Mills Locacao Servicos E Logistica SA

BOVESPA:MILS3

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Operator]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for standing by. Welcome to the live streaming of Mills First Quarter 2024 Results. We have a simultaneous translation tool available on the platform. Simply click on the interpretation button using the globe icon at the bottom of the screen and choose your preferred language, Portuguese or English. Those who are listening to the conference call in English, there is the option of muting the original audio in Portuguese just by clicking on mute original audio.

We would like to inform you that this video conference is being recorded and will be made available on the company's IR website together with the complete earnings release material. [Operator Instructions] We emphasize that the information contained in this presentation and in any statements made during this conference call regarding the company's prospects, business outlooks as well as projections are based on assumptions based on the management's expectations regarding Mills' future. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve macroeconomic conditions, market risks and other factors. We are now turning the call over to Sergio Kariya, Mills' CEO.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Good afternoon, everyone. It's a great pleasure to meet again to comment on Mills' [ One Quarter ] '24 results and the transaction announced earlier today.

On Slide 3, we show the highlights of the period. We are proud to share the impressive results achieved by the company in the first quarter 2024. Gross revenue reached BRL 386 million, an increase of 8% compared to the same period of the previous year.

With regard to our rental fleet, we recorded a net addition of almost 500 assets compared to the first quarter 2023. More specifically, we saw significant growth in our heavy assets category, where we doubled the size of our fleet in the last 12 months. Adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 170 million with a solid margin of 48%, showing our consistent growth journey and the maintenance of high levels of profitability. Net income reached BRL 68 million, a margin of 19% in the quarter.

In addition, our net cash profit, which takes into account the effects of PIS/COFINS tax credits offsetting other taxes and deferred taxes, amounted to BRL 87 million in the quarter, generating a net cash margin of 25%. Therefore, highlighting the company's efficiency in tax management. Our return on invested capital rate was 23% for the year, demonstrating the company's solid financial performance. We invested BRL 188 million this quarter, mainly in the expansion of our heavy assets unit, reinforcing our commitment to continued growth.

The figures reinforce our confidence in the potential of the rental market in Brazil and the company's ability to execute our strategy through our teams. In addition, we reiterate our commitment to shareholder returns, approving the payout of BRL 20 million in interest on equity and authorizing the fourth share buyback program, which provides for the acquisition of up to 8 million shares or 3% of the issued shares.

We began the year with a focus on environmental, social and governance issues, ESG, stepping up our initiatives to promote sustainable growth. Our recognition as Best Rental Company of the Year by IAPA Awards 2024 as well as nominations finalist in the equality, diversity and inclusion category reflect our commitment to sustainability.

A significant milestone for us was the approval of our emission reduction targets by SBTi, Science-Based Targets initiative, covering Scopes 1, 2 and 3. It's important to mention that we are the only Brazilian equipment rental company with targets already approved by the SBTi. We continue to make progress in our initiatives to reduce emissions, implementing a qualified program that demonstrates our ability to lead transformations in the market.

Now Carol, our CFO, will comment on the company's financials of the quarter. Carol?

[Caroline Pepe Leonard, executive]

Good afternoon, everyone. Kariya, thanks very much for the introduction. Let's go to Slide 5 where we comment the results of the rental business unit, which accounted for 84% of revenues in first Q '24 and includes light and heavy assets units. We grew by 3% in the number of assets and 4% in fleet value over the last 12 months, reflecting the growth in heavy assets and the adjustments of the mix in light assets.

We ended the quarter with BRL 4 billion in asset replacement value. This year, we have already opened 4 branches in light rental assets. Our expansion strategy is part of our commitment to increasing the presentation of platform lifts, bringing greater safety and closer to our customers. We also have plans to open other rental heavy asset units in 2024. We believe that rental is a service that adds value. We have first-class services experience and trained technicians who'll focus on the needs of each customer in order to always offer the best solution with quality and productivity.

On Slide 6, we show our strategy of diversifying rental revenues, seeking greater resilience in the face of possible market fluctuations. The rental business unit serves customers from several sectors, as shown in the chart above. We're also diligent with the breakdown of our portfolio. The 20 largest rental customers accounted for 24% of the business unit's rental revenue in the quarter. We have more than 10,000 customers and the potential to increase the share of wallet, reinforcing the importance of long-term relationships.

