Buon pomeriggio. Good afternoon. Hello everyone. Welcome to our for Capital Market Day. Welcome to our for Capital Market, because this year is important, I would like to start reshaping energy. Let me start telling you that the current situation in the Middle East does not change our trajectory. It makes the title of this event stand out even more. Now I would like to start to take you in our time machine. Many years ago, in Italy, there were women and men entering the office of Montecatini every morning with the belief that research ingenuity could change the world. It was the company that first introduced industrial chemistry in Italy and entering in the nuclear energy domain. In that place, new idea and processes were tested to produce nitrogen and fertilizer based on phosphate, including the necessary hydrogen. A revolution that transformed the Italian agriculture.
It was only, not only fertilizer. Giulio Natta from Politecnico di Milano, worked closely with Montecatini. He developed new catalyst and process for polymerization. In Ferrara, in Moplen was born the plastic material that changed industries and society. Thanks to that, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963, the only Italian to receive this award so far. That period was fascinating, not only for technological innovation. Fu la nascita di un sogno industriale italiano. Un sogno che apparteneva a una sola azienda. Non apparteneva a una sola generazione, era un sogno costruito per durare. Proseguendo in questo viaggio incontriamo MAIRE, una piccola realtà che abbiamo creato con pochi dipendenti, una missione forte e chiara. Un'azienda cresciuta nel tempo anche attraverso acquisizioni, integrando player fondamentali dell'industria, tra cui la divisione ingegneria della Montecatini, oggi Tecnimont.
Today, MAIRE stands as a global engineering platform combining the outstanding technology of NextChem with the ability to build complex plant all over the world through Tecnimont. What make us unique is our ability to preserve the vision and value of those two few people. Now, shared by more than 11,000 worldwide, our group. Today, the world need industry more than ever. The world needs energy, new material and processes, innovation to combine economic development and environmental responsibility. The energy transition is changing shape. The geopolitical balance has shifted, as you can see on this day, unfortunately. Global industry evolves according the new scenario and opportunity emerge in new markets, such Africa and America. This morning was announced an important contract by NextChem in Nigeria. Our evolution in the new space on chemistry, energy demand and digital competence make us more attractive for the new generation of engineers.
Every era requires new solution, today we are the answer of this challenge. Our plan is simple: double our revenues, almost triple the EBITDA compared to 2025. We have been demonstrated to be able to exceed our own targets. We are five years ahead on the data we presented from that stage, on this stage in 2023. This is the fact, is the reality. Our sustainability, we are accelerating our journey toward our carbon neutrality by 2029. Also addressing material and circularity and water management as the strategic topics, targeting 90% of the water recycle in our construction site by 2035. We will get our goal bringing new technology on board through acquisition, as we have been doing since the beginning. Only a few weeks ago, we further expand our offer into inorganic chemistry with the signing acquisition of Ballestra Group.
We are entering a strategic sector at the service of metallurgical and mining industries. We are also expanding our fertilizer offering with the phosphorus product. We invest huge money, EUR 360 million in the last three years. We have an ambition plan EUR 1.4 billion for acquisition and CapEx in the next 10 years. We have several opportunity open on the table that we expect to conclude by the first half of this year. Confident they will contribute in our future growth. In any case, we remain open to larger strategic transaction. Moreover, we are enforcing our competencies recognized at the global level. Let me say with Tecnimont, which has been delivering complex projects around the world for years, we entering in a new market. As an example is our adding offer in LNG sector with the agreement already signed.
We have also designed the construction with the new technology available and with modernization at the center. The name is COSMONT, the new name of our way to industrialize the plant execution. It is the modern way to doing engineering for construction, designing and execution with the strong use of artificial intelligence for increasing efficiency, improving working condition, safety and performance. Talking about NextChem, our technological innovation arm. We aim to expand first in our circular solution into recovery or treatment of precious metal and rare earth, thanks to the new recycle processes of the industrial waste, like solar panel and lithium batteries. Second, energy vector solution, expanding to use a methanol as a fuel for marine sector. Also in the aviation, decarbonization is no longer of choice.
Our advanced CIF SAF technology will serve a demand, growing by over 20% each year up to 2040, equivalent to more than 150 new plants totally. Innovation does not stop here. NextChem took a clear step also in the nuclear sector, launching NEXT-N to develop innovative solution for conventional island related to SMR and AMR top technology, starting from engineering service and to plant development. Across our pillar, artificial intelligence is integrated with our industrial know-how as an engine to amplify and accelerate our results. At the center of this development, we have put our Next-Brain platform, enabling industrial AI solution into new internal and external working processes. Not no longer only automation, but autonomous operation to serve our clients.
Have you mentioned me? Let me take my space then. Adding something concerning innovation. Our Green Innovation District in Rome is almost ready, as once was the Donegani Research Center of Montecatini about 100 years ago, building a bridge between our heritage and our future. The Green Innovation District will be the beating heart of our technology development activities, a place where pilot plans will demonstrate our advanced technological capabilities and the commercial development of our innovations.
Indeed. Thank you. A place where our all stakeholder will be directly in touch with the new technology of NextChem. They will also appreciate our past, present, and future to our archives and amazing experience center. The district will create opportunity for the young talents. We are launching also an ETS Academy to train new professional with a target to arrive more or less at 200 student per year enrolled after high school. Per concludere, vogliamo essere protagonisti della nuova era dell'energia, della materia, come lo fu la Montecatini. Vogliamo essere catalizzatori di tecnologie e talenti come nessun altro player nell'industria. Vogliamo essere di esempio per le nuove generazioni che dovranno, decideranno di misurarsi con l'innovazione. MAIRE oggi è pronta a prendere questa sfida e portare a casa il risultato, così come abbiamo dimostrato nella nostra storia.
Le opportunità ci sono anche in contesti che cambiano e si complicano. Dobbiamo essere pronti ad abbracciare il cambiamento con tenacia, con lo sguardo lungo e un approccio disciplinato. Ciò che sembra ambizioso oggi diventa realtà domani. Siamo pronti a reshaping energy. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you Fabrizio and welcome everyone to our 2026 Capital Market Day. It's a great honor, really, great honor to stand before you today at our headquarter here in Milan and of course, an heartfelt thank you to everyone which are joining us online. Before we move into today's agenda, let me briefly address the current situation in the Middle East by stating the most important thing: all our people and as well as the workforce of our subcontractors are there but absolutely safe. Our project in the Gulf region continue to be executed in a stable and safe operating environment.
Of course, we activated our safety protocols immediately, and we remain in constant contact with the local authorities, the embassies of those nationalities which represent the workers, which are cooperating with us, and of course, the organizations of our clients. We will provide you more color in the following sections of the presentation. Now it's the moment to look at how far we have come and rise our eyes toward the future, which is more important. The world is demanding new energies, as our chairman was saying, new ideas, new solutions, and more importantly, the courage to bring them to life. Let's see together how we are going to do it. Since 2023, MAIRE has adopted a strategic model built on two complementary engines, each playing a vital role in our growth.
NextChem serves as our technological engine. Structured as an independent organization within our group, very important, is an independent organization. It operates through a short cycle model that drives innovation, global reach, and of course, higher margin. Tecnimont acts as our execution engine, focusing on the delivery of multi-annual EPC projects through an asset-light model, a model which provide flexibility. Together, they form a robust platform designed to engineer the energy solution the market needs today and more importantly, in the years to come. Our dual engines enable an integrated approach built to thrive. By combining NextChem's technologies with Tecnimont's execution capabilities, we offer a true one-stop shop that reduce complexity for the clients. Moreover, when project development expertise is needed, we leverage on our MET Development arm, a pool of expert in project financing and structuring.
