Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Ferrovial N.V. (FER) Q1 FY2026 earnings call transcript

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May 8, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Earnings call

Ferrovial delivered a strong Q1 2026, with revenue up 10.2% and adjusted EBITDA up 15% (like-for-like). North American highways outperformed, especially through pricing and technology, while construction margins remained stable despite higher investment. Management reaffirmed guidance for key projects, including JFK Terminal One, and highlighted a robust order book and net cash position.

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Silvia Ruiz

Global Head of Investor Relations

0:00:00

Good morning or good afternoon, everyone. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Ferrovial's Conference Call to discuss the company's operating results for the first quarter of 2026. I am joined here today by our CFO, Ernesto López Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation made available on our website, sorry, yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. Separately, we note that the company's 2026 investor presentation and fact book is expected to be available on the company's website shortly after this conference call concludes. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. You will have the opportunity to ask questions live.

Silvia Ruiz

Global Head of Investor Relations

0:00:50

In order to do so, you will need to join the call through the conference call channel and press star five on your phone keypad. If you prefer, you can send questions through the forum included in the webcast, I will be reading them out loud at the end of the Q&A session. Before starting, please take a moment to look at the Safe Harbor statement included in the presentation, please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, so actual figures may differ. During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and in our website. With all this, I will hand over to Ernesto. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:01:31

Thank you, Silvia. Good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first quarter of 2026. Starting, I mean, overall, the first quarter was a solid start to the year with a strong growth across our core businesses, particularly in North American highways. Also continued progress at the New Terminal One at JFK. A stable construction margins despite higher up from bidding and IT investments to support future growth. From a financial perspective, net debt excluding infrastructure projects was reported as negative net debt or net cash amounting to EUR 1.2 billion. The primary sources of cash included a construction operating cash flow of EUR 144 million. On the other hand, the principal cash outflow consisted of treasury shares purchases totaling EUR 162 million.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:02:29

On a consolidated basis, revenue grew 10.2% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15%, also like-for-like, and adjusted EBIT grew 10.6%, like-for-like as well. Let's move now to the 407 ETR. The asset delivered another strong quarter. Traffic increased by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by the continued use of targeted driving offers, as well as an increase in mobility and rush hour commuting from a higher percentage of on-site employees. This was partially offset by unfavorable winter weather. Revenue grew 20%, with toll revenues growing by 22.1% in the quarter, reflecting a combination of higher toll rates that were effective since 1st of January 2026 and higher traffic volumes.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:03:26

As a result, EBITDA increased by 25.4% versus the first quarter of 2025, including a Schedule 22 provision of CAD 8.1 million, significantly lower than the one we recorded in the first quarter last year. On the other hand, operating costs were higher, driven by higher customer operations, also higher highway operations that are related to worse weather requiring higher winter maintenance and higher system operations that increased with more segmented promotions implementation. When looking at the monthly traffic performance compared to 2025, as shown in the graph, it is important to bear in mind that in the first quarter of 2026, traffic performance reflects three months of promotions, targeted promotions, compared to the first quarter of 2025, where promotions started in March on a broad basis.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:04:29

It was only one month, and this has impact on the traffic comparability. I will also highlight that the demand segmentation strategy continues to work really well. It is helping us to balance pricing, traffic distribution, and service levels while maximizing EBITDA, which remains the key financial performance metric for the asset. This more segmented approach could distort the traffic comparison going forward since promotions last year were broadly based. Regarding dividend distribution, no dividends were paid in the first quarter, but the board approved a CAD 500 million dividend to be paid in the second quarter of 2026. Now we move to Dallas-Fort Worth, and here the managed lanes posted double the revenue per transaction growth, significantly outperforming U.S. inflation.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:05:29

This was despite the negative impact on traffic from adverse weather, particularly in January, including more managed lanes closures than in the first quarter of 2025. Let's look at each of the assets. At NTE, traffic declined 3.6%, reflecting the impact of capacity improvement construction works and adverse weather, particularly in January. These works are expected to be completed by year-end, except for two additional ramps that began construction last year. Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 13.1% in the first quarter, and adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.2%. Including the accrual of $2.4 million of revenue share in the quarter. Regarding LBJ, traffic declined 1.5% due to construction works in adjacent corridors and weather impacts. Revenue increased by 9.8% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.9%.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:06:28

