Franziska Randt

Welcome, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, to our Q1 earnings call 2026. My name is Franziska Randt. I'm Head of the IR Department, and I have the pleasure that today here with me is our CFO, Dr. Martin Paal. Martin, welcome.

Martin Paal
CFO & Member of Management Board

Good morning.

Franziska Randt

We will start with the presentation by our CFO, and then right afterwards, we will enter into our Q&A session. With that, I would like to hand over the call right away to Martin. Please go ahead.

Martin Paal
CFO & Member of Management Board

Yes. Thank you, Franziska, and also a warm welcome from my side for the first quarter results of 2026. I would like to start with the highlights of the past quarter. The first 3 months of 2026 were characterized by an unchanged challenging macroeconomic environment and geopolitical tensions. This resulted in a still elevated insolvencies in many European countries as well as generally some reluctance to invest among SMEs. This environment made it all the more important for us to manage our business strategically with a focus on profitability, risk management and sustainable growth.

Today, I can say we are delivering. Firstly, our strict measures for cost discipline are positively affecting our cost/income ratio, while operating income continues to grow. Secondly, we achieved a good increase in leasing new business in the first quarter and grew at a solid CM2 margin despite the current market environment. And