by our North American highways that show an outstanding revenue growth and our construction business, which delivered revenue growth while maintaining its profitability target. In airports, new terminal 1 at JFK has submitted a completion remedial plan with March 2027 as the date for Phase DBO. In terms of us, we closed the first 6 months of the year with a net debt cash position of EUR 1.3 billion, excluding infrastructure projects. The primary sources of cash included construction, operating cash flow of EUR 329 million, dividends collected from projects of EUR 378 million and divestments of EUR 96 million, mainly from Silverton Panel in the U.K. and transmission lines in Chile. The cash outflows consisted mainly of the equity injection in that amounted to EUR 63 million, together with EUR 398 million of cash dividends and treasury purchases. Regarding recent developments, we submitted bids for two new managed lanes projects. i24 in Tennessee and the I-85 in Georgia will know the results in the third quarter of the year. Additionally, our bid for D-certified highway in the Czech Republic and availability project was noted as the most cost effective and the bids technical evaluation process is currently ongoing. Moving now to our main infrastructure assets and starting with 407 ETR. In the FTR grew revenue by 18.7% in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year. Total revenue increased 20.2%, primarily driven by higher toll rates, which went into effect on January 1, 2026. The traffic grew by 1.8% in the first half of the year, driven by targeted commercial promotions. As a result, EBITDA increased by 24.4% versus the first half including a credit provision of CAD 5.5 million, significantly lower than the CAD 45.2 million in 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, traffic was 2.7% lower than in 2025, reflecting softer economic activity, reduced rehabilitation construction on alternative highways and adverse weather continues, while commercial promotions continue with a more targeted approach that enhances customer value while supporting EBITDA. In terms of dividends, CAD 500 million was paid in the first half another CAD 550 million was approved to be distributed in the third quarter of the year. Moving on to Dallas for water manage lanes in terms of traffic, the area remains strong, while traffic in our managed lanes was impacted by construction works and less favorable weather. In terms of operating results, the 3 projects posted solid growth versus last year, both in terms of revenue and EBITDA despite the increase in revenue share. Looking at each of the assets at NTE, traffic was impacted by the capacity improvement construction works and declined 0.6% in the second quarter and 2% in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 14.7% in the first half, and it was impacted by $6.5 million of revenue share. grew transactions by 2.9% in the first half of the year with traffic increasing by 6.9% in the second quarter reflecting greater utilization of the managed lanes as construction works on the I-635 East feeder corridor approach completion. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 15.2% in the first half. NTE35 West traffic was affected by the increased congestion and managed lanes entry exit points, which created bottlenecks as well as by the finalization of capacity restrictions due to construction works on nearby road 1:1. Transactions decreased by 0.2% in the second quarter and grew by 0.4% in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA, which grew by 18.6% in the first half was impacted by $15.8 million of revenue share. All our Dallas Forth Worth Lanes registered double-digit growth in revenue per transaction well above inflation. This was driven by several factors. Favorable traffic mix with higher heavy vehicles volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition that started to be implemented in 2025 with improved vehicle classification as well as higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE35 West. In the first half of 2020, revenue per transaction grew by 18.9% in NTE LBA and 17.3% in NTE35 West. Following this robust operating performance, all 3 Forth Worth Managed Lanes deliver higher dividend distributions in the first half of the year. MTE distributed $118 million. LBA, $61 million and NTE 35 West, $143 million. All these figures are at 100% level. Now moving to I-66. Traffic grew by 8.5% in the first half of the year, driven by increased traffic in the corridor and despite adverse weather conditions. Revenue per transaction grew by 8.7% in the first half of the year, and total revenue increased by 17.9%, driven by higher toll rates with adjusted EBITDA up 20.4%. In terms of dividends, I-66 distributed $8 million at 100% level. Traffic declined by 4.8% in the second quarter and 5.2% in the first half, primarily reflecting lower congestion in the corridor Performance was also affected by a challenging comparison against early 2025 when traffic benefited from alternative lane closures following Hurricane in as well as adverse weather conditions throughout first half of 2026. Despite this, revenue per transaction increased by 11.8% in the first half of the year reflecting higher toll rates. However, adjusted EBITDA declined by 5.4% compared to first half of negatively impacted by the step-up in revenue share from 25% to 50%. This is largely a first year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First half adjusted EBITDA included the accrual of $15.6 million of revenue share. Additionally, I-77 distributed $18 million in dividends. Turning to airports, starting with new terminal 1 at JFK. MTO has submitted and completion remedial plan with March 2027 as the date for Phase A date of beneficial occupancy. As of the end of the first half of 2026, the project had reached approximately 92% construction progress. Remaining activities are mainly systems integration, testing and commissioning. Airline engagement continues with commitments today from 32 airlines, including 24 executed agreements and 8 letters of intent. In terms of equity, we injected the remaining EUR 63 million, completing all equity commitments and bringing total investment to EUR 1,041 million. At Dalaman Airport, the first half of the year was impacted by the Middle East conflict resulting in total passengers of EUR 1.8 million, showing a decline of 8.1% compared to the first half of 2025, mainly international passengers. Adjusted EBITDA was 13.7% lower than the first half of last year. Moving to Construction. The business posted solid results with revenue growing by 7.1% in reported figures and 9.7% in like-for-like terms for the first 6 months of the year. while margins remained stable at 3.5% adjusted EBIT margin. Budimex maintained healthy margins at 6.9% adjusted EBIT and deliver higher like-for-like revenues. [indiscernible], continued to benefit from a strong growth with a 24.2% like-for-like increase in revenues, leading to higher profitability with 3.4% adjusted EBIT margin due to positive operating leverage. Ferrovial Construction margins were stable with higher revenues increasing by 4% in like-for-like terms compared to the first half of last year. The order book remained at an all-time high of EUR 18 billion, up 2.8% like-for-like versus December 2025. excluding approximately EUR 2.6 billion of additional pre-awarded contract spending financial close as of June 2026. The operating cash flow of the division was EUR 329 million for the first half of the year compared to a negative operating cash flow last year, mainly driven by prepayments and compensations received in North America.