At NTE 35W, traffic increased 1%. This also despite adverse weather and congestion at certain entry and exit points, as well as the finalization of capacity restrictions linked to construction works on competing nearby State Highway 121. Revenue increased by 18.3%. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 18.1%, and this includes $7.5 million of revenue share accrued in the quarter. Looking at the revenue per transaction, all assets increased well above inflation. NTE revenue per transaction was up 18.3%, LBJ up 11.5%, and NTE 35W up 17.3%. This was driven by several factors.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:07:14

A favorable traffic mix with higher heavy traffic volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition implemented throughout 2025 and 2026, with this improved vehicle classification and higher overall commercial and heavy vehicles. We had a higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE 35W. Let's go now to the I-66 and I-77, our managed lanes in Virginia and North Carolina. At I-66 we saw a very solid quarter. Traffic increased by 8.3% compared to first quarter last year, showing a strong resilience despite adverse weather. This was supported by the growth in mobility across the corridor and our ability to capture value through dynamic pricing.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:08:06

Revenue per transaction grew close to 5%, 4.9% in the quarter, and the revenue in the quarter grew in total 13.6% versus last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.1% in the quarter. At I-77, traffic declined by 5.6% versus last year, mainly due to adverse weather, together with the exceptional performance in the first quarter last year. Remember that then alternative routes remained partially closed following hurricane-related events. Despite the traffic decline, revenue per transaction increased 14.2%, reflecting higher toll rates. Adjusted EBITDA declined 11.9% compared to the first quarter last year. This was negatively impacted by the step up in the revenue share band from 25% to 55% revenue share.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:09:02

This is largely a first year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA included the accrual of EUR 8 million of revenue share. Well, regarding airports, starting with the New Terminal One at JFK, the project continues to progress through a crucial year for construction and integration. In terms of the schedule, as we explained in the full year 2025 earnings, the contractor has communicated an updated target, where the completion date for the first phase falls in the fall of 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, the first operational readiness and airport transfer trials began during the quarter, and the project reached 87% construction progress.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:09:59

Airline engagement continues against a challenging backdrop. We have secured commitments with 30 airlines, including 21 executed agreements and nine letters of intent. As of March 2026, total equity invested stands at EUR 978 million, and we have EUR 64 million pending that are expected to be injected in 2026. At Dalaman, the first quarter reflects the typical off-peak season. Domestic traffic supported performance, and traffic increasing by 9.8%, while the international volumes were affected by geopolitical challenges in the Middle East. On a full year basis, the airports remains predominantly international, with the peak season starting late March and is expected to be affected by the instability in the Middle East.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:10:56

Moving to construction, margins remained stable year on year, while, I mean, there were higher bidding and IT costs aimed at supporting future growth as we have explained in past quarters. Regarding the operations in the different geographies, Budimex maintained stable margins at 6.5% EBIT despite lower volumes due to adverse weather. Webber delivered higher margins benefiting from increased production and operating leverage. Ferrovial Construction margins were slightly lower due to higher investment costs related to bidding and IT, with revenues remaining stable. The order book remained at an all-time high of EUR 17.6 billion, up 0.5% on a like-for-like versus December, excluding approximately EUR 1.3 billion of additional projects not yet included because they are pending award or financial close.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:11:54

The composition of the order book remains very healthy given the lower weight of large design and build projects with non-group companies. Almost half of our backlog is in our core U.S. and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth. The operating cash flow at construction, excluding tax and dividends, amounted to EUR 144 million in the quarter, mainly driven by advanced payments and compensations received in U.S. and Canada. Moving to the net debt position and cash flow. Net debt excluding infrastructure projects was negative, or let's say net cash, EUR 1.2 billion at the end of first quarter 2026. As shown in the bridge, dividends from projects are small, including some dividends from IRB in India and Silvertown Tunnel in U.K.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:12:45

Remember that dividends also come later in the year in the managed lanes, in June and end of the year, and also along the year in the 407 ETR. We also had a solid cash flow from construction that I just mentioned in the previous slide that reflects advance payments received together with the compensations and, in general, the good performance of the operations. Tax payments are mostly related to Budimex. In terms of investments, these are mostly related to construction and equity invested in energy projects, while divestments are largely related to services, business sales, earnouts, and so on. Additionally, we repurchased treasury shares for a total amount of EUR 162 million in the quarter.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:13:31

Lastly, the other cash flows from or used in financing activities reached EUR 421 million. This included the issuance of EUR 500 million bonds that took place in March. Well, we did not include any slide with the scrip dividend, but I'm sure you all got the information. We announced also yesterday the first scrip dividend for an amount of EUR 400 million. Okay. Thanks for your attention, and I now hand back to Silvia to open up the Q&A session.

