Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Gelly, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Titan Cement Group conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the first quarter 2024 results. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Marcel Cobuz, Chairman of the Group Executive Committee, Mr. Michael Colakides, Group CFO, and Mr. Bill Zarkalis, President and CEO of Titan America. Mr. Cobuz, you may now proceed.
Thank you. Hello, everyone. Good morning. Good afternoon for all those following us, and welcome to our regular quarterly meeting. I'm joined today by Michael, our Group CFO, and together we'll go through the results of first quarter 2024. We have invited today also Bill Zarkalis, our CEO of US Business, Titan America. You may remember him from last year Investor Day, last September, and for sure you remember his contagious excitement on US market. He has been leading our US operations for the last 10 years. Very pleased to share with you three announcements we made today, which shows that Titan is more dynamic than ever, performs at a new level of performance, while creating long-term value for shareholders.
Earlier today, during the shareholders meeting, we have approved the management proposal of a dividend increase for 2024, based on 2023 results, from 0.6 EUR per share to 0.85 EUR per share, which represents a 42% increase of dividend payout. The second is we are publishing today our quarter one results, and Michael and Bill will give more color, more details. But overall, it is a strong start of the year. Despite a very high comparison, a strong quarter one 2023, in spite of less invoicing days and some weather issues, we are reporting growth in sales, growth in EBITDA and over proportional growth in net profits.
So this is a strong performance delivery, which I can confirm that this continued in April, where we see strong order books as well as strong cost and volume performance. We will be sharing with you our optimistic views for a good outlook for the year. The third announcement, which came this morning, is about our intention to list the U.S. business, $1.6 billion sales in Titan America, a strong building and infrastructure material supplier. Our intention also to have an IPO of a minority stake to fund growth and accelerate development in a very healthy U.S. market, as well as elsewhere in the group.
On this one, Michael and Bill will also provide more color on the future-ready US business and the process we are going to follow for a listing and IPO for early 2025. The last comment on my introduction is about our strategy 2026, where results are showing that the execution is in full swing, full acceleration on all our three directions. Strengthening our US and European footprints by frontloading on CapEx and developments, time to market on green materials and solutions. And we have published in our press release the fact that we have signed or completed three new bolt-ons in aggregates, clay and pozzolanic materials.
Also embracing flagship technologies as part of our decarbonization renewed efforts with the Kamari plant, where we are in a pre-feasibility study of our carbon capture and storage, one of the largest in Europe. More recently, we have entered a negotiation with Department of Energy in U.S. regarding the first-of-a-kind calcined clay technology in our plant in West Virginia. Not to forget about our digital efforts.
I strongly believe that you can see in Titan one of the most digital businesses across the sector, with a very good sprint in technologies, digital technologies in manufacturing, in logistics, and more recently in interfacing with our customers, and an excellent acceptance by all our customers in the markets we serve. So, many good news to share today. Looking forward to seeing your answers and having an interactive meeting. So I'm passing the floor, the microphone to you, Michael, for Q1 and outlook.
Thank you, Marcel. Good afternoon and good morning to all. Welcome to this trading update and short presentation of our first quarter results. I'm very happy to share that we are kicking off 2024 with a positive momentum, building on the success of previous quarters. We started 2024 with a strong sales growth, with sales reaching EUR 623.7 million, up by 6.1% compared to last year's first quarter, in a quarter that has seasonally lower activity s ales were driven by increased demand across all products and by pricing resilience.
EBITDA grew for the eighth consecutive quarter, year-on-year, and reached EUR 109.8 million, up by 2.5%, compared to a record first quarter that was achieved last year, and despite higher annual maintenance shutdown costs recorded in Q1, while last year, these kind of expenses were more incurred in the second quarter. Net profit after taxes and minorities reached EUR 52.4 million, compared to EUR 44.3 million last year, an 18% growth, thanks to the higher EBITDA levels, decreased finance costs, and a better foreign exchange result. Our net debt reached EUR 684 million, and the leverage ratio stands at 1.2, with the CapEx at EUR 52 million.
