Operator: Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining the Ma'aden Q3 2026 results call. My name is Gabrielle, and I will be coordinating your call today. During the presentation, you can register a question by pressing star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star followed by two. If you have joined us via the webcast, you can submit your question using the question tab above the slides. It is now my pleasure to hand over to your host, Abdulaziz. Please go ahead.
Abdulaziz AlNaim: Thank you, Gabrielle. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Ma'aden earnings call for the third quarter of 2026. Thank you for joining us. My name is Abdulaziz AlNaim. All participants in today call will be in a listening mode initially.
Abdulaziz AlNaim: Once the call has been concluded, the presentation and all relevant material will be available on the website. Please refer to our disclaimers in the second slide, which applies to all disclosures made in today presentation. Kindly note that all discussed figures in the presentation are in USD unless otherwise stated.
Abdulaziz AlNaim: I am here today with our CEO, Bob Wilt, and our CFO, Gilberto Antoniazzi. We hope to go as much as possible in today's presentation. However, if you have any follow-up questions, please email us. With that, I will hand it over to Bob.
Bob Wilt: Let me just start with a couple of operational highlights to set the tone. First of all, across all three of our businesses, we delivered very strong production. Obviously, some of the sulfur shortages we experienced in the previous quarter, they were largely managed through the very agile response of our team this quarter. As a result, our granulated phosphate production is back to levels comparable to the same period last year. But still, this business suffers from a lack of export ammonia and very high-cost sulfur. The situation we are going through now is making us stronger, building mettle for the next generation of leaders, and our direction of travel is clear. The strong production and commercial environment meant that our aluminum business had its second straight quarter of record financial performance, and our gold business achieved record financial performance as well.
Bob Wilt: Maybe more importantly, in this challenging environment, we have not lost sight of safety. In fact, we have enjoyed our best year-to-date safety performance as our leaders are intently focusing on caring for their people. Fourth, we continue to manage the complex operational situation on both inbound and outbound logistics, further demonstrating the resilience and infrastructure advantages of the kingdom. Lastly, we are pleased to announce that we have established an exploration joint venture with Aramco, where Ma'aden will be the 51% owner. This joint venture will play to our respective strengths, with exploration focused on copper and transition minerals in a zone equivalent to about 10% of the kingdom's land area. We will continue to focus on exploration, as we believe we are only scratching the surface of the kingdom's endowment. Let us talk about production. We delivered excellent operational performance in Q3, as I said.
Bob Wilt: In phosphate, as mentioned, our granulated production improved to levels comparable to the same period last year, despite all the challenges in the supply chain that our team largely managed. Although not shown on this page, our ammonia production is currently largely for captive use only. Aluminum production was strong, and this business continues from one strong quarter to the next. In gold, we enjoyed a very good operational quarter, and we are starting to bear fruit in a business that has been going an operational revision.
Bob Wilt: As you can recall from earlier in the year, we did a full safety reset on several of our mines, and since, we have added additional technical capacity as we get ready to grow this business. The financial results, Ma'aden generated SAR 3 billion of revenue during the quarter, up 11% year-on-year. EBITDA came in at SAR 870 million, a decrease of 24% year-on-year.
Bob Wilt: On a sustaining run rate free cash flow basis, the business generated SAR 639 million of cash, excluding working capital. As you can see from the EBITDA contribution graph, our aluminum and gold businesses outperformed. The overall financial performance may not fully reflect the operational execution we saw across the businesses. Sulfur costs and the lack of export ammonia sales caused financial challenges, which is normally our biggest business, phosphate. Therefore, I would like to zoom in on the sulfur situation. What we have seen in the sulfur markets is unprecedented. As many of you might know, sulfur used to be a little talked about commodity, but it has gained significant global prominence in the last 12 months. The majority of sulfur is used in fertilizer production, but strong nickel and copper markets have further increased price competition.
