Good morning, everyone. I'm Miren Sotomayor, Head of Investor Relations. Welcome to our full year 2025 results presentation. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to the disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements on slide two. Today's discussion will include certain projections and non-IFRS metrics that provide a clear view of our underlying performance. Today's presentation will be led by Martín Tolcachir, our Group CEO, and Guillaume Gras, our Group CFO. After their remarks, we'll open the floor for a Q&A session. I'll now hand things over to Martin. Martin, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Alberto. Good morning, everyone. I am proud to present what I believe are truly excellent results achieved in the first year of our Growing Everyday strategic plan. Looking at the outline on slide four, our story today rests on five key pillars. DIA Spain is not just on track, it is accelerating the delivery of our strategic plan, we are now significantly outperforming the market. DIA Argentina has stabilized. After a resilient second half, we are now well-positioned to capitalize on the recovery in food consumption, expect from 2026 onwards. DIA Spain remains the engine of the group's financial results, driving substantial market margin expansion, multiplying net profits, generating robust cash flow. Our exceptional stock performance in 2025 validates our strong operating performance and solid prospect for profitable growth. 2025 marked a pivotal year for DIA.
It was the year in which we successfully transitioned from a turnaround phase to one of sustained, profitable growth. Let's talk at this in greater detail. Let's start with DIA Spain and accelerate delivery of our strategic plan on slide six. One year ago, we presented our Growing Everyday strategic plan, which set out four clear targets for leading the market in profitable growth. Our performance in the first year clearly demonstrated that we are not only on track, but exceeding delivery on these targets. We opened 94 new proximity stores, boosting total sales growth to an impressive 8.6%, more than doubling the guided average rate, and increased our adjusted EBITDA margin by 54 basis points to an impressive 6.8%. At the same time, we adhered to the average capital expended budget, resulting in increased returns on robust deleveraging.
As you can see in the next slide, this rigorous delivery is spread across the four dimension of our strategic plan. Our strong like-for-like sales growth, our expanding customer base, and improving NPS score is evidence of the positive response by our customer to our improved value proposition. Our franchisee excellent NPS score and our inclusion among Spain's most reputable companies are more than just source of pride. This enhanced satisfaction and reputation enables us to recruit the best talent to support our operations. Our exceptional share price performance and our surging liquidity are both powerful market endorsement of our strong results and of our enhanced investor relationship outreach. Let's now move on the main highlights of DIA Spain's operating performance, starting on slide eight.
The rate of sales growth has surged from 5.5 in 2024 to an impressive 8.6 in 2025. Our total sales in Spain reached EUR 5.5 billion. Like-for-like growth reached 7.4%, driven primarily by market-leading volume growth of 5.7%, fueled by an expanding customer base and higher frequency rates. Price inflation was just 1.6%, strategically remaining below general food and beverage inflation and highlighting our commitment to affordability. Finally, despite being in the ramp-up phase, new store contribute an additional 1.2 percentage point to our sales growth. As a result, our total sales growth strongly outperformed the market, enabling us to increase our market share by 12 basis point and consolidate our position as the fourth largest national player, and absolute leader in the proximity segment.
Moving to Slide nine, you can see how our customer-centric strategy is promoting loyalty and, as a result, sales growth. Our value proposition centers on quality, convenience, and affordability, offering a comprehensive and innovative assortment of product and the freedom to choose from leading brands. Thanks to our commitment to quality and local sourcing, sales of fresh product increased by an impressive 15% and now represent 28% of total sales, a significant 160 basis point increase year-over-year. Similarly, our commitment to offering high-quality DIA brand product at affordable price has driven a 10% growth in this category. These products now account for 59% of our Fast-Moving Consumer Goods basket, an impressive 170 basis point increase on 2024, and is evidence of a growing base of loyal customers. Continuing on Slide 10.
Loyalty sales account for an impressive 56% of gross sales in 2025, marking a 9% increase. This was driven by an increase in the number of loyalty customers and the frequency of their purchases. It is worth noting that the average purchase frequency and basket size of loyal customers is double that of the non-loyal to customers. In this context, the additional of 200,000 loyalty customers in 2025 is of a great value, bringing the total to 5.8 million. The digitalization of our loyalty base continued to progress rapidly, fostered by our gamification initiatives and exclusive promotions. Currently, 58% of our loyal customers, who account for 1/3 of our sales, interact with us via the application. This channel is growing exceptionally well. It grew by 13% last year.
