Localiza Rent a Car SA
BOVESPA:RENT3
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[operator instructions] Good afternoon, and welcome to the Localiza & Co webinar on the results of the First Quarter end of the Year of 2024. Present with us today, we have Rodrigo Tavares, CFO; and Nora Lanari, Director of Investor Relations of the company. We would like to inform you that this webinar is being recorded and will be made available at ri.localiza.com with the complete earnings release materials available. The presentation is also available for download on the IR website. [Operator Instructions]
We'd like to inform you that the amounts in this presentation are in millions of BRL and in IFRS. We would like to emphasize that the information contained in this presentation and in any statements that may be made during this video conference regarding Localiza's business prospects, projections and operational and financial targets constitute and beliefs and assumptions of company management as well as information currently available.
Future considerations are not performance guarantees. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Now I will hand over to Rodrigo Tavares, CFO of the company, to begin the presentation.
Good afternoon, everyone, reinforcing our commitments to generate value. In the last annual letter, we presented our priorities for 2024: adjusting rental pricing to restore the return levels, portfolio optimization and discipline in capital allocation and efficient cost management and increasing the fleet productivity. In addition to expanding the preowned car sales capacity of Seminovos to support fleet renewal process and fostering innovation to further strengthen our value proposition and our customers.
After the significant purchase of cars made in 4Q '23 to support the high season and take advantage of year-end opportunities, we reduced the pace of purchases and accelerated car sales, improving the overall utilization of the fleet. We maintained our consistent growth in both car and fleet rental.
In the quarter, Rental revenues increased 27.1% year-over-year. In Fleet Rental, specifically, the new contract generation remains strong. We've grown more than 5,000 cars in the rented fleet sequentially, even reducing our exposure to severe usage segments, the reason why the growth rate was affected in the quarter. This adjustment should contribute to a higher level of return of that division.
Seminovos begins to reap the benefits of the maturation of the stores opened last year due to gradual improvement in the sales mix and greater credit availability accelerating the sales turnover, which contributed to a stable depreciation on a sequential basis year-over-year. So however, in the months of April and May, we observed a recurring reduction in used car prices, which should reflect in depreciation adjustments in the second quarter.
We ended 1Q '24 with a net revenue of BRL 8.7 billion, EBIT of BRL 1.9 billion and net income of BRL 733 million, a 40.6% growth compared to the accounting profit of 1Q '23. From a balance sheet perspective, we maintained the net debt to fleet value ratio virtually stable compared to the end of the year, even with the reduction in accounts payable to automakers after the strong purchases in 4Q '23 and recorded an annualized ROIC spread of 4 percentage points in the quarter.
Cultivating a highly reputable brand is one of the company priorities. In that sense, Localiza was recognized by the Kantar's BrandZ ranking as 1 of the 10 most valuable brands in Brazil. Another highlight of the quarter, in line with the construction of competitive differentials based on technology was the completion of the migration of applications and systems to cloud computing, which will further accelerate the company's pace of innovation. And finally, I would like to express our solidarity with the population of Rio Grande do Sul in light of the unprecedented tragedy. We will spare no efforts to support our employees, their families, our customers and the community affected.
To present the quarterly results, I will now hand over to our IR Director, Nora.
Thank you, Rodrigo and Good afternoon to everyone. On Page 2, with the advance of the process, we'd like to inform that in 1Q '24, we're disclosing the accounting numbers only without the goodwill adjustments resulting from the business combination. Although we do not adjust the results for the quarter, we highlight the effect of BRL 14.5 million on EBIT resulting from goodwill as well as a negative EBIT of BRL 34.7 million from operations in Mexico, which continue their expansion and maturation process.
We will make quarterly information comparisons considering the accounting numbers without adjustments. Starting with the highlights for the quarter on Slide 3. At the top, we see the robust revenue growth in both Rental divisions as well in the Seminovos cars. The net revenue from Car Rental advances 20.2%. Fleet management presents a growth of 35.4% and Seminovos 27.4% year-over-year. At the bottom of the screen, we see that EBIT totaled BRL 1.9 billion, a growth of 12.9% year-over-year.
