Siltronic AG — Call Transcript 2025

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Siltronic's Q3 2025 results. Please note that this call is being recorded and streamed on Siltronic's website. The call will also be available as an on-demand version later today. Your participation in this call implies your consent with this. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Malgara, Senior Manager, Investor Relations at Siltronic. Please go ahead. Thank you, Cynthia. Welcome, everybody, to our Q3 2025 results presentation. This call will also be webcast live on siltronic.com. A replay of the call will be available on our website shortly after the end of the call. Our CEO, Michael Heckmeier, and our CFO, Claudia Schmitt, will give you an overview of our financials, the current market developments, and our guidance. After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions. Please note that management comments during this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of risk factors, I encourage you to review the safe harbor statement contained in today's press release and presentation. All documents relating to our Q3 2025 reporting are available on our website. I now turn the call over to Michael for his remarks. Thank you, Stephanie, and a warm welcome also from my side. Let me start with the key messages of today's call. As anticipated, Q3 was the weakest quarter of the year, mainly driven by expected volume shifts into Q4 and FX effects. The market environment remains challenging, and therefore, demand continues to be soft, in line with the trend we've observed in recent quarters. We managed the situation by taking active measures to control costs and cash. At the same time, we stay close to our customers, ensuring that we align production and deliveries with actual demand and remain a reliable partner. These measures help us to navigate the current environment effectively and deliver on our commitments. Today, we can confirm and specify our guidance for the full year, although we had to further adjust the FX assumption as the weakening U.S. dollar remains a relevant factor for our performance. Finally, as you've probably seen in the media over the past few weeks, there has been some positive news flow from the semiconductor industry. Several companies in our sector have improved their results, clearly benefiting from the ongoing AI momentum, particularly in the memory segment, which has gained further traction in recent months. I would like to emphasize that these effects are not yet visible in the short term for Siltronic, as some of our customers are still in the process of normalizing their inventory levels. Nevertheless, we see these announcements as confirmation of the long-term growth trend of the semiconductor and wafer industry, and we are well positioned to benefit once demand is further picking up. Let me give you a broad overview of our development in the third quarter. Claudia will provide more financial insights in just a moment. In line with our expectations, sales and profitability weakened in Q3. Sales came in at EUR 300 million, which is a decline compared to Q2. This development mainly reflects the temporary volume shift into the final quarter of the year, as well as the continued FX headwinds. Our EBITDA margin was 21.9% compared to 26.3% in Q2. The decline was primarily driven by lower sales volumes and FX effects. As a result of the reduced EBITDA and because of significantly higher scheduled depreciation related to our new fab in Singapore, EBIT fell to EUR -31 million. CapEx totaled EUR 90 million, primarily related to our new fab in Singapore. Consequently, and as anticipated, the net cash flow remained negative at EUR 30 million. Finally, our market share remains stable on a year-to-date basis. This underscores our resilience in a continued challenging market environment. Let's move to the financials. Claudia, please. Thank you, Michael. A warm welcome from my side as well. I'm pleased to walk you through our performance over the past quarter and highlight key developments. As Michael mentioned, sales in Q3 developed in line with our expectations, totaling EUR 300 million, an 8.7% decline compared to the previous quarter. This decrease was mainly driven by a lower wafer area sold due to a planned shift to Q4 and by FX effects. The euro continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, reaching an average rate of 1.17 in Q3 compared to 1.13 in the previous quarter, which had a noticeable impact on our reported sales. In addition, we saw slightly negative price effects. Our EBITDA came in at EUR 66 million, down EUR 20 million compared to Q2. This decline resulted from weaker sales and the ramp-up cost of our new fab in Singapore, recorded in the P&L since August. As previously communicated, this will weigh on our profitability for now; however, the impact will ease as volume grows. In the quarter-on-quarter profitability comparison, it is also worth noting that Q2 benefited from a positive non-operating effect related to spare parts valuation. Consequently, the EBITDA margin declined to 21.9%. Along with the successful customer qualifications, depreciation for the new fab also started in August, having a significant effect on our EBIT, which amounted to EUR -31 million. Taking all these factors into account, Q3 net income came in at EUR -44 million. Let's move on to the balance sheet, which shows a solid and healthy structure. When comparing the nine-month figures, please keep in mind that significant portions of our balance sheet are subject to the translation of Singapore and U.S. dollars into euros, and that the euro's appreciation has resulted in FX valuation effects. Following this, total assets stood at EUR 4.9 billion at the end of September, compared to EUR 5.1 billion at the end of 2024. The euro's strength was most visible in fixed assets, given our significant presence and ongoing invest focus in Singapore. Despite CapEx exceeding depreciation, fixed assets declined due to a 6% depreciation of the Singapore dollar. Cash inflows from operations, combined with the partial drawdown of our syndicated loan in Q2, did not fully cover CapEx payments and prepayment refunds over the nine-month period. Consequently, cash and securities declined to EUR 510 million, yet our liquidity position remains solid. In turn, trade payables, mainly those related to investment activities, decreased from EUR 280 million at the end of 2024 to EUR 232 million by the end of September, and prepayments were reduced to EUR 529 million. Financial liabilities increased as planned by EUR 36 million. Our equity ratio remains stable at a healthy level of 43%. As you can see, our CapEx has been significantly scaled back since the peak in 2023, totaling EUR 308 million year to date, and demonstrating our continued focus on disciplined capital allocation. However, payments for capital expenditures once again exceeded the invest level, reaching EUR 340 million year to date. Such timing differences between CapEx and payments are influenced by factors such as the timing of asset additions during the year, the completion of construction phases, or specific payment terms. Looking ahead, we anticipate some rollover effects into 2026, though at a lower investment level. Let's turn to our cash and debt position. Liquidity decreased from EUR 664 million at year-end 2024 to EUR 507 million as of September 2025, mainly due to substantial CapEx outflows and the repayment of prepayments. Including the undrawn EUR 127 million portion of the syndicated loan, we continue to maintain strong financial flexibility. Financial debt remains stable at around EUR 1.55 billion, with initial repayments of around EUR 65 million scheduled to begin in Q4. Compared to our Q2 communication, the overall debt level, drawn facilities, and maturity profile are largely unchanged. Net financial debt amounted to EUR 933 million at the end of Q3, marking the peak for 2025. In Q4, we expect an improvement driven by superior business development, positive working capital contributions, and an improved cash flow from investing activities. With that, I'll hand it back over to Michael. Thank you, Claudia. Let's take a look at the key factors that influence our performance. We see a gradual recovery in volume since the sharp decline in 2023. This is mainly driven by the 300-millimeter segment, where demand has started to pick up again, an encouraging signal after two softer years. We clearly expect this volume upturn to continue beyond 2025. However, 200-millimeter demand remains weak, primarily because the power segment still has high inventories and is suffering from some end-market weakness. Regarding prices, we see a continuous price decline outside our LTAs, which is visible in all diameters, but more pronounced in the segments below 300 millimeter. It is likely that we will continue to face this trend beyond 2025. In addition, foreign exchange effects are substantial, as the weaker U.S. dollar had a significant impact on reported sales. Compared to the U.S. dollar level at the beginning of the year, the euro has strengthened significantly, which translates into an expected negative top-line impact of around EUR 50 million in 2025 versus 2024. Over the past three years, we have incurred more than EUR 100 million in sales losses due to unfavorable FX exchange rate developments. Let me summarize the main developments we see across end markets. Overall, wafer consumption is expected to increase by up to 8% in 2025, driven by strong AI-related momentum. Recent tariff announcements have created uncertainty in the markets, but the underlying demand trend looks healthy, and overall, it's a significant improvement from the slight decline in 2023 when the downturn began. Server demand remains the key driver, continuing to benefit from the strong momentum in AI, particularly through sustained investments in data center infrastructure. The PC market has shown a substantial step up, largely due to the launch of Microsoft Windows 11, which has significantly increased demand. Overall, the majority of this growth comes from content and only a smaller share coming from unit growth. This underlines that the innovation model for all end markets is intact. Looking at specific inventory levels, memory inventories are starting to come down, which is encouraging. Other logic inventories are in good shape; however, as previously mentioned, power inventories remain elevated. It is important to note that inventory headwinds persist, although they are gradually decreasing. They continue to dampen the full volume impact on wafer demand. Foreign exchange continues to be one of Siltronic's main external headwinds. Why is this? We have a U.S. dollar exposure of more than 80% of our top line. This makes us sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations. Throughout 2025, this headwind has accelerated, driven by the continuous weakening of the U.S. dollar against the euro, with a particularly strong impact on the second half of the year. Without this effect, our sales would be roughly at the same level as last year, rather than showing a decline. Let me briefly outline how we manage the current market environment in a proactive and decisive manner. The measures will sound familiar to many of you, as we have consistently been emphasizing these priorities over the past quarters. Firstly, we are maintaining strict CapEx discipline. We have deferred selected investments, especially for our new fab in Singapore, in synchronization with market demand. Also, we apply restrictive new project approvals to ensure that every euro spent is fully aligned with our strategic priorities. Secondly, we've launched a comprehensive program covering all key cost drivers. Our goal is to drive efficiency and secure lasting savings across our operations without compromising our technological capabilities and customer service. I will provide more details shortly. Thirdly, we continue further cash measures, such as closing our small diameter line or working capital management. Together, these actions strengthen our financial resilience and ensure that we remain well-positioned, even in this challenging market phase. This slide provides a closer look at our capital expenditure. As you can see, 2023 marked the peak of our investment cycle, mainly driven by our new fab in Singapore. Since then, CapEx has come down significantly, and this trend continues in 2025. If you look at the right-hand side of this chart, you can see that CapEx has declined steadily on a half-year basis. For the second half of this year, we expect a further reduction, reflecting our strict investment discipline and our ability to adapt to the market environment. Going forward, we'll continue to invest selectively and within the disciplined financial framework. I can assure you, our strategic focus remains unchanged: the ramp of our new fab in Singapore according to the market environment and a necessary steady-state CapEx level to support our global operations. Cost discipline has always been a strong part of Siltronic's DNA, and we continue to build on this strong track record. We have a global cross-functional program in place that targets all major cost categories: labor, supplies, raw material, and energy. One example I would like to emphasize is our headcount program, which is progressing as planned. By the end of September 2025, our total workforce was about 10% below the level of end 2022, despite the ramp of the new fab. Additionally, we are driving energy efficiency measures that have already reduced the electricity consumption by around 5% compared to 2022. All initiatives will run through until the end of 2026 and will contribute increasingly positively to our results over time. At the same time, during the ramp of our new 300-millimeter fab, we are temporarily seeing higher fixed costs that are not yet fully absorbed by production volumes. These costs have been capitalized until mid-2025 and since then are impacting our P&L. This will lead to temporary margin pressure. However, once volumes go up, the burden will significantly reduce. While we remain focused on cost discipline, we also build the foundation for the next growth phase. At the heart of this are our customers, and we are proud to do business with all big names in our industry. For the past 12 months, we have received multiple supplier awards from some of our key customers. Some of these are displayed in this slide. These recognitions are a strong validation of our technological leadership and reliability as a partner. The strong customer proximity not only reinforces our position as a trusted partner, but also helps us deliver solid results even in challenging market environments. In closing today's presentation, we would like to share our guidance for 2025. We confirm our full-year guidance, although we have further refined our FX assumption. Our outlook now reflects a new U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.17 for the second half of 2025, compared to 1.15 previously. Sales are still expected to come in mid-single digits below 2024 levels. We narrow our EBITDA guidance from 21%-25% to 22%-24%. EBITDA is expected to show a significant decline, mainly as a result of the start of the depreciation of our new fab in Singapore. Depreciation is now expected to be between EUR 340 million and EUR 360 million, compared to our previous guidance of between EUR 340 million and EUR 400 million. CapEx is expected to be between EUR 360 million and EUR 380 million, which was EUR 350 million-EUR 400 million previously. Last but not least, cash flow is projected to be significantly improved compared to last year, although it will remain notably negative due to our continued high investment activity. With this, we conclude our Q3 2025 results presentation, and Claudia and I are happy to take your questions. Thank you very much for your attention. Cynthia, please open the Q&A. Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow the signal to reach our equipment. Again, press star one to ask a question. We'll pause for just a moment to allow everyone the opportunity to signal for questions. The first question comes from Daniel Schafei with Citigroup. Please go ahead. Hi. Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I just wanted to ask you on the competitive dynamics you're currently seeing. I'm just wondering, some of your peers are now past the trough and seeing stronger AI-driven demand for wafers, whereas you're kind of seeing a slightly lower benefit there, yet you're still pointing to a stable market share. I'm wondering, what are the drivers which help you maintain your share in this current environment where power is kind of weaker? That would be the first one. The second question would be on pricing. You mentioned headwinds, especially in lower diameters. You mentioned before that you have a power edge in 200-millimeter, which should aid you in competing with China in that field. Do you see China being more active there? If not much, then what precisely can they replicate in terms of this power edge in 200-millimeter that you have? What prevents them from taking more share in these wafers? Thank you. Thank you, Daniel, for your questions. The first one, we have always said that we are exposed to all major segments in the industry. That means memory, logic, and power, almost with an equal share, with a slight overexposure into the memory segment. What we see in terms of market share is, of course, an average of those segments, an average of multiple customer effects. Here we are on a stable track. It's typically a give and take at certain segments and customers, which holds true for us and our competitors as well. Therefore, there are no major shifts at all from AI-driven demand, where we are benefiting and participating as well as some of our peers. With regards to the pricing, yes, it's more pronounced in the lower diameters. Particularly, China was the question. I think China is well advanced at lower diameters. That's what we always said. The smaller the diameter, the more, let's say, that the China activity there, the more also the pricing pressure is pronounced. That was one of the reasons why we exited the small diameter business. Everything below 150 millimeter is history for Siltronic. We concluded that phase out in the middle of the year. 200 millimeter, as we said, is under some pressure. Volumes are stable, roughly, but not growing. In 300 millimeter, we see a significantly growing volume trend, which is driven by AI-driven demand. Here, I would say the Chinese competition is on the way to localize some of their activities. It means Chinese chip manufacturers also buy from Chinese suppliers, certain wafers. Outside China, we see some activities on lower-grade test wafers and simple specifications. There is, let's say, no breakthrough news or any significant change to our statements we made around this situation in previous calls. Thank you. The next question comes from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies. Please go ahead. Good morning, Michael, Claudia. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I've got three. I just want to start a little bit on momentum and customer conversations into next year a little bit. I understand that, you know, 200-millimeter, I think that's kind of expected. No major improvement there. Industrial activity is expected to remain relatively sluggish next year. The focus is obviously on 300. Looking at 300, legacy 300 seems to be flat to improving, and obviously, leading-edge 300-millimeter is doing all the work. I'm just trying to get a feel for what your customers are saying in terms of what they potentially expect next year. Within the mix of legacy and leading-edge 300-millimeter, could you give us an indication of how much the mix today is? It doesn't have to be for Siltronic because I know that you typically don't provide this for Siltronic, but maybe a market indication. How much is leading edge today of 300-millimeter compared to legacy 300-millimeter? Let's start with that. Yeah. Hi, Constantin, and thank you very much for your questions. As you know, today we don't guide 2026. My comments around your questions will be a bit more, let's say, high-level. I think you are absolutely right. The power segment is indeed the one being still significantly elevated in inventory levels, and that will not be depleted very short term. There will be definitely clear hangover effects into next year, which might, of course, particularly influence the 200-millimeter segment. In 300-millimeter, we see indeed the growth trend driven on leading-edge specifications on advanced nodes. It's a difficult task to kind of differentiate really between leading and legacy, as there are even multiple definitions in the market. The volume upswing will be mainly driven by larger, means higher specification, including leading edge, which will be, I think, a significant volume growth to be continued. On the other side, when you have in mind our chart with all those arrows, we would also see the major trends there being continuing into or beyond the year's end. It means the price and mix effects and particularly FX effects will be definitely opposing the described volume trends. That's maybe as much as I can say today for an early view into the market environment 2026. Could you maybe, Michael, just this follow-up on that? I mean, let me try it differently. Compared to conversations that you were having with customers at the end of 2024, are our conversations today showing a bit more? Are they more optimistic today? Are they perhaps a little bit more positive compared to what they were then? Is there any reason to be a bit more positive about 2026 than you would have been at the end of 2024? Yes. I think, by and large, we can say that the memory environment is, let's say, on a more positive tune. In the meantime, some of the customers are back to really healthy inventory levels. Not everybody. There are still elevations here and there. That's, I think, better in terms of tonality and atmosphere. Logic never was that bad anyway. Especially leading-edge logic is a driver of this whole development and particularly loaded in the industry. Power, as I indicated already, is still, let's say, the worst out of those three segments, and it's going to hang over beyond the year's end for sure. For the other two segments, we can say tonality and atmosphere did brighten up a little bit. Okay. Sounds good. Claudia, going over to you, clearly trying to protect cash flow here given the continued sluggish environment. Just to have an idea, can you remind us again roughly what the repayment cycle is going to be over the next two or three years? For 2026 specifically, just to have an idea because obviously you won't be cutting CapEx further. Your maintenance CapEx runs at about EUR 200 million, EUR 250 million, or roughly EUR 200 million, as far as I understand. How should we think about the expansionary leg? Do you think you can bring free cash flow to at least break even next year? Let me put it like that. We don't guide for 2026 right now. Of course, I can provide some context around 2026. Right now, we have quite a solid cash position. Taking into account that we also have another roughly EUR 130 million undrawn loan, we have quite a good flexibility going into 2026. In Q4, we will start to repay loans with an amount of EUR 65 million roughly, and next year, roughly EUR 100 million or a bit more, EUR 105 million or so. Looking into 2027, there's more to come, more to repay. Most likely, we will have to make a refinancing next year. Of course, we try to protect our cash, as you said. We will bring down the CapEx level next year even further. Right now, we do not do any guidance on that. You have to wait until, let's say, February or so. I can promise that we will bring down our CapEx level next year again. As I mentioned during my speech, there will be a rollover effect from CapEx payments. Asset additions this year will lead to some CapEx outflows next year. This is more or less what we can say now about 2026. More details we will provide beginning of next year. Okay. Maybe just to try and go a little bit further into this, with regards to the refinancing, are you comfortable on the refinancing, or do you see any reason for having to go into equity markets here? Are you comfortable that you can refinance it all via debt? Definitely. There are several options that you can use to refinance. There's a high interest by financing partners. They are actively approaching us about refinancing. There's no doubt that we can refinance what has to be refinanced. Great. This is great. Last one, Michael, over to you. I think it's become quite important now because China is obviously becoming a bit more of a risk, it feels to me, compared to the last few years. I know that you don't break down mainland China, but I think it's really starting to get important to understand what the risk is for Siltronic if the Chinese start making a dent on volumes overall. How much of sales could we potentially be talking about being at risk, call it at 200-millimeter or 300-millimeter legacy? Just to have a rough idea of what the risk could be over the next three, four, maybe five years if the Chinese really start catching up. Thank you, Constantin. China is, let's say, we don't single out details. We say it's Greater China, so that means mainland China and Taiwan together for us are 36% of the revenue last year. What we also say is both are more than 10%, so both are double-digit. More details, you know, we're a bit reluctant to break down for, let's say, also competitive reasons. What I can