Ernesto Lopez Mozo: Thanks, Ignacio, and hello, everybody attending the call. Well, I shall start with the consolidated P&L. I shall cover the lines below the EBITDA level. Depreciation has increased in line with higher CapEx in construction. Here, we have higher activity and also increasing sales performance and also with a traffic profile in highways where we have higher weight of traffic in the earlier years in the current business plan. The line of disposal and impairments. Here, we have smaller divestments in 2026 versus 2025. Mainly in '26, we have a transmission line in Chile that was sold and also Silvertown Tunnel and availability payment concession in the U.K. in 2025, remember that we had the sale of AES in airports. In financial results from infrastructure projects I mean that is a number that's pretty much unchanged year-on-year with some small impacts canceling each other. I mean we have some lower expenses from a lower U.S. dollar FX rate. but we have some higher inflation expense in the Autema concession. Infrastructure Projects financial results were favored in 2025 by the ticking fee of the sale of the last stake in Kethro that was sold. This stake was accounted for as a financial investment throughout 2025. In the equity accounted affiliate results, we have the growth that is in line with the operating results growth. The line of tax reflects a corporate tax rate of 22% on profit before taxes. Here, I mean, if you exclude the equity accounted line that is already post tax and you take into account that the tax on the U.S. concessions is accrued or accounted for already at the at our percentage ownership. You don't need to that minorities you come to this level. The net P&L from discontinued operations reflects earnouts from businesses from the divested Services division. Okay. So let's move on to review the consolidated net debt. We ended the semester with a solid net cash position or negative net debt of EUR 1.3 billion roughly. Here, starting from the left, we have dividends from projects that were EUR 378 million. This is mainly highways with EUR 150 million from the 407, EUR 158 million in from the data proves managed lanes. And then we have EUR 38 million from by 66 and 77 last comes with EUR 11 million of dividends. Then we have the construction operating cash flows, ex tax payments and ex dividends. This reached EUR 329 million. This is driven by prepayments and payments that were pending from Canada, the Ontario line. So prepayments in the U.S. and is catching up in Canada. Tax payments reached EUR 48 million. And here, we have the main component, this EUR 26 million from Budimex and the corporate income tax there. In terms of investments, we had EUR 187 million of investments. The main one, as was commented before by Ignacio is the last equity increase here in phase of EUR 63 million. And we also have investments in energy, some projects in Lyon County taxes, EUR 65 billion that we are considering here, 35% are from this solar project that I mentioned. And in construction, we have EUR 49 billion. Then we go on with the interest received on other investing activities cash flow. This is EUR 37 million, and this is basically cash remuneration on the liquidity we have then we have business that reached EUR 96 million, and this is largely driven by the Silvertown Tunnel. I mentioned in the last slide, and also the transmission in Chile, right? This is the most important part, EUR 78 million in total, these 2 divestments. Then in terms of cash dividend and treasury share purchases. We have EUR 398 million. And here, EUR 98 million was from the cash dividend and the rest, the 300-mil share purchases in the buyback progress that we have since December 2025. And then we have other cash flows used in financing activities. Here, this is basically a bond that was raised. Another one was repaid. And also, we have dividends to minorities in Budimex or financial leases. And last, in this cash breakdown, we have the effect of the exchange rate on cash equivalents of EUR 20 billion. Okay. So after this review, then we are ready to open the Q&A session.

