Operator: Welcome to the conference call on MTU Aero Engines AG H1 2026 Results. For your information, the management presentation, including the Q&A session, will be audio taped and streamed live or made available on demand on the Internet. By attending in the conference call, you grant permission for audio recordings intended for publication on the Internet to be taken. The speakers of today's conference are Mr. Dr. Johannes Bussmann, Chief Executive Officer; and Mrs. Katja Garcia Vila, Chief Financial Officer. Firstly, I will hand over to Mr. Thomas Franz, Vice President, Investor Relations, for some introductory words.
Thomas Franz: Thank you, Sharon. Welcome to our conference call for MTU's Q2 2026 results. We'll begin today's session with Johannes presenting a first view on results and a look on recent developments. Following that, Katja will walk you through the financials. Johannes takes over for the guidance and some key takeaways before we open the floor for questions. With that, it's my pleasure to hand over to you, Johannes.
Johannes Bussmann: Yes. Thanks, Thomas, and welcome to everybody. We have delivered an excellent performance in the first half of 2026. So group revenues increased by 13% to roughly EUR 4.7 billion. Our adjusted EBIT grew 5% to EUR 692 million, resulting in a strong margin of 14.8%. So the free cash flow generation was notably strong, reaching EUR 294 million in the last 6 months. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the prior period in 2025. As a result, our cash conversion rate stood at 59%, exceeding the full year guidance we provided in February. While the situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile, we have not seen any material impact on our business so far. We, therefore, remain confident in achieving our 2026 guidance on revenues and EBIT adjusted, reflecting the strong performance in the first half of the year. We are raising our free cash flow outlook today. We will provide more details in just a few minutes. Let me first take a closer look at the current market environment and share some views on topics particularly relevant for MTU. Looking at our industry and especially at MTU, recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have increased near-term volatility, but they have not changed the underlying fundamentals of our business. We have seen no material impact on our first half performance, no cancellations and no evidence of structural deferrals across either OEM or MRO market. High demand continues to outpace aircraft deliveries, supporting both new engine shipments and aftermarket activities. And at the same time, industry-wide MRO demand continues to exceed available capacity. MTU has a proven track record of successfully navigating disruptions. So our diversified portfolio, growing installed base and significant aftermarket exposure continues to provide resilience across geopolitical cycles. While near-term volatility may persist, our long-term growth trajectory remains firmly intact. MTU benefits from a uniquely diversified portfolio that provides strong visibility on long-term aftermarket growth and cash generation. Starting with our future growth drivers, the GTF family continues to benefit from a rapidly expanding installed base, compelling fuel efficiency economics and ongoing product enhancements. These factors support significant long-term aftermarket potential. In the widebody segment, both the GEnx and our latest portfolio addition, the GE9X, additionally strengthened our growth outlook. While the GEnx has established itself as a highly successful platform, also the GE9X is expected to become an increasingly important contributor as it enters service and ramps up over the coming years. At the same time, MTU benefits from a growing portfolio that is well balanced across thrust classes and end markets. In the narrowbody segment, the V2500 remains a significant source of cash generation and provides substantial long-term aftermarket visibility. With a large installed base and many years of operational life ahead, it continues to play a critical role in our customers' fleet. Also beyond commercial passenger aviation, our portfolio is diversified across a broad range of applications, including military, freighters, industrial gas turbines and business jet engines. This broad exposure has been a key contributor to the resilience that MTU has constantly demonstrated over decades and across multiple industry cycles. As a result, despite the current geopolitical uncertainties, our diversified and resilient portfolio enables us to deliver sustainable earnings growth, strong cash generation and long-term value generation. Let's turn a moment to the GTF program. The GTF fleet management plan continues to progress as expected. AOG levels have declined by around 25% year-to-date and MRO output for the PW1100 GTF increases -- engine increases 40% year-over-year. Based on the progress achieved to date, we expect powder metal-related AOGs to continue to decline and to be resolved by the end of 2026. While much of the attention is naturally focused on the A320neo fleet, it is equally important to look beyond that platform. On the A220 and the E-Jets, engine-related groundings are expected to be fully eliminated by the end of the year, marking another important milestone in the recovery process. MTU's share of AOG-related compensation amounted to USD 110 million in the first half of this year. As previously announced, we expect the first GTF Advantage engine to enter later this year into service, followed by the introduction of the Hot Section+ upgrade. These enhancements are designed to further improve durability and operational performance. By strengthening the competitiveness of the platform, they create opportunities for additional market share gains and support further improvements in program economics over time. With an installed base approximately 2.5x larger than that of the V2500, the GTF is expected to become one of MTU's most important drivers for revenues, earnings and cash flow in the years ahead. Turning to the military business. It is clear that particularly against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tension, the need for the next-generation European fighter aircraft remains a strategic priority for Europe. Following the discontinuation of the FCAS program in its previous form, political discussions regarding future European combat aviation initiatives are ongoing. Industry participants, including MTU, have shared their perspectives with key stakeholders, and we view these discussions as being very constructive and looking forward. Different program architectures are currently being evaluated. At the same time, Europe's Air Force will play a key role in defining the future road map for next-generation combat aviation capabilities. It is important to recognize that the investments made and technologies developed to date remain strategically valuable and usable. In the light of all this, MTU remains very positive and well positioned to participate in any future European fighter aircraft program, and this is supported by our long-standing military engine expertise and excellent relationships with the German armed forces. Today, MTU is already a core European military propulsion partner with proven capabilities across the full supply chain from development and production to life cycle services from a broad range of military engine programs. For the future, we are actively pursuing a key role in the next chapter of European military aviation and to contribute to the development of Europe's future air combat capabilities. Staying with the topic of future aviation, let me now turn to the technology side of the story. Technology leadership remains a key pillar of MTU's long-term OEM strategy, particularly in the field of hydrogen-based propulsion and our flying fuel cell concept. Together with our partner, Airbus, we have, therefore, decided to establish a dedicated joint venture focused on fuel cell propulsion. The rationale is straightforward. While the next generation of aircraft engines is expected to build on enhanced conventional technologies, we want a dedicated team to focus exclusively on the next step change in propulsion technologies. By separating the conventional and the step change activities from our traditional programs, we avoid competing priorities and ensure full focus on advancing hydrogen technologies. This focus will accelerate development, enhance efficiency and support the industrialization of fuel cell propulsion. Importantly, our investment in hydrogen propulsion is already reflected in our midterm guidance and is fully aligned with our long-term technology road map. Subject to the required regulatory approvals, the joint venture is expected to commence operations at the beginning of 2027.
