Operator

Good evening. This is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining Intercos First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Renato Semerari, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Renato Semerari
CEO & Executive Director

Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone, and thanks for connecting to our earnings call. We'll present you our Q1, which as expected and communicated was difficult due to a convergence of negative factors. First of all, the currency headwinds; second, the continued reduction of packaging component in our top line; third, the softer reorder trend post summer 2025, which impacted Q1 invoicing, which was ahead of the orders peak at the end of the year, which will impact Q2 onwards. All this on a high comp basis. In fact, last year, in quarter 1, we grew 13%. going to the specific results, sales were down minus 6% at constant rates.

Adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 11%, which was 66 basis points below a year ago. And this drop of marginality was entirely due to fixed cost absorption. Conversely, the quarter was extremely positive in terms of cash which was positive by EUR 7 million despite EUR 25 million of shares buyback and EUR 19 million of dividends distributed. Last but not least, it's very important to note that in