Net income totaled BRL 733.5 million, a growth of 40.6%. Additionally, we show an improvement in the net debt fleet value ratio, which ended the quarter at 59% compared to 65% in 1Q '23. Moving on to the details of the results on Page 4. We'll start with the Car Rental division in Brazil. In 1Q 24, the net revenue of this division achieved BRL 2.4 billion, a growth of 20.2% year-over-year, resulting from commercial excellence and efficient management of prices and mix.
On Page 5, we show a 13.7% increase in the average rental rate, which reached BRL 132 in the quarter. The utilization rate displays a growth of 0.5 percentage points year-over-year, reaching 78.5%, demonstrating demand resilience. Moving on to Page 6, we see the evolution of the Car Rental network. From '21 to '22, we had the effect of the carve-out with the sale of 180 stores in the context of restrictions imposed by the Brazilian Antitrust Agency, CADE. In 2023, resumed selective expansion of the corporate stores network, but we saw opportunities for reduction in overlaps, improvement in coverage levels, occupancy cost and productivity.
In that context during 1Q '24, 6 Car Rental stores were closed -- owned stores were closed with no impact to the average rental fleet compared to the previous quarter. We ended the quarter with 702 agency, 600 in Brazil, 12 in Mexico and 82 in other 5 countries in South America. Now moving on to Page 7 to the Fleet Rental division. We continue to present a robust growth rate with net revenue reaching BRL 2 billion, a 35.4% increase compared to 1Q '23, reflecting a 15.4% growth in the number of daily rentals and an increase in the average daily rate.
Moving on to Page 8, we present the average rate of BRL 90.7 in this division, which increased by 17.2% in the quarter, reflecting the pricing of new contracts in the context of higher interest rates, car prices and depreciation. The utilization rate showed a 1.3 percentage point reduction compared to 1Q '23 due to a greater number of cars in decommissioning, given the rationalization process of the portfolio of contracts of more severe use.
Moving on to Page 9, we show the balances of car purchases and sales. After the peak season, we reduced purchases and accelerated car sales in the Car Rental division. In 1Q '24, 34,679 cars were purchased for the company's own operations in Brazil, with 13,150 in Car Rental and 21,529 in Fleet Rental. 64,962 cars were sold, resulting in a reduction of 30,283 cars to the fleet.
Moving on to Page 10. We present the Seminovos network, which ended the quarter with 225 points of sale. From the maturity process of stores opened last year, we began to observe advances in the productivity indicator per store. Nevertheless, we maintained our agenda to expand sales capacity, which includes the opening of new stores during 2024. Continuing on Page 11, we present the average purchase and the divestment price. In 1Q '24, the average purchase price was BRL 82,900. In the Car Rental division, sale price reached BRL 66,800. The fleet renewal process is expected to continue contributing to the increase in retail sales and consequent reduction in renewal CapEx.
In Fleet Rental, the average price was BRL 96,100 in 1Q '24, mainly focused in light vehicles and tracking the growth of our car subscriptions. The average demobilization price remained stable at approximately BRL 66,900. The mix of cars sold in channels begin to show improvement in both divisions based on the gradual renewal of the fleet and channel mix.
On Page 12, we show the fleet's end-of-period growth, which reached 627,127 cars in the first quarter of the year, a net addition of 7.5% year-over-year, with 14.5% growth in Fleet Rental division and 1.1% in Car Rental division. After the strong car purchases in 4Q '23 and past the peak of demand of the summer vacation period, this company reduced the fleet by approximately 30,000 cars in 1Q '24 of this year, with no impact on the average car rental rented fleet.