Now we are going to move to the financial highlights of the Rental business unit on Slide 7. Net revenue grew by 14% compared 1Q '23, mainly as a result of higher rental revenue in the period. The greatest impact on the expansion of rental revenue was the start of operations in the heavy asset segment and growth in the business. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 14%, and adjusted EBITDA margin ex sales reached 47%, explained by the increase in revenue. From 1Q '24 onwards, we began selling used heavy assets from the heavy rental unit coming from the Triengel acquisition at the reduced margin due to the effect of the capital gains accounted for in the company's merger.

Now moving on to the results of forms and shoring. We can see on Slide 9 that the net rental revenue grew by 13% compared to the first quarter '23, reflecting the better prices charged during the period. And the results of the first quarter '23, remember that we had a one-off sale of assets and higher competition for the close of contract cycles in the period. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to BRL 32 million in 1Q '24, with a margin of 58%. Excluding the impact of sales for the first quarter '23, adjusted EBITDA is BRL 32 million, in line with the figures recorded this quarter with a margin of 58%.

In this unit, we continue to serve the growing pipeline of infrastructure projects with the current volume of inventory and take advantage of cross-selling opportunities with other business units.

On Slide 11, we bring our consolidated results. Net revenues increased by 9% compared to the first quarter of '23 for a total of BRL 353 million in the period. Net revenue in rental grew by 12% over 1Q '23, with growth in all business units. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 4% to BRL 170 million in the quarter and adjusted EBITDA margin ex sales was 49% higher than that of the first quarter '23. The results show that our pillars and strategy found a solid foundation for the company's consistent growth.

Slide 12 shows a chart on the left showing that net profit reached BRL 68 million in 1Q '24, 2% above that of 1Q '23, a net margin of 19%. The result demonstrates the increase in EBITDA and reduction in income tax, partially offset by the increase in the financial result and depreciation in the period. The chart on the right shows the high generation of cash flow in the period in an amount of BRL 220 million in the quarter, an increase of 146% over 1Q '23 and 85% over 4Q '23, due to payments related to the acquisition of rental assets and inventory made in previous periods. Our commitment is to an efficient operation and proactive financial management to generate growing results and maximize return to shareholders.

On Slide 13, I bring our capital structure, highlighting our solid balance sheet and low indebtedness, which allows us to capture growth opportunities. We ended the quarter with gross debt of BRL 1.073 billion and BRL 358 million in net debt. 87% of which is the scale to be repaid in the long term. Average repayment period for Mills total indebtedness is 2.7 years at an average cost of CDI plus 2.27% a year.

Leverage remained at 0.5x net debt to adjusted EBITDA over the last 12 months. This gives us another quarter of compliance with covenants. In January '24, we issued the eighth simple debenture in the amount of BRL 200 million with a term of 72 months and compensation corresponding to CDI plus 2% a year in order to adjust our debt and strengthen our cash flow. Throughout '24, we will continue to look for alternatives to improve our capital structure to optimize debt cost and extend durations.

With that, we conclude our comments on the quarter. I'd like to thank the entire team for once again showing their commitment to the company's results.

Now I'm going to hand the call back to Kariya to share more about the material fact we released earlier today.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Well, thanks, Carol. Now I'm going to talk a bit more on Mill's new transaction that was announced today before the opening of the market. We are very excited about this transaction, another milestone in our journey of being the greatest and best partners to our customers.

As you can see on Slide 15, the addressable market in rental for intralogistics is quite significant with estimated revenues of BRL 14 billion and continued expansion. The market has an operational profile that is compliant with our strategy and brings new opportunities of growth for the company. By joining the segment, the total addressable market goes up to BRL 59 billion for Mills. In addition to being a large market, it's quite fragmented and under consolidation with opportunities to improve penetration in the rental market compared to more developed countries.

Going to Slide 16. We show Mills' differentiators to really enhance growth. We have huge compliance with the logistic market. We believe that approximately 60% of our more than 10,000 customers in rental have the potential to use intralogistic equipment in their operations. That means strong opportunities in cross-selling. We have unique footprint in the market, 60 units in different regions of Brazil to serve with agility and efficiency all our customers and providing differentiated services.

We have extensive know-how in services of the several lines of equipment we work with, expertise of integration and the right people for the success of the business. With this movement, our operation is surely to succeed. Basically, it's plug and play.

All those aspects show that Mills can really enhance growth in intralogistics segment, strengthening our relationship with the customers and offering a large portfolio of diverse services with operating and commercial synergies.