Silvia Ruiz: Okay. Thank you, Matthew and Ernesto. Let's start with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from Mark Ip from Citi.

Marc Ip Tat Kuen: I've got a couple. The first one, just on the JFK new terminal 1 delay. Can I ask how much contingency is built into the new March '27 target? And if there are any other critical parts within that time frame that could slip or how prudent are you being with that time line basically? And then the second one on that is around -- is there any sort of recourse or compensation available from the design builders of this delay? And then I've got another question just on the construction business. I've seen the margins have returned gone to your 3.5% long-term EBIT target -- margin target. Can you share how much in the first half, how much of that margin offsets from the Delevett bid costs? And maybe, is there a potential tailwind in the second half if your bids have now gone in for the I-24 and the I-285 tenders?

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Yes. Thank you. Thank you for your questions, and we'll take both of them regarding the JFK. What we have is this remedial plan that is with the new schedule of March 2027 is based on the best available information today, so it's what is expected according to the plan and has been prepared together with the contractor that we have there. So this is the basic information that we have today. about what we have, as you know, the date was June '26 and starting July, there are LDs that the contractor will pay for because of the delay, this is 500,000 per day. That will maintain until it is open, and it could be, of course, challenged by the contractor if they think that some of the delays is not because of their cost. In the case of construction, yes, we have been -- we have the effect in this first half of the year of bidding cost for -- especially for the two large projects that we have submitted offers in July, both the I-24 in Nashville and the 285 in Atlanta. And yes, we continue to be in for other projects, and we'll start to have other costs that it will have some effect in the bottom line, but I think that starting will be lower than the spend so far, but we'll see what is the fact that at the end of the year. But as usual, the only guidance that we gave about construction is 3.5% as an average for the long term.

Operator: The next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Cristian Nedelcu: The first one on with the construction almost finalized on the 635 and having in mind the fact that LBJ traffic has been lagging the other U.S. lanes over the last few years. Could you tell us a bit more how do you think about volume support in traffic going forward? And if you can comment if you are anywhere close to triggering mandatory modes in any segments of the LBJ currently? The second one, there are some press articles recently suggesting that you may be looking to invest in a data center project in [indiscernible] in Madrid at around EUR 1 billion. Could you tell us a bit more about these projects? And in general, from the perspective of capital allocation, is this a segment you are willing to allocate more capital on the midterm? And maybe the last one, if I could kind of ask you the -- I think over the last few weeks, the Washington Airport Authority gave a green light for $20 billion-plus CapEx program for one of the airports there. I believe you made an unsolicited offer a while ago on the projects. Could you tell us a little bit more based on what publicly available. What are the next steps in this process and the time line from here?