On the digitalization front, our projects in the manufacturing, supply chain, and customer service areas continue relentlessly, with resulting benefits translating to our financial results. Our outlook overall remains positive, thanks to resilient demand, firm pricing, improved energy cost performance, as well as further operational efficiencies. On the next slide, we would like to show our 12-month rolling sales, EBITDA, and net profit performance. One can see that the growth trend is extended and points towards an improved performance for the group for the year, with enhanced profitability margins. Now, let's take a look at the regional performance, starting with the U.S., where I will try to be brief, since Bill Zarkalis will give you, further comments and more insight, after myself.
Against a backdrop of a resilient U.S. economy, the group's results in the region during the first quarter remained solid, underpinned by the strong demand fundamentals. Sales reached $401 million, up by 3.1% in dollar terms, thanks to the pricing momentum and the solid volume delivery. To be noted that sales were impacted by heavy rainfalls and temperate weather, but were still higher than the very strong first quarter of 2023. The infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act are increasing the funding directed to infrastructure, and commercial investments offset the impact of the temporary slowdown in the residential market.
EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024 reached $67.3 million, and would have been higher than the first quarter of 2023, had it not been for the earlier planned annual maintenance shutdowns that burdened the first quarter with higher costs on the order of magnitude of $10 million. Indicatively, the EBITDA for the region would have been 9.2% higher than the first quarter of last year, excluding this impact. Titan America is growing and expanding its footprint, and Bill will give you more comments about the performance and our outlook for the region. Turning to Greece, we started the year strongly, with volumes recording growth in double digits across all main products.
Increased volumes were observed in multiple construction fronts, with infrastructure projects picking up in volumes, and the sectors of housing, hospitality, and real estate development all contributed to increased demand for our products. Domestic pricing levels exhibited a sustained dynamic. However, increased electricity costs in the first half of the year, which is expected to be improved in the second half, and lower export prices impacted profitability by a negative EUR 8 million-EUR 9 million. EBITDA in the first quarter of the year reached EUR 11.8 million, compared to EUR 17.5 million in the first quarter of last year. Following the inauguration of the pre-calciner at the Kamari plant, usage of alternative fuels has increased and will improve our fuel cost performance for the rest of the year.
The group leverages robust local presence and is strengthening its vertical integration through acquisitions and partnerships, and at addressing the growing local demand. Moving now to Southeast Europe, where sales reached EUR 95 million, up by 13.4% compared, starting the year very strong. Volumes recorded growth benefiting from a mild winter. Profitability increased to EUR 32.9 million, supported by resilient pricing and a much improved underlying cost structure, coupled with efficiencies obtained in terms of operational optimization. Growth across the region is diverse in origin, depending on the country, ranging from land development projects, encompassing infrastructure and residential development, to roadworks and industrial investments. The group increases thermal substitution rates with higher use of alternative fuels, coupled with our proactive efforts to optimize access to diverse alternative fuel sources across different markets. Next, moving to East Med.
Increased sales in Turkey, supported by a mild winter and higher exports, resulted in a sales growth of 15% for the region of East Med to overall sales of EUR 54.6 million. However, due to the devaluation of the local currencies, margins and profitability were eroded. EBITDA for the quarter was EUR 2.9 million, compared to EUR 5.4 million in the same quarter last year. Despite the ongoing economic challenges in Egypt, there are promising signs of the country moving towards normalization, spurred by the March currency devaluation, the infusion of financing from the IMF and European Union, and the increasing influx of foreign direct investments. In Turkey, the primary drivers of demand include private sector projects, the construction activities post last year's earthquake, enhancements to existing building infrastructure, and growth in the tourism sector.