And for the first step, we went to market to find the partners we believe to have a cultural fit and a strategic fit to the company, which is JM Empilhadeiras. On Slide 19, we could take a look at the strength of JM and its competitive advantages. The company was founded in 1985 and it is referencing the rental of forklifts and pallets with extensive know-how in the maintenance of equipment, with teams and processes that are quite solid and ensure the extension of the useful life of assets, therefore, maximizing returns on fleet.

In addition, it has a premium fleet. JM has more than 1,900 pieces of equipment with low age, and it is the largest Linde operator in the country. A solid and diversified portfolio of customers with long-term contracts and huge exposure to Brazilian markets, such as agro business. JM share values and culture that are similar to those of our company, offering the best services in the market, investing in training and qualifying its employees, and taking active part in several fronts directed to communities with social, sports, cultural and environmental actions.

On Slide 18, which show the reach and size of JM and some information on the transaction. The transaction includes the purchase of 100% of JM Empilhadeiras shares. That is more than 900 pieces of equipment, as I said -- 1,900 pieces of equipment and contracts, as I had mentioned. The transaction amount was BRL 279.5 million, considering EBITDA numbers of '23, with a [ debt-to-EBITDA ] ratio of 4.3x. The partners will continue in the business for us together to continue this journey of growth in the logistics market.

As we can see on Slide 19, our final slide, after we started working with construction machinery in '22 and gaining maturity, we are prepared to take one more step towards our strategy of being a one-stop shop rental company. The acquisition reinforces this strategy of working in important markets with higher predictability in cash flows, new pillars of revenues and pillars, therefore, further increasing our portfolio of solutions and reinforcing partnerships with our customers. We make commitments and prepare the business for current and future challenges and we'll not stop here. We'll continue to seek new opportunities and ways of improving the experience of our customers.

With that, I'm going to close the presentation, and we will open for your questions, if any.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Now we have the first question coming from Fernanda Recchia from BTG.

[Fernanda Recchia, analyst]

I have 2 points I'd like to explore. First, a bit about the material fact of JM. Kariya, if you could give a bit more color on the economics of the forklift market, yield, occupancy rates, margins, useful life and residual value in the secondary market that we can consider. And second, talking specifically about results, we're looking at rental. We saw a growing margin quarter-on-quarter, and revenue in Rental went slightly down.

So it shows that productivity did go down quarter-on-quarter. If you could explain why you had slightly lower productivity? Was it seasonality? Anything specific? And what we should expect for the coming quarters? That's it.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Well, choosing JM first has to do with the equipment. As you know, we always consider to extend the life of our assets. JM, clearly speaking, has 2 cycles of 5 years of assets. Working relatively intensive, then we can extend the life for 2 cycles. In terms of yield economics, we worked with a yield of 4% to 4.5%. We believe because of our size and scale, we can improve that slightly because of a better purchasing power.

But today, that's what they have, 4% to 4.5% yield and 85% occupancy rate -- utilization rate. So in the end of day, for each BRL 100, you have BRL 21 in cash. If you reproduce that in 10 years, the tenth year, the residual value is about 10% to 15% of the assets.

As for your question in -- about rental in general, we have 2 factors that are quite relevant in the beginning of the second quarter. One is the seasonality, the rains. You know that drought has already started. But officially, it starts as of April in average in Brazil. And also, we have the intercrop period. So not only for heavy equipment but also constructions, that affects part of our light and heavy assets rental, which kind of brings productivity a bit down. So we become a bit more inefficient.

We don't have 100% sales because of agri business. You know that our contracts are for a year's time, but billing is lower because of idle equipment. And it's also a period in which we have more tune-ups, so these are the main factors that do affect the first quarter a bit.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Luiz Otavio Capistrano from Itau.

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

Congratulations on your results and acquisition announced this morning. Before asking the question I had, I just wanted to confirm one thing that you said to Fernanda about residual value. You said 10% to 15% after 10 years compared to new asset prices. But new asset prices is year 0 or year 10.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Year 10. At the time of replacement, when we are selling this asset, then we are going to replace it with a new. The asset is worth about 10% of a new asset.

