Alfa SAB de CV

BMV:ALFAA

Earnings Call Transcript 2019-Q1

[Operator]

Good afternoon, and welcome to ALFA's First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded. Now I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Hernan Lozano, Vice President of Corporate Communications. Mr. Lozano, you may begin.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to ALFA's First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. Additional details about our quarterly results can be found in our press release, which was distributed yesterday afternoon and is available on our website in the Investor Relations section.

As a reminder, during this call, we will share forward-looking information and statements, which are based on variables and assumptions that are uncertain at this time. Therefore, actual results could vary materially and the company cautions not to rely unduly on these forward-looking statements.

This call will be divided into 2 parts. First, Eduardo Escalante, our CFO, will discuss ALFA's consolidated financial results and provide key highlights for the individual businesses. Afterwards, we will have a Q&A session where we will take all your questions together with the CFOs from the individual businesses.

I will now turn the call over to Eduardo.

[Eduardo Alberto Castillo, executive]

Thank you, Hernan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. Before I get into a discussion of the first quarter results, I want to welcome Hernan Lozano as ALFA's new VP of Corporate Communications. Many of you know Hernan from his previous role as Alpek's IR Officer, where I had the pleasure of working with him for several years. I'm pleased to have him on the team again, engaging in this new and expanded role.

Now let me move on to the results. ALFA's overall results were in line with full year guidance as the lower-than-anticipated EBITDA from Alpek was offset by better-than-expected results at Nemak and Axtel. Volume was generally weaker across the board and pricing was challenged in some markets as well. As a result, consolidated revenue in 1Q '19 was $4.5 billion, down 2% when compared to the same period of the previous year.

Higher revenue from Alpek primarily reflecting the contribution from last year's Suape and Citepe acquisition in Brazil was offset by lower revenue from other businesses.

Consolidated EBITDA was $519 million in the quarter, 17% lower than 1Q '18, which included a $43 million gain from extraordinary items, such as Axtel's tower sale and Newpek's partial Eagle Ford divestment. Adjusting for extraordinary items, comparable 1Q '19 EBITDA was 10% lower than the same period in the previous year.

Comparable EBITDA in the current quarter was mainly impacted by a challenging oil and feedstock price environment, which affected margins at Alpek and by the anticipated volume decrease in Nemak's key markets due to softening industry conditions and lower demand from certain OEM customers. It is also important to note that 1Q '19 EBITDA no longer included the contribution from the portion of Axtel's Mass Market business that was sold in 4Q '18. And Newpek posted negative EBITDA for the quarter. However, these 2 effects were more than offset by a consolidated benefit of $30 million associated with the adoption of a new accounting standard for long-term leases, IFRS 16.

Beginning on January 1, 2019, we implemented IFRS 16 accounting for long-term leases. As a result, our P&L and balance sheet were impacted both positively and negatively. On a consolidated basis, implementing these changes reduce operating expenses and increase depreciation and interest expense, hence, the benefit to EBITDA. However, the largest impact was to our balance sheet and total debt.

ALFA's consolidated net debt of $7.2 billion is 10% higher than year-end 2018. On an absolute basis, net debt increased $651 million, including a $388 million impact from the adoption of IFRS 16. Alpek accounted for almost half of this IFRS-related increase in ALFA's consolidated net debt, resulting from long-term leases of railcars, storage tanks and other assets. In addition to the accounting effect, this quarter's 2 largest cash flow items were CapEx and net working capital. Total CapEx were $212 million as all businesses continue to make progress in their investment plans.

Investment in net working capital was $208 million, driven mainly by seasonality at Sigma. During 1Q '19, we also paid the first of 2 $101 million dividend installments.

ALFA maintains its solid financial position with consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA of 2.6x compared to 3.2x in 1Q '18. Debt reduction is a key priority for us and we plan to use the proceeds from noncore asset sales, coupled with our strong cash flow generation to continue to pay down debt. With respect to ongoing strategic initiatives from the individual businesses, Alpek is on track to close the sale of its cogen plants in the coming months. Axtel remains focused on lowering leverage and unlocking value for shareholders. The company is engaged in selling the remainder of the Mass Market business and plans to monetize the majority stake in its data centers located in Queretaro and Monterrey. Also, Axtel plans on splitting into 2 business units by reorganizing its operations and assets under an infrastructure business and a service business.