Katja Garcia Vila: And with that, I do take over from Johannes.
Johannes Bussmann: Yes.
Katja Garcia Vila: So thank you, Johannes, and also a warm welcome from my side. Let me start with the key financial highlights of the first 6 months of the year. We delivered a strong performance with particularly strong cash generation and the cash conversion rate that exceeded our initial full year guidance. As Johannes highlighted, the conflict involving Iran has had no relevant material impact on our business or financial performance. Turning to the numbers. Group revenues increased by 13% to nearly EUR 4.7 billion. In U.S. dollar terms, revenues grew by 21%. Growth was primarily driven by our commercial MRO and military businesses, while revenues in the commercial OEM segment in euro declined. Adjusted EBIT increased by 5% to EUR 692 million, resulting in a strong adjusted EBIT margin of 14.8%. Profitability benefited from higher spare parts sales and a strong contribution from our military OEM business. In commercial MRO, earnings remained solid despite a higher share of GTF-related shop visits and ongoing ramp-up costs at MTU Fort Worth. Adjusted net income increased in line with adjusted EBIT reaching EUR 502 million. Free cash flow was particularly strong at EUR 294 million, up 39% compared with the prior year period. As a result, cash conversion reached 59%, ahead of our original expectations for the full year. I will discuss the key drivers behind this performance in more detail in a few minutes. Now turning to Page 11. Let's take a look at our OEM business, which continued its strong margin performance, starting with the second quarter of 2026. Total OEM euro revenues declined 8% year-on-year. Commercial OEM revenues in euro were down 11%, while military revenues grew by 6%, mainly driven by the TP400 program, the EJ200 and work on the engine for the next European fighter aircraft. Within commercial OEM, organic OE revenues in U.S. dollar terms remained stable due to higher deliveries of installed engines. Organic spare parts revenues in U.S. dollar increased by a high-teens percentage range, driven by strong demand for the V2500, PW1100 and Pratt & Whitney Canada engine platform. The year-on-year decline in reported commercial OEM revenues was largely attributable to an exceptionally strong comparison base in Q2 2025. The prior year quarter benefited from a mix of positive U.S. dollar hedging effects and a very strong spare engine sales with highly favorable pricing. As a result of this high comparison, reported revenues declined despite solid underlying operational performance in the second quarter of 2026. Adjusted EBIT declined by 2% to EUR 233 million, resulting in a strong EBIT margin of 32%. Strong spare parts sales and solid military revenues overcompensated the impact of higher installed engine volumes. As expected, spare engine mix and pricing normalized compared to the exceptionally strong prior year quarter. Turning to the first half of 2026. Total OEM revenues in euro were down 4% with commercial OEM euro revenues declining by 9% and military revenues growing by 15%. Military growth was primarily driven by the TP400, complemented by contributions from the EJ200 and the T408 program. In commercial OEM, organic OE U.S. dollar revenues remained stable, while organic spare parts U.S. dollar revenues grew by a mid-teens percentage, placing performance at the upper end of our full year guidance range. As stated for the second quarter, the effects described before are seen as well in the half year-to-date figures. Adjusted EBIT for the first half increased slightly in absolute terms with a strong margin of 31.2%. Profitability continued to benefit predominantly from the strong aftermarket performance. Let's move to the commercial MRO segment on Page 12. Commercial MRO delivered exceptionally strong growth driven by GTF MRO and supported by a healthy core MRO business, including MLS leasing and asset management. This helped to maintain an 8% EBIT margin. Let's have a look first on the second quarter 2026. We delivered another strong quarter in commercial MRO, with revenues increasing by 37% to EUR 1.5 billion. In U.S. dollar terms, revenues were up even 41%. GTF MRO remained the key growth driver, accounting for approximately 46% of total MRO revenues. At the same time, our core MRO business continued to perform well, growing by 18% in U.S. dollar terms, excluding the GTF. Main growth drivers in the quarter were MLS leasing and asset management business as well as the IGT and CF6 programs. Adjusted EBIT rose 20% to EUR 139 million and stood at a margin of 8%. The latter was characterized by a strong core MRO business, including strong MLS earnings, partially offsetting the impact of a higher GTF MRO work and ramp-up headwinds at MTU Fort Worth and MTU Jinwan. Turning to the first half results. The overall picture is very similar. Revenues increased by 21% to almost EUR 3.4 billion. In U.S. dollars, revenues were up 29% and with that, above our full year expectation. Once again, GTF MRO was the primary growth driver and represented around 46% of total MRO revenues during the period. Excluding GTF, our core MRO business grew by 9% in U.S. dollar terms, supported by strong contributions from MLS as well as the IGT CF6 and PW2000 programs. Adjusted EBIT increased by 13% to EUR 271 million, corresponding to a margin of 8%. As in