Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the KWS SAAT Quarterly Reports 9 Months 2025-2026. [Operator Instructions] Let me now turn the floor over to your host, Jorn Andreas, Chief Financial Officer of KWS SAAT.

Jorn Andreas
CFO & Member of Executive Board

Thank you, and a warm welcome, everyone. This is Jorn Andreas, CFO of KWS. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today for our 9 months '25-'26 update. Before I take you through our financial results, let me start with the big picture. As you know, agriculture remains a challenging environment, ongoing political tensions, fluctuating commodity prices and pressure on acreage and farm economics have reduced the visibility not only for our farmers, but also by extension for our industry. And yes, this is exactly where we, as KWS prove our strength in a challenging environment, we delivered a resilient top line, solid earnings and a strong operational discipline.

And this is not a coincidence. It reflects 3 things: our diversified portfolio, our consistent execution, and our innovation-driven business model. Even in areas under pressure, such as the Sugarbeet acreage, we navigated the environment effectively. And importantly, our strong financial position and our leverage gives us the flexibility to invest organically and also where it fits via M&A.

And with that perspective, let's move into the numbers. And as always, at this point, a quick reminder, some of the statements we'll be making today are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. As always, please refer to Slide 2 for the