This growth has been driven by double-digit growth on both our own platform and those of third parties, despite the temporary slowdown experienced by delivery platform while they adapt to the recent Riders' Law. Our digital platform complement our proximity network perfectly, reaching 84% of the population and offering the best service level. Over 90% of the orders are delivered on the same day within a one-hour time slot. Our digital ecosystem combines the unparalleled speed and convenience of our e-commerce platform with the intelligence of our Club DIA loyalty program. This provide customers with a personalized omnichannel experience, earning us an outstanding Net Promoter Score of 60 points. Turning now to Slide 11, you can see the progress of our store expansion plan. Our goal is to open 300 new proximity stores by 2029.
These stores have been selected from a pool of 1,500 high-potential location, identified through our proprietary analytic tool. We are giving priority to areas where we already have a strong presence, such as Madrid, Andalucía, and Castile and León, to further increase our store density and improve our logistic efficiency. By focusing not only on large urban hubs, but also on smaller multi-municipalities, we can capitalize on our capital light format and thrive in areas where large competitors are less efficient. We are now leveraging our scalable franchise model to accelerate the rollout of these select stores, boosting organic growth and share profitability. In 2025, we opened 94 proximity stores, more than offsetting 38 strategic closure and achieving a net expansion of 56 stores. Our aim is to double net openings in 2026.
With over 100 net store opening, we will drive organic growth and further consolidate our position as the market leader in proximity segment. Most of these new stores, 73%, are managed by franchisees who currently represent 67% of our network. These hardworking, experienced entrepreneurs help us to bring DIA value proposition to every neighborhood. They manage the store, drawing on their local knowledge, while we provide the infrastructure, product, logistic, and service standards. This specialization ensures complete alignment of interest, maximizing productivity and profitability for both parties. The success of this model is reflected in our franchise impressive Net Promoter Score of 75 points. As shown on Slide 12, the expansion of our store is being supported by the modernization of our logistic network.
By 2029, we aim to resize and renovate six of our 12 logistic platform, improving their service level and capturing significant operational savings. This follows the successful model of our first renovated platform in Illescas, Toledo. In 2025, we opened a second logistic center in Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, and start construction of a third in León, scheduled to open in the coming months. A further three logistic platform are planned for Málaga, Levante, and Catalonia in 2027, 2028, and 2029, respectively. These new platforms are built to the highest standard of efficiency, productivity, and sustainability and enable us to optimize our operating margins. Renovating refrigeration equipment is also helping us to improve our energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint. To date, 68% of the logistic network and 24% of our store have been decarbonized.
The next slide, number 13, shows our continued progress on ESG. Here, I am pleased to announce our new sustainability plan to 2029, named The Value in Every Day, which will positively impact all our stakeholders. Having successfully complete all the initiatives proposed under our previous sustainability plan by 2025, we have defined 84 new action for the next four years, grouped into five categories. Firstly, actions to improve our customer awareness of quality nutrition through strategic alliances with suppliers and nutritional experts. Secondly, action to extend our ESG training programs to all employees and strengthen our inclusive hiring and diversity targets within our meritocratic culture. Thirdly, action will contribute to the development of urban and rural communities by sourcing locally, creating new jobs, improving accessibility, and taking social actions.
Fourthly, action to accelerate our decarbonization plan, lift our zero waste and food waste prevention targets, consolidate our responsible sourcing standards, and implement the DRS scheme for packaging recycling. Finally, we will further improve our reporting and disclose, enhancing our ESG rating visibility and fostering customer perception and trust. Let's turn to Argentina's operating performance on slide 15. DIA has demonstrate resilient management by successfully navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment. The strategic measures implemented in 2025 were instrumental in stabilizing sales volume, delivering positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, and maintaining a robust net cash position. Firstly, we refine our product assortment to increase shelf productivity, and we implement a high return promotion strategy supported by enhanced communication to stabilize sales volumes.
Secondly, we optimize our network by closing underperforming stores, streamline in-store operation, and reducing our logistic footprint to cut secondary distribution costs and restore profitability. Finally, in term of finance, we optimize our inventory levels to free up cash and only invest in maintenance to preserve the business' self-financing capacity. The success of these measures is clearly evident in our second half performance metric. Firstly, we achieved 2% like-for-like sales volume growth in the second half of the year, gaining 31 basis point in market share. Secondly, we successfully turned the margin around, moving from -0.5% in the first half to +1.3% in the second. Most importantly, we moved from a negative cash position to generating EUR 12 million in free cash flow in the second half of the year, ending with robust liquidity.
