Good afternoon, everyone. Apologies for the slight delay. Thank you very much for joining us. Before handing over to management, I'd like to make one brief point on how to read today's numbers and today's first half 2026 results. The acquisition of Iberdrola México, now Cox Asset México, was completed during the second quarter. Consequently, our reported first half figures include approximately two months contribution from the acquired business. To provide a more representative view of the group as it operates today, as well as its relative size, we have also included pro forma figures, assuming six months of contribution from Cox Asset Mexico. Throughout the presentation, we will distinguish clearly between reported, adjusted, and pro forma information. The pro forma figures are not a substitute for IFRS results.
They are intended to help you assess the current perimeter of the group, providing a more meaningful view of our current operating profile, earnings capacity, cash generation, and capital structure, much more than reported figures would. At the end of the presentation, we will take any and all of your questions. To ask a question, as usual, you can do so in writing through the actual webcast platform, they will be read during the Q&A session at the end. Without further ado, let me hand over to our Chief Executive Officer. Nacho, the floor is yours.
Thank you very much, Begoña. Good afternoon or morning to everyone, thank you very much to all of you for making the time and availability to listen to our first half 2026 results presentation today. Before I get into the presentation itself, let me share with you some thoughts. First half of 2026 represents an important milestone for Cox. It is the first reporting period following the completion of the Mexico acquisition, therefore the first opportunity to present the group as it exists today, which is in fact a different Cox. Over the past year or 12 months, the discussion has arguably been centered around the transaction, assessing if we could complete it or not, if we could complete an acquisition of this scale, integrate the business, replace the bridge financing with a sustainable long-term capital structure. I think today that discussion changes.
Not only we have completed the transaction, we have also refinanced the bridge facility in the capital markets through a EUR 2 billion long-term transaction, as well as a $ 733 million term loan facility that have replaced the bridge financing. We are now managing a group with pro forma revenues of EUR 1.24 billion, adjusted EBITDA of EUR 245 million, a much greater contribution from contracted Asset Co earnings. I'm fully aware that it is still early on, only two months, as Begoña mentioned, of ownership, that such a short time cannot provide a definitive assessment of the transaction. However, these two months have given us initial operational evidence that is fully consistent with the thesis that we presented when we announced the transaction.
Today, in the presentation, we will explain how the group has changed and how the businesses have performed and are performing, and how that performance translates into earnings, cash, and balance sheet delivery and execution. Without further delay, let's get into the presentation itself. Let's start with the four conclusions that I can take from the first half of the year. I'm on page five. First conclusion is that we have successfully completed the acquisition of Iberdrola Mexico, as we initially planned and as we delivered and told the market. From an operational standpoint, Cox Asset Mexico has progressed in line with our expectations. Generation availability was above 94%, customer renewals remained above 99%, delinquency remained below 0.2%, and the platform, the supplier sold 10.2 TWh during the first six months of the period.
Second, in line to what we anticipated, the group's profile has fundamentally changed to a much more Asset Co than Service Co. That increase in scale is obvious, but the more important change is the increase in quality of the earnings. Center of gravity has switched, Cox is now a contracted infrastructure. Cox has become a play on the scarcity infrastructure of critical energy and water assets. Third, Service Co had a challenging first half of the year, that has clearly impacted revenues and EBITDA. However, despite that impact, our backlog was up 24% to more than EUR 3.3 billion, with healthy margins showing underlying demand and commercial parameters. Last but not least, capital structure and acquisition financing.
We've been able to align our capital structure towards the nature of the underlying assets, refinancing the short-dated bridge facility with long-dated capital instruments through a bond and a loan that have enabled us to achieve more than six years, six and a half, to be precise, average debt maturity profile. The team is fully focused on cash flow generation, disciplined capital allocation, and the leverage, as you will hear throughout the presentation. Why does Cox need to be looked at differently today? Our earnings have shifted decisively towards long duration, stable cash flows, and Mexico clearly adds an integrated generation and supply platform. The increase in scale is obvious. pro forma revenue has moved up 2.5x to EUR 1.24 billion.
Our EBITDA has moved up 3x to EUR 245 million, and we now manage 27 operating assets versus 10 operating assets in the first half of 2025. More importantly than scale is the quality of the business that we're managing now. The group's business profile composition has shifted. Our business model is much more resilient. Asset Co is the larger contributor to the business by far, and within that Asset Co, Mexico gives Cox a position that it's difficult to replicate given the nature of the business, the nature of the integrated business that we manage. Bottom line, the increasing contribution from contracted assets versus non-contracted assets is quite significant and allows us to convert the stronger cash generation into financial flexibility. Let's quantify the change in business. Let's translate what I've just mentioned into figures.
