FER

Good morning or good afternoon, everyone. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the company's operating results for the first quarter of 2026. I am joined here today by our CFO, Ernesto López Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation made available on our website, sorry, yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. Separately, we note that the company's 2026 investor presentation and fact book is expected to be available on the company's website shortly after this conference call concludes. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. You will have the opportunity to ask questions live.

If you prefer, you can send questions through the forum included in the webcast, I will be reading them out loud at the end of the Q&A session. Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation, 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 Ernesto. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia. Good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first quarter of 2026. Starting, I mean, overall, the first quarter was a solid start to the year with a strong growth across our core businesses, particularly in North American highways. Also continued progress at the New Terminal One at JFK. A stable construction margins despite higher up from bidding and IT investments to support future growth. From a financial perspective, net debt excluding infrastructure projects was reported as negative net debt or net cash amounting to EUR 1.2 billion. The primary sources of cash included a construction operating cash flow of EUR 144 million. On the other hand, the principal cash outflow consisted of treasury shares purchases totaling EUR 162 million.

On a consolidated basis, revenue grew 10.2% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15%, also like-for-like, and adjusted EBIT grew 10.6%, like-for-like as well. Let's move now to the 407 ETR. The asset delivered another strong quarter. Traffic increased by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by the continued use of targeted driving offers, as well as an increase in mobility and rush hour commuting from a higher percentage of on-site employees. This was partially offset by unfavorable winter weather. Revenue grew 20%, with toll revenues growing by 22.1% in the quarter, reflecting a combination of higher toll rates that were effective since January 1, 2026 and higher traffic volumes.

As a result, EBITDA increased by 25.4% versus the first quarter of 2025, including a Schedule 22 provision of CAD 8.1 million, significantly lower than the one we recorded in the first quarter last year. On the other hand, operating costs were higher, driven by higher customer operations, also higher highway operations that are related to worse weather requiring higher winter maintenance and higher system operations that increased with more segmented promotions implementation. When looking at the monthly traffic performance compared to 2025, as shown in the graph, it is important to bear in mind that in the first quarter of 2026, traffic performance reflects three months of promotions, targeted promotions, compared to the first quarter of 2025, where promotions started in March on a broad basis.

It was only 1 month, and this has impact on the traffic comparability. I will also highlight that the demand segmentation strategy continues to work really well. It is helping us to balance pricing, traffic distribution, and service levels while maximizing EBITDA, which remains the key financial performance metric for the asset. This more segmented approach could distort the traffic comparison going forward since promotions last year were broadly based. Regarding dividend distribution, no dividends were paid in the 1st quarter, but the board approved a CAD 500 million dividend to be paid in the 2nd quarter of 2026. Now we move to Dallas-Fort Worth, and here the managed lanes posted double the revenue per transaction growth, significantly outperforming U.S. inflation.

This was despite the negative impact on traffic from adverse weather, particularly in January, including more managed lanes closures than in the first quarter of 2025. Let's look at each of the assets. At NTE, traffic declined 3.6%, reflecting the impact of capacity improvement construction works and adverse weather, particularly in January. These works are expected to be completed by year-end, except for 2 additional ramps that began construction last year. Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 13.1% in the first quarter, and adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.2%. Including the accrual of $2.4 million of revenue share in the quarter. Regarding LBJ, traffic declined 1.5% due to construction works in adjacent corridors and weather impacts. Revenue increased by 9.8% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.9%.

At NTE 35W, traffic increased 1%. This also despite adverse weather and congestion at certain entry and exit points, as well as the finalization of capacity restrictions linked to construction works on competing nearby State Highway 121. Revenue increased by 18.3%. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 18.1%, and this includes $7.5 million of revenue share accrued in the quarter. Looking at the revenue per transaction, all assets increased well above inflation. NTE revenue per transaction was up 18.3%, LBJ up 11.5%, and NTE 35W up 17.3%. This was driven by several factors.

A favorable traffic mix with higher heavy traffic volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition implemented throughout 2025 and 26, with this improved vehicle classification and higher overall commercial and heavy vehicles. We had a higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE 35W. Let's go now to the I-66 and I-77, our managed lanes in Virginia and North Carolina. At I-66 we saw a very solid quarter. Traffic increased by 8.3% compared to first quarter last year, showing a strong resilience despite adverse weather. This was supported by the growth in mobility across the corridor and our ability to capture value through dynamic pricing.

Revenue per transaction grew close to 5%, 4.9% in the quarter, and the revenue in the quarter grew in total 13.6% versus last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.1% in the quarter. At I-77, traffic declined by 5.6% versus last year, mainly due to adverse weather, together with the exceptional performance in the first quarter last year. Remember that then alternative routes remained partially closed following hurricane-related events. Despite the traffic decline, revenue per transaction increased 14.2%, reflecting higher toll rates. Adjusted EBITDA declined 11.9% compared to the first quarter last year. This was negatively impacted by the step up in the revenue share band from 25% to 55% revenue share.

This is largely a first year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA included the accrual of EUR 8 million of revenue share. Well, regarding airports, starting with the New Terminal One at JFK, the project continues to progress through a crucial year for construction and integration. In terms of the schedule, as we explained in the full year 2025 earnings, the contractor has communicated an updated target, where the completion date for the first phase falls in the fall of 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, the first operational readiness and airport transfer trials began during the quarter, and the project reached 87% construction progress.

Airline engagement continues against a challenging backdrop. We have secured commitments with 30 airlines, including 21 executed agreements and 9 letters of intent. As of March 2026, total equity invested stands at EUR 978 million, and we have EUR 64 million pending that are expected to be injected in 2026. At Dalaman, the first quarter reflects the typical off-peak season. Domestic traffic supported performance, and traffic increasing by 9.8%, while the international volumes were affected by geopolitical challenges in the Middle East. On a full year basis, the airports remains predominantly international, with the peak season starting late March and is expected to be affected by the instability in the Middle East.

Moving to construction, margins remained stable year on year, while, I mean, there were higher bidding and IT costs aimed at supporting future growth as we have explained in past quarters. Regarding the operations in the different geographies, Budimex maintained stable margins at 6.5% EBIT despite lower volumes due to adverse weather. Webber delivered higher margins benefiting from increased production and operating leverage. Ferrovial Construction margins were slightly lower due to higher investment costs related to bidding and IT, with revenues remaining stable. The order book remained at an all-time high of EUR 17.6 billion, up 0.5% on a like for like versus December, excluding approximately EUR 1.3 billion of additional projects not yet included because they are pending award or financial close.

The composition of the order book remains very healthy given the lower weight of large design and build projects with non-group companies. Almost half of our backlog is in our core U.S. and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth. The operating cash flow at construction, excluding tax and dividends, amounted to EUR 144 million in the quarter, mainly driven by advanced payments and compensations received in U.S. and Canada. Moving to the net debt position and cash flow. Net debt excluding infrastructure projects was negative, or let's say net cash, EUR 1.2 billion at the end of first quarter 2026. As shown in the bridge, dividends from projects are small, including some dividends from IRB in India and Silvertown Tunnel in U.K.

Remember that dividends also come later in the year in the managed lanes, in June and end of the year, and also along the year in the 407 ETR. We also had a solid cash flow from construction that I just mentioned in the previous slide that reflects advance payments received together with the compensations and, in general, the good performance of the operations. Tax payments are mostly related to Budimex. In terms of investments, these are mostly related to construction and equity invested in energy projects, while divestments are largely related to services, business sales, earnouts, and so on. Additionally, we repurchased treasury shares for a total amount of EUR 162 million in the quarter.

Lastly, the other cash flows from or used in financing activities reached EUR 421 million. This included the issuance of EUR 500 million bonds that took place in March. Well, we did not include any slide with the scrip dividend, but I'm sure you all got the information. We announced also yesterday the first scrip dividend for an amount of EUR 400 million. Okay. Thanks for your attention, and I now hand back to Silvia to open up the Q&A session.

