Welcome to the Clariane first quarter 2026 presentation. For the first part of the conference call, participants will be in listen-only mode. However, during the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions. This can be done by dialing pound key five on their telephone keypad or by typing a question in the chat box. Now I will hand the conference over to the management team. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining Stéphane Bisseuil and me today. I'm Grégory Lovichi, Group Chief Financial Officer of the Clariane Group, and I will present our revenue for the first quarter of 2026 and reiterate our guidance for 2026 as well as the longer-term outlook to 2028. Before going into the details, let me highlight that this quarter is fully in line with the momentum observed in the second half of last year, with solid growth across all our activities and geographies. I will start with the key highlights of the quarter and then walk you through the main drivers contributing to our revenue performance. Let me start with the key highlights of the quarter on slide five. First, we delivered solid organic revenue growth of +4.9%, fully in line with our trajectory, with all activities contributing.
This performance is supported by both volume and pricing effects. In long-term care, occupancy continues to improve, with an average rate of 91.7%, up 130 basis points compared to last year. This is an important driver of growth. Alternative living solutions also show strong momentum, with organic growth of +6.9%. In specialty care, activity is supported by the continued development of outpatient care and management contracts, which are driving volume across all our geographies. Second, we have confirmed our access to debt capital markets with the successful issuance of a EUR 500 million senior unsecured high-yield bond in a particularly challenging market environment. This transaction was very well received by investors, as evidenced by a large oversubscription around five times and allows us to secure the refinancing of our upcoming maturities while further strengthening the group's liquidity position. Finally, we are confirming all our medium-term objectives.
For the 2023-2026 period, we maintain our target of around +5% organic revenue CAGR, an improvement in our pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA margin of 100 basis points to 150 basis points from 2023. Therefore, with a 2026 EBITDA margin of 11.5%-12% and a WholeCo leverage below 5x by the end of 2026, per current definition and balance sheet structure. Looking beyond, our 2025-2028 outlook remains unchanged, with around +4% revenue CAGR, a pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA CAGR of +7% to +9% on a pro forma basis, an EBITDA CAGR of +11% to +14%, and a WholeCo financial leverage as defined in its bank financing agreement of around 4.5x at the end of 2028 per current definition and balance sheet structure. Overall, this quarter confirms both the strength of our operating momentum and the consistency of our financial trajectory.
Let me now turn to the revenue performance in more detail. In the first quarter, revenue reached EUR 1,336 million representing reported growth of +1.4% and organic growth of +4.9%. This solid performance reflects a broad-based momentum with all activities and all geographies contributing to growth. Starting with activities. Long-term care, which represents around 75% of the group's revenue, organic growth of +5.5%. This performance is driven by both occupancy increases and pricing, particularly in medicalized nursing homes, which grew +5.2% organically. Alternative living solutions also show strong organic growth of +6.9%, reflecting the continued development of the shared housing network. In specialty care, revenue grew by +3.3% on an organic basis. This reflects both an increase in activity, particularly in outpatient care, and the positive impact of case mix improvements, notably in France. Looking now at geographies.
Germany and Spain are the main contributors to growth, with organic growth of +8.3% and +15.2% respectively, supported by both pricing and occupancy dynamics. Belgium and the Netherlands also deliver solid growth at +5.9%. In France, organic growth stood at +1.8%, with a positive contribution from occupancy in long-term care and continued progress in pricing and case mix in specialty care. Finally, Italy posted organic growth of +3.5%, driven by tariff increases with occupancy rates already at a high level. Overall, this performance illustrates once again the strengths of our diversified model, both in terms of activities and geographies. Let's now take a closer look at the revenue bridge. We start from a Q1 2025 reported revenue at EUR 1,317 million.