Bob Wilt: The sulfur market has suffered significant supply disruption as a result of various geopolitical events in the past several years, and we saw sulfur prices peaking in Q2. We have, however, started to see a gradual downturn in prices. However, prices are likely to remain sensitive to the geopolitical situations globally. Now let me hand it over to Gilberto to take us through the financials.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Thank you, Bob. Turning now to the financials, I will follow the usual format as I will talk through the quarter in three steps. First, I will anchor the commodity and operating context that shaped the period. Second, I will explain the year-on-year EBITDA bridge and how price and volume moved through the quarter, with specific emphasis on the themes Bob highlighted earlier in his presentation. And third, I will translate EBITDA into cash and close with balance sheet strength and segment performance. Starting with the market backdrop, commodity fundamentals remain supportive across our portfolio. We have continued to see some moderation in both gold and aluminum, but I note that we are still enjoying very robust pricing as compared to historical levels. That pricing has improved marginally. We believe fundamentals related to farmer affordability and market destocking and some other applications last year are positive strengths for this business.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: With that context, let me turn to how those market conditions translate into EBITDA performance. In the Q3, increased costs, materially driven by sulfur costs, decreased overall profitability. We started from $1,140 million EBITDA in Q3 of last year, 2025. Sales volumes were a headwind of $172 million, driven largely by the lack of ammonia export sales and minor delays in getting some of our phosphate to market at the end of the quarter. Pricing did, however, improve and contributed $478 million. Half of this relates to aluminum. Costs were a $672 million headwind and relate almost entirely to sulfur. Others principally relate to improved performance around our joint venture investments. Putting it all together, EBITDA for Q3 2026 was $870 million, representing a 24% year-on-year decrease. On this slide, we walk from EBITDA to sustaining run rate free cash flow.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Starting at $870 million of EBITDA. Working capital was largely flat on the quarter. While we expect an improvement, as I mentioned before, the push through some granulated phosphate sales did occur in the end of the quarter. We had an outflow of $167 million related to finance payments and taxation, and $440 million on net dividends to Ma'aden. After accounting for exploration and sustaining capital, $102 million of exploration and $130 million of sustaining CapEx, the business delivered $639 million of sustaining run rate free cash flow, excluding working capital. Key message here is that EBITDA to free cash conversion remains strong, and the business is effectively managing the working capital. We ended the quarter with an improved liquidity position. During the quarter, Ma'aden enjoyed strong support from close to 20 international banks and closed on a $1 billion inaugural international term loan and revolving credit facility financing.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: The terms of this facility is 5 years. As a result, cash and cash equivalents were $3.5 billion, which is 5% higher than last year. In addition, available liquidity increased by half a billion dollars on account of the new revolving facility raised. Debt levels are still broadly consistent with last year, and leverage remains conservative. Net debt to EBITDA was 1.4x and below our guided range of 2x to 3x. Our balance sheet remains well-positioned to support Ma'aden through the vast growth plan. With the balance sheet covered, I will now turn to segment performance, starting with phosphate. As a result of strong teamwork, production of granulated product bounced back from low Q2 levels to 1.6 million tons, which is largely in line with levels last year, but still below peak output capacity.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: In phosphate, the team continues to increase optionality around the export routes, but we did see some small delays at quarter end, which meant that approximately 140,000 metric tons did not ship. We expect that we might see small mismatches in shipping versus production in the near term. Ammonia production increased on the quarter, largely in line with production of granulated product, but still materially below last year levels because of no external sales in the quarter. Realized prices on granulated product improved 15% on the year and were stable on the quarter. Financially, revenue was $1.4 billion, down 9% versus last year, principally relating to no export sales of ammonia and a delay in shipping some of production in the quarter. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, however, revenue was flat.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: EBITDA came out at $135 million, and we saw material decreases in the margin profile, both on the year and on the quarter, relating principally to increased sulfur prices and the lack of ammonia exports. Let me now move to aluminum. In aluminum, the business had a second consecutive quarter of record financial performance. Operational performance in this business remains very strong, with alumina production largely flat on the year, but increased 11% versus last quarter. Similarly, aluminum production was just shy of all-time highs. On realized prices, aluminum averaged $3,725 per metric ton, up 41% year-on-year, but a decrease of 5% sequentially. Increased regional premium continued to support a material premium versus LME prices. The alumina realized price was $339 per metric ton, down 9% relative to last year's elevated levels, but up 8% sequentially.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Unit costs in aluminum did increase 20% year-over-year and 14% sequentially, driven by increased carbon and metal costs. The quarter also included a one-off charge related to increased grid usage, which we do not expect to recur. Revenue for the segment was just short of $1 billion, leading to an EBITDA performance of $419 million. Again, more than double the level last year and 2% versus Q2. Let me now turn to gold and growth metals. Gold enjoyed an exceptionally strong performance, and now along with aluminum, has had its best financial performance in the quarter. The gold business has been an area of focus for us, and a positive trend is forming here. We are continuing to mature this business while further supporting it with capital to grow. Production was 139,000 ounces, up 22% year-on-year and 18% sequentially.