Moving on to Page 13. We see that the year-over-year rental net revenue reached BRL 4.3 billion, a 27.1% growth, where 20.2% in the Car Rental division and 35.4% in the Fleet Rental division. The revenues for Seminovos totaled BRL 4.3 billion in the quarter, a 27.4% increase year-over-year, resulting from the increase in volume and sell price of the Seminovos cars in the annual comparison. On Page 14, we present an EBITDA of BRL 2.9 billion in 1Q '24, an 11.3% increase year-over-year.
In 4Q '23, we started to allocate the rental [indiscernible], the vehicle preparation cost for fleet demobilization. These preparation costs were previously allocated in Seminovos in the company efficiency area. However, by centralizing the operations area and managing the car preparation for sale became the responsibility of the business. And that brought on a negative effect on rental margins, offset by a positive effect on Seminovos car margins.
In 1Q '24, the EBITDA margin of the Car Rental division was 63.3%, a reduction of 2.8 percentage points compared to the margin of 1Q '23 is explained by the preparation cost effect. In Fleet Rental, the margin was 69.2%, a 7 percentage point reduction compared to the margin in the same period last year, mainly explained by the effect of the accelerated depreciation report for tax purposes in 1Q '23, which positively impacted the margin of that quarter by 5.5 percentage points.
The new mobility and in telematics initiatives brought on revenues of BRL 41.9 million, but negatively impacted the EBITDA margin of this division by 2 percentage points in the quarter. throughout the quarter, we've also observed a reduction in the used car sell prices, shown by market indicators, negatively impacting the margins of cars sold. As a result, in 1Q '24, the margin of Seminovos was 1.9%.
Page 15, we see the evolution of the average annualized depreciation per car. In RAC, the average annualized depreciation of BRL 6,022 per car includes the advances in the channels and sales mix, the low relative share of cars with higher depreciation rates in the fleet mix and purchases negotiated on better terms as of 4Q '23 in fleet rental. The average depreciation per car of BRL 6,563 per quarter reflects car purchases and better conditions from 4Q '23. We also saw price accommodation of used cars in the months of April and May, which may affect depreciation in coming quarters.
Moving on to Page 16, we see that EBIT achieved BRL 1.9 billion in the quarter, a 12.9% increase year-over-year. In 1Q '24, the EBIT margin was 40.8% in Car Rental, 46.8% in Fleet Rental. The margin in both divisions reflects the lower result of used cars. On Page 17, we present the accounting profit of BRL 733.5 million, a 40.6% increase year-over-year, reflecting the increase of BRL 297.4 million in EBITDA and a reduction of BRL 85.3 million in financial results, partially offset by negative effects of BRL 86 million, resulting from the increase in depreciation, net of goodwill and an increase of BRL 84.8 million in income tax and social contribution.
On Page 18, we have the free cash flow. In the quarter, BRL 1.9 billion was generated by the rental operations and BRL 2 billion from fleet reduction, totaling BRL 3.9 billion, of which BRL 980.6 million were consumed by the fleet renewal process and another BRL 2.6 billion by the reduction in accounts payable to automakers.
On Page 19, we see that the company ended the quarter with a net debt of BRL 30.1 billion, an increase of BRL 853.6 million compared to the end -- year-end debt. Moving on to Page 20, we present the debt profile and cash position of BRL 11.7 billion at the end of the quarter. if we include the announced issuances and settlements up to April 30, 2024, the company would have approximately BRL 14.9 billion in cash.
On Slide 21, we present solid debt ratios, mainly evidenced by the net debt to fleet value ratio at 59% and net debt-to-EBITDA at 2.78x. On Page 22, we present in 1Q '24, a ROIC of 12.7% with a spread of 4 percentage points to the [indiscernible] cost, reflecting the adverse car sales market, interest rates still at high levels in addition to the capital base coming from the business combination priced at lower spreads.
