Moody’s adjusted leverage is typically assessed as debt relative to an earnings/cash-flow measure such as EBITDA or funds from operations. Using the available reported figures as a proxy: - Financial debt increased materially: - Noncurrent financial liabilities rose from €3,716.0m to €5,689.9m. - Current financial liabilities rose from €499.7m to €650.1m. - Lease liabilities decreased slightly overall, but not enough to offset the rise in borrowings. - Gross financial debt including leases increased from about €4,312.3m to €6,416.4m, up roughly 49%. - Cash also increased significantly: - Cash and cash equivalents rose from €885.6m to €1,942.4m. - Net debt using these line items increased from about €3,426.7m to €4,474.0m, up roughly 31%. - Operating earnings weakened: - Operating profit declined from €611.7m to €533.8m. - EBITDA proxy, using operating profit plus amortisation/depreciation/provisions, was broadly flat to slightly lower: - 2021: €611.7m + €612.1m = €1,223.8m - 2022: €533.8m + €667.1m = €1,200.9m - Therefore, leverage increased: - Gross debt / EBITDA proxy rose from about 3.5x to 5.3x. - Net debt / EBITDA proxy rose from about 2.8x to 3.7x. Because debt rose substantially while earnings did not improve, Moody’s adjusted leverage trend for 2022 is best estimated as deteriorating. Deteriorating