With end-to-end delivery from the initial idea to the final operating asset, we take accountability across the entire value chain. This is how MAIRE competes and succeeds. Our strategy has delivered tangible results. Over the last three years, we doubled our top line and delivered a consistent increase in profitability. Profitability at all levels. In 2025, group revenues reached EUR 7.1 billion and EBITDA was approximately EUR 500 million, both exceeding our guidance. EBITDA margin reached 7%, up 100 basis points from 2022. Not easy. Remember, not easy. This remarkable result has been driven by solid project execution, operating leverage and NextChem contributing 1/4 of the group EBITDA. Most important, we tripled our net consolidated income reaching EUR 285 million in 2025.
Our best result ever, the first time in the life of this group. The outstanding economic performance has been matched by strict financial discipline. Over the past years, our strong operating cash generation has allowed us to invest in our future. In 2025, CAPEX exceeded EUR 68 million. If we include the acquisition of Ballestra Group announced at the end of 2025, which is expected to close, also the cash out is due to take place in the second quarter of 2026, this commitment rises to over EUR 190 million. At the same time, we have been returning greater value to our shareholders.
Today, the board of directors has resolved a proposed dividend, a distribution of EUR 188 million, up 64% year-on-year on a per share basis, while the payout ratio has increased from 55% last year to the present one, which is 66%. We are doing all this while keeping a sound balance sheet, ending 2025 with EUR 395 million in net cash. Our people made these excellent results possible. Today, our group counts 10,800 professionals of 85 nationalities, working across more than 50 countries. The diversity is our real strength. A full range of skills, all working together to deliver the plans of the future.
In 2025, we added over 1,000 new colleagues and enhanced our people competencies by more than 700,000 hours of training. Looking ahead, we expect headcount growth to continue, of course, but at a pace which reflects the benefit of a further increase in the adoption of artificial intelligence, as you will see later on in the following section. Thanks to this workforce, we are equipped to deliver the backlog in our hands and meet the rising deep market demand. Talking about our backlog, the backlog reached EUR 12.7 billion at the end of 2025. In addition, this week has brought additional EUR 4.7 billion order intake, including two multi-billion projects. These new awards provide a solid support to this year's order intake and contribute to increasing our revenue visibility. Very important.
Equally important is where this backlog come from. Most of the projects acquired in the past two years have been sanctioned where? In the Global South. These are fast-growing regions combining resources abundance with pragmatic environments. In these areas, Tecnimont has successfully delivered several plants in the past decades, spanning from gas processing to petrochemicals and refinery upgrades. At the same time, the Global South is increasingly focused on the valorization of new feedstocks, from renewables to biomass and waste. This creates tangible opportunities to enable an economically viable transformation of these resources through next-gens technologies. These processes are taking place at the time of significant development in the energy landscape. Giovanni Sale, my friend, now will go through how these scenarios are evolving and the opportunities they are creating for MAIRE. Giovanni.
Thank you, Alessandro. Thank you so much. As you said, the world is demanding new energies. Let's look at how the landscape is changing with the driving forces and how we can benefit from this evolution. If you look at today's world trends, global population growth, GDP expansion, and rising living standards are all driving a structural increase in energy demand. This pattern is expanding beyond developed countries. Currently, under 45% of the people use more than 80% of the global energy. Rising consumption in emerging economies will significantly affect the future energy demand. This is just the baseline. At the same time, a new force is unfolding, the exponential increase in power demand driven by electrification and AI. Let me explain it with a simple analogy using an image that is quite familiar for the financial community. Do you remember Alan Turing?
I'm sure you do. It appears on the 50 GBP notes. Money talks. Alan Turing machine Enigma, the blueprint of computers, and today AI processor, are based on the same concept. The Turing machine defined the logic of computation, simple operation, endlessly repeated, able to solve any problems. Modern AI system do the same, in an entire different scale. What once could have taken years to do now happens in a nanosecond, like the occurrence of a supernova or better. Let me say better. It's like to compare The Flintstones with a supernova, and this computational capacity require a massive amount of energy. The picture is clear. The challenge ahead is energy addition. Over the past 15 years, installed capacity has already expanded at an extraordinary pace, and the next decade will mark another phase of acceleration.
Installed capacity reflects the maximum potential out of the energy system. In other words, it's scale. That scale is set to double again, faster and faster than before. The structural expansion of the system is generating an unprecedented need for infrastructures and material to meet the growing energy requirement worldwide. Let me, in dollar terms, the addressable market for MAIRE is enormous, and we are prepared to seize these opportunities, as Fabio and Sandro will explain later in detail. The implications are critical, as this expansion requires mobilizing every available source to guarantee security of supply, affordability, and resilience of the system. As you know, the system requires stability, renewable cannot stand alone. Today, this role is fulfilled by gas, LNG, and over the longer term, it will be by the new generation nuclear as a base load.
Electrification is not just about power generation, but enabling the industrial system to produce tangible components. These make chemistry essential for both stable grids, batteries, storage, and mobility. Material became the main constraint, but at the same time, what truly matter is the ability to process them. At the same time, all this must be happen within the physical limits of our planet. We cannot forget it. Scaling energy, chemistry, and material require operating with the global carbon budget of our planet to ensure its environmental protection. To sum up, this is the new energy paradigm based on two pillars. First, the necessity for a multi-source system, a system where traditional and new energies coexist to serve ever-growing and different industrial needs and regional peculiarities. Second, a multi-shape, a multi-speed scenario.
Countries, sector, and value chain are progressing different pathway, driven by economic priorities, policy frameworks, and last but not the least, access to capital. Indeed, geopolitics, energy security, industrial policy are key drivers. Geoeconomic confrontation is today at its highest level in decades, and energy agendas are increasingly defined at regional and national level rather than, as it was in the past, through shared international networks. Economies are moving forward along differentiated pathway, driven by their own strategic priorities. Recognizing operating with this fragmented paradigm is essential to deliver secure, affordable, and sustainable energy in a setting of rising demand. Here we play our role. MAIRE as one global technology and engineering partner for our client, continuously evolving and expanding ahead of market.
In fact, a draining challenge require partners capable of operating with flexible across different context, delivering reliable and sustainable solution while managing complexity scale. This is where our engineering comes into play, as our chairman said in his introduction. Remember, since in 2010, 2018, NextChem has been building a unique technological platform to serve the low carbon and circular industry. Now we are further expanding it in the new chemistry of strategic materials, such as phosphorus, sulfur, and fluorine. This technology will enable us to process minerals and related metals at the time when metals are the new oil. Is a strategic issue. We are developing the strategic competencies and supply chain also for the new generation nuclear as per our NextChem vision.
Tecnimont history is rooted in large complex project, delivered across geographies and market cycle. We are now ready to apply this capability beyond our heritage carbon-based chemistry for oil, gas, and petrochemicals. Crucially, we do all this through an asset-light, people-driven model. Our value is created by engineering know-how, execution discipline, and ability to scale expertise quickly. Last but not the least, in this model, the support from AI plays an fundamental role. AI is not substitute for expertise. It's a force multiplier that allow us to deliver with greater efficiency, quality, and reliability across our operation. This is how we benefit from pragmatic solution powered by AI. This is how we reshaping energies supported by our technology. Let me hand over to Fabio, who will take you through the latest amazing, fantastic development at NextChem.
Thank you. Thank you, Giovanni, for your valuable insights. Good afternoon, everyone. 2025 has been my first year as managing director of NextChem. It has been a crucial year for our industry, a year that has redefined the meaning of energy transition, as we all know. We have operated in a challenging scenario, and we navigated it with discipline, focus, and strong results. Moments of disruption also create opportunities, and we were ready to seize them. At year-end, we announced the acquisition of Ballestra Group, a strategic transaction that expands our technology portfolio in inorganic chemistry, the chemistry of metals and minerals. It broadens our client base and enhances our R&D capabilities. A concrete step forward, fully aligned with the strategic pillars that underpin NextChem value proposition. Indeed, NextChem value proposition was further strengthened in 2025.