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Realized gold prices averaged $4,270 per ounce, up 22% year-on-year, but down 3% sequentially. As a result of strong financial operational performance, revenue increased to just under $600 million, up 49% year-on-year and up 14% sequentially, despite slightly lower prices. AISC came in at $1,298 per ounce, a single-digit increase on the year and on the quarter. EBITDA was $403 million, up 71% year-on-year and 21% sequentially. I note that in the quarter, we spent close to $90 million on exploration, representing continued investment in the future growth of this business. I will now hand back to Bob for the outlook.
Bob Wilt: Thank you, Gilberto. Operationally, we believe we are going to have a good year. All three businesses are doing well, with the exception being ammonia. Therefore, we are not changing any of the production guidance and messaging we provided in Q2. However, given performance in the gold business, we expect the full-year all-in sustaining costs will be below the guided range provided in February. For us, the long-term direction is clear, and we will talk about that, but we are being thoughtful in the short term. With that, we expect full-year capital to be approximately $1 billion lower than that which was guided in February. A material portion of the reduction relates to timing optimization, where we have also identified some savings opportunity.
Bob Wilt: Relative to our growth projects, we are in the pre-commissioning phases of Phosphate 3, phase 1, and we are on schedule to deliver the final project by the end of Q2 next year. At Ar Rjum, our newest gold mine, mining activities have commenced, along with the beginning of the foundation for the processing plant. Our recycling facility at Ras Al Khair, the engineering is essentially complete, and the equipment is beginning to arrive. We also have numerous growth projects in the bankable feasibility stage.
Bob Wilt: Phosphate 3, phase 2, as well as Phosphate 4, the Mansourah Massarah Deeps project, which has now expanded into a whole cluster for a significant addition to our gold mining business, along with Wadi Al Jaww, another mine. The rare earth project, both the mine and the processing plant, and the aluminum smelter pot lines to be in 4 are all in the advanced study phases.
Bob Wilt: Our growth pipeline is robust, and we continue to fund it. As I said, some of the timing may be shifted out into next year or even into early 2028 for the final investment decisions on some of these projects, depending on cash availability. I will now hand it back over to the operator for Q&A.
Operator: Thank you very much. To ask a question, please press star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad now. If you change your mind, please press star followed by 2. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure your device is unmuted locally. If you have joined us via the webcast, you can submit your question using the question tab above the slides. Our first question today is from Jason Kirkoff from Bank of America. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Jason Kirkoff: Thanks very much for the presentation, guys. Two questions from me, one on phosphate, one on exploration. On phosphate, I am wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the path back to normal. So there is the path back to normal on logistics, on ammonia sales, and then costs. Secondly, on the exploration JV with Aramco. I am going to be a little bit cheeky here. I mean, you guys are the nominated national mining champion. Why do you need to partner with Aramco? What do they bring to the table?
Bob Wilt: Well, that is one of those. The path back to normal really is dependent on the geopolitical situation. Obviously, with logistics routes being what they are, we are exporting phosphate through at least six different ports right now across the region. It is really dependent on the logistics solution, really depends on the broader geopolitical context. Relative to ammonia, as you may have seen in some of the public disclosures in the post-quarter closing, we have done some inventory management and exported several vessels of ammonia. Whether that will continue, again, depends on the situation in the region, but we are managing inventory and keeping an optimistic eye open for increased ammonia sales going forward. As I mentioned, sulfur costs, we are starting to see a downturn, a downtick in the pricing, while the DAP prices remain firm, and we expect them to remain firm.