Okay. Thank you very much, Ernesto. Let's start now with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, we'll now begin the Q&A session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 5 on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star 5 again. Please ensure that your device is unmuted locally before proceeding with your question. Our first question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Maybe I'll ask 3 questions, if you allow me. The first one on Texas lanes. You mentioned the building blocks for the price increases: technology, vehicle mix, mandatory modes. Could you give us a bit more color on the contribution from each of these blocks? If the tailwinds are sustainable into 2Q and 3Q? The second one, again, for the U.S. lanes, if we zoom in on the last couple of months when gasoline prices in the U.S. is up 30%-50%, would you tell us a bit more how does traffic look like in the context of that?

You know, any color you could give us, is traffic off-peak suffering or leisure traffic a bit weaker or any other changes in behavior of the users? The last one, please. The ETR407, you talk about, the introduction of a loyalty program going forward. Could you elaborate a bit on the start date, the rationale behind introducing it, and any details on how it will work? Thank you.

Okay. Thanks, Cristian. Well, let me see what kind of color, without giving really numbers, I can give you. I mean, regarding the revenue per transaction performance, technology has been implemented. There's still, I mean, a little bit remaining, but mostly done in technology to better identify cars. That was the main driver. It started last year, as I said, also this quarter as well. That is the main driver. In second place, yes, we've seen underlying better performance of heavies and commercial. It's not to the same scale, but it has contributed. The third one would be mandatory modes. Please allow me not to give you the split here.

These things tend to be commercially sensitive. The first one, yes, will, let's say, diminish the impact in the coming months. The rest we'll see. We have to monitor the economy. This is related to the second question. I mean, yes, gasoline prices have been going up. We haven't identified any significant movement. Always, of course, when gasoline prices go up, they affect, but people tend to do the trips they have to do. We'll have to see a sustained situation of higher prices to maybe see a different development. We'll have to monitor that. So far, we haven't seen anything really significant.

It's also true that the economy is something that is important, that has kept performing, right? No, no news yet. We'll keep monitoring that. Well, regarding the 407 ETR, I mean, there's no details I can share on loyalty schemes. Usually these kind of schemes is about providing value in terms of trips to people that reach some levels of consumption, things like that. I mean, this is still being designed and also is, let's say commercially sensitive. We will update more when we launch, we will keep updating other quarters. That's kind of the basics is what I mentioned.

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I'll have three, I think. First of all, on the U.S. managed lanes in Q1, we saw traffic. I mean, you mentioned traffic has been impacted by one-offs in Q1. Maybe you could help us understand the impact that those one-offs had on Q1 traffic and revenue. Second, could you give us an update on your U.S. managed lane pipeline and bidding process?

Third, related to that second question, I was wondering if your shareholder return policy is dependent on any managed lane wins, and therefore do we need to wait until you have more visibility on that until we have an update on your shareholder return policy, which I think the last time you guided on that was at the last CMD for 2024, 2026. Basically the question is when are we gonna get an update? Are you planning to do something at the end of this year, maybe beginning of 2027? Is this dependent on the win of any new projects? Thanks a lot.

Thanks, Elodie. I cannot give much detail numbers on whether January was worse. I mean, we don't provide this specific detail, but it was part of the drop in traffic. It was most relevant in the construction works that really affect the overall corridor, right? Yes, it affected negatively, but I mean, if I were to highlight it, LBJ is more affected by the construction, either in the corridor or on the adjacent corridors. Regarding the bidding process, we expect to have news on the awards.

This is, I guess, public information from Tennessee in late August and from Atlanta in mid to late October. That's the expectation at the moment for the awards. Regarding the future strategy, yes, we are finalizing 2026. That was the last, the last one provided. The strategy of growth and remuneration are linked. We're not talking only about these projects, but growth in general. We'll shape our distribution in line with the growth we expect in the different business and perspectives. When will we update that? Just probably will have to be not this year, but early next year. This has to be decided. Yes, we will have to see how we balance growth and remuneration.

Okay. Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thanks for taking our questions. First of all, apologies, if you've already covered my questions. I had some technical issues. My three questions are the following. Can we read anything, Ernesto, into the significant increase in dividends for the 407 ETR versus last year? Can we extrapolate for the rest of the year? The second question is if there are any penalties associated to the contractors' delayed completion of the NTO project. I mean, penalties or basically payments to you. The final question is, the average revenue per transaction on the I-66 was below the other assets in terms of year-on-year growth. Can you provide some light on the drivers behind this? Thank you.

Okay. Thanks, Luis. Yes, the 407 had a higher dividend, both related to performance and better financing, let's say additional debt. This is something that we have discussed in other conference calls. The 407 has some leeway that we will have to see along a long time how we are optimizing that. Please forgive me for not providing a guidance for the dividends for this year, but clearly it has started higher and the performance is very good. Looking forward to the remainder of the year, we'll see how it finalizes.

The second question was on NTO, right? With any potential penalties, I guess, is to us, not the, not the contractor. I mean, you see, if it's to us, I mean, it would have to be a huge delay to start having some sort of penalties, right? So it'd have to be beyond June 2027 to get some sort of a small penalty for us. Not expected to happen. Yes, the contractor, we can apply LDs if there's no fulfillment. And that's something that, of course, has to be settled a long time.

Regarding the I-66, this route has a lower revenue per transaction. I wouldn't try to read anything there regarding elasticity. I mean, we've seen more widespread traffic along the day. That area is having more business activity during the midday. Yeah, I'm, I mean, I think that the performance of the asset is positive, and we shouldn't read into this kind of slowing down in revenue per transaction. We'll have to keep looking at it going forward.

Excellent. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thanks very much. I'll just 2 questions from me, I think. First one, I'm just trying to get my head around a little bit of these sort of bottlenecks and congestion zones around the Texas lanes and how much they might be impacting traffic. I don't know if there's any additional color you can give on just some of the adjacent activity that's going on, which is impacting your assets there in Texas and any timing that you're seeing on the ground when that might alleviate, which obviously would be sort of a negative from your perspective or just a bit more sort of, I guess, on the ground color as it seems like there's a number of different sort of factors going on there and just that's affecting performance positively today?

Second question really just on the managed lanes market beyond what you've already mentioned in the report. I think Maryland, P3 market seems to be warming up after being very cold for a long time. There's been Pennsylvania mentioned, other airports. Any color on just project pipeline that you're seeing beyond what's kind of announced, that might be sort of adding into the funnel further up, would be interesting. Thank you.

Okay, let me see what I can tell you here. Well, really, traffic in NTE is directly affecting the corridor. Right? It's true that also, I mean, at peak time, we could have mandatory modes that are related to, I mean, less width or capacity at the road, right? When it opens, yes, the corridor should come back and, yeah, it has declined on an important manner in the last 3 years, right? We'll have to see how that balances out. Regarding the 35W, yes, you have some limit in your capture due to these bottlenecks.

It's also true that congestion is higher, you have some mandatory modes, right? We don't have visibility on when there will be solution to this bottlenecks. We'll update as soon as we have. Regarding LBJ, we have different roads that should affect LBJ throughout 2026. These are roads that are not, let's say, controlled by us. Yes, expectation is that they will be completed around 2026 and open in 2027. I mean, that's information that is provided by the grantor. We'll have to see if it materializes. 2026 should definitely be still affected, right? I don't know, Graham, is that covered what we were addressing? Sorry, I cannot give more specific details.

No, that's helpful. Thank you. Thank you, Ernesto. Just on the pipeline, I guess.

The pipeline, well, the pipeline, I mean, what I can say is that in general, there's more support for P3s. We'll see how that materializes, accelerates. Yes, the background is better. I think that really Tennessee and Atlanta are bringing some projects that others are watching. The fact that you can ease pressure on government or state finances with a much needed infrastructure through P3 is attractive. The only thing I can say is that there's some momentum, but we don't have visibility on them coming to the market finally or dates or so, but we will keep updating.

Understood. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

Thanks.

Our following question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple of them, if that's okay. You've provided the breakup of traffic by months for 407 ETR. That's very helpful. Would we be getting something similar for the U.S. managed lanes, please? The second, when I look at the 407 ETR traffic performance, obviously you've mentioned that because the base did not have the promotions, there's that fact impact flowing through. If you kind of strip that out, then would you see traffic growth more or less in line with what you see with March? Or what's the underlying momentum been for, say, January, February, and March? Thank you.

