Eneva SA

BOVESPA:ENEV3

Earnings Call Analysis

Strong Financial and Operational Performance Amid Strategic Growth

Eneva reported a solid Q2 2024, with a 4.5% rise in EBITDA to BRL 1.70 billion and an 8% increase in EBITDA margin to 55.3%. The company achieved record monthly energy exports to Argentina, improved asset performance, and significant cost management savings of over BRL 30 million. Eneva also expanded its commercial operations, signing flexible natural gas contracts and incorporating CELSE's trading companies, optimizing its structure. Financial highlights include net debt reduction to 3.7x EBITDA through BRL 2.7 billion in receivables payment, and the announcement of a BRL 2.9 billion acquisition of BTG’s thermoelectric assets, promising future value generation.

Strong Performance Indicators

In the second quarter of 2024, Eneva delivered solid operating results, with an EBITDA of BRL 1.70 billion, marking a 4.5% increase compared to the same quarter in 2023. This growth was supported by a higher EBITDA margin of 55.3%, an increase fueled by the resumption of exports to Argentina, which reached record levels of over 500 gigawatt hours in July 2024. The company also improved asset performance, notably increasing availability in its thermal and solar plants by 15% and 7%, respectively.

Revenue Growth and Cost Management

Efforts in cost management led to notable reductions, including an 8% drop in operational and maintenance costs and a 15% decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses, saving the company over BRL 30 million compared to Q2 2023. This focus on efficiency contributed significantly to net operating cash flow, which stood at BRL 934 million for the quarter, aiding in the company’s ongoing operational strength.

Strategic Contract Developments

Eneva secured a significant milestone by closing its first flexible natural gas supply contract from its Sergipe hub, designed to support thermoelectric plants. This contract, alongside another signed with Copergas to sell gas off the grid, enhances the diversity and robustness of the company's revenue streams without incurring substantial new capital expenditures.

Debt Management and Financial Health

On the financial front, Eneva successfully completed a key liability management process, lengthening the maturity of its debt and improving its structure. This effort contributed to an adjustment of net debt to EBITDA ratio to 3.7x, driven down from 4.36x with the receipt of BRL 2.7 billion from receivable securitization anticipated in Q3 2024. This proactive approach not only bolstered the company's cash position but also positioned it for future financial agility.

Acquisition Strategy and Future Growth Potential

Eneva is poised for further growth following a strategic agreement with BTG to acquire a thermoelectric generation portfolio valued at BRL 2.9 billion. This portfolio includes four operating assets capable of generating 862 megawatts, which will provide stable cash flow until 2026. Additionally, the company plans a follow-on offering with a base price of BRL 14 per share, representing a 10.7% premium over the recent market price, to facilitate this acquisition and optimize its balance sheet.

Project Updates and Operational Advancements

Eneva is making substantial progress on its capital projects, notably the Parnaiba LNG facilities and Azulao 950 project, with physical adherence rates of 96%. These projects are expected to advance the company’s operational capabilities considerably, aiding both its power generation and liquefaction capacities, enhancing the overall project portfolio's contribution to earnings.

Conclusion: A Balanced Outlook

With a robust operational environment, expansive contract developments, effective cost management, and strategic acquisitions, Eneva’s trajectory appears positive. The recent transactions aimed at optimizing capital structure and cash flow are expected to reinforce the company’s market position while paving the way for future growth opportunities, making it a compelling investment prospect.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Lino Cancado, executive]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in our Earnings Call for Q2 2024 for Eneva. Let's start on Slide #4, if you will, with the main highlights of the quarter. This was yet another quarter in which we sustained solid operating results. EBITDA totaled BRL 1.70 billion, an increase of 4.5% when compared to the second quarter of 2023. If we do not consider the results coming from the thermal Fortaleza plant, in both periods. The EBITDA margin also grew, reaching 55.3%, an increase of more than 8% when compared to Q2 2023.

