CAPITAL MARKETS • CORPORATE DEBT • YPF S.A.  • SPECIAL ANALYSIS

YPF repurchased debt for almost $50,000 million: a strategic move that sends signals to the market before the July maturity

In an operation that did not go unnoticed in the local and international capital markets, YPF S.A. notified this week to the National Securities Commission (CNV) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States (SEC) that it repurchased Class XXX Negotiable Notes (YMCWO) for a total of $49,798,644,352, equivalent to USD 35.5 million of nominal value. The purchase was made at an average price of 98.83% of the nominal value, practically at par, between March 3 and 9, 2026.

📋 What was repurchased: the anatomy of the operation

Class XXX Negotiable Obligations (ON XXX) are corporate debt instruments denominated in dollars but traded in pesos in the local market, under the Frequent Issuer regime enabled by the National Securities Commission for companies with recurrent access to the capital market. They were first issued in July 2024 with a face value of $185 million, and reopened in April 2025 for an additional $204 million, totaling an original issuance of $389 million.

Its expiration is set for July 2026. The repurchase of USD 35.5 million in nominal value – 9.1% of the total issuance – at a price of almost par represents a concrete signal: YPF has sufficient liquidity to reduce its short-term liabilities before the market demands repayment. The repurchased bonds will not be cancelled but will be held in the company's portfolio.

📡 What it means for the market: solvency and possible refinancing

In the Argentine financial market, the repurchase of bonds by an issuing company is almost unanimously read as a positive sign. It implies that the company has the necessary cash flow to advance debt payments, that it does not need to wait for maturity under pressure, and that it has a proactive stance in the management of its liabilities.

This reading gains strength if one considers that in February 2026 the company already launched the Class 42 Note, denominated in USD MEP, at a rate of 6.50% per year and a term of 18 months, with subscription through banks such as BBVA and Banco Nación. The pattern that emerges is clear: buy back more expensive debt and replace it with new instruments at more favorable conditions, taking advantage of the better Argentine macroeconomic context under the government of Javier Milei.

📊 Context: YPF's debt cycle in 2025–2026

🏛️ Regulatory framework: CNV, SEC and the Frequent Issuer regime

The operation was simultaneously communicated to two regulators: the National Securities Commission of Argentina, before which YPF operates as an issuer in the local market under the Frequent Issuer regime, and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, before which YPF is listed as ADR (American Depositary Receipt) on the New York Stock Exchange.  with the obligation to file Forms 6-K each time a material event occurs.

The CNV's Frequent Issuer regime allows companies with a track record in the capital market to issue new instruments with simplified procedures, which gives YPF a window of operational agility to manage its debt on an ongoing basis and adapt to market conditions. This framework is what makes both successive buybacks and new issues possible in relatively short times.

📈 The buyback in perspective: YPF's financial power in 2026

To understand the relative weight of this operation, it is necessary to frame it in the company's overall results. YPF closed 2025 with a gross profit of USD 5,000 million, the highest in a decade, and a third quarter EBITDA of USD 1,357 million, 21% higher than the previous quarter. The company's total net debt remains at manageable levels relative to its projected annual EBITDA.

The investment planned for 2026 is USD 6,000 million, the largest in the company's history. In this context, a buyback of USD 35.5 million – barely 0.6% of the annual investment plan – represents a marginal financial cost with a relevant reputational and operating return: it improves the debt/EBITDA ratio, reduces the projected expenditures for the second half of the year and sends the market a message of control over liabilities.

🎯 Conclusion: Active Liability Management as a Sign of Corporate Maturity

The buyback of the Class XXX notes is not an isolated operation: it is the expression of a systematic financial policy that YPF has been applying since the arrival of Horacio Marín as president of the company. Buying back debt on favorable terms, reducing concentrated maturities, broadening the investor base with new issues at more competitive rates, and communicating each move transparently to two regulators from different jurisdictions are hallmarks of a company that learned – with the blows of its history – that market confidence cannot be improvised.

For investors who have YPF instruments in their portfolio – whether stocks, ADRs or local bonds – this week's signal is clear: the company does not expect maturities to arrive; he goes to look for them. And that, in the Argentine capital market, is worth more than any prospect.

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