The infrastructure business would own the majority of Axtel's assets and provide connectivity to wholesale customers and operators, including the service business, which in turn will continue providing managed telecom and IT solutions to enterprise and government customers. Axtel believes that splitting the businesses is the most effective means for the company to be run in the future as well as derive more value from the assets.

Regarding oil and gas, ALFA will continue to redimension this business by monetizing certain Newpek assets.

Before moving on to a discussion of the individual company results, let me end the ALFA section by providing some highlights of our recent shareholders meeting. Among the direct benefit to ALFA's shareholders were the approval of a $202 million cash dividend, up 21% versus 2018 as well as the cancellation of 145 million shares valued at approximately $165 million.

For 2019, shareholders also approved a maximum share buyback amount of approximately $300 million. Another highlight from the meeting was the shareholder approval of ALFA's 11th independent board member, increasing the percentage of independent directors to 85%.

Moving now on a brief overview of our businesses. As a reminder, more detailed financial information on the quarter for Alpek, Nemak and Axtel was provided by each of them during their respective conference calls held earlier today. Starting with Alpek. First quarter results were slightly below expectations, largely due to an unfavorable price environment. Oil and feedstock prices were lower than Alpek had anticipated in the first 2 months, but improved by the end of the quarter. The lower oil and feedstock prices caused temporary margin and demand distortions that impacted Alpek's Polyester segment. However, it is important to note that Asian reference polyester margins have been stable despite the feedstock price volatility.

A better performance from the Plastics & Chemicals business driven by better-than-expected polypropylene and expandable polystyrene results, partially offset the weaker performance in the Polyester segment. It is also important to note that Alpek's results posted sequential model improvements from January to March supported by the recovery in oil and feedstock prices. In other company news, Alpek completed the acquisition of a PET recycling plant in the U.S., which complements its growing recycling operations. This transaction highlights Alpek's commitment to enhance its product sustainability and expand its recycled product offering.

With respect to M&G, its Mexican subsidiaries filed for joint bankruptcy petition, known in Spanish as concurso mercantil which included a restructuring plan that was previously agreed among the majority of its creditors, including Alpek. The implementation of the restructuring plan is subject to court approval. This represents a step forward in M&G Mexico's process to retain its debt, supported by the continuity of its operations.

Lastly, the Altamira cogen plant startup process is underway and Alpek is on track to close the sale of its 2 cogen facilities in the coming months.

Moving next to Sigma. Results were generally in line with expectations with total revenue down 2%, but up 1% on a currency-neutral basis. Similar to the past few quarters, top line growth in Mexico was more than offset mainly by lower sales in Europe and the U.S. The profitability picture is also mixed as volume trends and raw material prices varied by region. On a positive note, Sigma is achieving margin improvements in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America operations, but this is being offset by lower results in Europe, primarily due to the fresh new business in Spain and the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar among other items.

EBITDA in the U.S. and Mexico mainly benefited from increased prices. Despite lower volume in some markets, Sigma reported EBITDA of $166 million, up 2% year-over-year. On a currency-neutral basis, EBITDA increased 5%. Recently pork prices have begun to rise reflecting the African swine fever cases reported mainly in China. While not harmful to humans, it is a viral disease that -- with a high mortality rate in hogs. As a result, Chinese pork production is expected to continue decreasing. To date, Sigma has not been materially affected by this situation, but is closely monitoring its evolution and actively pursuing actions across the business to mitigate the impact of higher pork prices.

Similar to other companies, debt reduction is a priority for Sigma. Reflecting a strong cash flow generation, the company reduced net debt by 3% year-over-year with a slight improvement in the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio. It is worth mentioning that in absolute terms, Sigma was able to reduce net debt year-over-year even after adoption of the IFRS 16.

For Nemak, overall, the company reported results in line with expectations reflecting a combination of a less favorable product mix plus lower light vehicle sales and production among certain OEM customers. By region, North America reported a slightly softer-than-expected headwinds supported by stable economic conditions in the U.S. In Europe, cost reduction initiatives more than offset the impact of lower volume on a currency-neutral basis. For rest of the world, Nemak faced a challenging quarter in China where it extended the usual seasonal work stoppages due to the weaker OEM demand in that country.

In summary, tracking with our expectations for the full year, total volume of 12 equivalent units was 8% lower than the same period of the previous year. Along with the lower volume, revenue in the quarter was impacted by FX fluctuation, particularly the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar and was down 11% when compared with 1Q '18. EBITDA was also 11% lower from the same period last year to $175 million, primarily due to lower volume across all regions.