These numbers were driven by the continuation of thermoelectric dispatch to meet peak loads for the return of exports to Argentina, which were resumed at the end of May after the restrictions observed at the beginning of the quarter due to the extreme rain events in the south of the country had ended. With the reduction in temperatures from the end of June onwards, exports gained momentum and reached in July, a record monthly level when we exported more than 500 gigawatt hour for the neighboring country in a single month. The trend continues uninterrupted to date.

In addition, the better improved performance of our assets also helped the results. [indiscernible] and the Futura 1 solar complex increased availability levels with an increase of 15% and 7%, respectively, when compared to the same period of last year. Our efforts in cost management and expenses also have led to good results. We posted in the quarter [ nominal ] reductions of 8% and fixed cost for operation and maintenance and 15% in SG&A, when compared to the same period of last year with accounts for a savings of over BRL 30 million when compared to the costs incurred by the company in Q2 2023.

As for the commercial agenda, we had significant advances. We closed our first contract to supply natural gas from our Sergipe hub on a flexible basis to meet thermoelectric plants, which won the capacity auctions. And we announced another gas contract from our production plant within the Parnaiba Complex, once again allocating a portion of its total capacity. Those milestones will be addressed by our Commercial Director, Marcelo Lopes later today.

On the financial front, we concluded two important operations. The liability management process -- we improved the profile of our consolidated debt, lengthening the average maturities and replacing part of the AIPCA exposure by another index, which is the same for most of the company's revenues. On the second front, we concluded the operation of receivables payment with a portion of the fixed revenue from UTE Porto do Sergipe I, which added BRL 2.7 billion to our cash, reducing our net debt and our leverage levels to an adjusted multiple of 3.7x in Q2 2024.

Another initiative in the period that created significant value for the company was the incorporation of CELSE's trading companies and [indiscernible] holding company. The reorganization optimized the company's corporate structure and will also unlock a series of synergies, specifically in terms of tax and administrative costs, which will be better detailed later by our CFO, Marcelo Habibe.

Finally, in mid-July, we announced the signing of -- understanding with BTG for the acquisition of its thermoelectric generation portfolio and for a follow-on. I'll be talking about that in more detail on the next slide.

Moving on to Slide #5 now. I have a summary of the transaction we announced with BTG, which will bring solid value generation for the company and its shareholders. And we will make room for Eneva to continue using its competencies as it seeks new growth opportunities. The first part of the transaction is the acquisition of the BTG's thermoelectric generation portfolio for BRL [ 2.9 ] billion which is still subject to adjustments during confirmation due diligence. The four thermoelectric assets total 862 megawatts of power. All of them are in operation contracted with guaranteed fixed revenue and without significant financial obligations. Those assets bring about a robust and constituted cash flow until the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026.

The most intensive period of capital expenditure for the company. The assets were valued at attractive rates and on an as-is basis, considering only the portfolio's contracted cash flow. In addition to that, the valuation was carried out on a stand-alone basis. In other words, without taking into account the operating, financial, tax and administrative synergies that will come about with the integration into our portfolio, such as, for example, the implementation of a more efficient capital structure with the refinancing of assets at an average portfolio cost and the better use of the holdings financial expenses after the incorporation of the assets.

In addition, the UTEs, which were contracted under the PCS, the simplified emergency auctions, have their contract expiring between December '25 and January '26, meaning that they're almost 150 megawatts of installed capacity could be contracted in a future capacity auction, using a flexible gas supply solution from the Sergipe hub since all these assets are connected to the grid and will be part of the portfolio moving forward.

The total EBITDA for the 4 assets amounted to BRL 1.8 billion in 2023, mainly from fixed availability revenues and also -- and as a result of the business combination, Eneva will strengthen its balance sheet and increase its firepower for future capital allocation opportunities and also organic growth avenues. In addition to the merits related to the acquisition of those assets, BTG is also committed to making Eneva its only platform for investments in power, generation and natural gas.