Pro forma first half revenues have reached, as I said, EUR 1.24 billion. That is 2.5x more than the first half of 2025. EBITDA has increased more significantly to EUR 245 million, 3x the first half of 2025 EBITDA numbers. That means that our revenues have a stronger margin profile and greater contribution from the Asset Co business. In fact, our EBITDA margin has increased to 20% when compared to 16% of the first half of 2025. As I mentioned, Service Co had a challenging period, its backlog remained healthy and steady. It's increased from 2025 by 24% to EUR 3.34 billion at a healthy margin, it's been able to keep a healthy margin at 11%. Operating cash flow, which as you know is one of the KPIs that we've always managed, has kept on growing.
The operating cash flow has reached EUR 129 million, which compares extremely positively to the first half operating cash flow of 2025, more than 3.4 x. Capital structure. It remains solid and fully aligned with the nature of the underlying assets. Six and a half average debt maturity profile and no short-term financial pressure, which coupled with the cash generation profile of the business that we're now managing, enables us to have enough financial flexibility to manage the business and the leverage. With that in mind, allow me to jump into the Asset Co business. Moving on to page nine. Today, Asset Co represents our principal source of earnings and cash generation. On a pro forma basis, it has generated close to $870 million of revenues and almost $280 million of adjusted EBITDA, with more than 30% of EBITDA margin.
Within the Asset Co business, there are two clear stories that should be told. First one being Cox Asset in Mexico. By far our largest contributor to the platform, with a performance extremely consistent with our expectations, totally validating the thesis of acquisition that we did share with you guys 18 months ago. Well, a year ago, not 18 months ago. On the other hand, our heritage portfolio. With a performance that has been quite solid and in line with expectations. I will further on detail in a few slides, you will see that Agadir has performed in line with expectations and so have the other assets. Allow me to take a deeper dive into Cox Asset in Mexico right now. Moving on to the next page. The early operating evidence of Cox Asset in Mexico is totally consistent with the thesis that we presented at acquisition.
It's a high-quality operating platform. It presents a diversified portfolio of generation assets. It brings a leading position in the qualified supply market that enjoys long-term relationships with very high-quality industrial customers, it offers the group a predictable cash flow stream that we can count on. What have we seen? What have we witnessed over the past six months? The assets have continued to operate extremely reliable. Customer relationships have remained strong. The commercial discipline has been kept, local management has continued to execute seamlessly. Demand fundamentals of the Mexican electricity market, of the Mexican energy market, have favored us and will favor us in the years to come. Customer activity has remained strong. We continue to believe that our integrated platform is uniquely positioned to benefit from future growth.
Bottom line, the early evidence is fully 100% consistent with the investment thesis that we presented and gives us the confidence as we move forward in the next phase of the value creation. Let's have a closer look at the performance metrics. Mexico has grown volumes, revenue, and EBITDA in the first half of the year. Energy sold has increased by around 8% to 10.2 TWh, reflecting a continued demand from our customer base and the strength of the underlying market. Remember what I've just mentioned about the Mexican market dynamics. Revenues have increased by 24%, up to $870 million on a pro forma basis. That tells us the business continues to combine healthy commercial activity with supportive pricing environment. EBITDA has also grown, reaching slightly above $300 million.
EBITDA margin is slightly lower, that's a question that we will depend on later on, but it's a reflection of the CFE tariffs and the gas impact on that. The consistency that we've witnessed in the numbers, in the metrics of Cox Asset in Mexico is one of the principal reasons why we remain confident in the long-term prospects of the asset and the platform. Going a bit deeper into the integrated model, why do we think the integrated model is working exactly as we intended. Generation and supply each contribute differently, but together they create a very resilient business. In generation, our own production increased by 15% to 6.1 TWh. EBITDA increased by 25% to $220 million, supported by 94.1% availability across the owned generation portfolio. In the supply business, as I mentioned, we sold 10.2 TWh with a slight decline in EBITDA to $82 million.