The first element to highlight is the perimeter effect, which is negative at EUR -44 million or -3.5%, mainly reflecting disposals in France, Italy, and Germany as part of the plan to reinforce the capital structure of the group. On a like-for-like basis, this brings us to a pro forma revenue base of EUR 1,274 million. From this base, organic growth is +4.9%, driven by both volume and price effects. Volume contributed to EUR +20 million or +1.6%. This is mainly driven by long-term care of EUR +16.16 million, with occupancy gains in medicalized nursing homes, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as growth in alternative living solutions. Specialty care also contributed positively to around EUR +4 million, supported by increased activities, particularly in outpatient care in France and Spain. Second key driver is price and case mix, which contributed EUR +42 million or +3.3%.
In long-term care, this represents EUR +36 million, mainly driven by pricing in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. In specialty care, the contribution is EUR +7 million, reflecting the positive impact of corrective measures implemented in France following the SMR reform, as well as a contribution from Italy. Overall, price and mix remain the main driver of growth in the quarter. Putting all these elements together, we reach Q1 2026 revenue of EUR 1,336 million with a reported growth of +1.4% and organic growth of +4.9%. Let me briefly focus now on occupancy on slide nine. In Q1 2026, the average occupancy rate reached 91.7%, up by 1.3 percentage points compared to Q1 2025. This confirms the continuous improvement trend we have seen since 2023. Importantly, we still have further growth potential embedded within our existing capacities. Let's now turn to energy costs on slide 11.
In the current context, we have implemented a proactive approach to manage both supply and price volatility. As of end of February, around 93% of our 2026 energy needs are already hedged, providing good visibility in the short term. As of today, this hedging goes to close to 98%. We have also significant coverage for 2027 and 2028. This strategy was anticipated ahead of recent geopolitical tensions and is based on estimated needs at group level. At the same time, we closely monitor the situations with dedicated governance, with regular reviews at both group and country levels. Finally, we continue to adapt our approach, both through adjustments to our hedging strategy and through ongoing initiatives to improve energy efficiency. Overall, this allows us to limit exposure to volatility and secure our cost base. Moving to our financing on slide 13.
You are already familiar with the overall trajectory, so I will focus on most recent developments. In April, we successfully issued EUR 500 million of high-yield bond and then secured senior notes maturing in 2031. This transaction was very well received by the market, with an oversubscription of around five times from a broad base of Tier 1 French and international institutional investors. The bond carried a coupon of around 6.9%, which we consider very solid given the current market conditions. Proceeds will be used to refinance our 2026, 2027, and 2028 maturities and further strengthen the group's liquidity position. Importantly, this transaction confirms our restored access to the high-yield debt capital markets, even in a more challenging context.
More broadly, it is fully in line with our financial strategy, which is to anticipate for financing well ahead, 12 to 18 months before maturities, and to continue optimizing our financial structure. Note that the company continues to actively monitor market conditions with a view to keep streamlining its financial structure on an opportunistic basis. Let's now move to Slide 15 and conclude on our outlook. Following the completion of the asset disposal plan and the successful refinancing, the group is now fully focused on its operations and on executing its roadmap. On this basis, and in line with the operational efficiency measures already implemented, including the Better Support program, cost reductions, and digital transformation, we expect several drivers to support performance in 2026. First, continued volume growth across all geographies, both in the mature network and in ramped facilities.
Second, the full-year effect of price increases implemented in 2025, particularly in Germany. Third, the benefit from active case mix management in specialty care in France. In this context, we confirm our objectives for 2026. This means organic revenue growth of around +5%, an improvement in EBITDA margin of 100 basis points to 150 basis points compared to 2023, and a financial leverage below 5x by the end of 2026. Let me now briefly outline the key levers supporting our medium-term trajectory on slide 16. First, we are focusing on our existing asset base to fully capture the growth and profitability potential embedded in our network. This is supported by the strengths of our operating model, combining a robust quality management framework, strong medical expertise, and continued investment in employee training. Second, growth is already embedded in our platform.
We expect to progressively reach higher occupancy levels in long-term care while continuing to develop outpatient activity in specialty care. At the same time, we will further improve case mix management and continue to grow private pay and non-regulated activities. Third, we are maintaining strict discipline in capital allocation. This means prioritizing operational readiness, being selective on investment, and accelerating the digitization of our operating model. Last but not least, regarding public financing, we are operating with a cautious approach with limited reliance on public funding increases and with proactive cost-saving measures already identified. Overall, these levels give us good visibility on our growth and profitability trajectory over the medium term. To conclude, on slide 17, let me briefly recap our medium-term outlook as well. First, as I pointed out previously, we confirm our 2023-2026 objectives. At the same time, our medium-term trajectory remains unchanged.