Okay. Thanks for the questions. No, we won't be providing more granularity on the managed lanes. I know this could be a little bit frustrating, but it's commercially sensitive for the different things that we've mentioned, from lights, heavies, and also mostly traffic. No, we don't have plans to provide that information as in the 407 ETR. Regarding the 407 ETR traffic, please bear something in mind. Last year we had promotions that were very broad. People were getting the same kind of promotions that didn't really address segmentation properly. Now we have promotions that are targeted, and that could distort traffic comparisons.

We have to focus more on the revenue growth, on the total revenue growth specifically. That could come with not necessarily higher traffic, right? Just bear in mind that that comparison will be distorted. I am sure we cannot provide more information. This is commercially sensitive, traffic is not going to be a driver. I mean, the segmentation is different this year.

No problem, Ernesto. Thanks. I was just trying to get to any potential color on, you know, how the, you know, fuel price at the pump might have impacted traffic. Are you seeing anything of that sort with March exit rates?

I mean, not really that we could differentiate. There's always some slight negative elasticity. Really, that sometimes happens with an economy that is performing, and they turn to to wash out. The economies where we operate have been okay, so we will have to see if this lingers. I mean, how it could how it could affect. I mean, nothing that we can really highlight in the first quarter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from Dario Maglione, from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Hi, Ernesto. I have three questions. To come back to this point, if I understood correctly, you mentioned that you didn't see much of an impact of higher fuel prices on the U.S. express lanes. Can you maybe comment on the 407 ETR, given the 1% traffic growth in March? The second question is on NTO. The construction, you mentioned that the operational readiness trials have started. This sounds like a positive message. I'm just wondering whether you now feel more confident that the timeline for opening this terminal will be the fall of 2026. The third and last question, a bit technical on the tax expense on the P&L. It was a EUR 60 million positive for the full year 2025. What's your respect for 2026? Thanks, Ernesto.

Okay. Thanks, Dario. Regarding fuel prices, what I've said is that, yes, when you have higher fuel prices, you have some negative elasticity. In the short term, if the economy is performing, the economic performance tends to wash out to compensate for that, and people make the trips that they have to make. We will have to see if this takes longer. Yes, it could affect. So far, we don't have any evidence of any impact in the first quarter, right? We'll have to keep monitoring that. That is similar in the 407 in Toronto.

There has been higher mobility with higher return to the office. It's true that in terms of economy in heavies, construction and trucks related to car parts movements and that kind of business has been slower. I mean, the overall economy has seen higher mobility. When we talk about traffic regarding the 407 ETR and March, I will again refer to the explanation I've been giving throughout the call. Promotions are very different this year, right? Last year they were broadly based. Now they are more segmented, right?

Maybe we have a situation where we are growing our revenues handsomely, but traffic doesn't grow that much or even falls, right? Traffic has been clearly affected by promotions. It's something that we manage and we target, right? Throughout last year, we got a lot of experience. Right now they are more targeted, we should really focus more on the financial result because segmentation is gonna bring different traffic patterns. The question regarding NTO. Yes, the contractor has provided that finalization for phase A date in the fall of 2026. It can be done with the right resources. It's not under our control. I mean, we push for this.

Eventually, I mean, we need the contractor to deliver with their resources. Yes, we expect it to happen there. If there's any slippage, it's, I mean, not to be not to be a long one. Yes, when we talk about finalization of construction, we also talk about the start of operations. I mean, that's something that goes hand in hand because we do the operational readiness, I mean, Demond said before, right? We're not talking about civil works, we're talking about the whole construction and operations starting. Not having, let's say, any lead time between construction finalization and the start of operations. That's the idea. The expectation is fall 2026, as we mentioned.

Regarding taxes, last year, the accounting number that you mentioned is related to some one-offs. Really when we focus into the cash component, the efficiency of the tax groups means that while we are developing new projects, we don't expect any really impact in the U.S. We pay taxes in Canada and Poland mainly and slightly in Spain, right? While we are developing business in the U.S., this is not happening, right? I cannot provide you any guidance, just this kind of framework for any model you may be doing.

Thank you, Ernesto.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from José Manuel Arroyas from Santander. Please go ahead.

Hello, Ernesto. I wanted to come back to two answers you provided earlier. First is on 407 ETR and the ability to relever the asset. What's the extent of the opportunities, and what are the metrics that you're looking at? Is it the debt service coverage ratios? Is it net debt to EBITDA? Any color there would be helpful. On NTE, I wanted also to ask you about a clarification on the risk of mandatory modes diminishing next year once construction works end related to the expansion. Is that risk significant or moderate going into next year? Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. Thanks for the question. Let me see how I can address those. Regarding the 407 ETR, leverage is assessed on a debt service coverage ratio, but I've always mentioned that you shouldn't expect the 407 big recaps just to optimize the structure along the different years, trending more to a DSCR that don't have so much headroom, right? That's the level. I don't provide a target. That's something that right now is clearly above 2 times, but we cannot provide the level that we could be targeting a long time. Yes, there's some headroom there, as you rightly pointed out. Please don't think of big recaps here.

Regarding NTE, well, we have two effects once we open, right? I mean, one of them is, there's gonna be more capacity that lowers mandatory modes that don't weigh that much now. That's important to bear in mind. It also comes with people that have left the corridor coming back to the corridor, right? The fall in the corridor traffic has been substantial, right? These two effects will play. We are not providing any guidance. The only thing when we're talking about the risk of this, mandatory modes in NTE hasn't been that, let's say, relevant. They have played a role, but this is not the bulk of the revenue growth at all. It could be in the future, but not now.

Our following question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Yes. Good afternoon, and thank you. My first question, you are obviously continuing to roll out customer discounts for the 407 ETR, but is there any update on the possibility of rolling out some sort of discounts or incentives or loyalty programs for the U.S. managed lanes? Do you see a way for this to potentially allow you to optimize EBITDA of these assets? Question number two, I mean, you mentioned technology enhancements helping your revenue per transaction on the U.S. managed lanes, but are you referring to perhaps reducing toll evasion or perhaps some trips being billed correctly, or you're just more generally talking about improving your pricing mechanism, pricing algorithm? If I can squeeze in one more very quickly.

Thinking about higher dividends and potential recaps of infrastructure assets, is the I-66 another asset on top of the 407 ETR, where there is in your view some headroom in terms of the balance sheet and the possibility to distribute more generous dividends? Thank you.

Thanks, Marcin. Thanks for all the questions. I mean, we are working. I mean, it's not something that is readily available, but we are working on the possibility of promotions and therefore more segmentation in all the U.S. highways. Yes, we are working on that, so in the future that could help. Yes, but I mean, we are not there yet. We will update the market. I mean, we are working on it. We will update the market when we reach something. In terms of the technology, what it has helped is to identify commercial vehicles and heavies that were not properly identified before. Nothing to do with evasion.

We don't face any, let's say, collectivity, collecting risk in the express lanes in Dallas-Fort Worth. It has been about identification of commercials and heavies. The third question, yes, the I-66 has potential for recap, as was in the let's say a bid business plan that was submitted for reference. It won't be this year nor the next. It's not, it's not far away, but it's not this year or the next that we will see a recap in the I-66.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, please be reminded that in order to ask a question, you must press star 5 on your telephone keypad. Our final question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Yeah. Good afternoon, guys. Just a quick one on the 407. If I understand correctly, you're basically preparing us for potentially for softer traffic sequentially, but for much higher capture of price rises that you've done in 2025, 2026. It means basically lower. I mean, does this mean lower discounting on an absolute terms from here because it's more targeted? Does it also imply you're now with the current traffic levels, you're very comfortable where that traffic puts you versus the Schedule 22 risk?

Well, thanks, Nicolas. I mean, you are reading into what I said. I'm not confirming or denying. I'm saying that traffic shouldn't be comparable. Yes, we could have lower traffic, but maybe we're doing better. I mean, I'm not saying if it's gonna be lower or higher, just that it's more important to follow the other metric as you rightly point out. Yes, regarding the Schedule 22, we have provided for a number that takes into account all these effects that we were considering when we were budgeting. Yes, that's what we are expecting for Schedule 22 to reflect.

