Cury Construtora e Incorporadora SA

BOVESPA:CURY3

Earnings Call Analysis

Cury Construtora Reports Strong Financials with High Sales and Growth Potential

In Q3 2024, Cury Construtora achieved robust operational performance, launching BRL 1.6 billion in new properties and net sales of BRL 1.4 billion, marking a 47.8% increase year-over-year. The adjusted gross margin improved to 39%, while net profit rose by 60% to BRL 180.6 million. The company aims to maintain its margin despite inflationary pressures, targeting a revenue growth of around 40% in 2025. Cury also highlights a solid cash generation, maintaining a net cash position, and paying out 100% of last year's profits in dividends, showcasing its commitment to shareholder returns.

Strong Growth Performance in Q3 2024

Cury Construtora demonstrated robust financial performance in Q3 2024, marking a significant milestone since its IPO. The company reported net revenue of BRL 1.055 billion for the quarter, reflecting a commendable increase of 40.4% compared to Q3 2023. This growth was driven by a substantial increase in property launches totaling BRL 1.6 billion, highlighting the company's operational efficiency and ability to meet high market demand.

Impressive Sales and Market Demand

Net sales reached BRL 1.4 billion, which is up 47.8% from the same quarter last year but experienced a seasonal decline of 17.8% compared to the previous quarter. The company successfully sold all units in several projects, including the Heitor dos Prazeres - Colombina project, which had a PSV of BRL 139.3 million and sold all 500 units quickly. Demand remains high, especially in strategic areas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Sustainable Profit Margins and Future Prospects

The adjusted gross margin for the quarter stood at 39%, an increase of 1 percentage point year-over-year, and a solid net profit of BRL 180.6 million was reported, representing a 60% uptick from Q3 2023. The management aims to maintain this margin moving forward despite facing inflation pressures. They indicated that achieving a margin of 39% would be viewed as a significant accomplishment under the current economic circumstances.

Strategic Positioning in Key Markets

Cury is strategically positioned to capitalize on the growing housing demand. The company's focus on the Minha Casa Minha Vida program allows it to tap into government-backed funding for affordable housing, which remains a critical growth area. The new projects targeting bracket #4 customers show a shift towards higher-margin properties, positioning the company well for continued success as it aims to expand its inventory and offerings.

Focus on Cash Generation and Dividends

Operating cash generation for Q3 reached BRL 147 million, showcasing the company’s healthy cash flow. Cury has demonstrated a strong commitment to shareholder returns, having distributed BRL 480 million in dividends this year, equivalent to 100% of last year's profit. Looking ahead, management plans to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 60% to 70% of profits, contingent upon maintaining sufficient cash reserves.

Challenges Ahead: Inflation and Cost Management

The company acknowledges challenges posed by potential rising costs and inflation. Management remains vigilant, planning to increase prices if necessary to offset any significant uptick in costs. They emphasized that they have buffers in place and can adapt accordingly to maintain robust margins despite market fluctuations.

Growth Guidance and Future Outlook

Looking forward to 2025, Cury plans to launch approximately BRL 1 billion in new projects. The company aims for a steady growth trajectory of around 40% again next year, a trajectory supported by healthy inventory levels and strategic launches. This foresight reflects Cury's confidence in its operational capabilities and market demand.

Market Position and Competitive Insights

Cury’s performance in the competitive landscape of real estate in Brazil showcases its resilience. With a focus on high-demand areas and the ability to adapt quickly to market conditions, Cury is poised to continue capturing market share in both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The company's strategy to prioritize higher-ticket properties and maintain agile operations will be key to sustaining growth.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q3

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Cury's Q3 2024 Earnings Conference. This conference is being recorded and will be available for replay at the company's website, ri.cury.net, where the respective slide deck can also be downloaded. [Operator Instructions]

Before moving on, we'd like to reinforce that any forward-looking statement made during this conference is based on Cury's management's beliefs and assumptions as well as information currently available to the company. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties, seeing as they relate to future events and, therefore, rely on circumstances that may or may not materialize. Investors, analysts and journalists must understand that events relating to the macroeconomic environment, the industry and other factors could lead to materially different results than those expressed in said forward-looking statements.