the second quarter, profitability reflected the offsetting effect from higher GTF MRO work and ongoing ramp-up costs for MTU Fort Worth and MTU Jinwan on the one hand and improved core MRO business with solid earnings contributions from MLS on the other. Let's take a closer look at free cash flow, which continued to improve. We delivered a strong cash conversion rate of 59% in the first half of 2026, exceeding our initial full year expectations. In the second quarter of 2026, free cash flow increased by EUR 56 million or 91% to EUR 117 million. The cash conversion rate stood at 43%. In the second quarter, we saw GTF AOG compensation payments of around USD 50 million. Free cash flow was impacted by ongoing investments in our capacity expansion, in particular at MTU Munich, Hanover and MTU Fort Worth. In addition, the acquisition of Aero Design Works as a strategic asset impacted free cash flow. For the first half of 2026, free cash flow improved by EUR 82 million or 39% to EUR 294 million, a strong cash conversion of 59% was achieved. GTF AOG compensation amounted to around USD 110 million in the first half of the year, in line with our full year expectations. This compares to USD 150 million impact in the first half of 2025. Strong business volume resulted in an increase in working capital, especially in trade receivables. Outflows for the acquisition of ADW and supportive dividends received complete the picture. To reflect the strong free cash flow momentum achieved in the first half of the year, we are raising our full year cash conversion guidance to 50% to 60%, up from our initial range of 45% to 55%. This increase underscores our confidence in continued progress towards our medium-term cash conversion target of 75% to 99%. The sustained improvement in free cash flow and cash conversion strengthens our ability to generate long-term value for our shareholders. While we remain focused on managing the remaining GTF-related cash outflows and investing in attractive growth opportunities, increasing shareholder returns continues to be a key priority within our capital allocation framework. As cash generation continues to improve, our capacity and flexibility to return additional capital to shareholders will increase accordingly. Let me now give you a quick update on our hedge book. As already mentioned in our last earnings call, we are fully hedged for 2026 at an average hedge rate of 1.14. Looking further ahead, we continue to build our hedge position at higher average hedge rate reflecting the currently weaker U.S. dollar. Nonetheless, we follow our guidelines to eliminate volatility based on moving currencies. Let me now move on to Page 16 and have a short look at our order book. At the end of the first half of 2026, we had EUR 30.4 billion in the order book, providing substantial medium- and long-term visibility. In the first half of 2026, MTU secured USD 4.9 billion of MRO contract wins across multiple customers and engine platforms. These awards demonstrate strong customer confidence in MTU's MRO capabilities and further strengthens MTU's market position. Not reflected in these numbers are orders announced at last week's Farnborough Airshow. These amount to roughly USD 500 million, predominantly for GTF engines on all 3 platforms. Taken together, our strong order book, strong MRO contract wins and the additional Farnborough commitments provides a solid foundation for sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value creation. With that, let me hand over back to you, Johannes.
Johannes Bussmann: Thanks, Katja. Yes, as described, we delivered a very strong performance in the first half of 2026, reinforcing our confidence in achieving our full year guidance. Reflecting the stronger-than-expected development of the free cash flow, we are raising our cash conversion guidance to 50% to 60%, up from the previous range of 45% to 55%. All other parameters within the guidance remain unchanged. Before moving to the Q&A session, let me briefly summarize some of the key takeaways from our first half year of 2026 results. Geopolitical tension has resulted in a higher volatility on the globe, undoubtedly, but they have had no impact on our first half 2026 performance. Free cash flow generation remained strong in the first half of the year, reinforcing our confidence in the trajectory of the business and supporting today's increase in our cash conversion outlook. The GTF fleet management plan continues to progress according to expectations, while the AOG situation continues to improve. There is no change in our medium- and long-term outlook. We remain confident in the structural growth drivers supporting our markets and in MTU's ability to deliver sustainable growth, strong cash generation and long-term value creation. We are convinced that MTU represents one of the most compelling investment opportunities in the aerospace sector, and we are well positioned to fully unlock the value embedded in our business and deliver attractive long-term returns to our shareholders. We are confident that in the path ahead and invite you to come to us -- with us on that journey. And I will thank you for your attention so far. I'm pretty sure we have a couple of questions out there, which we are happy to take now.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our first question today comes from the line of Sebastian Growe from BNP Paribas.
