Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Alsea's third quarter 2026 earnings video conference. My name is Gerardo Lozoya, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs. Today, you will hear from our Chief Executive Officer, Christian Gurría, and Federico Rodríguez, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we continue, a friendly reminder that some of our comments today will contain forward-looking statements based on our current view of our business, and that future results may differ materially from these statements. Today's call should be considered in conjunction with disclaimers in our earnings release and our most recent Bolsa Mexicana de Valores report. The company is not obliged to update or revise any such forward-looking statements. Please note that unless specified otherwise, the financial figures discussed today are presented on a pre-IFRS 16 basis. I will now hand it over to Christian for his initial remarks. Please go ahead, Chris.
[Non-English content], Gerardo, and good morning and thank you all for joining us in Alsea's third quarter 2026 earnings video conference. I will begin with an overview of our performance during the quarter, highlighting key operating trends across regions and brands, as well as the progress we continue to make in digital capabilities, expansion, ESG initiatives. Federico, our CFO, will then provide a more detailed review of our financial results. Before discussing the quarterly figures, I would like to place our performance in a broader context of the period. The third quarter delivered consistent momentum in demand as customers gradually returned to their usual routines following the World Cup. We saw month-over-month improvements in traffic throughout the quarter, particularly in our coffee business in Mexico. At the same time, our team successfully introduced new products and executed relevant seasonal marketing campaigns across our portfolio.
These initiatives, together with our continued focus on operating efficiency, store openings, remodelings, profitability, and cash generation, provide a solid foundation as we move into the final months of the year. With this context, let me now review our quarterly performance, including our financial results, regional and brand highlights, and the progress made in our digital expansion and ESG priorities. During the third quarter, total sales increased 1.8% year-over-year to MXN 21.2 billion. Excluding foreign exchange effects, sales grew 5.6%, reflecting positive underlying performance across the business. Same-store sales increased 4.2%. EBITDA increased 2.2% in the third quarter, reaching MXN 2.9 billion, with a margin expansion of 10 basis points to 13.9%. These results reflect our team's disciplined execution in a consumer environment that continues to require agility and close attention to operating performance. Turning to the performance of our brands during the third quarter.
Starbucks Alsea delivered same-store sales growth of 4.4% compared with the same period last year. For Starbucks Mexico, same-store sales increased by 3.1%, supported by the recovery in traffic following the World Cup and a strong marketing calendar, including our Peanuts campaign, the Unicorn Frappuccino, and the return of our fall beverage offerings, such as Pumpkin Spice Latte. We also continue strengthening the brand through our Juntémonos Más campaign, reinforcing Starbucks' role as the third place where customers can connect with one another and with their communities. For Starbucks Europe, same-store sales increased by 6.1%, reflecting broad-based momentum across the region. Spain continued to deliver solid growth. France returned to positive territory as marketing and commercial initiatives translated into improved traffic. Finally, in South America, same-store sales rose 7.6%, mainly reflecting price adjustments in Argentina that remain aligned with inflation.
Excluding Argentina, same-store sales increased 0.2% as Colombia grew 10.8%, despite temporary store closures following the earthquake. Chile declined 4.2% due to lower traffic and a consumer environment that remains under pressure. Before we continue with the other business units, I would like to provide an update on Starbucks Mexico and address some of the topics we have discussed with the market. The recent leadership transition at Starbucks Mexico has brought renewed focus on the fundamentals that differentiate the brand: high-quality coffee, world-class service, and welcoming coffee houses where customers want to spend time. We continue working closely with our stores and frontline teams, simplifying routines and improving executions across the business.
This disciplined focus, together with the remodeling and facelift of our stores, is clearly paying off and the customer is recognizing it, and altogether enhances the coffee house experience and delivers attractive returns, complemented by product innovation and marketing initiatives that increase the brand's relevance and strengthen customer connections. While these efforts remain at an early stage, the improving traffic and operating trends confirm our confidence in the long-term potential of Starbucks Mexico. Based on our internal estimates and the information currently available, we have not seen evidence of a loss in market share over the last three years. At the same time, we continue to deepen our market presence with more than 50 store openings over the last 12 months, helping us maintain our leadership position in Mexico. Importantly, traffic improved sequentially throughout the third quarter, with each month performing better than the previous one.
With these consistent signs and a clear focus on sustaining Starbucks Mexico's momentum, let me now turn to the performance of our other business units, beginning with Domino's Pizza. Domino's Pizza Alsea posted a 3.6% increase in same-store sales, supported by the World Cup during July and by our Sartén Orilla Suprema pizza launched in August. In Spain, same-store sales increased by 2.2%, driven by consistent commercial execution. In Colombia, same-store sales increased 1.8% in the quarter. These results demonstrate the brand's ability to maintain positive momentum through relevant product innovation, effective commercial execution, and a strong value proposition. The full-service restaurant segment delivered 2.8% same-store sales growth. Full-service restaurants in Mexico increased by 3.2%. Chili's grew 6.3%, maintaining healthy momentum following an exceptionally strong second quarter supported by the World Cup.