Joining us today are CEO, Mr. Fabio Cury; Commercial VP, Mr. Leonardo Mesquita; CFO, Mr. João Carlos Mazzuco; and IRO, Mr. Ronaldo Cury. I will now turn over to Mr. Fabio Cury, who will start the presentation. Mr. Cury, please proceed.

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you very much for joining us for Cury's Q3 2024 Earnings Conference. Joining us today from Cury, in addition to myself, we have Leonardo Mesquita, our Commercial VP; Ronaldo Cury, our IRO; and João Mazzuco, our CFO. Over the course of this conference, we will show you the highlights of Cury's operating and financial performance. And at the end, we'll open for questions.

In September 2024, we celebrated 4 years of Cury Construtora's IPO, a hallmark of our path of solid and consistent growth. We remain committed to delivering exceptional results and delivering sustainable value to our shareholders. Along those lines, our Q3 2024 results are evidence of our operational efficiency and execution capacity with solid financial performance.

This quarter, we reported outstanding sales and new property launch results. As an example, the project Heitor dos Prazeres - Colombina located at the Maravilha Port in Rio de Janeiro, with a BRL 139.3 million PSV, whose second stage and which started in July, has already sold out all 500 units, confirming the high demand for projects in strategic areas of the city.

The success in sales is evidence of the attractive location and the high quality of the supply, consolidating our footprint in the Rio de Janeiro market. Evidence that demand is still high is the project Lyne Campo Limpo in São Paulo last October, with 799 units and a PSV of $245.3 million in its second stage, it's already sold over 90% of its units in only a month.

Now I'll turn it over to Ronaldo, who will go into detail about our operating and financial results.

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Good morning, everyone. On Slide 6, I'll go into our operating and financial performance in Q3 '24. We've reported a total of new property launches of BRL 1.6 billion, net sales of BRL 1.4 billion, net SOS of 43.9% and cash generation of BRL 147 million. We've also reported net revenue by BRL 1.1 billion, adjusted gross margin of 39%, BRL 180.6 million net profit and 17.1% net margin.

I will now turn over to our VP, Leonardo Mesquita, who will talk about our operating results.

[Leonardo Mesquita da Cruz, executive]

Good morning, everyone. On Slide 7, we can see that this quarter, we've launched 9 new projects, which amounted to BRL 1.6 billion in PSV, 4 of which were located in São Paulo and 5 located in Rio de Janeiro. The highlights were Mérito Vila Mascote launched in July, with BRL 146 million PSV, located at the south side of São Paulo, with nearly all of its units sold. Alto São Domingos in the south side of São Paulo launched in July with a total PSV of 232 million, with over 70% of its units sold. Heitor dos Prazeres - Colombina launched in July with BRL 139 million PSV, located at the Maravilha Port in Rio de Janeiro, with all of its units sold.

On Slide 8, we talk about our sales results in Q3 '24, BRL 1.4 billion in net sales, up 47.8% versus Q3 '23 and down 17.8% versus Q2 '24. Our SOS in Q3 '24 was 43.9%, up 3.5 percentage points versus Q3 '23 and 6.6 percentage point drop versus the previous quarter. Our SOS in the last 12 months came to 75.4%, up 1.8 percentage points versus Q3 '23 and up 0.3 percentage points versus Q2 2024. We ended Q3 2024 with BRL 1.8 billion in PSV, 98.7% made up by projects that have not begun construction or units under construction and only 1.3% from concluded units.

On Slide 9, we can see on the graph on the left-hand side that in Q3 '24, our sales mix focused on the higher brackets of the program and even outside of the Minha Casa Minha Vida program. On the right, we show the events and the average price per unit sold. In Q3 the average price was BRL 306.3 million, up 10% versus Q3 '23 and 1.6% versus Q2 '24.

On Slide 10, we talk about our land bank. In Q3 2024, we reached a record point, ending with BRL 19.5 billion in PSV or over 67,118 units. Also on Slide 10, we talk about our operating cash generation, which came to BRL 147 million in the quarter.

On that note, I'd like to turn over to our CFO, João, who will talk about our financial results. Please, João, you may proceed.