The second part of the transaction, which will be executed alongside is a follow-on with a 100% primary offer with a firm guarantee from BTG at a base value of BRL 14 per share, which represents a premium of 10.7% on the share price in the 60 trading sections prior to the signing of the MOU. The pace of our guaranteed BTG totals up to BRL 3.2 billion and may be complemented by a hot issue of up to BRL 1 billion.

With the conclusion of the acquisitions and the capital increase, the company will optimize its capital structure and strengthen its balance sheet, further reducing its leverage and opening up even more space on its balance sheet. We are now -- moving forward with the due diligence to confirm the process, which we estimate will be concluded by the end of next month. Once adjustments are made, we move on to signing the final transaction documents and convening the shareholders' meeting, which is scheduled to happen in early October.

And we also hope to obtain approval from CADE, the Central Bank and conclude our follow-on. We plan to close the transaction, finalizing preceding conditions to happen in the fourth quarter of 2024. We'll keep you all informed on the developments and relevant updates of the operations through the company's official communications channels.

I will now hand over to Marcelo Lopes, who will update our trade agenda.

[Marcelo Lopes, executive]

Thank you, Lino. Good morning, everyone. Moving on to Slide #6. I'd like to share with you the developments in our commercial agenda for the past few months. As mentioned by Lino, we signed a contracted Copergas, the local gas distribution company, Pernambuco, another contract to sell off-grid gas, small scale, as we call it. The contract covers the sale of up to 40,000 cubic meters per day of natural gas. We've done 80% take-or-pay and valid for three years from the end of August this year. Supply will be made from the natural gas liquefaction plant at the Parnaiba Complex.

And the scope of the contract, we will be responsible for delivering G&L in Petrolina and Garanhuns and also the operation of Copergas plants in those places. We have thus expanded our training off-grid gas and ensure the contracting of yet another part of our liquefaction plant in Parnaiba, including a new client from a relevant segment for the expansion of our business. Local distributors of gas have also ensured yet another source of revenue in the short run, does diversify and [indiscernible] the company's cash flow.

Moving on to the bottom part of the slide. We had a very important strategic milestone in the quarter, the signing of our first 100% flexible natural gas sales contract with Linhares Geracao. The contract was signed to supply throughout its capacity reserve contract which starts in July 2026, but which can be brought forward according to the rules of the auction.

Under the scope of the contract, Linhares will be able to order up to [ 1.2 ] million cubic meters per day and supply will be for the duration of the 15-year capacity contract. And that will happen through the Sergipe hub. The contract has a fixed price portion, which compensates for the capacity reserve and a variable portion when there is dispatch linked to the LNG indexing factor, which is called JKM.

The signing of this contract shows Eneva's pioneering spirit in the Brazilian natural gas market, as it is the first contract for the supply of a thermoelectric plant signed between private companies in the country. Like the other gas supply contracts we have announced, this contract also contributes to diversification and expansion of our source of revenue as we start to sell gas, [ particularly ] on-grid market. In both cases, the contracts involve additional monetization of existing assets without adding significant CapEx amounts, thus improving the return on our asset base. We continue to focus on ensuring new contracts on these fronts while advancing negotiations with potential clients to close the remaining capacity of the Parnaiba plant and the Sergipe hub.

I will now turn the floor over to Marcelo Habibe, who will talk about value generation we have achieved with CELSE so far and advances of our financial and operating results for the quarter.

[Marcelo Habibe, executive]

Thank you, Marcelo. Good morning, everyone. On Slide 7, I'd like to show you the results of initiatives we conducted out of the hub Sergipe since October '22. We have made progress on several fronts seeking to unlock value and synergies and upsides. On the revenue front, as Marcelo said, we signed the first 100% flexible natural gas supply contract at Linhares, a milestone in our commercial strategy. And a business model that will seek to develop more and more over the coming years, the expansion of power plant for the national interconnected system.