Bob Wilt: We do anticipate some margin expansion from this quarter in our phosphate business. Now, relative to your question about exploration, Aramco has been exploring the Kingdom for over 80 years. They have got 80 years of technical data, core samples, and vast resources available to us. We can bring hard rock mining expertise. They can bring technical data and the geophysical surveys of the entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We think we match each other's skill sets extremely well as we focus on the area specifically between where Ma'aden has extensively surveyed and explored, which we call the Arabian Shield, which is really the western part of the country, and where Aramco has spent most of its time on the platform and where the oil and gas is.
Bob Wilt: The border between them is where we can bring both our resources to bear to really uncover where we think there is some good copper opportunities.
Jason Kirkoff: Okay. Thanks a lot, Bob.
Operator: Thank you, Jason. Our next question is from Alan Sumich from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Faisal Al Azmeh: Hi, can you hear me?
Jason Kirkoff: Yeah.
Bob Wilt: Alan, can't hear you.
Operator: Alan, your line is now open. Please ask your question.
Faisal Al Azmeh: Yes, hi. This is Faisal Al Azmeh from Goldman Sachs. Just a question on the MOU with SABIC Agri-Nutrients. I just wanted to understand better what the potential outcome from the agreements with SABIC Agri-Nutrients could be on the fertilizer side. Maybe if you can talk a bit about that and the scope and what that could entail over time, and how should we think about any commitment on the CapEx side towards this JV? Thank you.
Bob Wilt: Yeah. As we look at our growth pipeline and we look at expansions in phosphate beyond Phosphate 3, it makes perfect sense for the phosphate company in the kingdom to partner with the nitrogen champion in the kingdom to think about how we can optimize the delivery of the molecules to the exact same customers. As we both have expansion plans going forward, we agreed to sign an MOU to jointly study urea and ammonia projects beyond what we are currently doing. Non-binding, non-committal, but it shows a good cooperation between the two fertilizer companies in the kingdom.
Faisal Al Azmeh: Thanks. If I can ask another question just on the ammonia side. Let's say, should the status quo persist, is there a way for you to effectively look to move more ammonia through the west? Are you working on certain solutions that may allow that, or is that likely to be offline until the strait reopens?
Bob Wilt: No, I think we are being opportunistic at certain points in our shipments right now. It is really going to depend on the situation, the strait reopening. But I think you should anticipate opportunistic shipments occasionally to manage inventory, but I would not expect full resumption of production until we have clear shipping lines.
Faisal Al Azmeh: Is there a way, for example, to optimize DAP production and consume more ammonia internally, or you are already operating at maximum DAP rates, so it is difficult to utilize more of that ammonia domestically?
Bob Wilt: Well, I think as Derek mentioned, we are back to about 110% of nameplate. We have hit 117% of nameplate. That, of course, depends on sulfur availability as well. So, even if we can squeak out a little more DAP, we are not going to absorb that much more ammonia.
Faisal Al Azmeh: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you, Alan. Our next question is from Peter Fake from Jefferies. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Prateek Patnana: Yeah. Hi. I guess that would be me. I am Prateek Patnana from Jefferies. I have two questions. The first is on the aluminum, the premium which you are getting over the LME. Could you give us some color what is the status now? We are only obviously half past the Q4. So that is the first question. The second one is on the Phosphate 3, the sulfur supply agreement with Aramco. Should we expect the terms of that agreement to be similar to what you already have? Thanks.
Bob Wilt: Gibran, why don't you answer the first question, and then Peter, can you repeat your second?
Prateek Patnana: Yeah. So the second question is on the Phosphate 3 project. You will require more sulfur from Aramco. So my question is, are the terms of the sulfur supply agreement which you are discussing would be similar to what you already have with Aramco, or we should expect a change?
Bob Wilt: Okay. Yeah, that is an easy question. I can answer that. Yeah, so we have got a long-term supply agreement with Aramco. You could expect similar pricing for sulfur coming from Aramco to supply Phosphate 3. And then, Gibran, do you want to take the premium on aluminum?