say is we have a lower exposure to mainland China than some of our peers. We see in recent times more a, let's say, sidewards market share development for us, not a significant pressure or decrease. It's an attractive market for us. Some of the customers really love us as partners and are kind of building even relations with us. On the other side, of course, competition is building, there is growing there. We're fully aware of that. Let's say our exposure is not huge. It's smaller than, let's say, the average of the industry from the western manufacturing side's perspective. Okay. Okay. Thanks so much. The next question comes from Gustav Froberg with Berenberg. Please go ahead. Good morning all. Thank you for taking my questions as well. I have a couple, if I may. First, on sort of the sluggish recovery in wafer shipments. Clearly, things are happening, but slow, as has been the case in the last couple of quarters. With a bit of reflection, is there now anything you can point to in terms of maybe structural elements that are causing fab sort of buying to be a bit slower than it has been in the past, maybe elongated fab cycle times or anything of the sort? Is there anything you can point to in terms of a tipping point where you think this might change and properly reaccelerate again? Maybe a broader adoption of HBM memory or anything of the sort? That would be my first question. Second is around working capital contributions. You mentioned a positive uptick in working capital cash inflow in Q4. Could you help us understand the magnitude there, just so we can understand a little bit better how to think about the year-end cash balance? The last one's on loading in Singapore and just how you're progressing with the fab build-out there. Those would be my questions. Thank you. Thank you very much, Gustav. I will take your volume effect question and the loading in Singapore and then hand over to Claudia for the working capital-related question. Structural changes on volume effects, volume is driven by 300-millimeter, and it's by AI and some smaller effects around AI. In terms of high-bandwidth memory, we see that growing significantly. There are those effects you're mentioning, yes. A high-bandwidth memory wafer is maybe processed longer in a chip manufacturing cycle. On the other side, we see yield of those manufacturing is lower than standard memory yields. Therefore, there are two opposing effects. Overall, volumes seem to be almost on the 2022 levels, as some of our peers also reported. It looks quite a volume-growing situation again. Other structural effects I'm currently not aware of. When you add more complexity, the technical requirements on wafers get higher, which allows very close technical collaboration with customers, and which is maybe an additional burden for new entrants into this industry. That's maybe another thing where we see advanced leading edge and those kind of corners really have very high-tech requirements where, of course, we are perfectly, perfectly strategically positioned with our new fab in Singapore, having this fully automated and all the state-of-the-art metrology tools in place. That's now really, I think, a great positioning. That's maybe another effect that there's more high-tech and advanced requirements. With that, loading in Singapore is progressing as planned. We reduced initial ramp speeds, but now loading is gradually climbing up. We have achieved the major milestone mid of the year that major customers are now qualified for advanced and leading specifications there. Therefore, we can more and more use the fab. As indicated, we're doing the further ramp and bringing new or additional tools very carefully. We have some, as Claudia described, some hangover from our orders for the first wave of equipment coming into Singapore. We are kind of pulling the brake off more as we currently don't need it yet. We will think further scale up then really with market demand. With the qualifications being achieved, we are in a position now with using the capacity, doing some preferred loading there to drive volumes into Singapore, but in line with market demand and, of course, a relative restrictive CapEx approach to protect our cash. For the working capital question, Gustav, I hand over to Claudia. Thank you. Thank you, Gustav, for your question. As indicated in our guidance, Q4 is expected to be the strongest quarter in 2025. To ensure timely deliveries in Q4, we build up inventories in Q3. You see that in our balance sheet and also in the cash flow statement. This obviously led to a negative cash effect in Q3, which will reverse into a positive effect in Q4 when we reduce the inventory again. This is more or less the working capital effect that I mentioned. Regarding cash flow in Q4, as mentioned before, we anticipate an improvement in cash flow from investment activities as well. Those are the major factors impacting the cash flow in Q4. Okay. Super. Thank you. The next question comes from Florian Treisch with Kepler. Please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. My question is a bit more on, let's call it, very near-term demand. You reiterate your guidance more or less on or implying a clear uptick in demand looking into Q4. Can you maybe add some details to it or where your confidence is coming from? Have you already seen some kind of clear acceleration in October? Building on that question, would you be willing to call the bottom in Q3 and expect continued sequential growth in the coming quarters? I.e., would you be willing to say Q1 will likely be up sequentially over Q4 as well? I.e., it's really the worst behind us and now we can all benefit from volume recovery entering 2026. Thank you. Thank you, Florian. Great question. As we are already one month into Q4, confidence is growing by the day. As Claudia hinted, some of those, let's say, shifts of volumes from Q3 into Q4 have been already pre-produced in Q3 and are now scheduled with very clear, let's say, dates in most of the cases already. The year is only two months to go by and large. Confidence is growing there by the day. That was the reason why we definitely and clearly confirmed our full-year guidance there. Is Q3 the bottom of whatever timeframe? I don't know, to be honest. What we clearly say is Q3 is the bottom of the year. That was mainly because of those mentioned individual shifts. As we, you know, today not talk in detail about the next year, it would be a bit weird now to make a precise Q1 statement. I'm really not in a position to do that. Q3 is the bottom of this year based on very individual customer shifts and decisions by some of our customers rather than any more. Okay. Fair point. Thank you. The next question comes from Martin Jungfleisch with BNP Paribas. Please go ahead. Good morning. Two questions, please. The first one is on this cost-reduction or headcount reduction that you mentioned. Could you just provide some color on this one? When this will be implemented and what kind of full cost-savings run rate we should expect from that? Good morning, Martin. Siltronic has a strong track record of sustainable cost reductions, and we implemented that cost program at the end of 2023, beginning of 2024, in order to deal with the weak market environment. Our cost program, as we mentioned, is addressing all cost categories across all sites, and it's definitely strengthening our resilience. You can see that probably already in Q3 with the low sales volume. We still achieved an EBITDA margin of 22%. I think that speaks for itself. Regarding definite numbers, we are a bit reluctant or we don't want to communicate on how the program is going despite the fact that it's going well. We do not communicate any targets. I hope that the numbers speak for themselves because you see that we have reached quite a resilience in our cost position, I would say. Yeah. Maybe to build on this, Martin, the statement that we already came down 10% in headcount globally compared to 2022 levels, I mean, it's, I think, a clear message. Of course, there's a countereffect when you ramp a new fab in Singapore. You have to build certain headcounts. This is even overcompensated by headcount savings in other areas. Therefore, I think, as you know, labor is cost driver number one. It's, I think, a clear proof point that it's going pretty well in that corner. Got it. You expect incremental cost savings in Q4 versus Q3 as well, right? Definitely. It's not continuous. Sometimes it's more of a step function, but we expect sequential improvements at least until the end of 2026. We have to decide how to continue with the cost program. We do not stop. That makes sense. Secondly, just on pricing, I mean, it's 300-millimeter as you ramp the Singapore volumes over the next quarter. Should this not have a positive effect on the total 300-millimeter pricing environment, given that contract pricing for these fab mix volumes should be significantly ahead of the levels that we are seeing today? I guess, should you see a tailwind on 300-millimeter from these contracts as you increase in the mix next year, or is this not a correct assumption? When we, Martin, when we talk about pricing, it's, of course, a mixture of multiple effects. Roughly speaking, two-thirds of our business is in LTAs, and here the prices are as contracted, and there is also no change to that statement. What we see outside LTAs, and that's about 1/3 of the business, is indeed some price pressure that is, let's say, increasing. If you have a small effect on a quarterly basis and you accumulate that over a couple of quarters, it's not so small anymore. When we talk about pricing overall, it's the average of those 2/3 as contracted and 1/3 that is under some, let's say, price pressure. Going forward, we don't see any, let's say, indication that that will change, because, yes, we are ramping more volumes in the new fab. Outside the LTAs and outside, let's say, the core of the 300-millimeter business, the price pressure is persisting and is ongoing. Therefore, overall, I don't see, let's say, a very short-term change in this pricing trend. Okay. Got it. That's helpful. Thank you. The next question comes from Jimmy Huang with JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Can we talk about which applications we might be able to raise prices of silicon wafers next year, or maybe at least reflecting higher costs to customers? Are only AI-related applications such as HBM and leading-edge logic have this kind of chance? In the meantime, will other mainstream non-AI markets even face spot price erosion pressure next year? Yeah. Thank you. Jimmy, it was very difficult to really get the point of your question. Can I ask you to repeat maybe the essence of the question again? Also, the line was a bit noisy. Thank you for taking my questions. I was trying to ask about the silicon wafer price trajectories into next year. Can we talk about the different applications such as AI-related and non-AI applications? Do we see any different pricing trajectories for silicon wafers into next year? Thank you. Okay, I hope I got it. The question was whether there are different pricing tendencies in different segments, particularly in the AI segment? Yes, yes, yes, please. Yeah. Okay. It's not so much about, let's say, end segments for us. It's more about really wafer specifications. When we talk about leading edge, what we always said is it's a very clear strategic focus for us. Here we have indeed higher prices, higher margins, and also a slightly above-average market share. That holds without any change. The pricing is more driven by, let's say, technical detailed specifications in certain projects rather than by end market segment overall. There are certainly also, let's say, more standard AI-related wafers in the power segment, for example. When you do power supply in those data centers, also some, let's say, chips are required in the power segment, which they also claim to be AI-related demand and market dynamics. That would be rather standard wafers being needed for those sort of applications. I think technical specification, impurity levels, defect levels, geometry, and physical properties of the wafer, and, let's say, the increase in these specifications are, let's say, more the driver for the pricing in the end rather than, let's say, an overall segment. I would not say that every wafer that is related to AI is different in pricing. I see. Understood. Thank you. Can I have a follow-up question? Yeah. For 300-millimeter wafers, based on your company's own supply-demand projections, I think with 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates returning to 95%, the level that silicon wafer suppliers could have certain bargaining power over its customers. Currently, there's no visibility that the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rate could return to such high level based on your customer discussions or based on your industry observations. Thank you. Yeah. 300-millimeter customers. Jimmy, we apologize. It's really difficult to understand the question. Was it the way about 300-millimeter volume at customers brings us a different power in negotiations? Not sure whether it might be my issue, but I was trying to ask about what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates. We see there's so many industry supplies, and we don't think that the 300-millimeter wafers have high utilization rates. We would like to ask you what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates over the next few quarters. Okay. Now I think I got it. It was about UT in 300-millimeter and in general. I'm not able to talk about different segments UT, but what we know is the UT did climb up again. We have a situation that some of our peers and some of the market analysts are reporting already volumes being back on 2022 levels. On the other side, in the meantime, some capacity has been added. A high-level estimate would be that the UT is somewhere around 80% in the overall industry. You know that contains, let's say, certain error bars. It might be higher in, let's say, in segments where the volume demand is picking up very quickly. It might be lower in segments where the volume demand is rather sluggish over the last couple of quarters. That's a number I heard in, let's say, in certain communications already. It's not our number, but that's maybe an indication with a significant error bar. I see. Thank you so much for answering the questions. Thank you. The next question comes from Robert Sanders with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Good morning. I'd also like to ask about utilization of EPI versus polished. I'm just interested to ask around the new facility, FabNext, that you're ramping up. Is that going to be primarily ramping up polished wafers, or will it move quickly to epitaxial wafers? The reason I'm asking is I would assume that the utilization rate of EPI is higher than the utilization rate of polished. Hi, Rob. Thank you very much for your question. EPI versus polished, I don't think there are substantial differences because both in 300-millimeter are driven by, let's say, leading edge and high-end demand. You're absolutely right. In Singapore, for the first time in 300-millimeter, we established also the EPI technology, which is also ramping at the same time as polished is doing. We're delivering both sorts of wafers out of our new fab in the meantime. Also, when we talk about major customer qualifications, this also comprises both polished and EPI wafers. Got it. In terms of China, your Japanese competitors talked about SMIC and Wahong not allowing them to compete for business anymore because they are under pressure to buy locally. What have you seen in China so far? We also hear and read such news flow. Current geopolitics is not hindering us. We have customers in China, which we are shipping to unchangedly. We have a team in place that is kind of monitoring new requirements and regulations coming out of Washington or wherever continuously and make, let's say, assessment, which is not sometimes a simple task. Those guys have to analyze 400 printed pages overnight sometimes. For the time being, we don't see any major effects on our business development with China from those regulations. Got it. Just the last question, with the covenants on the debt that you have, can you remind us what those are, whether it's interest coverage, net debt leverage, net debt to EBITDA, or anything like that? Just so we can understand any risks there may be as you go into losses. Thanks. Hi, Rob. I take your question regarding financial covenants. Our covenant is net debt to EBITDA. We do not disclose any further details on that, I think we gave you some hints regarding reaching net leverage, which was a discussion before. We are still confident that we will remain within the financial covenants. Got it. Thank you. The next question comes from Didier Scemama with Bank of America. Please go ahead. Yes. Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. A very quick one, maybe for Michael. I think you mentioned earlier that there were still excess inventories of wafers in the power segment, and in memory, things were normalizing, but there are still some pockets of inventories. I guess my question is, can you maybe quantify that? What do you estimate is the level of excess inventories or level of inventories in general in power and in memory relative to what it should be in a normalized market? Thank you. Thank you, Didier. Let's start with the memory segment first. They built up inventories, I think, for more than two years in the meantime. It's a kind of growing line and substantially above, let's say, healthy levels. In the very last quarter, we saw potentially the peak, as those levels did maybe come down a little bit. Now we need to watch out whether this was really the peak or whether it's more a sideways walk on an extremely large and high level. We need to check on further data coming out in the next quarters. Memory did come down significantly, I would say, on average, almost on healthy levels, which still means some customers are elevated. You know they also were significantly elevated in the past, and I think did a good homework both in managing this and also maybe with some advanced demand from the, let's say, particularly advanced specification high-bandwidth memory side. Therefore, overall, close to normalizing with a few customers still being elevated a little bit. Great. In power? Power, I think, across many players and almost the whole industry, is significantly elevated and not yet clear indications that they're really coming down, maybe flattening out, maybe saw the strongest growth in inventory. There's just one data point being below the second quarter. We need to really see whether those stabilizing and potentially decreasing trends are really manifesting in the quarters to come. Got it. I have a quick follow-up just on the memory side as well. I think estimated HBM demand is about, or current capacity, I should say, is about 400,000 wafers per month of a total DRAM capacity of about 1.9 million wafers per month. Is that roughly your exposure when it comes to wafers going into DRAM markets or a similar exposure to HBM? Do you think you are slightly underweight or slightly overweight HBMs? That would be helpful if you could help us understand that. I'm not sure where your numbers are coming from, but I'm, of course, very reluctant and maybe even must not comment on our exposure to those different segments. Our competitors would love, of course, to know our precise exposure to high-bandwidth memory. I can say very clearly we are well positioned there. As you know, we have a slight overexposure into the memory segment. Today, I am really not in a situation to give you more details there. Okay, that's fine. Thank you so much. We will take a follow-up question from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies. Please go ahead. Thank you. Very quick one. Michael, do you think that the volumes that are coming online in Singapore now that have started coming online in the second half and obviously the base effect next year, could these volumes compensate the loss of the smaller diameter that you closed in 2025? That's the first question. Second question, is the price pressure entirely focused in 200-millimeter, or is there some in 300-millimeter legacy? Let's start with these two. Thank you, Constantin. The DHD closure is really a small effect. We will see slight margin contributions from it as we communicated. The top-line contribution in the full year was a mid-single digit. This year, it's only half a year, so you can pretty much neglect it. The overall development will be covered by other effects like the volume growth, the price effects, and the FX effect. In that context, DHD closure this year is almost in the noise level top-line-wise. In terms of pricing pressure, it's, I would say, everywhere outside LTAs. The majority of the LTAs are on 300-millimeter, but there's also, of course, non-LTA 300-millimeter business. Here also, we see some price effects. It's always when we don't have LTAs, then you are more in price discussions. Perfect. Claudia, just a very quick one. Remind me again what the rough reimbursement is of the prepayments. I think you made a comment to that in Q2. I just wanted to get a quick, just a homework question. The prepayments, I think it's around EUR 50 million within the next 12 months. Great. Thank you so much. There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference back to Ms. Malgara for any additional or closing remarks. This concludes our Q&A session. Thank you for joining us today. We'll release our preliminary full-year 2025 figures on February 3. Please note that there will be no conference call on this day. The full set of numbers, including our annual report, will be published on March 12. On this slide, you can also see our next IR events. Thank you and have a good day. This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Speaker 10: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Siltronic's Q3 2025 results. Please note that this call is being recorded and streamed on Siltronic's website. The call will also be available as an on-demand version later today. Your participation in this call implies your consent with this. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Malgara, Senior Manager, Investor Relations at Siltronic. Please go ahead. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Siltronic 's Q3 2025 results. hello everyone and welcome to the presentation of siltronic 's q3 2025 results Please note that this call is being recorded and streamed on Siltronic 's website. please note that this call is being recorded and streamed on siltronic 's website The call will also be available as an on-demand version later today. the call will also be available as an on-demand version later today Your participation in this call implies your consent with this. your participation in this call implies your consent with this At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Stephanie Malgara, Senior Manager, Investor Relations at Siltronic . at this time i would like to turn the conference over to stephanie malgara senior manager investor relations at siltronic Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 9: Thank you, Cynthia. Welcome, everybody, to our Q3 2025 results presentation. This call will also be webcast live on siltronic.com. A replay of the call will be available on our website shortly after the end of the call. Our CEO, Michael Heckmeier, and our CFO, Claudia Schmitt, will give you an overview of our financials, the current market developments, and our guidance. After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions. Please note that management comments during this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of risk factors, I encourage you to review the safe harbor statement contained in today's press release and presentation. All documents relating to our Q3 2025 reporting are available on our website. I now turn the call over to Michael for his remarks. Thank you, Cynthia. thank you cynthia Welcome, everybody, to our Q3 2025 results presentation. welcome everybody to our q3 2025 results presentation This call will also be webcast live on siltronic.com. this call will also be webcast live on siltronic.com A replay of the call will be available on our website shortly after the end of the call. a replay of the call will be available on our website shortly after the end of the call Our CEO, Michael Heckmeier, and our CFO, Claudia Schmitt, will give you an overview of our financials, the current market developments, and our guidance. our ceo michael heckmeier and our cfo claudia schmitt will give you an overview of our financials the current market developments and our guidance After the presentation, we will be happy to take your questions. after the presentation we will be happy to take your questions Please note that management comments during this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. please note that management comments during this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties For a discussion of risk factors, I encourage you to review the safe harbor statement contained in today's press release and presentation. for a discussion of risk factors i encourage you to review the safe harbor statement contained in today's press release and presentation All documents relating to our Q3 2025 reporting are available on our website. all documents relating to our q3 2025 reporting are available on our website I now turn the call over to Michael for his remarks. i now turn the call over to michael for his remarks