As you can see on Slide 16, we believe the worst is already behind us. While the year-on-year comparison still shows a decline in like-for-like sales volumes, the sequential quarterly trend indicates clear stabilization in the second half of the year. 2026 is set to be a pivotal year for the Argentina, as you can see on the next slide, 17. The Argentinian economy is already showing positive signs, with more moderate inflation, a stabilized exchange rate, and a solid growth prospect for the coming years. The consolidation of Argentina macroeconomic framework and relative price stability, with the bulk of fiscal adjustment now complete, should allow for a gradual but sustained recovery in the household disposable income. This will enable consumers to return to more normal food consumption patterns.
In this scenario, our leading position, operational efficiency, and financial discipline provide a solid foundation on which to capitalize on the expected recovery in food consumption from 2026 onwards. As you can see in the next slide, 18, our leading market position in Buenos Aires gives us a solid base from which to rebuild growth and profitability. We are the leading proximity food retailer and top-of-mind brand in the Buenos Aires region, thanks to our competitive prices, high-quality products, and successful loyalty program. Our balanced assortment includes a high-quality private label, generating close to 30% of gross sales, well ahead of the market average. We offer a high-quality fresh product assortment, combined with guaranteed product availability to meet essential customer needs. Our strong value proposition results in best-in-class consumer satisfaction, as reflected by an impressive Net Promoter Score of 78 points.
I will now hand you over to Guillaume, who will briefly explain our financial results.
Thank you, Martín. Let's start with Spain's strong financial results on slide 20, which demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy. As mentioned earlier, gross sales increased by 8.6% to reach EUR 5.5 billion, while net sales, excluding the franchise margin and value-added tax, grew by 8.2% to reach EUR 4.6 billion. The slight difference in terms of growth and net sales growth reflects a stronger growth rate from franchise-operated stores. Our adjusted EBITDA margin increased by an impressive 54 basis points to reach 6.8%, one of the highest in our sector. This was driven by operational leverage and rigorous cost management, resulting in an 18% increase in adjusted EBITDA to reach EUR 313 million.
I would like to highlight the threefold increase in our net income to EUR 166 million, including EUR 52 million from the recognition of deferred tax assets in the second half of the year. Given the positive net income achieved in the last two years and our robust profit forecasts, we are well positioned to activate tax assets. DIA Spain still has over EUR 660 million in tax loss carryforwards, pending activation. This equates to over EUR 165 million in potential future tax savings, meaning that DIA Spain's effective tax rate will remain below 20% in the medium to long term. Excluding this tax effect, our net income would have reached EUR 114 million in 2025, doubling that the previous year.
Our high profitability also led to strong free cash flow generation, totaling EUR 140 million. This resulted in a significant reduction in net debt, as you can see on slide 21. Cash flow from operations reached EUR 301 million. This figure includes the recovery of EUR 33 million in tax refunds during the first half of the year, following the official removal of the regulatory cap on certain tax deductions. Net CapEx totaled EUR 161 million during the period, representing a 60% year-on-year increase linked to the execution of our store expansion plan. Following the refinancing of our debt in December 2024, which provided the stable framework needed to execute our five-year strategic plan, net financial payments totaled EUR 61 million. As a result, we achieved a net debt reduction of EUR 79 million.
This represents a 24% decrease compared to the end of 2024, bringing the total down to EUR 250 and 51 million. You can see this on the next slide, number 22. The company boasts a set of solid credit metrics. Firstly, it has a low financial leverage with an adjusted net debt to EBITDA ratio of just 0.8. Secondly, it has a long-term financing structure with no significant debt repayments until 2029. Thirdly, it has a solid net cash position of EUR 295 million at the end of 2025. These robust credit metrics offer ample flexibility to support accelerated growth while maintaining a low leverage profile. Now, let's turn to the financial results of DIA Argentina on slide 23.
As previously mentioned, gross sales in Argentina decreased by 15% to EUR 1.5 billion, affected by a 10% decline in like-for-like sales volume and, above all, by the translation effects of the 40% depreciation of the Argentine peso in 2025. Net sales mirrored the performance of gross sales, declining by 15% to EUR 1.2 billion before the application of IAS 29 accounting rules for hyperinflationary economies. These rules had negative non-cash impact of EUR 104 million. It is important to reiterate that our decisive cost control and financial discipline enabled our adjusted EBITDA margin to recover by 180 basis points to reach 1.3% in the second half of the year. This resulted in a positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow of EUR 4 million and EUR 3 million, respectively.