Moving on to Axtel. The company is in the process of repositioning its business to focus on the Enterprise and Government segments. Selling the remaining Mass Market business is a key part of this strategy and impact year-over-year comparisons. 1Q '19 revenue was down 14% year-over-year primarily reflecting the partial divestment of the Mass Market business last year and a weaker currency. Adjusting for the divested operations, revenue was up 1%, or 3% on a currency-neutral basis. First quarter top line results were mainly driven by the Enterprise segment, while the Government business has been a bit slower reflecting the new administration's transition process in Mexico.

Axtel's reported EBITDA was $58 million, down 21% year-on-year as last year included the whole Mass Market business as well as a gain from the tower sales. On a comparable basis, EBITDA increased 7%.

To end, Newpek's quarterly production was down 39% year-over-year, reflecting the average sales for last year and the normal decline in low productivity as drilling for the new wells remain on standstill. Newpek reported revenue of $23 million and an EBITDA loss of $8 million in the quarter, primarily due to lower-than-expected oil prices and the decrease in production. This ends my discussion about the individual businesses.

On a final note, ALFA's first quarter results were generally in line with our full year expectations and we are cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the year. 2019 guidance remains unchanged from our last call in February. So with that, on a consolidated basis, we are estimating total revenue of $19.1 billion, in line with 2018. EBITDA is projected at $2.4 billion, flat with 2018 adjusted EBITDA. Consolidated CapEx is projected at $979 million.

Additionally, the actions taken by the individual companies, including the sale of the noncore assets are enabling ALFA to further strengthen its balance sheet.

This concludes our discussion of first quarter results. We will now take your questions. Please, Hernan?

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Yes. We would like to begin the Q&A session with questions on ALFA. Eduardo Escalante, ALFA's CFO, will take questions on ALFA and any corporate matters.

Operator, please instruct participants to queue for questions on ALFA.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Vanessa Quiroga with Crédit Suisse.

[Vanessa Quiroga, analyst]

What I would like to ask you is regarding the deleveraging strategy, Eduardo. We have seen that Alpek has advanced a lot in the asset sales and also the transaction of Axtel. So how do you see ALFA's leverage currently and what other strategies could be taken?

[Eduardo Alberto Castillo, executive]

Vanessa, thank you for your question. Yes, as we have discussed before, our #1 priority is to achieve a stable net leverage ratio below 2.5x. And for that, we will continue working on the divestments that you just mentioned. In the case of Alpek, as I mentioned during the script, we expect to close the cogen sale by the middle of this year, probably by the end of second quarter. And in the case of Axtel, we will continue moving with the divestment of the remaining Mass Market business as well as the other initiative that was announced today by Axtel regarding the splitting of Axtel business into 2 separate businesses; infrastructure and services. So that continues to be the priority. We will continue moving towards delivering the company both on a consolidated level as well as across the board in all different businesses.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Alejandro Chavelas with Actinver.

[Alejandro Chavelas, analyst]

Congratulations on the results. And just to -- continuing with Vanessa's question, what do you think should be the -- if we think in absolute [indiscernible] time frame, what should be your priorities in capital deployment? My perception is that Alpek is looking into some vertical integration initiatives and perhaps for the rest of the subsidiaries I don't have a clear perspective of what the idea in capital deployment would be. So perhaps a little bit more insight from the ALFA standpoint being where would be the key initiatives to invest capital in the following years. I understand the [indiscernible] in the year was perhaps more specific markets or sectors that you would like to target in the following 2, 3 years to go?

[Eduardo Alberto Castillo, executive]

Yes, Alejandro, thank you for the question. The strategy regarding capital deployment in ALFA has been and will continue to be a bottoms up strategy. Each one of the businesses will continue working towards improving their competitiveness and market position via in some cases selective investments like Alpek did in Brazil last year. And at the same time, the divestment of noncore assets as again Alpek is doing today in the case of the Cogen facilities. It will continue to be a bottoms-up strategy coming from each one of the businesses. And also, again, we will continue working towards deleveraging each one of the businesses as well as the consolidated ratios, net leverage ratios that we have. We do not have plans to go into any new business in ALFA as we have discussed before and we will continue -- we will also continue redimensioning the oil and gas business that we have for showing the continuity of the divestment of the Eagle Ford Shale play that we have today. So I would say, regarding that strategy, nothing has changed. We will continue on track and we will continue a very disciplined capital allocation across all businesses and the holding company.