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Thank you, Christian. Yes, for the questions. I'll start with LBJ. Yes, you commented, yes, we saw some improvement in traffic in the last quarter, thanks to that's two of the segments, not that are fitting the LBA and at 635 were almost finished. Also the new managing in the 35 will be completed in the first quarter of next year. But we are seeing some benefit coming from some almost finalization of some segments of these new managed lanes. Also is not only impacted by 635 but also 35 is, there were some work and other works in the area that -- all of them will be finalizing in the following months, and we expect not to have any impact from construction activity in the area in the first quarter of next year. part of this benefit, we are seeing today with some of the segments that have been finalized, but the full effect we'll see in the first quarter of next year. Regarding the data center, is as we commented previously that we purchased two power lands, one in Alcobendas in Madrid and other was in Warsaw in Poland, the news that you could -- you read in the -- a few weeks ago about this project is a special project as part of the [indiscernible]. And it's a first phase that we are doing first totally 75 megawatts IT. The first part will be close to 45 megawatts IT to start with. And what you have to consider that the total. This is a total investment for the all phases. And on top of that, there will be some leverage and we can bring partners to participate with us and also contribute equity. And for us, in this business, we have a pay of recycling capital and rotating capital once it's a mature asset with a lease. So in the total amount of equity that we'll deploy in this business will be limited because of that. especially because of the will rotate once it is mature, that it means what is finalized the construction, and then we have a lease in place. We are starting with Madrid and Poland. And depending on you see later how we how we progress and how successful we are with these two sites in which we are working first. Regarding the Washington Airport, what was announced is that the Washington Airport Authority that they want to develop a new project. It's true that we presented -- we participated in a request for ideas, and we presented some ideas about how to develop this airport. But finally, it's not going to be done with a P3 project and it's going to be done directly by the Washington Airport Authority. And we are looking at it as a poor construction project, but we don't expect that this will be a pity project in which we can allocate some capital.

Cristian Nedelcu: It's very helpful. Could I just double-check on the LBJ mandatory modes. Are we close on any [indiscernible]

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Yes. Sorry, yes, yes. We -- it's true that in the last month's segment of LBJ triggered some speed mandatory modes, but I will say that these are not significant and not relevant affecting the revenues at LBJ. And as we have commented several times before, there is capacity available at LBA and we don't expect that the mandatory malls will have a significant impact in the following months or years. So we don't expect also we may have some sporadic events. I think that they will not have a significant impact in the short term.

Operator: Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

Elodie Rall: Just to jump back on the MTO. I was wondering if given the delays to Phase I, you would seek a different contractor to carry out the work in Phase B1 and B2. Second question on the U.S. managed lanes and generally on your to exposure. Generally, traffic seems to be quite resilient despite all the macro headwinds. What do you think is causing this traffic strength nearly. And should we be mindful of gas oil? I mean, it doesn't seem to have any impact. Can you share your view on correlation there between traffic and oil price for your assets? And lastly, I think you're planning a CMV at some point, but could you give us maybe like your agenda there, if it's going to be and when it's [indiscernible].

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: What we are doing today is working on the design. Regarding manage lens, what we see is the economy is performing well and especially the -- in the places in which we have our assets, Dallas Forth Worth and Washington area and Charlotte, these areas are performing in general from an economic point of view well. We are not seeing a significant impact from oil prices at least for the time being. Also when you see in the long term. I mean, the main correlation is with the local GDP and oil price is high for a long period of time, it may have an effect in the local GDP. But for the time being, as commented, we have not seen a significant effect or impact from the oil prices. And what we are seeing is a good local activity in the places where we have for assets. And regarding the Capital Markets Day, we have not taken a decision when we are going to do it, what we commented is that our strategic plan horizon 26 is finalizing this year, and we are internally working about a new horizon plan. for the next years, and we have not taken a decision yet about when and how we are going to communicate externally this plan. And we'll let you know as soon as we take a decision about it.

Operator: The next question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets.