Vips grew 3.8%, benefiting from the positive reception of our Fiestas Patrias menu and selling more than 520,000 Chiles en Nogada across Mexico, making it the restaurant chain with the highest sales of this iconic dish. Foster's Hollywood, which increased 3.7%, supported by product innovation and new offerings such as American barbecue and weekend brunch. Vips Spain also contributed positively, delivering 1.5% growth. Overall, this segment continued to benefit from effective commercial initiatives, relevant seasonal offerings, and disciplined operating execution. This performance reinforces Alsea's leadership position, supported by the quality and value of our offerings, a strong customer preference, and continued innovation across our brands. During the quarter, we opened 46 new stores, including 36 corporate units and 10 franchisee locations, bringing our total store base to 4,835 units at the end of September.
We continue to take a selective and disciplined approach to expansion, prioritizing brands, geographies, and locations that meet our return criteria. At the same time, we remain focused on remodeling existing stores, where investments continue to generate attractive returns, enhance customer experience, and support positive same-store sales growth. We also completed our first full quarter of Chipotle operations in Monterrey. Initial sales were approximately 190% above our expectations, reflecting an encouraging customer response. While we recognize that the brand remains at an early stage of development and that some of this performance may reflect the novelty of the opening, these early results reinforce our confidence as we continue developing the brand at a disciplined pace. Looking ahead, we will continue building our new brands progressively and responsibly.
We currently expect to open three additional Chipotle locations in Nuevo León, followed by the first Raising Cane's restaurant in the state in Q1 of 2027. We will also continue assessing opportunities to optimize our portfolio, including potential divestitures of selected assets, with the objective of concentrating resources on the businesses and markets offering the strongest long-term value creation potential. Our digital platforms continue to strengthen customer engagement and support growth across our brands. By the end of the quarter, loyalty sales increased 9%, reaching MXN 5.6 billion, representing 22.7 million orders and contributing 28.1% of total sales. Our loyalty programs have 9.1 million active users, while Starbucks Rewards members generated 32% of brand sales. At Starbucks, we introduced Juntémonos Más, a new communication platform designed to support the brand across all markets over the coming years.
The platform reinforces the role of Starbucks stores as welcoming spaces where people can meet, connect, and spend time together while strengthening brand equity and helping us expand and deepen engagement with our Starbucks Rewards member base. In addition, we fulfilled nearly 33.2 million digital orders during the quarter, generating MXN 8.1 billion in sales and representing 40.7% of Alsea's total sales. These results underscore the growing relevance of our digital ecosystem in providing customers with greater convenience and strengthening engagement across our brands. Turning now to our ESG initiatives. During the quarter, we complemented our global assessment of physical climate risks with an analysis of climate transition risks and opportunities, covering technological, market, and reputational risks under three scenarios through 2050. In our supply chain, we have strengthened our supplier approval process in Europe.
Suppliers now completed an updated ESG questionnaire based on international standards such as EcoVadis, and must provide evidence of their environmental and social practices. Through Fundación Alsea, on October 1st, we launched the 14th edition of our annual campaign for Movimiento Va por Mi Cuenta in Mexico. Last year, we raised a record of MXN 62 million, benefiting more than 1.4 million people, and this year we aim to surpass that amount.
In Spain, our Producto con Corazón, or Product with a Heart, campaign has raised more than EUR 236,000 to date, more than double what we reported last quarter. In South America, more than 70 Starbucks partners contributed over 250 volunteer hours in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. In Colombia, our partners helped assemble more than 1,200 food packages for families affected by the earthquake. I will now turn the call to Federico, our CFO, who will provide further details on our financial performance.
Thank you, Christian. Good morning, everyone. The sales grew 1.8% in the third quarter, or 5.6% excluding foreign exchange FX, as the stronger peso continued to weigh on the translation of the European and South American results. Mexico grew 5.9% to MXN 12.2 billion, combining same-store sales growth of 3.6% with the contribution of new stores. In Europe, sales grew 2.8% in euros, which translated into a 4.6% decline in pesos to MXN 6.1 billion. South America sales remained broadly stable in pesos at MXN 3 billion. Gross margin contracted 10 basis points to 67.2%, and the consolidated EBITDA increased 2.2%, expanding the margin by 10 basis points. By region, the adjusted EBITDA in Mexico increased 6.3% with a 10 basis points margin expansion, driven by efficient expense management and operating leverage.