Our portfolio of market-ready technologies has grown to over 50, and with the addition of Ballestra, we will reach over 80 technologies. At the same time, we have further strengthened our service platform. Beyond licensing, beyond engineering services, beyond critical proprietary equipment, we are now increasing recurring revenues and client retention by expanding into digital services and catalyst sales. This proposition, allow me to say, is unique in the market. We have also continued to elevate our distinctive process design capabilities, thanks to our teams. At closing of the Ballestra acquisition, we expect to exceed 1,100 professionals. The combination of an unparalleled set of technologies and top-tier talents allows us to deliver tailored solution from feedstock to final products. Most importantly, we deliver economically viable and bankable solutions. In this way, we create value across evolving market conditions.
The proof is our backlog, which reached EUR 366 million at the end of last year. This will be further strengthened by the contribution of Ballestra's order portfolio of around EUR 315 million, again, at the end of last year. Let me take you through what and how we are unlocking a new chapter in our technology offering. Let's start with fertilizers, which are needed to feed a growing population. This sector is shaped by the need for higher efficiencies and sustainability. Today, we offer the most comprehensive fertilizer technology portfolio in the market. We were already the market leader in urea. In parallel, we have strengthened our ammonia platform. We now have a suite of solutions fully integrated with our hydrogen offering that covers all ammonia production scales, up to 3,500 metric tons per day.
This is attracting strong market interest, as confirmed by the EUR 485 million contract announced this morning for three world-scale nitrogen fertilizer plants in West Africa. We are expanding in phosphate and potassium, reaching a 95% coverage of all fertilizer products. A market share where we see continued growth potential, supported by approximately EUR 200 billion of expected investments over the next 10 years, driven by new plants, of course, as well as by replacements and revamping of existing assets. With this wide array of technology, NextChem is now uniquely positioned to deliver specialty solution tailored to soil needs. Let's watch this in a brief video.
What does it take to feed more with less? Today's agriculture relies on three essentials: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. N, P, and K, three elements brought together to unlock more. So far, NextChem focus has been on nitrogen-based fertilizers. Today, we are extending and completing our offering, bringing the whole system into focus. We enable processes for N, P, and K, and for the combinations that result from them, covering up to 95% of the fertilizer products needed worldwide. Effectiveness isn't about elements alone. It's about precision, the right balance for each crop, each soil, each condition. From base nutrients to specialty compounds, technology turns elements into the perfect recipe. Targeted, efficient, and ready for the field. From N, P, and K to a complete fertilizer portfolio.
Energy vectors. Let's move to how we move the world. Here, the challenge is delivering solutions that are environmentally friendly and produced in an economically viable way. The vision is clear, the opportunity is huge. In the near term, momentum is strongest in sustainable aviation fuel and clean energy storage. Looking ahead, ammonia and methanol hold meaningful promise as next-generation fuels. The pace of development will be shaped by the evolution of global regulations and the deployment of the right infrastructure. NextChem's portfolio is positioned to capture existing and emerging market opportunities, and we are further strengthening our positioning through sulfuric acid for the metals and mining industry, where we see a strong potential and commercial synergies, and through fluorine for lithium batteries to expand in the electrification value chain. Let's learn more about this in the following video.
What does it take to make electrification possible? When we talk about electrification, we often think of batteries. Behind every battery, there is chemistry, precise, controlled, essential. Today, NextChem takes a leap into fluorine chemistry. Why? Among the many elements that make up a battery, fluorine compounds play a key role in enabling efficient and reliable energy storage. We enable the production of high-value intermediates, starting from minerals or industrial byproducts through advanced technologies. Each step requires accuracy and safety. As these processes come together, a seamless system takes shape. From elemental inputs to advanced intermediates, our technology turns fluorine chemistry into a foundation for electrification across energy and mobility.
Let's now look at how to make sustainable and circular materials. The key drivers are the need for more biodegradable plastics and recycled materials that match virgin quality. Fast emerging trends with strong growth prospects that we are ready to capture with our solutions. As indicated by Alessandro, the Global South is becoming an engine of circularity. This is where momentum is building, as many countries have started realizing that waste valorization is a real opportunity. Most importantly, we are taking meaningful step forward. We are providing solution for bio-based detergents, and we are advancing metal circularity to extract critical and precious metals from electronic waste flows. Let's see together what it means
What does it take to turn e-waste into resources? Every year, millions of electronic devices reach the end of their life. Inside them lies a treasure. Copper and precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are key building blocks for the technologies around us. When these devices are no longer used, the recovery of their treasure is complex, and without the right technologies, it is lost. NextChem aims to rewrite this ending and make high purity metals recovery possible. Metals recovered from electronic waste can go straight back into industrial supply chains, reducing the need for primary extraction and its environmental and social impact. Each recovery cycle strengthens resource security and supports a circular industrial model. This is circularity in action, turning waste into renewed value again and again.
Last year we launched NEXT-N, a major step forward in unlocking the potential of new generation nuclear energy. NEXT-N will develop the conventional island and balance of plant needed to convert nuclear energy into electricity. It will provide engineering services to nuclear technology providers, design critical equipment, and support the development of the new nuclear supply chain. NEXT-N is a core enabler of clean, reliable power for data centers, industrial uses, and the production of carbon neutral chemicals through our technologies. Let's now see how we grow. At NextChem, M&A is a strategic lever. We are extremely selective. We only look at technologies with a readiness level of five or above. We either acquire validated concepts and turn them into industrial scale solutions, or we buy established technologies and turn them into global champions powered by our commercial strength.
This approach increases the probability of success and reduces time to market. Our track record speaks for itself. We have made five acquisitions since 2023, and there is more to come as anticipated by our chairman before. Talking about technology development, we are true enablers of innovation. Our capabilities are grounded in our hubs, where we transform breakthrough concepts into market ready solutions. We operate a one of a kind pan-European R&D platform. Let's look at it with Paola.
Thank you, Fabio. That's completely true. Let me show you how. NextChem technology scale up and demonstration model is built around a network of specialized R&D centers across Europe, including around 20 pilot plants, an impressive innovation engine. Each site plays a specific role along the innovation journey, allowing us to test and develop technologies efficiently from concept, validation, demonstration to industrial deployment. Let's take a closer look. In our center in the Netherlands, we work on ammonia, urea, nitrates, and specialty fertilizer technologies. Depending on the specific project requirements, we collaborate with third-party test sites and universities. In Rome, we leverage on our long-standing capabilities to further improve our technologies for hydrogen production and carbon capture. We don't stop here. The ecosystem is growing even stronger thanks to the acquisition of Ballestra Group that brings two major technology development centers in our group.
In Milan, where we already work on polymers and sustainable fuels, we have now an R&D center focused on surfactants and soaps with activities ranging from process development to scale up and continuous improvement of technologies already in commercial operation. In Basel, Switzerland, another R&D center is specialized in gas liquid reaction and advanced process technologies in the fluorine chemistry, enabling the energy transition thanks to its application in electrification systems. Building on this solid foundation, we come back to Rome, where we are building our Green Innovation District, the core of our sustainable innovation, which will be ready and operating this year. The Green Innovation District will host laboratories, several pilot facilities, and will be open to collaboration with third parties.
It will allow us to test emerging technologies at an early stage and prepare them for industrial application. Together, these centers cover the entire technology development journey, from innovation to commercial deployment and beyond. Fabio, back to you on stage.
Thank you. Thank you, Paola. Let me conclude by looking at NextChem's financials. We continue to grow at a strong pace, a remarkable result achieved in a challenging environment. Over the past three years, we have delivered a threefold increase in both revenues and EBITDA, closing 2025 with a top line of EUR 495 million and an EBITDA margin of 24.7%. If we look ahead, we expect a fivefold increase in revenues exceeding EUR 2.5 billion in 2035. Profitability is expected to remain in the 22%-25% range, depending on the service mix, driving EBITDA to EUR 600 million in 2035. To fuel this impressive growth, we will continue to invest in shaping the technologies of tomorrow.