Under our 2025-2028 plan, we are targeting around +4% revenue CAGR, combined with EBITDA CAGR between +7% and +9%, and an even faster improvement in profitability at the OpCo level with a CAGR expected at between +11% to +14%. This will be supported by the operational levers we have just outlined, as well as strict financial discipline. Overall, we have a clear and consistent roadmap combining growth, margin improvement, and continued deleveraging. On that note, thank you for your attention, and I'm available together with Stéphane to take your questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question by phone, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you are attending the conference on the web, you can also ask questions using the chat box at the bottom of the page.
Okay, Grégory, from the web, we have a few questions regarding the capital structures, more specifically regarding the hybrids. How should we think about the capital strategy for the group, especially regarding your perpetual instrument, i.e., the GBP and the ODIRNANE? How are you going to deal with those hybrids? Are you going to repay them in the next 12 to 18 months?
Thanks for the question. As you know, hybrids, and especially hybrids including the GBP one, are considered as equity under IFRS and therefore does not affect our total net leverage ratio, we call WholeCo leverage ratio. We have a constraint, meaning that as per the term of our IFA, redemption of hybrid instruments with senior debt is possible as soon as the group total net leverage is below 5x , while our leverage or the last leverage released was at 5.1x WholeCo. Like we have already said, we will therefore evaluate all the options to refinance these instruments at any time. Obviously, the group will communicate in due time on the way to do it.
Maybe as a reminder, alongside the operational strengthening that we have experienced the past years, we have worked a lot on reinforcing the capital structure of the group with two main objectives. Simplification of the capital structure and improving the cash generation. Obviously, working on this hybrid instrument is one of the priorities to achieve these two objectives.
Thank you, Grégory. On the operational side, a few questions. The first one, at what level do you think occupancy could peak for the company versus the 91.7% at the moment? Is 95% achievable, and if so, how quickly?
Yeah, thanks for this. You know the 91.7% show a strong improvement compared to the last quarter or the quarter of last year. When you look, it's quite heterogeneous between countries. We have countries like Italy that posted occupancy rate above 97%, meaning that we still have some potential in other countries. We not say that everybody will reach or will be above the 95%, but we can consider the range of 94%-95% as a kind of a clear and a solid objective to target as a group when it came to occupancy rate in the nursing homes.
Thank you, Grégory. We have a question regarding the energy cost due to the situation in Middle East. How do you expect your energy bill to be in 2026, 2027 compared to 2025?
Yeah. Like we are mentioning, and especially in 2026, energy cost for us is barely 2% of the total turnover of the group. Part of our hedging and risk policy, we have already hedged main part of the energy last year, and it was before what's happening currently in the Middle East. The energy on the market currently, we are close to a 98% of the 2026 needs covered, meaning that we don't have impact when it came to the inflation or potential inflation on the energy for 2026. We have as well a good level of coverage with next year because we are already hedged above the 60%. Providing us a good visibility in the short and medium term when it came to this specific cost factor.
Thank you. There is a question regarding the announcement that we made at the time of the full year publication regarding the cost reduction plan, especially in France and Germany. Can you provide an update?
Yeah, for sure. Part of the improvement and the profitability improvement at group level that we saw already in the P&L in H2 2025 and continuing in 2026 are cost reduction measures. These cost reduction measures come on top of the volume improvement that is visible in Q1, a strong price increase. We saw it as well, 2/3 of the top line improvement in Q1 is coming from price. Big element as well on the profitability improvement is coming with the cost measures, especially central cost reduction. It was mainly in France and in Germany. The plan in Germany and in France, especially also in Germany, has been announced and is already done and implemented. In France, well on track and discussion with representative of the employees are still ongoing. The plan is executing according to the schedule we have in our budget.