In Europe, adjusted EBITDA declined 1.8% in pesos, but grew 7.3% in euros, with a 40 basis points margin expansion. An improvement of approximately 170 basis points in gross margin helped offset higher labor and energy costs during the period. In South America, adjusted EBITDA decreased 8.6% with a margin contraction of 110 basis points due to the loss of operating leverage driven by negative traffic in Argentina and Chile. The net income for the third quarter increased 15.3% year-over-year, reaching MXN 590 million. This increase highlights the positive contribution from the operating performance and continued financial discipline during the period. The CapEx for the first nine months of the year totaled MXN 3 billion. Out of this total, 80% was allocated to store development initiatives, including the opening of 36 new corporate units, the renovation and remodeling of existing locations, and equipment replacement across the brands.
The remaining 20% was directed at strategic projects, software licenses, and other initiatives. Our capital allocation approach remains selective and disciplined, with investment focused on projects that enhance customer experience, strengthen the operating capabilities, and meet our return criteria. One of the most important developments this year has been the significant improvement in our cash flow generation. By the end of September, Alsea generated positive free cash flow of MXN 955 million on a year-to-date basis, compared with cash consumption of approximately MXN 3 billion during the same period last year, representing a year-over-year improvement of nearly MXN 4 billion. This improvement was supported by greater working capital efficiencies, lower CapEx, and reduced interest expenses compared with the prior year. During the quarter, and particularly in the final month of the period, we also increased the pace of our share repurchase program.
We currently hold approximately 10 million shares in our buyback program, representing close to MXN 500 million, out of the MXN 1.5 billion authorized in our annual shareholders meeting. Given current valuation levels, we will continue executing share repurchases as part of our capital allocation strategy while preserving financial flexibility and maintaining a disciplined balance sheet. At the end of the third quarter, the pre-IFRS 16 total debt increased by MXN 747 million year-over-year, reaching MXN 35.3 billion. The company's net debt, not accounting the impact of IFRS 16, was MXN 29 billion, MXN 856 million less than at the same time last year. Consolidated net debt reached MXN 44.4 billion, including lease liabilities. At the end of the quarter, 92% of the debt was long-term, 69% denominated in Mexican pesos, and 31% in euros currency. The cash position stood at MXN 6.3 billion.
We remain focused on maintaining a healthy and balanced capital structure, supported by prudent financial management, improving cash flow generation, and a well-diversified debt profile. Turning to the financial ratios, the total debt to pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA ratio closed the quarter at three times, while the net debt to EBITDA pre-IFRS 16 ratio stood at 2.5x . The progressive improvement in traffic, positive underlying sales growth, stable profitability, and stronger cash flow generation reinforce the confidence in the resilience of Alsea's business model and the strength of the brand portfolio.
Based on our performance through the first nine months of the year and the expectations for the reminder of 2026, we remain confident in the ability to achieve the updated guidance communicated in July. I will now turn the call over to the operator for the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.
The Q&A session. If you have a question, please press the Question button in the browser. Please make sure you are not in full screen mode to see the button. The first question is from Mr. Ben Theurer from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hey, good morning, Christian, Federico. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Oh, fantastic. It works once in a while. Thank you very much for taking my questions. Two very quick one. Maybe the first one for you, Christian. Obviously, a lot of improvement here on the cash side and reinvesting that money, basically buying back shares. As you think about the improvements you've seen so far, where would you say is still ability to further improve from a free cash flow perspective? And how should we think about just your personal thoughts around the buybacks? You've said you've done about a third of the authorization, so maybe remind us for what timeframe the authorization was and how you think about buying back those shares. Then I have a quick follow-up for Christian.
Yes, of course, Ben, and thank you for your question. We will continue with the strategy that we have shared for now more than 12 months about the discipline allocation of our cash flow and the way we allocate our CapEx. Considering the main priorities is what are we going to use for the buyback program, what are we going to use for the remodeling, opening of new stores and different projects, what is going to be dedicated for dividends and what is going to be dedicated for paying debt? What I can tell you is that the strategy remains with the very disciplined approach on where to open, where not to open, what brands to developing, what geographies, and what are the right locations.
As there is no particular pressure on a development schedule, this allows us to allocate our resources where the highest returns are coming and clearly continue focusing, and I know I have been saying this several times, but we are already seeing the payback on the initiatives of facelifting stores, remodeling new stores. Regarding the additional details you ask about the mandate of buyback the shares, I will allow Federico to answer that question for you.
Yes, I want to complement regarding the working capital, Ben. We have been really vocal about the management focus regarding the capital allocation and more disciplined CapEx. Regarding this improvement, this reflects several drivers. A lower CapEx, lower interest paid following the refinancing completed at the beginning of the year, and lower taxes paid also contributed. Regarding the capital allocation and the remaining of the MXN 1 billion authorized by the annual shareholders meeting, well, the capital allocation framework remains unchanged. We are prioritizing high return investment in the business, a healthy balance sheet, portfolio optimization, and shareholder returns when appropriate. Selective repurchases can create value at current valuation levels. So that means that with the current valuations, we will acquire more shares, but depending on the pricing and on you guys, we will see what is the best return for the portfolio.