Sebastian Growe: The first one would be on the military business and on the new fighter. You stated earlier on the quarter 1 call that the funding is in place until September. So can you please remind us of the annualized funding volume here? And based on your own discussions, how should we think of the timing of any such decision-making versus the potential temporary funding gap post September? And then on the cash conversion, if one was to adjust for the GTF AOG-related cash compensation payments in '26, the ratio already stands at 70% to 80% this year. So I recall from the quarter 1 call, Katja that you expect further tailwinds to cash generation once Fort Worth is fully up and running, and that shouldn't be, I think, earlier than 2030. So I was wondering if you could help us understand how we should think about the structural cash conversion even beyond 2030.
Johannes Bussmann: Okay. Then maybe I'll start on the FCAS side. So as you rightly said, we are fully funded until the end of September. And there is also still some work to do that we are performing together with our partner Safran. and the discussions with the German government are, of course, continuing on how we continue the setup. There is no doubt, I think that there is a need for a fighter. And we are, at the moment, discussing the different options, especially what the military side or the armed forces require as a design for the engine. And I'm pretty sure that will take some time. But all the discussions that we are having are very structured, very looking forward. So we have no doubt that there is development going forward and in which industrial setup and the exact timing, I think that is just too early. The customer needs to make some decisions. I think from the industrial side, we have everything in place in terms of what we can do, in which partnerships we can do this, and we share this also with the government. And the rest, I think I would leave to our customer to make the decisions going forward there.
Katja Garcia Vila: Maybe then I pick up. First on FCAS, you asked for the impact on our revenues in 2026 from the FCAS program. We have provided a guidance of a high double-digit euro impact on the sales line, which will fully materialize as we have the contract in place, and we have not anticipated an additional impact there for this year. So that's all set and that's all secured. The second question you had was about our free cash flow development going further into the decade and beyond. First of all, I will not provide any guidance for the time beyond our current laid out midterm guidance. I think what we have provided you with at the Capital Markets Day in Paris was an expectation on cash conversion, which we even, let's say, more specified during the course of the first quarter call saying we don't talk about a high double-digit cash conversion rate by the end of 2030 anymore, but stating that this can be between 75% and 99%. And I think with the step forwards we make at the moment, there is a lot of reason to believe that the confidence we've put into this guidance will also materialize going forward. With regards to Fort Worth, you're right, we said that we do expect, let's say, around EUR 100 million in headwinds until 2030 coming from the ramp-up of that, which is related to the LEAP ramp-up at Fort Worth. And following the LEAP ramp-up, we will also introduce the second engine that we secured markets for that is the GEnx moving forward in Fort Worth, but we will talk about those impacts in the next decade later.
Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Robert Stallard from Vertical Research.
Robert Stallard: A couple of questions from me. First of all, on the GTF AOG, looking at the total fleet AOG, not just fleet management, it's still quite high compared to other types of engines. And I was wondering how you expect that AOG number to progress over time. And then secondly, on cash returns, you highlighted that slide in the deck about your priorities. With the GTF compensation payment ending at the end of this year, do you expect to return to a more normalized shareholder dividend payout next year?
Johannes Bussmann: Yes. Thanks, Robert, for the question. We are executing on the GTF fleet management plan with an excellent cooperation with our partners. So MTU is very well performing within the GTF MRO network. And the output on the MRO side has increased 40% year-over-year. And especially if you only look at the AOG number, we are 25% down year-to-date. And we, of course, expect that the AOG rate continues to trend downwards in the coming months as well. So this is a trend that we will keep going. And of course, the target must be 0. I mean there is no question about that, that is what our customers can expect. But we are on a really, really good trajectory, and that's what we are working on to continue that. And then also in the later half of the year, the GTFA is coming into operation and then a little bit later than that, even the Hot Section+ upgrade. So we are also improving technology-wise on the GTF platform. So we are confident that we are on a very good trajectory and remain that the fleet management program is done by the end of the year, maybe one or the other shop visit leaves the shop early next year. But that is more operationally driven than anything else. So we are very confident that we are on a very good track there in our network with all the partners performing there.
Katja Garcia Vila: So then I will take the next question on total shareholder return or dividends. If you recall, we have provided the guidance at the Capital Markets Day 2025 in Paris, saying that we will reinstall our dividend policy within the course of the guidance range. Progressing quite well on the program itself will leave us room to do that fast, and we will also do that consequently because we are absolutely persuaded that this will also boost then investors' confidence, and we also want our shareholders to participate in the good development and then the progress that we make here. We will have no more impact on the cash flow coming from the direct AOG compensation payments for the GTF. What we will still have moving forward is the impact on the prefinance shop visits on the receivables. So you will see still some impact on increasing shop prefinance-related receivables going forward. Nevertheless, the GTF AOG payments for powder metal are going to be over by the end of this year, and we will make sure that there is a participation of our shareholders and the good progress that we have made. We will give you more details at the Capital Markets Day on November 30.
Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Adrien Rabier from Bernstein.