In closing the regional performance, let me comment on Brazil, that we consider it consolidated only on an equity method. Our joint venture experienced a 4% sales growth, reaching sales of EUR 32.4 million, while EBITDA surged by 22.6% to EUR 4.2 million. Moving now to the volume slide. Volume trends were positive across all main product lines, with domestic cement volumes increasing by 3%, coupled with cement exports to third parties - to third-party entities, compared to no third-party exports in the first quarter of last year. Furthermore, other key product sales also recorded good volume growth. Aggregate volumes increased by 2%, and ready-mix have gone up by 7%. Some comments on our cash flow.
On the left-hand side of the slide, you can see the operating free cash flow, recording inflows of EUR 14 million, which is quite unusual for a first quarter, which is usually a higher cost quarter, compared to net outflows of EUR 20 million in the first quarter of last year, when we had experienced higher working capital needs. On the right-hand side of this slide, the group net debt is shown that it is 154 million less than March 2023, and seasonally up by EUR 24 million compared to December, closing at EUR 684 million for the quarter, a leverage ratio of 1.2x EBITDA. And now, before moving to the comments about the US, let me make some comments about our outlook.
The trend we have seen in the second half of 2023 continued in the first months of this year, with the group enjoying a strong start of the year, exhibiting solid performance across our core markets. We maintain a favorable outlook for 2024, propelled by sales growth through increased volumes and sustained pricing, leading to higher profitability, aided by the successful execution of growth-focused initiatives and enhanced cost efficiencies. The outlook for the U.S. economy is optimistic, with expectations of continued growth, albeit at a temperate pace. Pricing levels should remain supportive amidst tight supply in a strong demand environment, with volume evolution from increased funding in infrastructure and more residential projects is expected. The outlook on the Greek construction market is also favorable, supported by the launch and continuation of numerous infrastructure, tourist, new residential, and land development projects.
However, reduced export prices this year are negatively affecting profitability. Southeastern Europe has demonstrated robustness, with growing positivity and sentiment leading to an increase in construction activity. Maintaining operational efficiencies and continuing the decarbonization investments strengthens our regional presence and future profitability. The outlook in East Med is improving, though the impact of the Gaza war is not predictable. In Turkey, the macroeconomic environment is improving. Private investment continues unabated, while construction works, post last year's earthquake, should maintain their momentum for the following quarters. Meanwhile, last month's developments in Egypt, including the liberalization of the exchange market, the tightening of the central bank's monetary stance, significant increase in foreign direct investments, coupled with increased funding from the US and Europe, all bode favorably for the country's medium-term future. And that completes my comments.
I would now like to turn to Bill Zarkalis to ask him to give us his comments about Titan America performance and outlook for 2024 and beyond. Bill, now back to you.
Michael, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good morning and good afternoon, everybody. It's great to be back, especially as we have exciting news, both about our performance, but our future plans as well. Let me start with Mike left it, I mean, in relation to the outlook. The U.S. economy is strong, and I guess we all know that, that for all the fears of a hard landing, we see only a modest slowdown in 2024 with robust labor markets and strong state balances. Suffice to say that the GDP growth in the areas where we operate, in the states where we operate, is about 2% for 2024.
for Florida, for North Carolina, for New York, and, New Jersey, and only slightly more modest, the GDP growth expected in Virginia with 1.3%. So overall, robust, strong, underlying economies in the states where we operate. Coming closer to the cement markets, 2024 seems to evolve as a story of, countervailing trends. We see that, also in the overall economic trends. We expect, a weaker first half, which especially in relation to our industry, was affected by, by the bad weather in the first quarter, but, we expect it to be followed by a stronger second half.
Similarly, the same countervailing trends we see overall in the cement consumption, which on one hand is boosted by the accelerated investment in infrastructure, mainly because of the investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which, you know, is in earnest accelerating, and we see more projects coming online, as well as the reshoring of the manufacturing plants with the incentives from the Inflation Reduction and the CHIPS Acts. On the other hand, the countervailing trend relates obviously to the reduced private investment in the residential sector, in the single family, the multifamily, but also the renovation units; they're all softer.