Silvia Ruiz

Global Head of Investor Relations

0:14:17

Okay. Thank you very much, Ernesto. Let's start now with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator

0:14:27

Ladies and gentlemen, we'll now begin the Q&A session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star five on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star five again. Please ensure that your device is unmuted locally before proceeding with your question. Our first question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS. Please go ahead.

Cristian Nedelcu

Analyst

0:14:53

Thank you very much. Maybe I'll ask three questions, if you allow me. The first one on Texas lanes. You mentioned the building blocks for the price increases: technology, vehicle mix, mandatory modes. Could you give us a bit more color on the contribution from each of these blocks? If the tailwinds are sustainable into second quarter and third quarter? The second one, again, for the U.S. lanes, if we zoom in on the last couple of months when gasoline prices in the U.S. is up 30%-50%, would you tell us a bit more how does traffic look like in the context of that?

Cristian Nedelcu

Analyst

0:15:40

You know, any color you could give us, is traffic off-peak suffering or leisure traffic a bit weaker or any other changes in behavior of the users? The last one, please. The ETR 407, you talk about, the introduction of a loyalty program going forward. Could you elaborate a bit on the start date, the rationale behind introducing it, and any details on how it will work? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:16:14

Okay. Thanks, Cristian. Well, let me see what kind of color, without giving really numbers, I can give you. I mean, regarding the revenue per transaction performance, technology has been implemented. There's still, I mean, a little bit remaining, but mostly done in technology to better identify cars. That was the main driver. It started last year, as I said, also this quarter as well. That is the main driver. In second place, yes, we've seen underlying better performance of heavies and commercial. It's not to the same scale, but it has contributed. The third one would be mandatory modes. Please allow me not to give you the split here.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:17:12

These things tend to be commercially sensitive. The first one, yes, will, let's say, diminish the impact in the coming months. The rest we'll see. We have to monitor the economy. This is related to the second question. I mean, yes, gasoline prices have been going up. We haven't identified any significant movement. Always, of course, when gasoline prices go up, they affect, but people tend to do the trips they have to do. We'll have to see a sustained situation of higher prices to maybe see a different development. We'll have to monitor that. So far, we haven't seen anything really significant.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:18:04

It's also true that the economy is something that is important, that has kept performing, right? No, no news yet. We'll keep monitoring that. Well, regarding the 407 ETR, I mean, there's no details I can share on loyalty schemes. Usually these kind of schemes is about providing value in terms of trips to people that reach some levels of consumption, things like that. I mean, this is still being designed and also is, let's say commercially sensitive. We will update more when we launch, we will keep updating other quarters. That's kind of the basics is what I mentioned.

Operator

0:19:08

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Elodie Rall

Analyst

0:19:17

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I'll have three, I think. First of all, on the U.S. managed lanes in Q1, we saw traffic. I mean, you mentioned traffic has been impacted by one-offs in Q1. Maybe you could help us understand the impact that those one-offs had on Q1 traffic and revenue. Second, could you give us an update on your U.S. managed lane pipeline and bidding process?

Elodie Rall

Analyst

0:19:48

Third, related to that second question, I was wondering if your shareholder return policy is dependent on any managed lane wins, and therefore do we need to wait until you have more visibility on that until we have an update on your shareholder return policy, which I think the last time you guided on that was at the last CMD for 2024, 2026. Basically the question is when are we gonna get an update? Are you planning to do something at the end of this year, maybe beginning of 2027? Is this dependent on the win of any new projects? Thanks a lot.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:20:40

Thanks, Elodie. I cannot give much detail numbers on whether January was worse. I mean, we don't provide this specific detail, but it was part of the drop in traffic. It was most relevant in the construction works that really affect the overall corridor, right? Yes, it affected negatively, but I mean, if I were to highlight it, LBJ is more affected by the construction, either in the corridor or on the adjacent corridors. Regarding the bidding process, we expect to have news on the awards.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:21:43

This is, I guess, public information from Tennessee in late August and from Atlanta in mid to late October. That's the expectation at the moment for the awards. Regarding the future strategy, yes, we are finalizing 2026. That was the last, the last one provided. The strategy of growth and remuneration are linked. We're not talking only about these projects, but growth in general. We'll shape our distribution in line with the growth we expect in the different business and perspectives. When will we update that? Just probably will have to be not this year, but early next year. This has to be decided. Yes, we will have to see how we balance growth and remuneration.