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

Okay. So now on to my question. First, about the deal. I have 2 questions. One is to try and understand the allocation of marginal CapEx -- marginal capital. Does it make sense? I think it was very clear in the presentation and the material that you released today the rationale of the transaction. But what drew our attention is that everyone that works with heavy machinery wants to work with forklifts. We have seen the strength with other companies in the sector. Is it for you a window of opportunity? It's just a deal of someone who wanted to sell and you had a good price? Or were you actively seeking that you have a customer that was in the demand of that?

So just for us to understand, we understand the rationale, but cost of opportunity and what you're doing with heavy machinery. And then the second question is if that changes the budget in terms of capital allocation this year. Organic CapEx perhaps is slightly lower than what you had mentioned before. These are my questions.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Okay. First, let me go back to the strategic rationale why going to heavy construction equipment, heavy equipment as a whole. When you are inside intralogistics, you are inside the plant of a customer. Sometimes, you have handling the pellets. So handling is not only through forklifts but also other kinds of equipment and heavy machinery. So it makes sense to have the whole range of equipment to customers. Another thing, when you take a look at cross-selling, even within our customers, aerial platforms are very close to forklifts. So 60% of our customers will potentially use at least one forklift. So just counting on that, we have this address both markets but cross-selling both with lift platforms and forklifts and again, thinking of being a one-stop shop.

So in terms of capital allocation, we think we have room to do the 2 things well. And before, we were actively looking into things and we continue to do so, everything that somehow has a contact to our equipment. So once we have an equipment, what is surrounding it? And forklifts were something we were looking into for a long time. So it was not just a timely decision. It was a strategic decision for us to become a one-stop shop.

And the second part of the question, I think that's it, right? Capital allocation, heavy machinery and the strategic rationale. Anything missing?

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

No, very well answered. Perhaps, allocation of capital is going to change -- not your strategy, but this year.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Yes. So I think that it is basically what we have been talking about to the market. We have a pipeline. We are looking into what we can do in terms of additional organic CapEx this year. We have to wait for the antitrust agency approval in Brazil, the CADE, and all the conditions precedent in the contract for us to actually have the closing of the transaction. But if precedent conditions are met and we have the approval of antitrust, then we are going to announce our organic CapEx to continue growing intralogistics businesses inside the company.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from André Mazini from Citi.

[André Mazini, analyst]

I also have 2 questions on my side. First, if you could talk a bit about the equipment itself, forklifts. You said that most is internal combustion, Linde brand. What do you think of electric products? The Chinese are very strong in Brazil with basically electric forklifts. Perhaps, it is a higher CapEx but lower OpEx and perhaps, simpler maintenance. Electric engines have less parts. So how are you looking into electric equipment? Do you think it's the future of the industry or not so quite?

And also, negotiations with OEMs. I think, especially in heavy equipment, you have CapEx after you close the contract with the customers. Perhaps with that, you didn't have as much bargaining power. Perhaps now, you're going to make capital expenditures before contracts closed. What is the rationale of the change? Do you have a better yield to bear? That's it.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Okay. Another interesting point about JM is that it has slightly heavier forklifts. And this is also was very appealing to us. And therefore, we have combustion forklifts. But undoubtedly, when you take a look at average market or smaller markets, it is migrating to electric forklifts. They do have the electric forklifts as well. We believe that depending on the evolution of decarbonization and electrification of assets, we are also going to get 2 larger equipment. There is some equipment being tested. JM is also looking into that. Not only Asian products, but we really have to take a deeper dive in that to know how fast we are going to move on with these products, while considering also Asian products. So there are 2 things here, migration to electric assets. JM has this characteristic of having equipment 6 tons up, heavier assets, and therefore, they are basically combustion engines.

[Caroline Pepe Leonard, executive]

As for the strategy of closing contracts, when we talk about capital expenditures, everything depends on the point in time in the company and the market as well. When we joined the segment, we had an acquisition that was prior to the projects to have some machinery available in inventory. And also, we had the acquisition very much based on the pipeline of our customers at the time. So based on the pipeline, we had the acquisition to get to know the market better.

Today, what we are doing is the following. It's not only buying beforehand or afterwards. It is a mix strategy, where we can have better predictability of demand and pipeline for heavy equipment, given we've been in the market for a longer time so we have a much stronger pipeline. And with that predictability, we can negotiate most of our 2024 CapEx to have better prices. So we advanced negotiations and, therefore, pay installments. And not only that, we have different times of delivery along the year. Of course, that we agree with some flexibility with OEMs, but the idea is to advance negotiation to get better terms.