Speaker 2: Thank you, Stephanie, and a warm welcome also from my side. Let me start with the key messages of today's call. As anticipated, Q3 was the weakest quarter of the year, mainly driven by expected volume shifts into Q4 and FX effects. The market environment remains challenging, and therefore, demand continues to be soft, in line with the trend we've observed in recent quarters. We managed the situation by taking active measures to control costs and cash. At the same time, we stay close to our customers, ensuring that we align production and deliveries with actual demand and remain a reliable partner. These measures help us to navigate the current environment effectively and deliver on our commitments. Today, we can confirm and specify our guidance for the full year, although we had to further adjust the FX assumption as the weakening U.S. dollar remains a relevant factor for our performance. Thank you, Stephanie, and a warm welcome also from my side. thank you stephanie and a warm welcome also from my side Let me start with the key messages of today's call. let me start with the key messages of today's call As anticipated, Q3 was the weakest quarter of the year, mainly driven by expected volume shifts into Q4 and FX effects. as anticipated q3 was the weakest quarter of the year mainly driven by expected volume shifts into q4 and fx effects The market environment remains challenging, and therefore, demand continues to be soft, in line with the trend we've observed in recent quarters. the market environment remains challenging and therefore demand continues to be soft in line with the trend we've observed in recent quarters We managed the situation by taking active measures to control costs and cash. we managed the situation by taking active measures to control costs and cash At the same time, we stay close to our customers, ensuring that we align production and deliveries with actual demand and remain a reliable partner. at the same time we stay close to our customers ensuring that we align production and deliveries with actual demand and remain a reliable partner These measures help us to navigate the current environment effectively and deliver on our commitments. these measures help us to navigate the current environment effectively and deliver on our commitments Today, we can confirm and specify our guidance for the full year, although we had to further adjust the FX assumption as the weakening U.S. dollar remains a relevant factor for our performance. today we can confirm and specify our guidance for the full year although we had to further adjust the fx assumption as the weakening u.s dollar remains a relevant factor for our performance Finally, as you've probably seen in the media over the past few weeks, there has been some positive news flow from the semiconductor industry. Several companies in our sector have improved their results, clearly benefiting from the ongoing AI momentum, particularly in the memory segment, which has gained further traction in recent months. I would like to emphasize that these effects are not yet visible in the short term for Siltronic, as some of our customers are still in the process of normalizing their inventory levels. Nevertheless, we see these announcements as confirmation of the long-term growth trend of the semiconductor and wafer industry, and we are well positioned to benefit once demand is further picking up. Let me give you a broad overview of our development in the third quarter. Claudia will provide more financial insights in just a moment. Finally, as you've probably seen in the media over the past few weeks, there has been some positive news flow from the semiconductor industry. finally as you've probably seen in the media over the past few weeks there has been some positive news flow from the semiconductor industry Several companies in our sector have improved their results, clearly benefiting from the ongoing AI momentum, particularly in the memory segment, which has gained further traction in recent months. several companies in our sector have improved their results clearly benefiting from the ongoing ai momentum particularly in the memory segment which has gained further traction in recent months I would like to emphasize that these effects are not yet visible in the short term for Siltronic , as some of our customers are still in the process of normalizing their inventory levels. i would like to emphasize that these effects are not yet visible in the short term for siltronic as some of our customers are still in the process of normalizing their inventory levels Nevertheless, we see these announcements as confirmation of the long-term growth trend of the semiconductor and wafer industry, and we are well positioned to benefit once demand is further picking up. nevertheless we see these announcements as confirmation of the long-term growth trend of the semiconductor and wafer industry and we are well positioned to benefit once demand is further picking up Let me give you a broad overview of our development in the third quarter. let me give you a broad overview of our development in the third quarter Claudia will provide more financial insights in just a moment. claudia will provide more financial insights in just a moment In line with our expectations, sales and profitability weakened in Q3. Sales came in at EUR 300 million, which is a decline compared to Q2. This development mainly reflects the temporary volume shift into the final quarter of the year, as well as the continued FX headwinds. Our EBITDA margin was 21.9% compared to 26.3% in Q2. The decline was primarily driven by lower sales volumes and FX effects. As a result of the reduced EBITDA and because of significantly higher scheduled depreciation related to our new fab in Singapore, EBIT fell to EUR -31 million. CapEx totaled EUR 90 million, primarily related to our new fab in Singapore. Consequently, and as anticipated, the net cash flow remained negative at EUR 30 million. Finally, our market share remains stable on a year-to-date basis. This underscores our resilience in a continued challenging market environment. Let's move to the financials. Claudia, please. In line with our expectations, sales and profitability weakened in Q3. in line with our expectations sales and profitability weakened in q3 Sales came in at EUR 300 million, which is a decline compared to Q2. sales came in at eur 300 million which is a decline compared to q2 This development mainly reflects the temporary volume shift into the final quarter of the year, as well as the continued FX headwinds. this development mainly reflects the temporary volume shift into the final quarter of the year as well as the continued fx headwinds Our EBITDA margin was 21.9% compared to 26.3% in Q2. our ebitda margin was 21.9% compared to 26.3% in q2 The decline was primarily driven by lower sales volumes and FX effects. the decline was primarily driven by lower sales volumes and fx effects As a result of the reduced EBITDA and because of significantly higher scheduled depreciation related to our new fab in Singapore, EBIT fell to EUR -31 million. as a result of the reduced ebitda and because of significantly higher scheduled depreciation related to our new fab in singapore ebit fell to eur -31 million CapEx totaled EUR 90 million, primarily related to our new fab in Singapore. capex totaled eur 90 million primarily related to our new fab in singapore Consequently, and as anticipated, the net cash flow remained negative at EUR 30 million. consequently and as anticipated the net cash flow remained negative at eur 30 million Finally, our market share remains stable on a year-to-date basis. finally our market share remains stable on a year-to-date basis This underscores our resilience in a continued challenging market environment. this underscores our resilience in a continued challenging market environment Let's move to the financials. let's move to the financials Claudia, please. claudia please

Speaker 11: Thank you, Michael. A warm welcome from my side as well. I'm pleased to walk you through our performance over the past quarter and highlight key developments. As Michael mentioned, sales in Q3 developed in line with our expectations, totaling EUR 300 million, an 8.7% decline compared to the previous quarter. This decrease was mainly driven by a lower wafer area sold due to a planned shift to Q4 and by FX effects. The euro continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, reaching an average rate of 1.17 in Q3 compared to 1.13 in the previous quarter, which had a noticeable impact on our reported sales. In addition, we saw slightly negative price effects. Our EBITDA came in at EUR 66 million, down EUR 20 million compared to Q2. This decline resulted from weaker sales and the ramp-up cost of our new fab in Singapore, recorded in the P&L since August. Thank you, Michael. thank you michael A warm welcome from my side as well. a warm welcome from my side as well I'm pleased to walk you through our performance over the past quarter and highlight key developments. i'm pleased to walk you through our performance over the past quarter and highlight key developments As Michael mentioned, sales in Q3 developed in line with our expectations, totaling EUR 300 million, an 8.7% decline compared to the previous quarter. as michael mentioned sales in q3 developed in line with our expectations totaling eur 300 million an 8.7% decline compared to the previous quarter This decrease was mainly driven by a lower wafer area sold due to a planned shift to Q4 and by FX effects. this decrease was mainly driven by a lower wafer area sold due to a planned shift to q4 and by fx effects The euro continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, reaching an average rate of 1.17 in Q3 compared to 1.13 in the previous quarter, which had a noticeable impact on our reported sales. the euro continued to strengthen against the u.s dollar reaching an average rate of 1.17 in q3 compared to 1.13 in the previous quarter which had a noticeable impact on our reported sales In addition, we saw slightly negative price effects. in addition we saw slightly negative price effects Our EBITDA came in at EUR 66 million, down EUR 20 million compared to Q2. our ebitda came in at eur 66 million down eur 20 million compared to q2 This decline resulted from weaker sales and the ramp-up cost of our new fab in Singapore, recorded in the P&L since August. this decline resulted from weaker sales and the ramp-up cost of our new fab in singapore recorded in the p&l since august As previously communicated, this will weigh on our profitability for now; however, the impact will ease as volume grows. In the quarter-on-quarter profitability comparison, it is also worth noting that Q2 benefited from a positive non-operating effect related to spare parts valuation. Consequently, the EBITDA margin declined to 21.9%. Along with the successful customer qualifications, depreciation for the new fab also started in August, having a significant effect on our EBIT, which amounted to EUR -31 million. Taking all these factors into account, Q3 net income came in at EUR -44 million. Let's move on to the balance sheet, which shows a solid and healthy structure. When comparing the nine-month figures, please keep in mind that significant portions of our balance sheet are subject to the translation of Singapore and U.S. dollars into euros, and that the euro's appreciation has resulted in FX valuation effects. As previously communicated, this will weigh on our profitability for now; however, the impact will ease as volume grows. as previously communicated this will weigh on our profitability for now however the impact will ease as volume grows In the quarter-on-quarter profitability comparison, it is also worth noting that Q2 benefited from a positive non-operating effect related to spare parts valuation. in the quarter-on-quarter profitability comparison it is also worth noting that q2 benefited from a positive non-operating effect related to spare parts valuation Consequently, the EBITDA margin declined to 21.9%. consequently the ebitda margin declined to 21.9% Along with the successful customer qualifications, depreciation for the new fab also started in August, having a significant effect on our EBIT, which amounted to EUR -31 million. along with the successful customer qualifications depreciation for the new fab also started in august having a significant effect on our ebit which amounted to eur -31 million Taking all these factors into account, Q3 net income came in at EUR -44 million. taking all these factors into account q3 net income came in at eur -44 million Let's move on to the balance sheet, which shows a solid and healthy structure. let's move on to the balance sheet which shows a solid and healthy structure When comparing the nine-month figures, please keep in mind that significant portions of our balance sheet are subject to the translation of Singapore and U.S. dollars into euros, and that the euro's appreciation has resulted in FX valuation effects. when comparing the nine-month figures please keep in mind that significant portions of our balance sheet are subject to the translation of singapore and u.s dollars into euros and that the euro's appreciation has resulted in fx valuation effects Following this, total assets stood at EUR 4.9 billion at the end of September, compared to EUR 5.1 billion at the end of 2024. The euro's strength was most visible in fixed assets, given our significant presence and ongoing invest focus in Singapore. Despite CapEx exceeding depreciation, fixed assets declined due to a 6% depreciation of the Singapore dollar. Cash inflows from operations, combined with the partial drawdown of our syndicated loan in Q2, did not fully cover CapEx payments and prepayment refunds over the nine-month period. Consequently, cash and securities declined to EUR 510 million, yet our liquidity position remains solid. In turn, trade payables, mainly those related to investment activities, decreased from EUR 280 million at the end of 2024 to EUR 232 million by the end of September, and prepayments were reduced to EUR 529 million. Financial liabilities increased as planned by EUR 36 million. Following this, total assets stood at EUR 4.9 billion at the end of September, compared to EUR 5.1 billion at the end of 2024. following this total assets stood at eur 4.9 billion at the end of september compared to eur 5.1 billion at the end of 2024 The euro's strength was most visible in fixed assets, given our significant presence and ongoing invest focus in Singapore. the euro's strength was most visible in fixed assets given our significant presence and ongoing invest focus in singapore Despite CapEx exceeding depreciation, fixed assets declined due to a 6% depreciation of the Singapore dollar. despite capex exceeding depreciation fixed assets declined due to a 6% depreciation of the singapore dollar Cash inflows from operations, combined with the partial drawdown of our syndicated loan in Q2, did not fully cover CapEx payments and prepayment refunds over the nine-month period. cash inflows from operations combined with the partial drawdown of our syndicated loan in q2 did not fully cover capex payments and prepayment refunds over the nine-month period Consequently, cash and securities declined to EUR 510 million, yet our liquidity position remains solid. consequently cash and securities declined to eur 510 million yet our liquidity position remains solid In turn, trade payables, mainly those related to investment activities, decreased from EUR 280 million at the end of 2024 to EUR 232 million by the end of September, and prepayments were reduced to EUR 529 million. in turn trade payables mainly those related to investment activities decreased from eur 280 million at the end of 2024 to eur 232 million by the end of september and prepayments were reduced to eur 529 million Financial liabilities increased as planned by EUR 36 million. financial liabilities increased as planned by eur 36 million Our equity ratio remains stable at a healthy level of 43%. As you can see, our CapEx has been significantly scaled back since the peak in 2023, totaling EUR 308 million year to date, and demonstrating our continued focus on disciplined capital allocation. However, payments for capital expenditures once again exceeded the invest level, reaching EUR 340 million year to date. Such timing differences between CapEx and payments are influenced by factors such as the timing of asset additions during the year, the completion of construction phases, or specific payment terms. Looking ahead, we anticipate some rollover effects into 2026, though at a lower investment level. Let's turn to our cash and debt position. Liquidity decreased from EUR 664 million at year-end 2024 to EUR 507 million as of September 2025, mainly due to substantial CapEx outflows and the repayment of prepayments. Our equity ratio remains stable at a healthy level of 43%. our equity ratio remains stable at a healthy level of 43% As you can see, our CapEx has been significantly scaled back since the peak in 2023, totaling EUR 308 million year to date, and demonstrating our continued focus on disciplined capital allocation. as you can see our capex has been significantly scaled back since the peak in 2023 totaling eur 308 million year to date and demonstrating our continued focus on disciplined capital allocation However, payments for capital expenditures once again exceeded the invest level, reaching EUR 340 million year to date. however payments for capital expenditures once again exceeded the invest level reaching eur 340 million year to date Such timing differences between CapEx and payments are influenced by factors such as the timing of asset additions during the year, the completion of construction phases, or specific payment terms. such timing differences between capex and payments are influenced by factors such as the timing of asset additions during the year the completion of construction phases or specific payment terms Looking ahead, we anticipate some rollover effects into 2026, though at a lower investment level. looking ahead we anticipate some rollover effects into 2026 though at a lower investment level Let's turn to our cash and debt position. let's turn to our cash and debt position Liquidity decreased from EUR 664 million at year-end 2024 to EUR 507 million as of September 2025, mainly due to substantial CapEx outflows and the repayment of prepayments. liquidity decreased from eur 664 million at year-end 2024 to eur 507 million as of september 2025 mainly due to substantial capex outflows and the repayment of prepayments Including the undrawn EUR 127 million portion of the syndicated loan, we continue to maintain strong financial flexibility. Financial debt remains stable at around EUR 1.55 billion, with initial repayments of around EUR 65 million scheduled to begin in Q4. Compared to our Q2 communication, the overall debt level, drawn facilities, and maturity profile are largely unchanged. Net financial debt amounted to EUR 933 million at the end of Q3, marking the peak for 2025. In Q4, we expect an improvement driven by superior business development, positive working capital contributions, and an improved cash flow from investing activities. With that, I'll hand it back over to Michael. Including the undrawn EUR 127 million portion of the syndicated loan, we continue to maintain strong financial flexibility. including the undrawn eur 127 million portion of the syndicated loan we continue to maintain strong financial flexibility Financial debt remains stable at around EUR 1.55 billion, with initial repayments of around EUR 65 million scheduled to begin in Q4. financial debt remains stable at around eur 1.55 billion with initial repayments of around eur 65 million scheduled to begin in q4 Compared to our Q2 communication, the overall debt level, drawn facilities, and maturity profile are largely unchanged. compared to our q2 communication the overall debt level drawn facilities and maturity profile are largely unchanged Net financial debt amounted to EUR 933 million at the end of Q3, marking the peak for 2025. net financial debt amounted to eur 933 million at the end of q3 marking the peak for 2025 In Q4, we expect an improvement driven by superior business development, positive working capital contributions, and an improved cash flow from investing activities. in q4 we expect an improvement driven by superior business development positive working capital contributions and an improved cash flow from investing activities With that, I'll hand it back over to Michael. with that i'll hand it back over to michael