Yeah. Ben, sorry, if I may add and complement the share buyback program. Remember that the program is MXN 1,500 million. It was authorized by the shareholders meeting, and it will be, let's say, renewed or again approved in the next shareholders meeting that will be in April 2027. We still have a long way to go. We have around MXN 500 million today. And well, what they shared with you is what we are expecting to do going forward.
Yeah. Additionally, Ben, a stronger cash generation gives us greater flexibility. So if we are still improving the cash flow generation, we will see what to do. Maybe we can open more Chipotles, more Raising Cane's, more Starbucks, or paying debt or repurchase more shares. But we need to focus first of all, to have a discipline on the CapEx, on the EBITDA generation, and then we will have a lot of choices to perform.
Okay, perfect. Very clear. Just following up, you mentioned about the portfolio optimization. Christian, what is on your mind? Is portfolio optimization, is that brand? Is that region? Is it both of it? How would you like to shape Alsea for the next coming years? Where do you think there is an area maybe you do not have to be it on the brand size or on a country, region wise? What is your wish list for Santa Claus, if you could put it out?
Yeah. Well, as I have shared several times, Ben, really today there is what I can disclose and what I cannot disclose, but in general, it is the same approach on what are the right geographies. To answer your question, it is three: geographies, brands, and sites or locations. It is the three of them. This connects to the previous answer, a very disciplined approach on that. What are the brands that are giving us the best returns? What are the geographies where we see the white space and the possibilities to continue developing a brand or a number of brands? Also, the flexibility now that we have with the different concepts like Starbucks and Domino's, where you have multiple formats, allow us to continue growing the white space.
Once we come up with a smaller format or with formats where you require less investment and less number of transactions to deliver the returns that we are asking, that allow us to penetrate even further the different geographies. Yes, it is true that we will continue optimizing as we did before with the divesting in Chile and Colombia of our casual dining brands and also TGI Fridays in Spain. This is an ongoing journey and at the same time, developing our new brands. Right now, we are focused on Mexico, but eventually, if there are opportunities in other geographies, it is something we will explore.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Froy Mendez from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hello, guys. Thank you very much for taking my question. Following the improvement that you mentioned and we saw in same-store sales, specifically in Mexico, but also in Europe, can you give us a sense how are trends evolving so far in the fourth quarter? Specifically, how much, for example, of the 3Q acceleration would you attribute to easier comps versus a genuine, let's say, underlying consumer improvement in the consumer environment? That's my first question. Secondly, on gross margins, you showed a small contraction in gross margin, especially in Mexico, considering the promotional activity, but you get some uplift from operating leverage, given the improved same-store sales. How should we think about that balance into the fourth quarter, but more into 2027, between promotional activity, traffic recovery, and overall margin? Thank you.
Hi, Froy. How are you? Good morning. What we have seen in traffic, since the end of the World Cup is clearly people going back to their routines. This combined with our reading of the market, that the market, the consumption is still low. This combination of value initiatives together with the seasonal campaigns and innovation are giving us this traffic, are driving this traffic that we need. To give you an example, in the full-service restaurant segment, there's been three years now that we continue keeping the same price on our value platforms, like Vips with menu of the day and other initiatives like we have in Chili's, Italianni's, and some of our brands in Europe.
Clearly, the customer is recognizing that, and we have seen even some particular regions of the country, like the south of the country, where we have the southeast, where we have some deceleration with tourism. Clearly, the customer and the locals are recognizing this value. This is clearly something the customer is recognizing, and we will continue delivering there. On the other hand, innovation, like I mentioned, this Peanuts platform and bringing the classics, like the fall beverage menu in Starbucks and different innovation in other brands, is this balance and this combination, the one that is driving the traffic. To your question about how do we see the quarter. So far, third week of October, we have a very similar behavior that we've seen in September, which was the best month of the quarter. We want to take advantage of this momentum.
We know that the fourth quarter is for us, represents the highest number of sales across all of our brands and geographies. We are clearly encouraged at what we are seeing, and the different things we had implemented across the year and reading the customer clearly is paying off together with the different initiatives that we started at the beginning of the year on remodeling and facelift of stores in the different brands, which it is coming to the end of the year, clearly is paying off.
For 2027, we are in the process of putting together our annual operating plans and our budget. The strategy will not change. We will continue prioritizing value, innovation, and investing in our stores, which our existing portfolio is the most profitable asset and delivers the biggest return when remodeling the store. When we deliver the guidance next year, we will share more about the plan, but I can tell you that you can rest assured that the strategy will remain pretty much the same.