Elodie Rall

Analyst

0:22:55

Okay. Thanks very much.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:22:58

Thank you.

Operator

0:23:01

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.

Luis Prieto

Analyst

0:23:07

Good afternoon, and thanks for taking our questions. First of all, apologies, if you've already covered my questions. I had some technical issues. My three questions are the following. Can we read anything, Ernesto, into the significant increase in dividends for the 407 ETR versus last year? Can we extrapolate for the rest of the year? The second question is if there are any penalties associated to the contractors' delayed completion of the NTO project. I mean, penalties or basically payments to you. The final question is, the average revenue per transaction on the I-66 was below the other assets in terms of year-on-year growth. Can you provide some light on the drivers behind this? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:23:54

Okay. Thanks, Luis. Yes, the 407 ETR had a higher dividend, both related to performance and better financing, let's say additional debt. This is something that we have discussed in other conference calls. The 407 ETR has some leeway that we will have to see along a long time how we are optimizing that. Please forgive me for not providing a guidance for the dividends for this year, but clearly it has started higher and the performance is very good. Looking forward to the remainder of the year, we'll see how it finalizes.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:24:52

The second question was on NTO, right? With any potential penalties, I guess, is to us, not the, not the contractor. I mean, you see, if it's to us, I mean, it would have to be a huge delay to start having some sort of penalties, right? So it'd have to be beyond June 2027 to get some sort of a small penalty for us. Not expected to happen. Yes, the contractor, we can apply LDs if there's no fulfillment. And that's something that, of course, has to be settled a long time.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:25:44

Regarding the I-66, this route has a lower revenue per transaction. I wouldn't try to read anything there regarding elasticity. I mean, we've seen more widespread traffic along the day. That area is having more business activity during the midday. Yeah, I'm, I mean, I think that the performance of the asset is positive, and we shouldn't read into this kind of slowing down in revenue per transaction. We'll have to keep looking at it going forward.

Luis Prieto

Analyst

0:26:23

Excellent. Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:26:25

Thank you.

Operator

0:26:29

Thank you. Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Graham Hunt

Analyst

0:26:37

Yeah, thanks very much. I'll just two questions from me, I think. First one, I'm just trying to get my head around a little bit of these sort of bottlenecks and congestion zones around the Texas lanes and how much they might be impacting traffic. I don't know if there's any additional color you can give on just some of the adjacent activity that's going on, which is impacting your assets there in Texas and any timing that you're seeing on the ground when that might alleviate, which obviously would be sort of a negative from your perspective or just a bit more sort of, I guess, on the ground color as it seems like there's a number of different sort of factors going on there and just that's affecting performance positively today?

Graham Hunt

Analyst

0:27:21

Second question really just on the managed lanes market beyond what you've already mentioned in the report. I think Maryland, P3 market seems to be warming up after being very cold for a long time. There's been Pennsylvania mentioned, other airports. Any color on just project pipeline that you're seeing beyond what's kind of announced, that might be sort of adding into the funnel further up, would be interesting. Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:27:53

Okay, let me see what I can tell you here. Well, really, traffic in NTE is directly affecting the corridor. Right? It's true that also, I mean, at peak time, we could have mandatory modes that are related to, I mean, less width or capacity at the road, right? When it opens, yes, the corridor should come back and, yeah, it has declined on an important manner in the last three years, right? We'll have to see how that balances out. Regarding the 35W, yes, you have some limit in your capture due to these bottlenecks.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:28:51

It's also true that congestion is higher, you have some mandatory modes, right? We don't have visibility on when there will be solution to this bottlenecks. We'll update as soon as we have. Regarding LBJ, we have different roads that should affect LBJ throughout 2026. These are roads that are not, let's say, controlled by us. Yes, expectation is that they will be completed around 2026 and open in 2027. I mean, that's information that is provided by the grantor. We'll have to see if it materializes. 2026 should definitely be still affected, right? I don't know, Graham, is that covered what we were addressing? Sorry, I cannot give more specific details.