But it appears that, in 2024, these negative trends are leveling off, and we expect that to become to see a turning point starting in the second half of 2024. So overall, a good outlook for 2024 with the two countervailing trends leading to a relatively soft growth, but still growth. Regarding your question about our specific performance, Michael, let me start with the fact that our pricing power remains strong. Our prices were higher most across all product lines, both in comparison to the fourth quarter, to the previous quarter, and of course, versus the first quarter of last year.
Especially, we see very strong trends in ready-mix concrete, aggregates, block, and still strong trends in price in relation to cement, but not as strong as in last year, but mainly was affected also by the bad weather. Coming to our volumes, they followed mainly the market trends, boosted by the infrastructure investments and also by the investments in manufacturing across all the states where we operate, but also we were affected by the softness in residential. Let me say that respect, however, I'm proud of our team because the trends in the residential sector are not really prevalent. It's a checkerboard type of situation.
So there are certain areas where we see growth, even in the residential markets, and we have taken advantage of that. As a result, we are performing better than what we saw reported by the Portland Cement Association as performance in the first quarter in our states. So a good overall volume performance and a strong pricing performance. Michael mentioned the comparison of our EBITDA versus last quarter, and the fact that it was affected by the shutdown in Pennsuco and of course, in Roanoke, whereas last year, the shutdown in Pennsuco happened in the second quarter in April. And also, Michael referred to what would have been if we didn't have the expense, the cost for the Pennsuco shutdown.
I'm happy to say that if we compare April year-to-date performance with April year-to-date of last year, our performance in EBITDA is gonna be much higher than the comparison that Michael said. That overall, we see a good, healthy trend in our profitability in 2024. With that, Michael, I turn it back to you or Marcel.
Okay. Thank you, Bill. Now, as you might realize, these developments in the US market, and it's something that we have been planning for a long time. We have invested over $360 million in capital expenditures in the US over the past three years. We have been believers of the strong fundamentals and the dynamics of the US economy, and we're now reaching a stage where we are making a transformational move. The performance of our US operations is expected to improve further over the next few years. Our profitability has increased. Last year, just as a reminder, the EBITDA of Titan America was $322 million. So in order to facilitate the funding of our growth both for Titan America as well as for the group as a whole.
The decision has been taken to initiate actions for the listing of Titan America in the U.S. equity markets. Now, this is a process which is very strictly regulated by the SEC, the U.S. Capital Markets Committee equivalent, so we are restricted from giving very detailed comments about the process. What we can say is that the intention is to list a minority stake through an IPO of a holding company of Titan America. We have, as I said, initiated the process. We have engaged advisors. The process will take several months. There is a very detailed and diligent accounting process that has to take place. The last three years' financials of the company have to be redone in more detail, with lower materiality thresholds, and so on.
This is a process which, as I said, will take months. The plan is that we will file our application with the SEC after summer, and our expectation, what we anticipate, is to have the transaction done in the market in early 2025. What I want to make clear, because we've had some questions even from our own staff, is that Titan America will remain a Titan subsidiary, a majority-owned subsidiary with a significant majority. What will be floated will be a minority stake, and the company will continue to be consolidated in group financials, and of course, to be majority-owned by TCI's shareholders. I think that this completes my commentary on this, on the announced transaction this morning, and we will now open the floor for Q&A. Yep.
The first question is from the line of Athanasoulias Nikos with Eurobank Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello. I have two questions, and both refer to Titan America. The first one is regarding the results of the second quarter of 2024. Should we expect a high single digit or double digit growth and profitability, given the cost base that will be lower, considering the maintenance that were shifted to the first quarter? So this 9% would roll over. That's the first question. And my second question refers to the IPO. And I was wondering what are your plans for the proceeds from this listing? I understand that you say that you will need to fund your CapEx plan, but your leverage is quite low and you not. And as I remember, you have no intention of stepping up your CapEx plan. Should we expect some returns to investors? Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you for your question. I'll refer quickly to your question on IPO and the use of proceeds, and then refer to Michael and Bill for prospects for Q2, although we have already given an optimistic view on the outlook. Not much different than what we said at the time of the Investor Day. You may remember, at that time, we highlighted that we have strong market positions in fast-growing mega regions. We are ahead of multi-year growth cycle, and we have highlighted a couple of opportunities for growth, particularly in cement capacity, aggregates, ready-mix, block, and logistics capabilities. But also taking the green growth trend that we believe will impact our operations in using more blended cement and more cementitious materials.