We have also reviewed the PIS/COFINS tax base in a move that unlocked around BRL 20 million for the asset. We also carried out the first hubs -- first storage operations yet another way to monetize our assets, and we will use it in time.

On the cost front, with the integration of the asset into the Eneva platform, we reduced our expenses on OEM and insurance, savings of almost BRL 60 million a year. Looking forward, we are implementing a compression solution to take advantage of our assets [indiscernible] off, which will allow us to substantially reduce the cost of that item.

In addition to maximizing revenues and reducing costs, increasing the assets EBITDA margin, we achieved important value levers in the financial and corporate spheres. We restructured the assets that's moving from the complexity of a project finance structure, which involved creditors from different geographies and limited our capacity to develop our business plan to a structure that now in addition to being simpler and less costly has reduced the gross debt by more than BRL 500 million while freeing up more than BRL 240 million held in the reserve account.

In addition, in June, we completed the incorporation of the hub into our holding company, initiating the tax use of capital gains amortization, improving the use of the holding company's current financial expenses in the future, spiling up the consumption of the accumulated tax loss balance. These are some of the initiatives we have completed at the Sergipe hub since its acquisition. We have thus made progress in implementing the investment thesis of the transaction, which went way far beyond the acquisition of the thermal plants for revenue stream, reeking a series of opportunities for synergies with our portfolio and the potential to generate additional value for the company's and shareholders.

Moving on to Slide 8. The second quarter was yet another very sound period in terms of operating performance. In the first graph to the left, we see the rebound of exports to Argentina, and we are now exporting in the third quarter. Since the end of June, we have been exporting energy from Parnaiba on a continuous basis, and we exported a record amount in July, 500 gigawatt hour, and we are still exporting uninterruptedly.

If we consider the results until Q3 2024, we have exported more than 650 gigawatt hour in this quarter. Year-to-date, we are very close to surpassing the volume exported in 2023. And this is because we had a signal of demand on the part of Argentina as of the beginning of May, but we could only start exporting at the end of the month because of the restrictions given the extreme rains in the South.

We also saw an expressive increase in the regulatory thermal dispatch to the SIN despite the high levels in the reservoirs. In the first semester of this year, we generated 792 gigawatt hour, a 74% growth relative to the same period last year. On the right-hand side, you see the results of our initiatives to improve operational efficiency and financial discipline with a reduction in our costs and expenses.

In costs -- in operational and maintenance costs, we had a nominal decrease by BRL 13 million relative to Q2 2023. In terms of consolidated SG&A, the nominal expenditure was reduced by 15% relative to Q2 2023, a savings of BRL 18 million.

On Slide 10, we see the main impacts of EBITDA quarter-on-quarter. If we deduct the effect of GPP Fortaleza between the periods, we see a 4.5% increase or BRL 45 million in EBITDA in the operations of the company because of our operating performance. Several segments contributed to this growth. TPP Jaguatirica II expanded by BRL 46 million in terms of EBITDA in the quarter because of the improved availability of the plant, an increase in variable income per dispatch.

The Futura complex had an increase of BRL 20 million as a result of the reduction in the purchase of energy to fulfill the bilateral self-production contracts. In Parnaiba, the increase was by BRL 19 million, which has to do with the increase in the fixed margin, which has to do with the regulated contract of Parnaiba 5.

Among the negative effects on the EBITDA, upstream had a reduction by BRL 65 million because of the lower dispatch of Parnaiba in the period. And this should be offset in Q3 once the export window moves. EBITDA from TPP Porto do

Sergipe I was reduced by BRL 22 million, especially because of the retroactive credits one-offs of PIS and COFINS for BRL 59 million.

Additionally, the holding and the trading segment improved their EBITDA because of the one-off effect of the recognition of retroactive credits of Amapari, one of the controlled companies.