Speaker 2: Thank you, Claudia. Let's take a look at the key factors that influence our performance. We see a gradual recovery in volume since the sharp decline in 2023. This is mainly driven by the 300-millimeter segment, where demand has started to pick up again, an encouraging signal after two softer years. We clearly expect this volume upturn to continue beyond 2025. However, 200-millimeter demand remains weak, primarily because the power segment still has high inventories and is suffering from some end-market weakness. Regarding prices, we see a continuous price decline outside our LTAs, which is visible in all diameters, but more pronounced in the segments below 300 millimeter. It is likely that we will continue to face this trend beyond 2025. In addition, foreign exchange effects are substantial, as the weaker U.S. dollar had a significant impact on reported sales. Compared to the U.S. Thank you, Claudia. thank you claudia Let's take a look at the key factors that influence our performance. let's take a look at the key factors that influence our performance We see a gradual recovery in volume since the sharp decline in 2023. we see a gradual recovery in volume since the sharp decline in 2023 This is mainly driven by the 300-millimeter segment, where demand has started to pick up again, an encouraging signal after two softer years. this is mainly driven by the 300-millimeter segment where demand has started to pick up again an encouraging signal after two softer years We clearly expect this volume upturn to continue beyond 2025. we clearly expect this volume upturn to continue beyond 2025 However, 200-millimeter demand remains weak, primarily because the power segment still has high inventories and is suffering from some end-market weakness. however 200-millimeter demand remains weak primarily because the power segment still has high inventories and is suffering from some end-market weakness Regarding prices, we see a continuous price decline outside our LTAs, which is visible in all diameters, but more pronounced in the segments below 300 millimeter. regarding prices we see a continuous price decline outside our ltas which is visible in all diameters but more pronounced in the segments below 300 millimeter It is likely that we will continue to face this trend beyond 2025. it is likely that we will continue to face this trend beyond 2025 In addition, foreign exchange effects are substantial, as the weaker U.S. dollar had a significant impact on reported sales. in addition foreign exchange effects are substantial as the weaker u.s dollar had a significant impact on reported sales Compared to the U.S. compared to the u.s dollar level at the beginning of the year, the euro has strengthened significantly, which translates into an expected negative top-line impact of around EUR 50 million in 2025 versus 2024. Over the past three years, we have incurred more than EUR 100 million in sales losses due to unfavorable FX exchange rate developments. Let me summarize the main developments we see across end markets. Overall, wafer consumption is expected to increase by up to 8% in 2025, driven by strong AI-related momentum. Recent tariff announcements have created uncertainty in the markets, but the underlying demand trend looks healthy, and overall, it's a significant improvement from the slight decline in 2023 when the downturn began. Server demand remains the key driver, continuing to benefit from the strong momentum in AI, particularly through sustained investments in data center infrastructure. dollar level at the beginning of the year, the euro has strengthened significantly, which translates into an expected negative top-line impact of around EUR 50 million in 2025 versus 2024. dollar level at the beginning of the year the euro has strengthened significantly which translates into an expected negative top-line impact of around eur 50 million in 2025 versus 2024 Over the past three years, we have incurred more than EUR 100 million in sales losses due to unfavorable FX exchange rate developments. over the past three years we have incurred more than eur 100 million in sales losses due to unfavorable fx exchange rate developments Let me summarize the main developments we see across end markets. let me summarize the main developments we see across end markets Overall, wafer consumption is expected to increase by up to 8% in 2025, driven by strong AI-related momentum. overall wafer consumption is expected to increase by up to 8% in 2025 driven by strong ai-related momentum Recent tariff announcements have created uncertainty in the markets, but the underlying demand trend looks healthy, and overall, it's a significant improvement from the slight decline in 2023 when the downturn began. recent tariff announcements have created uncertainty in the markets but the underlying demand trend looks healthy and overall it's a significant improvement from the slight decline in 2023 when the downturn began Server demand remains the key driver, continuing to benefit from the strong momentum in AI, particularly through sustained investments in data center infrastructure. server demand remains the key driver continuing to benefit from the strong momentum in ai particularly through sustained investments in data center infrastructure The PC market has shown a substantial step up, largely due to the launch of Microsoft Windows 11, which has significantly increased demand. Overall, the majority of this growth comes from content and only a smaller share coming from unit growth. This underlines that the innovation model for all end markets is intact. Looking at specific inventory levels, memory inventories are starting to come down, which is encouraging. Other logic inventories are in good shape; however, as previously mentioned, power inventories remain elevated. It is important to note that inventory headwinds persist, although they are gradually decreasing. They continue to dampen the full volume impact on wafer demand. Foreign exchange continues to be one of Siltronic's main external headwinds. Why is this? We have a U.S. dollar exposure of more than 80% of our top line. This makes us sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations. The PC market has shown a substantial step up, largely due to the launch of Microsoft Windows 11, which has significantly increased demand. the pc market has shown a substantial step up largely due to the launch of microsoft windows 11 which has significantly increased demand Overall, the majority of this growth comes from content and only a smaller share coming from unit growth. overall the majority of this growth comes from content and only a smaller share coming from unit growth This underlines that the innovation model for all end markets is intact. this underlines that the innovation model for all end markets is intact Looking at specific inventory levels, memory inventories are starting to come down, which is encouraging. looking at specific inventory levels memory inventories are starting to come down which is encouraging Other logic inventories are in good shape; however, as previously mentioned, power inventories remain elevated. other logic inventories are in good shape however as previously mentioned power inventories remain elevated It is important to note that inventory headwinds persist, although they are gradually decreasing. it is important to note that inventory headwinds persist although they are gradually decreasing They continue to dampen the full volume impact on wafer demand. they continue to dampen the full volume impact on wafer demand Foreign exchange continues to be one of Siltronic's main external headwinds. foreign exchange continues to be one of siltronic's main external headwinds Why is this? why is this We have a U.S. dollar exposure of more than 80% of our top line. we have a u.s dollar exposure of more than 80% of our top line This makes us sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations. this makes us sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations Throughout 2025, this headwind has accelerated, driven by the continuous weakening of the U.S. dollar against the euro, with a particularly strong impact on the second half of the year. Without this effect, our sales would be roughly at the same level as last year, rather than showing a decline. Let me briefly outline how we manage the current market environment in a proactive and decisive manner. The measures will sound familiar to many of you, as we have consistently been emphasizing these priorities over the past quarters. Firstly, we are maintaining strict CapEx discipline. We have deferred selected investments, especially for our new fab in Singapore, in synchronization with market demand. Also, we apply restrictive new project approvals to ensure that every euro spent is fully aligned with our strategic priorities. Secondly, we've launched a comprehensive program covering all key cost drivers. Throughout 2025, this headwind has accelerated, driven by the continuous weakening of the U.S. dollar against the euro, with a particularly strong impact on the second half of the year. throughout 2025 this headwind has accelerated driven by the continuous weakening of the u.s dollar against the euro with a particularly strong impact on the second half of the year Without this effect, our sales would be roughly at the same level as last year, rather than showing a decline. without this effect our sales would be roughly at the same level as last year rather than showing a decline Let me briefly outline how we manage the current market environment in a proactive and decisive manner. let me briefly outline how we manage the current market environment in a proactive and decisive manner The measures will sound familiar to many of you, as we have consistently been emphasizing these priorities over the past quarters. the measures will sound familiar to many of you as we have consistently been emphasizing these priorities over the past quarters Firstly, we are maintaining strict CapEx discipline. firstly we are maintaining strict capex discipline We have deferred selected investments, especially for our new fab in Singapore, in synchronization with market demand. we have deferred selected investments especially for our new fab in singapore in synchronization with market demand Also, we apply restrictive new project approvals to ensure that every euro spent is fully aligned with our strategic priorities. also we apply restrictive new project approvals to ensure that every euro spent is fully aligned with our strategic priorities Secondly, we've launched a comprehensive program covering all key cost drivers. secondly we've launched a comprehensive program covering all key cost drivers Our goal is to drive efficiency and secure lasting savings across our operations without compromising our technological capabilities and customer service. I will provide more details shortly. Thirdly, we continue further cash measures, such as closing our small diameter line or working capital management. Together, these actions strengthen our financial resilience and ensure that we remain well-positioned, even in this challenging market phase. This slide provides a closer look at our capital expenditure. As you can see, 2023 marked the peak of our investment cycle, mainly driven by our new fab in Singapore. Since then, CapEx has come down significantly, and this trend continues in 2025. If you look at the right-hand side of this chart, you can see that CapEx has declined steadily on a half-year basis. Our goal is to drive efficiency and secure lasting savings across our operations without compromising our technological capabilities and customer service. our goal is to drive efficiency and secure lasting savings across our operations without compromising our technological capabilities and customer service I will provide more details shortly. i will provide more details shortly Thirdly, we continue further cash measures, such as closing our small diameter line or working capital management. thirdly we continue further cash measures such as closing our small diameter line or working capital management Together, these actions strengthen our financial resilience and ensure that we remain well-positioned, even in this challenging market phase. together these actions strengthen our financial resilience and ensure that we remain well-positioned even in this challenging market phase This slide provides a closer look at our capital expenditure. this slide provides a closer look at our capital expenditure As you can see, 2023 marked the peak of our investment cycle, mainly driven by our new fab in Singapore. as you can see 2023 marked the peak of our investment cycle mainly driven by our new fab in singapore Since then, CapEx has come down significantly, and this trend continues in 2025. since then capex has come down significantly and this trend continues in 2025 If you look at the right-hand side of this chart, you can see that CapEx has declined steadily on a half-year basis. if you look at the right-hand side of this chart you can see that capex has declined steadily on a half-year basis For the second half of this year, we expect a further reduction, reflecting our strict investment discipline and our ability to adapt to the market environment. Going forward, we'll continue to invest selectively and within the disciplined financial framework. I can assure you, our strategic focus remains unchanged: the ramp of our new fab in Singapore according to the market environment and a necessary steady-state CapEx level to support our global operations. Cost discipline has always been a strong part of Siltronic's DNA, and we continue to build on this strong track record. We have a global cross-functional program in place that targets all major cost categories: labor, supplies, raw material, and energy. One example I would like to emphasize is our headcount program, which is progressing as planned. For the second half of this year, we expect a further reduction, reflecting our strict investment discipline and our ability to adapt to the market environment. for the second half of this year we expect a further reduction reflecting our strict investment discipline and our ability to adapt to the market environment Going forward, we'll continue to invest selectively and within the disciplined financial framework. going forward we'll continue to invest selectively and within the disciplined financial framework I can assure you, our strategic focus remains unchanged: the ramp of our new fab in Singapore according to the market environment and a necessary steady-state CapEx level to support our global operations. i can assure you our strategic focus remains unchanged the ramp of our new fab in singapore according to the market environment and a necessary steady-state capex level to support our global operations Cost discipline has always been a strong part of Siltronic 's DNA, and we continue to build on this strong track record. cost discipline has always been a strong part of siltronic 's dna and we continue to build on this strong track record We have a global cross-functional program in place that targets all major cost categories: labor, supplies, raw material, and energy. we have a global cross-functional program in place that targets all major cost categories labor supplies raw material and energy One example I would like to emphasize is our headcount program, which is progressing as planned. one example i would like to emphasize is our headcount program which is progressing as planned By the end of September 2025, our total workforce was about 10% below the level of end 2022, despite the ramp of the new fab. Additionally, we are driving energy efficiency measures that have already reduced the electricity consumption by around 5% compared to 2022. All initiatives will run through until the end of 2026 and will contribute increasingly positively to our results over time. At the same time, during the ramp of our new 300-millimeter fab, we are temporarily seeing higher fixed costs that are not yet fully absorbed by production volumes. These costs have been capitalized until mid-2025 and since then are impacting our P&L. This will lead to temporary margin pressure. However, once volumes go up, the burden will significantly reduce. While we remain focused on cost discipline, we also build the foundation for the next growth phase. By the end of September 2025, our total workforce was about 10% below the level of end 2022, despite the ramp of the new fab. by the end of september 2025 our total workforce was about 10% below the level of end 2022 despite the ramp of the new fab Additionally, we are driving energy efficiency measures that have already reduced the electricity consumption by around 5% compared to 2022. additionally we are driving energy efficiency measures that have already reduced the electricity consumption by around 5% compared to 2022 All initiatives will run through until the end of 2026 and will contribute increasingly positively to our results over time. all initiatives will run through until the end of 2026 and will contribute increasingly positively to our results over time At the same time, during the ramp of our new 300-millimeter fab, we are temporarily seeing higher fixed costs that are not yet fully absorbed by production volumes. at the same time during the ramp of our new 300-millimeter fab we are temporarily seeing higher fixed costs that are not yet fully absorbed by production volumes These costs have been capitalized until mid-2025 and since then are impacting our P&L. these costs have been capitalized until mid-2025 and since then are impacting our p&l This will lead to temporary margin pressure. this will lead to temporary margin pressure However, once volumes go up, the burden will significantly reduce. however once volumes go up the burden will significantly reduce While we remain focused on cost discipline, we also build the foundation for the next growth phase. while we remain focused on cost discipline we also build the foundation for the next growth phase At the heart of this are our customers, and we are proud to do business with all big names in our industry. For the past 12 months, we have received multiple supplier awards from some of our key customers. Some of these are displayed in this slide. These recognitions are a strong validation of our technological leadership and reliability as a partner. The strong customer proximity not only reinforces our position as a trusted partner, but also helps us deliver solid results even in challenging market environments. In closing today's presentation, we would like to share our guidance for 2025. We confirm our full-year guidance, although we have further refined our FX assumption. Our outlook now reflects a new U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.17 for the second half of 2025, compared to 1.15 previously. Sales are still expected to come in mid-single digits below 2024 levels. At the heart of this are our customers, and we are proud to do business with all big names in our industry. at the heart of this are our customers and we are proud to do business with all big names in our industry For the past 12 months, we have received multiple supplier awards from some of our key customers. for the past 12 months we have received multiple supplier awards from some of our key customers Some of these are displayed in this slide. some of these are displayed in this slide These recognitions are a strong validation of our technological leadership and reliability as a partner. these recognitions are a strong validation of our technological leadership and reliability as a partner The strong customer proximity not only reinforces our position as a trusted partner, but also helps us deliver solid results even in challenging market environments. the strong customer proximity not only reinforces our position as a trusted partner but also helps us deliver solid results even in challenging market environments In closing today's presentation, we would like to share our guidance for 2025. in closing today's presentation we would like to share our guidance for 2025 We confirm our full-year guidance, although we have further refined our FX assumption. we confirm our full-year guidance although we have further refined our fx assumption Our outlook now reflects a new U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.17 for the second half of 2025, compared to 1.15 previously. our outlook now reflects a new u.s dollar exchange rate of 1.17 for the second half of 2025 compared to 1.15 previously Sales are still expected to come in mid-single digits below 2024 levels. sales are still expected to come in mid-single digits below 2024 levels We narrow our EBITDA guidance from 21%-25% to 22%-24%. EBITDA is expected to show a significant decline, mainly as a result of the start of the depreciation of our new fab in Singapore. Depreciation is now expected to be between EUR 340 million and EUR 360 million, compared to our previous guidance of between EUR 340 million and EUR 400 million. CapEx is expected to be between EUR 360 million and EUR 380 million, which was EUR 350 million-EUR 400 million previously. Last but not least, cash flow is projected to be significantly improved compared to last year, although it will remain notably negative due to our continued high investment activity. With this, we conclude our Q3 2025 results presentation, and Claudia and I are happy to take your questions. Thank you very much for your attention. Cynthia, please open the Q&A. We narrow our EBITDA guidance from 21% -2 5% to 22% - 24%. we narrow our ebitda guidance from 21% -2 5% to 22% - 24% EBITDA is expected to show a significant decline, mainly as a result of the start of the depreciation of our new fab in Singapore. ebitda is expected to show a significant decline mainly as a result of the start of the depreciation of our new fab in singapore Depreciation is now expected to be between EUR 340 million and EUR 360 million, compared to our previous guidance of between EUR 340 million and EUR 400 million. depreciation is now expected to be between eur 340 million and eur 360 million compared to our previous guidance of between eur 340 million and eur 400 million CapEx is expected to be between EUR 360 million and EUR 380 million, which was EUR 350 million - EUR 400 million previously. capex is expected to be between eur 360 million and eur 380 million which was eur 350 million - eur 400 million previously Last but not least, cash flow is projected to be significantly improved compared to last year, although it will remain notably negative due to our continued high investment activity. last but not least cash flow is projected to be significantly improved compared to last year although it will remain notably negative due to our continued high investment activity With this, we conclude our Q3 2025 results presentation, and Claudia and I are happy to take your questions. with this we conclude our q3 2025 results presentation and claudia and i are happy to take your questions Thank you very much for your attention. thank you very much for your attention Cynthia, please open the Q&A. cynthia please open the q&a