We are planning to invest up to EUR 750 million over the next decade, balancing organic investments with selected bolt-on M&A to accelerate our trajectory. M&A is expected to represent 40%-60% of our investments, targeting EBITDA-generating businesses that are value accretive. Where possible, we will implement deferred payment mechanisms tied to tangible and measurable performance, as we have done in the past. 30%-40% of our CapEx will be allocated to technology validation to take proven concepts to industrial scale. The remainder will be dedicated to recurring R&D to keep investing in continuous improvement. With that, I will now hand over to Alessandro, who will walk you through the updates of the E&C business unit. Alessandro.
Now we are moving into Tecnimont world. Since we are talking about the execution arm of our group, it is imperative to throw away the jackets. Thank you. At Tecnimont , we remain unwavering in our commitment to raising the bar in our engineering, procurement, and construction services. With more than 1,500 plants delivered globally, Tecnimont continues to lead in sectors with higher barriers to entry. Our dedication to operational excellence, grounded in rigorous selectivity, tight risk control, and world-class HSE performance, is the fundamental pillar of our value proposition. Today, we are redefining EPC innovation through AI and industrialized solutions to build the next generations of plants. Building on this premise, let's look at how AI is reshaping the world of energy services.
Over the past decade, our digital foundation has built a robust data backbone, enabling the adoption of AI at scale. In the past year, we have almost doubled AI users to over 7,000 people. This scale-up has already delivered tangible benefits. In 2025, we redirected around, more or less, 1 million engineering man-hours toward value-added work. Through continuous process digitization and by engaging our people, we have developed several proprietary AI agents and embedded them into our workflows. Building on this momentum, we are now launching Next- Brain is a competence hub of around 200 AI internal experts dedicated to further developing and deploying AI agent across our organization. Next- Brain is positioned to become a business engine, driving further improvement in process design and process delivery. It will also support autonomous plant operations to reduce OPEX for plant owners.
Let's look at each EPC activity focusing on the key innovative elements. We have to start with engineering, where every project begins. Backed by almost 9,000 experts across all disciplines, our teams draw on a strong heritage, enabling seamless integration of the best available technologies into high-performance, reliable plants. Our designs are optimized for modularization and package breakdown, accelerating project delivery. AI supports project queries, bid estimation, increasing quality, as well as unlocking efficiencies. Let's turn to procurement. For procurement, we are further optimizing our processes through AI-enhanced forecasting and advanced vendor intelligence. We implement a timely buy-in strategy by placing orders as early as possible to mitigate price volatility and secure cost accuracy. Where needed, we are diversifying our supply chain in key regions to secure materials in a cost-effective way and meet the local content requirements.
With sustainability always in our mind, in 2025, around 90% of our procurement spending was conducted with ESG-screened suppliers. Furthermore, we secured a new capacity in China and established a direct cooperation with global shippers, boosting our logistic management. Finally, let's look at construction management. We worked with trusted subcontractors who build under our coordination. Our priority is maintaining our top-tier HSE standards while preserving the environment. The key initiative this year is the launch of our program designed to standardize and industrialize how we build the plans of our clients. Our transformation will imply moving activities from the site to specialized shops, ensuring the utmost quality, boosting productivity, and reducing exposure to harsh climate conditions. Modular construction enables a safer assembly and shorter schedules while advancing toward the next leap, which is the physical AI.
Which means robotic welding inspection, automatic material handling, as well as HSE monitoring. The implementation of this model is expected to increase competitiveness in the market landscape, where efficiency and timing of project execution will remain the key drivers in customer decision-making processes. Now it's time to take a trip around the world and watch how our project are becoming a reality. I hope that you have appreciated from the video that our project are advancing rapidly. In particular, Hail and Ghasha in the UAE, which has reached 60% completion at the end of last year. Believe me, an extremely remarkable result. Talking about Middle East, let me provide some more details about the impact of the current situation on our operation.
On site, operation are currently continuing without any disruption, and we are not foreseeing any significant impact, at least for the time being. However, this remain a rapidly changing situation and we cannot do anything else than monitoring closely the situation and of course we stand ready to implement a contingent plan if needed. Having said that, we do not foresee any major economic consequences caused by potential disruption to the supply chain or to our operation, as all our contracts include force majeure conditions. Based on the information currently available, our E&C is a backlog strengthened by the contracts award this week is providing, as you can see, a significant revenue visibility. Expected revenue coverage for 2026 is approximately 85%-90%.
Looking ahead, we are well positioned to navigate the current business environment with coverage of around 60%-70% in 2027 and from 40%-50% in 2028. Awards derive from opportunities. LNG is a great opportunity we are pursuing, as already indicated previously by our chairman. It is a natural extension of the capability we have built in gas, combined with our expertise in managing complex projects. By leveraging a modular development model and partnering with the best-in-class O&M, such as Baker Hughes, we are entering in this market with, in my opinion, smart approach. This is my friend. LNG capacity is set to grow, driven by further development in upstream activities.
We intend to play our part, starting with the Argent LNG initiative in Louisiana, where we will work on the front-end engineering design as well as on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitting. This early involvement is very strategic because once both activities are completed, we will act as an EPC integrator, gaining access to LNG process integration and benefiting from a fast learning curve. As a result, we will build repeatable capabilities, enabling us to replicate a similar LNG project in other geographies with reduced execution risk and improved time to market. In this way, LNG becomes a selective diversification for Tecnimont. Who better explain this project than Jonathan Bass, our friend, which is the Argent LNG CEO. Jonathan, carry it away.
Our project is located in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, the hub and center of America's energy export. We really required picking the right partners that would agree to bring in a project on budget, online, and on time. That really began with its suppliers and then its EPC. The EPC was the hardest, the absolute most difficult selection that we needed to take. We interviewed over 10 EPCs, spent months and months going through the process. In fact, meeting Tecnimont's team was not even a question. After four days, it was felt I felt like I was married to the right group. It was a group that fit like a glove. Tecnimont's ability to modularize and weave in the balance of plant into our project is what makes it very unique.
Most EPCs goals are contrary to the goals of a developer, and those goals are to make projects last longer so that they can build more and not turn the keys over to the developer. Whereas Tecnimont's goals are to actually complete a project faster, on time, on budget, and turn the keys quicker so that the customers can get the benefit. The larger goal between Tecnimont and Argent is to create and duplicate a modularized cookie-cutter solution that we could then go in and place around the world in duplication and securitize a energy solution for most of the world. I'm looking forward to the years ahead with Tecnimont and its team. I find them to be the best of the best. I would not have partnered with anybody else.
I have partnered with all of the best companies in the world, between Baker Hughes, Honeywell, GTT, and ABB. I wasn't gonna hire and partner with a company that was not of an equivalent level, and I consider Tecnimont to be the best EPC in the world today.
Believe me, we have not paid him, eh? It is a, it's a honest representation of the situation and of the good, very good relationship that we have with them. Also, thanks to the addition of LNG and other power initiatives, our pipeline has increased by over EUR 2 billion. Up to about EUR 61 billion . At the same time, there continue to be a strong concentration in gas monetization opportunities, particularly coming from the Global South. We are pursuing a concrete and viable energy transition opportunities in selected geographies including North America, Europe, South America as well, as the market has recognized that. Europe, of course. As the market has recognized that progress must be affordable and realistic.
All in all, we see a EUR 9 billion potential order intake this year, thanks to the benefits of our integrated offering and a sustainable, sustained structural demand. We just announced the EUR 4.7 billion award this week, with most of the balance to be materialized in the second half of the year. While the timing of awards depend on our client decision-making process, it is complete, and of course it is completely outside our control. We managed to acquire all the main project that we target over the last few years. We remain confident about our ability to transform this potential into reality also this year. Now let me conclude this section by look at the financials for the E&C business unit.