So I think, later in the year, we will have the opportunity to look more in details of which growth opportunities will be funded through the fresh capital raised through the IPO, and which other opportunities are there, as well as the capital structure of Titan America business. So as Michael said, this is a highly regulated process. We plan to meet all your questions and come with prepared answers as we follow this process, and we will organize an investor day later in the year. Now, on quarter two, Michael?
Yeah. On quarter two, as Bill has already alluded to it, the outlook is much brighter than, let's say, the first quarter. So the expectation that we will have a better growth compared to what would have been Q1 is justified. I mean, we're already halfway, almost, in Q2, and the omens are good. So that's a good signal, not only for Q2, but I would say maybe for the rest of the year as well.
Okay, great. Thank you. And you mentioned that you will hold another investor day. Will this be this year, towards the second half of the year?
This will depend. The intention would be to combine it with the progress of the US transaction. And as I mentioned, it's a very tightly regulated process, so we will have to see when we will be allowed to say more, and of course, how the filing process will go and its approval process. So it will be many months towards the end of the year, I would say.
Sure, that's clear. Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Kourtesis Iakovos with Piraeus Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes, good afternoon, gentlemen. You've mentioned that you're going to list a minority stake. Do you have something that you could share with us to be more specific on this? And the second thing is, what is the level of net debt that is incurred in Titan America at the moment, at the end of first Q, that you could share with us? Thank you very much.
Again, we will say what we're allowed to say. Typical IPOs come in the region of 15%-25%, so all I can say is that it will be within that region. And will also depend, of course, on market conditions, pricing expectations, and so on. But even at a later stage, it would be very late until we can disclose a specific percentage. Now, net debt is public. It's public information. It's about $400 million and has been fairly stable over time.
Thank you very much.
The next question is from the line of Andreas Mavridis with Alpha Finance. Please go ahead.
Hello, everyone. Congratulations on a great set of results. I have a couple questions on my end. Regarding energy costs, which weighed on the Greece and Western Europe segment margins, which was said that are expected to improve in the second half. Can you please elaborate more on what we are gonna expect regarding electricity costs in Q2? And are we expecting them to improve or more later in the half, starting in Q3? Could we also have a little bit more color regarding the new ten-year PPA agreement going forward? Has there been any discussions regarding renegotiation of the terms of PPA that we have seen in press reports? Is there anything that you can clarify on this? And then also one last question regarding the US segment.
Do we expect any more funding that we saw in March from the DOE for the Roanoke plant? Have there been any other additional opportunities that Titan America can get to utilize funding from the US? Thank you.
Okay. On energy costs, overall energy costs have been improving. However, in Greece, we had in 2023, we had a lower energy cost base, based on an older contract, two-year contract with PPC. So the comparison of the first half of this year to last year is unfavorable, because it compares with a cheap contract that existed in the past. So in the second half of the year, the comparison will be more like for like, and in fact, it's most probably going to be an improvement, because well, our discussions with the PPC indicate that we may get some better terms. Regarding the PPA agreement, it has been signed, and it is valid. It has also been submitted to the ministry in order to get priority rights for connection to the grid.
There is no new agreement to be signed at this stage. We are discussing some possible amendments to some of the terms with the PPC, but fundamentally, the agreement is valid, as intended, to be preserved.