Thank you, Christian. [Non-English content], Froy. Regarding the gross margin contraction in Mexico, this contraction primarily reflects higher costs related to commercial activities, partially offset by FX benefits on certain inputs. This is not meaning that we are returning to broad-based promotion. The strategy remains focused, as Christian mentioned, on targeted initiatives, innovation, digital capabilities, and a stronger store-level execution to drive traffic and customer engagement while protecting profitability. Despite the 80 basis points, and this is a key message, the Mexico adjusted EBITDA grew 6.3% and affordable EBITDA margin expansion to 22.7%. This is what I want to highlight. As Christian mentioned, for 2027, too early to say something. The management is completely focused on the cash flow generation, discipline CapEx, and the message is going to be the same. in February, we will deliver a more detailed guidance flow.
Thank you both. Just a clarification and considering that you have eyes on the ground, better feeling than ourselves. From Christian's answer, I understand there is a lot on your side that is improving the traffic, the value platform, et cetera. Do you have a sense that the consumer is coming back at some point, or is it still too choppy to really attribute that to, let us say, to the macro side rather than the initiatives that you are doing?
I want to answer this cautiously. I believe it is more like choppy. It is too early to say this is 100% back. Obviously, we know that the fourth quarter, there is more cash out there. So clearly, our brands are benefited. We believe that the momentum is there, and we believe that the strategy is there. But in general, I would say, I believe there is still some cautiousness. Each geography behaves different. We have seen a very, I would say, consistent Europe, Mexico coming back, and some countries better than others in South America.
Perfect. [Non-English content]
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Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Ms. Renata Cabral from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my question, Christian, Federico, and Gerardo. I have two questions. One is a follow-up about the performance in Mexico that we saw a material improvement this quarter. My question is specifically to Starbucks, if you can share some initiatives to reach to this result, and what should be the approach in terms of pricing for Starbucks from now on, or at least for the fourth quarter. The second question is related to Europe, because we also saw a very good improvement on the operations, but we saw the recent riots in France and would like to ask about what you have in terms of potential impact on the operations in France. Thank you so much.
Hi, Renata. Good morning, and thank you for your questions. I will take those two. Let me answer first about France. As we have shared with you before, since almost 18 months ago, we launched a very specific plan to bring back traffic to our stores that included additional marketing expenditure, store renovations, and some additional things that we have done in the country. Clearly, we have seen these initiatives that started to pay off with mid to high single-digit growth in traffic, to be very specific, in the market. This is encouraging for us. There is still work to be done. I believe we still have to go through 2 additional months, but since summer this year, we are clearly seeing a consistent recovery. Regarding the riots, we know this has been an isolated incident.
Out of the stores that were impacted by these riots, I would tell you that we have only two stores that are not open yet or reopen due to the extent of damage. The reality is that we are pretty much back on business, and obviously, we have this kind of period where people are confident to go outside again. But so far, we have not seen an impact yet in same-store sales when you remove those nine stores that were affected across the different cities in France. So, we expect to continue with this consistent recovery. Regarding Starbucks Mexico, if I want to summarize the initiatives and what changes, first of all, on the external factors, people going back to their routines after the World Cup. This clearly has had a positive impact.
On the other hand, the change of management and, let's say, the discipline focus on operations, on service, on the different controls at store levels are already paying off. As I shared before, we have a clear, a n intentional strategy on remodeling stores, doing facelifts, making sure all the stores have everything to perform at the highest level, and this is already starting to show and pay off.
This, together with the commercial campaigns like Peanuts, which was extraordinary and positive success, the launch of the fall campaign with the traditional classics like PSL, Pumpkin Spice Latte, and those drinks. Plus what we have prepared for the fourth quarter, I believe we will continue seeing this consistency, and we are very confident that we will continue seeing these type of results, particularly driven by traffic. You ask about pricing. We also decided that we are not going to touch price. We know how sensitive is the routinary customer, particularly to pricing.
We've made the decision that price is not going to be touched, and there is other areas on the P&L where we can gain margins to make sure that we don't impact the customer, and we continue bringing traffic.
Thank you so much, Christian.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Thiago Bortoluci from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hey, guys. Good morning. Thank you very much, Christian, Federico, Gerry, for the presentation and opportunity to ask question. Congrats on the results and the solid improvement versus second quarter. I have two questions, more follow-ups. I guess the first one is a follow-up to Froy's question. I understand that you are being cautiously optimistic, and in the message, in your press release, you are reiterating the guidance for the fiscal year. But then once I put in perspective what you already delivered, I am seeing average same store sales of 3.6% while you are talking about a target or guided same store sales of low single digit. I just want to understand what is the area particularly that you know is making you sound a bit more cautious or seeing risks into the fourth quarter. Then I might come back with the second one. Thank you.