Speaker 10: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow the signal to reach our equipment. Again, press star one to ask a question. We'll pause for just a moment to allow everyone the opportunity to signal for questions. The first question comes from Daniel Schafei with Citigroup. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. if you would like to ask a question please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow the signal to reach our equipment. if you are using a speakerphone please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow the signal to reach our equipment Again, press star one to ask a question. again press star one to ask a question We'll pause for just a moment to allow everyone the opportunity to signal for questions. we'll pause for just a moment to allow everyone the opportunity to signal for questions The first question comes from Daniel Schafei with Citigroup. the first question comes from daniel schafei with citigroup Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 7: Hi. Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I just wanted to ask you on the competitive dynamics you're currently seeing. I'm just wondering, some of your peers are now past the trough and seeing stronger AI-driven demand for wafers, whereas you're kind of seeing a slightly lower benefit there, yet you're still pointing to a stable market share. I'm wondering, what are the drivers which help you maintain your share in this current environment where power is kind of weaker? That would be the first one. The second question would be on pricing. You mentioned headwinds, especially in lower diameters. You mentioned before that you have a power edge in 200-millimeter, which should aid you in competing with China in that field. Do you see China being more active there? Hi. hi Good morning. good morning Thank you for taking my question. thank you for taking my question I just wanted to ask you on the competitive dynamics you're currently seeing. i just wanted to ask you on the competitive dynamics you're currently seeing I'm just wondering, some of your peers are now past the trough and seeing stronger AI-driven demand for wafers, whereas you're kind of seeing a slightly lower benefit there, yet you're still pointing to a stable market share. i'm just wondering some of your peers are now past the trough and seeing stronger ai-driven demand for wafers whereas you're kind of seeing a slightly lower benefit there yet you're still pointing to a stable market share I'm wondering, what are the drivers which help you maintain your share in this current environment where power is kind of weaker? i'm wondering what are the drivers which help you maintain your share in this current environment where power is kind of weaker That would be the first one. that would be the first one The second question would be on pricing. the second question would be on pricing You mentioned headwinds, especially in lower diameters. you mentioned headwinds especially in lower diameters You mentioned before that you have a power edge in 200-millimeter, which should aid you in competing with China in that field. you mentioned before that you have a power edge in 200-millimeter which should aid you in competing with china in that field Do you see China being more active there? do you see china being more active there If not much, then what precisely can they replicate in terms of this power edge in 200-millimeter that you have? What prevents them from taking more share in these wafers? Thank you. If not much, then what precisely can they replicate in terms of this power edge in 200-millimeter that you have? if not much then what precisely can they replicate in terms of this power edge in 200-millimeter that you have What prevents them from taking more share in these wafers? what prevents them from taking more share in these wafers Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Thank you, Daniel, for your questions. The first one, we have always said that we are exposed to all major segments in the industry. That means memory, logic, and power, almost with an equal share, with a slight overexposure into the memory segment. What we see in terms of market share is, of course, an average of those segments, an average of multiple customer effects. Here we are on a stable track. It's typically a give and take at certain segments and customers, which holds true for us and our competitors as well. Therefore, there are no major shifts at all from AI-driven demand, where we are benefiting and participating as well as some of our peers. With regards to the pricing, yes, it's more pronounced in the lower diameters. Particularly, China was the question. I think China is well advanced at lower diameters. Thank you, Daniel, for your questions. thank you daniel for your questions The first one, we have always said that we are exposed to all major segments in the industry. the first one we have always said that we are exposed to all major segments in the industry That means memory, logic, and power, almost with an equal share, with a slight overexposure into the memory segment. that means memory logic and power almost with an equal share with a slight overexposure into the memory segment What we see in terms of market share is, of course, an average of those segments, an average of multiple customer effects. what we see in terms of market share is of course an average of those segments an average of multiple customer effects Here we are on a stable track. here we are on a stable track It's typically a give and take at certain segments and customers, which holds true for us and our competitors as well. it's typically a give and take at certain segments and customers which holds true for us and our competitors as well Therefore, there are no major shifts at all from AI-driven demand, where we are benefiting and participating as well as some of our peers. therefore there are no major shifts at all from ai-driven demand where we are benefiting and participating as well as some of our peers With regards to the pricing, yes, it's more pronounced in the lower diameters. with regards to the pricing yes it's more pronounced in the lower diameters Particularly, China was the question. particularly china was the question I think China is well advanced at lower diameters. i think china is well advanced at lower diameters That's what we always said. The smaller the diameter, the more, let's say, that the China activity there, the more also the pricing pressure is pronounced. That was one of the reasons why we exited the small diameter business. Everything below 150 millimeter is history for Siltronic. We concluded that phase out in the middle of the year. 200 millimeter, as we said, is under some pressure. Volumes are stable, roughly, but not growing. In 300 millimeter, we see a significantly growing volume trend, which is driven by AI-driven demand. Here, I would say the Chinese competition is on the way to localize some of their activities. It means Chinese chip manufacturers also buy from Chinese suppliers, certain wafers. Outside China, we see some activities on lower-grade test wafers and simple specifications. That's what we always said. that's what we always said The smaller the diameter, the more, let's say, that the China activity there, the more also the pricing pressure is pronounced. the smaller the diameter the more let's say that the china activity there the more also the pricing pressure is pronounced That was one of the reasons why we exited the small diameter business. that was one of the reasons why we exited the small diameter business Everything below 150 millimeter is history for Siltronic. everything below 150 millimeter is history for siltronic We concluded that phase out in the middle of the year. 200 millimeter, as we said, is under some pressure. we concluded that phase out in the middle of the year 200 millimeter as we said is under some pressure Volumes are stable, roughly, but not growing. volumes are stable roughly but not growing In 300 millimeter, we see a significantly growing volume trend, which is driven by AI-driven demand. in 300 millimeter we see a significantly growing volume trend which is driven by ai-driven demand Here, I would say the Chinese competition is on the way to localize some of their activities. here i would say the chinese competition is on the way to localize some of their activities It means Chinese chip manufacturers also buy from Chinese suppliers, certain wafers. it means chinese chip manufacturers also buy from chinese suppliers certain wafers Outside China, we see some activities on lower-grade test wafers and simple specifications. outside china we see some activities on lower-grade test wafers and simple specifications There is, let's say, no breakthrough news or any significant change to our statements we made around this situation in previous calls. There is, let's say, no breakthrough news or any significant change to our statements we made around this situation in previous calls. there is let's say no breakthrough news or any significant change to our statements we made around this situation in previous calls

Speaker 7: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies . the next question comes from constantin hesse with jefferies Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 5: Good morning, Michael, Claudia. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I've got three. I just want to start a little bit on momentum and customer conversations into next year a little bit. I understand that, you know, 200-millimeter, I think that's kind of expected. No major improvement there. Industrial activity is expected to remain relatively sluggish next year. The focus is obviously on 300. Looking at 300, legacy 300 seems to be flat to improving, and obviously, leading-edge 300-millimeter is doing all the work. I'm just trying to get a feel for what your customers are saying in terms of what they potentially expect next year. Within the mix of legacy and leading-edge 300-millimeter, could you give us an indication of how much the mix today is? Good morning, Michael, Claudia. good morning michael claudia Thank you very much for taking my questions. thank you very much for taking my questions I've got three. i've got three I just want to start a little bit on momentum and customer conversations into next year a little bit. i just want to start a little bit on momentum and customer conversations into next year a little bit I understand that, you know, 200-millimeter, I think that's kind of expected. i understand that you know 200-millimeter i think that's kind of expected No major improvement there. no major improvement there Industrial activity is expected to remain relatively sluggish next year. industrial activity is expected to remain relatively sluggish next year The focus is obviously on 300. the focus is obviously on 300 Looking at 300, legacy 300 seems to be flat to improving, and obviously, leading-edge 300-millimeter is doing all the work. looking at 300 legacy 300 seems to be flat to improving and obviously leading-edge 300-millimeter is doing all the work I'm just trying to get a feel for what your customers are saying in terms of what they potentially expect next year. i'm just trying to get a feel for what your customers are saying in terms of what they potentially expect next year Within the mix of legacy and leading-edge 300-millimeter, could you give us an indication of how much the mix today is? within the mix of legacy and leading-edge 300-millimeter could you give us an indication of how much the mix today is It doesn't have to be for Siltronic because I know that you typically don't provide this for Siltronic, but maybe a market indication. How much is leading edge today of 300-millimeter compared to legacy 300-millimeter? Let's start with that. It doesn't have to be for Siltronic because I know that you typically don't provide this for Siltronic, but maybe a market indication. it doesn't have to be for siltronic because i know that you typically don't provide this for siltronic but maybe a market indication How much is leading edge today of 300-millimeter compared to legacy 300-millimeter? how much is leading edge today of 300-millimeter compared to legacy 300-millimeter Let's start with that. let's start with that

Speaker 2: Yeah. Hi, Constantin, and thank you very much for your questions. As you know, today we don't guide 2026. My comments around your questions will be a bit more, let's say, high-level. I think you are absolutely right. The power segment is indeed the one being still significantly elevated in inventory levels, and that will not be depleted very short term. There will be definitely clear hangover effects into next year, which might, of course, particularly influence the 200-millimeter segment. In 300-millimeter, we see indeed the growth trend driven on leading-edge specifications on advanced nodes. It's a difficult task to kind of differentiate really between leading and legacy, as there are even multiple definitions in the market. The volume upswing will be mainly driven by larger, means higher specification, including leading edge, which will be, I think, a significant volume growth to be continued. Yeah. yeah Hi, Constantin, and thank you very much for your questions. hi constantin and thank you very much for your questions As you know, today we don't guide 2026. as you know today we don't guide 2026 My comments around your questions will be a bit more, let's say, high-level. my comments around your questions will be a bit more let's say high-level I think you are absolutely right. i think you are absolutely right The power segment is indeed the one being still significantly elevated in inventory levels, and that will not be depleted very short term. the power segment is indeed the one being still significantly elevated in inventory levels and that will not be depleted very short term There will be definitely clear hangover effects into next year, which might, of course, particularly influence the 200-millimeter segment. there will be definitely clear hangover effects into next year which might of course particularly influence the 200-millimeter segment In 300-millimeter, we see indeed the growth trend driven on leading-edge specifications on advanced nodes. in 300-millimeter we see indeed the growth trend driven on leading-edge specifications on advanced nodes It's a difficult task to kind of differentiate really between leading and legacy, as there are even multiple definitions in the market. it's a difficult task to kind of differentiate really between leading and legacy as there are even multiple definitions in the market The volume upswing will be mainly driven by larger, means higher specification, including leading edge, which will be, I think, a significant volume growth to be continued. the volume upswing will be mainly driven by larger means higher specification including leading edge which will be i think a significant volume growth to be continued On the other side, when you have in mind our chart with all those arrows, we would also see the major trends there being continuing into or beyond the year's end. It means the price and mix effects and particularly FX effects will be definitely opposing the described volume trends. That's maybe as much as I can say today for an early view into the market environment 2026. On the other side, when you have in mind our chart with all those arrows, we would also see the major trends there being continuing into or beyond the year's end. on the other side when you have in mind our chart with all those arrows we would also see the major trends there being continuing into or beyond the year's end It means the price and mix effects and particularly FX effects will be definitely opposing the described volume trends. it means the price and mix effects and particularly fx effects will be definitely opposing the described volume trends That's maybe as much as I can say today for an early view into the market environment 2026. that's maybe as much as i can say today for an early view into the market environment 2026

Speaker 5: Could you maybe, Michael, just this follow-up on that? I mean, let me try it differently. Compared to conversations that you were having with customers at the end of 2024, are our conversations today showing a bit more? Are they more optimistic today? Are they perhaps a little bit more positive compared to what they were then? Is there any reason to be a bit more positive about 2026 than you would have been at the end of 2024? Could you maybe, Michael, just this follow-up on that? could you maybe michael just this follow-up on that I mean, let me try it differently. i mean let me try it differently Compared to conversations that you were having with customers at the end of 2024, are our conversations today showing a bit more? compared to conversations that you were having with customers at the end of 2024 are our conversations today showing a bit more Are they more optimistic today? are they more optimistic today Are they perhaps a little bit more positive compared to what they were then? are they perhaps a little bit more positive compared to what they were then Is there any reason to be a bit more positive about 2026 than you would have been at the end of 2024? is there any reason to be a bit more positive about 2026 than you would have been at the end of 2024

Speaker 2: Yes. I think, by and large, we can say that the memory environment is, let's say, on a more positive tune. In the meantime, some of the customers are back to really healthy inventory levels. Not everybody. There are still elevations here and there. That's, I think, better in terms of tonality and atmosphere. Logic never was that bad anyway. Especially leading-edge logic is a driver of this whole development and particularly loaded in the industry. Power, as I indicated already, is still, let's say, the worst out of those three segments, and it's going to hang over beyond the year's end for sure. For the other two segments, we can say tonality and atmosphere did brighten up a little bit. Yes. yes I think, by and large, we can say that the memory environment is, let's say, on a more positive tune. i think by and large we can say that the memory environment is let's say on a more positive tune In the meantime, some of the customers are back to really healthy inventory levels. in the meantime some of the customers are back to really healthy inventory levels Not everybody. not everybody There are still elevations here and there. there are still elevations here and there That's, I think, better in terms of tonality and atmosphere. that's i think better in terms of tonality and atmosphere Logic never was that bad anyway. logic never was that bad anyway Especially leading-edge logic is a driver of this whole development and particularly loaded in the industry. especially leading-edge logic is a driver of this whole development and particularly loaded in the industry Power, as I indicated already, is still, let's say, the worst out of those three segments, and it's going to hang over beyond the year's end for sure. power as i indicated already is still let's say the worst out of those three segments and it's going to hang over beyond the year's end for sure For the other two segments, we can say tonality and atmosphere did brighten up a little bit. for the other two segments we can say tonality and atmosphere did brighten up a little bit

Speaker 5: Okay. Sounds good. Claudia, going over to you, clearly trying to protect cash flow here given the continued sluggish environment. Just to have an idea, can you remind us again roughly what the repayment cycle is going to be over the next two or three years? For 2026 specifically, just to have an idea because obviously you won't be cutting CapEx further. Your maintenance CapEx runs at about EUR 200 million, EUR 250 million, or roughly EUR 200 million, as far as I understand. How should we think about the expansionary leg? Do you think you can bring free cash flow to at least break even next year? Okay. okay Sounds good. sounds good Claudia, going over to you, clearly trying to protect cash flow here given the continued sluggish environment. claudia going over to you clearly trying to protect cash flow here given the continued sluggish environment Just to have an idea, can you remind us again roughly what the repayment cycle is going to be over the next two or three years? just to have an idea can you remind us again roughly what the repayment cycle is going to be over the next two or three years For 2026 specifically, just to have an idea because obviously you won't be cutting CapEx further. for 2026 specifically just to have an idea because obviously you won't be cutting capex further Your maintenance CapEx runs at about EUR 200 million, EUR 250 million, or roughly EUR 200 million, as far as I understand. your maintenance capex runs at about eur 200 million eur 250 million or roughly eur 200 million as far as i understand How should we think about the expansionary leg? how should we think about the expansionary leg Do you think you can bring free cash flow to at least break even next year? do you think you can bring free cash flow to at least break even next year

Speaker 11: Let me put it like that. We don't guide for 2026 right now. Of course, I can provide some context around 2026. Right now, we have quite a solid cash position. Taking into account that we also have another roughly EUR 130 million undrawn loan, we have quite a good flexibility going into 2026. In Q4, we will start to repay loans with an amount of EUR 65 million roughly, and next year, roughly EUR 100 million or a bit more, EUR 105 million or so. Looking into 2027, there's more to come, more to repay. Most likely, we will have to make a refinancing next year. Of course, we try to protect our cash, as you said. We will bring down the CapEx level next year even further. Right now, we do not do any guidance on that. You have to wait until, let's say, February or so. Let me put it like that. let me put it like that We don't guide for 2026 right now. we don't guide for 2026 right now Of course, I can provide some context around 2026. of course i can provide some context around 2026 Right now, we have quite a solid cash position. right now we have quite a solid cash position Taking into account that we also have another roughly EUR 130 million undrawn loan, we have quite a good flexibility going into 2026. taking into account that we also have another roughly eur 130 million undrawn loan we have quite a good flexibility going into 2026 In Q4, we will start to repay loans with an amount of EUR 65 million roughly, and next year, roughly EUR 100 million or a bit more, EUR 105 million or so. in q4 we will start to repay loans with an amount of eur 65 million roughly and next year roughly eur 100 million or a bit more eur 105 million or so Looking into 2027, there's more to come, more to repay. looking into 2027 there's more to come more to repay Most likely, we will have to make a refinancing next year. most likely we will have to make a refinancing next year Of course, we try to protect our cash, as you said. of course we try to protect our cash as you said We will bring down the CapEx level next year even further. we will bring down the capex level next year even further Right now, we do not do any guidance on that. right now we do not do any guidance on that You have to wait until, let's say, February or so. you have to wait until let's say february or so I can promise that we will bring down our CapEx level next year again. As I mentioned during my speech, there will be a rollover effect from CapEx payments. Asset additions this year will lead to some CapEx outflows next year. This is more or less what we can say now about 2026. More details we will provide beginning of next year. I can promise that we will bring down our CapEx level next year again. i can promise that we will bring down our capex level next year again As I mentioned during my speech, there will be a rollover effect from CapEx payments. as i mentioned during my speech there will be a rollover effect from capex payments Asset additions this year will lead to some CapEx outflows next year. asset additions this year will lead to some capex outflows next year This is more or less what we can say now about 2026. this is more or less what we can say now about 2026 More details we will provide beginning of next year. more details we will provide beginning of next year