[Operator]

Mr. Hernan Lozano, there are no further questions at this time on ALFA.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Thank you. We will then take questions on Sigma. As you probably know, Sigma made organizational changes where Roberto Olivares was named CFO and Eugenio Caballero who was Sigma's CFO for the last 3 years was named CEO for Mexico. They are both here to answer your questions.

Operator, please prompt for questions on Sigma.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Nikolaj Lippmann with Morgan Stanley.

[Nikolaj Lippmann, analyst]

And I also thank you for the additional disclosure for the different divisions. Finally, congratulations on the new roles. My question is related to the African swine fever and the potential impact whatever you can share that, that could have going forward in the Sigma business. So I was wondering if you could share with us the exposure that you have of the percentage of your mix that is exposed to this -- the degree to which you have long-term contracts in some markets in order to get a better handle of -- on this particular risk?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Nikolaj, thank you for your questions. So regarding the ASF, we do have seen recent price increases in pork both in Europe and in the U.S. in the last couple of weeks. And as you may know, this has a lot to do with China going upside to try to cover the deficit in production created by these outbreaks. But right now, there is a lot of volatility in the market. So just to give you an example. Pork ham in the U.S. in February was trading at around $0.45 per pound. And in the first week of April, it increased more than 50%, but then came back and has stayed in -- between these 2 numbers from there. So we still need a lot to understand about what's going on and the possible impacts going forward. What I can tell you is that we have been working on actions to sustain our margins. We have already started increasing prices in the regions where we have been affected. And since last quarter of last year and the beginning of this year, we have been building inventory in order to delay the possible impact and have more time to increase prices. I think right now, I mean, fortunately, this situation is not new to us. We have a similar situation in 2014, I don't know if you may recall the PBV virus in the U.S. At that time, prices in the U.S. increased more than 100%, but we managed to pass through that crisis without serious impact in our operations. However, I mean, the situation is different. It has a more global impact. So we are closely monitoring the situation and see what are the actions that we take to be able to sustain our margins.

[Nikolaj Lippmann, analyst]

Could do just remind us the exposures you have? What is the percentage of your volume or your revenue perhaps rather that is exposed to pork?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

So in terms of COGS, around 25% of our COGS is pork.

[Nikolaj Lippmann, analyst]

Would that be equivalent to just about half your revenue?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

It will be equivalent. Yes, a little bit more up -- a little bit above half the revenue.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Carlos Peyrelongue with Bank of America.

[Carlos Peyrelongue, analyst]

Question is also related to margins. Obviously, there were some cost pressures in Europe and the situation with pork that is a global issue. Your margins that you reported on EBITDA are more or less in line with the guidance you provided for the full year. What should we expect? I mean, you reiterated guidance overall. Do you still feel comfortable with this 11% margin you have for guidance? Can you comment a little bit on whether these issues with pork are issues that are -- were not expected and could add to other concerns you might have had? Or is this really to some extent included in the guidance that you have provided for the year?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Thank you, Carlos. So regarding margins and talking about 1Q 2019, what -- those were in plan with our guidance. The impact, talking about Europe, is more related to our fresh meat business and does not necessarily happen because of the ASF. So going forward, we think it will be a challenge with ASF. But with information that we have up to the moment, we feel comfortable to not changing our guidance during the year, but we continue closely monitoring the situation and to be able to react quickly of any potential impact. As I already mentioned, we already increased prices in some of the markets that we were impacted and we have been building inventory since the beginning of this year because we kind of see this as a possibility. So we will feel comfortable with our guidance right now.

[Carlos Peyrelongue, analyst]

Understood. And looking at the experience of 2014 that you mentioned, volumes tend to -- not to react too negatively to price increases when you have these conditions will you need to be a bit more aggressive on pricing? Are they fairly resilient volumes?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

So -- since this is a situation that is happening to the whole industry and even to some of our clients since they also source pork directly and this could potentially affect other [ costings ]. We think that although we are calculating some electricity in our prices increases, we don't see the volume dropping significantly.