Adrien Rabier: I've got two questions, please. First, on the OEM margins. There's a lot going on in the margins keep expanding. So I'm wondering if you could talk please about the outlook from the current levels to your expectations of 28% to 30% in 2030. Basically, if they do, when would margins start declining, please? And then in the slide about free cash flow conversion, you talked about M&A and market screening. So I'm just wondering in which segments would you like to make acquisitions, please?
Katja Garcia Vila: Okay. Let me start with the OEM margin. So the guidance we have out there on the midterm of 28% to 30% margin on the OEM business, in principle, when we laid out the guidance were high record levels compared to what was ever there before. I know that based on where we have been now in the second quarter with a 32% margin, this looks like a margin decline. But please keep in mind that we will have a strong growth also in our OEM business from more installed engines being shipped over the course of the next year. And that will continue to drive the development also on our margin profile despite the fact that we do have great spare parts business and also continued contribution from the spare and lease engines moving forward. With regard to -- the second question was about?
Johannes Bussmann: M&A.
Katja Garcia Vila: The M&A topic. Yes, I would say when we said that we do have a stronger cash conversion that we do see progress on our free cash flow even beyond the original expectations, what we try to say is that this offers us room to improve the total shareholder return, and this also offers us more room for potential M&A acquisitions. When we laid out the Paris guidance, we said that our first priority is to invest the cash into our business organically as we do have a lot of growth ahead of us, which is already contractually confirmed, and the market itself develops quite positively. The second priority was to reinstall the dividend policy. That's a top priority of us here also on the Executive Board to have our shareholders participate. And then we had 2 opportunistic measures, the potential share buybacks or investing into M&A activity. But that's not at the moment, the first priority.
Johannes Bussmann: So it was more agnostic statement, Adrien. And there is nothing concrete. We did 2 acquisitions this year. And I think we're good to go with that.
Operator: We will now take the next question, and the question comes from the line of Benjamin Heelan from Bank of America.
Benjamin Heelan: The first one was on the V2500. Cycles are down in the mid- to high teens level and have been since the beginning of this conflict in the Middle East. It seems to be performing a lot weaker than the competitors. So do you have any color for that? And how should we think about that impacting shop visits in 2027 and 2028? My second question is on associate income within the OEM division. It does look as though it's increased quite a lot, almost doubled. So could you give us a little bit of color as to what is driving that? Is that the GTF LeaseCo? And then finally, just looking within the details on cash flow, you've got receivables of about EUR 400 million, which Katja, I think, is partly on the prefinanced GTF MRO work. Could you give us some color as to how big that is within that? And how we should think about the magnitude of that prefinanced receivable over the next couple of years? And then the provisions and liabilities is completely flipped. It's now a EUR 200 million tailwind to cash. Can you just remind us what's included within that?
Johannes Bussmann: A lot of finance stuff, I go with the V first. So the V25 remains very strong for shops, and we also see that the work scopes on the engines when they come to their second and third shop visits are, of course, increasing, so getting heavier. So we are still optimistic on the continuation of the induction and also the revenues, cash flows and profits generated from the V, and we don't see any change. There are very, very little retirements on that one. And as I mentioned, the fleet has still a lot of life ahead. Workshops getting -- work scopes getting heavier. So for the next 2 years as you requested, '27, 2028, we're very confident that, that will be a good contributor to our business for this time frame.
Katja Garcia Vila: Okay. And now I take over. I hope I get all the individual questions that you have together. So I try to start from the top. First, I think you asked for dividend contributions to the cash flow or if the LeaseCo has contributed to the cash flow. Yes, it has. So we've received dividends from that entity on top of the dividends that we received from our equity consolidated companies. So that has impacted cash flow as also shown on the slide before. Regarding the receivables. So receivables, we have 2 drivers. Our strong sales performance in the quarter and also in the first half of the year has definitely also increased our trade receivables. Plus, we do have an increase in the prefinance shop visit receivables that also contributed there. Those will continue to increase as we have already described that before towards until the end of 2028, beginning of 2029 before they will turn into an overproportional contributor to cash flow performance over the years to come. And if you want to take the exact number, I think the exact number of increase on the GTF prefinance receivables is a double-digit million number. I think, EUR 64 million was the increase to the comparison. When you look at the provision side, you always need to take that at MTU together with the working capital development as when we do release the provisions, for example, for the GTF. This then is reflected in the working capital side. But we also do have an increase in working capital coming from the strong business performance that we had in the first half of the year.
Benjamin Heelan: Actually, just one quick follow-up. It wasn't on the associate dividend. It was on the associate income within the OEM division. It's gone from EUR 38 million to EUR 72 million, I think. I was just wondering, or are you saying that's linked to the increase in the JV dividend?
Katja Garcia Vila: Yes.
Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Christophe Menard from Deutsche Bank.
Christophe Menard: The first one I would have is on the GTF Advantage and Hot Section+. You're saying it's coming soon. Can you give us an idea of the customer or the client appetite for it and whether this will be a material contributor to MRO performance in '26? Or should we expect this to come later? I would also expect it to be a profitable activity. So any detailed granularity on this and timing, it would be interesting. And the second question is on your joint venture with Airbus on the fuel cells. Can you give us an idea of the incremental business it could represent? I mean, I think it's clearly not immediate. But when will it start being a driver for you? Is it post 2030? And to what extent?