Speaker 5: Okay. Maybe just to try and go a little bit further into this, with regards to the refinancing, are you comfortable on the refinancing, or do you see any reason for having to go into equity markets here? Are you comfortable that you can refinance it all via debt? Okay. okay Maybe just to try and go a little bit further into this, with regards to the refinancing, are you comfortable on the refinancing, or do you see any reason for having to go into equity markets here? maybe just to try and go a little bit further into this with regards to the refinancing are you comfortable on the refinancing or do you see any reason for having to go into equity markets here Are you comfortable that you can refinance it all via debt? are you comfortable that you can refinance it all via debt

Speaker 11: Definitely. There are several options that you can use to refinance. There's a high interest by financing partners. They are actively approaching us about refinancing. There's no doubt that we can refinance what has to be refinanced. Definitely. definitely There are several options that you can use to refinance. there are several options that you can use to refinance There's a high interest by financing partners. there's a high interest by financing partners They are actively approaching us about refinancing. they are actively approaching us about refinancing There's no doubt that we can refinance what has to be refinanced. there's no doubt that we can refinance what has to be refinanced

Speaker 5: Great. This is great. Last one, Michael, over to you. I think it's become quite important now because China is obviously becoming a bit more of a risk, it feels to me, compared to the last few years. I know that you don't break down mainland China, but I think it's really starting to get important to understand what the risk is for Siltronic if the Chinese start making a dent on volumes overall. How much of sales could we potentially be talking about being at risk, call it at 200-millimeter or 300-millimeter legacy? Just to have a rough idea of what the risk could be over the next three, four, maybe five years if the Chinese really start catching up. Great. great This is great. this is great Last one, Michael, over to you. last one michael over to you I think it's become quite important now because China is obviously becoming a bit more of a risk, it feels to me, compared to the last few years. i think it's become quite important now because china is obviously becoming a bit more of a risk it feels to me compared to the last few years I know that you don't break down mainland China, but I think it's really starting to get important to understand what the risk is for Siltronic if the Chinese start making a dent on volumes overall. i know that you don't break down mainland china but i think it's really starting to get important to understand what the risk is for siltronic if the chinese start making a dent on volumes overall How much of sales could we potentially be talking about being at risk, call it at 200-millimeter or 300-millimeter legacy? how much of sales could we potentially be talking about being at risk call it at 200-millimeter or 300-millimeter legacy Just to have a rough idea of what the risk could be over the next three, four, maybe five years if the Chinese really start catching up. just to have a rough idea of what the risk could be over the next three four maybe five years if the chinese really start catching up

Speaker 2: Thank you, Constantin. China is, let's say, we don't single out details. We say it's Greater China, so that means mainland China and Taiwan together for us are 36% of the revenue last year. What we also say is both are more than 10%, so both are double-digit. More details, you know, we're a bit reluctant to break down for, let's say, also competitive reasons. What I can say is we have a lower exposure to mainland China than some of our peers. We see in recent times more a, let's say, sidewards market share development for us, not a significant pressure or decrease. It's an attractive market for us. Some of the customers really love us as partners and are kind of building even relations with us. On the other side, of course, competition is building, there is growing there. We're fully aware of that. Thank you, Constantin. thank you constantin China is, let's say, we don't single out details. china is let's say we don't single out details We say it's Greater China, so that means mainland China and Taiwan together for us are 36% of the revenue last year. we say it's greater china so that means mainland china and taiwan together for us are 36% of the revenue last year What we also say is both are more than 10%, so both are double-digit. what we also say is both are more than 10% so both are double-digit More details, you know, we're a bit reluctant to break down for, let's say, also competitive reasons. more details you know we're a bit reluctant to break down for let's say also competitive reasons What I can say is we have a lower exposure to mainland China than some of our peers. what i can say is we have a lower exposure to mainland china than some of our peers We see in recent times more a, let's say, sidewards market share development for us, not a significant pressure or decrease. we see in recent times more a let's say sidewards market share development for us not a significant pressure or decrease It's an attractive market for us. it's an attractive market for us Some of the customers really love us as partners and are kind of building even relations with us. some of the customers really love us as partners and are kind of building even relations with us On the other side, of course, competition is building, there is growing there. on the other side of course competition is building there is growing there We're fully aware of that. we're fully aware of that Let's say our exposure is not huge. It's smaller than, let's say, the average of the industry from the western manufacturing side's perspective. Let's say our exposure is not huge. let's say our exposure is not huge It's smaller than, let's say, the average of the industry from the western manufacturing side's perspective. it's smaller than let's say the average of the industry from the western manufacturing side's perspective

Speaker 5: Okay. Okay. Thanks so much. Okay. okay Okay. okay Thanks so much. thanks so much

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Gustav Froberg with Berenberg. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Gustav Froberg with Berenberg. the next question comes from gustav froberg with berenberg Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 3: Good morning all. Thank you for taking my questions as well. I have a couple, if I may. First, on sort of the sluggish recovery in wafer shipments. Clearly, things are happening, but slow, as has been the case in the last couple of quarters. With a bit of reflection, is there now anything you can point to in terms of maybe structural elements that are causing fab sort of buying to be a bit slower than it has been in the past, maybe elongated fab cycle times or anything of the sort? Is there anything you can point to in terms of a tipping point where you think this might change and properly reaccelerate again? Maybe a broader adoption of HBM memory or anything of the sort? That would be my first question. Second is around working capital contributions. Good morning all. good morning all Thank you for taking my questions as well. thank you for taking my questions as well I have a couple, if I may. i have a couple if i may First, on sort of the sluggish recovery in wafer shipments. first on sort of the sluggish recovery in wafer shipments Clearly, things are happening, but slow, as has been the case in the last couple of quarters. clearly things are happening but slow as has been the case in the last couple of quarters With a bit of reflection, is there now anything you can point to in terms of maybe structural elements that are causing fab sort of buying to be a bit slower than it has been in the past, maybe elongated fab cycle times or anything of the sort? with a bit of reflection is there now anything you can point to in terms of maybe structural elements that are causing fab sort of buying to be a bit slower than it has been in the past maybe elongated fab cycle times or anything of the sort Is there anything you can point to in terms of a tipping point where you think this might change and properly reaccelerate again? is there anything you can point to in terms of a tipping point where you think this might change and properly reaccelerate again Maybe a broader adoption of HBM memory or anything of the sort? maybe a broader adoption of hbm memory or anything of the sort That would be my first question. that would be my first question Second is around working capital contributions. second is around working capital contributions You mentioned a positive uptick in working capital cash inflow in Q4. Could you help us understand the magnitude there, just so we can understand a little bit better how to think about the year-end cash balance? The last one's on loading in Singapore and just how you're progressing with the fab build-out there. Those would be my questions. Thank you. You mentioned a positive uptick in working capital cash inflow in Q4. you mentioned a positive uptick in working capital cash inflow in q4 Could you help us understand the magnitude there, just so we can understand a little bit better how to think about the year-end cash balance? could you help us understand the magnitude there just so we can understand a little bit better how to think about the year-end cash balance The last one's on loading in Singapore and just how you're progressing with the fab build-out there. the last one's on loading in singapore and just how you're progressing with the fab build-out there Those would be my questions. those would be my questions Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Gustav. I will take your volume effect question and the loading in Singapore and then hand over to Claudia for the working capital-related question. Structural changes on volume effects, volume is driven by 300-millimeter, and it's by AI and some smaller effects around AI. In terms of high-bandwidth memory, we see that growing significantly. There are those effects you're mentioning, yes. A high-bandwidth memory wafer is maybe processed longer in a chip manufacturing cycle. On the other side, we see yield of those manufacturing is lower than standard memory yields. Therefore, there are two opposing effects. Overall, volumes seem to be almost on the 2022 levels, as some of our peers also reported. It looks quite a volume-growing situation again. Other structural effects I'm currently not aware of. Thank you very much, Gustav. thank you very much gustav I will take your volume effect question and the loading in Singapore and then hand over to Claudia for the working capital-related question. i will take your volume effect question and the loading in singapore and then hand over to claudia for the working capital-related question Structural changes on volume effects, volume is driven by 300-millimeter, and it's by AI and some smaller effects around AI. structural changes on volume effects volume is driven by 300-millimeter and it's by ai and some smaller effects around ai In terms of high-bandwidth memory, we see that growing significantly. in terms of high-bandwidth memory we see that growing significantly There are those effects you're mentioning, yes. there are those effects you're mentioning yes A high-bandwidth memory wafer is maybe processed longer in a chip manufacturing cycle. a high-bandwidth memory wafer is maybe processed longer in a chip manufacturing cycle On the other side, we see yield of those manufacturing is lower than standard memory yields. on the other side we see yield of those manufacturing is lower than standard memory yields Therefore, there are two opposing effects. therefore there are two opposing effects Overall, volumes seem to be almost on the 2022 levels, as some of our peers also reported. overall volumes seem to be almost on the 2022 levels as some of our peers also reported It looks quite a volume-growing situation again. it looks quite a volume-growing situation again Other structural effects I'm currently not aware of. other structural effects i'm currently not aware of When you add more complexity, the technical requirements on wafers get higher, which allows very close technical collaboration with customers, and which is maybe an additional burden for new entrants into this industry. That's maybe another thing where we see advanced leading edge and those kind of corners really have very high-tech requirements where, of course, we are perfectly, perfectly strategically positioned with our new fab in Singapore, having this fully automated and all the state-of-the-art metrology tools in place. That's now really, I think, a great positioning. That's maybe another effect that there's more high-tech and advanced requirements. With that, loading in Singapore is progressing as planned. We reduced initial ramp speeds, but now loading is gradually climbing up. We have achieved the major milestone mid of the year that major customers are now qualified for advanced and leading specifications there. When you add more complexity, the technical requirements on wafers get higher, which allows very close technical collaboration with customers, and which is maybe an additional burden for new entrants into this industry. when you add more complexity the technical requirements on wafers get higher which allows very close technical collaboration with customers and which is maybe an additional burden for new entrants into this industry That's maybe another thing where we see advanced leading edge and those kind of corners really have very high-tech requirements where, of course, we are perfectly, perfectly strategically positioned with our new fab in Singapore, having this fully automated and all the state-of-the-art metrology tools in place. that's maybe another thing where we see advanced leading edge and those kind of corners really have very high-tech requirements where of course we are perfectly perfectly strategically positioned with our new fab in singapore having this fully automated and all the state-of-the-art metrology tools in place That's now really, I think, a great positioning. that's now really i think a great positioning That's maybe another effect that there's more high-tech and advanced requirements. that's maybe another effect that there's more high-tech and advanced requirements With that, loading in Singapore is progressing as planned. with that loading in singapore is progressing as planned We reduced initial ramp speeds, but now loading is gradually climbing up. we reduced initial ramp speeds but now loading is gradually climbing up We have achieved the major milestone mid of the year that major customers are now qualified for advanced and leading specifications there. we have achieved the major milestone mid of the year that major customers are now qualified for advanced and leading specifications there Therefore, we can more and more use the fab. As indicated, we're doing the further ramp and bringing new or additional tools very carefully. We have some, as Claudia described, some hangover from our orders for the first wave of equipment coming into Singapore. We are kind of pulling the brake off more as we currently don't need it yet. We will think further scale up then really with market demand. With the qualifications being achieved, we are in a position now with using the capacity, doing some preferred loading there to drive volumes into Singapore, but in line with market demand and, of course, a relative restrictive CapEx approach to protect our cash. For the working capital question, Gustav, I hand over to Claudia. Therefore, we can more and more use the fab. therefore we can more and more use the fab As indicated, we're doing the further ramp and bringing new or additional tools very carefully. as indicated we're doing the further ramp and bringing new or additional tools very carefully We have some, as Claudia described, some hangover from our orders for the first wave of equipment coming into Singapore. we have some as claudia described some hangover from our orders for the first wave of equipment coming into singapore We are kind of pulling the brake off more as we currently don't need it yet. we are kind of pulling the brake off more as we currently don't need it yet We will think further scale up then really with market demand. we will think further scale up then really with market demand With the qualifications being achieved, we are in a position now with using the capacity, doing some preferred loading there to drive volumes into Singapore, but in line with market demand and, of course, a relative restrictive CapEx approach to protect our cash. with the qualifications being achieved we are in a position now with using the capacity doing some preferred loading there to drive volumes into singapore but in line with market demand and of course a relative restrictive capex approach to protect our cash For the working capital question, Gustav, I hand over to Claudia. for the working capital question gustav i hand over to claudia

Speaker 11: Thank you. Thank you, Gustav, for your question. As indicated in our guidance, Q4 is expected to be the strongest quarter in 2025. To ensure timely deliveries in Q4, we build up inventories in Q3. You see that in our balance sheet and also in the cash flow statement. This obviously led to a negative cash effect in Q3, which will reverse into a positive effect in Q4 when we reduce the inventory again. This is more or less the working capital effect that I mentioned. Regarding cash flow in Q4, as mentioned before, we anticipate an improvement in cash flow from investment activities as well. Those are the major factors impacting the cash flow in Q4. Thank you. thank you Thank you, Gustav, for your question. thank you gustav for your question As indicated in our guidance, Q4 is expected to be the strongest quarter in 2025. as indicated in our guidance q4 is expected to be the strongest quarter in 2025 To ensure timely deliveries in Q4, we build up inventories in Q3. to ensure timely deliveries in q4 we build up inventories in q3 You see that in our balance sheet and also in the cash flow statement. you see that in our balance sheet and also in the cash flow statement This obviously led to a negative cash effect in Q3, which will reverse into a positive effect in Q4 when we reduce the inventory again. this obviously led to a negative cash effect in q3 which will reverse into a positive effect in q4 when we reduce the inventory again This is more or less the working capital effect that I mentioned. this is more or less the working capital effect that i mentioned Regarding cash flow in Q4, as mentioned before, we anticipate an improvement in cash flow from investment activities as well. regarding cash flow in q4 as mentioned before we anticipate an improvement in cash flow from investment activities as well Those are the major factors impacting the cash flow in Q4. those are the major factors impacting the cash flow in q4

Speaker 3: Okay. Super. Thank you. Okay. okay Super. super Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Florian Treisch with Kepler. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Florian Treisch with Kepler . the next question comes from florian treisch with kepler Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 1: Thank you. Good morning, everybody. My question is a bit more on, let's call it, very near-term demand. You reiterate your guidance more or less on or implying a clear uptick in demand looking into Q4. Can you maybe add some details to it or where your confidence is coming from? Have you already seen some kind of clear acceleration in October? Building on that question, would you be willing to call the bottom in Q3 and expect continued sequential growth in the coming quarters? I.e., would you be willing to say Q1 will likely be up sequentially over Q4 as well? I.e., it's really the worst behind us and now we can all benefit from volume recovery entering 2026. Thank you. Thank you. thank you Good morning, everybody. good morning everybody My question is a bit more on, let's call it, very near-term demand. my question is a bit more on let's call it very near-term demand You reiterate your guidance more or less on or implying a clear uptick in demand looking into Q4. you reiterate your guidance more or less on or implying a clear uptick in demand looking into q4 Can you maybe add some details to it or where your confidence is coming from? can you maybe add some details to it or where your confidence is coming from Have you already seen some kind of clear acceleration in October? have you already seen some kind of clear acceleration in october Building on that question, would you be willing to call the bottom in Q3 and expect continued sequential growth in the coming quarters? building on that question would you be willing to call the bottom in q3 and expect continued sequential growth in the coming quarters I.e., would you be willing to say Q1 will likely be up sequentially over Q4 as well? i.e would you be willing to say q1 will likely be up sequentially over q4 as well I.e., it's really the worst behind us and now we can all benefit from volume recovery entering 2026. i.e it's really the worst behind us and now we can all benefit from volume recovery entering 2026 Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Thank you, Florian. Great question. As we are already one month into Q4, confidence is growing by the day. As Claudia hinted, some of those, let's say, shifts of volumes from Q3 into Q4 have been already pre-produced in Q3 and are now scheduled with very clear, let's say, dates in most of the cases already. The year is only two months to go by and large. Confidence is growing there by the day. That was the reason why we definitely and clearly confirmed our full-year guidance there. Is Q3 the bottom of whatever timeframe? I don't know, to be honest. What we clearly say is Q3 is the bottom of the year. That was mainly because of those mentioned individual shifts. As we, you know, today not talk in detail about the next year, it would be a bit weird now to make a precise Q1 statement. Thank you, Florian. thank you florian Great question. great question As we are already one month into Q4, confidence is growing by the day. as we are already one month into q4 confidence is growing by the day As Claudia hinted, some of those, let's say, shifts of volumes from Q3 into Q4 have been already pre-produced in Q3 and are now scheduled with very clear, let's say, dates in most of the cases already. as claudia hinted some of those let's say shifts of volumes from q3 into q4 have been already pre-produced in q3 and are now scheduled with very clear let's say dates in most of the cases already The year is only two months to go by and large. the year is only two months to go by and large Confidence is growing there by the day. confidence is growing there by the day That was the reason why we definitely and clearly confirmed our full-year guidance there. that was the reason why we definitely and clearly confirmed our full-year guidance there Is Q3 the bottom of whatever timeframe? is q3 the bottom of whatever timeframe I don't know, to be honest. i don't know to be honest What we clearly say is Q3 is the bottom of the year. what we clearly say is q3 is the bottom of the year That was mainly because of those mentioned individual shifts. that was mainly because of those mentioned individual shifts As we, you know, today not talk in detail about the next year, it would be a bit weird now to make a precise Q1 statement. as we you know today not talk in detail about the next year it would be a bit weird now to make a precise q1 statement I'm really not in a position to do that. Q3 is the bottom of this year based on very individual customer shifts and decisions by some of our customers rather than any more. I'm really not in a position to do that. i'm really not in a position to do that Q3 is the bottom of this year based on very individual customer shifts and decisions by some of our customers rather than any more. q3 is the bottom of this year based on very individual customer shifts and decisions by some of our customers rather than any more