Okay. Regarding, I saw your report, Thiago. Thank you very much. We are encouraged by the acceleration that we saw during the quarter and by the momentum entering to the last quarter of the year. The same store sales improved progressively through the quarter, and the positive trends have continued into October. At the same time, we believe it is appropriate to maintain our guidance due to some risks, like the energy in Europe. During this quarter, we were affected by around EUR 1.5 million, and for the last quarter, it is like it is going to be the same. At the same time, remember that 30% of the food index of Alsea is related with dollar index commodities. So we want to be cautious.
We are not worried at this point with any of these risks, but we believe it is too early, we are being worried by mid-October to say something different. We want to beat our own guidance, but we remain confident in achieving the updated guidance that we delivered in the month of July.
That is fair, Federico. Thank you very much. The second question I think I will continue with you is a more technical one on your accounting financial results. In the release, and we saw this in the other payables, you settled a few of the derivatives and hedging structures now that your debt is equalized. How should we think about the FX variation and non-cash markups in your net financial results going forward?
Sorry. Can you elaborate a little bit more on your question around the derivatives FX?
Yeah. You settled a few derivatives, right? Now that your debt is equalized and more aligned with your sales composition, how should we expect this to impact the P&L and the net financial results going forward?
Okay. Yeah. We have a natural hedge regarding the financial debt, so we are not hiring new derivatives contracts for this. But remember that, as I have just explained, we have 30% of dollar needs due to certain commodities like the cheese, the coffee, and et cetera. So we contract some plain vanilla forwards for this 30%. That's around MXN 200 million on a yearly basis. For 2026, we have 85% of the dollar needs totally hedged. Obviously, we are having some kind of losses because in December, when we close this 85%, we have a strike price of around 18.5%. For 2027, we have hired around 50% of the dollar needs. That's around $120 million at a strike price of below 18 pesos. So depending on the spot, by the end of the month, you have a gain or a lose, but we are not betting.
We are just doing what a disciplined management should do. That is, close all the dollar needs so we can give you visibility for 2027, not only to you, but for all the rest of the management on the different business units.
It's helpful, Federico. Thank you very much, guys.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Antonio Hernández from Actinver. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Congrats on your results. Just a quick one regarding Starbucks in Mexico. Could you please remind us the scope of remodelings? How far are you in terms of remodeling, that famous facelift, and if you could attribute maybe a percentage of traffic that was driven by these remodelings. Thanks.
Hi, Antonio. Good morning. I will take that one. The original scope was to remodel between 85 and 100 stores. We are, I would say, almost done. We should be done with different scopes of renovations, from full remodelings to different facelifts. We should be done by mid-November, before the high season clearly kicks off. On those regards, we're happy with what we've seen in terms of delivering what we agreed. Likewise, with the additional CapEx that we dedicated to make sure that everything in the store was working properly, which is not necessarily what the customer looks at, we are pretty much done. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you exactly what's coming from that because it's not that all the remodelings were done at one point, in one month, and then we know how much those had brought.
What we see is kind of a partial growth, and particularly, as I can tell you, a part of these good results of the quarter come from the stores that are already remodeled or going through this facelift. But by the end of the year, for the Q4 report, we can for sure share the details on this particular question that you ask.
Perfect. And that remodelings and facelifts, is that going to be done only in Starbucks, right? Not in other-
No
formats more as well?
No, Antonio. Remember when we shared this year, the plan, part of the strategy of the management is to continue doing. In some brands, it's two to one. In some brands, it's three to one. What I mean is one opening, two remodelings, one opening, two remodelings. This impacts all of our portfolio, where the highest returns is when we remodel a full-service restaurant, which is when you clearly see some lifts from 10% to 20% in same-store sales due to the nature of the concepts. But the reality, this is across all of our portfolio, and we will continue with this strategy for next year.
Perfect. Thanks a lot. Have a nice day.
Thank you, Antonio.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Ms. Melissa Byun from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hi, Christian, Federico, Gerardo. I hope everything is well with you. A few questions on my end, focusing more on the margin side. I know that you're still in the budgeting process, but can you comment on expectations for labor cost in Mexico next year? What initiatives do you have in place to mitigate the impact of the work week reduction, and how much do you think you can offset? Then I have a couple of other questions.
Hi, Melissa. Good morning. I will take that one. Obviously, we knew this was coming. For the past years, we've had a double-digit minimum wage increase, and now it's not going to change for 2027. We are expecting 12% raise on minimum wage, plus the reduction on the labor hours per week. As you know, this will be a progressive reduction until we get from 48 to 40 hours in the following years. We knew this was coming, and since part of the strategy is that from the second half of 2026, we should have done whatever had to be done in terms of productivity and working on different lines of the P&L to mitigate this impact. What we did, in a way, is win six months ahead or work six months ahead of the implementation of this reduction of work hours.