As I said, that decline was driven primarily by the reduction in CFE tariffs, which as you may know, serve as reference for almost one-third of our supply tariffs. We expect that as the gas price rollover comes in place, that slight decline will be offsetted in the next six months to come. Moving into the operating cash flow that has been generated at the Cox Asset in Mexico level. I think this slide, number 13, is quite self-explanatory and talks about the quality of the business that I've been going through. Operating cash flow has stayed at 151, sorry, $178 million, which translates in EUR 149 million with a healthy 59% cash conversion. This is a business that converts a material portion of EBITDA into cash, can therefore contribute directly into giving us the financial flexibility to deleverage when and if needed.
Let's talk about the second leg that underpins our Asset Co business, which is the heritage assets that come from the Cox previous to the acquisition of Iberdrola Mexico. The portfolio, as I said, has remained fundamentally solid, proving the importance of diversification and resilience. Agadir has continued to perform broadly in line with expectations, with the usual seasonal pattern that you would expect and that we have witnessed in previous years. Khi Solar One has maintained an operational solid performance despite the planned maintenance outage. BioBrasil, although reflecting weaker sugar and bioethanol prices, as you know, is quite seasonal, and we expect that it will pick up in the second part of the year. SPP 1 has witnessed a tariff adjustment following the repayment of the project finance debt, although from a cash perspective, it has not been at all affected.
In Ghana, the situation remains unchanged from previous periods as the arbitration process keeps on going. As I mentioned, the heritage portfolio with contracted infrastructure assets is generating predictable earnings and is performing as expected. Moving on to the Service Co. As I mentioned, and I'm on page 16, I think. The Service Co division has faced quite challenging first six months of the year. That challenging first six months of the year have translated into slight decline in revenues of around 3% and a larger EBITDA decline. Engineering and procurement have been impacted by geopolitical developments and some project-specific circumstances. These include the suspension of activity in Iran or the suspension of activity as a result of Iran, and some execution challenges that we've witnessed in couple of projects. O&M, however, gives us a totally different picture.
Business has remained quite resilient. The only headwind that we've experienced comes from, or has come from lower gas prices. That has impacted revenues but has had a much smaller impact on the underlying service activity. More importantly, the backlog remains healthy, and the demand environment continues to be supportive, as evidenced by the 24% growth that I've mentioned before. In our business, the distinction between demand and execution is critical. What that increase in backlog tells us is that demand remains healthy, and what has changed is the timing of execution. In fact, if you turn the page and you go to the following one, you could see that the backlog, being the best leading indicator of the future health of the Service Co, is quite healthy.
A 24% increase, as I've just mentioned, with an 11% quite healthy margin across the three activities that we entertain, water, generation, and transmission. Well-diversified from a regional perspective. As I was saying, the measure of progress in the second half will come from the backlog conversion, cost absorption, and margin recovery. We're quite positive about it. Now that we've walked through the performance of each of the business, hopefully I have been able to explain the progress that we've made and the areas where our focus remains, I would like to pass it on to José Olivé, the CFO of the group, to go in detail through the financials. José?
Thank you, Nacho. Good afternoon, everybody. Let me start with a high-level overview of the group's financial performance. Begoña alluded to at the beginning of her presentation, and Nacho has mentioned along the presentation, that the reported figures include approximately two months of the contribution from Cox Asset Mexico. For that reason, I believe that the pro forma information will provide the most meaningful representation of the group's current financial profile, as you can see in this slide. Let me start with numbers not on a pro forma basis. The reported first half revenue that we achieved was EUR 884 million. The adjusted EBITDA has been EUR 94 million, and the adjusted net income shows a loss of EUR 42 million. The reported bottom line includes only two months of Mexico and, most importantly, significant transaction-related financing effects.
Let's look at it on a pro forma basis, which I think is the best reflection of the group. On a pro forma basis, revenue stands at EUR 1.24 billion. Adjusted EBITDA stands at EUR 245 million. Adjusted EBIT at EUR 147 million, and net income at EUR 66 million. If we compare this with the first half of 2025, pro forma revenue is 2.5x Higher, and adjusted EBITDA is 3 x higher. The pro forma EBITDA margin is approximately 20% compared with 16% of a year earlier. It is very important to point out that the Asset Co, as Nacho has already alluded to, represented and generated EUR 289 million on a pro forma adjusted EBITDA. The Service Co contributed with a EUR 15 million loss, reflecting what already Nacho has mentioned regarding the Service Co, and corporate costs accounted for the remaining differences.