[Joao Mazzuco, executive]

Good morning, everyone. Moving forward to Slide 12, we highlight our net revenue and our gross profit. On this quarter, we came to BRL 1.055 million (sic) [ billion ], up 40.4% versus the same period last year. The gross profit came to BRL 409.4 million, up 44.2% versus the same period in 2023 and a 7% increase over Q2 2024. Our adjusted gross margin, which came to 39% over the quarter, went up by 1 percentage point versus Q3 of the previous year and up 0.5 percentage points versus Q2 2024. This wider margin is already seen in the previous quarter as a result of the more relevant new crops on this result.

On Slide 13, we underscore the net profit and what is -- to the controller company, BRL 170.6 million this quarter, up 57.7% over Q3 '23. And also on Slide 13, we talk about the net profit for our entire operation, BRL 180.6 million this quarter, up 60% versus the BRL 112.9 million reported in Q3 2023.

On Slide 14, we highlight our gross debt profile. We ended the quarter with a total gross debt of BRL 1.102 billion, 79.7% higher than that recorded on December 31, 2023. We continue to keep a net cash position, which ended the quarter at BRL 322.7 million, decreasing over the BRL 378.9 million reported on December 31, 2023. Our net cash-to-equity ratio ended the quarter at 26.2%. Our amortization time line goes as far as July 2031.

On Slide 15, we show that we maintained a solid return on capital with an ROE that came to 64.2% in the quarter, considering the last 12 months. Our fundamentals remain unchanged: solid cash generation and shareholder remuneration in the form of dividend distribution.

Thank you so much. And with that, I turn it over to Fabio.

[Fabio Cury, executive]

We've made headway in our ESG agenda, publishing our sustainability report for 2023 that was reported this quarter. The document provides evidence of Cury's progress in many different fields, mirroring the growing importance of this topic in our corporate strategy. We are confident that the funds devoted to government program, Minha Casa Minha Vida, in the next few years will be enough to supply the growing demand.

It's important to note that by redirecting the budget exclusively for individuals, government-run bank Caixa Econômica Federal has unlocked funds that used to be devoted to corporations as well, meaning more directly the mortgage needs of our end consumers. Based on the results of this quarter and the robust new properties that we've launched, we are confident that we are headed toward another year of remarkable accomplishments, driven by the high demand and the market and our capacity for efficient execution.

Thank you very much for joining us and for your interest in Cury. If you have any inquiry, Cury's IR team is fully available to investors and the market at large. With that, we conclude our presentation, and I turn over to the operator to begin our question-and-answer session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Fanny Oreng.

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

I have 2 questions. My first one, perhaps more to Leo. The growth that we saw in this quarter caught my eye, where you're selling more in the #4 bracket. So I just wanted to hear from you, how do you see that mix moving forward considering your new properties -- property launches? And I'd also like to understand your price -- your cost pass-through. How do you see consumers taking that? And also, I wanted to hear how do you see the impact in that cost pass-through, especially in the bracket #4? Those would be my questions.

[Leonardo Mesquita da Cruz, executive]

Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Fanny. Thank you for your question. Well, this division has a lot to do with the mix of new property launches. There are a few areas such as the Maravilha Port and the new product that we launched in the city of Niterói. Because of that location, I think we bring in more of those customers on bracket 4.

And in São Paulo, with the investors with [ R2V ] and what's available, we also make the most of the opportunity to really go for this mix of products. And what we are always saying here and what we've been trying to observe is, on a case-by-case basis with each project, we are trying to make the best of this pressure.

We have the pressure -- the video that we have in Rio and here in São Paulo, we see the units that are sold in greater volume so that we can gain a little bit more on the pricing side. This is something the company has always done. And every week, we try to look based on the income levels with each project. We assess that gain via prices. That's become a routine really for us. And regardless of the rate of inflation that we might have, we understood that this is a strategy we need to follow in our day-to-day operations.

I think your other question was to Ronaldo, right?

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

Yes, that's right.

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Fanny. Well, about the SBPE budget for this year, that was BRL 75 billion with Caixa, and we expect that to be BRL 60 billion next year. However, Caixa, the government-run bank, has begun to restrict properties that are not funded via Caixa. And for those who are not, the same rule apply. So when you disconnect the individual, the same rule applies.