Ruairi Cullinane: Yes. First question would be, could you provide an update with regards to the IP out in the U.S. Madeleine pipeline given the media reports on local votes against the project? And secondly, on the 407 ETR, net financial expense increased 25% in Q2. Is that a reasonable run rate into third quarter? Or was there anything one-off in that? And also on the forest of an EPR, the quarterly dividend increased by 30 million cats in Q2 and Q3. Is that sort of run rate we should be thinking about potentially into Q4, which would leave the 407 ETR dividend less Q4 weighted than in 2025. Thank you.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Thank you for the questions. I will take the first one about the pipeline, and then Ernesto answer the two about the financial expenses and the OpEx. Regarding the I-77 South, we have been communicated about a delay of this project. But as you know, we prequalify together with other 3 groups and the information that we have today is that this project is delayed for the time being, and we are awaiting news from the North Carolina DOT about texts about this project and if they are going to issue an RFP and what is going to be the new time line. So we still are waiting about this project. And Ernesto?

Ernesto Lopez Mozo: Okay. Regarding financial expenses on the 407, you have two effects here. One of them is, well, there's additional data and additional issuers that, of course, drives cost higher. Also, there's been the effect of in inflation on the inflation-linked bonds and derivatives of the concession. I wouldn't take like a running rate because of this last effect, I mean there needs to be more detail into that analysis before extrapolating that inflation component. Regarding dividends, I mean, there's no guidance provided by the 47%. We don't provide guidance here. So I'm sorry you have to leave it there. And then the last question, if you could basically rephrase that again, it was about OpEx. Could you please redo that again?

Ruairi Cullinane: No, you've answered my question. It was linked to the question on the dividends.

Operator: Next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Chevreux.

Luis Prieto: A couple of them very quickly. The first one is regarding the fact that you've recognized in the past the balance sheet headroom at the 40 on top of which the Q3 dividend grew very significantly year-on-year. Can we extrapolate this step-up in remuneration to the last quarter of 2026. And the second question is regarding the favorable working capital performance, which seems very meaningful given the seasonality of this variable historically. Are we going to see more of the same in H2? Or this is purely exception?

Ernesto Lopez Mozo: Okay. Luis, I will take those. Well, regarding the dividend, it's like the last question, I mean, we don't provide any guidance regarding the dividend for the year, the 47 doesn't provide that, right? So we keep it there. Regarding the -- and the other question, if you -- on the working capital, yes, regarding the working capital in construction, it's true that the first semester has been favorable what I mentioned when I was reviewing the cash, I mean, there's been some, let's say, collections or payments that have been kind of delay that were basically cashed in this semester. So this has been specific for this semester. And yes, the second half of the year, usually have some positive working capital effect at the end of the year. I mean, we don't provide any guidance, but there's no reason to not expect some sort of seasonality there at the very end of the year as other years.

Operator: The next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Graham Hunt: Thanks for hosting. Just two questions. If we go back to the 407, I think historically, you've talked about catching up some of the pricing that was lost during the price freezes over the COVID period. And I wondered, does that still come into your thinking? Or are we in a different price regime now with a different approach with the promotions and things. I'm just kind of looking for a bit of an update on your thinking there, we've seen multiple years of very high pricing, obviously, with the promotions. But yes, just an update on how you think about the catch up there in terms of real pricing. And then the second question I'll go again on dividends, but not for the 407. Maybe just for the group, Ernesto, any help you can give us in terms of how you're thinking about the last part of your overall returns guidance for 2026 in the second half, the shape of that and how we should be modeling it? That would be helpful.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Thank you, Graham. And I will answer the first question about the 407 and then Ernesto will come back with the dividends. So about 47, the way we see it is about value for users and how we can capture that value for users with at the same time with relieving the congestion in the area. And that from a perspective, internal perspective of maximizing EBITDA. So we have to take when we think about this, you have to take all of this into consideration. And as you know, there are different parts, and one of those parts is about the toll rate that we increased at the at the beginning of -- we announced in November, but we implemented at the beginning of the year, but also we offer promotions to different type of users. That is helping with the congestion relief, but it's also helped with some users that have different point of elasticity -- and all of that combined with maximizing EBITDA and reducing Schedule 22 payments. And that's a different thing that, as you know, is traffic at the peak and is related to the thresholds and the different segments we are more effective with promotions, reducing the schedule 22 payments as we have been able to achieve in the second year. So yes, I think that because all this, we think differently to what we did in the past about pricing is not only about one increase. It's also considering how promotions play there. and we maximize different effects of congestion relief of maximizing revenues and EBITDA in different ways. So yes, I think that you should expect that this is the new rationale and how we -- is where we are going to behave in the future. And it will be based on these variables that I commented previously. And I think that is different to what we used to do in the past. But the focus at the end will be maximizing EBITDA and that's related to value to users and more growth, economic growth in Toronto area and population growth in population will help us to increase the value