Building on the multi-billion dollar awards secured in recent years, we doubled revenues between 2022 and 2025, reaching EUR 6.6 billion. We are successfully delivering the large-scale projects, and this is reflected in our profitability. Since in 2025, we have been able to close the year with EUR 378 million of EBITDA, which represent a 5.7% margin. At the same time, up 30 basis point year-on-year. Looking ahead, we expect to reach approximately EUR 10.5 billion in revenues by 2035, with an EBITDA margin of ranging between 7%-8%. Going forward, CapEx will be a key enabler of Tecnimont's next phase of growth. We are planning cumulative investments of EUR 550 million-EUR 650 million over the next 10 years.
These investment are front-loaded and are structured around three categories. The first one, which represent a 20%-30% relates to EPC innovation, including digital and physical AI to improve execution. About 40%-50% relates to the investment, the co-investment through MET Development, which materialize through minority stakes in integrated project targeting double-digit return with a short exit horizon. The remaining, the balance relates to recurrent investment supporting emission reduction and climate resilience. To wrap this up, let's see how what we have presented translates into our 10-year strategic plan. At the end of the day, I am more familiar with this type of presentation since I have spent more or less the previous 40 years of my professional career as a CFO. Oh well.
Let's start with the 2026 guidance, which I believe a lot of you are eager to know. Based on what I have mentioned earlier and provided net, no significant deterioration will take place, in particularly in the Middle East geography. We expect group revenues ranging between EUR 7.5 billion-EUR 7.7 billion, assuming also the full year consolidation of the recently acquired Ballestra. STS revenues are forecasted to grow by around 40%, reaching EUR 670 million-EUR 700 million. EBITDA profitability is expected ranging between 22%-24%, reflecting the evolving service mix in this business unit. E&C revenues are expected at EUR 6.8 billion-EUR 7 billion, predominantly covered, as you have seen from the previous slides, covered by projects under execution.
EBITDA profitability for this business unit will continue to increase, reaching 5.8%-5.9%, driven predominantly by operating leverage and the ongoing efficiencies. As a result, group EBITDA is expected at EUR 545 million-EUR 575 million, with the profitability ranging between 7.3% and 7.5%. To support this growth, we plan to invest EUR 250 million-EUR 300 million, primarily to expand our technology portfolio, as already detailed by Fabio. This includes, of course, the closing of Ballestra in the second quarter, as well as additional selected bolt-on acquisitions, which we are currently pursuing. We expect the year-end net cash to be in line with the amount that we experience by the end at the end of 2025.
After taking into consideration our ambitious CapEx plan, the proposed dividend of EUR 188 million, which will be paid in April, and the EUR 79 million share buybacks, which we have just recently completed. Now let's move on to longer-term group projections. Based on what we presented today, we are now setting more ambitious targets once again. We are projecting revenues at EUR 9.5 billion, and an EBITDA ranging between EUR 740 million-EUR 860 million by 2030. Is the midterm, the half of our 10-year plan.
In the first 5 years, in the first years of the plan, we are now expecting on average to reach our target 2 years in advance compared to the plan that we have presented last years. In the longer term, we will continue on our upward trajectory with over EUR 13 billion of revenues. We will also focus on profitability acceleration, of course, targeting a 10%-11% EBITDA margin within 2035. This will be supported by the increasing contribution of STS, expected to reach 45% of the group EBITDA, as well as by operating leverage and the ongoing efficiency coming predominantly from the E&C business unit. To support our growth, we are announcing our investment plan with up to EUR 1.4 billion of cumulative CapEx over the next decade, front-loaded in the first five years.
Cash generation will remain solid with adjusted net cash expected to reach around EUR 2.1 billion in 2035. This strong operating cash flow will fully support our investment strategy while allowing us to maintain attractive dividends with a 66% payout ratio. We also remain committed to further optimizing our balance sheet, ensuring we preserve financial flexibility throughout the plan. Well, as we are approaching the end of our presentation, let me sum up how we are reshaping our energies. First, we are doing it through what we do, exactly what we do. We are expanding NextChem technology portfolio into inorganic chemistry for fertilizer and critical raw materials. We are also strengthening our proposition for new generation nuclear energy.
At the same time, Tecnimont is widening the market served, including LNG, leveraging our leading capabilities in managing complex projects. We are also reshaping our energy through how we do things. We strengthen R&D capabilities at NextChem to accelerate innovation scalability, and we introduce innovative initiatives across our E&C business unit to enhance execution and competitiveness. All of this is underpinned by our integrated approach, combining technologies, engineering, and execution into a single differentiated value proposition for our client. This is increasingly powered by artificial intelligence as an enabler. Our digital transformation supports a better engineering, faster execution, and higher efficiency across our operation. In a world with competing for energy, these drivers will support the delivery of a leading performance and value. Indeed, we do deliver value.
I hope you appreciated the growth that we experienced since our first capital markets day in 2023. The EUR 219 million total dividends we paid, probably it is necessary to turn the slide to the next one. Oh, wait. Well, I was talking about the value that we have created predominantly for our shareholder. 219 dividends already paid cumulative over the last three-year time, which doesn't include the EUR 188 million that we are going to pay over the next few weeks, next month, the month after, in April. We remain committed to delivering year after year, accelerating this value creation, increasing returns, and last but not least, further enhancing our technology business. My recommendation is just stay in tune with this growth story. Stay with us.
Now the moment you have been waiting for. It's time for Q&A. We will start with a question from the audience here in Milan, then I will read the remaining question from the webcast. For those here in person, please wait for the microphone. Kindly state your name and your company before asking the question. Please ask only two questions. We want to ensure that everybody gets the opportunity to ask. I believe we have the first question. Yes.
Marco Cristofori from Intesa Sanpaolo. Congratulation for the plan. Two question. The first one is on EPC business. Hail and Ghasha giant project will come to an end by the end of 2028, but you are still forecasting a solid go up to 2030 and onward. This should be based on a strong order intake in 2026, but also in 2027. The question is, if you see any other giant project such as Hail and Ghasha coming and when is expected? The second question is on NextChem. My personal belief is that nuclear would be crucial for increase of a production of electricity. You're entering the business not a lot of time ago.
Just to understand when you expect to see the first economical result from this new division. Thank you.
Let me start, Marco, for very interesting question, by the way. It is with the first question that you have raised. Are there any giant or super giant project in our pipeline? The appropriate answer is yes. There are at least three super giant projects which are due to come on stream in 2027, most likely early 2028. Before sanctioning the EPC, there will be the FEED which, for a project of such a magnitude, this will require at least 12 months' time. The real EPC will come on stream a little bit later. Due to the fact that most of the most reputable contractors, of course, including ourself, we are all of us, we are Already engaged today and in the next years, in the execution of a remarkable backlog.
The various clients, for the time being, at least, they have expressed their willingness to evaluate the proposal which will come only from temporary joint ventures. It is in the mind of all the clients, not just one, all those clients which are behind this super giant project, they have already gained the idea that in order to share their execution risk, it is much better to appoint not just one contractor, but a pool of contractor. Normally, two are more than enough. In order to answer properly to your question, we are, of course, already working on those commercial initiatives in association with other international contractors.
Even if we will not be awarded alone, this doesn't mean that this should create a problem for the growth that we have designed for the years to come. Instead to have one single project which could absorb a significant portion of our workload, there will be more than one. This will not affect the growth that we have designed for 2026, 2027 and even after having successfully delivered the Hail and Ghasha, we will continue on the same stream. Just to consider that the already existing backlog today, if we include the recently awarded project, 2028 is already covered for more than half of the revenues that we are expecting to generate in 2028 and even a portion in 2029.
