IBERSOL • 2023 Integrated Management Report

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT REPORT 2023 margins due to rising production costs and new European regulations. In turn, pork production will tend to decrease globally in 2024, with resilient demand and some associated diseases putting pressure on supply and price levels. Energy scarcity According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2023 there was a general reduction in electricity consumption in developed countries, due to an unfavourable macroeconomic environment and still high inflation (resulting from all the trade restrictions and effects associated with the geopolitical context), which slowed global consumption to +2.2% (compared to +2.4% in 2023). However, the outlook is for faster growth in the coming years, at an average of +3.4% per year until 2026, mainly driven by developing countries, but to which developed countries are also contributing, mainly through the expansion of electric mobility and technological services (data centre operations, artificial intelligence services, crypto-currencies, etc). In Europe, in particular, electricity consumption is not expected to reach 2021 levels again until 2026. Electricity prices, along with those of other energy sources, fell significantly in 2023, although they are still higher than in 2019. This trend is expected to continue in 2024, with an increase in the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources. In this context, consumption of natural gas and other non-renewable sources in Europe has been falling, while stocks and resilience have been increasing to cope with the still unstable geopolitical environment. In this context, the Ibersol Group continues to promote a series of actions aimed at reducing local gas and electricity consumption at its administrative facilities and restaurants (On-Off Plan), and has also begun to monitor more closely the carbon footprint associated with electricity consumption, with a view to establishing a decarbonization roadmap over the next few years. Prolonged economic stagnation The World Bank projects global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 2.4 per cent in 2024, which, if confirmed, will be the third consecutive year of deceleration. This will be a minimum in the growth of 2023, which is estimated at 2.6 per cent and the growth in 2025, which is estimated 323