All right. Thank you. If, if I may, a last one on talking about the reopening or the end of the construction works on NT and maybe, and the adjacent to LBJ into late 2026, 2027. Do you have a sense of how much traffic you might have lost versus trend and that you may recover once the asset go back to normal?

Well, we are not providing figures on the corridor because also that would mean we would be providing figures on our capture rate. We are on a commercially sensitive, I mean, ball game now, so no, we're not providing that. I would say that NTE, yes, the traffic reduction in the past three years in the corridor has been important. Our capture rate has held well, so I mean, that's all I can comment.

All right. We have to try. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our final question comes from Mark Ip from Citi. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thanks for the question. I've got one here just actually on the construction business. EBIT margins through from 1% in the 1st quarter. I'm just wondering how should we think about that in the context throughout the year and against your kind of long-term 3.5% target. Following from that, maybe on the Ferrovial Construction business, can you just give a little bit more color on what you've seen with the higher costs there and whether that will drive any sort of margin benefit in the later periods from that? Thank you.

Hi, thanks. Well, regarding construction margins, the only guidance we have is our, let's say, a standing long-term average, 3.5% EBIT margin. As I said, it's an average. The backlog is healthy. We're not providing, let's say, guidance for margins this year. I mean, you can see from the cash performance, one of the thing that the backlog is healthy. Our only guidance is long term, and that we stick to that. Sorry, what was the second question?

Just a bit more color.

The cost.

on the Ferrovial infrastructure cost.

Regarding the cost. Yeah. Sorry. I mean, well, basically all these costs are related to bidding. I mean, it's true that we bid like next year, but we also keep looking at other developments. This year is gonna be affected by this kind of bidding and IT and IT costs. Going forward it could be different depending on our success. Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to the Ferrovial team. Your line is open.

Thank you. Thank you all for your questions. There were a couple of questions in the webcast. We understand that all of them have been already answered. There are no more questions.