Johannes Bussmann: Okay. Yes, Christophe, the GTFA is going out in the second half of the year. So first customer still to be announced and the ramp-up after that first delivery is around about 2 years. So until we -- then full delivery on the GTFA. Loan on the Hot Section+ that comes a little bit later and it's a package where customers can opt for. So I think it's a bit too early to say what the appetite from the customer side is. We see from the technical data that we are looking at that there should be a strong desire, especially for operators operating in harsh environment as the Hot Section+ gives really a lot of contribution to the durability when operators fly in these environments. But I think everybody wants to see it flying first and collect some data and see it in operation. And so that's, I think, a bit too early to talk about that one, and then customers can opt for it. And then there is a price tag to it and we see how that develops. On the joint venture with Airbus, I think 2030, that is really -- that would be very early. It's a real technology development program. So we need to see how this technology further proves. We have done a lot of developments so far on our side and all the tests are running very nicely. And then with that maturity of the technology, then we came together with Airbus and say, "Okay, now, we join forces here," and especially also separate the development team so that there is a full dedication on the technology development for flying fuel cell. But it's a technology program. So of course, there needs to be sooner or later a demonstrator as well to prove it to the public and other industry players that this technology can operate on a commercial basis. But I think we are well beyond 2030 before this happens. And as such, it's a combination of 2 major players in the industry joining forces on the technology road map, then a development plan for a commercial aircraft in the next couple of years.
Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Chloe Lemarie from Jefferies.
Chloe Lemarie: Yes. I have two, if I may. The first one is actually building on Ben's question on the V25. You've been returning more GTF to service over the past couple of months. I was wondering if you saw any changes in V25 utilization, specifically for those airlines which benefited from those return to service? And if you could explain the performance we've seen on cycles there? The second one is on the spare parts performance in H1. If you could split the total shop visit impact compared to work scope because you indicated that's going up. And pricing, I believe, is mid-single digits. So if you could confirm those drivers, that would be great.
Johannes Bussmann: Chloe, the -- we have actually no real visibility whether the output of the GTF or the increased output on the GTF has any direct impact on how the V25 operates. I think that's much more related to city pairs. We have summertime, so everything is up in the air. Anyhow, as people are going on holidays where possible, of course, the geopolitical topics are in place. That's for sure. But this -- the impact for us, it's not visible. Both products are very well in our shops performing and contributing to our workload. So also, if I look on the outlook, which slots are being booked, we don't see any movements that I could talk about any correlation in regard to an increased output on the GTF on the V. So that's nothing that we really see in our books.
Katja Garcia Vila: Maybe then I do take the question on spare parts, Chloe, that we don't break these effects down. What I can say is that we really had strong work scopes in our MRO workshops during the course of the first half of the year, which -- and also the second quarter was clearly stronger than the first quarter of the year on the spare parts business, especially maybe the CF6 has contributed to the strong performance here. Overall, we are -- when you look at the first half of the year at the moment at the upper end of our guidance for the spare parts growth development, and we do expect to stay within our guidance during the course of this year.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Rory Smith from Oxcap Analytics.
Rory Smith: It's Rory from Oxcap. Apologies if you've answered this already. My line dropped, I had to dial back in. But just looking at the OE performance there, you've called out the organic OE performance in USD stable due to higher deliveries of installed engines. Presumably, that means that spare engines are down year-over-year in Q2. I was just wondering if it's possible to add any color there or size that impact or any change in your previous comment that, that would be a sort of multiyear normalization. Is that happening faster now? That's my first question.
Katja Garcia Vila: Yes. So we always said that for this year, we do expect the number of spare engine deliveries to be pretty much stable compared to last year, but you have the effect coming from a higher share of installed engines and compared to Q2 last year, a normalization on the pricing level overall. So we have seen a little bit less deliveries in the second quarter on the spare and lease engines compared to the second quarter last year, plus the pricing topic definitely makes the comparison base in that regard, so difficult. For now, we do not have any reason to believe that there's any change in the assumptions that we have made when we laid out our midterm guidance and also the guidance for this year with regards to the share of spare and lease engines and their effect on our sales and profits.
Rory Smith: Okay. That's clear. And then my second one is just a clarification, actually. I think you said in answer to the previous question that you hadn't seen any change in the sort of the phasing of your slots going into 2027 vis-a-vis V2500 versus GTF. Is that true of the whole portfolio including wide-body engines? I know last quarter, we talked about the strength of the backlog technically sold out for 3 years. So just clarifying and confirming that, that's still the case and that you haven't seen any sort of churn in 2027's early bookings for shop visits.
Johannes Bussmann: That's correct. There are no turns, no changes. It's the normal business things discussing with airlines, stacking programs when to do what, material availability on the different types, but the very normal business that we are used to for years.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of David Perry from JPMorgan.
David Perry: Johannes, Katja, I hope you are both well. I hope you don't mind if I just loop back to the prior questions on the associate contribution in EBIT and also the dividend contribution on the cash flow. Just in both cases, is it related to any specific one-offs? So for example, last year, I know Pratt had some gains on selling engines or is this more a reflection of underlying trading in the lease JV and maybe in Zhuhai? I mean, are these run rate numbers we should take from H1? Should we be extrapolating them to the full year or future years? Or is there anything exceptional, both on P&L and cash flow, please?