Graham Hunt

Analyst

0:30:04

No, that's helpful. Thank you. Thank you, Ernesto. Just on the pipeline, I guess.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:30:08

The pipeline, well, the pipeline, I mean, what I can say is that in general, there's more support for P3s. We'll see how that materializes, accelerates. Yes, the background is better. I think that really Tennessee and Atlanta are bringing some projects that others are watching. The fact that you can ease pressure on government or state finances with a much needed infrastructure through P3 is attractive. The only thing I can say is that there's some momentum, but we don't have visibility on them coming to the market finally or dates or so, but we will keep updating.

Graham Hunt

Analyst

0:31:01

Understood. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:31:02

Thanks.

Operator

0:31:06

Our following question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Harishankar Ramamoorthy

Analyst

0:31:15

Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple of them, if that's okay. You've provided the breakup of traffic by months for 407 ETR. That's very helpful. Would we be getting something similar for the U.S. managed lanes, please? The second, when I look at the 407 ETR traffic performance, obviously you've mentioned that because the base did not have the promotions, there's that fact impact flowing through. If you kind of strip that out, then would you see traffic growth more or less in line with what you see with March? Or what's the underlying momentum been for, say, January, February, and March? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:32:06

Okay. Thanks for the questions. No, we won't be providing more granularity on the managed lanes. I know this could be a little bit frustrating, but it's commercially sensitive for the different things that we've mentioned, from lights, heavies, and also mostly traffic. No, we don't have plans to provide that information as in the 407 ETR. Regarding the 407 ETR traffic, please bear something in mind. Last year we had promotions that were very broad. People were getting the same kind of promotions that didn't really address segmentation properly. Now we have promotions that are targeted, and that could distort traffic comparisons.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:33:05

We have to focus more on the revenue growth, on the total revenue growth specifically. That could come with not necessarily higher traffic, right? Just bear in mind that that comparison will be distorted. I am sure we cannot provide more information. This is commercially sensitive, traffic is not going to be a driver. I mean, the segmentation is different this year.

Harishankar Ramamoorthy

Analyst

0:33:33

No problem, Ernesto. Thanks. I was just trying to get to any potential color on, you know, how the, you know, fuel price at the pump might have impacted traffic. Are you seeing anything of that sort with March exit rates?

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:33:49

I mean, not really that we could differentiate. There's always some slight negative elasticity. Really, that sometimes happens with an economy that is performing, and they turn to to wash out. The economies where we operate have been okay, so we will have to see if this lingers. I mean, how it could how it could affect. I mean, nothing that we can really highlight in the first quarter.

Harishankar Ramamoorthy

Analyst

0:34:24

Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:34:25

Thank you.

Operator

0:34:29

Our next question comes from Dario Maglione, from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Dario Maglione

Analyst

0:34:36

Hi, Ernesto. I have three questions. To come back to this point, if I understood correctly, you mentioned that you didn't see much of an impact of higher fuel prices on the U.S. express lanes. Can you maybe comment on the 407 ETR, given the 1% traffic growth in March? The second question is on NTO. The construction, you mentioned that the operational readiness trials have started. This sounds like a positive message. I'm just wondering whether you now feel more confident that the timeline for opening this terminal will be the fall of 2026. The third and last question, a bit technical on the tax expense on the P&L. It was a EUR 60 million positive for the full year 2025. What's your respect for 2026? Thanks, Ernesto.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:35:47

Okay. Thanks, Dario. Regarding fuel prices, what I've said is that, yes, when you have higher fuel prices, you have some negative elasticity. In the short term, if the economy is performing, the economic performance tends to wash out to compensate for that, and people make the trips that they have to make. We will have to see if this takes longer. Yes, it could affect. So far, we don't have any evidence of any impact in the first quarter, right? We'll have to keep monitoring that. That is similar in the 407 ETR in Toronto.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:36:34

There has been higher mobility with higher return to the office. It's true that in terms of economy in heavies, construction and trucks related to car parts movements and that kind of business has been slower. I mean, the overall economy has seen higher mobility. When we talk about traffic regarding the 407 ETR and March, I will again refer to the explanation I've been giving throughout the call. Promotions are very different this year, right? Last year they were broadly based. Now they are more segmented, right?