The financial profile is therefore stronger, but the quality of the profile depends on two things, sustaining the Asset Co performance and restoring the Service Co profitability. These figures, more than a reflection of this increased scale, which is significant, they also show a business with a stronger earning base, anchor on the Asset Co, higher cash generation capacity, and importantly, a financial profile that supports disciplined capital allocation and organic deleveraging. That is the financial framework against which we intend to manage the group going forward. Moving on to slide 21. Here, you will see the capital structure of the company. The balance sheet, which I believe reflects one of the most important achievements of the first half.
Over the past few months, our priority has been to transition from acquisition finance to a long-term capital structure that is aligned with the characteristics of the business that we own, which produces long-term cash flows. We believe we have achieved that objective. We have removed the immediate refinancing situation. We have not yet removed the leverage obligation that we still have. Today, the group has gross debt of approximately EUR 3.7 billion, supported by more than EUR 330 million of cash and short-term liquidity. More importantly, the vast majority of our debt is long-term in nature, with an average life of six and a half years, which matches the infrastructure assets that we have with long-term contracts. Clearly, leverage remains elevated and is at a level where we don't think it should be, is the consequence following an acquisition of this scale.
Our reported net debt to EBITDA ratio stands today at 4.9 x. We recognize and acknowledge that reducing leverage is now our principal financial priority. We think and reiterate that this is important to state this very clearly. The encouraging point is that we do not rely on a single lever to achieve that objective. The principal driver, and it will be anchor, will be the recurring cash generation of the business, supported where appropriate by disciplined portfolio rotation and other capital allocation initiatives, if they create value. We have moved from financing the acquisition to managing the balance sheet. From this point onwards, our focus is, as I have already mentioned, disciplined execution, a strong cash generation, and consistent reduction in leverage over time. In other words, from a financial perspective, are very straightforward.
If we move on to the next slide, this is a reflection of how we have converted our project finance debt into long-term debt, which is aligned with our cash flow generation. We believe that in the capital markets, credibility is built by delivering and doing what you say you will do. One of the key commitments that we made when we announced the acquisition was that the bridge financing would serve only as temporary acquisition facility and would be refinanced promptly through long-term financing. We exactly did what we said we would do. We delivered that. As the timeline shows above, the transaction was progressed broadly in line with the roadmap we presented from the start.
We secured the bridge financing, completed the acquisition in April this year, and with only weeks away, we successfully executed two stages of the takeout financing through a EUR 2 billion bond issue that was more than 5x oversubscribed, and the subsequent $733 million term loan that was also subscribed. What you can see here is not the significance of the timeline, but what the timeline really represents. We replaced short-term acquisition financing with a stable long-term capital structure that is fully aligned with the long life contracted assets that we own today and the cash flow that they generate. The previous slide explained how we removed the short-term refinancing risk associated with acquisition. This slide explains what we have replaced it with. The bridge facility was always intended to be a temporary solution that allow us to complete the acquisition quickly and with certainty.
Once the transaction closed, our objective was to replace that financing with capital structure that better reflected the characteristics of the business, as I have already mentioned. Today, that objective has been achieved. The group is financed through a combination of long-term bonds and long-term loan, providing a diversified funding base with maturities that are fully aligned with the cash generation profile of our infrastructure. Equally important to point out, we have broadened our funding sources. The successful execution of both the bond issue and the term loan demonstrate our ability to access different pools of capital while maintaining a disciplined financial framework. Moving on to our strong operating cash flow at group level.
As you can see here, we have converted of the EUR 245 million of adjusted EBITDA, 44% of that into operating cash flow, a 44% operating cash flow conversion rate, giving us EUR 109 million of adjusted operating cash flow. This operating cash flow is going to be the anchor of our deleveraging strategy, together with the asset rotation that I already have alluded to and the other alternatives that the company is currently considering. As I have said, let me finalize on this, the debt structure, the debt maturity that we have today is fully aligned with the cash flow generation of the underlying assets. We have achieved that in a very short period of time to align that.
Today, our leverage ratio is not where we should be, we are working, and it is the priority of the company to continue working on that to bring those leverage ratios to where we believe they should be.
Thank you, José. Allow me to go in detail through what the next steps would be and what are we looking ahead. First, sorry, next three slides will talk a bit about Mexico and what should we expect Mexico. The next one describes the quality of the business that we have. You've heard me before talking about the benefits of having an integrated platform and the qualitative difference that that gives us versus competition. That integrated platform allows us to be positioned to grow well in what we think, and we'll move on to the next slide, is an upward moving Mexican market. What we see is that the electricity demand in Mexico continues to increase. The market backdrop is a red one, and demand is well above supply.