Having said that, we will apply the same strategy for next year. We will mitigate the other two hours in the second half of 2027, and as that progressively. It's true that at some point, you can stretch productivity as much as you can. What we are doing is there are brands that are in different moments than others. Some that still have some space to improve on productivity, and some others that we are going to mitigate that through other lines on the P&L and having additional efficiencies. To answer your question very clearly is we are not going to see this impact and any type of loss of margin in the P&L of our brands, particularly in Mexico where this is happening, for next year as we're going to mitigate through others, and we have already won six months ahead.
The total impact is around 17%, 12% coming from minimum wage and 5% coming from reduction of labor hours. We are working on that clearly, and we are confident that is not going to have an impact.
Thank you. That's very encouraging. On the third quarter, when you look at the admin and other expenses in Mexico, there seems to be some other income in the third quarter of last year that made for a tough comp. What was the source of that gain? Similarly in Europe, there was a big decline. Is there anything that's non-recurring?
No, there was anything like again last year, Melissa, and the increase that we are having reflects two main items. The consolidation of certain South American corporate functions at the headquarters in Mexico and costs associated with the ramp-up of openings concentrated in the second half. The underlying store economics are improving, but we recognize that this needs to translate more effectively into consolidated profitability. The organizational simplification and cost discipline agenda is intended to create a more efficient support structure and improve that conversion over time.
Great. Lastly, in Europe, you saw an obviously very different gross margin dynamic than you saw in Mexico. What is behind that gain, and what are you seeing across your expense lines there? You touched on energy in an earlier answer, but maybe you can give some more color in terms of wages and other line items.
It is too early to say what is happening in 2027 with energy. What I know is that for the last five months of 2026, we will have a negative impact of around EUR 5 million into our EBITDA, and we are still waiting to see what is happening with the forecast, with the forwards of energy for the next year. I do not have enough visibility to say something for 2027. Regarding gross margin, I would say that is the operating leverage.
We have a huge hassle and solid same-store sales, half of them coming from traffic and the remaining part from pricing. Not necessarily we are increasing the prices, but it is more related with the mix through the different promotional campaigns. We are expanding the gross margin. I do not know, Christian, if you want to add something regarding the promotional activity that we set up in Europe.
Well, not too much to add, really. The way our value platforms or innovation are designed in a way not to erode margin, but at the same time, deliver attractive offers to our customers. As I mentioned for Mexico before, in Europe, we continue with menu of the day in Vips. We have innovative platforms in our other full-service restaurant brands that are really designed to bring traffic but at the same time don't impact our margins. Not too much to add on this particular.
I want to add something because Gerardo just sent me a message. Across Alsea, we have faced a negative inflation across the different regions, around the -2% in Europe, which is great and obviously is supported with the gross margin. In Mexico, more close to 0%, but it has been a great year regarding not only FX but the different contracts that we have closed for the main commodities of the company.
Great. Thank you. That's very helpful.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Ms. Isabella Lamas from UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you Christian, Federico, and Gerardo. Some quick ones here regarding Burger King. If you could please comment a bit on how recent performance has been and how do you see the outlook for specifically sales across geographies. In this topic of potential non-core assets divestments, if you have any updates, we would appreciate any kind of update or news that you would be able to share on that front. That's basically it. Thank you.
Well, I will start with the second part of your question, Isabella. Thank you very much. We are advancing with the potential sale for different assets. One of them is this brand, and we don't want to say something because we're still dealing with the SPA, with the binding offer. I hope to give you good news, before year's end.
The performance.
Regarding the performance, we're working.
Yes, sorry. I will take the one. Hi, Isabella. I will take the one regarding performance. Particularly Mexico has had a stronger lift on sales due to the different license that we launched about the Dragon Ball Z to be very specific. It was very well received by the customers, so traffic was very positive. Compared to previous year, now we are launching, not a license, but some additional initiatives that we are seeing a good response from the customers. That's Mexico, so solid Q3, mainly driven by this license.
In South America, the momentum is different. Argentina and Chile are underperforming. In part it's related to the particular situation of the country, and another part is related to the different aspects specific. The reality is Mexico, we were happy with how the Q performed and what we expect for Q4. In the case of South America, we can expect a similar trend where we don't see a big uplift on performance. Talking about Burger King specifically.
Yes, that was cool. Thank you for the details and looking to have the good news soon. Thank you.
Working on it, Isabella. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Ulises Argote from Santander. Please go ahead.