[Eugenio Sada, executive]

And if I may complement, Carlos, a little bit, if it's okay. In 2014, with that radical increase, we did not have any volume losses at the time. We did see inflation in the whole category per se. And so as Roberto was mentioning, that helps the whole category and trade down opportunities. What does happen is that it gets harder to grow when that happens. So usually in a crisis like this, that's what happens. It's harder for you to expand your business more than expecting a terrible downwind in terms of volumes.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Luis Miranda with Santander.

[Luis Miranda, analyst]

Roberto, the questions are just -- the first one is a follow-up to Nikolaj's question. Just when you talk about the exposure of the swine flu by region, is there any specific region where you have a higher risk or higher exposure to pork, I believe maybe the U.S. or Mexico? And the second question is regarding the consumer environment in Mexico. You increased prices, you are expanding margins. However, we're also seeing some signs of slowdown. And I would like to know if the price increases are sticking up or are you seeing a trade out in -- especially in ham and cheeses?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Thank you, Luis, for your question. So regarding our exposure to pork, I will say that Europe is a region that is mostly exposed to pork. The other regions are highly fair between pork and poultry.

[Eugenio Sada, executive]

And regarding consumer environments in Mexico, you are right. Same-store sales reported by ANTAD on the quarter were only 2% up in nominal pesos. So it's not the type of numbers we like to see. And we are as Roberto mentioned, already presenting price increases related to pork prices for the coming months. And again, when things like this happens, it gets a little bit harder to grow more than anything else. We have not seen anything too dramatic on trade down between our brands in package meats. You do see some, but as we've commented in the past, the margins that we have in different brands in the package meats industry is not necessarily that dramatic of a change when you trade down formulations and the product costs are also different. This is something that we will closely monitor and it depends in a big way on what happens economically in Mexico going forward and it obviously gets better as the economy improves and the opposite if it moves in the other direction.

[Luis Miranda, analyst]

If I may follow up, a follow-up question, just in Europe. How should we see the profitability going forward in Europe? And in terms of this fresh meat hitting the profitability, should it continue to the next quarter or are you seeing an improvement in the short- to medium-term?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

So let me comment a little bit about how the situation happened in the fresh meat business. So this happened because of the dynamics in the industry and the correlation between the price at which we buy the live hogs and the price at which we sell the cuts or the pieces. So just to give you an example, live hogs does not travel more than 200 kilometers. So we source most of it from around our harvesting plant in the north of Spain and we sell them at global prices, globally. So in the last couple of quarters, there has been some gap between these 2 markets, but we have seen this gap closing in the last couple of weeks. So I think we expect better margins in the short- to medium-term in this business.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of [ Ed Santevecchi ] with Bradesco.

[Unknown Analyst]

Just could you remind us what percentage of your pork and poultry costs are occurring in dollars?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Ed, thank you for your question. So in the case of Mexico -- for the case of Mexico, are you...

[Unknown Analyst]

Yes.

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Okay. So for the case of Mexico, around -- between 75% and 80% of our meat cost is related to the U.S. dollars.

[Unknown Analyst]

Okay. And then just in terms of leverage, I believe the goal is 2.5x by this year-end. If you see some margin pressure or inability to even expand margins, can you talk to us how you get there? Any other alternatives for the company to reduce leverage?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

So we -- I mean, we are very disciplined in terms of our CapEx and we have been improving on net working capital in the last couple of years. So we will be closely monitoring the result, the EBITDA, and doing what is necessary to get to our guidance in, yes?

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Diego Saenz with MetLife.

[Diego Saenz, analyst]

Just a quick question. Can you remind us if you use derivatives as part of your risk management strategy? I know you do some FX hedges, but also I was wondering if you do with commodities?

[Roberto Olivares, executive]

Thank you, Diego. Yes, currently, we do have a couple of cross-currency swaps that hedge in our U.S. denominated debt and they swap it to Mexican pesos. We also recently had been doing some FX forwards to hedge our Mexican peso -- U.S. dollar needs in our Mexican operation. And talking about other assets, we are right now also reviewing the possibility of doing something also with live hogs as a possible action in order to hedge the ASF impact.

[Operator]

Mr. Hernan Lozano, there are no further questions at this time on Sigma.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Thank you. Let's move forward and take questions on Newpek. Rodolfo Gamboa, Newpek's VP of Operations and Business Development will answer your questions. Operator, please prompt for questions on Newpek.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Jose Vazquez with GBM.

[Jose Vazquez, analyst]

My question is regarding the ongoing process of asset sales in Newpek. How much are you targeting and get from these asset sales?