Moving on to Slide 11, we see one of the main impacts of the financial results between the quarters. Net financial result was negative by BRL 990 million in Q2 relative to 308 negative in Q2 2023. This variation can be explained by the noncash impact of the foreign exchange variation of the lease of FSRU of Hub Sergipe. In Q2, the appreciation of the currency generated a noncash impact negative by BRL 388 million. Last -- in the same period last year, we had a positive impact of BRL 179 million because of the depreciation of the real.

The impact is, therefore, BRL 567 million, as you can see on the slide. If we exclude the effect of foreign exchange variation in both periods, the increase in financial expenses would have been BRL 43 million.

On Slide 12, we see the main cash variations. In the period, we generated BRL 934 million in operating cash flow, driven by the performance of our assets. In terms of investment cash flow, we had an outlay of BRL 508 million for our construction projects, such as Azulao 950 and the liquefaction units in Parnaiba in addition to the development activities upstream.

Then in terms of the financing cash flow, we had an outlay of BRL 1.130 billion with a positive impact coming from the completion of the liability management in May, but which was offset by the amortization of principal and payment of interest. We also had the impact of the FRSU the payments of anticipation of receivables and cost of transactions and dividends. Our cash position at the end of Q2 was BRL 1.7 billion.

On Slide 13, you see more details about our capital structure. On the left-hand side, the company's net debt, which was BRL 17.8 billion at the end of Q2, with net debt over EBITDA being 4.36x. If we consider the incoming BRL 2.7 billion in July, which had to do with the anticipation of receivables, our adjusted net debt would have been BRL 15.1 billion, thus reducing the leverage to 3.7x.

On the other graphs on the slide, you see the quality of our debt, which with the completion of liability management efforts has maturities in the long term with an average duration of 5.7 years. The exposure of our debt has increased by nearly 10 percentage points to the IPCA, which is the same index of our revenues.

I'll now turn the floor over to Andrea Monte, who's going to speak about the investments in our capital projects.

[Andrea Monte, executive]

Thank you, Habibe. Good morning to all. On Slide 15, you see the investments made by the company in the quarter, which totaled BRL 772 million, mainly in construction projects and in the upstream activities in Parnaiba. In Azulao 950 and Amazonas, we invested BRL 492 million in the quarter. Mostly in this way, BRL 139 million to pay for EPC contracts for services in the substation, transmission lines, TPP and GTU. BRL 134 million to General Electric for fulfilling the milestones and the delivery of equipment having to do with the single and combined cycles. BRL 72 million for the acquisition and lease of equipment and BRL 49 million having to do with logistics costs, port costs and pipes.

In the liquefaction plants that we are building in the Parnaiba compound to meet the needs of the Vale, Suzano and Copergas contracts, we invested BRL 88 million relating to the services of construction and assembly. In TPP Parnaiba VI, we invested BRL 20 million, mainly to pay BRL 16 million to the EPC contractor for the provisional services of construction and assembly. And upstream, we invested BRL 68 million in the quarter. And I would like to highlight BRL 61 million invested in the development of the fields in Maranhao.

Moving on to Slide 17, I will give you an update of the recent milestones of the SSLNG project in Parnaiba. The project has 96% of adherence to the schedule and all the equipment has been assembled. The physical progress is 95% and we have begun the commissioning of the liquefaction plant, and we have completed the commissioning of the regasification plant located in the industrial facilities of one of our clients. The commercial operations should start during this quarter, and we are now looking forward to the completion of the commissioning of the liquefaction plants in Parnaiba.

On Slide 18, you see the update on the Azulao 950 project. The physical adherence is 96%, and the physical progress is 32%. The civil construction works have advanced 77% especially the generate -- the positioning of the generator of the gas turbine which took place in June 2024. The project continues with higher derisk to its schedule in its different work fronts and include the pipelines, the clusters, the water mains and the thermal generation and electric generation units. Additionally, we are expecting the arrival of the second turbine in Manaus.