Ernesto Lopez Mozo: And regarding the question on dividends, I mean, there's no update now. I mean, we'll probably the Board in October will -- that takes the decision on the second event, we'll update. But until then, we have no updates.

Operator: The next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Dario Maglione: Three questions from me. The first one on the U.S. Texas Managed Lanes, which posted quite an impressive revenue growth almost 20% for all the 3 assets, and that was despite bad weather. So you mentioned various drivers for this growth. Could you maybe rank them or give them -- you mentioned for an the tech technology to classify high heavy vehicles. How significant was this? The second question related to the first question, the back classification for heavy vehicles. My understanding is that it was implemented in 2025 at different dates for the different assets. Could you give us a bit more detail on this? And the third question is on the Traffic was down in the quarter in Q2. As you mentioned, some but its effect. You didn't mention really the promotion or the different type of promotions, [indiscernible] impact of the macroeconomic situation and traffic on alternative routes. So with that in mind, what is the implication for the potential for toll increase in 2027 if traffic is now growing.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Thank you, Dario. So I will start by Texas Manager Lanes and the revenue growth that we have seen in the 3 assets, in terms of importance, probably the most important has been the classification of vehicles. As you know, they have a multiplier. So with this new technology that we have implemented in the different managed lanes, it has helped us to identify more heavy vehicles that are paying more than what they were paying before. And this has been the main effect that we had -- in the case of also the NTE and the 5 ways. Also, we had more mandatory modes than before. that had a positive effect in the revenue per transaction. And of course, always, we have some mix effects. And always, we have the impact of inflation in which we increased the soft cap at the beginning of the year. So probably I mentioned on those in terms of priority, what has been most relevant. And then the other effects that also were impacted this revenue per transaction with a 20% growth is relevant also what you mentioned about the classification of paces, yes, because we implemented that last year. And we started with implementing a new technology and the different countries and we started with the 35 West follow with NTE and we'll finalize with LBG, but some of the information about the classification of these vehicles, we use as the beginning in all the three managed lanes. So some of the effect is already included in all of them. But it's true that the comparison in the second half, like-for-like will be already including this effect that started to -- we started to see at the end of the second half of last year, and you have to take that into consideration. Also, the other effect in the manage lays about traffic is construction when we see the end in the construction at LBA and also attending capacity improvement. The effect will be of in the case of ENT, more traffic and less mandatory mode. In the case of NBA, once the construction is finished, it's expected that some traffic will come back to the corridor. And in the case of the 407, the effect of promotions has been very limited, I would say, slightly more than the previous year. in terms of traffic affected by promotions in the second quarter of '26 compared to the second quarter of '25. It's true that with slightly more traffic affected more promotions, we have been more effective in the schedule '22. So in that sense that we have some sectors in which we have traffic above the threshold. So in those cases, we have reduced promotions. And there were other sectors in which we were below the threshold. And in those cases, well, we have been more effective, bringing some promotions that have helped us in order to reduce schedule 22 payments. So I will say that this is not a major effect and the major effects that we have in traffic in this quarter compared to previous year is economic activity. And that's mainly related to some industries that they have uncertainty, uncertainty of tariffs. So the whole economy is growing around 1%, but still we see some industries and sectors that are more affected and that will affect traffic. We have seen also a relevant effect in terms of the delay in the maintenance in some competing highways, especially the flow on because of the FIFA World Cup that they didn't want to do some construction work during that period of time. As usually, you can do all this type of maintenance during -- with the good weather of spring and summer. And in this year, all these construction activity was delayed. And third, also whether we have a negative effect of weather that was general. It was not only the 407. It was also in the [indiscernible] and other assets that we have that negative effect. In the future, well, as you know, we don't give guidance, but increasing prices will depend on the value that we see that the 407 has for the customers and we'll try to capture as much as we can of this value. And this is what we are doing with a combination of increasing toll rates at the beginning of the year and also with the promotions that we are doing during the year, 2 different segments. So we'll continue to do that, and we'll try to capture the value that we give to users as we have done in the past.