Well, thanks a lot. Thanks for attending the call, and, well, looking forward to meeting you shortly. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the financial results for the full year of 2025. I'm joined here today by our Chairman, Rafael del Pino; our CEO, Ignacio Madridejos; and our CFO, Ernesto Lopez Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and the presentation are available on our website since yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. At the end of the presentation, there will be a Q&A session run by our CEO and our CFO. [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. Other than as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. 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. With all this, I will hand over to Rafael. Rafael, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and good afternoon, everyone. Ferrovial delivered a robust performance across all business divisions in 2025. In Highways, our North American assets continue to deliver outstanding revenue and EBITDA growth. In Airports, we continue to make progress at New Terminal One at New York's JFK Airport, where our focus is now on operational readiness. And in Construction, all lines of business achieved an outstanding performance. On the financial side, we closed the year with a solid cash position with negative net debt, excluding infra projects of $1.3 billion. This was supported by record dividends received from our infra assets that reached EUR 968 million. In addition, we collected proceeds of EUR 533 million from the sale of AGS and EUR 539 million from the divestment of a 5% stake in Heathrow Airport. These cash flows were combined with investments for growth that included the acquisition of an additional 5% stake in 407 ETR for EUR 1.3 billion as well as EUR 236 million of equity injections in NTO. At the same time, we returned to shareholders EUR 156 million in cash and repurchased shares totaling EUR 501 million. We also achieved significant milestones in 2025. We were shortlisted for the bidding of the I-285 East Express Lanes in Georgia and the I-24 Southeast Choice Lanes in Tennessee, both of which are expected to be awarded this year. And in February 2026, Ferrovial Consortium was shortlisted for the I-77 South Express Lanes Project. Following our U.S. listing in 2024, Ferrovial joined the NASDAQ-100 Index in December, a key milestone that reflects our growing presence in the North American market and the confidence investors place in our long-term strategy. In the following slide, we review some of the key figures for the year. Revenue reached EUR 9.6 billion, up 8.6% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis, driven mainly by higher revenues in highways and construction. Adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR 1.5 billion, representing a 12.2% year-over-year increase on a like-for-like basis, supported by the growing contribution from our portfolio of Managed Lanes in the U.S. and a very solid year in our construction business. The construction order book reached a new all-time high of EUR 17.4 billion with almost 50% coming from North America. Dividends from projects reached a record EUR 968 million, showing a 2.2% increase year-over-year, led by contributions from Managed Lanes and 407 ETR. As mentioned before, a solid cash position with negative net debt ex infra projects reached $1.3 billion. And finally, total shareholder return in 2025 reached an outstanding 38.6%. I will now hand it over to Ignacio, who will review Ferrovial's performance in 2025 by business division. Ignacio, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Rafael, and hello, everyone. Let me begin with an update on our strategy. Our key North American infrastructure assets, the 407 ETR and the U.S. Managed Lanes continue to perform strongly. The 407 ETR delivered double-digit EBITDA growth, while the Managed Lanes reported revenue growth significantly above inflation. In NTO, we advanced in the construction of the New Terminal One at JFK and invested EUR 236 million in equity over the year. In terms of growth opportunities in North American highway assets, we increased our stake in 407 ETR to 48.29% showing our confidence in the long-term prospects of the Greater Toronto area and the long-term value creation of the asset. During 2025, we also made significant progress in our U.S. pipeline. We were shortlisted for I-285 East in Georgia and I-24 in Tennessee, both of which are expected to be awarded this year. Additionally, in February 2026, Ferrovial's Consortium was shortlisted for the I-77 South Express Lanes project in North Carolina with award estimated for 2027. All 3 are managed lanes projects in fast-growing metro regions. We are facing a record pipeline of infrastructure projects in the U.S., larger than anything we have seen before. As cities continue to expand and congestion intensifies, managed express lanes and toll-based systems have proven to be reliable and highly efficient solutions. Beyond highways, we continue to monitor opportunities across other infrastructure segments, including airports like NTO with capacity expansion needs, greenfield data centers and energy infrastructure projects. Recent examples include the development of solar photovoltaic projects in Texas and the acquisition of land plots for data center development in Spain and Poland. We remain selective when pursuing only those opportunities where our capabilities provide a clear competitive advantage and the risk return profile aligns with our strategic priorities. Our capital allocation strategy, focused on mature assets, continues to provide flexibility to reinvest in the most attractive opportunities. Our divestments in Hydro and AGS in 2025 are good examples of this. This growth strategy will be funded by solid cash flow expected from our current portfolio in the following years, while we continue to maintain our financial discipline with a focus on delivering value creation for our shareholders. Turning to Highways. 2025 was another outstanding year for the business division, especially in North America. Highways revenue grew 13.7% like-for-like in the year, while adjusted EBITDA was up 12.2%, driven by a strong double-digit growth from our U.S. assets. In the fourth quarter, the adjusted EBITDA declined by 2.9% compared to previous year, impacted by foreign exchange and higher bidding costs. U.S. Highways revenue grew 14.2% in like-for-like terms in 2025 compared to previous year and adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.4% versus 2024. Dividends from our North American Highways totaled EUR 855 million in 2025, reflecting the strong growth and cash generation of these concessions. The figure is slightly below the EUR 860 million in 2024, but remember that 2024 includes the first dividend from I-77 after 5 years of operation, which was an extraordinary amount of EUR 205 million. Turning to the 407 ETR. The asset delivered an outstanding performance in 2025. Traffic increased by 6.1% in 2025. This growth reflects the success of targeted rush hour driving offers as well as the increase in mobility from Return To Office mandates, partially offset by unfavorable winter weather in 2025. Revenue grew 17.8% year-over-year, with toll revenue increasing 17.6%, primarily due to the higher toll rates that came into effect on January 1, 2025. Looking at fourth quarter figures, revenue per trip grew by 7.1% compared to 11.7% for the full year. This last quarter's performance was mainly due to seasonality and a softer contribution from heavy vehicles, which pay higher toll rates. In terms of EBITDA, it grew 14.2%, impacted by the Schedule 22 expense provision that was CAD 40.9 million in 2025, along with an extraordinary higher provision for lifetime expected credit losses. Looking at promotions, they work very well in incentivizing more efficient use of the road throughout 2025. These targeted offers continue to provide us valuable insights into customer behavior. We expect our focus on demand segmentation to continue enhancing value for users and maximizing EBITDA growth. Regarding dividends in 2025, the 407 ETR distributed a total of CAD 1.5 billion. Lastly, on January 1 of this year, the new toll rate and fee scheme was implemented. Moving now to our Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes. In terms of traffic, the corridor remains strong, while traffic in our Managed Lanes was impacted by construction works. 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. Remember that revenue sharing is a consequence of the overperformance of the assets. At NTE, traffic declined 4.7% compared to 2024 due to the ongoing impact from capacity improvement construction works. These works are expected to be completed by year-end except for 2 additional ramps that began construction last year. Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 8.1% in 2025 and adjusted EBITDA grew by 5.5% year-over-year, including $8.1 million of revenue share in 2025. At LBJ, traffic was flat in 2025 despite the impact of construction works affecting nearby connecting highways. In the fourth quarter, traffic performance was affected by changes in the staging of adjacent projects. Revenue grew 8.6% in the year, while adjusted EBITDA grew 9.2% versus 2024. At NTE 35 West, traffic increased by 2.9% in 2025, reflecting solid demand across the corridor. When looking into the fourth quarter performance, the traffic was down by 0.4%, impacted by bottlenecks at managed lane access exit points and the finalization of capacity restriction linked to construction works on competing nearby road 121. We are working to identify solutions that relieve congestion and address these bottlenecks that I mentioned, also any implementation could take a few years. On the financial side, revenue grew a robust 14.7% year-on-year and adjusted EBITDA rose 10.6% for the year and included $26.4 million of revenue share. In all our Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes, revenue per transaction increased well above the soft cap and inflation, supported by a favorable traffic mix. NTE and 35 West also benefited from a higher number of mandatory mode events. This soft cap was updated for 2026, increasing by 2.7%. Revenue per transaction grew year-on-year by 13.4% in NTE, 8.7% in LBJ and 11.6% in 35 West. Following this robust operating performance, all 3 Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes delivered higher year-on-year dividend distributions. NTE reached $216 million, LBJ $123 million and NTE 35 West $215 million. Moving now to I-66. Traffic increased by 7.4% in the year, supported by a strong corridor growth that benefited from greater enforcement of Return To The Office policies despite worse weather conditions and the federal government shutdown in the last months of the year. Revenue per transaction grew by a healthy 13.3% in 2025. Looking at last quarter's performance, let me highlight that the 1.3% increase in revenue per transaction reflects a singular quarter performance, influenced by an unusual traffic mix and lower peak hour volumes, mainly due to adverse weather conditions and the temporary shutdown. We remain confident on the asset and expect future toll rates to grow above inflation based on the value for users linked to how congestion evolves in the area. Adjusted EBITDA rose an exceptional growth of 25.7% in 2025, driven by traffic growth and higher toll rates. In 2025, I-66 distributed $165 million in dividends at the 100% level compared to $172 million in 2024 when the asset paid its first dividend distribution after 2 years of operation. Turning to the I-77 or Managed Lanes in North Carolina. Traffic declined in both fourth quarter and full year as the fourth quarter of 2024 traffic benefited from an exceptional uplift caused by hurricane-related alternative lane closures, together with adverse weather conditions throughout 2025. I-77 delivered a very strong revenue per transaction growth, up 24.7% year-on-year. The adjusted EBITDA grew by 16.5% in 2025, including $21 million of revenue share in 2025. I-77 distributed $52 million in dividends at the 100% level compared to $307 million in 2024, which was the first dividend distribution of the asset after 5 years of operation. Our North American toll road assets are located in some of the top performing regions in North America, consistently growing above the national average. Starting with Toronto, short-term economic growth may be modest given the geopolitical environment. but the long-term prospects remain solid. The Greater Toronto area population is expected to expand 22% by 2051, and Toronto is forecast to deliver higher 5-year GDP growth than both Ontario and Canada. Moving now to Dallas-Fort Worth. The region continues to show very strong economic and demographic momentum. By 2050, Dallas-Fort Worth is projected to surpass Chicago and become the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with more than 12 million of population. The region benefits from a very diversified economy, and it remains one of the most attractive destinations for both corporate and families relocating within the U.S. Over the next 5 years, its GDP growth is projected to exceed the U.S. average. In Northern Virginia, the area stands out for having high household incomes. The Washington Metro area has a higher proportion of households earnings above $100,000 than the U.S. average. Over the next 5 years, the median household income is forecast to rise by 3.2% in Washington Metro area. Lastly, Charlotte remains one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the Southeastern United States. In 2025, we recorded the highest growth rate among the top 50 metros at 2.3% versus a national average of 0.9%. Looking ahead, the region's population is projected to increase by more than 50% by 2050, led by Mecklenburg County, where the I-77 corridor is located. Turning to our business in India. In 2025, IRB reported decrease in revenues, showing lower construction activity following the completion of several projects as well as the one-off positive impact from a claim recorded in 2024. IRB Private InvIT continued to deliver solid performance with a year-on-year growth in revenues and EBITDA. At the same time, their Private InvIT advanced in its capital recycling strategy through the sale of 3 assets to the Public InvIT, enhancing portfolio optimization. During the year, IRB Private InvIT was awarded 2 new TOT concessions, reinforcing the company's leadership in India's toll road monetization program. Looking ahead, India remains an attractive market, supported by a strong GDP and a significant funding gap in transport infrastructure. In 2025, India's GDP grew by 7.7% year-on-year despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. Moving on to Airports and New Terminal One project at JFK Airport, we continue making steady progress towards operational readiness. The project keeps progressing, facing a crucial year. In terms of the schedule, the contractor has communicated an updated target completion date for the first phase of construction of fall 2026. The project reached 82% construction progress as of the end of the year. We have secured commitments from 25 airlines, including 16 executed agreements and 9 letters of intent. As a reminder from previous quarters, we achieved an important milestone in July, completing the refinancing of Phase A through the issuance of a $1.4 billion long-term bond. Turning to our airport in Turkey, Dalaman delivered a steady performance despite macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical challenges that significantly affected international traffic. In 2025, passenger numbers declined by 1.1%, yet revenue grew 3.6%, driven by better non-aerial performance. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.5%, supported by a strong commercial performance. Ferrovial received EUR 7 million in dividends from Dalaman in 2025. Let's now turn to Construction. The division posted an outstanding year, delivering a strong growth and solid profitability across all business units. Revenue reached EUR 7.7 billion, up 7.5% in like-for-like terms compared to 2024. Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 511 million, up 19.9% and adjusted EBIT totaled EUR 352 million, increasing by 24.2% like-for-like. The division delivered a 4.6% adjusted EBIT margin in 2025, above our long-term strategic target. The business performed well across all divisions. Budimex delivered a standard 9.2% adjusted EBIT margin with improvements across all segments and benefiting in fourth quarter from one-off change orders and higher contribution from late-stage contracts with risk already fully mitigated. Webber reached a 3.2% adjusted EBIT margin. Ferrovial Construction improved to 2.4%, supported by risk reduction on later-stage projects and improved execution. Also profitability in 2025 continued to be impacted by significant design activity in bidding for projects and costs related to digitalization and IT systems. We finished 2025 with a record high order book of EUR 17.4 billion, up 10.1% like-for-like from December 2024. The composition of the order book remains very healthy. It does not reflect roughly EUR 2.5 billion in contracts that are pre-awards or pending financial close. Almost half of our order book is in our core U.S. and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth. Our operating cash flow reached EUR 597 million in 2025, compared to EUR 291 million in the previous year, driven by fourth quarter working capital seasonality in Poland and Spain, together with prepayments and compensation received in the U.S. and Canada. Lastly, in terms of outlook for the division, we maintain our average long-term target of 3.5% adjusted EBIT margin. Now Ernesto will continue with main financial information.