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:37:25

Maybe we have a situation where we are growing our revenues handsomely, but traffic doesn't grow that much or even falls, right? Traffic has been clearly affected by promotions. It's something that we manage and we target, right? Throughout last year, we got a lot of experience. Right now they are more targeted, we should really focus more on the financial result because segmentation is gonna bring different traffic patterns. The question regarding NTO. Yes, the contractor has provided that finalization for phase A date in the fall of 2026. It can be done with the right resources. It's not under our control. I mean, we push for this.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:38:19

Eventually, I mean, we need the contractor to deliver with their resources. Yes, we expect it to happen there. If there's any slippage, it's, I mean, not to be not to be a long one. Yes, when we talk about finalization of construction, we also talk about the start of operations. I mean, that's something that goes hand in hand because we do the operational readiness, I mean, as I mentioned before, right? We're not talking about civil works, we're talking about the whole construction and operations starting. Not having, let's say, any lead time between construction finalization and the start of operations. That's the idea. The expectation is fall 2026, as we mentioned.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:39:07

Regarding taxes, last year, the accounting number that you mentioned is related to some one-offs. Really when we focus into the cash component, the efficiency of the tax groups means that while we are developing new projects, we don't expect any real impact in the U.S. We pay taxes in Canada and Poland mainly and slightly in Spain, right? While we are developing business in the U.S., this is not happening, right? I cannot provide you any guidance, just this kind of framework for any model you may be doing.

Dario Maglione

Analyst

0:40:06

Thank you, Ernesto.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:40:07

Thank you.

Operator

0:40:11

Our next question comes from José Manuel Arroyas from Santander. Please go ahead.

José Manuel Arroyas

Analyst

0:40:18

Hello, Ernesto. I wanted to come back to two answers you provided earlier. First is on 407 ETR and the ability to relever the asset. What's the extent of the opportunities, and what are the metrics that you're looking at? Is it the debt service coverage ratios? Is it net debt to EBITDA? Any color there would be helpful. On NTE, I wanted also to ask you about a clarification on the risk of mandatory modes diminishing next year once construction works end related to the expansion. Is that risk significant or moderate going into next year? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:40:59

Yes. Thank you. Thanks for the question. Let me see how I can address those. Regarding the 407 ETR, leverage is assessed on a debt service coverage ratio, but I've always mentioned that you shouldn't expect the 407 big recaps just to optimize the structure along the different years, trending more to a DSCR that don't have so much headroom, right? That's the level. I don't provide a target. That's something that right now is clearly above 2x, but we cannot provide the level that we could be targeting a long time. Yes, there's some headroom there, as you rightly pointed out. Please don't think of big recaps here.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:41:53

Regarding NTE, well, we have two effects once we open, right? I mean, one of them is, there's gonna be more capacity that lowers mandatory modes that don't weigh that much now. That's important to bear in mind. It also comes with people that have left the corridor coming back to the corridor, right? The fall in the corridor traffic has been substantial, right? These two effects will play. We are not providing any guidance. The only thing when we're talking about the risk of this, mandatory modes in NTE hasn't been that, let's say, relevant. They have played a role, but this is not the bulk of the revenue growth at all. It could be in the future, but not now.

Operator

0:43:04

Our following question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Marcin Wojtal

Analyst

0:43:13

Yes. Good afternoon, and thank you. My first question, you are obviously continuing to roll out customer discounts for the 407 ETR, but is there any update on the possibility of rolling out some sort of discounts or incentives or loyalty programs for the U.S. managed lanes? Do you see a way for this to potentially allow you to optimize EBITDA of these assets? Question number two, I mean, you mentioned technology enhancements helping your revenue per transaction on the U.S. managed lanes, but are you referring to perhaps reducing toll evasion or perhaps some trips being billed correctly, or you're just more generally talking about improving your pricing mechanism, pricing algorithm? If I can squeeze in one more very quickly.