Thank you, Grégory. Next question regarding France and more specifically in the healthcare. Following the reform that has been implemented last year, where are we in terms of compensating for the consequences that we've seen in 2025 of this reform?
Yeah. Thanks for the question. The reform, we already started to work some months and years ago on adapting to the reforms. Main element to adapt on the reforms were already visible in the second half of 2025. The team in specialty care in France is actively working on the case mix after the reforms to be able with price increase to offset a part of overall funding that were not received post the reforms. We will say that this element is progressing very well with case mix translated into price increases in France specialty care continuing on the good trend in Q1 2026.
Thank you, Grégory. There is one question regarding debt. I'm not sure this is the right call to answer this question, as we are on sales in Q1. The question is: Do you expect in amount the net debt of the group to decrease compared to last year?
What I can say is that the guidance of the group is to be below 5x WholeCo EBITDA with the same capital structure by the end of December 2026, and that we've just confirmed the guidance.
Thank you. Regarding the disposal plan that we finished last year, are we expecting more disposal going on?
No, the disposal plan has been completed last year. As a reminder, six months we have scheduled. We didn't announce any new disposal program or plan. Nevertheless, obviously, with a group of our size, we may be in a situation to make some portfolio review. That doesn't mean a disposal plan or program. It's more usual portfolio optimization for a group of our size.
Thank you. All in all, how much are we expecting in terms of inflation, especially regarding wage this year, in the different geographies?
Two elements when it came to wage inflation for our sector. This year, and especially in all the main geographies, wage inflation and have already been negotiated and implemented for 2026, early this year, because they have been worked already last year, and they are already negotiated in line with what we have budgeted. I think we could have in mind as well, in some main geographies like Germany, where we have as well, and not only in Germany, but especially in Germany, and it was visible as well in the price improvement we saw in the last two years, we have this ability as well to pass through in the price, the wage increase.
Thank you, Grégory. The next question will be live. Please, Maya, can you give the mic to Caius, please?
The next question comes from Constantin Gumenita from Caius Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon, Grégory and Stéphane, and thanks for the presentation. A quick question from me. If you could, looking at the countries, fantastic performance across the board, especially in international. Looking at France specifically, maybe if you could comment a little bit on the speed of getting to that 94%-95% target occupancy rate that you mentioned versus the sort of 88%-89% that you have right now. Any color would be helpful. Thank you.
Yeah. What we see in France, we still have a solid level of net entries compared to last year. This is what we have seen as well in the nursing homes with occupancy rate at 88.5% compared to 87.4%. What we see is that we have a good dynamics in France. Certainly, with this good dynamics, what we see is that we are able to regain average 100 basis point a year when it came to occupancy. This is certainly. Sometimes, we can regain it faster, depending on some situation. Some years it's a bit less, but this 100 basis point catch-up is certainly a good proxy in France overall. When I say this as well, in France occupancy rate, we see a good development, and certainly, a better development than the market on the third quarter.
Thank you.
Thank you, Constantin.
Thank you, Constantin. We'll take the last question regarding the regulatory change in France and the pricing environment decided in the social security scheme. Could you tell us a little bit or give us a little bit of color regarding those changes?
Certainly, this is the question, and I will answer a little bit as well with the 2025-2028 plan. When we see the latest evolution and especially in France in terms of Social Security budget, it's slightly positive, first. It's slightly positive and in line with what we have budgeted. It's good news. When we say slightly positive and in line, it's because when we set up the plan, we build a plan upon this with the At Your Side action plan, rather a plan built on public financing improvement. It's a +0%-1% public financing inflation over the plan. The profitability regain comes from the action we just mentioned during the call, around the top line, around as well the cost reduction measures.
All of this is gathered to one common purpose, and it's quality of care, quality of service, and the synergy we have with the medical expertise to serve our community.
Thank you, Grégory. This was the last question. I leave you to the final remark.
Thanks to all for attending this call, and we obviously remain with Stéphane available after this meeting, if needed. I wish you a good end of afternoon.