Speaker 1: Okay. Fair point. Thank you. Okay. okay Fair point. fair point Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Martin Jungfleisch with BNP Paribas. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Martin Jungfleisch with BNP Paribas . the next question comes from martin jungfleisch with bnp paribas Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 6: Good morning. Two questions, please. The first one is on this cost-reduction or headcount reduction that you mentioned. Could you just provide some color on this one? When this will be implemented and what kind of full cost-savings run rate we should expect from that? Good morning. good morning Two questions, please. two questions please The first one is on this cost-reduction or headcount reduction that you mentioned. the first one is on this cost-reduction or headcount reduction that you mentioned Could you just provide some color on this one? could you just provide some color on this one When this will be implemented and what kind of full cost-savings run rate we should expect from that? when this will be implemented and what kind of full cost-savings run rate we should expect from that

Speaker 11: Good morning, Martin. Siltronic has a strong track record of sustainable cost reductions, and we implemented that cost program at the end of 2023, beginning of 2024, in order to deal with the weak market environment. Our cost program, as we mentioned, is addressing all cost categories across all sites, and it's definitely strengthening our resilience. You can see that probably already in Q3 with the low sales volume. We still achieved an EBITDA margin of 22%. I think that speaks for itself. Regarding definite numbers, we are a bit reluctant or we don't want to communicate on how the program is going despite the fact that it's going well. We do not communicate any targets. I hope that the numbers speak for themselves because you see that we have reached quite a resilience in our cost position, I would say. Good morning, Martin. good morning martin Siltronic has a strong track record of sustainable cost reductions, and we implemented that cost program at the end of 2023, beginning of 2024, in order to deal with the weak market environment. siltronic has a strong track record of sustainable cost reductions and we implemented that cost program at the end of 2023 beginning of 2024 in order to deal with the weak market environment Our cost program, as we mentioned, is addressing all cost categories across all sites, and it's definitely strengthening our resilience. our cost program as we mentioned is addressing all cost categories across all sites and it's definitely strengthening our resilience You can see that probably already in Q3 with the low sales volume. you can see that probably already in q3 with the low sales volume We still achieved an EBITDA margin of 22%. we still achieved an ebitda margin of 22% I think that speaks for itself. i think that speaks for itself Regarding definite numbers, we are a bit reluctant or we don't want to communicate on how the program is going despite the fact that it's going well. regarding definite numbers we are a bit reluctant or we don't want to communicate on how the program is going despite the fact that it's going well We do not communicate any targets. we do not communicate any targets I hope that the numbers speak for themselves because you see that we have reached quite a resilience in our cost position, I would say. i hope that the numbers speak for themselves because you see that we have reached quite a resilience in our cost position i would say

Speaker 2: Yeah. Maybe to build on this, Martin, the statement that we already came down 10% in headcount globally compared to 2022 levels, I mean, it's, I think, a clear message. Of course, there's a countereffect when you ramp a new fab in Singapore. You have to build certain headcounts. This is even overcompensated by headcount savings in other areas. Therefore, I think, as you know, labor is cost driver number one. It's, I think, a clear proof point that it's going pretty well in that corner. Yeah. yeah Maybe to build on this, Martin, the statement that we already came down 10% in headcount globally compared to 2022 levels, I mean, it's, I think, a clear message. maybe to build on this martin the statement that we already came down 10% in headcount globally compared to 2022 levels i mean it's i think a clear message Of course, there's a countereffect when you ramp a new fab in Singapore. of course there's a countereffect when you ramp a new fab in singapore You have to build certain headcounts. you have to build certain headcounts This is even overcompensated by headcount savings in other areas. this is even overcompensated by headcount savings in other areas Therefore, I think, as you know, labor is cost driver number one. therefore i think as you know labor is cost driver number one It's, I think, a clear proof point that it's going pretty well in that corner. it's i think a clear proof point that it's going pretty well in that corner

Speaker 6: Got it. You expect incremental cost savings in Q4 versus Q3 as well, right? Got it. got it You expect incremental cost savings in Q4 versus Q3 as well, right? you expect incremental cost savings in q4 versus q3 as well right

Speaker 11: Definitely. It's not continuous. Sometimes it's more of a step function, but we expect sequential improvements at least until the end of 2026. We have to decide how to continue with the cost program. We do not stop. Definitely. definitely It's not continuous. it's not continuous Sometimes it's more of a step function, but we expect sequential improvements at least until the end of 2026. sometimes it's more of a step function but we expect sequential improvements at least until the end of 2026 We have to decide how to continue with the cost program. we have to decide how to continue with the cost program We do not stop. we do not stop

Speaker 6: That makes sense. Secondly, just on pricing, I mean, it's 300-millimeter as you ramp the Singapore volumes over the next quarter. Should this not have a positive effect on the total 300-millimeter pricing environment, given that contract pricing for these fab mix volumes should be significantly ahead of the levels that we are seeing today? I guess, should you see a tailwind on 300-millimeter from these contracts as you increase in the mix next year, or is this not a correct assumption? That makes sense. that makes sense Secondly, just on pricing, I mean, it's 300-millimeter as you ramp the Singapore volumes over the next quarter. secondly just on pricing i mean it's 300-millimeter as you ramp the singapore volumes over the next quarter Should this not have a positive effect on the total 300-millimeter pricing environment, given that contract pricing for these fab mix volumes should be significantly ahead of the levels that we are seeing today? should this not have a positive effect on the total 300-millimeter pricing environment given that contract pricing for these fab mix volumes should be significantly ahead of the levels that we are seeing today I guess, should you see a tailwind on 300-millimeter from these contracts as you increase in the mix next year, or is this not a correct assumption? i guess should you see a tailwind on 300-millimeter from these contracts as you increase in the mix next year or is this not a correct assumption

Speaker 2: When we, Martin, when we talk about pricing, it's, of course, a mixture of multiple effects. Roughly speaking, two-thirds of our business is in LTAs, and here the prices are as contracted, and there is also no change to that statement. What we see outside LTAs, and that's about 1/3 of the business, is indeed some price pressure that is, let's say, increasing. If you have a small effect on a quarterly basis and you accumulate that over a couple of quarters, it's not so small anymore. When we talk about pricing overall, it's the average of those 2/3 as contracted and 1/3 that is under some, let's say, price pressure. Going forward, we don't see any, let's say, indication that that will change, because, yes, we are ramping more volumes in the new fab. When we, Martin, when we talk about pricing, it's, of course, a mixture of multiple effects. when we martin when we talk about pricing it's of course a mixture of multiple effects Roughly speaking, two-thirds of our business is in LTAs, and here the prices are as contracted, and there is also no change to that statement. roughly speaking two-thirds of our business is in ltas and here the prices are as contracted and there is also no change to that statement What we see outside LTAs, and that's about 1/3 of the business, is indeed some price pressure that is, let's say, increasing. what we see outside ltas and that's about 1/3 of the business is indeed some price pressure that is let's say increasing If you have a small effect on a quarterly basis and you accumulate that over a couple of quarters, it's not so small anymore. if you have a small effect on a quarterly basis and you accumulate that over a couple of quarters it's not so small anymore When we talk about pricing overall, it's the average of those 2/3 as contracted and 1/3 that is under some, let's say, price pressure. when we talk about pricing overall it's the average of those 2/3 as contracted and 1/3 that is under some let's say price pressure Going forward, we don't see any, let's say, indication that that will change, because, yes, we are ramping more volumes in the new fab. going forward we don't see any let's say indication that that will change because yes we are ramping more volumes in the new fab Outside the LTAs and outside, let's say, the core of the 300-millimeter business, the price pressure is persisting and is ongoing. Therefore, overall, I don't see, let's say, a very short-term change in this pricing trend. Outside the LTAs and outside, let's say, the core of the 300-millimeter business, the price pressure is persisting and is ongoing. outside the ltas and outside let's say the core of the 300-millimeter business the price pressure is persisting and is ongoing Therefore, overall, I don't see, let's say, a very short-term change in this pricing trend. therefore overall i don't see let's say a very short-term change in this pricing trend

Speaker 6: Okay. Got it. That's helpful. Thank you. Okay. okay Got it. got it That's helpful. that's helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Jimmy Huang with JPMorgan. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Jimmy Huang with JPMorgan . the next question comes from jimmy huang with jpmorgan Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 12: Yeah. Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Can we talk about which applications we might be able to raise prices of silicon wafers next year, or maybe at least reflecting higher costs to customers? Are only AI-related applications such as HBM and leading-edge logic have this kind of chance? In the meantime, will other mainstream non-AI markets even face spot price erosion pressure next year? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. yeah Hi. hi Thank you for taking my questions. thank you for taking my questions Can we talk about which applications we might be able to raise prices of silicon wafers next year, or maybe at least reflecting higher costs to customers? can we talk about which applications we might be able to raise prices of silicon wafers next year or maybe at least reflecting higher costs to customers Are only AI-related applications such as HBM and leading-edge logic have this kind of chance? are only ai-related applications such as hbm and leading-edge logic have this kind of chance In the meantime, will other mainstream non-AI markets even face spot price erosion pressure next year? in the meantime will other mainstream non-ai markets even face spot price erosion pressure next year Yeah. yeah Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Jimmy, it was very difficult to really get the point of your question. Can I ask you to repeat maybe the essence of the question again? Also, the line was a bit noisy. Jimmy, it was very difficult to really get the point of your question. jimmy it was very difficult to really get the point of your question Can I ask you to repeat maybe the essence of the question again? can i ask you to repeat maybe the essence of the question again Also, the line was a bit noisy. also the line was a bit noisy

Speaker 12: Thank you for taking my questions. I was trying to ask about the silicon wafer price trajectories into next year. Can we talk about the different applications such as AI-related and non-AI applications? Do we see any different pricing trajectories for silicon wafers into next year? Thank you. Thank you for taking my questions. thank you for taking my questions I was trying to ask about the silicon wafer price trajectories into next year. i was trying to ask about the silicon wafer price trajectories into next year Can we talk about the different applications such as AI-related and non-AI applications? can we talk about the different applications such as ai-related and non-ai applications Do we see any different pricing trajectories for silicon wafers into next year? do we see any different pricing trajectories for silicon wafers into next year Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Okay, I hope I got it. The question was whether there are different pricing tendencies in different segments, particularly in the AI segment? Okay, I hope I got it. okay i hope i got it The question was whether there are different pricing tendencies in different segments, particularly in the AI segment? the question was whether there are different pricing tendencies in different segments particularly in the ai segment

Speaker 12: Yes, yes, yes, please. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, please. yes yes yes please Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Okay. It's not so much about, let's say, end segments for us. It's more about really wafer specifications. When we talk about leading edge, what we always said is it's a very clear strategic focus for us. Here we have indeed higher prices, higher margins, and also a slightly above-average market share. That holds without any change. The pricing is more driven by, let's say, technical detailed specifications in certain projects rather than by end market segment overall. There are certainly also, let's say, more standard AI-related wafers in the power segment, for example. When you do power supply in those data centers, also some, let's say, chips are required in the power segment, which they also claim to be AI-related demand and market dynamics. That would be rather standard wafers being needed for those sort of applications. Okay. okay It's not so much about, let's say, end segments for us. it's not so much about let's say end segments for us It's more about really wafer specifications. it's more about really wafer specifications When we talk about leading edge, what we always said is it's a very clear strategic focus for us. when we talk about leading edge what we always said is it's a very clear strategic focus for us Here we have indeed higher prices, higher margins, and also a slightly above-average market share. here we have indeed higher prices higher margins and also a slightly above-average market share That holds without any change. that holds without any change The pricing is more driven by, let's say, technical detailed specifications in certain projects rather than by end market segment overall. the pricing is more driven by let's say technical detailed specifications in certain projects rather than by end market segment overall There are certainly also, let's say, more standard AI-related wafers in the power segment, for example. there are certainly also let's say more standard ai-related wafers in the power segment for example When you do power supply in those data centers, also some, let's say, chips are required in the power segment, which they also claim to be AI-related demand and market dynamics. when you do power supply in those data centers also some let's say chips are required in the power segment which they also claim to be ai-related demand and market dynamics That would be rather standard wafers being needed for those sort of applications. that would be rather standard wafers being needed for those sort of applications I think technical specification, impurity levels, defect levels, geometry, and physical properties of the wafer, and, let's say, the increase in these specifications are, let's say, more the driver for the pricing in the end rather than, let's say, an overall segment. I would not say that every wafer that is related to AI is different in pricing. I think technical specification, impurity levels, defect levels, geometry, and physical properties of the wafer, and, let's say, the increase in these specifications are, let's say, more the driver for the pricing in the end rather than, let's say, an overall segment. i think technical specification impurity levels defect levels geometry and physical properties of the wafer and let's say the increase in these specifications are let's say more the driver for the pricing in the end rather than let's say an overall segment I would not say that every wafer that is related to AI is different in pricing. i would not say that every wafer that is related to ai is different in pricing

Speaker 12: I see. Understood. Thank you. Can I have a follow-up question? Yeah. For 300-millimeter wafers, based on your company's own supply-demand projections, I think with 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates returning to 95%, the level that silicon wafer suppliers could have certain bargaining power over its customers. Currently, there's no visibility that the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rate could return to such high level based on your customer discussions or based on your industry observations. Thank you. I see. i see Understood. understood Thank you. thank you Can I have a follow-up question? can i have a follow-up question Yeah. yeah For 300-millimeter wafers, based on your company's own supply-demand projections, I think with 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates returning to 95%, the level that silicon wafer suppliers could have certain bargaining power over its customers. for 300-millimeter wafers based on your company's own supply-demand projections i think with 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates returning to 95% the level that silicon wafer suppliers could have certain bargaining power over its customers Currently, there's no visibility that the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rate could return to such high level based on your customer discussions or based on your industry observations. currently there's no visibility that the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rate could return to such high level based on your customer discussions or based on your industry observations Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 11: 300-millimeter customers. 300-millimeter customers. 300-millimeter customers

Speaker 2: Jimmy, we apologize. It's really difficult to understand the question. Was it the way about 300-millimeter volume at customers brings us a different power in negotiations? Jimmy, we apologize. jimmy we apologize It's really difficult to understand the question. it's really difficult to understand the question Was it the way about 300-millimeter volume at customers brings us a different power in negotiations? was it the way about 300-millimeter volume at customers brings us a different power in negotiations

Speaker 12: Not sure whether it might be my issue, but I was trying to ask about what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates. We see there's so many industry supplies, and we don't think that the 300-millimeter wafers have high utilization rates. We would like to ask you what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates over the next few quarters. Not sure whether it might be my issue, but I was trying to ask about what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates. not sure whether it might be my issue but i was trying to ask about what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates We see there's so many industry supplies, and we don't think that the 300-millimeter wafers have high utilization rates. we see there's so many industry supplies and we don't think that the 300-millimeter wafers have high utilization rates We would like to ask you what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates over the next few quarters. we would like to ask you what's your view on the 300-millimeter wafer utilization rates over the next few quarters

Speaker 2: Okay. Now I think I got it. It was about UT in 300-millimeter and in general. I'm not able to talk about different segments UT, but what we know is the UT did climb up again. We have a situation that some of our peers and some of the market analysts are reporting already volumes being back on 2022 levels. On the other side, in the meantime, some capacity has been added. A high-level estimate would be that the UT is somewhere around 80% in the overall industry. You know that contains, let's say, certain error bars. It might be higher in, let's say, in segments where the volume demand is picking up very quickly. It might be lower in segments where the volume demand is rather sluggish over the last couple of quarters. That's a number I heard in, let's say, in certain communications already. Okay. okay Now I think I got it. now i think i got it It was about UT in 300-millimeter and in general. it was about ut in 300-millimeter and in general I'm not able to talk about different segments UT, but what we know is the UT did climb up again. i'm not able to talk about different segments ut but what we know is the ut did climb up again We have a situation that some of our peers and some of the market analysts are reporting already volumes being back on 2022 levels. we have a situation that some of our peers and some of the market analysts are reporting already volumes being back on 2022 levels On the other side, in the meantime, some capacity has been added. on the other side in the meantime some capacity has been added A high-level estimate would be that the UT is somewhere around 80% in the overall industry. a high-level estimate would be that the ut is somewhere around 80% in the overall industry You know that contains, let's say, certain error bars. you know that contains let's say certain error bars It might be higher in, let's say, in segments where the volume demand is picking up very quickly. it might be higher in let's say in segments where the volume demand is picking up very quickly It might be lower in segments where the volume demand is rather sluggish over the last couple of quarters. it might be lower in segments where the volume demand is rather sluggish over the last couple of quarters That's a number I heard in, let's say, in certain communications already. that's a number i heard in let's say in certain communications already It's not our number, but that's maybe an indication with a significant error bar. It's not our number, but that's maybe an indication with a significant error bar. it's not our number but that's maybe an indication with a significant error bar