Marcin Wojtal

Analyst

0:44:04

Thinking about higher dividends and potential recaps of infrastructure assets, is the I-66 another asset on top of the 407 ETR, where there is in your view some headroom in terms of the balance sheet and the possibility to distribute more generous dividends? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:44:24

Thanks, Marcin. Thanks for all the questions. I mean, we are working. I mean, it's not something that is readily available, but we are working on the possibility of promotions and therefore more segmentation in all the U.S. highways. Yes, we are working on that, so in the future that could help. Yes, but I mean, we are not there yet. We will update the market. I mean, we are working on it. We will update the market when we reach something. In terms of the technology, what it has helped is to identify commercial vehicles and heavies that were not properly identified before. Nothing to do with evasion.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:45:18

We don't face any, let's say, collectivity, collecting risk in the express lanes in Dallas-Fort Worth. It has been about identification of commercials and heavies. The third question, yes, the I-66 has potential for recap, as was in the let's say a bid business plan that was submitted for reference. It won't be this year nor the next. It's not, it's not far away, but it's not this year or the next that we will see a recap in the I-66.

Marcin Wojtal

Analyst

0:46:00

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

0:46:06

Ladies and gentlemen, please be reminded that in order to ask a question, you must press star five on your telephone keypad. Our final question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Nicolas Mora

Analyst

0:46:25

Yeah. Good afternoon, guys. Just a quick one on the 407 ETR. If I understand correctly, you're basically preparing us for potentially for softer traffic sequentially, but for much higher capture of price rises that you've done in 2025, 2026. It means basically lower. I mean, does this mean lower discounting on an absolute terms from here because it's more targeted? Does it also imply you're now with the current traffic levels, you're very comfortable where that traffic puts you versus the Schedule 22 risk?

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:47:04

Well, thanks, Nicolas. I mean, you are reading into what I said. I'm not confirming or denying. I'm saying that traffic shouldn't be comparable. Yes, we could have lower traffic, but maybe we're doing better. I mean, I'm not saying if it's gonna be lower or higher, just that it's more important to follow the other metric as you rightly point out. Yes, regarding the Schedule 22, we have provided for a number that takes into account all these effects that we were considering when we were budgeting. Yes, that's what we are expecting for Schedule 22 to reflect.

Nicolas Mora

Analyst

0:47:52

All right. Thank you. If, if I may, a last one on talking about the reopening or the end of the construction works on NTE and maybe, and the adjacent to LBJ into late 2026, 2027. Do you have a sense of how much traffic you might have lost versus trend and that you may recover once the asset go back to normal?

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:48:18

Well, we are not providing figures on the corridor because also that would mean we would be providing figures on our capture rate. We are on a commercially sensitive, I mean, ball game now, so no, we're not providing that. I would say that NTE, yes, the traffic reduction in the past three years in the corridor has been important. Our capture rate has held well, so I mean, that's all I can comment.

Nicolas Mora

Analyst

0:48:50

All right. We have to try. Thank you very much.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:48:52

Thank you.

Operator

0:48:56

Our final question comes from Mark Ip from Citi. Please go ahead.

Mark Ip

Analyst

0:49:03

Hi. Thanks for the question. I've got one here just actually on the construction business. EBIT margins through from 1% in the first quarter. I'm just wondering how should we think about that in the context throughout the year and against your kind of long-term 3.5% target. Following from that, maybe on the Ferrovial Construction business, can you just give a little bit more color on what you've seen with the higher costs there and whether that will drive any sort of margin benefit in the later periods from that? Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:49:38

Hi, thanks. Well, regarding construction margins, the only guidance we have is our, let's say, a standing long-term average, 3.5% EBIT margin. As I said, it's an average. The backlog is healthy. We're not providing, let's say, guidance for margins this year. I mean, you can see from the cash performance, one of the thing that the backlog is healthy. Our only guidance is long term, and that we stick to that. Sorry, what was the second question?

Mark Ip

Analyst

0:50:20

Just a bit more color.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:50:21

The cost.

Mark Ip

Analyst

0:50:21

on the Ferrovial infrastructure cost.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:50:22

Regarding the cost. Yeah. Sorry. I mean, well, basically all these costs are related to bidding. I mean, it's true that we bid like next year, but we also keep looking at other developments. This year is gonna be affected by this kind of bidding and IT costs. Going forward it could be different depending on our success. Yes.

Mark Ip

Analyst

0:51:00

Thank you.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:51:02

Thank you.

Operator

0:51:04

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to the Ferrovial team. Your line is open.

Silvia Ruiz

Global Head of Investor Relations

0:51:11

Thank you. Thank you all for your questions. There were a couple of questions in the webcast. We understand that all of them have been already answered. There are no more questions.

Ernesto López Mozo

CFO

0:51:25

Well, thanks a lot. Thanks for attending the call, and, well, looking forward to meeting you shortly. Thank you.

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