As you can see on slide 24, rigorous working capital management and targeted maintenance CapEx protected our cash position throughout a challenging year. The EUR 27 million working capital inflow was driven by optimizing stock levels, unlocking trapped cash, and covering targeted maintenance CapEx, which preserved DIA Argentina's net cash position almost intact before the foreign exchange took effect. The depreciation of the Argentine peso by 40% in 2025 had a translation effect of EUR 25 million on its net cash position, which closed the year at EUR 61 million. This solid net cash position, together with our rigorous financial discipline, ensures that the business remains self-funded and ready to capitalize on Argentina's expected macroeconomic recovery. Let's conclude the review of the financial results with a brief summary of the DIA group's consolidated results from continuing operations on slide 25.
DIA Spain continued to be the driving force behind the group's growth and profitability. It achieved a 3% increase in consolidated growth sales, reaching EUR 7.1 billion, as well as an 8% increase in adjusted EBITDA, reaching EUR 316 million. This resulted in a 30 basis point improvement in the consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin, reaching 5.4%. Notably, our consolidated net income for continued operations more than doubled to a robust EUR 115 million, excluding a EUR 14 million profit contribution from discontinued operations. This relates to the reversal of unapplied contingencies regarding the sale of the Portuguese business in 2024. Conversely, in 2024, discontinued operations contributed a loss of EUR 107 million, linked to our exit from Brazil.
The company is thus returning to profitability following a successful transformation process that has established its position as Spain's leading supermarket chain in the proximity segment. It now boasts a robust and profitable business with promising prospects for growth. The group's free cash flow reached a robust EUR 143 million. This resulted in a net debt reduction of EUR 51 million, bringing it down to EUR 190 million at the end of the year. I would like to draw your attention to our exceptional stock performance in 2025, as shown on slide 27. This powerful market endorsement is a testament to our strong achievements and solid prospects for profitable growth. DIA's share price has made an extraordinary recovery, rising by 140%, while our average daily liquidity has surged fivefold and is now consistently above EUR 2 million.
Our market cap grew from EUR 0.9 billion at the end of 2024 to over EUR 2.1 billion at the end of 2025, releasing EUR 1.2 billion of shareholder value. Despite this impressive performance, DIA is still trading at a discount compared to our peers. Closing this gap should increase our market cap to over EUR 2.7 billion, in line with the current analyst consensus valuation. Our share price recovery and surging liquidity reflects renewed and growing confidence from institutional investors, underpinned by our proactive investor relations outreach. Last year, we executed 14 targeted roadshows in major financial hubs and participated in 10 investor conferences, effectively presenting our new equity story to over 190 high-quality investors.
We have added two new brokers to our sell side coverage. We are actively encouraging new coverage from Pan-European brokers to further increase our visibility among institutional investors. We are committed to broadening our investor base and building deeper, long-standing relationships with investors, ensuring that we fulfill our value creation commitments. Now, I hand you back to Martín, who will deliver his closing remarks and outlook for 2026.
Thank you, Guillaume. I will now conclude this presentation with some closing remarks on slide 30 before moving on the Q&A session. The excellent result achieved in the first year of our Growing Everyday strategic plan, validate the success of our proximity model and the strength of our customer-centric strategy. We are delivering robust volume-led, like-for-like growth, significantly outperforming the market, while accelerating the rollout of our expansion plan ahead of the schedule. This operational excellent is driving a substantial expansion of margins, a twofold increase in the net income, and strong cash flow generation. Looking ahead to 2026, our goals are threefold. Firstly, to maintain our position as the market leader in like-for-like growth. Secondly, to accelerate the rollout of our expansion plan with over 100 net store opening this year. Thirdly, to continue to increase our adjusted EBITDA margin.
We will also continue to monitor strategic opportunities in Spain's fragmented market that could generate additional shareholder value. In any case, please note that we only view these opportunities as strictly supplementary to our core organic growth roadmap, and we won't allow any distraction from it. Meanwhile, DIA Argentina has demonstrated resilient management by successfully navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment. The strategic measures implemented in 2025 were instrumental in stabilizing sales volume and delivering positive adjusted EBITDA and improving free cash flow in 2025, while maintaining a robust net cash position. Our leading position, operational efficiency, and financial discipline give us a solid foundation on which to capitalize on the recovery in consumption expect from this year, as the macroeconomic environment normalizes. 2025 marked a pivotal year for DIA.
It was the year in which we successfully transitioned from a turnaround phase to a one of sustained, profitable growth. With a significantly strengthened balance sheet and proven proximity strategy, we are now well-placed to deliver long-term value. This transition is being increasingly validated by the financial market, as reflect in our exceptional share price performance and enhanced stock liquidity. Thank you for your attention. We are now open to your questions.