And they're also limiting new corporations. So the BRL 60 billion that we'll have for the next year, those will be fully devoted to individual mortgages. So it's a similar budget. It won't really be smaller. It will actually be virtually the same. So we see room to continue to operate the same way with SBPE next year as well.

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

That was perfect, Ronaldo. If you allow me a follow-up question, Ronaldo. Within this new system for corporations with Caixa, I understand this will be mostly with FGTS because your customers are mostly FGTS individuals, right?

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Well, Fanny, we have about 70% corporations with FGTS and 70% with SBPE. The cost of those FGTS corporations was 8.3, and then with SBPE was 9.9, and they will all now be CDI plus. Depending on the company's rating for us, it's CDI plus 3%. And it's important to note, and João is beside me, that we use this a lot. We've been using BRL 90 million and, of course, if the rate goes up, we plan to use that even more.

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

Yes. And the idea is to get more of the transfer, right?

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Yes, absolutely.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Pedro Lobato with Bradesco.

[Pedro Lobato Garcia Fernandes, analyst]

We have 2 questions, actually. The first one is sort of a follow-up on the previous question. When you look at the FGTS budget for next year, there's been a marginal adjustment on the -- on bracket #3 and an increase in the lower brackets. Could this change your strategy when it comes to your mix of products for next year? That's my first question.

And the second, when you look at the first 9 months of '24 comparing this year with last year, we see that the number of projects, your prices and the number of units has gone up in a more remarkable way, but they have all gone up. Similarly, price is even a little less than the other 2 variables. So considering your next round of growth, where do you believe that increase will come from? Will it be an increase in the number of projects, the number of units sold or prices or the way it's been so far, which is a combination of the 3?

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Pedro, thank you for your questions. I'm not sure if I understood your question about the budget, but our budget for next year has already been given. We've reported our annual budget for next year. It's a significant value for the next year. We're talking about BRL 152 billion for the next 4 years.

And for housing, this is an unprecedented figure, which we understand to be sustainable, especially now that the government is discussing ending anniversary with [indiscernible]. So we don't expect any change for the next few years. So I'm going to turn it over to Leo, who will talk a little bit about the increase in new properties versus prices.

[Leonardo Mesquita da Cruz, executive]

Pedro, well, about the prices, the most important factor when we talk about an increase in projects is inventory. And currently, the increase in sales in our inventory, especially in the city of São Paulo, puts us in a very comfortable position to increase the volume in this area, considering the sales figures that we have been seeing.

So we understand, currently, that in São Paulo, you have [ HS1 ] and other rules, and you have this different mix with new property launches. So I think that we are actually in keeping with what this FGTS, what it allows us to use. So to your question, all you have to do is look at our inventory in São Paulo versus the competition, and you'll see that there's still significant room for growth.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Tainan Costa with UBS.

[Tainan Costa, analyst]

I just wanted to go a little bit into the -- by 2025, we're hearing that Cury plans to launch close to BRL 1 billion next year, considering that we still have February and March, and also Rio. I just wanted to understand whether this is the seasonal period for the first half of the year, if this is a strategy for the company to launch more projects in the first and second quarter versus the second half of the year?

And should we expect something similar for Rio de Janeiro, something close to BRL 1 billion? And lastly, what are your prospects for projects for the year at large? You grew about 40% -- 45% in '23, it should go to 40% next year. Should we expect something similar next year or something close to 20% and maybe going above the 7% for the entire company next year? Or should we expect room for more than that?

[Leonardo Mesquita da Cruz, executive]

Well, I think, at this point in the year, what we usually do is we prepare and look how far our inventory goes so that we can lower it and start the year at the best position -- at the best possible position, as you mentioned yourself. So what we're seeing today is where we still have a lot of opportunity to make the most of our sales force is São Paulo. So that's probably why you have that information given our strategy to also prepare or to start the year really strong.

And in our sales meeting, they already know where these new property launches will take place. And we're gearing up for that because we see room for growth, indeed. If all stays unchanged in terms of sales force, we don't see room for change. As I said, our guide will always be our inventory. If we have healthy inventory levels, we'll seek growth, and we'll try to explore our sales force and our sales speed wherever possible.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Luiz Capistrano with Itaú BBA.