Thanks, Ignacio. I'll cover now the main lines of the P&L statement. As you have seen in the previous slides, adjusted EBITDA has grown on the back of U.S. highways and construction operational performance. The EBITDA figure also includes other businesses like waste treatment in the U.K. In the fourth quarter, an agreement was reached to exit the Isle of Wight waste treatment contract by the end of March 2026. This agreement had no additional impact on the P&L from what had already been recognized in the first 9 months. As we have mentioned in past calls, we aim to fully exit the business in due course. Depreciation has increased on the back of higher traffic than expected on I-66 and replacement CapEx being brought forward in the Dallas-Fort Worth Express Lanes. The disposals and impairments in 2025 relate mainly to the sale of AGS. During 2024, we had the impact of the sale of 19.75% of Heathrow. Financial results Infra projects, a slight increase of expense versus previous year due to increased debt in highways along 2024 and lower cash remunerations on lower average cash balances, partially mitigated by U.S. dollar depreciation. Financial results ex infra projects, the income is driven by net cash balance, the Heathrow Airports Holding 5.25% stake ticking fee and employee share plan hedges. Last year, we had the fair value positive impact of the 5.25% stake in Heathrow Airport Holding that was sold this year in 2025. Equity accounted affiliates profit growth on the back of the Frozen ETR outstanding performance. Income tax has a positive impact due to recognition of tax credits in the U.S. and Spain mainly. Results from discontinued operations reflect earnouts from divested services business. Turning to the net cash -- net debt position, the ex infrastructure net debt. We see that dividends from projects amounted to EUR 968 million. On top of the Highways dividends already discussed, Energy distributed EUR 54 million corresponding to the return of capital invested in a photovoltaic plant in Texas and the Airports divisions distributed EUR 30 million, of which Heathrow represented 50%. Construction operating cash flow tax payments ex dividend reached EUR 596 million, driven by the fourth quarter working capital in Poland and Spain and further enhanced by prepayments and compensations received in the U.S. and Canada, as Ignacio just discussed. Tax payments reached EUR 100 million, including EUR 47 million of corporate income tax in Budimex. Investments totaled EUR 1,970 million, mainly due to the additional 5.06% stake acquired in the 407 ETR for a price of roughly EUR 1.3 billion. And also the EUR 236 million of equity invested in NTO. Interest received and other investing activities cash flow amounted to EUR 130 million, mainly related to cash remuneration. Divestments reached EUR 1,158 million, largely driven by the divestment of Heathrow, EUR 539 million, and the divestment of AGS, EUR 533 million. Cash dividend and treasury share buybacks purchases at EUR 657 million in 2025 includes EUR 156 million from cash dividends and EUR 501 million of share buybacks. Other cash flows from financing activities used in finance activities, you have EUR 437 million, including the repayment of the revolving credit facility that was EUR 250 million, also the reduction of the euro commercial paper, EUR 200 million and financial leases reduction of EUR 121 million. Also we include here the dividend to minorities that is EUR 77 million and interest payment, EUR 64 million. All this is partially offset by the issuance of nondilutive convertible bond that is registered here at EUR 350 million. We also have the effect of the exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents, a reduction of EUR 91 million, mainly from the U.S. dollar depreciation. But we don't include here in this net cash position, the mark-to-market of FX hedges. As of December 2025, we had notional foreign exchange hedges of $2.847 billion, in U.S. dollars, and CAD 538 million. The corresponding mark-to-market of these hedges was EUR 147 million, as I mentioned, not included in the net cash position. Moving to the slide of dividend proposal. This year, we shall propose EUR 1 billion in dividends. We can consider this is a EUR 400 million top-up of what would be a comparable dividend to past years of EUR 600 million. With this, the aggregate dividends for the period 2024 through 2026 would total EUR 2.2 billion following market standards where dividends are based on the share price at the time of delivery to shareholders. As obviously, we're looking to break it down probably into dividends along the year. And now let me hand it over to Ignacio for the closing remarks.

To conclude, our North American portfolio continues to deliver solid revenue and profitability growth, driven by enhanced customer segmentation and underlying growth in the locations where our assets operate. Looking ahead, we are well positioned for continued growth, supported by a record pipeline of U.S. infrastructure projects and rising interest in P3 opportunities across the country. Finally, our construction order book remains healthy with anticipated limited exposure to inflation.

Thank you very much, all of you. And let's start with the Q&A session. So operator, please go ahead.

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

The first one on the ETR. The Q4 revenue per transaction up 6% you mentioned due to some weakness in heavy vehicles. Can you elaborate on this? And is this spilling over into 2026, this headwind? The second one, you had the new pricing in place for the ETR 407 from January. Could you talk a bit about what you're seeing, the feedback from customers? Are you seeing demand erosion as a consequence of that? Or are you expecting other negative mix impacts here? I'm trying to understand if this 21% growth in prices at peak times is representative for the revenue per trip growth in 2026? And the last one, if I may, N35 West, you -- during your remarks, you mentioned about the volume weakness in Q4 also due to some bottlenecks. And it sounded that you expect this to spill over into 2026. Could you elaborate a bit if my understanding is right? And if you can give more details there?

Thank you for the questions. I will start with the , 407 ETR, the revenue per transaction in the fourth quarter of the year that was lower than the previous quarter. You have to consider that it's something that happens usually the fourth quarter compared to the third, there is some seasonality. And in this case, probably more even because of the weather that affected. And usually, what happens is that during the summer, you will have longer trips in the corridor and also more type of users that have transponders and they have a charge because in the reviews, it's not that we have. So it has been repeated this quarter, as commented because of weather probably more. Well, some effect that not relevant about the heavies, but it's too early to say if it's something that will continue. Of course, always is very related to the economic activity of the country and especially about the region of Canada and is continue expected to grow in this year according to third parties, but we have to see how it is evolving. And also what we need to consider always in these things is the effect of promotions. And as you know, we are very positive about the promotions that we did last year. And I think that is helping with users, with the value that we give to the users, but also is helping to maximize EBITDA. And this is the main KPI that we are following, promotions are increasing traffic, but are also reducing revenue per transaction, but it helps us to maximize EBITDA. And this is something that we have to follow this number. For this year 2026, we don't give any guidance. But as commented previously, we'll continue with promotions as we did in 2025. And we expect also that is going to contribute to maximize EBITDA also in this year 2026. Regarding the 35 West, the volumes in the last quarter, yes, I commented about some bottlenecks that we have that is affecting the whole corridor. The whole corridor is growing and what we are seeing is more congestion. And this is something that will continue happening. As you know, more congestions will mean that some traffic is moving out of the corridor, but it also will mean that probably we have more mandatory modes in the way that we have had until now. Of course, as I commented, we are looking for solutions. But I think we have some designs and changes that could improve the situation, but we need several approvals, and it will take time. But as commented in the short term, we may see softer traffic compared to the whole traffic growth in the region, but probably because of more -- of congestion, more mandatory modes.

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux.

I have 3 questions, if I may. The first one is, could you please shed a bit of light on the reasons behind the provision for lifetime expected credit loss on the 407 ETR? Should we expect this to happen again? The second one is that, although you have reiterated your long-term EBIT margin outlook in construction in one of your slides, wouldn't Q4 margins suggest that there is upside risk to this figure over -- at least over the coming year? And the third question is if you could provide us, please, some anecdotal evidence on customer segmentation measures in the U.S. Managed Lanes, not the 407, which I think is widely understood, but what are you doing specifically in the U.S. Managed Lanes?

Thank you, Luis. About this provision for credit loss. Some years ago, we had a change in the processes that we have. And because of that, we have some old accounts that we thought that it was healthy to provision at the end of last quarter. And the new collections after this change of process that we are seeing right now are back to what they were before this change of process. So it's back to normal to what it was before. In terms of EBIT, the only guidance that we give is that long-term average EBIT is 3.5% for construction. So sometimes we'll be above, other times we will be below. As you know, this is a cyclical business. And this is the only guidance that we are giving. So we mentioned several times that we have a healthy backlog today. But the only guidance that we are giving is about this 3.5% EBIT margin in the long term. And also regarding the fourth quarter, there were some one-offs that were exceptional and related to some change orders that we have in certain countries. And the last one about the customer segmentation in the U.S., yes, of course, something that we are looking at and we are analyzing. However, it's too early and more difficult than in the 407. And it is because we are not doing the collections in the case of the U.S. Managed Lanes and it's more difficult to reach customers. But of course, it's something that we are analyzing and seeing if we can create value also maximizing EBITDA with promotions in the future, but it will take longer.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

I'll ask 2, if that's okay. Firstly, we read a lot at the moment about the impacts of AI and both in terms of pressure on white collar industries, but also technologies, which I think are relevant to your portfolio, like increased presence of autonomous vehicles. So just wanted your thoughts on how you're thinking about these potential threats or developments with respect to Ferrovial's discretionary lane assets? And is it coming into your thinking as you prepare for bids on the upcoming projects, which you highlight here in the pipeline? And the second question, just on dividends, upstream dividends. Just where do we stand or where is your thinking in terms of assets and whether you can increase that to increase upstream dividends across the U.S. and Canada.