Hello, [Non-English content] A couple of questions from my side. The first one I wanted to ask was on the recovery we saw in Starbucks Mexico. Was there any specific part of the country that was an outlier, or was it a recovery, you would say, more across the board? The second one, just to follow up there on the whole discussion, obviously, on the buybacks, and thanks for all the color that you've shared. I just wanted to ask, should we consider all of the shares that you repurchased through the program, that they will be canceled, or is there room to be active on the two sides of the program? Just to understand that dynamic. [Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
Yeah, I will start with the second question. Ulises, [Non-English content] Yeah, the intention is to cancel on the next shareholders meeting, and that's intention. At this current valuation levels, we'll be more active with the remaining part of the amount. Al, did you want to answer-
[Non-English content], Ulises. How are you? The recovery was all across Mexico. The center region could have a better impact. When I mean the center region, it's pretty much Mexico City and all the State of Mexico and all the surrounding areas. But in general, we can see the whole effect across all the country.
All right. Perfect. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ulises.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Alvaro Garcia from BTG Pactual. Please go ahead.
Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for the space for questions. My question is on Chipotle. You've now had, obviously, some time to see how the brand is resonating with consumers in Mexico, and I'm really curious about what you're feeling on that price point. There was a lot of debate heading into the project on where that price point might be. How do you feel about extending that price point across different states in Mexico, and how do you extrapolate what you're seeing out of this one store today? Any learnings would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, Alvaro. Thank you. I just want to make sure I understood your question well. You mean how much we sell our products to the customer?
Correct. Your average price at Chipotle.
Yeah. The reality is, I believe one of the reasons why we're seeing such a good response from the customer is the value equation we have in the brand. The price versus the portion and the quality of the food are clearly showing us that we nailed it on this particular topic. When you see, actually, all the comments and all the social media listening that we have clearly confirms that. As I mentioned in the report, 190% above the sales we estimated. There's always this honeymoon effect, but the reality is that it's been three months now since we opened the store, and now that our operation is consolidating and the traffic is stabilizing, we're still above, and we are happy to see how the customer is responding and the comments we're getting.
This is very encouraging, and as I shared with you, we are opening four to three more stores between January and March next year, all of them in Monterrey, as we want to consolidate the market. Some of these stores are already under construction. So we are very happy to see how the brand is performing. We are going to continue our focus in the state of Nuevo León. We want to consolidate there our operations and then think about what's next for the following year. I don't know if I answered the question, but I believe pricing and value is one of the very good things that we did when we launched the brand.
Awesome. Yeah, that's great. One thing we haven't spoken about this call, I think, is Chile. Obviously, a couple issues last year when it came to Starbucks specifically, and just the consumer's kind of not there yet, it seems. Any comments you'd have on what you've seen in the third quarter and your expectations going forward on Chile? I feel like comps might get easier, but they just don't seem to get I feel like we're not there yet, so any comments would be really appreciated.
We feel the same way. We feel the same way. Since last year, there was a general deceleration in consumption. We have recovered. If you talk particularly about Starbucks, we still have a significant number of transactions per day to recover. We have recovered some, but still there's a way to go. We don't think this is going to change in this quarter. We think this will continue to take some time.
As you know, there are some political changes going on, which we have not yet seen these particular changes in our business or in the country in general. I believe this will take more time. But we are doing what we think is the right thing to do, and we need to be patient there. Still, I don't think we will see a big change in the next six months, I would say, from Q1 and Q4 this year and Q1 last year year.
Awesome.
Yeah.
I'm just going to ask one more, why not? In other words, it's a clarification, Fede, on what you answered earlier to Melissa on the non-operational expenses on your margin in Mexico specifically, and you mentioned two things. One was, I think, the consolidation of the headquarters in South America that are now being reflected in Mexico. Then you mentioned, I think, something with regard to store opening expenses that were higher. Are those the two reasons for the higher level?
Yeah. Remember that we don't disclose the detail of the pre-opening, the non-current expenses or incomes and the SG&A structure. So it is related with the consolidation of the South American corporate functions. Plus additionally, the ramp-up of the openings concentrated in the last quarter of this year.
Awesome.
Those are the two FX.
Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you.
[Non-English content] Alvaro.
You are fine, Alvaro.
Thank you very much for your question. That was the last question. I will now hand over to Mr. Christian Gurría for final comments.
Thank you. Before concluding, I would like to thank you for your participation and continued interest in Alsea. This quarter reflects the progress we are making in strengthening operating performance, improving cash generation, and investing selectively in the long-term development of our brands. We remain focused on disciplined execution, delivering relevant experience for our customers, and creating sustainable long-term value for our shareholders and stakeholders.
As this is our last quarterly call of the year, I would also like to wish you and your families all the best for the remainder of 2026, and a wonderful holiday season. Should you have any additional questions or require further information, our investor relations teams remains available to assist you. Thank you again for joining us. We wish you an excellent day and look forward to speaking to you during our next quarterly update. Thank you.
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Thank you. Thank you very much.