That gap between demand and supply is not going to be offset within the next few years. The conclusion is that we are in the right market with the right strategy and with the right combination of integrated businesses. High barriers of entry allows us to capture margins on both sides, both generation as well as supply, and allows us to capture the growth. Next slide on Mexico is why are we invested behind long-term structural demand rather than short-term market cycles? Goes again into a bit more detail on what should you guys expect for what it is our main market following the acquisition of Iberdrola Mexico. How does all of this result into the strategy? The strategy that we've communicated before to the market and to you guys does not change.
It is one that it is based upon expanding our Asset Co, expanding it within our strategic regions, leveraging or benefiting from an active rotation policy, being extremely focused on efficiencies whilst keeping financial discipline. As José alluded to, that translates into further deleveraging, benefiting not only from the cash generation that the platform, the company benefits from today, but also from further opportunities that we may take advantage of in the form of asset rotation. Moving on to page, I believe, 29.
Yes.
Okay. Moving on to page 29. Our main focus is today in execution. In Asset Co, that means that we should continue building on the strong operational performance that we've seen in Mexico while we improve performance a cross our heritage portfolio. In Service Co, as I said, it means translating our backlog into execution, into profitable execution, and demonstrating operating consistency. Second, we need to keep on applying the same financial discipline that we have applied to the acquisition of Iberdrola Mexico and to the refinancing process of such acquisition. Our capital allocation will remain selective. Our priority will be to strengthen the balance sheet or keep on strengthening the balance sheet through recurring cash generation and a disciplined approach to investment. Last but not least, we will continue delivering on the commitments that we've made to the market.
The acquisition, as José mentioned, was completed in line with the timetable and the structure we communicated to the market. The refinancing was completed in accordance with the roadmap that we had as well communicated to the market. Overall, we think that the next phase of the company will not be defined by any transaction. It will be defined by the performance of the businesses that we now own. It's time for us to execute and keep on delivering. If I can leave you with some closing remarks, I would like to leave you with five. First one, we have completed a transformational acquisition that has strengthened our scale, the quality of our earnings, the quality of our business, the resilience of our cash flow, and the visibility of our future growth.
Second, we told you guys that we were going to be pushing heavily towards becoming an Asset Co rather than a Service Co. We've evolved towards such business in a greater proportion. We're now long-term infrastructure asset type of company, contracted, predictable, stable, with recurrent revenues and a very disciplined capital allocation.
Our Service Co, however, keeps on providing an attractive platform for growth, it's well supported by the backlog, and we now need to translate that backlog into execution whilst keeping the healthy margins. Last but not least, we need to keep our focus on deleveraging, discipline our capital allocation, and long-term value creation for the shareholders. On such note, I would like to thank you again for attending the H1 first half results presentation, and would open the floor to any question that there may be. Thank you.
Thank you, Nacho. Ladies and gentlemen, just to remind you, if you wish to ask a question, you can do so in writing through the webcast platform itself. We will begin with the Q&A session in a couple of minutes. Starting with the Q&A session, the first question comes from Florencia Mayorga, from MetLife. The question is: how do you see the competition with CFE Calificados?
Thank you, Begoña. Thank you, Florencia, for the question. As you may know, CFE Calificados is the largest generator in the country, the only supplier for retail and household, and the second largest supplier in the industrial segment, and is the one that we operate, and we are the lead in this segment. How do we see the competition with CFE? We do not expect much changes in this leadership that we are taking ahead in the CFE. There are many changes in the generation side, so new players are coming alongside CFE or in the private sector. In the supply business, which is the one that we are competing, we do not expect any changes in the near future.
Thank you, Javier. The next question, or actually set of questions, come from Alex Braunschwein from Bank of America. I'll go one by one. On the first question regarding the new strategy and associated perimeter changes, why not go a step further and accelerating, divesting some of the assets that are highly profitable today, add volatile commodity exposure, such as the biodiesel plant in Brazil?
Thank you, Begoña. Thank you, Alex. As I said, part of the group's policy or group's strategy going forward is to consider potential asset rotation. I'm not talking about the biodiesel or the bioethanol plant in Brazil, but I think that rotation policy would entail different assets within the company, definitely not in Mexico, but different heritage assets. Hopefully within the next few months, and as anticipated to you at previous results presentation, you will learn, or we will be able to tell you more about that rotation policy because it would be translating into concrete numbers and figures.