Thank you, Graham. I will take the first one and Ernesto, the second. Also I mean, we could not hear you very well the second question, but we will try to answer. Regarding AI and autonomous vehicles, we have followed some research done by third parties about what could be the implications of especially autonomous vehicles because AI is a little bit more difficult and probably new. But in the case of autonomous vehicles, main conclusion is that at least in the short term, what we see is more traffic. So it will be probably autonomous cars moving more than the cars today, and so will be more traffic and congestion. And especially that will create more congestion when they are running at the same time with cars driving by human beings. So I think that short term, we see that as a positive thing. The implication of AI is a little bit more difficult. And I think there are different versions if they will maintain employment by the people doing different things or there will be a reduction of, in general, white collars. Of course, some cities will be stronger depending on the type of workers that they have and the type of industries and the type of things that they do. And as long as we can have some information about this and we can incorporate the models we'll do. But so far, there are more questions about autonomous vehicle and less about artificial intelligence. But as long as we get more information, of course, we'll incorporate in our models and of course, in the bidding process.

Thanks, Graham. If I listened well, the question was regarding the possibility of helping uplift dividends from our projects like the 407 and Managed Lanes with some additional leverage. Yes, this is a question we get recurrently asked. I mean, clearly, the 407 is very -- with very comfortable ratios. So we could be seeing some uplift there. Don't expect like a big bank, but yes, I mean, there could be an improvement in dividends just because there's ample capacity there. Regarding the Managed Lanes, you know that always the optimal in terms of delevering is comparing with the business plan that was submitted. So we could have not in the near term, but not too far away, some additional leverage on the I-66. Those are the main ones, 407 and I-66. We could have some angle in others, but we will update in due course the market. So yes, the summary is that, yes, we have some headroom there.

Our next question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets.

Please, could you provide some commentary on pricing on the I-66 and I-77 at the start of the year? Would it be reasonable to assume another year of double-digit pricing increases in terms of revenue per transaction growth on these assets? And secondly, you had a strong Q4 across all construction businesses. I was wondering what drove the more than doubling of EBITDA in Ferrovial Construction. And then finally, on the Schedule 22 provision, it seems like there are a few sort of moving parts that could drive that this year, on the one hand, higher tolls, but also perhaps more rush hour traffic and further targeted promotions, would you say overall, we could expect a decrease in Schedule 22 payments?

Thank you for the questions. As you know, we are not giving any guidance about this year 2026 in terms of pricing. The only comment that I made during the presentation is that in the I-66, we expect that toll rates will increase above inflation. And the only thing or the only comment is that, as you know, this is -- toll rates are increasing based on the value to users. And it is very related to congestion and increase of population and economic activity. And as long that is happening and there is value for users, we'll try to capture and especially I-66 and I-77 that we have freedom to set toll rates. But as commented, we are not giving any guidance. In the case of the Construction business, the margin for the year was 4.6% EBIT margin and I commented that especially in the fourth quarter, we have some positive developments in some markets with change orders, also some projects at the later stages that the risks are eliminated. So there were some February positive things that happened at the end of the fourth quarter. But we are not giving any guidance of following years or what is going to happen next. And in terms of Schedule 22, again, as commented previously, what we are trying to do with the promotions is to maximize EBITDA and part of the equation, of course, is the traffic, is the revenue per transaction, but also the Schedule 22. And we consider the 3 things whenever we define what is the toll rate increase for the next year and the promotions that we are launching during the year. And as you know, we have different sectors and in some sectors, it makes sense to increase promotions, in other less. And depending on that, we can pay Schedule 22 depending on the traffic or not. So the objective is not that to be a number that is 0, but to maximize EBITDA. And we consider all things together to take the best decisions in order to maximize EBITDA. That is the main KPI that we need to follow in the 407 ETR.

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

Just to come back to the 407. I was wondering if there has been any pushback politically or in the press to the tariff increase that you have announced for '26? And also, I know we've talked a bit on that. But in terms of promotions for '26, should we expect a similar impact to '25? Or will you increase the intensity there? And then with regard to the NTO, so you said the opening now is pushed to the fall. Realistically, when should we start to expect any impact to numbers? And when will we get a bit more visibility on the financials there? And when would you communicate? And lastly, maybe it would be an opportunity to meet at this stage, but your '24, '26 period on your last guidance or strategic update is ending, obviously, this year. So are you planning anything to update the market on strategy, shareholder returns, maybe the opening of the NTO?

Thank you, Elodie. About the 407 and about the new toll rate announcement, I think that we have to see this about the toll rates in combination with the promotions because I think that many users in the Toronto area are benefiting from some of the promotions that we are doing, and we have to see all in combination. And I'm not aware about any -- I mean, relevant pushback to the toll rate increase and to the promotions that we are doing. What we are doing or plan to do during this year 2026, the focus will continue to be similar to previous year on peak hour as it was the case last year. But also we'll try to segment more and more, looking for better understanding of the customer behavior and how we can contribute to value to them and also to us to maximize. But about that, we need to learn. So it will be step by step, and we'll try to do some promotions and some activity to learn, but most of it, the bulk will be similar to previous year regarding peak hour. But as commented, we'll do other things to see how we can increase value to users and maximize EBITDA. NTO, as commented, yes, it was -- is now -- the contractor told us that they expect a date in the fall 2026. And yes, we have reviewed the schedule with the different milestones. And we have to wait until a specific date to opening. We are not going to give any financial information at least for the time being until they start opening and with the first numbers of NTO. And at that time, I mean, we'll start to communicate some number, not for the time being only communicate the opening date and the number of airlines that have signed user agreement or a letter of intent, not anything else for the time being. And yes, we are ending the Horizon 26 plan that this is the last year, but it's an important year. It's a '24, '26 plan. Many things that we need to deliver during this year, and that's the focus that we have today. Of course, after that, we'll, I mean, think or prepare a new plan that will work during this year and once it is prepared, we'll think about how we are going to communicate one thing so the plan will be communicated externally. But so far, I mean, we have not finalized the plan and not taking any decision about the communication.

Our following question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Congratulations for an amazing 2025. I have 3 questions on the U.S. Managed Lanes performance. So on the I-66, Q4 was quite weak compared to Q3, it was the government shutdown. What kind of, let's say, revenue or traffic did you see in December after the government shutdown has ended? Do you see like a normalization of the trends or some weakness remained? Then on the LBJ, I was a bit surprised by the slowdown there, and you mentioned construction works. Do you expect this construction works on, I guess, feeding traffic roads to continue in 2026? And last question on the I-77 is that surprised me on the positive side against tough comps. Here, the revenue per transactions was very high, similar to Q3 despite much lower traffic volumes. Can you tell us more about why that is the case and whether this dynamic is sustainable in 2026?