The next milestone will be the completion of all the civil basis in Q3 and the energization of the plant will be completed by the end of 2025. COD for the single and combined cycle is expected for 2026.

Moving on to Slide 19. We see the update on the Parnaiba VI project. It is in the first phase in terms of the start-up of systems and pre-operation with a physical adherence of 97% to the schedule and 96% of physical progress. By year-end, we are going to conclude the mechanical assembly, and we are going to start the operation in test and commercial operations. The CCEAR should start in the first quarter of 2025.

I'll now turn the floor over to Felippe Valverde for the Q&A session.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Thank you, Andrea. Good morning to all. We are now going to start the Q&A session. You should send your questions in writing on the ZOOM platform. We have our first question comes from Guilherme Lima from Santander. I had actually two questions. The company is raising BRL 6 billion with the securitization of CELSE. With the acquisition of the thermals of BTG, the company would be even more deleveraged. Could you talk about the leverage of the company? Would it be just to focus on the CapEx execution?

[Lino Cancado, executive]

Thank you for your question. I think that the first thing we should highlight is that the securitization of the receivables of CELSE for BRL 2.7 billion, we have received that in our cash position. It's a subsequent event, and this will be used to manage liabilities. We did this operation at the cost of CDI plus 1.39. And with that cash, we are prepaying shorter and more expensive debt which do not adhere to our profile. So this money came in and out, and we have been able to lengthen our debt profile and also lower the cost. This is a liability management initiative. This was the main reason for us to make to do this transaction was to improve the profile of our debt.

As a consequence, this securitization is made. And in terms of covenant marking it improved it. It went therefore to 3.7x. But the reason for this transaction was to improve the profile of our debt to make it cheaper and longer. So this is not going to be kept in our cash position. With the M&A and the follow-on, we are going to strengthen our balance sheet and our cash position. And this makes us feel more comfortable in terms of continue with investments, but also opens new avenues for growth.

There is an auction at the end of the year. We are going to have new projects registered. This auction could be for a very large volume with a shorter time frame for implementation. So if we have a stronger balance sheet, we will feel more comfortable in terms of pursuing those avenues of growth. We are looking at other opportunities, but we cannot comment on them yet. If once we have news, we are going to disclose them.

And then Marcelo, could you take the second part of the question. It's about the impact of the dispatch with the new parameters.

[Marcelo Lopes, executive]

Thank you for your question, we believe that the review of the model with the adoption of the hybrid parameter will allow us to include in the price formation risk aversion, which we already do in practice. There's not going to be a huge impact in the dispatch. The operator although the module does not indicate the need, the operator dispatches thermals outside the model to ensure the security and safety of the system.

So in terms of the impact and increase in the dispatch, there is not going to be a significant impact. But the price will respond better in terms of the risk aversion of the operation. There is going to be an increase in prices and the dispatch tends to be higher if the hydrology is not favorable, and this is what we are seeing in the last few months.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Thank you, Marcelo. We have another question about dispatch in coal. There have been dispatches of coal-fired plants. So what has been generating this need?

[Lino Cancado, executive]

Good question. We are seeing since the beginning of the year, we have been seeing a situation which is becoming more and more serious, affluences are below average month after month. The only month when we saw higher affluences above the average was March. So the level of the reservoirs today is below the levels that we saw last year. Additionally, there is a big demand, which is higher than last year, and the operator is resorting to all that dispatch resources that it has to meet the needs of the system.

And the coal-fired plant in [indiscernible] 1 in 2 have been dispatched in the last 10 days, 2 weeks, to bring more dispatchable energy in a system where there is uncontrolled energy. There is a huge generation by wind plants, 18, 20 gigawatts, but it can go far below that. So if we need to rely -- so in order to rely on dispatchable energy in those times, we think it's very prudent and this could be recurrent in the next few weeks.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

We have received another couple of questions from Marcelo Sa from Itau. First one, for Habibe. With this transaction at CELSE, how much of the revenue will be lost? And for how long will that revenue drop? Would it be a fixed amount?