Katja Garcia Vila: That was the only question. Okay. David, yes, I think we are all doing well at the moment. So let me answer the question like this. We already have strong contributions from dividend payments in the first quarter of the year, and we also called that out quite clearly and said that this is not going to be a recurring effect because dividends are usually paid out at the beginning of the year in principle like from the associated companies. So you should not use that as a run rate going forward for the full year. We also have contributions coming from a different mix in the lease business and those I would also not consider to be recurring in the next quarters on a very regular basis. Overall, a lot of that was expected. Business is going well. And that also led to the dividend payout.
David Perry: Okay. And sorry, just apologies. You said something right at the end to Rory on spare engines and profit, which I missed. Could you just repeat what you said? I got what you said about revenue, but I missed what you said about the impact on profit this year.
Katja Garcia Vila: I said that -- no, I didn't say that the profits run stable. I said that the number of lease engines being shipped is exactly as anticipated from our side for the full year. So there, we are fully in line with our original expectations. And I didn't say anything about profit contributions overall. I said that we have expected also some normalization compared to last year's Q2 pricing, which was extremely strong, but also that we anticipated when we laid out the guidance for the year.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of George Mcwhirter from Berenberg.
George Mcwhirter: I have two, please, as well. Firstly, on the individual engine spare parts demand across the fleet. You called out the V2500 and GTF as being -- as growing in the period. Can you just give a bit more detail about the other engines as well in Q2? And the second question is on the spare engine ratio as well. So do you expect the spare engine ratio to continue to decline in H2? Or could it be a bit lumpy, so Q3 is actually higher than Q2?
Johannes Bussmann: So on the different work scopes and material consumptions across all our fleets, there are no movements in terms of industry trends or something. It's more the individual use of our customers and target buildup scopes with leased engines and stuff like that. So there is nothing where I would talk about a trend that we see there. A couple of things come with the normal age, as I mentioned, on the V2500 that the second and third shop is heavier than the first one. But there is no stuff that is extraordinary or changing from what we are used to also on the other fleets on the widebodies, everything we're doing.
Katja Garcia Vila: And maybe with regards to the second half of the year, just when you remember last year's second half, there we had a strong pickup in our OE engine series sales, and that is also what we anticipate for this year. So the share of installed versus spare and lease engines should shift towards more -- towards small installed engines, which would then also, looking at the margin, had the respective impact. But you know how strong the demand for all our series production installed engines is. So there is an expectation that this will continue to increase.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Milene Kerner from Barclays.
Milene Kerner: I have three questions. The first one, your LeaseCo at OEM and MLS in MRO are currently benefiting from the market tightness on engines. As the OEM ramps, the GTF fleet management concludes, the durability will improve. How do you see the businesses evolving in the next 3 to 4 years? My second question is on MRO. Your revenue guidance of low to mid-teens for full year implies that H2 the growth will slow down to around low single digit. And I wanted to understand what were the main drivers of that moderation. And then the last question, Johannes, you mentioned that the MRO output on GTF has increased by 40%. Was this data for MTU or in total? Could you share some KPIs on the GTF MRO operation that you see at MTU? Could you also give us a sense of the mix between inspection and visit with this replacement and how this mix has changed over the last 12 months?
Johannes Bussmann: So the 40% is year-over-year and it's, of course, the entire network. That's how we look at the market. So that is, I think, all I can say about it. The other topics we don't split up in public. And in regarding to the LeaseCo, of course, if you look in the future and the growth on the MRO business, we run our leasing business to support our customers during the downtimes of the engines when they're in the shop. So this is something that will contribute to the -- to our business. And that's why also in our midterm guidance in Paris, we stated that, that goes up to around EUR 1 billion until 2030. But please keep in mind, we run this not as a stand-alone business. We run this to support our MRO. So it goes along with the MRO demand and our target is not to run it like other companies that are only doing leasing. For us, it's part of our MRO package to support our customers. So the development there actually goes in line with the demand that comes from the old MRO shops, which we talked about already earlier in terms of the growth.
Katja Garcia Vila: Maybe let me add to that a little bit, Milene. So everybody is always very much focused on the GTF and the PW1100 in our LeaseCo. We do not only have the PW1100 or the GTFs, we support our entire independent MRO network that we operate in our MRO shops. So also there, we see continuous demand increases in the business. And therefore, there is no reason to believe that our growth targets for the lease -- for the MLS leasing and asset management is under danger, taking into consideration the development on the PW1100. On the MRO sales growth for the second half of the year, we have already spoken that we have seen quite a high number of heavy shop visits in the first half of the year in our figures on the MRO side. And we've also inducted lots of engines due to the strong pressure from the market to perform shop visits there. We do expect in the second half of the year to have a change or a normalization on the mix side, which should then bring us into our full year guidance on the growth expectations for the MRO business. And then you had a third question on the mix between spare and lease engines. I'm not 100% sure anymore, Milene, I'm sorry. Can you help me with the third question again?