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

Congratulations on another strong quarter. What we've discussed the most with investors on our side is cost in São Paulo is usually the most important point of contention, considering that your NCC is a bit higher in the city right now and mostly focused on labor, which, we understand, has a somewhat more significant impact on your construction method. And you've also been talking about inflation for a while now. So what I wanted was an update on the topic within the company, and whether you have been taking steps with regard to the assumptions for your budget?

Is there a concern about price increases? And talking not only about raw material and labor, but also the competition for plots of land. We understand that the market is thriving, not only for you, but for your competition as well. And maybe many of them are seeking to grow there and giving you a hard time in that sense. So just wanted to understand how you believe the competition is dealing with the growing NCC, and what you plan to do moving forward?

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Good morning, Luiz. This is Ron speaking. Well, what I would say is this, at our current NCC levels, there is still room for us to cushion that. And our margins attest to that. Our unearned revenue of margins attest to that. So we're still not looking at the same scenario we had in 2021, 2022. So obviously, there's the buffer that we include in our budgets.

We have also provisions for engineering, and we provide for that in the budget. So there is some hedge for us whenever we launch a new project. And beyond that, we operate in the markets of Rio and São Paulo, which are the markets where there's more capacity for us to raise prices. And that's what we have been doing. This has been actually one of the strategies we've adopted, and we've mentioned that several times.

After the last wave of strong inflation, that allowed us to maintain our margins over the course of this entire period following our IPO. So obviously, this is concerning and should become even more concerning if inflation takes off and figures continue to go up. However, at this point, the steps we've been taking and which are well known to everyone, we are confident in those.

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

I think it's clear. And now, a final question. If you could please shed some light on -- of course, we don't know whether inflation will go up or not. We understand that Brazil is in a context of inflation. And I understand that you're gearing up for that in the first half of the year.

I know there is room for settling, but should we look into a more bearish scenario, maybe not even the base case scenario, but one where your NCC starts next year, 7% to 8%? In your minds, would the best step to circumvent that an increase in prices?

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Naturally, in a scenario such as the one you've described, looking at what's available to us, we would begin to add more hedge, which means more cost, and we would try to offset that by increasing our prices, maintaining our margins as wide as we can within what's reasonable to us within the market. So looking over the criteria, the feasibility criteria that we adopt, that would be number one. And number two would be trying to push prices up, again, as economically viable.

And of course, we have some leeway to do that as well. Now should inflation really take off and we see really high figures, and if it affects the entire market, we will move along with the market. I mean, we are operating in a competitive landscape, and there's no possibility for Cury or any other one company to ride a different wave. But at this point, we still have all guardrails at our disposal, and we will continue to rely on them.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from André Mazini with Citi.

[André Mazini, analyst]

Fabio, Leo, thank you for your conference. If you could please talk a little bit about Caixa. LTV has gone down to 70% on -- as I see, and 50% on price. I just wanted to understand, this affects Cury's customers virtually and no -- at no point. And we understand that the corporation is not with Caixa, which is the case of the vast majority of perhaps all of your units. LTVs are higher, but do you believe that Caixa could maybe squeeze that rate for all projects, especially those where it lend to corporations or even boost interest rates, seeing as other banks are doing that, and there's been a tightening cycle in Brazil.

And the second question, particularly to Leo, this new port or the entire area of São Cristóvão and Rio that's also joined the Porto project, I know that you already have a project there, so how do you see that? And what kind of PSV could we expect with this new port? And would it be as big as the original port? Do you believe it will be as outstanding as the original project? It should be -- may be different from what you have downtown. So maybe talk a little bit about that new area that you're exploring.

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

Mazini, thank you for your question. This is Ronaldo speaking. Well, about Caixa, you're absolutely right. Individuals are actually corporations that have their mortgage with Caixa. The terms for those clients taking their loan outside of the Minha Casa Minha Vida program, things remain the same. The rates haven't changed, and we believe that they won't.

We are very close to Caixa via [indiscernible] and other class associations. And they've been saying very clearly that they do not want nor do they plan to increase the interest rates to the so-called bracket #4. So terms should remain unchanged.

I will turn it over to Leo, who will talk about the Maravilha Port and the São Cristóvão project. Thank you.