The adjustment in new contracts pricing combined with the fleet rejuvenation process and operational efficiency initiatives should contribute to the gradual increase of ROIC spread. We are now available to answer your questions.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Mr. and Mrs. Mizusaki from Bradesco BBI.
I have two questions. You mentioned a more difficult scenario for used cars in April and May. But on the other hand, when we look at the Localiza earnings release, you also mentioned that during the first quarter, you reduced the discount for the used car sales, the Seminovos. So if we consider the drop -- decrease in the discount for the used cars, improvement in the mix in the sales channel and potential efficiency gains in the Seminovos network, if we consider all of that, does that mean that the depreciation in the second quarter could remain stable, go up a little, drop? Could you give us some information on that -- on how you see that scenario net-net in those factors?
And the second question is a bit about a number of Localiza stores. About closing some of the stores, could you mention what was the adjustment if we may be talking about an attempt of a different store model and you're changing that. So could you mention something about that as well.
Victor, thank you for your questions. About the Seminovos, in fact, we have many factors happening. First off, I'll talk about the positive ones that you mentioned. First is credit coming back. We see financing levels that are even better than pre-pandemic levels. In fact, an improvement in the mix and the renewal of that mix about the channel that's been changing and the marginal dilution of costs as the [indiscernible] volume has grown.
That said, we still see, and we've been seeing, especially in the past 2 months, if I look at the market indicators, be it WebMotors or the FIPE, there is a more expressive drop that happened recently. So there is a delay. But obviously, there's always an impact on the market. When we consider all those different factors, the improvements that we've been seeing are not sufficient to offset the issue of the recent changes in market prices.
So in that sense, we have an expectation that depreciation will be adjusted upwards, given the price changes that have been happening in Seminovos. You're also correct. In terms of efficiency, the company has improved. We've been closer to the price sold compared to the market price, but the market price still dropped and dropped more recently.
About RAC stores, it's just a small number of stores, and that's pretty natural in streamlining the portfolio, the footprint. Considering the context of integration, nothing that really changes our model and no specific tests about that. It's just a specific one-off adjustment in our footprint in the number of stores, nothing more than that.
Next question is from Mr. Alberto Valerio from UBS.
I know that you mentioned in the past call about doing the accounting change and the impact of the year. So we're estimating -- we saw the difference between the margins year-over-year. So could we consider those differences in RAC and fleet margins 100% for the accounting? That's my first question.
And the other one is selective taxes. Do you have any visions about how that tax could be applied to the tax reform? Is there lobbying to not apply that tax in -- the tax reform with the last review that they had in the capital with the House of Representatives?
Thank you, Alberto. About the first question, when you look at RAC, so the explanation pretty much explains the difference in margins. We have some gains, especially in variable costs and other efficiency expenses. In fleet, in 1Q last year, we had a report that was stronger. So the tax credits explain the other part of the difference. In addition, I don't know if you remember, but in 1Q '23, we had zero litigation, and that impacted not only costs but especially G&A. So it has a positive effect.
So, when you factor these three main items, they highly explain the margin variation and lower items and a couple of aspects in terms of bad debt, but those are the main points. About the selective tax, we're still following that closely. There are no specific unfoldings in that sense. We're monitoring many aspects of the tax reform. There are still many aspects that have to be determined. And the company has been looking into that to understand all of that, but no major repercussions so far regarding the selective tax.
Next question is from Mr. Guilherme Mendes from JPMorgan.
The first thing is about RAC. We saw a price increase that was significant in the first quarter. So I'd like to hear about what you believe in elasticity and demand in the subsegments of RAC. So how much can this company still use the price lever to offset the depreciation variables and Seminovos? Second, about the avenues for growth -- the new avenues for growth. We saw the impact in -- of 2 points in fleet. And how can we consider this effect for the next quarter and the contribution of revenues for that subsegment?