It is not, of course, the story is not over. As you have, I hope appreciated, we have targeted EUR 9 billion in 2026 in terms of new acquisitions. It means that half of the expected awards will come on stream, will be part of our backlog in the second half of the year. Some of them will come from not necessarily the traditional province of the energies, so Middle East, will come from the U.S., as we have already mentioned before. South America. South America presently has engaged already a significant journey for the valorization of the gas fields, in particular those located in the Vaca Muerta gas fields.
Of course, in order to exploit properly, valorize, monetize, the production of such a natural gas, it is necessary of course, to equip the gas field with the traditional gas separation units, gas treatment unit. Then of course, if you want then to transform the gas into, valuable, commodities, of course, you have then to realize ammonia eventually and fertilizer. This is the story that we are working on, in particular in South America. North America, I am referring to the LNG initiative that we have just mentioned, which, for the time being, of course, we are just talking about, the very preliminary phase which relates to the FEED and the FERC, which are the two most critical step for this project.
Immediately after, since the client has already secured the financing, this will move into the real EPC one, whereby we will not take the execution risk, but we will provide our knowledge, our capabilities to integrate all the actors that will be part of this game. Very critical as our friend Jonathan Bass has, I believe, clearly represented. Just to mention some of the opportunities that we have in front of us, of course, some others, the super giants will be expressed once again by the Middle East market, and all of them relates to the gas monetization. Gas is due to remain the pillar for the energy of the future, at least in the medium term, as well as for energy production or as a feedstock to be converted into other type of commodities.
I truly believe that we'll have, the problem, to choice which type of project, we have to concentrate on and not To be worried, about the impossibility to get a new project. Really, I am really very, very optimistic, for the short term and the medium term as well.
On nuclear energy, you're posing a very hot question. In terms of, let me give you what analysts say in terms of long-term projections and estimates. In 2050, gas will still be the predominant source of energy. Renewables will be second, and nuclear should be third. The point is that is the type of energy that is really of interest to this group. It's a reliable and geolocated source of energy that can feed industrial complexes. Yes, we are betting on small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors with a number of partners. In terms of revenues, you know we are not on the nuclear island itself.
We are on the balance of plant and all the engineering for the critical materials which are needed to manage nuclear power. We are already, as a matter of fact, billing engineering hours to the clients or the partners we are doing this exercise with. Let me make a personal note on Europe. If you consider that it takes at least two years in terms of legislative process to adopt nuclear energy, that only France and a couple of small countries in Eastern Europe are adopting nuclear energy, we better start the sooner in Europe. You know, things might be ready by the end of this decade or early the next decade. If we, if we don't start with the legislative process, we will have to look at United States or other geographies.
Yes, we are very confident on the technology and on the potential.
Yes. Hi, good afternoon. Kevin Roger from Kepler Cheuvreux. I have two question, if I may. The first one is on NextChem. You are guiding us for a significant growth by 2030 from roughly EUR 500 to EUR 1.2 billion. Just to be sure in those in this gap, what is organic and inorganic? Just to understand what you have included in this big gap. The second one is we just mentioned on Hail and Ghasha. Hail and Ghasha is supposed to be completed in 2028, but you are at 60% right now, and a quarter ago you were telling us 45%. It seems that the execution is going quite very well.
If you can share with us a bit of, let's say, more color on how do you stand on the execution versus the plan and what it could mean for the marginality of the project, please.
Let me start with the first question on how much 2030 is made of organic growth and how much is coming from acquisitions. It's roughly in the 70-30, 75% to 30% to 80% range for what we already have and the remainder at that time coming from acquisitions. But these acquisitions, considering that 2030 is tomorrow, is of companies or technologies which we have already identified in a way. We are already working on that.
transcript of a speech given by a CEO at a recent conference. **CEO:** Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here today to share some insights into our company's journey and vision for the future. Over the past year, we've seen unprecedented shifts in the global landscape, from technological advancements to evolving consumer behaviors. These changes, while challenging, have also presented immense opportunities for innovation and growth. Our team has embraced these challenges head-on, demonstrating remarkable resilience and adaptability.
We've made significant strides in several key areas. Firstly, our commitment to research and development has led to the launch of three groundbreaking products that are already disrupting their respective markets. These products, built on cutting-edge AI and sustainable technologies, are not just about meeting current demands but anticipating future needs. Secondly, we've expanded our global footprint, entering new markets in Asia and Latin America. This strategic expansion is not merely about increasing market share; it's about fostering diverse partnerships and understanding unique regional dynamics, which ultimately enriches our global perspective and strengthens our offerings.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, we've doubled down on our sustainability initiatives. We believe that true progress isn't just measured by profit margins but by our positive impact on the planet and its people. From reducing our carbon emissions by 20% to investing in renewable energy sources across our operations, we are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen. Looking ahead, our vision is clear: to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible, to innovate with purpose, and t
You can imagine they are very proud of where they come from. They wear their T-shirt very tight. They strongly believe in where they come from. Then they have wore the NextChem hat. They've, you know, worked together and convinced the client to buy three technologies instead of one. And this is cross-selling. I do really believe that when you plug in our ecosystem a new company, you have to multiply the numbers they are making going forward.
You are once again interested in Elengy. I don't know why, because it is a so negligible project, anyway. As you have appreciated, Kevin, we have been able to deliver an extraordinary performance up to the end of 2025. 60% completion is really the really great effort of our organization, we have succeeded. We are still a little bit in advance compared to the early schedule that we have agreed with the client, we are very happy about what we have already delivered. What is going to happen moving forward? First, let me provide you with another element of comfort. Despite the turmoil which is affecting for presently the region, we do not expect it to face any major consequence in the execution.
Not economics at all because I have stated we are of course, to the extent there will be economical consequences, we are in a force majeure situation. Everything will be covered. For the time being, the project is not only Island Gas, but all the other project that we are going to complete in that part of the world, they are progressing business as usual. Of course, we have to pay some additional attention. Of course, the behavior of the various workers must follow specific disciplines, protocols, but apart from that, there are no specific consequences. Everything is progressing business as usual.
As far as the potential problems associated with the logistic issues since the difficulties in the Hormuz channel, let me say that due to the extremely important procurement campaign that we have been able to conclude, in particular in 2025, and the relating material has already delivered on site, we have presently four or five month, more or less five months of materials already available and delivered at the site. Only to the extent that the situation is due to last for a long, there could be eventually some delay in the delivery of the goods.
Since we have already in place a plan B, not only ourself, the client as well, all the other contractors working in the area have already identified additional route which will make it possible to feed the activities without any interruption. There will be an additional cost eventually, of course, we will report to the client and eventually, of course, we will obtain the recognition of those additional costs. How Hail and Ghasha is due to evolve? For sure, 2026 is for the entire 12 months period, everything will be concentrated on the construction. As I was saying before, engineering delivered. Materials already on site, of course now, already in 2025, we have started with the construction. As you have appreciated already from the picture that we have reported previously.
Everything will be concentrated on the construction. We expect to close the 2026 with the completion rate approximating 90%, and then the remaining 10% will be executed in 2028, which by the way, imply also the commissioning. Commissioning is a very sensible part of the project, which does not create any major volumes, but is critical from a technical standpoint. Volumes will be predominantly delivered with the construction in 2026, and then the balance in the 2028. Of course, all of us, we are concentrated in maintaining the schedule that we have depicted, which should make it possible to deliver the plans a little bit in advance compared to what has been defined contractually.
Francesco Sala, Banca Akros. Thank you for taking my questions and congratulations for the plan. Just two. The first one is on the commercial pipeline. It's quite different compared to the one you presented one year ago, especially America sees more than twice as much than it was 12 months ago. So I wonder what has changed and whether you think the competitive environment is going to be different from the one of the markets you normally operate in. The second is on the CAPEX on the E&C business, also sizably bigger compared to the plan you presented 12 months ago. I'm especially interested in the so-called minority investments, whether you can shed some light on this aspect. Thank you.