Operator: The next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

Marcin Wojtal: Yes. The first one is on your share buyback. I believe you have an authorization to buy back up to EUR 800 million until October of this year. And I believe the latest disclosure points to EUR 340 million of the authorization being utilized. So I'm just wondering, do you have an intention to actually fully exercise the authorization of $800 million? And is that even feasible considering the liquidity of the stock? And my question number two, if you allow me, I just wanted to come back to these promotions on the 407 ETR. I'm just wondering, are the promotions that you're offering right now very, very similar to what you were offering at the beginning of the process a year ago or there has been a learning curve for the company? And do you see promotions also going forward as an important tool of yield management and also as a tool that will allow you to extract more revenue over and beyond Schedule 22 management? And could you perhaps continue with promotions in the longer term, even if Schedule 22 is no longer an issue.

Ernesto Lopez Mozo: Okay, Marcin. Well, regarding the buyback, there is no specific guidance on the buyback. The guidance we have in terms of remuneration is on distributions remuneration to shareholders. Eventually, we don't provide any specific guidance on how we manage the buyback that could be quite sensitive, as you can imagine. But just -- I mean, we have the guidance on delivery to our final investors on distributions. That's all that we have.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: And regarding the promotions, yes, is to continue with the promotions in the future, independently of Schedule 22 and I think it's a very good way to attract new customers and maximize the value that we can capture for the users of the 407 million. The ones that we do for a Schedule 22 I think that are very similar in general, I think probably not in the same sector or with the same type of users. So we have learned how the we use are the most effective in terms of reduced Schedule 22 in the different segments, and we are more selective in the that sense to offer those that generate the most value for us and adding some new users that they were not offering before in some other sectors that we were paying some Schedule 22. Now from there, I think, as you know, some of these promotions are free and the question is how much we can get for these promotions because maybe the users are open to pay something for them. And now we are open to other type we are piloting and doing other type of different promotions in order to understand the value for the users. And we are trying and testing different things, and we'll continue to do these type of promotions and learning from them. And is a way to do a segmentation and will continue in the future. But it's a long journey in which we need to learn from the users and -- with that, I think that it will take several years not to maximize EBITDA for us using the promotions and we have a good understanding of the value of the 407 for the different users.

Operator: Our next question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Harishankar Ramamoorthy: Just maybe on the 407 ETR. So it looks like VKTs have been down this quarter year-on-year, but you've still managed to reverse some Schedule 22 provisions. So it looks like 47 have become really experts in managing the promotions for maybe peak of peak ours. Is it just that? Or is there any segment where you've hit the maximum throughput possible. And for that reason, you don't really have to expand efforts in managing the promotion. So I couldn't quite circle on how you could have PKs down, but still have reversal of provisions. Is it just you've become so good in managing the promotions? Or is there any other component to it? So that's the first one. And secondly and then we -- when we look at the mix of traffic with promotions and without, is there any plan for publishing or getting some data on color on how this splits between the two segments for Funan ETR. So how much of traffic is without promotions and how much are the promotion volumes?