Thank you, Nacho. Second question from Alex. On the same subject, equally, should all the assets excluding Mexico not be deconsolidated and put together under held for sale?
That would be, I would say, quite impactful or radical. I think we're talking about top-quality assets, such as the Agadir desalination plant, which are extremely valuable, or the Khi Solar One plant. As I said, our duties is to go one by one, measure the impact of a potential rotation of each one of those assets. How much would that impact both the capital structure of the company as well as the performance of the company? Look at the valuation and take the best possible decision from a capital return and a capital allocation standpoint. I would say that taking such a radical approach would be too much, you will hear more from us on the rotation policy within the next few months.
Thank you, Nacho. The last question from Alex on the same subject. Why does the need to keep engineering activities? What is the need to keep engineering activities when the initial reason to do so, equity funding for growth and concessions, has now less rationale given the bigger asset base in Mexico already generating good cash?
As I said during the presentation, I think it enables us to be integrated and to benefit from what is and can be a profitable platform of growth. I think, and you can see that through the valuations in peers, having engineering and procurement capabilities such as the ones that we have in growth vectors such as energy and water is extremely valued and valuable these days. I think the integration that that platform provides to us
Is quite interesting from a growth perspective, there is a lot of value that can be unlocked by making more out of that integration. The aim or the expectation is that in the second half of the year, we will be able to translate part of the backlog that we've got with healthy margins into execution and restore profitability, proving that the thesis behind keeping the Service Co and behind the benefits of that integration is still valid.
Thank you, Nacho. The next question comes from Eduardo Vanzeller from Banco Finantia. Will Cox Mexico publish standalone quarterly results going forward, or will investors only receive disclosure through Cox ABG Group? Eduardo, the idea is we will be publishing information on a quarterly basis on Cox Asset Mexico, which should be enough to know both operationally and financially how the assets are doing. On this first set of results, we did it together with the rest of Cox ABG Group. We will have to see going forward how it will be done. The initial idea is on the third quarter, there will be a trading update plus all the information from Cox Asset Mexico, and at the end of the year, something similar as what you've seen at the first half of 2026. In 2027, we will review this decision. Thank you.
The next question, also from Eduardo Vanzeller. Can project permits be sold to third parties in Mexico, and have you received interest from external investors for any pipeline projects considering the 11.5 GW pipeline?
Thank you, Begoña. Yes, the projects can be sold to third parties. We are not only within the platform, but outside of the perimeter, considering the acquisition of permits for third parties as well. It's a reality that this can be done. Also, yes, we have received interest from third parties in order to acquire a part of the portfolio, since, as you may know, there is some auctions in terms of getting all these permits online through the SENER and through CFE, we are still analyzing the last developments and probably around October, we will decide which part of this pipeline we will secure and do it by ourselves. If it is the case, and the opportunity arises, we can analyze also the divestment of part of this pipeline.
Thank you, Javier. The next question comes from Patrick O'Donnell, undisclosed company. The question is, what is the proposed leverage ratio target for the company, and during what period are you anticipating achieving that ratio?
Thank you, Begoña. Patrick, we don't have an objective leverage ratio per se. What I can confirm to you is what I said in the presentation. The leverage ratio where we are today is not the leverage ratio where we want to be. Besides the organic operating cash flow that we generate, we are considering other alternatives, asset rotation has been mentioned repeatedly, and other alternatives that will lead us to a leverage ratio with which the company feels more comfortable. I want to take the opportunity to reiterate our commitment with deleveraging the company through the three pillars that I just mentioned to you.
Thank you, José. The next question or set of questions come from Ignacio Domenech from JB Capital. I'll go one by one. First question is 2026 guidance. Now that Mexico acquisition is closed, can you provide full year 2026 guidance, EBITDA, net income on a reported basis?
I'm afraid I cannot, Ignacio. Sorry for that.
Thank you, Nacho. Next question on leverage. What is the current roadmap to deleverage the company, and how does Mexico cash flow support deleverage? Any asset rotation discussions that are advancing?
I'll pass it on to José in a second. I think there is currently a roadmap to deleverage the company. That roadmap entails, as I said, asset rotation amongst other things, more importantly, as José will deepen on in a second, the operating cash flow and the free cash flow generated at Cox Asset Mexico clearly supports the deleverage path that we want to get into, or that we're getting into.