[Leonardo Mesquita da Cruz, executive]

Well, Mazini, is -- the fact that we've added São Cristóvão was really important because, as you said, it nearly doubles the area of the port. And it also presents the following scenario. It's not coming in with no infrastructure. We already have the VLT train coming from the other side. So there's high-quality transportation. You also have the Leopoldina area of being remodeled so that will be another point for VLT to come in.

You have the Flamengo stadium, which has become a reality. And because it will require huge investments in infrastructure in order for the stadium to be built, that is already established. And you also have Quinta da Boa Vista Boa Vista, which is another very high-quality equipment. And today, this is extremely important to us because, think about this, today or at this point, we are in the middle of a project that expands 11,000 square meters. So São Cristóvão also allows us to have projects at a slightly more affordable price, and I think that's the situation that's taking shape there.

These are 4 different neighborhoods because of the appreciation of the first part of the Maravilha Port is adding. We also have very robust results in the older part. And now in the new -- on the new side, we are already very well positioned to launch new -- 2 new projects that should come up next year already.

So this is very important to us, and we are running a few surveys to show how significant this process. Through which we are migrating to that area, we see where people are coming from. And this is not just the creation of a new district, it really is a flow of people migrating to that area within the city.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Aline Caldeira with Bank of America.

[Aline Caldeira, analyst]

I know that a lot has been answered already, but I have a few follow-ups. It was very clear to me that the wider margins came because of a mix of the crop, a few products with a slightly wider margin and so on and so forth. But I just wanted to understand what we should expect moving forward. So excluding the NCC discussion, I just wanted to understand whether there is room for margins to continue to evolve? Considering this crop mix or whether most of that effect has already ebbed, what do you expect moving forward? That would be my first question.

My second question revolves around dividends. A few risks have already been addressed. So the corporate tax with Caixa NCC, the mitigations that you have for that. But now I just wanted to understand, within that context, where is your head at when it comes to dividend payments? You have cash generation that's still very solid, but also a few risks, which are still high on your account. So how are you looking at that?

[Joao Mazzuco, executive]

Aline, this is João speaking. On the topic of margins, by definition, margins should go up and migrate to a higher level. That's pure math. And we could talk about a REF margin of 41%, excluding the revenue department rates. So by definition, that would be it. As to the current crop, and I think that what's important here is what's coming because every new project carries their own margins. So this year, we had projects that we launched with very healthy margins.

For next year, those projects that are coming up are really going to define what our margins will look like moving forward. Margins are an important viability criteria. So if we can sustain our current margins or the margins we've had with this year's property launches, and obviously, that's a challenge. And it takes us back to the question that we were asked in the beginning about inflation, meaning if we need to add a slightly larger buffer so that we can maintain our margins. And to do that, we'll have to look at our price chart and understand what's feasible commercially.

All of that adds some uncertainty. And the margins of our following or our next projects are something we can't really talk about right now. But there's another thing, how much inflation or how much or at what level will NCC stay? And how much of that buffer that we have will be consumed, considering what we have moving forward? Now considering all of that, what I could say is, should we be able to keep the 39% margin? That will -- that is something we would consider a great victory already, and that's mostly what we're working toward.

As for dividends, our model remains unchanged, and this is something we need to underscore. If you look at all our growth indicators, which were mostly around 40%, both on the operating side, sales and so on and so forth, cash generation itself, which is -- which grew a little bit less. But if you exclude the effect of Caixa and the blocking change effect, that goes up to 40% as well. Our profit and revenue were even higher than that. All of that being considered, our model is still the same, high ROE.

This year, we've paid over BRL 480 million in dividends, meaning 100% of last year's profit. So we are still working with the same model of employing low capital. There will be cash available for us to pay. Now will we pay 100% this year like we did this year or last year? Well, I don't know. Our purpose is to grow, it is to pay 60% to 70% of our profit. That's our goal. Now should we have enough -- if we have enough cash to distribute more than that, then that's what we'll do.

[Operator]

Our next question is from Rafael Rehder with Safra.

[Rafael Rehder, analyst]

I also have 2 questions. First, I'd also like to address your margins, but mostly to understand the relationship between São Paulo and Rio. I understand that the cost situation in Rio is a bit more strained, but you also have a slightly higher potential, so you can dilute that in the cost of land. I just wanted to understand whether margins are similar or do you see any difference between the 2 markets?

