Camil Alimentos SA
BOVESPA:CAML3

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Camil Alimentos SA
BOVESPA:CAML3
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Price: 7.72 BRL 3.76% Market Closed
Market Cap: 2.6B BRL
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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2020-Q3

from 0
U
Unknown Executive

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Q&A session for investors and analysts related to the results of the third quarter 2019 outcome of Alimentos.

Here today are Mr. Luciano Quartiero, Director, President; Flavio Vargas, CFO and Head of IR; and the company's Investor Relations team. [Operator Instructions] The audio is being played simultaneously in the company's IR website.

The management's comments on the results of the quarter and the Q&A session may contain forecasts about future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could lead to expectations that may or may not occur or could cause results to differ substantially from what was expected.We will now initiate the Q&A session for investors and analysts. [Operator Instructions]

Our first question is from Isabella Simonato from Bank of America.

I
Isabella Simonato
analyst

Can you hear me well? I have 2 questions. First of all, I would like to learn more about the working capital because we saw a worsening of the cash days worse than expected? And also, if you could elaborate a bit more about receivables?

U
Unknown Executive

Let me interrupt you. Our line was down. Could you repeat your question once again? I do apologize. Our line was down even before you initiated your question.

I
Isabella Simonato
analyst

Sure. Can you hear me now?

U
Unknown Executive

Yes, now we can.

I
Isabella Simonato
analyst

Okay, great. My first question is about working capital. As I think that the name of the financial cycle is below what was expected, especially regarding to your receivables line. So if you please elaborate on that a little bit that -- give me an idea of what could we expect looking forward? And the second question is a more operational question, is whether you could elaborate a bit on the margin improvement? We saw a sounder performance in terms of your sugar segment in cost expectation. Could you please shed some light in that area? And what could be the expected profitability? If sugar prices are recovering? Whether we have more -- further performance to expect looking forward?

U
Unknown Executive

All right. In regards to working capital, we do have a few comments. First of all, in relation to receivables, because of the snapshot of our closing, we had a major sale at the end of November that is still to be received and this changed a bit our closing figures. And this is certainly related to the recovery of sales from Uruguay and Brazil. We also had receivables that is very much related to our pace of sales. And there was an impact in the Brazil inventories. As we anticipated this small inventory from one season to the next, we thought that there could be a small pressure on the demand side. So here, in Brazil, our inventory levels are slightly above the regular levels. And this level should go back to normal levels in the second quarter, both in terms of receivables and inventory. So there is nothing new or no changes in our working capital structure.

Now in terms of margin improvement, the company was already seeking for further efficiency, seeking for further expense and cost reductions. We also put a lot of efforts in the distribution and logistics. This is still in progress, therefore, the results are now beginning to show. And as you well noted, in the sugar segment, we had a good performance and good profitability in the quarter, and we do believe that this performance should remain good in the next quarter. And then in the case of rice, where we had a mismatch of prices throughout the year. This is alongside the process that we commented on the previous call, which is along the lines of a gradual recovery. There was a recovery in the third quarter, and we do believe that this recovery should remain in progress throughout the next quarters. Therefore, this is a gradual recovery of the grain profitability, and we do believe that it will continue to occur but at a gradual pace.

U
Unknown Executive

Next question from [ Pedro Daniello ] from [ Cumber Intelligence ].

U
Unknown Analyst

Do you see any macro improvement that would allow you to end up with a trading down that we've seen in the last quarter, and the possibility of transferring price, particularly in the rice segment?

U
Unknown Executive

I think that the recovery process is beginning, but it's still gradual. We will -- this price transfer will occur gradually. As I said before, this system of price transfer in this segment follows what has happened in the past, weekly and monthly tables. The mismatch that led the margins to go down in the first half of the year -- I mean, we started to see this recovery on the third quarter, and we feel that, that will continue. We will not be able to recover the entire grain margin from one quarter to the next. But we believe that in the next 3 or 4 quarters, this will be 100% result. So in terms of the macro recovery, it will be slow, but we will end up by recovering our margins at the end.

U
Unknown Executive

[Operator Instructions] As there are no further questions, we would like to now conclude the Q&A session. I turn the floor back to Mr. Flavio -- sorry, to Mr. Luciano for his final remarks.

L
Luciano Quartiero
executive

I would just like to put the company landscape into perspective, speaking a little bit about each segment and each country where we operate. And also talk a little bit about working capital and net debt over EBITDA ratio.

I mean we believe that things are happening, and we believe that the recovery will happen gradually. Price levels or price of rice and beans should reach higher levels when compared to last May's prices. In terms of sugar, the Super Barra plant is almost at the efficiency level we anticipated. We are at the end of the ramp-up process, and the plant has performed according to plan. Economies and gains -- savings and gains will begin -- are beginning to show and the expectation in terms of sugar margins in the next quarter, because of the new season, should perform well, and there should be a landscape review.

In terms of fishing, we are in the pre-lent season, and there should be a higher concentration of sales in the last 18 months. This company is working hard to gain more efficiencies in the fishing segment. And we are now reaping the benefits and seeing the results of our efforts.

In terms of other countries, Chile is performing well and it is delivering an important growth. In Peru, there has been a recovery, whereas there has been a change in the terms of variable rights for all products in the rice category. And this brought about some additional competitiveness, and the company is now seeing the reflections of that in our sales numbers. And this new level should remain in progress next year. And Uruguay is more challenging because the profitability in the entire chain is not so good. But this year tends to be very similar to the past 2 years, speaking about Uruguay, in particular, narrowing growth to working capital and prices. To answer Isabella's question, it should be normalized. In the fourth quarter, our leverage or net debt over EBITDA margin was high because of working capital and cash release that usually takes place in the fourth quarter. So we expect that this leverage should remain below 3x.

And the company continues to look for further acquisitions. So that's what I wanted to say as my final remarks. I would like to thank you all for participating, and have a very good day.

U
Unknown Executive

Camil's conference call is now concluded. I would like to thank you all for participating, and have a very good day.