That's correct. As Nacho has said, there is a deleveraging path. We are actively working on it. It's a priority of the company, as I have mentioned in the previous question before, to deleverage the company, to move away from the ratios where we are today. We are going to continue with the three pillars that we have mentioned.
The strong and recurring cash flow generation that we have today, the asset rotation that we are seriously considering and are in the process of, other alternatives that create value for the company that will help reducing the current leverage ratio.
You also mentioned, or you asked for some asset rotation discussions advancing. What I can tell you is that those asset rotation discussions are advancing. As I mentioned before, within the next few months, we expect to be able to tell the market and give the market some clarity vis-à-vis those conversations and those discussions that we're currently entertaining.
Thank you, Nacho. The last question from Ignacio on Mexico assets. Can you explain what is driving revenues growing by 24%, margin declining five percentage points? Why, in EUR terms, EBITDA, if the U.S. dollar has strengthened?
I think the answer is exactly what I've mentioned. It has to do with, if you look at the generation and the supply business, you would see that in the supply business, the fact that CFE has, for the first time, lowered its tariffs, and its tariffs are 30% of our contracts. One-third of our contracts within the supply business are somehow linked to the CFE tariff. The fact that the CFE has lowered its tariffs has resulted in a lower EBITDA that you can see on page 82 versus the previous year or the previous six months of the previous year. We do expect, as I said, and it's an expectation that we will be able to recover that as the gas prices are offset within the next few months.
You would see that in, I don't remember the page number, but there's a page that deepens into that.
Thank you, Nacho. Sorry, I did miss one question from Ignacio Domenech before on CapEx. Should we assume CapEx discipline going forward versus the objectives which you outlined in the Capital Markets Day?
Short answer is yes.
Thank you. The next question is from Joaquín Berro of Fundamenta Capital. Regarding Asset Co Mexico, if you could please give more color on the reduction of EBITDA on the supply side, and how it is expected to be recovered.
Thank you, Begoña. Please let me chip in and give you some details on this regard. Throughout the whole process, we have been saying that the supply and the generation business, this integrated platform, is quite strong in terms of market movements. We have seen during this H1 2026, something that is not common in the market, which is a CFE tariff reduction. This tariff reduction of CFE, which is around 10%, what makes us is to somehow lose some margin in the supply business. As we mentioned in the presentation, this is a temporary impact since we have a hedging of the gas and we have medium-term agreements around 18 months. This CFE tariff reduction, once we have updated all these hedges from the gas, we will recover this temporary impact from the supply business.
It's a temporary impact, and in the coming 18 months, 12 months, we will be recovering the part of the reduction of the EBITDA that we have suffered during this H1 2026.
Thank you, Javier. The next question from Ignacio Domenech of JB Capital on water. Why EBITDA from water assets is down? Is this driven by deconsolidation of Ghana?
Yeah. This is the main driver. Put the Ghana asset under the assets on sale. There is minor temporary issues in Agadir, but due to the seasonality of the plant, but the main driver is this Ghana situation.
Thank you, Javier. The next set of questions come from Fernando Abril-Martorell from Alantra. Hello, thank you for taking my questions. Number one, could you provide some visibility on the outlook for the Service Co business into H2? More specifically, when do you expect the business to reach the circa 11% blended EBITDA margin?
Thank you very much, Fernando. Unfortunately, I cannot provide any sort of guidance vis-à-vis H2.
Neither with regard to the Asset Co nor to the Service Co. What I can tell you is what we've put in the slides, which is that the average margin or the blended, sorry, margin of our backlog stands at 11%, we've been quite transparent, I think, in putting where each one of the sectors has got its margin. You will see throughout the next six months, if we execute more water projects, that margin is more attractive. If we move on to energy generation projects, the margin is less attractive than on water projects. The blended, it's 11%. I cannot tell you specific guidance as to when we will reach that out. As I said, the focus of the company within the Service Co is to execute such backlog.
What I would like to drive all of your attention to is the fact that despite the challenging period or the challenging six months, as a result of what I just said about geopolitical issues, which have translated into some delays in the execution of projects, the backlog is extremely healthy, quite healthy, and has grown 24% on a year-on-year basis.
Thank you, Nacho. The second question from Fernando. On asset disposals, could you elaborate on the assets currently at the top of your disposal pipeline? Are you primarily considering full divestments or minority stake sales?