Speaker 12: I see. Thank you so much for answering the questions. Thank you. I see. i see Thank you so much for answering the questions. thank you so much for answering the questions Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Robert Sanders with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Robert Sanders with Deutsche Bank . the next question comes from robert sanders with deutsche bank Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Good morning. I'd also like to ask about utilization of EPI versus polished. I'm just interested to ask around the new facility, FabNext, that you're ramping up. Is that going to be primarily ramping up polished wafers, or will it move quickly to epitaxial wafers? The reason I'm asking is I would assume that the utilization rate of EPI is higher than the utilization rate of polished. Good morning. good morning I'd also like to ask about utilization of EPI versus polished. i'd also like to ask about utilization of epi versus polished I'm just interested to ask around the new facility, FabNext, that you're ramping up. i'm just interested to ask around the new facility fabnext that you're ramping up Is that going to be primarily ramping up polished wafers, or will it move quickly to epitaxial wafers? is that going to be primarily ramping up polished wafers or will it move quickly to epitaxial wafers The reason I'm asking is I would assume that the utilization rate of EPI is higher than the utilization rate of polished. the reason i'm asking is i would assume that the utilization rate of epi is higher than the utilization rate of polished

Speaker 2: Hi, Rob. Thank you very much for your question. EPI versus polished, I don't think there are substantial differences because both in 300-millimeter are driven by, let's say, leading edge and high-end demand. You're absolutely right. In Singapore, for the first time in 300-millimeter, we established also the EPI technology, which is also ramping at the same time as polished is doing. We're delivering both sorts of wafers out of our new fab in the meantime. Also, when we talk about major customer qualifications, this also comprises both polished and EPI wafers. Hi, Rob. hi rob Thank you very much for your question. thank you very much for your question EPI versus polished, I don't think there are substantial differences because both in 300-millimeter are driven by, let's say, leading edge and high-end demand. epi versus polished i don't think there are substantial differences because both in 300-millimeter are driven by let's say leading edge and high-end demand You're absolutely right. you're absolutely right In Singapore, for the first time in 300-millimeter, we established also the EPI technology, which is also ramping at the same time as polished is doing. in singapore for the first time in 300-millimeter we established also the epi technology which is also ramping at the same time as polished is doing We're delivering both sorts of wafers out of our new fab in the meantime. we're delivering both sorts of wafers out of our new fab in the meantime Also, when we talk about major customer qualifications, this also comprises both polished and EPI wafers. also when we talk about major customer qualifications this also comprises both polished and epi wafers

Speaker 8: Got it. In terms of China, your Japanese competitors talked about SMIC and Wahong not allowing them to compete for business anymore because they are under pressure to buy locally. What have you seen in China so far? Got it. got it In terms of China, your Japanese competitors talked about SMIC and Wahong not allowing them to compete for business anymore because they are under pressure to buy locally. in terms of china your japanese competitors talked about smic and wahong not allowing them to compete for business anymore because they are under pressure to buy locally What have you seen in China so far? what have you seen in china so far

Speaker 2: We also hear and read such news flow. Current geopolitics is not hindering us. We have customers in China, which we are shipping to unchangedly. We have a team in place that is kind of monitoring new requirements and regulations coming out of Washington or wherever continuously and make, let's say, assessment, which is not sometimes a simple task. Those guys have to analyze 400 printed pages overnight sometimes. For the time being, we don't see any major effects on our business development with China from those regulations. We also hear and read such news flow. we also hear and read such news flow Current geopolitics is not hindering us. current geopolitics is not hindering us We have customers in China, which we are shipping to unchangedly. we have customers in china which we are shipping to unchangedly We have a team in place that is kind of monitoring new requirements and regulations coming out of Washington or wherever continuously and make, let's say, assessment, which is not sometimes a simple task. we have a team in place that is kind of monitoring new requirements and regulations coming out of washington or wherever continuously and make let's say assessment which is not sometimes a simple task Those guys have to analyze 400 printed pages overnight sometimes. those guys have to analyze 400 printed pages overnight sometimes For the time being, we don't see any major effects on our business development with China from those regulations. for the time being we don't see any major effects on our business development with china from those regulations

Speaker 8: Got it. Just the last question, with the covenants on the debt that you have, can you remind us what those are, whether it's interest coverage, net debt leverage, net debt to EBITDA, or anything like that? Just so we can understand any risks there may be as you go into losses. Thanks. Got it. got it Just the last question, with the covenants on the debt that you have, can you remind us what those are, whether it's interest coverage, net debt leverage, net debt to EBITDA, or anything like that? just the last question with the covenants on the debt that you have can you remind us what those are whether it's interest coverage net debt leverage net debt to ebitda or anything like that Just so we can understand any risks there may be as you go into losses. just so we can understand any risks there may be as you go into losses Thanks. thanks

Speaker 11: Hi, Rob. I take your question regarding financial covenants. Our covenant is net debt to EBITDA. We do not disclose any further details on that, I think we gave you some hints regarding reaching net leverage, which was a discussion before. We are still confident that we will remain within the financial covenants. Hi, Rob. hi rob I take your question regarding financial covenants. i take your question regarding financial covenants Our covenant is net debt to EBITDA. our covenant is net debt to ebitda We do not disclose any further details on that, I think we gave you some hints regarding reaching net leverage, which was a discussion before. we do not disclose any further details on that i think we gave you some hints regarding reaching net leverage which was a discussion before We are still confident that we will remain within the financial covenants. we are still confident that we will remain within the financial covenants

Speaker 8: Got it. Thank you. Got it. got it Thank you. thank you

Speaker 10: The next question comes from Didier Scemama with Bank of America. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Didier Scemama with Bank of America . the next question comes from didier scemama with bank of america Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 4: Yes. Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. A very quick one, maybe for Michael. I think you mentioned earlier that there were still excess inventories of wafers in the power segment, and in memory, things were normalizing, but there are still some pockets of inventories. I guess my question is, can you maybe quantify that? What do you estimate is the level of excess inventories or level of inventories in general in power and in memory relative to what it should be in a normalized market? Thank you. Yes. yes Good morning. good morning Thank you for taking my question. thank you for taking my question A very quick one, maybe for Michael. a very quick one maybe for michael I think you mentioned earlier that there were still excess inventories of wafers in the power segment, and in memory, things were normalizing, but there are still some pockets of inventories. i think you mentioned earlier that there were still excess inventories of wafers in the power segment and in memory things were normalizing but there are still some pockets of inventories I guess my question is, can you maybe quantify that? i guess my question is can you maybe quantify that What do you estimate is the level of excess inventories or level of inventories in general in power and in memory relative to what it should be in a normalized market? what do you estimate is the level of excess inventories or level of inventories in general in power and in memory relative to what it should be in a normalized market Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Thank you, Didier. Let's start with the memory segment first. They built up inventories, I think, for more than two years in the meantime. It's a kind of growing line and substantially above, let's say, healthy levels. In the very last quarter, we saw potentially the peak, as those levels did maybe come down a little bit. Now we need to watch out whether this was really the peak or whether it's more a sideways walk on an extremely large and high level. We need to check on further data coming out in the next quarters. Memory did come down significantly, I would say, on average, almost on healthy levels, which still means some customers are elevated. Thank you, Didier. thank you didier Let's start with the memory segment first. let's start with the memory segment first They built up inventories, I think, for more than two years in the meantime. they built up inventories i think for more than two years in the meantime It's a kind of growing line and substantially above, let's say, healthy levels. it's a kind of growing line and substantially above let's say healthy levels In the very last quarter, we saw potentially the peak, as those levels did maybe come down a little bit. in the very last quarter we saw potentially the peak as those levels did maybe come down a little bit Now we need to watch out whether this was really the peak or whether it's more a sideways walk on an extremely large and high level. now we need to watch out whether this was really the peak or whether it's more a sideways walk on an extremely large and high level We need to check on further data coming out in the next quarters. we need to check on further data coming out in the next quarters Memory did come down significantly, I would say, on average, almost on healthy levels, which still means some customers are elevated. memory did come down significantly i would say on average almost on healthy levels which still means some customers are elevated You know they also were significantly elevated in the past, and I think did a good homework both in managing this and also maybe with some advanced demand from the, let's say, particularly advanced specification high-bandwidth memory side. Therefore, overall, close to normalizing with a few customers still being elevated a little bit. You know they also were significantly elevated in the past, and I think did a good homework both in managing this and also maybe with some advanced demand from the, let's say, particularly advanced specification high-bandwidth memory side. you know they also were significantly elevated in the past and i think did a good homework both in managing this and also maybe with some advanced demand from the let's say particularly advanced specification high-bandwidth memory side Therefore, overall, close to normalizing with a few customers still being elevated a little bit. therefore overall close to normalizing with a few customers still being elevated a little bit

Speaker 4: Great. In power? Great. great In power? in power

Speaker 2: Power, I think, across many players and almost the whole industry, is significantly elevated and not yet clear indications that they're really coming down, maybe flattening out, maybe saw the strongest growth in inventory. There's just one data point being below the second quarter. We need to really see whether those stabilizing and potentially decreasing trends are really manifesting in the quarters to come. Power, I think, across many players and almost the whole industry, is significantly elevated and not yet clear indications that they're really coming down, maybe flattening out, maybe saw the strongest growth in inventory. power i think across many players and almost the whole industry, is significantly elevated and not yet clear indications that they're really coming down maybe flattening out maybe saw the strongest growth in inventory There's just one data point being below the second quarter. there's just one data point being below the second quarter We need to really see whether those stabilizing and potentially decreasing trends are really manifesting in the quarters to come. we need to really see whether those stabilizing and potentially decreasing trends are really manifesting in the quarters to come

Speaker 4: Got it. I have a quick follow-up just on the memory side as well. I think estimated HBM demand is about, or current capacity, I should say, is about 400,000 wafers per month of a total DRAM capacity of about 1.9 million wafers per month. Is that roughly your exposure when it comes to wafers going into DRAM markets or a similar exposure to HBM? Do you think you are slightly underweight or slightly overweight HBMs? That would be helpful if you could help us understand that. Got it. got it I have a quick follow-up just on the memory side as well. i have a quick follow-up just on the memory side as well I think estimated HBM demand is about, or current capacity, I should say, is about 400,000 wafers per month of a total DRAM capacity of about 1.9 million wafers per month. i think estimated hbm demand is about or current capacity i should say is about 400,000 wafers per month of a total dram capacity of about 1.9 million wafers per month Is that roughly your exposure when it comes to wafers going into DRAM markets or a similar exposure to HBM? is that roughly your exposure when it comes to wafers going into dram markets or a similar exposure to hbm Do you think you are slightly underweight or slightly overweight HBMs? do you think you are slightly underweight or slightly overweight hbms That would be helpful if you could help us understand that. that would be helpful if you could help us understand that

Speaker 2: I'm not sure where your numbers are coming from, but I'm, of course, very reluctant and maybe even must not comment on our exposure to those different segments. Our competitors would love, of course, to know our precise exposure to high-bandwidth memory. I can say very clearly we are well positioned there. As you know, we have a slight overexposure into the memory segment. Today, I am really not in a situation to give you more details there. I'm not sure where your numbers are coming from, but I'm, of course, very reluctant and maybe even must not comment on our exposure to those different segments. i'm not sure where your numbers are coming from but i'm of course very reluctant and maybe even must not comment on our exposure to those different segments Our competitors would love, of course, to know our precise exposure to high-bandwidth memory. our competitors would love of course to know our precise exposure to high-bandwidth memory I can say very clearly we are well positioned there. i can say very clearly we are well positioned there As you know, we have a slight overexposure into the memory segment. as you know we have a slight overexposure into the memory segment Today, I am really not in a situation to give you more details there. today i am really not in a situation to give you more details there

Speaker 4: Okay, that's fine. Thank you so much. Okay, that's fine. okay that's fine Thank you so much. thank you so much

Speaker 10: We will take a follow-up question from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies. Please go ahead. We will take a follow-up question from Constantin Hesse with Jefferies . we will take a follow-up question from constantin hesse with jefferies Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 5: Thank you. Very quick one. Michael, do you think that the volumes that are coming online in Singapore now that have started coming online in the second half and obviously the base effect next year, could these volumes compensate the loss of the smaller diameter that you closed in 2025? That's the first question. Second question, is the price pressure entirely focused in 200-millimeter, or is there some in 300-millimeter legacy? Let's start with these two. Thank you. thank you Very quick one. very quick one Michael, do you think that the volumes that are coming online in Singapore now that have started coming online in the second half and obviously the base effect next year, could these volumes compensate the loss of the smaller diameter that you closed in 2025? michael do you think that the volumes that are coming online in singapore now that have started coming online in the second half and obviously the base effect next year could these volumes compensate the loss of the smaller diameter that you closed in 2025 That's the first question. that's the first question Second question, is the price pressure entirely focused in 200-millimeter, or is there some in 300-millimeter legacy? second question is the price pressure entirely focused in 200-millimeter or is there some in 300-millimeter legacy Let's start with these two. let's start with these two

Speaker 2: Thank you, Constantin. The DHD closure is really a small effect. We will see slight margin contributions from it as we communicated. The top-line contribution in the full year was a mid-single digit. This year, it's only half a year, so you can pretty much neglect it. The overall development will be covered by other effects like the volume growth, the price effects, and the FX effect. In that context, DHD closure this year is almost in the noise level top-line-wise. In terms of pricing pressure, it's, I would say, everywhere outside LTAs. The majority of the LTAs are on 300-millimeter, but there's also, of course, non-LTA 300-millimeter business. Here also, we see some price effects. It's always when we don't have LTAs, then you are more in price discussions. Thank you, Constantin. thank you constantin The DHD closure is really a small effect. the dhd closure is really a small effect We will see slight margin contributions from it as we communicated. we will see slight margin contributions from it as we communicated The top-line contribution in the full year was a mid-single digit. the top-line contribution in the full year was a mid-single digit This year, it's only half a year, so you can pretty much neglect it. this year it's only half a year so you can pretty much neglect it The overall development will be covered by other effects like the volume growth, the price effects, and the FX effect. the overall development will be covered by other effects like the volume growth the price effects and the fx effect In that context, DHD closure this year is almost in the noise level top-line-wise. in that context dhd closure this year is almost in the noise level top-line-wise In terms of pricing pressure, it's, I would say, everywhere outside LTAs. in terms of pricing pressure it's i would say everywhere outside ltas The majority of the LTAs are on 300-millimeter, but there's also, of course, non-LTA 300-millimeter business. the majority of the ltas are on 300-millimeter but there's also of course non-lta 300-millimeter business Here also, we see some price effects. here also we see some price effects It's always when we don't have LTAs, then you are more in price discussions. it's always when we don't have ltas then you are more in price discussions

Speaker 5: Perfect. Claudia, just a very quick one. Remind me again what the rough reimbursement is of the prepayments. I think you made a comment to that in Q2. I just wanted to get a quick, just a homework question. Perfect. perfect Claudia, just a very quick one. claudia just a very quick one Remind me again what the rough reimbursement is of the prepayments. remind me again what the rough reimbursement is of the prepayments I think you made a comment to that in Q2. i think you made a comment to that in q2 I just wanted to get a quick, just a homework question. i just wanted to get a quick just a homework question

Speaker 11: The prepayments, I think it's around EUR 50 million within the next 12 months. The prepayments, I think it's around EUR 50 million within the next 12 months. the prepayments i think it's around eur 50 million within the next 12 months

Speaker 5: Great. Thank you so much. Great. great Thank you so much. thank you so much

Speaker 10: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference back to Ms. Malgara for any additional or closing remarks. There are no further questions at this time. there are no further questions at this time I will now turn the conference back to Ms. Malgara for any additional or closing remarks. i will now turn the conference back to ms malgara for any additional or closing remarks

Speaker 9: This concludes our Q&A session. Thank you for joining us today. We'll release our preliminary full-year 2025 figures on February 3. Please note that there will be no conference call on this day. The full set of numbers, including our annual report, will be published on March 12. On this slide, you can also see our next IR events. Thank you and have a good day. This concludes our Q&A session. this concludes our q&a session Thank you for joining us today. thank you for joining us today We'll release our preliminary full-year 2025 figures on February 3. we'll release our preliminary full-year 2025 figures on february 3 Please note that there will be no conference call on this day. please note that there will be no conference call on this day The full set of numbers, including our annual report, will be published on March 12. the full set of numbers including our annual report will be published on march 12 On this slide, you can also see our next IR events. on this slide you can also see our next ir events Thank you and have a good day. thank you and have a good day

Speaker 10: This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. This concludes today's call. this concludes today's call Thank you for your participation. thank you for your participation You may now disconnect. you may now disconnect