[Lino Cancado, executive]

Marcelo, as we mentioned, BRL 2.7 billion received immediately. That's a discount on the Futura revenue for 4 years, 2026, '27, '28 and '29, to the tune of BRL 675 million per year. Revenues do not drop. Actually just to make sure revenues for those years will be exactly the same they would be without a transaction. What we're doing, we are bringing forward some receivables. So we will see receivables for those years will be accounted for, but with a lower cash flow from BRL 675 million plus interest on the transaction. CDI plus 139, as I said, had to include a factor that in -- has a discount on those receivables throughout those 4 years, as I mentioned, '26 through '29.

So there is a grace period for this year and next year. So no discount in '24 or '25. It starts in '26. And as I said, that those resources will be used to prepay more expensive debt, in other words money borrowed at 139 plus CDI and repaying debt that on average, cost more than 100 basis points in terms of additional cost on that in comparison. And in a shorter term, so we provide some relief to our cash flow for '24-'25, improving our debt profile and making it cheaper also.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Second question from Marcelo for Marcelo Lopes. What can you tell us about the highway infrastructure today as is to ship gas from Parnaiba to Copergas?

[Marcelo Lopes, executive]

Well, those are federal highways, well paved and in the same or better conditions compared to those of Jaguatirica and Azulao. In the case of Juazeiro, we're talking about 800-some kilometers, [indiscernible] a bit over 1,000 kilometers. No point of attention to mention -- worth mentioning.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Next question from Marcelo Sa, also for you. For the Linhares contract, you also have a variable margin on the sale of gas only get more fixed revenue coming from availability.

[Marcelo Lopes, executive]

Now we can have variable margins. This will depend on the conditions, provisions for the purchasing contracts throughout time because we are selling based on an index formula, JKM, as I mentioned, we will likely have some more margins throughout time. The answer would be yes.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Next question from Daniel Travitzky from Banco Safra. In terms of the new thermal assets you have acquired, can you comment on how you see competitiveness of those assets for the next capacity auction? And what would be the plan should the assets not be recontracted?

[Lino Cancado, executive]

I think the assets, which are under contract, which closed by the end -- by the end of 2025, tend to be quite competitive when the auction comes. And the plan is to work hard to recontract those units. If that's not the case, we'll have to reassess and wait for another opportunity another window for recontraction.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Well, we have yet another question from Fillipe Andrade from Itau. He has two questions, number one, about the exports of energy to energy, [indiscernible] indicates that there will be demand for imports, at least until October. Since there is an expectation of an increase in terms of dispatch in Brazil in September, in your opinion, will the export window close as of next month?

[Lino Cancado, executive]

As Brazil starts to demand more energy possibility of shipping to Argentina drops. But the national operator has to address an issue which is more related to the origin of the energy. I think both dispatch modes are expected to coexist in the coming months, September and October, if Argentina continues to have high demand. That has happened before. July, August, and I expect it to continue going forward. In other words, the operator will ask for a dispatch starting at 5:00 p.m. to 10, 11 p.m. outside of that window. Thermal plants will be able to export to Argentina. That's what I expect to see happening in the coming months for as long as Argentina has a demand.

[Felippe Valverde, executive]

Question number two from Fillipe, also for you. As for the contracted Copergas, is the contract structure similar to what we had before with NFE?

[Marcelo Lopes, executive]

It's a contract to sell natural gas signed directly with Copergas by which supplier is responsible for the logistics and operations of the regasification unit. I think it is similar. I'd say it is similar to the contract we had with NFE, which was then replaced by another company.

[Lino Cancado, executive]

Thank you, Marcelo. Well, with that, we close our Q&A session. Thank you all for participating in our results call. And we'll see you next quarter. Thank you, everyone.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call]