And second, I'd like to address your direct funding portfolio. Thinking about a bearish scenario where the SPP and cash would be more difficult. Would it be challenging for you to expand that portfolio? And is there any size to that portfolio you'd be comfortable with, or maybe a level that would lead you to try not to attract or accept so much risk in that portfolio?

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Rafael, well, our margins are very similar in Rio and São Paulo. You can't say there is a huge difference. As I said, our margins will range within what we've reported. And within our feasibility criteria will be very -- well, very, very little between 1 project and the next. It will depend on how much we're paying for the plot of land. Sometimes you have engineering projects that add a little bit more complexity, and that may eat up some of the margin between 1 project and another a few basis points.

But the geography, when you think between São Paulo and Rio, there's very little difference. Now about the portfolio, we always stress about that. Direct sales are sales we like to work with. They're healthy, and they're mostly focused on projects with a higher ticket. So even though it's going up, a project with a large volume of direct sales, we're talking about 25% of sales. So it's nothing to write home about.

Now another thing about direct sales for us is the risk that, that could bring us, unlike indirect sales, is the risk of cancellation. But considering the speed with which we work ourselves, which is very healthy, the risk of cancellation in such attractive projects in areas, as we mentioned, by Leo in Rio de Janeiro port, the Maravilha Port, São Cristóvão and São Paulo, we're also working on projects in the downtown area.

So there's no problem for us to work with cancellations. And sometimes, we even go-forward cancellations when it's more difficult to pass costs through. Because we know that if we make those units available again, reselling them will be no challenge. So we are very comfortable with the volumes we are operating at. And if we need to move them up a little bit more for the reasons that I've mentioned already, we could do that as well.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Elvis Credendio from BTG Pactual.

[Elvis Credendio, analyst]

I have 2 questions. First about your land bank. I just wanted to understand a little bit better how you're looking at your payment terms and unbuilt projects? Do you think that maybe it's the moment to increase your land bank? And what would be the land bank that you believe would be the ideal to operate with?

And also -- I also wanted to know about your less-wealthy audience. We're seeing this in Rio and São Paulo very soon, should the government aid affect the areas that you're exploring a little bit less? And what should we expect moving forward?

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Elvis, thank you for your question. This is Fabio speaking. Well, land bank, we've been accelerating our growth there for 1.5 years. Ever since we launched the program in the Lula government, we went from a land bank at about [ 10 ], and we've reached close to 20 billion. So we're comfortable. We might grow it a little bit more. But what's changed, in addition to the increase in our land bank, is the strategy of buying increasingly higher-end plots.

So Cury stands out for purchasing the best plots of land in Rio de Janeiro. And that strategy won't change. We currently are launching the best economic products in these 2 areas. And this allows us to have the best prices within the economic products that we offer for these areas. So this is the strategy we should continue to follow in the next few years. And in order to do that, we need the best plots or the best projects, the best units offered in these areas.

And that's still our strategy. If we find new opportunities to grow our land bank, we will go for them. But as we've said before, we don't believe it's healthy to have a land bank that's older than 3 years. We don't believe it's healthy to have older ones, and that's our strategy.

Now to your second question, the bar has gone down for these -- going down the latter with these programs might make sense in the future. It hasn't so far. We believe that maybe in this next phase, we might go into that for São Paulo and Rio, but we still don't know.

But margins are small. We believe that margins are so much better in our other projects, as we said, at the top of the pyramid with those economic products. But we also plan to do something relative to those government-funded programs, but nothing close to the major projects that the company should launch in the next few months and years.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Ygor Altero with XP.

[Ygor Altero, analyst]

We have 2 questions here. First of all, how much does the higher SOS help the company navigate a higher inflation scenario? Do you see like a safety margin, considering that you have the highest SOS in the industry? And the second point going more into the market share issue, how do you see that in Rio and São Paulo? And outside of them, what areas do you see you could grow? Just wanted to understand how your share is growing.

[Fabio Cury, executive]

About our SOS, unlike what it may seem, we ultimately have gains in prices, especially by the volume and the added value that we can add to our project. That's where we can have the best gains. And this is not Cury's invention. The issue of scarcity, the issue of supply is the most important feature that goes into price formation, regardless of the market, regardless of the industry.