Yes, you are right. You know our group very well since a long time, and you have correctly noted that we have rerouted a little bit, our commercial pipeline and our target, short-term target, differently from a geographical standpoint compared to a few months ago. Why? I am still confident that those regions on which we have concentrated our attention since a few months ago, and I'm predominantly talking about North Africa, which I have not mentioned so far. It's just because the company which is located in. I'm talking about SONATRACH in particular, in Algeria. The company suffered a significant reshuffling in terms of management.
The new management now is going to prepare the strategic plan, including, of course, the investments, which is the most important element, for an energy company. We have agreed that as soon as they have completed their strategic plan and shared with the government, they will meet with us, and together we will review together the possibility, if they will decide to invest something, of course, to be once again with them. For this reason, we have been obliged to not to consider in the short terms opportunities coming from North Africa. Excuse me.
In the meantime, thanks to the agreement that we have entered with Baker Hughes, which provides a mutual benefit, because of course, if they want to sell their cold box modules, of course, it is necessary to rely on someone who is able then to integrate their modules with all the others equipment which are needed in order to have finally a liquefaction plant. Since we are already used to cooperate with Baker Hughes, for example, in Algeria, as Hassi R’Mel is one of the best example of the cooperation that we have in place with Baker Hughes. Of course, Baker, which at the end of the day is Nuovo Pignone, remembering that we, of course, to the extent it is possible, we prevail and we prefer to refer to the Italian supply chain.
Together we are already, they are partnering with us, in many other project, in many other geographies. This for sure has created an additional opportunity. We have humbled a little bit. We have shared internally with our organization that it was possible to work on this stream. On top of partnering with them, we have already in our hands the first opportunity. U.S. comes from this type of process, partnering with Baker and then working together. Because, you know, partnering, it is, or memorandum of cooperation, well, of course, extremely interesting, but it is more interesting when this type of cooperation concretize on already an existing project.
For this reason, I rely a lot on this type of cooperation because we have already a project on which we can concentrate the mutual efforts. On top of that, there are many other opportunities coming from this stream. They, I mean, for the time being, we rely on the capabilities of Baker Hughes to propose their solution, and of course, we will be with them. They have a stream of opportunities in many other geographies, including predominantly Africa and U.S. as well. U.S., of course, we are there since a long time, even if we have not executed giant projects in the county, but sophisticated project for sure. A project which will produce the plant which will produce blue ammonia is going to be delivered shortly. Africa.
Africa is, could appear to be strange, but is our bread and butter. A significant portion of our organization has spent many years in that part of the world, depending from Sub-Saharan Africa to East Africa, North Africa as well, and this. We are well equipped. Really there are opportunities which we have not considered. If you have raised this, should have raised this question six months ago, probably my answer should have been completely different. Now I am really confident that the LNG stream could represent a significant pillar for our growth moving forward. Geographies. As I was saying before, Latin America.
Latin America, for a lot of reason, politically, economically, in terms of macroeconomic, we have decided to stay aside from that part of the world until, let me say, the end of 2024, early 2025. Of course, we have to acknowledge that the situation locally has changed significantly. The situation, at least for the time being, of the country, has improved a lot, and it has been also confirmed by the willingness of super majors, energy companies like Eni, Shell, that they have decided to invest a huge amount of money in their Liquefaction infrastructure. Floating predominantly. You know better than anybody else that in order to have the gas ready to be liquefied, must be treated before.
This is the reason why, of course, now we are addressing our interest on this type of project, which replicate more or less the same nature of project that we are presently executing in Kazakhstan. Tengiz project is very similar to what we could be requested to execute in Argentina. There are also other investors which have, has already available significant quantities of their own equity gas. For the time being, the best solution to monetize those production is to use the gas as a feedstock and then to convert it into fertilizer, because, you know, Argentina, one of the most important element of their economy is still the agricultural activity. They don't need to export. They can rely also on the domestic market.
This just to mention something which have come on stream rapidly and very heavily over the last six-month time. Of course, since we are well prepared to do it, we are working hardly on them, and we will see if our efforts will be converted into new orders most likely in the summer season, not before. Will be around September. August or September, October. This will be the period whereby I expect to be able to get new projects on top of the EUR 4.7 billion that we have already secured today. Excuse me. Of course, I forgot your question about the CapEx. You are right. It is not so different, the amount that we have decided to invest over the next decade in the E&C business unit compared to the past.
Now we have decided, we have, say, a more clear idea on how to address this amount of money, which by the way, also for E&C, basically it will be mostly concentrating the first part of the plan. A significant portion, as I was saying before, it will represent the minority stakes that we are prepared to enter in those projects with our own equity when the economics of the project satisfies our minimum requirement in terms of returns. The conditions will make possible then to monetize this minority stake as soon as the infrastructure is ready.
We are working on some of them, it is basically very efficient solution because in particular, this is the most appropriate strategy which combines the possibility to have involved the EPC machine, but at the same time, it provides a great support also to spread in the market our technological solution. Just for reporting purposes, we have allocated the minority stake investment in the E&C division, but it could be shared between NextChem and E&C because, I repeat, mostly relates to those initiatives whereby we can provide the client with our technological solution and then, of course, we propose ourself as the execution of the EPC contract. This is the second most important element of our expected CAPEX.
Of course, as we have tried to explain, also the EPC machine has to evolve, as primarily because sometimes are the clients that requires a different process for the EPC contracts, which I'm talking about modularization and possibly the introduction progressively, the digitalization and also the artificial intelligence, which will make possible to deliver a plant to the client, which will not require thousands of people to manage the operation, but can be restricted to few well-trained and skilled people, which will have the possibility to manage efficiently the plant. Of course, it is necessary to develop the appropriate tools.
As we have explained, we have an engineering hub, more than for the time being, restricted (restricted to 200 people) which are d elivering, preparing and delivering AI solutions which could become or instrument which will enhance the efficiency in the construction or will become products which can accompany the traditional pro-market proposition for the benefit of the client. Of course, we have to invest in order to be ready as soon as possible to propose something different, innovative that compared to the recent past. These are the most important pillars which are behind the EUR 550 million that we have targeted for our investment the next decade. I repeat, will be predominantly concentrated the first five years of the plan.
Good afternoon. Massimo Bonisoli from Equita. Thank you very much for the interesting presentation. My first question is on the order intake. If you can provide more color on the EUR 4.7 billion you have announced today on th ose projects. I'm frankly quite surprised by the presence of petrochemical project, considering the current very low margins in the, in petrochemicals. The second question for Fabio on NextChem. You have quite a sizable budget on CAPEX, especially for M&A. So I'm curious to understand what are the end markets or technologies, if they are add-ons to your existing technologies, like the NPK for nitrogen fertilizer or maybe completely new technologies like LNG you announced last year. Thank you.
Maybe I can let Alessandro breathe a bit, and start with the second question, and then I'll leave you. No? Okay. You're right. It's a sizable amount of money to be invested in the next years. Just don't forget that what you see this year includes also what we have to pay for Ballestra. So EUR 130+ million will have to be paid this year. They have been contractualized last year, but they are meant to be paid this year. We are looking at. By going straight to your point, I would say that on fertilizers, we are probably in a nice spot for the time being. Now, you've seen from the presentation we are covering 95% of the entire technology array. In a way, it's a very complete offering.
Let me take the opportunity to say that with Ballestra, we have also entered the inorganic chemistry, the one of metals and mining, where we see a hell of a lot of potential. You know, rare earths, the mining activity has to do with massive investments which are due to three reasons. One is security. Everybody nowadays want to have control of critical minerals which are needed for the defense industry, which are needed for the electrification, which are needed for AI. There's and right now we are talking of a market which is heavily concentrated in China. China has more than 50% of the rare earths and more than 90% of the processing capacity. It will have to be built somewhere else for a number of reasons.