And part of the CapEx is just to complement the demand of specific projects that needs that. So whatever is possible to be advanced with better negotiations is going to be done so, and we have additional CapEx to complement any specific need. But again, we have a much better map to a stronger pipeline than 1.5 years ago.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Victor Mizusaki from Bradesco.

[Victor Mizusaki, analyst]

We have 2 questions. The first is that in your earnings release, you said that you closed contracts to ensure investments for 2024. So the first question is, if you could give us a bit more color of sectors, volumes, any ballpark in terms of return? And second question is a bit regarding asset sales in the first quarter. You had the capital gains in the sale of assets. The question we have is whether this renewal process that started in the fourth quarter, when you announced that you were able to renew 25% of contracts. If that implies that throughout '24, we are going to see a tighter margin in asset sales because of the capital gains and the lower margin in the sale of assets.

[Caroline Pepe Leonard, executive]

Well, on asset sales, so what you said is correct. This quarter, we started selling used assets related to the renewed contracts. Remember, we renewed 100% of customers with additional pieces of equipment. And what we started to do, just to make it clear to you, is to separate the ex-sales margin and the company's total margin, both gross margin and EBITDA, for you to be able to see the effect. And what you said about capital gains is right. We adjusted capital gains at the time of the merger, and the sale of these specific assets will have lower margin. And we are going to see the impact of this throughout the year.

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

As for CapEx that you asked, it was not all investments we made. But light assets, 100%. We just have a last tranche that is going to be received along the second quarter. But heavy assets, Carol answered partially to André's question. We had the first movement given that we have a lot more visibility of the pipeline and what's hot. So we bought part of the assets. We believe that with that, we would have a better purchasing power. And as we close new contracts, we are going to complement it with the additional CapEx.

So most of the heavy assets have been completed. For life assets, we had 3 tranches, 2 were received. The second is almost to be completed. And the third is going to be along the second quarter. I hope I have answered your question.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Lucas Esteves from Santander. And it is in writing. We are going to read his questions.

Good afternoon. Congratulations on your results. Could you please give us a bit more color to explain the drop year-on-year of the heavy assets operation? Should we expect more economies of scale because of the dilution of fixed costs?

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Okay, Lucas. I did mention that briefly in the first question, when Fernanda asked the first question. When you have this intercrop period, this is a period in which machines are returned, and we have more tune-ups for the new period. So this quarter has a bit more of operational costs, replacement parts, that in a way tightens a bit our gross margin ex depreciation of the heavy assets. So it has a heavier impact of costs due to seasonality, okay?

And as mentioned before, given the fact that we are in intercrop, we have lower revenues, which also impact the margin. But just to highlight, these are long-term contracts that do have this profile. This is a period in which we have lower billing because of the intercrop period.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Gabriel Frazao from Bank of America.

[Gabriel Frazao, analyst]

Good afternoon, everyone. I have just a follow-up about the acquisition announced this morning. Are you still looking into a pipeline of acquisitions? Any other opportunities for [ endogenic ] growth? And second, what would be a comfortable leverage level for you?

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Okay. Gabriel, I think that now, if we think of forklifts in the short, midterm, after the closing, we have an integration project. So we are going to new business units. The pipeline for M&A is never stops, but we are going to focus on other business units, at least in the shorter term, synergies that are more concentrated and inorganic moves. As for leverage of the company, I always say to you all that as we have a profiling of longer-term contracts, we are going to have more confidence to leverage the company. But today, considering our mix, I think 2x is a comfortable leverage level for us.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Carlos Alberto Suslik from L4 Capital. The question is written.

Congratulations on your results. We would like to know what Mills is expecting in terms of economic growth and how that will affect Mills' allocation rate in the company's opinion. Do we still see projects in infrastructure? And is it affecting the company?

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Suslik, we do not give guidance on that. But anyhow, we continue very optimistic about the Brazilian macroeconomic scenarios. The infrastructure sector, giving all concessions implemented in PPPs or private concessions, have a pipeline that's quite interesting for the coming months. I did mention that before. We were a bit affected because of the rain period. But now in the drought period, we have expectations of ramping up these infrastructure projects from now on.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We are now closing the Q&A session. We are going to turn the call back to Sergio Kariya for his final remarks. Mr. Kariya?

[Sergio Kariya, executive]

Well, thank you all for your interest and for attending our first conference call this year. Our Investor Relations team continues available for any questions you may have. Thank you very much, and have a good day.

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