Thank you, Guilherme. About RAC, we've seen resilience and that's very positive. There's a strategy of increasing prices in RAC that's been happening. We've been very successful in that strategy. And in the different segments, we have different elasticities. So the price increase trend continues. We're adjusting the fleet according to demand, but we have still been seeing a growing demand. I would only like to stress, Guilherme, that we have a second quarter that's seasonally different. We leave the high-season summer vacation and then we go into a more normalized scenario. So we do see the resilience in demand, yes, very well, that's correct.
About fleet management, we have to separate the effects. When we look at light week and car subscriptions, we see a new cycle in inflow of contracts that's very healthy, very positive with a healthy ROIC spread growth in the demand. And still, we still see a huge potential. As we had mentioned, one of our targets is streamlining the portfolio. And that recalls -- requires us to deliberately reduce our appetite in capital allocation segments with a more severe use.
When we put that into practice, that leads to short-term inefficiency. You have more cars being decommissioned, more cars being prepared, you have less utilization of the fleet and that affects these short-term results. So we should see that getting better during the year.
Next question is from Fernanda Recchia from BTG Pactual.
I'd like to explore two things. First of all, about the situation in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, you mentioned that you have 20 points and 21,000 cars in the region affected, but can you give us more details about your points of service? Did you have to interrupt the operations 100%? Or are you still able to operate? And do you see any impacts in that first week of May?
And the second one about Mexico operations. Could you mention the -- your operations in Mexico? We can see that you already have 1,500 cars. How should we consider capital allocation in that segment? And if you could mention if the results are coming in line with what you expected or not? Those are the two points.
Thank you, Fernanda. About the state of Rio Grande do Sul, first of all, I'd like to mention that all of our actions right now are focused on the community, on our employees, on our customers and the population in general. We're talking about unprecedented tragedy in the region. And obviously, there will be losses. But at this time, a company as big as Localiza, what we have to do is use our structure, use our power to offer and understand all the solidarity that we have seen there.
That said, in fact, we have approximately 20,000 vehicles in the region. Most of them were not affected, but there's still many regions that are flooded, and we still have to understand the extension of damage that was caused by the flooding so we can give the market more visibility of about any potential material losses that we've had. The operations are gradually resuming in the region. It will rain again with stronger wind and intense cold weather. So we are still waiting on further information. And as soon as we're able to estimate that, we can give you more information.
Today, for information purposes, we have 6 RAC stores closed, 3 Seminovos stores, 1 distribution center and 1 SAP store and 9 RAC stores are opened and 3 Seminovos stores are opened. So half of the total of 24 establishments that we have are closed and half are opened. About Mexico, we have 12 stores here in Mexico. Approximately 1,500 cars. Positive things coming in, growing levels of service, and the Localiza brand is expanding.
Obviously, at this scale, an operation will have operational losses. We've also started testing Seminovos, so we can understand the Seminovos dynamic in this market and more store openings. So far for me, it's still marginal capital allocation. So we have operational investments that's basically associated to the operations with a small scale and G&A, that's not proportional to the size of operations. So we should continue with close to 20 stores and still car allocation that's still marginal for Mexico.
Please go ahead, and ask your question.
Can you hear me now?
Yes, we can hear you, Filipe.
I have two. So first of all, about the evolution of the fleet size. We've seen a drop in fleet size. More cars sold than purchased, and that's a result of a strong purchase in 4Q. So I'd like to understand that given that you have the plan to continue to expand and increase the size of the Seminovos operations and sales should continue to grow during the year. I'd like to understand what you think about car purchases increases during the year, will we see -- still see a flat -- a fleet that's marginally dropping and then increase and then ramp that up. So how do you see that in that progression?
And the second question is about the Seminovos store. So what has been your strategy to maintain or even increase productivity per store while you expand? So there are two movements in parallel. I'd like to understand how that strategy is working.