Thank you for your attention. The Q&A session is now about to begin. To ask a question over the phone, please press the asterisk, then the number 5 on your telephone keypad. As a shareholder, you may also submit questions through the red button on your webcast screen. Once we have verified your ownership, we will answer your question. If we are unable to do so during this session, we will respond directly to your email address. Questions received from analysts covering our stock will be addressed first. Thank you. All right, here comes our first question from Alvaro Bernal at Alantra. Alvaro, please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. I have three questions, if I may, all related to the 2026 guidance. The first one is regarding sales growth. You have grown at 9% in Spain in 2025, ahead of the 4%-6% guidance. What do you expect for 2026? If you can provide a mix on volume, price, store opening, it would be very helpful. Thank you. Second one is regarding margins. You delivered a solid 6.8% margin in Spain. What do you expect for 2026, and what are the drivers of this improvement? The last one is regarding CapEx in Spain. Having in mind that you're accelerating your store opening plan to a targeted 100 net openings in 2026, what can we expect in terms of spend? That's all.
Thank you very much, congratulations on the results.
Thank you. Very clear questions, Alvaro. I think the first two are for Martín. The last one on CapEx maybe is more suitable for Guillaume. Martín, if you're ready?
Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Alvaro, for your question. Clearly, 2025, our sales delivered an impressive 8.6% increase, as you mentioned. This performance was built on a robust 7.4% like-for-like, basically, supported by volume growth, and also an initial contribution of our expansion plan that add 1.2% to the top line. Going to your question on 2026, what we can share is that what we expect is to maintain our market leadership in like-for-like growth. We really think that the value proposition that we are proposing is clearly the one that's chosen by customers, and we are going to keep our rhythm of like-for-like ahead of the market.
On the expansion, what we expect is also overperform the growth of square meters of the Spanish market. We are targeting 100 net opening for the year, that will also allows us to accelerate the growth again in 2026. This acceleration mean that we In total growth, 2026, is projected to again outperform our guidance range of 4%-6%. On the margins, what I can share with you is that clearly, Spain can reach the 6.8% in 2025, that this is 54 basis point expansion. That was driven basically by this strong operational leverage and rigorous cost discipline, as was already presented by Guillaume.
Outlook for 2026, our focus is clearly on accelerating our organic growth. We expect, based on that, a fixed cost dilution and rigorous cost management to offset wage and transport inflation, again, enabling us a further improvement in margins this year. There will be a more, let's say, normalized pace compared to the extraordinary jump seen in 2025. Perhaps for the CapEx, I can give to Guillaume.
Thank you, Martín. First, to remind, in 2025, DIA Spain net CapEx total EUR 161 million, in line with the guidance- provided and 60% above the EUR 99 million invested, last year in 2024. The year-on-year increase is mainly related to our store expansion plan. Looking ahead to 2026, we expect to double our rollout speed with more than 100 net store openings. Consequently, we should expect around EUR 50 million higher CapEx than in 2025, pointing to over EUR 210 million. Remember that this CapEx is fully financed by our operating cash flow. This enable us to maintain low financial leverage throughout our strategic plan.
Thank you very much, Martín and Guillaume. The next question comes from Luís Colaço at JB Capital. Luís, please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the presentation. I have 4 questions on my side. The first one would be regarding the breakdown in terms of sales growth for 2026. We saw an exit rate of like-for-like of circa 7.7%. You guided before last year for 2%-3% like-for-like, and we are seeing the inflation in Spain still, the food sector already at 3%. Do you think that this guidance that you provided last year between 2% and 3% isn't conservative at this stage? Second question would be on the expansion of stores that you project. You said that you expect 100 net new stores for 2026.
You opened 54 already in 2025. I wanted to understand if the 300 net new stores that you projected for 2025-2029 also does it look conservative at this stage? I assume that the 300 is net new stores. That wasn't clear for me in the past. The third question would be on the debt. You've been deleveraging in a very fast way. We know that you refinanced your debt in 2024 at a very high rate. Bearing in mind your current net debt to EBITDA, do you think that you will be able to refinance your debt at the end of this year? What type if this is...
If you agree with me, do you think that can you provide us some color on what type of spread should we be assuming for debt refinancing? The fourth question would be also on the market in general in Spain. We've been seeing the nominal food retail sales growing accelerating the growth. What do you attribute this to? Immigration, higher purchasing power from consumers? If you could give us some color, it would be great. Thank you very much.
All right, very clear questions. Thank you very much, Luis. I think the first pool of questions regarding the-.
Sales
... the sales growth in Spain, also our store expansion and the microenvironment could be very good questions for Martín. The one regarding our financials is more suitable for Guillaume. Martín, are you ready?