Maybe, maybe a couple of comments on my side, Marcel, here, before Bill will answer on other opportunities to have funding from DOE or other departments in the US. Look, energy is, for us, a big item to tackle, and we are acting on many fronts. On the one side, on fuels, and probably you have seen in our published results for last year, but also in this quarter, that we are closer to 20% substitution rate of fossil fuels by low carbon alternative fuels. And for you to know, it's almost EUR 10 per ton in terms of positive variable contribution of these alternative fuels.
We have just finished this investment in Kamari, and another one in our plant in Zlatna, which allows for more than 60% substitution rate. So this will continue at an accelerated pace, while we develop also the waste streams in this market. On the electricity, of course, the power purchase agreements, long term, are an opportunity to secure renewable sources, be it from solar or from wind. So you should expect from us that we will pursue these opportunities, but sometimes we even invest in our own captive solar power plant, like we have already done in—
North Macedonia.
North Macedonia and in Bulgaria. We have announced at the time of the strategy that by 2026, we plan to have directly and indirectly access to 100-130 MW. So that's an active thing for us. We have set up our own energy team here in the corporation in Greece. We have made all the necessary preparation steps also to be trading in energy for our own needs. So we are becoming a sophisticated player in this field. Maybe, Bill, back to you on the question on further developments on funded projects.
Yes. Thank you, Andreas, for the question. The answer is yes. We have several projects, and we try really to contribute to our country's efforts really for decarbonization and other trends based around the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. We're focusing these projects on decarbonization, on carbon capture and sequestration, on circular economy trends. And we do that either alone, capitalizing on technology that we have and high performance products, or in conjunction with universities and other institutions. And we will expect this to mature and have announcements in the months to come.
Okay, great. Thank you very much.
The next question is from the line of Woerner Tobias with Stifel. Please go ahead.
Yes, good afternoon, gentlemen, and congrats to your decision to list in the U.S. Two questions from my side on the U.S. Price increases are being put through in the markets, I think, as we speak, or have been at the beginning of April again. My question is, if so, how are you seeing those being executed in the market, and to what sort of levels are we talking about in dollar terms? The second question, I've been traveling through the U.S. actually last week, and some people I met were sort of referring to Florida as a market where they're more concerned about housing. Just looked at the permits there.
It doesn't seem to be a massive issue, but I'd like to get the view from Bill, if possible, on that front. Then, apologies, the question has been asked earlier, but I was called off the call. The application of the funds, would that also allow you to do smaller sort of bolt-on deals in the U.S., or is that something you'd be looking for?
I will answer the last one, and then we'll pass it on—
Go ahead, yeah.
Pass it on to Bill. The capital to be raised will be enough for significant investments in the U.S., but as well as at group level. It's not a marginal transaction, it's a transaction that will raise a significant amount of capital, which, combined with our low leverage, as you understand, gives us enough firepower to be more optimistic—
Follow—
Yeah. So, Bill, on the Florida price.
Absolutely. Tobias, thanks for the question. In relation to the price increase, yes, we have applied in Florida as of January first, and we see the prices increasing. We haven't gotten the full amount of the $10 per short ton that we have announced because of the bad weather, which has created some kind of weak conditions, but we've seen about $2-$3 coming in, and we expect more to come as now we come into April. But this is gonna be— we're gonna refer to that in the second quarter results. We see less stickiness in relation to cement in the Mid-Atlantic area, in the Northeast, which was hit by bad weather.
And, some of the competitors rescinded their own price increases, and we chose also to defer as of April first, and we see the momentum now increasing. The more interesting part in relation to the price increases in the U.S. relate really to ready-mix concrete, where we see significant price increases already materializing in the first quarter, and also in aggregates, where the momentum in aggregates increase for price increases is unabated through the first quarter of the year. And, in ready-mix, I would say, it continues on the same trends as also we saw in the second half of 2023. So we see strong trends continuing in ready-mix and aggregates. We have to take this into account because it's an important part of the market.