Milene Kerner: Yes. No, I actually didn't have a third question. It was around the GTF MRO. But I mean, just on the first one, I mean, what I was mentioning around the LeaseCo and MLS was more around, obviously, I mean, pricing and as durability will improve as the GTF fleet management will conclude, I mean -- and the OEM will ramp, I mean, we can maybe see like more retirements that could be more assets. I mean that was like more like global thinking that like just specifically actually on the GTF.
Katja Garcia Vila: Okay. Maybe then I will answer it a little bit more, Johannes. So looking further ahead, we always said that there is structurally for the newer engine platforms, so there's more demand on spare and lease engines as more engines are being operated under hot and harsh environment compared to prior years. Plus, we do see a significant increase in the fleet being managed over the next couple of years moving on, which will then also still continue to have a higher demand for spare and lease engines going forward. So -- and this is also what we have anticipated when we laid out our midterm guidance, Milene.
Johannes Bussmann: And also on the global side, exactly like that. And taking it a little bit broader, there's a strong demand on the power generation side for the industrial gas turbines coming on top of it, so -- which might also have a positive impact on that side. And definitely, will -- this requirement will last for quite a while because all of these stations are still in build. So I think we have a lot of confidence that this business is on a stable basis, also going forward on a broader scale, also beyond portfolios that we serve.
Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Olivier Brochet from Rothschild.
Olivier Brochet: I have two, please. I want to continue on Milene's question on MLS. You called it as a contributor to the MRO profits in H1. Is this something that you see recurring in H2 and 2027 as well? Second question is on the PW1500. Airbus is considering launching a stretch A220. If they do, does that require a significant investment for you if they need a higher thrust engine, please?
Katja Garcia Vila: I'll just start with the contribution of MLS towards the margin expansion. If you recall our guidance that we laid out on the midterm, we said that our MRO margin is going to expand to 8.5% to 9.5%. That's the margin guidance we have laid out for 2030. And MLS is one of the contributors that drives this margin expansion and margin development going forward. That's also one of the reasons why we grow the business continuously. So you can expect a positive margin contribution moving forward for the business to come. And we expect it to be stable to be -- the contribution from the margin to be stable moving forward.
Johannes Bussmann: And on the technology side, we don't expect any major investments that are required there if it comes to the -- if the program comes to life. So this is something which we are in the family that we are already running, I think, is something we can cover.
Operator: Your next question today comes on the line of Sash Tusa from Agency Partners.
Sash Tusa: I just wanted to follow up on the comments that you were making about the next European fighter aircraft and in your respect engine, where you said that you were in a dialogue with the German government and the military customer about what's required and so forth. From where you are today, which do you think is more likely that Germany launches its own fighter program and leads it with other European countries? Or that Germany and hence, German industry applies to join the GCAP program?
Johannes Bussmann: So I can become popular now. I think -- I mean, really, it's a customer decision. Just looking at the facts, if you look, the GCAP has now with the release of the next 2 tranches from the British government. I think they have an industrial setup that is performing. They have now a finance setup that is performing. So this is definitely something that is now more clarified than it was maybe a couple of weeks or a month ago. And secondly, the discussion on what is the setup in Europe, how the next fighter is built, that is something the politicians need to decide. The -- just from an engineer perspective, the German industry could do this. Yes, we can build the engine but there are also a lot of other things. But whether that is feasible in terms of having also a market out there and have other countries to buy it, I think that's a different perspective to look at it. And at the end of the day, it's always the same. The political parties need to make a decision, and then the industry follows that. I think we contributed to from our side, everything that is required for the governments to make decisions so that they know what the industry is able to do. And it's not a question of ability. It's a question, I think, of political will and decision now, and that's what we're waiting for.
Operator: We will now take our final question for today. And the final question comes from the line of Chloe Lemarie from Jefferies.
Chloe Lemarie: Thank you for allowing me back in the queue. I just wanted to check on the OEM revenue performance in Q2, so the minus 8% mentioned in the slide versus the different elements. So should we assume that pricing within OE is the big driver of the differential between the different subsegments and the headline number? Or is it more FX revaluation that's driving the difference?
Katja Garcia Vila: So the difference is definitely the comparison base of last year. So there's an element of FX in it, but there was also definitely an element of pricing in it, Chloe, for last year in the Q2 figures that makes this comparison so difficult.
Chloe Lemarie: And just to be clear, so in the stable comment on OE, that does not take into account the actual pricing, realized pricing there?
Katja Garcia Vila: On the...
Chloe Lemarie: On the -- because on the slide, it's mentioned that OE sales are stable. And that does not take into account realized pricing, does it?
Katja Garcia Vila: So last year, the commercial growth was smaller than the euro growth, so that is reflected in here. So when you look at the full half year figures, yes, so the effects last year were included in the organic growth. And this year, it's also included in the organic growth.
Operator: This concludes the Q&A session for today. I will now hand the call back to Thomas for closing remarks.
Thomas Franz: Thank you, Sharon. Yes, this marks the end of today's call. Thank you all for joining. Have a great rest of the day. And yes, for additional questions, reach out to the Investor Relations team. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. We want to thank Mr. Dr. Johannes Bussmann; and Mrs. Katja Garcia Vila and all participants of this conference. Goodbye.