Thank you, Dario. Regarding the I-66, yes, the fourth quarter was affected by the shutdown, 43 days, and also by winter weather that was worse than previous quarters. It affected mainly that mixed traffic and especially commuters at the peak time. So that was the main effect was related to that, that we have less commuter at peak that usually have higher toll rates than in other times of the day. Also, you have to take into consideration that the comparison of the fourth quarter is also we have a relevant increase in the fourth quarter last year with the dynamic prices that was communicated before by Ernesto in the quarter's calls. And so it was a tougher comparison also to consider. Again, as I commented before, we expect to grow the toll rates in the I-66 about inflation because of the value to users and the activity that we see in the corridor. LBJ, the problem is that we have construction that are around the LBJ in different projects that is not under our control. So in some cases, you see more impact depending where they are working and how they are affecting the number of lanes and the rest of the traffic. So it's very difficult to anticipate if one quarter is improving and other is probably a little bit deteriorating versus the previous one. What we see is that we expect because it's not our construction work, that it will be finalized by the end of this year. We don't know exactly when, it will happen in phases or it may happen that suddenly one quarter is better and then the next, we see some negative effect in our traffic because they are doing something specific. So it's very difficult to anticipate. Also by the end of the year, we expect that it will be back to normal. And it may happen that some quarters are better because the way they are doing the work is helping with the traffic. Anyhow, the whole, I mean, traffic back to the corridor will happen once the full construction is finished. And in the case of the I-77, remember also with the traffic, we have this comparison with last year, you remember, we have the closure of lanes because of the hurricane and that increased the traffic in the last quarter of the year. And even we have some effect at the beginning of 2025 that we'll see as a comparison. But in terms of toll rates, revenue per transaction, well, we'll continue understanding of seeing the value to users and try to get that value to us. And I think that has been good in some peak hours in the traffic. And because of that, we have been able to increase the revenue per transaction and at the end, maximizing EBITDA. As I commented, Charlotte is a region that is growing and especially in terms of new jobs in the U.S., and it looks that it has a good perspective in the following years.

Our next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

I have a couple of questions. Firstly, just a follow-up on the NTO project, which is delayed to fall 2026. Is there any increase in the cost of the project for you? Is there any extra equity that you need to contribute? And is there any impact on your equity IRR due to the delay of that project? Question number two, if we could just perhaps go back to the 407 ETR dividend increase, which was very significant, 36%, I believe, in 2025. Could you just remind us how do you think about the dividend policy of that asset? And do you still consider the 407 ETR to be underlevered as it is today? And maybe if I can squeeze in one more regarding your U.S. listing, I mean, that is a recurrent question, but are you considering any further steps on the journey to become more of a U.S. company, perhaps a switch to U.S. GAAP accounting or any other steps that you are considering?

Thank you, Marcin. I will take the first one, and Ernesto will take the last 2 questions that you are asking. Regarding the cost, the project is substantially close to the budget numbers at this point in time. Our expectation is the deviation will not be material and it will depend on how successful are certain claims presented by the contractor. And as of today, we don't expect any additional equity funding for Phase A. The delay that we are seeing today is minor. It's a very -- it's a few months. So it's not affecting us the IRR. It's a minimum thing that it will not have any effect of the total project. But the negative effect that we have in this period of time is related to the revenues that we are not collecting, but no more than that, but the impact is minimal.

Okay. Well, regarding the capital structure of the 407, I mean, really, the leverage should reflect the solid financial performance, right? And with the performance it has, it keeps getting headroom and headroom in ratings. And I mean, it doesn't make sense, right? The capital structure should be adequate to the current ratings, right, not get, let's say, an upgrade, right? So yes, that would follow that opportunity, as I mentioned in another question that was regarding the dividends for the 407. Regarding the U.S. listing, if we are looking to do U.S. GAAP or not, the market is not asking for that. Now of course, we've analyzed that. It could make sense going forward, and we have done our analysis to try and get ready. But I mean there's no current demand for that at the moment. So not in the short term, we won't be doing U.S. GAAP.

Our following question comes from Jose Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

I have just one question, it's about the revenue sharing payments in the Q4, particularly at NTE and I-77. I found them a little bit above average, and I think they ended above the annual budget for both highways. Was there anything different in the Q4? Or was it just a recalculation for some particular reason of the annual provision? And then looking at 2026, I noticed that for I-77, you are budgeting about 50% increase in the revenue sharing provision for I-77. Why would that be? Or is it just a conservative assessment?

Just -- I mean, as you mentioned, it was in line with the budget, the revenue share. But the fact was that the budget was being outperformed, right? And there was a catch-up in the accrual at the end. Going forward, it makes sense to do that more along the year, right, rather than reflecting the budget. So we should expect more correlation with the performance along the year as we do with the Schedule 22. But it just reflected that. Regarding the I-77 revenue share budget for next year, yes, the budget considers that there is a, let's say, a move into another bracket of revenue sharing. When that happens, there's an effect that it looks like a lot that then is not as that going forward, right? But when you get into a different bracket of sharing, you kind of get this effect because it looks into the accumulated stuff, right? So you can check that with the excels we provide that effect. But as I said, the year -- the following year won't be that substantial. It's just an effect of changing into a different bracket.

And the last question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I please check the 407 loyalty plan that you talk about? Could you give us a bit more details? Does it mean more -- is the purpose to get more traffic, but you could give more discounts? Or how do you think about it? And can I also ask on the NTE that you mentioned the construction works will end at the end of '26. How should we think once that happens, how should we think a traffic accelerating versus less mandatory modes? So net-net, do you expect revenue still grow once construction ends? And the last one, there's a bunch of tenders for Express Lanes in the U.S. You made the proposal for the Washington Airport. There's a lot of CapEx there on the midterm and long term. And even if you take a 35%, 40% equity of that CapEx, you're talking about very large amount. So conceptually, can you tell us a bit how do you think about firepower? There are all these projects, but I guess there is a limit at some point, you cannot do all of them. Could you elaborate a little bit how you think about this?

Thank you, Cristian. About this loyalty plan, as commented, we'll continue with promotions in 2026. It was very positive from our perspective in 2025, helping us to maximize EBITDA. and we'll continue to do that this year. Again, the bulk of most of the promotions will be at peak hours, similar to what we did in 2025, of course, with the learnings that we had last year, we continue improving and trying to get more value to user, but also maximizing EBITDA to us. One of the things that we'll try is a loyalty program, but it's something that we'll see how it works. And similar, what we'll try to do is try to get some additional segmentation and learning and seeing how the users see the value. And based on that, we can do more segmented type of offers in the future. But again, bulk will be -- of promotions will be very similar to what we did last year, but with the learnings that we have because this is just the second year, we are continue learning. And of course, this is alone, I mean, during many years, I mean, we'll see more and more segmentation, more value to users and maximizing EBITDA for us. In the terms of NTE, yes, the construction will end by the end of this year. And what we'll see at that point of time is our expectation is directionally is that more traffic will come back to the corridor. As you know, what happens when you have construction and they see some congestion, then some of the traffic takes a different route that probably for them is shorter and some of the trips that we used to have, well, they disappear. Once the situation is back to normal, then we'll start to see more traffic. It will take some time. It will ramp up. They learn that probably they have savings taking this corridor versus the alternative that they are taking today. So we'll see more traffic. But also at the same time, with this more traffic at the end of the construction, we'll see less congestion because at the end, we are adding new managed lanes in one sector and one additional general purpose lanes in other sector. So there is more capacity in the corridor. It will bring more traffic, less congestion and probably less mandatory modes. We are not giving any guidelines about what effect that will have in revenues and you have to wait to see the numbers, how is the effect in the future. And yes, regarding the opportunities, as commented, we see quite unique pipeline of opportunities in the U.S., nothing that we have seen before. It's not -- as you know, we are bidding 2 managed lanes this year. The I-77 South next year. We see other managed lanes that will come very soon, hopefully, in Atlanta and Charlotte and Nashville, sorry, and others that we are working on the pipeline. Yes, as you know, we want also to expand airports in the U.S., something similar to NTO. There may be other opportunities. So it's quite unique in terms of pipeline of opportunities. And -- but at the same time, we are not expecting to win all of them. As you know, we are very disciplined from a financial point of view. And for us, it's not only growing, it's creating value while growing. But the firepower, maybe Ernesto can comment more about that.

Yes. Thanks, Ignacio. Well, as we presented at the Capital Markets Day, and we tend to answer this, we usually don't have leverage at the ex infrastructure project level. But with good opportunities to grow, we could go to the leverage headroom that the BBB rating allows. We don't comment what are the ratios that rating agencies have. As a proxy, we have the -- our internal 2x net debt to EBITDA and EBITDA is composed of dividends we get from projects that have substantial potential and also the EBITDA from other businesses like construction. So that is the kind of proxy we use, and we could use that leverage for firepower.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to Silvia Ruiz, Global Head of IR.

Thank you. Well, it seems that there are no questions in the webcast. So I will hand over to Ignacio.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for your participation in this conference call. And so now we close it. Thank you very much for your participation.