Thank you, Luis, for your questions. What we are seeing in Spain, in terms of growth, the drivers of growth, we expect now inflation position between, say, 1% - 2% this year. We still have some pressure, especially in fresh product. We have also a mix effect that will offset partially this pressure. Again, between 1% - 2%. In volume like-for-like, what we expect or what we are expecting is a consistent growth between 3% and 4%, which is a robust growth in this market. In terms of expansion, what we are assuming now is a contribution of around 3% coming from this plan.
In terms of our acceleration, in expansion but more broadly, the acceleration that we are seeing in the execution of our plan, in 2025 and our solid prospect for 2026, we really think that, while we are delivering ahead of the schedule and accelerating in general, it may be premature to review our strategic targets only 1 year after its launch. However, given, again, this positive trends, I wouldn't rule out revising our targets plan next year, let's say in 2027. Concretely concerning the opening stores... You can assume that, yes, the 300 additional stores openings are net, in the framework of our plan. Some comments on the macro environment, as you pointed.
We expect in Spain, a solid growth in term of GDP. 2025 was a 2.8, which is a real strong performance, especially when we compare with the rest of biggest economy in Europe, Germany, France. Really, really strong support of this growth. We consider, as we see in all the available information, that 2026 will remain a strong year for Spain. We project this growth around 2.4%, again, driven by a strong domestic demand and all the external sector.
In term of inflation, 2025 was already a year of the moderation. We expect 2026 with a number of around 2% in term of inflation. We really are appreciate seeing a clear improvement of the disposable income from household, which is really important for our business. Last year was already a positive year, and all the information we are gathering confirm that 2026, again, will be a positive year in term of recovery of this real disposable income, which, again, it's key for our business. Last if element that we can share is that in term of population and tourists, we are still seeing solid numbers that will sustain this trend looking forward.
Regarding the refinancing, today, the lock-up period of the current financing expires at your end, paving the way for a potential refinancing from 2027 onwards. As this time approaches, we intend to leverage our strengthened credit profile, reduced leverage and proven operating track record to optimize our cost of debt, this should reduce financing cost and unlock our current capital allocation constraint, providing us with greater flexibility to remunerate our shareholders. How much do we expect? It's too early to say, we expect a relevant reduction cost of debt.
Thank you very much. Just a follow-up question on what you said. You mentioned before the like-for-like, between 1%-2% in terms of prices, if I'm not wrong, 3%-4% in terms of loans. That already surpasses the 4%-6% total sales growth that you guided for. Is that correct?
With the prospect we are having today for 2026, clearly we expect to outperform our range, the range of growth that we give as guidance in 2026, clearly.
Okay. Fantastic. Thank you very much.
That is very clear. Thank you, Martín. The next question comes from José, from CaixaBank. José, please go ahead.
Yes, hi, good morning. I had three questions. The first one is on net debt evolution at the consolidated level in 2026. If, based on the fact that you should expect to accelerate store openings and also CapEx, you should expect to reduce net debt by 2026 versus 2025. That will be the first question. The second question related with the tax credits. The activation of the tax losses carried forward. I think that we had around EUR 1 billion in the balance sheet, at least last year. There was some activation this year. Can we assume that the company will activate a similar amount in 2026? And how should we assume the pricing of this?
If you could provide a little bit more details on this, I think it will be helpful. Finally, the third question on the working capital evolution in Spain. There were slight cash outflow in 2025. Reasons for this, and also, how do we expect this to evolve in 2026? Thank you.
All right. Thank you, José. If I understood you well, you're asking about our net debt prospects for the coming years, and if we are gonna be reducing our net debt position again in 2026. That is a good question for Guillaume. You also ask about our income tax in 2025, in the second half, which was significant. If you can give Guillaume a little bit more color on that and also on our prospects. Finally, I think you asked about the working capital change in Spain in 2025, and also your views, Guillaume, regarding next year, 2026. When you're ready.
Thank you, Alberto. Regarding net debt projection for this year, as we increase our CapEx, we expect to maintain our current net debt. Second, regarding income tax, in light of our positive performance and strong future profit expectations, we had EUR 52 million out of a total deferred tax asset balance of EUR 217 million that was activated in the second half of the year. This, together with the one-off reversal of a fiscal provision totaling EUR 9 million, registered in the first half, this more than offsets the corresponding annual corporate tax, resulting in positive tax income of EUR 47 million in 2025. Regarding 2026, DIA Spain still has deferred tax assets totaling EUR 165 million, pending activation, which will not expire.