Cannot provide you with details on which assets am I going to dispose of. I would bring you back to the answer that I gave to Alex, which is, we're currently evaluating every single asset, excluding Mexico, of our previous portfolio. The Mexico acquisition enabled us to be in a position where we can choose what we want to become, what we want to be. It was a transformational acquisition that gave us that flexibility. We're enforcing it in the sense that we're analyzing each one of the assets. Cannot come up with a list of A, B, and C assets. What I can tell you is that we're evaluating. In some of them, we're already in advanced conversations as to the disposal. Minority or full disposal, we're open to either or, and it would simply depend on the multiple valuation that we get.
As you could imagine, if the multiple is attractive enough, we would opt for a full disposal, and if the multiple is not that attractive enough, we will opt for either no disposal or minority stake disposal. Use of proceeds, which is your next question on that disposal. I think, restoring the leverage at the level at which we wanted it to be, as José, as the CFO mentioned throughout the presentation. Term loan is repayable at par, so there are no costs attached to any repayment. As you can imagine, part of the deleveraging policy, financial discipline, and capital allocation that we've alluded to has to do with how do we use those proceeds. Deleveraging would be the main option for us, I think.
Thank you, Nacho. The next question comes from Ella Walker-Hunt from Citi. Regarding Mexico supply, can you please help us understand why there was such a big decrease in the CFE tariff in the first half of 2026? How often are the tariffs updated?
Well, usually every month and three months, they do a small update. On a yearly basis, the big impact that they can update the tariff.
Thank you, Javier. Also from Ella, on the same subject, do you expect the tariffs to remain this low in the second half? What exactly do you mean by gas prices rollover should largely offset in the second half a CFE tariff reduction impact?
Yes, we expect this tariff to remain as low in this H2. What do we mean by the gas prices rolling over? As we answered previously, the CFE tariff, one of the components is the cost of the gas. Since the U.S. gas has been so low in the past months, they have reduced the tariff of the CFE. Since we have 18 months rollover hedges, we suffer from this first H1 of 2026. Once we are updating these hedges, we will be at the same level of the CFE tariff, so we will recover this EBITDA margin. In the case that the prices of the gas goes up, we will keep these low prices of the gas, and we will recover the margin that we lost during this H1. As we mentioned, the beauty of the platform is the integration.
What happened in the market is a temporary effect that we will recover sooner or later.
Thank you, Javier. The next question comes from Oscar Najar from Banco Santander. On Mexico, I guess the cash flow generated will be to repay the $2 billion bonds and the $733 million term loan, plus the hybrid capital $350 million repayment?
Thank you, Oscar. As you guys may have heard us during the issuance of the bond transaction, the financing at Cox Asset Mexico has been executed on a ring-fence basis. That means that all the cash that it's been generated within that perimeter stays within that perimeter. The free cash flow, bear in mind, the only difference between the operating cash flow and the free cash flow is the maintenance CapEx, to which we are quite disciplined, and we do not think it will be anywhere beyond $65 million. That free cash flow is sufficient enough to repay or to face the coupon payments on the bond facility, as well as the interest payments on the term loan.
With regard to the hybrid capital, it is a PIK toggle, which, as you may know, means that I can decide whether I pay in cash or I do not pay in cash and I pay in kind. It does not subtract any cash from the perimeter.
Thank you, Nacho. Just one last question, also from Oscar, on the same subject. Of the cash flow that is generated in Mexico, what would be free to use at the corporate level?
Sorry, I think I've just answered to that one. As I said, the Cox Asset Mexico financing has been executed on a ring-fenced basis, which means every penny that is generated within the perimeter stays within the perimeter, repays the bond, the term loan, and the hybrid is either payment in kind or in cash, depending upon what the company finally decides to do.
Thank you, Nacho. The next question comes from Eduardo Vanzeller from Banco Finantia. When do you expect to announce the new board composition of Cox Mexico?
Eduardo, this is already public. Since I think 30th June, we incorporated the Cox Asset Mexico in our Cox de México, and the board is already public. You can, in the Cox de México website, you have all the components of the board of director.
Thank you, Javier. The next question also from Eduardo. Considering the 11.5 GW pipeline, financing such projects would naturally be outside the perimeter of Cox Mexico. What would be the expected financing structure for this pipeline?
Yes, Eduardo, this project will be outside the perimeter, the financing that we expected is a classic project finance, around 70%-80% leverage in tenure around 15 year.
Thank you very much. There are no more questions coming through. I have seen some, but they are repeating the same subjects we've already answered. Of course, if there are any questions that do come up, you have the investor relations department at your disposal. Thank you very much, and good afternoon all.