And that is still what we plan to work with because that's where we believe we have the most significant games, not only when it comes to the allocation of our team, but also so that we do not have to keep our inventory high for a long time because that involves a cost, not to mention the cost of money. I mean, I think I don't even have to say how that works in Brazil.

Now as to our market share, I'd like to go back to the inventory issue, talking about our operation here in São Paulo. As good as our market share is in São Paulo, today, it's clear to us that our inventory allows us to explore the volume of new projects in the city. So even though we have a healthy market share in the city, we still see that our team -- our sales team has the capacity to increase the volume. So more than market share, it's a lot about the areas where we're operating in, how much each of these areas can still absorb.

I've given a few examples for São Paulo, and I think the most significant one goes to how we're preparing for the second half. But another example would be, we talk a lot about the port, but we opened this new product on November 8 in the Rio de Janeiro Port, and now they are close to 1,000 sales within the product. So you see that this is a region that's still very strong. Now that's the most important point we analyze, not only market share, but especially if there's still capacity to work with the demand in the areas where we are operating.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Marcelo Motta with JPMorgan.

[Marcelo Motta, analyst]

We have 2 questions. First, could you please talk a little bit more about [ HIS ] in São Paulo? We saw some news reports about that sale due to a few companies not following the rules. So just wanted to understand what that's looking like. I mean there's a lot that's changed. You can buy or sell to investors, and then you can win to a company that makes up to 10 minimum wages.

So how do you see that going to the market? And also, your selling expenses, that has gone down year-over-year, but we see a slightly higher Q3 than Q2. So I just wanted to understand and whether there's any change there in Q3? What is Q4 looking like? And what's the trend for next year?

[Ronaldo Cury de Capua, executive]

[ Mario ], this is Ronaldo again. About HIS, we are not seeing any listed company sell HIS outside of the rule. It's really smaller players doing that. We know that the public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation. And it's their loss, the loss of those who aren't respecting it. Because what I see from large companies, and it's no different with Cury, that this is just a practice.

Most of our customers fit the criteria. But when they don't, they're advised from the beginning of the rule that they will have to rent to someone who fits the criteria. In the case of HIS1, someone making up to 4 minimum wages to 6 minimum wages and [ P10 ] minimum wages.

[Fabio Cury, executive]

Yes. I just wanted to add to that, our market, especially, is currently very well regulated. For example, say you sell to a client, a customer today, they go to Caixa, the regulations are all written out in the contract. And if there's anything that doesn't -- that's not above board, the notary would not accept it.

So I don't really know how someone would be able to circumvent that. If you sell an unbuilt property, and Caixa has that contract, if they are not following the rules, they can't even have their contract notarized. So to the examples that Ronaldo mentioned, I'd say that there are very -- it is very, very, very negligible to our operations.

They're really the exception of the exception, customers who want to use the rule of leasing to a third party outside of what the legislation requires. So if anyone wanted to do that in São Paulo after everything that's happened, I don't even know how they would be able to move forward within the Minha Casa Minha Vida program, seeing that our new republics are very, very strict about that.

But about our selling expenses, there's nothing to be scared about with the first message. If you look at the level that we're reporting, our revenue level, that's the same as what we had in Q3 2023. It's a coincidence that it was Q3 as it was in Q3 of 2023. Yes, it has gone up in nominal terms also. But as I've always stressed, selling expenses predominantly come from variable elements. So it should continue to stay between 9.5% and 10%.

What happened in Q3 is that registration expenses have gone up. So it really is about timing. We've had 2 very interesting quarters in that sense. And we need those expenses even to register our clients. Now with the change in Caixa's methodology even, the timing for these expenses should accelerate. Meaning if I pay them earlier in Q3, they should be diluted for the following features. So we should expect those expenses to stay on the same levels, about 9.5% of gross revenue. There's not a lot of room for leveraging them.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Elvis Credendio with BTG Pactual.

[Elvis Credendio, analyst]

I'm sorry, everyone. I don't really have a question. I raised my hand by mistake. Thank you.

[Operator]

With no further questions, the Q&A session for Cury Construtora is now closed. We'd like to thank everyone for joining us, and wish you all a great day.