Thank you, Filipe, for your question. The first part had an expressive increase in the fourth quarter. And the first quarter is traditionally a quarter that we adjust fleet. The first one, a bit higher given the fact that we had many purchases in the fourth. So we shouldn't expect fleet -- sequential fleet reduction. Now we need to focus on renewing the fleet. So increasing Seminovos sales is a significant lever to increase the renewal and capital allocation that will be done with a lot of caution.
We see a good demand for our products, but the focus on selling Seminovos partly has to do with the fleet renewal at the company. About the Seminovos stores, we continue to increase the number of stores. We have to continue to increase the number of cars sold. And to increase the productivity, there are many different matters. First of all, is the mix.
When you sell a better quality mix -- a mix of cars that have lower mileage on them, that's an enabler, that's a catalyst in the store productivity. And even hiring more salespeople per store, you increase the sale per store. But we will continue to open more stores. And in the beginning, that could decrease the sales per store while these new stores are ramping up.
Next question is from Daniel Gasparete from Itaú BBA.
I also have two. So the first one, if possible, Rodrigo, I'd like to learn more about your comments about the used car prices that we're dropping more in April and May. So I'd like to understand from you, in your opinion, why is that happening given the context that you mentioned, financing levels, the mix and so on? I'd like to understand that a little more. So what's causing that?
And if you believe that, that's mainly because used car prices compared to new car prices, is it dropping more than the new car -- or new car prices? are they lower than the used car prices. So I'd like to confirm the trend. So the average age of cars sold has consistently dropped for 2 quarters in RAC, 29 months, 26 in the fourth quarter and now 24. So my impression is that the older cars that are in the RAC fleet are those the ones that have the -- all of them left? Do we have -- the average age of RAC hasn't changed much. But have you cleaned out that older vintage? So those are my two questions.
Thank you, Daniel. About price, we're talking about many different factors. So I'll give you some examples. When we look at the 2- and 3-year-old car prices, we already see a more stable dynamic. So that's one thing. That's been dropping. And we've seen a stronger drop from April to May, especially according to the FIPE table, but there's always a delay. So that shows a drop that probably happened in a couple of months before that.
In 2- or 3-year cars, you have more stability. 1-year old cars, you see a higher drop of their prices. About the products, in 1.0 cars -- 1,000 cylinder cars, you see a more stable dynamic. And the credit side particularly helps a lot in the entry-level cars, mainstream cars, and that has contributed positively. SUVs, we see it's in the higher competition. So that's been driving a higher drop in that segment.
About some of the drivers, there are some incentives that we see for new cars. So even though it's list price, even though they don't drop, we see some incentives on the automaker side to encourage the drop in new car prices. About the average car price, you're right. That's a strategic focus of the company, renew the fleet. We have to decrease, and we have to remind you that the pre-pandemic, it was decommissioning 14- to 15-month-old cars. And then from 29, we went down to 26 and now we're a little under 25. We're still very distant than that situation we had before the pandemic, where we were selling most of our cars in retail with 30,000 kilometers on them, 14, 15 months old cars. So that's why there's an effort increasing the Seminovos cars. But that's a progressive effort, and it's been increasing.
The age of operational cars, given the fact that we bought less cars in the first quarter, given the math, it drops less because there are less brand-new cars in there, so the weighted average. By buying the cars in the second quarter and accelerating the renewal process, we should see a drop in the average operational age of our fleet.
Next question is from Rogério Araújo from Bank of America.
I have two. First of all, could you give us some more details about the exposure to the more severe use vehicles. So what's the relevance in Localiza's fleet rental? And as far as I understood, in the upcoming quarters, the contracts will terminate and you will not be a part of that again. So my idea is, I'm wondering how much that could affect your volume growth in the upcoming quarters, if you can answer that? And then I can ask my next question.
Thank you, Rogério. Obviously, it's not a big relevance when we consider the entire fleet context, but not something we can ignore. So you're right. We don't necessarily stop originating. We have more careful origination. And in renewal, some of these cars are, in fact, decommissioned, and we lower the volume. So our expectation is that the drop in the volume of that segment is more than offset by the other segments moving forward.
