IBERSOL | Annual Report 2021

Message from the Chairman of the Board The past year of 2021 was one of resilience, due to the ability to out- do ourselves and recover from adversity. Our expectations regarding the results of the Covid-19 pandemic were of uncertainty, and these were borne out during the year. For starters, the restaurant sector had to undergo even more restric- tions during the first semester than it had at the beginning of the pandemic. Comparing the lockdowns of the first semesters of 2020 and of 2021 one can see that the latter lasted longer and that when it ended, in June, new restrictions were introduced that lasted until after the semester was over. During the second semester, when vaccination levels in the Iberian Peninsula were very high, restrictions on movement and on retail opening hours were partly lifted, so that the summer holiday season was relatively normal for most residents, although tourism suffered substantially. The Group had to adapt to the circumstances, and ben- efited from a rise in consumer optimism that permitted a higher rate of recovery of the activity. It was in this atmosphere of slow, but steady recovery that Ibersol carved out a path of dynamic resilience. First, the Group recovered its street and shopping centre restaurants business, and then its trav- el segment, although the latter was slower, given restrictions on mo- bility due to the pandemic. During this recovery process Ibersol maintained and increased its so- cial sustainability profile as a large job creating Group, marked by social cohesion. In that sense it managed to protect jobs in Portugal and in Spain, through a combined strategy of making use of the state support mechanisms at its disposal, and a consistent policy of open- ing new restaurants of different Group brands, namely Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut units. MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD 6