We see in cement also a strong power, strong pricing power, albeit not at the same level as of last year, but we see this to change into the Q2 and especially in the second half of the year. Now, in relation to concerns about residential in Florida, as I mentioned, it's a checkerboard type of situation. In some areas—w e see continuing strong demand in residential. In other, especially in the Southeast, we see some softening. However, let me tell you that we see the housing permits, and clearly we're gonna see a negative trend in housing permits in Florida by about a negative 5% in 2024. This is the expectation.
It's gonna be slightly positive as far as single-family permits is concerned, about point five, zero point five to one percent positive. More negative on the multifamily permits. That's gonna be in the double-digit rates, negative minus fifteen percent is the expectation. But suffice to say, because I mentioned that the trends are leveling off and we see a turnaround, in 2025, we expect a 3% increase in residential permits in single family, and about 1.5%-2% in multifamily, and this growing fast in 2026 and 2027.
So we see really what I mentioned, that we the soft trends in the residential industry that lasted for 2.5 years are leveling off, and we expect a confluence of events in 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028, with all the trend, all the segments, infrastructure, heavy manufacturing, and residential, are all gonna be pointing north, and they're gonna have positive trends and great impact in the consumption of cement in our markets.
Yeah, thank you, Bill. I would just add that, of course, we are seeing these mixed signals in the first quarter, and in spite of that, we have delivered positive sales, the combination of volumes, our volumes performance, and pricing performance. And I think, again, at the Investor Day last year, when we deep dive into the structural and the fundamentals of the markets we are covering, including the underbuilt of circa 1 million houses in our regions, and the increased infrastructure. What I'm pleased to report is that the team has done extremely well in balancing well our exposure between the segments, infrastructure, residential and non-residential.
I really appreciate the—
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Sharad Kumar with KBC Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for taking my question. I have some few questions on, let's say, the overall sentiment in the U.S. For example, yeah, interest rates have remained fairly high. The U.S. Fed levels of debt have ballooned significantly. So how confident are you that new, you know, federal spending towards infrastructure projects will continue? Because this is a significant driver for your U.S. business. Also, you know, we saw that towards the beginning of the year, Holcim spun off their U.S. business with rather aggressive targets that they set. Do you think that this will have an impact on the specific markets that you participate in? And by that I mean, you know, increased competition or any other aspect.
Finally, in terms of your U.S. IPO, okay, we know it could be between 15% and 25%, and the money would be used. But yeah, so my question is, what exactly would the money be used? Would this be used to acquire, let's say, some smaller players regionally, or would you rather prefer to invest in new production facilities? Thank you.
Thank you for your questions. Very quickly, on the three of them, and then Michael and Bill, please, jump in. I think when it comes to U.S. sentiment, we embark into this journey of the IPO, and we continue investing 60% of our CapEx, which is between $200 million-$250 million every year into U.S. operations. As we strengthen our value chain integration and our positions in markets which we believe are attractive. We operate in three mega regions with healthy U.S. population and economic prospects. So cannot comment on the rest of U.S., but in these markets, we just mentioned that they are underbuilt by 1 million homes in our regions.
At the time of the Investors Day, we have presented a quite detailed view on the $122 billion eyed for i nvestments in infrastructure, only, only in these regions. Again, we are happy with the progress that we see, and we prepared ourselves with additional investments in ready mix, additional investment in portable crushing for aggregates, and a very nice coverage in both aggregates as well as two new terminals, multi-product hubs that we just finalized in Norfolk and Tampa. So, it's a market-facing organization, future ready to tap into this powerful multi-year growth cycle that we expect. For the proceeds, I think we already answered. We will not give, at this stage, more details than what we gave last year at the investors day.
So you can expect us to work on multiple fronts, as highlighted this year. Not only expanding our investments in logistics, but also in the vertical integration, ready mix and aggregate, as well as in bringing to the markets, additional cement. Capitalizing on the long supply chain, which is also related to our positions in Europe, both in cement, clinker, as well as in cementitious. You want to comment, Michael or Bill?