So that said, our current focus is to allocate that capital in a very conscientious manner. So in the other segments, the drop is higher than the severe segments and that should still take place in the upcoming quarters.
Can you give us an idea of range, how much fleet rental can continue to grow?
In the whole market, there's a consensus 15% to 20% per year, and that was -- was that severely affected, given the company's decision or not?
Well, Rogério, we don't give guidance in terms of our forecast. But what I can say is that the trends like the potential -- the market potential, that hasn't changed. We've grown at a huge rate in the past years, especially after the merger. So now right now, we have to use a lot of criteria in the way we allocate capital, and that will determine the growth rate. We see a demand. The product is still very competitive, especially compared to ownership.
And there's still a huge potential in car subscriptions, in smaller customers and even traditional customers, but our current focus will be to be very contentious in allocating our capital moving forward. I'm sorry, I can't be very specific because we do not give guidance and forecast regarding the growth of any of our segments.
Very clear. And my second question is about the preparation costs for sale. So the first point is understanding the effect of the cost of the allocation and depreciation and profit. In the past quarter, it was BRL 150 million -- BRL 100 million. So how much was that in the second quarter? But more importantly is to try to understand the impact of that change in the depreciation rates. So that change left a cushion -- a safe cushion for the Seminovos margin in Localiza's vision? Or in other words, maybe you haven't adjusted -- completely adjusted the depreciation rate for the new cost allocation.
So here, we calculate the -- a reduction of 3 points in RAC depreciation, a little bit more than 1 in fleet. And we don't see Localiza in that movement. So trying to understand if that makes sense. And if maybe regardless of the car price dynamics, what we would be seeing maybe a high depreciation according to the new [methodology]?
No, thank you. Well, it's important to remember that the change is NPV 0, that's change of EBIT 0 during the useful life of the car. And we did that in a more comprehensive context considering hundreds of practices with an absolutely technical criteria, just so we explained the reason.
So Rogério, many of them coexist. So when you don't consider the preparation, you have space and you should depreciation a little less. But on the other hand, we have the car price settling that. Those two things together will lead to our level of depreciation. And as I mentioned in the first question, given the drop -- recent drops that we've seen in some of the segments, our expectation what we believe is that depreciation should have an upwards trend when we look at that sequentially in the quarter, especially when we look at depreciation associated to RAC.
And Rogério, to add to what Rodrigo mentioned, don't forget that any lower depreciation -- potential to lower depreciation is offset by the book value in the car sales. So we don't expect any directional changes to the EBIT margin in Seminovos when we consider the preparation costs and depreciation. The Seminovos margin for the company is usually low digit value.
Yes, so Rogério and, just to conclude, a positive aspect as well. We've seen sequential drops pretty much in Seminovos. And that could be something that we've been seeing even in them being stable regardless of the mix that happened. So not having that much of a stronger pressure in the Seminovos margin when we look at that all cars that are in So how many cars are in inventory and how many cars are going to be decommissioned. So the adjustments to come would be considering the future cycle and depreciation, but we do believe that in the Seminovos margin, we apparently have achieved stability and that the pressure is lesser.
Two follow ups on that because that's something very important for us to understand the upcoming quarters. So the first one is, when car prices stop going down, can we consider a depreciation rate, especially in RAC substantially lower than what we see together? That's 1 follow-up.
And the second one, once again, about the impact in depreciation on profit for this customer, so we can balance out our estimates.
Well, Rogério, the answer is yes, considering the level of discount, that has been very positive recently and been improving also given the fleet renewal. If you start to decommission a newer car at a higher percentage, when you look at depreciation in replenishment and when you look at the stabilization when that happens, yes, I do believe that the depreciation rate should be lower than what we believe is currently happening.