We plan to activate these assets progressively over the coming years, which will result in an effective tax rate below 20% in the medium to long term. Regarding the working capital change in Spain, the outflow you mentioned of EUR 10 million, if I'm not mistaken, is linked to a calendar effect here in our supplier payments, it's just something punctual. Looking ahead to 2026, we expect a positive working capital inflow, driven by our projected sales growth and expansion plan.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Jose, for your questions. We've got another one coming from Pablo Fernández from Renta 4. Pablo, please go ahead.
Hi, team. Good morning, everybody, and thanks for taking my question, and congrats on these solid numbers. Just three on my side. The first one is just a follow-up on growth and margins, in this case, about Argentina. Could you provide some color about the similar picture, and maybe offer some guidance on your expectations about sales and margin expansion in 2026? The second one, do you keep considering the business in this country as a strategic or maybe this first green shops could be a good opportunity to divest in the country? The final one is regarding the EUR 10 million of assets on hold for sale in your balance sheet. Maybe you could provide some color about it. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Pablo, who is now shifting to Argentina. He's asking about how we see the macro environment and our prospects for 2026. Also, if we consider this as a, as a strategic business or we could consider its divestment. Finally, a question about regarding assets held for sale that is more suitable for Guillaume. Martín, the floor is yours when you're ready.
Thank you, Pablo, for your question. On Argentina, in terms of GDP, following the sharp contraction in 2024, GDP is estimated to have recovery of, let's say, 4% in 2025, driven mainly by a rebound in the agriculture sector and the gradual recovery of the energy and the mining sector. The economic forecast suggests this recovery will continue in 2026, with the GDP growth expected to remain between 3%-5%, with an increased contribution from private investment and consumption in addition to the primary sector. In terms of inflation, as you know, inflation has significantly decelerated from the hyperinflation peak of 2023 and 2024 to a single-digit monthly rates at the end of last year.
In this context, the real disposable income began to recover in 25 amid rising wages and more moderate inflation. Still, it remains at a very low level, following 20% cut in 2024 due to measure implemented to eliminate the fiscal deficit. We expect that the consolidation of Argentina's macroeconomic framework and relative price stability are expected to enable the sustained normalization of household disposable income and the gradual recovery of food consumption from this year onward. As you know, we have a strong position in Argentina. We have a leading position in Buenos Aires.
We have a strong brand, the, a loved brand in the country, and a brand that is perceived as the more competitive in term of prices and the leader also in term of own brand quality and loyalty program. We have an operational and supply chain solution that it's really competitive in the, in that market, and that means a real value for us. We have a value proposition that also combine this own brand, fresh products and national brands that differentiate our value proposition from the other players. In this context, we consider that the consumption is now bottoming, and we expect a gradual recovery from this year onward.
In this context, again, we are not considering the sale of the Argentina at the moment. Selling the business now will fail to capture the value we really think this operation have, this strong position that we have in the country, and more particularly, in our leadership in Buenos Aires. Again, all the potential recovery that we are foreseeing based on the healthy and the strengthening of our value proposition. What we expect in term of sales growth is again, this gradual recovery during 2026. Although this sequential quarterly trend should continue to improve, the positive year-on-year comparison will be more evident, especially as the year progress.
Last question on also margins for Argentina. As you know, we have put in place decisive cost control and financial discipline that allows us to get to a positive adjusted EBITDA in the year. The second half of the year, we have been already capturing the benefits of all that strategic decisions. Again, the full year, we finally closed positive 0.3% of adjusted EBITDA margin. This year will be a year where we will are going to capture fully all this the benefits of all that decision, and we expect to improve our adjusted EBITDA margins in Argentina.
Regarding the question about assets held for sale, the EUR 10 million you are seeing corresponds to real estate assets belonging to DIA Argentina. We talk about one warehouse and 14 stores. These assets are up for sale in 2026, with the aim of reinforcing the company's net cash position. As you know, and just to remind you, Argentina had a net cash position of EUR 61 million at the end of the year. This, together with our rigorous financial discipline and the monetization of real estate, will ensure that the business remains self-funded and ready to capitalize on Argentina's expected economic recovery.
Very clear, Guillaume. Thank you, and Martín. We have a final question from Marisa Mazo, from GVC Gaesco. Marisa, go ahead.
Thank you very much, Alberto, and congratulations for the results. I have three questions. The first one is in logistics. Can you remind us how may be the impact in costs when you continue opening your new warehouses, and how much is the annual investment? The second issue is on the financial debt and the repayment. If I'm not wrong, you have to pay penalty on the... if you repay the debt from year 2027 onwards, and also you're still accounting for the opening fee. How we, may we think about what, which will be the trade-off between renegotiating the debt and all the other impact it has? Thank you very much.