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Okay. Thank you for your questions. We are not going to disclose no traffic that is coming from promotions of traffic that are paying the toll rate at the normal price. So this -- I mean, you have to see the whole figures, not the traffic and the revenue separately. And it's something that we are not going to disclose any additional information about that. The other effect -- but you have to consider is that comparing the quarter 2 last year to this year, the effect on traffic of the promotions has been slightly positive. So we have a little bit more traffic related to promotions this quarter compared to the quarter last year. And with this slightly more traffic, what we have been able is to reduce significantly the schedule 22 payments because we have targeted better for those users that are helping to reduce Schedule 22 payment. And in other cases, in which some segments were more traffic than the needed for the threshold, we reduce the promotion. So we have been more effective in order to address which promotions are helping us to reduce schedule with almost a similar slightly above number of traffic related to promotions compared to previous year. So we have been more effective. But in general, I think that the effect of the traffic in promotion has been slightly more than previous year, but not significant.

Harishankar Ramamoorthy: Makes sense. Maybe just a follow-up there. So none of the segments within the EDR have kind of hit a threshold where the throughput targets are now at the maximum limit [indiscernible]?

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Well, I think that is -- if you mean we have traffic that is above the thresholds in some segments. And the answer to that is yes. Because you have a payment. So the question is in segment, you have promotions in those segments that you need to have promotions in order to be above the threshold? Well, that's a different question. And -- and yes, there are some segments like those, but we don't disclose in which ones and how is the mix of that effect of promotions and no proration to reach the test, but we only pay Schedule 22 when we are below the threshold. And in the rest, we are above. And in some of them, we are above with our promotions and not we reach that thanks to the promotions.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]. Our last question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Cristian Nedelcu: Could I please ask you on the Texas Managed Lanes. And you mentioned earlier the mandatory modes on LBJ are not something imminent. And you flagged that on the NT, the capacity expansion may be a headwind for triggering mandatory modes. So if you have this in mind and we think at 27%, can you talk a bit about the levers of growth in pricing for the Texas Managed Lanes. We know that pricing is that be close to soft cap or a soft cap for most segments. So can you elaborate what other levers that are there directionally to improve? Is it off big pricing? There is room to increase that? Anything more on trucks or any other levers that could help you grow pricing more than the soft cap next year? And apologies, one follow-up on the ETR407. I think you've been trialing the loyalty program for frequent users. I believe there were some trials in place the last few months. I was curious what are the plans for the second half? Will you deploy this loyalty program more widely? And how should we think from the perspective of potential dilution to the revenue per transaction related to the loyalty program.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: Well, thank you for the questions. And just in the case of the managed lanes, pricing will come several factors. First is the inflation that will increase subcap at the beginning of the year. So it's something that we do every year. Then [indiscernible] is something that could help us. But as you mentioned previously, we expect that 35 ways will continue to have as long as the congestion is increasing and the economic activity in the area is increasing will have more mandatory mods in the 35 West. But in the case of NTE, we will not see that. We'll see instead of mandatory [indiscernible] traffic. And in the case of LBA, similar to this year, we don't expect mandatory moves that are going to be significant or relevant but we'll see more traffic next year in LPA similar to 0. Of course, all depending on how is the economic activity and other variables that could happen at that time. We may have also some mix effect as usual and this mix effect is having more traffic at peak. And the other effect is having more trucks with more economic activity used to have more trucks than in the past. So these are the effects that we'll see next year and that will impact the revenues that they will see in the Texas managing for next year. And regarding the 407, yes, we did started with some pilots of the loyalty program. and we have not taken a decision yet how we'll continue with these pilots. And we are doing the pilots with different types of promotions. Some of them are working or there's not -- and based on the results, we take decisions, and we have not decided yet how we will continue with loyalty programs.

Operator: There are no further questions at the conference call at this time. I will now hand the line back to Sylvia Ruiz, Head of IR.

Ignacio Madridejos Fernández: I'm not Silvia Ruiz, but I have to give you thank you for following us and well, those of you who are taking vacations. Hopefully, you have a good rest of the summer. Thank you very much for joining us.

Data is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.