Yeah, let me, let me make a comment here, Marcel. Well, we're not only confident about the U.S. economy and the prospects of our industry, we are bullish about it. We are really at the once in a century what they call decade of infrastructure. The balance sheets of the states where we operate, but most of the states in the U.S., are very strong. The funds are there. The federal funds for the Infrastructure Act, the IIJA, are flowing into the states. The projects are being financed and funded, and they're certain in earnest, and we see the acceleration happening.
On top of that, the structures are underbuilt and the demographic trends that we see, especially in relation to household formation for the Millennials, but also now starting for Generation Z, are really booming. It's very interesting if we see what's happening. So the underbuild is something that needs to be addressed. It has become a crisis, and we see this changing. So we're very bullish. And on top of that, we have so many trends that is a confluence of events that create huge opportunities, and that's why our bullish is the decarbonization, the circular economy, the infrastructure modernization that I mentioned. But on top of that, the resilient urbanization, the need for seawalls, the smart cities, the trends in refurbishment and renovation, the trends and the needs for high-performance products across really all the segments of construction.
And the new construction technologies that we see, participate in 3D printing and other different technologies that we see, including digitalization and the opportunities it brings. We are really ahead of a boom in the growth in the cement industry, aggregates, ready-mix, cementitious material, and we have very strong position. We have leading positions across the Eastern Seaboard, and we're really on the pole position to capitalize on this growth trends. And our investments on this is gonna help us really extend our leading position.
I mentioned at the beginning that this is a contagious excitement and, very, very happy to be part of it.
Do we have another question?
Mr. Sharad Kumar, are you finished with your questions?
Maybe just one last question from my end, which is, yeah, you said, you also have said that you might have an investor day. Could we expect to see some kind of targets that you set, maybe, I don't know, for 2030? Because I think that helps as analysts, for us to benchmark how close you are and also maybe the market, which then rewards you.
The intention is, we're aiming towards the end of the year to combine it with an update and more details for the US IPO. But, I think what you will be getting then is still 2026 updated targets, as we will be discussing and reviewing at our board level as well.
All right. Thank you.
The next question—
Two more questions, if possible, because we also have to answer phone calls.
Yes. Thank you. The next question is from Kollias Vasilis with Pantelakis Securities. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, and thank you for the outstanding performance. My question lies about the selection of Virginia plant for entry to negotiation by the US Department of Energy for receiving a subsidy up to $60 million. As this investment is a crucial step towards decarbonization, which is the main— the primary goal of the group, and come with Titan's intention to invest additional funds upon selection. Does the group plan to increase its CapEx the following year? And my second questions is about the growth in East Med region. The double-digit growth in the top line in East Med is going to be continued for the whole year? Thank you.
Okay, quick answers to both. Our CapEx plan for this year, we have already stated it's going to be around close to EUR 250 million, which is quite higher than historical levels. We don't have specifics for next year, but it's, I would be surprised if it's much lower. I think it would be around up to the same level. Regarding East Med, I think I made the comment before that with the Gaza war still going on, very hard to predict what will happen in Egypt. And Turkey continues to do well. So for Turkey, we are optimistic.
Thank you very much.
The next question is from the line of Mike Betts with Data Based Analysis. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I had a very quick question, if I could, on the U.S. The question is: Are you seeing more clients or customers demanding that people buy from American companies or the jobs are supplied by American companies? Is that a factor behind the desire to have the IPO as well as the obvious valuation one? Thank you.
Bill, I think some of the acts stipulate that projects that are funded by public funds, they need really American products, and of course, all our products are American. So we don't have any issue with that, and we participate in all these projects.
Okay. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of time, we will now conclude our Q&A session, and I will turn the conference over to Mr. Colakides for any closing comments. Thank you.
Okay. Well, as you have realized, we are all very excited not only with Q1 results, but also with the announcement for the IPO. You will be hearing more from us in July. We have set the Q2 and half year results announcement on July thirty-first. So we will be glad to have you again at the next conference call. And of course, our IR department is always ready and helpful to respond to any more inquiries you may have. Thank you.