[Rodolfo Gamboa, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Jose. I don't think we have a number to disclose at the time and we have been exploring, as you saw last year, we had a partial sale of our Eagle Ford position plus a small field in Wilcox production in South Texas. And so we're really taking a very paused approach at the process and looking to maximize the value out of any transaction.

[Jose Vazquez, analyst]

Okay. And if I may have a follow-up. Do you still have plans on investing on Mexico in the energy sector?

[Rodolfo Gamboa, executive]

Yes. I think as we have commented before, the plan is to invest in Mexico in a very opportunistic and thoughtful manner. The blocks that we acquired from the last bid round, we are investing carefully this year with a quite limited budget. Until we see the results from that, we will then expand our level 1 plan.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Vanessa Quiroga with Crédit Suisse.

[Vanessa Quiroga, analyst]

My question is regarding the reduction in volumes that we saw. Can you explain a little bit more about the outlook that you are seeing for volumes in the U.S.?

[Rodolfo Gamboa, executive]

Yes. Thank you, Vanessa. The reduction in volume comes mainly from Eagle Ford sale production. And if you go back to first quarter of 2018, we had a few wells that we drilled in 2017 that just came online in that quarter. We saw the peak production in that quarter. And the decline since then has been as expected in any shale play, most of that production coming from the new wells. Fortunately, the production is now stabilizing after a year of decline and we're seeing a much lesser decline. So we will still see some declines until we pick up drilling again probably later in the year.

[Operator]

Mr. Hernan Lozano, there are no further questions at this time on Newpek.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Thank you. In that case, let's move on with questions on Alpek, Nemak or Axtel. The 3 companies held their earnings conference call earlier this morning. José Carlos Pons, Alpek's CFO; Alberto Sada, Nemak's CFO; and Adrian de los Santos, Axtel's CFO are all here with us to answer any additional questions. Please instruct participants to queue for questions on Alpek, Nemak or Axtel.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Carlos Peyrelongue with Bank of America.

[Carlos Peyrelongue, analyst]

The question is related to margins. We saw some weakness in volumes that was expected, but the margins that you reported in the first quarter were quite a bit higher than the guidance you have for the full year. Can you comment on your expectations for margins throughout the year? I imagine that your guidance for margin remains. Just to try to understand why the margin was about 170 basis higher in this quarter? And what we should expect going forward?

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Carlos, this is Hernan. Just a quick clarification. Your question, we suppose is on Nemak?

[Carlos Peyrelongue, analyst]

Yes. Sorry, Nemak, yes.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Okay.

[Alberto Sada Medina, executive]

Yes. Sure Carlos, this is Alberto. Yes, we saw a little bit higher than expected margins in the first quarter of '19, but that's also in line with the seasonality of results that we have. Traditionally, the first half of the year, in particular, first quarter, a little bit higher than the second half. So they are in line with what we have assumed for guidance for the entire year. So a little bit higher, but -- and again, in line with the typical seasonality and cycle we have during the year.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Vanessa Quiroga with Crédit Suisse.

[Vanessa Quiroga, analyst]

This is regarding Nemak and the comments made on the call regarding some concern about utilization rate running under potential and the strategy of maybe reducing assets or selling assets. I just wanted a clarification on that strategy.

[Alberto Sada Medina, executive]

Sure, Vanessa. What we discussed during the call was related to our capacity utilization rate. And as it's been reminded in -- as you've seen from a volume development, we have some open capacity in certain regions, in particular, China, but as well as we also have some open capacity in North America and Europe. And for that purpose, we are actively engaging in 2 aspects. On one side, we're looking for volume that we can allocate to this site with marginal investment and to the extent that it would be necessary, we will also be open to rationalization of some of that capacity. At this point, it's both directions. So we're looking for ways to improve our profitability on that front.

[Vanessa Quiroga, analyst]

And for rationalization, are you referring to closures or selling?

[Alberto Sada Medina, executive]

No, no, no, we're essentially moving volume to where the capacity is more profitable.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Jose Vazquez with GBM.

[Jose Vazquez, analyst]

My question was the same as Vanessa. It has been answered already. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time on Alpek, Nemak or Axtel. And I would like to turn the call back to Mr. Hernan Lozano for closing remarks.

[Hernan Lozano, executive]

Yes, I would just like to thank all of you for your interest in ALFA. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us, we would be pleased to assist you. Thank you very much for joining us, and have a great day.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.