All right, Marisa, thank you for your questions. If I understood you well, you're asking about your logistics optimization plan, specifically, how much we think it could contribute to improve our adjusted EBITDA margin by 2029, and how much we expect to invest in each of these platforms and throughout the plan. That is a good question for Guillaume. You also ask about our, if I understand you well, the potential refinancing of our debt as from 2027, and how much it could contribute to reduce our financial costs. Both questions for Guillaume. The floor is yours when you're ready.
Yes, Alberto. Regarding logistic, the gain we expect from this optimization plan by the end of 2029 is 30 basis points and requires yearly investment by EUR 10 million-EUR 15 million per year. Regarding debt, as I said, we have a strong penalty until the end of 2026 if we repay now our current debt. That's the reason why we are waiting for 2027. Today, it's too early to know how much we can save, but we believe that it will be a relevant saving.
Thank you.
All right. There are no more questions from our analysts over the phone. Let's now review the written questions received from our shareholders who are following us through the webcast. Some of them have already been answered. Fernando was asking about our plans regarding the business in Argentina and a potential divestment. I think that has already been addressed very clearly by Martín. Luis and José are asking about the share price potential and also about potential M&A in Spain. I think the first one could be a good question for Guillaume and the one regarding M&A maybe for Martín. If you are ready, we can answer these ones.
Regarding the share price potential, it's of course, we cannot provide any guidance regarding our share price. We know that our stock price has made an extraordinary recovery last year, validating our successful business transformation. However, we see that we are still trading at a significant discount to our European peers on 2026 consensus numbers. According to the latest analyst consensus, average target price is EUR 46 per share, so there is still a significant upside potential. This fundamental upside is based on, let's say, five points. One, our unique business model, which give us strong competitive advantages. Our strong, Two, our strong organic growth that significantly outperform the market. T hree, the profitability that is above the average of the sector, and also our strong cash flow generation and low leverage profile. That's the main element for the share price potential.
Thank you for this question on M&A. I would like to start by first saying that our focus and our full priority is to deliver on our strategic plan, the plan that we have shared with you last year and that we are executing rigorously. Any other consideration has to be considered again, with no possibility to distract us from the execution and delivery of this plan. This plan is based on customer experience improvement, like-for-like growth, and our organic expansion. However, our robust financial position enable us to evaluate potential M&As. Opportunities within Spain is still a fragmented market, we consider that they can be with.
... opportunities that could create additional value for our shareholders, and our responsibility is to analyze and consider these options. In any case, note that we, again, we only consider these opportunities as supplementary to our core organic growth roadmap, and we will not allow anything to distract us from it. Also important to share with you that we already define clear criteria for evaluating any M&A opportunity in Spain to ensure that any potential transaction will really create long-term value for our shareholders. In that regard, we only consider assets that are profitable and generate cash flow, that are complement to our business model and national footprint, that create clear opportunities of quantifiable synergies, have limited integration cost, and offer real attractive returns.
If, in any case, an event this, of this nature materialize, we will disclose it to the market swiftly in accordance with the applicable regulations.
That is super clear, Martín. Thank you very much. We have another question from Alvaro and José. They are both asking for potential dividends or shareholder remuneration in the context, again, of a potential refinancing as from 2027. That maybe is a good question for you, Guillaume?
Yes, Miren Sotomayor. As you know, dividend payments are not permitted under the current refinancing agreement, but this is not definitive. Delivering our strategic plan and fulfilling our financials commitments will give us the flexibility to reconsider our capital allocation priorities in due course. Of course, an early refinancing of our current debt facilities for, from 2027 onwards could remove our current capital allocation constraints.
Thank you, Guillaume. The last question comes from Mohanty. He's asking about our store closures in Spain and our prospects. Maybe Martín, if you can answer this last one.
Sure, no problem. You have seen that in 2025, DIA Spain closed 38 stores. This is twice the natural rhythm of annual turnover, thus as we didn't close any store in 2024, that will be incompatible with the redundancy program that was in place. Looking ahead to the coming years, what you usually expect is a natural turnover of around 15-20 stores per year. These closures are mainly based on the change to the rental conditions, store relocations or the closure of underperforming stores. We will come back to this historical average rhythm, natural rhythm, I will say, of around 20 stores per year.
Super clear, and there are no more questions from the webcast. Thank you very much, Martín and Guillaume. If you require further clarifications, please contact us, the Investor Relations department, and you will find the contact details on this presentation or on our webpage. Thank you very much again for your attention, and look forward to connecting with you at our first half results presentation. Have a nice day!