There, it's a sector you don't see much, but what is already in Ballestra, in our projections is very new. If I have to guess on where to bet next, I would say that's a very promising sector, very close to chemistry, where we should look with more attention. We mentioned we have been looking at fuel cells again for the, you know, shipping industry. That's something which in my opinion will be a part of those investments we see going forward. I would say we don't have a specific sector or subsector looking. There's one that we mentioned which is the recovery of metals from waste.
We have been working so far on plastic, no matter how good our engineers, every time you recycle plastic, you try to shoot for virgin quality, but, you know, you're never there, every time you have to restart. With metals, it's a different story. You can recycle them thousands of times. It's always metal. We're talking of those you have seen in the slide. I think there's a real hidden value then. This is one of the sector where we are betting in. Metal recovery. I was reading today an estimate in Europe, if we manage to start recovering waste efficiently, approximately 20% of the minerals needed for new batteries and new magnets are potentially coming from waste.
Again, another huge market, and I could spend hours, but I will stop here because, yeah, that's. I guess I gave you an answer.
Regarding your first part of your question. Massimo, I believe that over the years you have appreciated that our normal behavior when releasing informations about the new orders are fully comprehensive. Of course, provides all the details, name of the client, geographies, scope of work, of course the amount and so on. Easy to answer to your question. If I would have been in a position to provide them, I would have provided. Just to say that, of course, we will provide with all the details most likely over the next couple of weeks, as soon as certain formalities will be over, which now we are still in process to formalize with the client.
Considering that, the order has been already provided, has been already committed to our group, we couldn't do anything else than providing the market with this very limited information, which relates predominantly to the size of the magnitude in terms of value of the contract that we have in our hands. Where they will be executed, who is the client, and the relating scope of work, apart that from one of them, with the specific dedicated press release, we have already anticipated that we are talking about in hydrocarbon petrochemical infrastructure. As far as the rest is concerned, please be patient for a couple of weeks' time, and then, I will be for sure more clear compared to what we have provided so far.
Petrochemical business, for sure, for the time being, at least I'm saying for the time being, because as you have seen, something could change overnight, considering what has also happened recently. In general, we are not relying too much, at least for the next couple of years, three years time, on giant petrochemical projects. There are for sure some potential petrochemical contracts coming from either Middle East, Southeast Asia, as well as North Africa, which are peculiar relating to specific commodities, which very niche project, but are there. I believe that at least for some of them, we are well-positioned.
Just to let you know that no additional petrochemical project are targeted within the EUR 9 billion that we have targeted for 2026. 2027 onward, I truly believe that there will be already some sign of recovery also because considering the timing to take the final investment decision, the clients has to move a little bit in advance. We will materialize in, at the end of 2027, early 2028, not before that. This is the situation.
Alessandro, if you allow me, I will try from a different route. Considering your constant talks with the clients, and constant discussion with the clients in the Middle East, did you spot any change in attitude considering the trading environment? The awarding activity, the tendering activity, everything is unchanged so far?
A bsolutely, Massimo. Or at least, whatever has been changed compared to the recent past, it was the result of their internal, different strategy. It is not the result of the recent events. I was talking, for example, also recently about Aramco. Aramco have changed dramatically their investment appetite, but not because they were or they were aware that in a few weeks time there should happen this story. It would be because they have changed their investment strategy, rerouting a significant portion of their investment in different geographies. Nothing has been affected about what is going to happen in that part of the world.
It has been confirmed, also because if I remember last, today is Wednesday, so on Monday, we have received an invitation to bid from Abu Dhabi, for example, for a super giant project, whereby of course, we will try to do our best once again, not alone in association with somebody else, but it is a real sign of their investment appetite, which is not, which has not changed because of what is going to happen. Based on the discussion we had with the top management of the companies based over there, all of them, they expected that this situation Hopefully, of course, I'm, say hopefully is not due to last for long. Of course, too many interest in that part of the world which must be preserved.
For sure, everyone, of course, is doing his best in order to maintain the present situation under control, not interrupting any type of activity, of course, extremely carefully. In terms of future, they are not modifying at all their investment strategy. Everything business as usual, at least today. Whatever is going to happen, nobody knows. I don't believe that there will be any significant differences moving forward.
Very clear. Thank you.
Michele.
Hi. Good afternoon. It's Michele Baldelli from BNP Paribas. On the LNG market, can you elaborate a little bit the figures? What is the addressable market? How much is the value of the contracts awarded each year in the LNG market? Where are you gonna target this market? In the sense that I know that on the larger projects, there are probably just a couple of companies that are really competing in. Are you targeting the smaller part of the market? If you can provide some color. Second question, it relates to the joint venture. As you said, the future projects probably requires you not to go alone. There will be a second partner. I was wondering, this is a step change compared to your past, or you already worked in this way?
In case there is anything already in the backlog where you work, in joint venture or with other partners? Thank you.
Talking about LNG is a little bit earlier to talk about the opportunities for the future. For sure, if I have to rely at least on a minimum stake, very limited stake of the pipeline that Baker Hughes has already is trying to pursue all over the world, it is something which probably we will not be able to satisfy all those opportunities. Before engaging in additional project, Oh, no. Scusate. I would try, before engaging into additional project, I would like to concretize and to deliver the project that we have been already for which we have been already engaged.
Of course, probably the second half of the year, we will enter into a more detailed and mutual strategy with Baker Hughes by identifying which project could fit with our possibilities and our strategy. However, in the years to come, I expect that at least 1 project per year could be part of our backlog. Significant part. It will be very important because now we are starting as a pure EPC integrator, and in a project which is due to worth something close to $14 billion, which is the project, the Argent LNG. Our portion could range between a couple of billion dollar up to $5 billion-$6 billion, to the extent we'll take care for the execution of the gas treatment.
For the time being, has been committed another contractor, which is the technology provider, which is also used to deliver the modules. Apparently they have a workload which doesn't make possible for them to cope with the schedule of this project. Of course we are ready to do it. All in all, this type of project, whereby at least for the time being, we do not enter into the cold box. In the technology which makes possible to transform the natural gas into liquefied gas, because it's a technology which belongs, for the time being, to Baker Hughes, but is an open art. To the extent we learn working together, then subsequently, and of course, in the, in the long run, we could play alone without relying anymore on other technology providers.
We can do our, by ourself to the extent, of course, we learn the lesson. This is one of the goal that we would like to achieve working together, in particular in the first project. I don't remember, excuse me, the second part of the question.
the JV setup for our project
JV setup.
Excuse me, excuse me. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Yes, it is not, it is not a surprise. We have already in our backlog some project. Kazakhstan, for example. Kazakhstan, both of them, both Silleno project, the petrochemical unit, as well as the gas treatment unit, both of them are going to be delivered under the umbrella of a JV with other contractors. Both of them, we are the leader of the JV because the other partners have recognized that Tecnimont has a superior knowledge, which is the only one able to lead, to coordinate also the other activities. Moving forward, it is something which is not our own choice. As we did for Hail and Ghasha, also Hail and Ghasha, at the beginning, the idea for...
of the client was, you have to aggregate yourself with somebody else. Finally, we succeeded in order to get it alone. All the project, the super giant projects, and for super giants, I'm defining them, those project which exceed $8 billion, $9 billion, they are requesting to have to deal with a joint venture. In term because, of course, they are based on their evaluation, we cannot dispute. They deem more appropriate to deal with an aggregation of competencies which reduce the execution risk. It's their evaluation, we cannot do anything else other than to find an reputable partner, possibly share with them the fact that we maintain the leadership because we prefer to use our processes, to introduce our methods, and to lead the venture and not depending on the decision of somebody else.
It is something which the market is requiring, so we have to cope with them.
Thank you.
You call it. Okay. Stop. Someone, I believe that I saw a message that it is a spritz time. eccola là. Thank you very much for being with us, and so patient to stay, to being with us for the last couple of hours. Now there is the most interesting portion of this event, which is the spritz time. Thank you.