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Yes. The premium aluminum, actually, we have enjoyed a very favorable premium situation the last several months, and that has been driven primarily by the situation of supply of aluminum in the Gulf region. We do not expect that to remain in the same situation, actually to go back to what I call more normal levels in the future, and that is how we are approaching the business for 2027.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Abdul Alobaikan from Jadwa Investment. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Abdul Alobaikan: Hello, gentlemen. Am I audible?
Bob Wilt: Yeah, go ahead.
Abdul Alobaikan: Yeah, I just had a question regarding the aluminum segment. Gibran, you mentioned there was a one-off cost during this quarter. Could you guys quantify that one-off? I just want to ask the reason behind the general or overall increase in the cost per ton during the year so far compared to last year. What is the reasoning behind that?
Gilberto Antoniazzi: Yes. Okay. There are two reasons behind that. Number one, as you stated, we had to access more energy out of in the grid, and that has a higher cost to us, and it is a one-off event, so we do not expect that to be recurring. That is number one element that drove a higher cost for us. The second element are carbon inputs and some raw materials. Particularly because of the conflict, we have observed, we have seen some increased costs, particularly for elements like coke and pitch. That is what has driven a little bit of a higher cost this quarter.
Abdul Alobaikan: Okay. Regarding the increase in the water and electricity tariffs, could you guys quantify the impact if it is material or not?
Gilberto Antoniazzi: I will have to get back to you separately on that. I do not have that number in front of me. I do not think it is a big item to affect with us. It is very special.
Abdul Alobaikan: Sure. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you, Abdul. Our next question is from Mollie Gorman from S&P Global Energy. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Mollie Gorman: Thank you very much. I just wanted to ask, I understand Ma'aden has resumed ammonia shipment since the start of October through the Strait of Hormuz using the Gas Aqua. Can you share any details on these deliveries, including if they are fulfilling Ma'aden's 2026 contractual obligations? Secondly, just to clarify, the ammonia export plants remain shut down, and is it just surplus ammonia being exported currently?
Bob Wilt: I am not sure I understood your first question. Are we meeting our customer commitments? Absolutely. Have they all been on time? No. But we are reallocating and meeting our obligations as best we can, but I do not have the exact shipping numbers and the customer delivery numbers off the top of my head. We can get back to you, Molly. On the ammonia exports, yeah, we are managing inventory, so like I say, we would anticipate no significant change in our ammonia exports in the foreseeable future.
Mollie Gorman: Okay. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you, Molly. We have a follow-up question from Jason Kirkoff from Bank of America. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Jason Kirkoff: Hey, guys. Sorry, I am being a bit cheeky today. Just in terms of inventory, I mean, obviously there has been a bit of a disconnect between production and sales. Is this just an issue in the phosphate business? Do you have inventory building anywhere else? I guess, when should we think about inventory levels normalizing?
Bob Wilt: Yeah, so it is mostly a phosphate-related phenomenon. Phosphate prices are nearly 4x what they were last year at this time. Or sorry, sulfur prices are nearly 4x. So obviously, the input costs of the finished products are higher. The shipment time from the time they leave the plant to the time they get to customers, we have got to traverse the desert. We have got to get them to the alternate port. Sometimes there are wait times associated at those ports to get them to market. So, it is really a phosphate-related finished goods inventory problem we have got. Now, certainly, we are stocking up, and we have stocked up and are maintaining higher raw material levels in certain raw materials as available. Alumina, we keep the tank topped off as opposed to only 7 days. We are keeping it at 13 to 14 days.
Bob Wilt: As caustic soda becomes available, we are taking advantage of availability and increasing some of our holdings in caustic soda, coke, pitch, et cetera, just to manage the uncertainty. Again, all of those will go back to normal levels as soon as there is more certainty in the region and our supply chains are widely open. But it is really a phosphate finished goods issue, increased price of the materials, and then the length of time it takes to get to market.
Jason Kirkoff: Okay. Thanks for the color, Bob.
Operator: Thank you, Jason. We currently have no further questions, so I would like to hand back to Abdulaziz for some closing remarks.
Abdulaziz AlNaim: Thank you all for attending today call. As usual, all relevant material will be shortly uploaded on our website. Yes, if you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via invest@ma'aden.com. With that, I will conclude today call. Thank you, and have a good day.
Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's Ma'aden Q3 2026 results call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.