And about your second question, Rogério, it's not practical to inform that eventual effect in depreciation because we determine those assumptions on a quarterly basis based on what we see on the market, according to price, mix channel and not sold. So we don't have that accounting running in parallel to the previous. And given that we've excluded, we can't really give you that, we excluded the preparation costs now.
So that's very clear. Congratulations on your results.
Thank you, Rogério.
Next question is from Mr. Bruno [indiscernible] from [indiscernible].
I have a question about capital allocation. So in two different perspectives, so first of all, about the mix. Given that SUVs, the prices are suffering a little more, so I'd like to know how you're handling that? If you're growing less in the SUV segment or maybe even not growing to favor the more -- the models that have a more healthier dynamic in used car prices?
And about capital allocation, I'd like to explore the decision to grow more or less given that the visibility is low based on the car price trend. The prices have been dropping for a while. So it's really hard to predict when that movement will end, and that has an implication on prospective returns of the company. So when you're allocating the company, you're probably seeing a scenario of more uncertainty than in the past. So I'd like to understand how you factor that into the decision process and allocating more or less capital. So how do you handle that prospective return?
Thank you, Bruno. it's definitely all the decisions in purchasing and allocating capital considers many different factors from the segment, the type of use, the channel and among them, obviously, the car category. So when we make a purchasing decision, and that's a joint purchase, we have an expectation of return given the rental price of that specific car category. And regardless, even if a car has higher depreciation, if the rates offset the depreciation, that's not necessarily a problem.
So the final decision considers all these different factors in a more comprehensive expectation of return, not just depreciation, depreciation cost, price, use channel and so on. And that's how we make our decisions when purchasing. About being a bit more uncertain in what we've think, so there's a very positive aspect of the resiliency of demand.
Even though we reduced the fleet, we've increased the number of cars rented and a sequential price increase, that's not traditional in one quarter from another -- from one quarter to another and we see strong aspects in car subscription and lightweight vehicles. So we don't have any capital restrictions for allocation and to grow. But in an environment where you have more uncertainty in capital allocation, you have to be more conscientious.
So the way we handle a more volatile environment where you don't know for a fact what your residual price would be is to be more careful in allocating the incremental capital from the company. So that said, once again, we see some perspectives that are extremely positive and the resilience in the demand is one of them.
And I'd like to remind you, Bruno, that eventually, the effect that we feel in the sale price, we can offset that in the purchase, which could eventually lead to an opportunity.
Yes, of course, but maybe I should be a bit more specific. When you price, any marginal investment? You probably have an assumption of the car sale price because you have ROIC. So do you think that the car prices will drop? Will -- what would happen or be stable?
Well, once again, we do not talk about our pricing assumptions. But within the context of uncertainty, we are very cautious in the allocation, very conscientious. So with that, we deem that the dynamic requires attention.
Okay. Perfect. Very clear. And about the mix about investing in SUVs or not, could you mention something about that, please?
Well, once again, we see a little bit of a drop in the SUVs, but it depends on the model and they have a worse return. So when we talk about short-term dynamics in Seminovos, you see that when you see the marginal capital allocation dynamics. So it's not necessarily a segment that's worse than the average.
Next question is from Pedro Bruno from XP.
In most part, it was answered, but I have a follow-up on Gasparete's question about what is the reason for that additional drop or the decreases -- additional decrease in used car prices in April and May? What's the biggest component? Where is that coming from mainly? So is it continuity in correcting the spread that the Seminovos -- excuse me, the used car prices was much higher and now it's going back and difficult to understand how far that will go? Or a drop because of the drop in the new car prices plus the discounts and bonuses and so on?
I'm going back to this because I want to separate these two things in the sense that the spread, naturally, it would come back, but it's concerning if it's going to a different level than the historical levels that we've seen pre-pandemic and so on. So on the drop in the new car prices that are also dropping, that also concerns us less, as Nora just mentioned about that decrease and the increase in purchasing power and so on. I hope you understood what asking. So all the points that you mentioned in Gasparete's answer seemed that is not the second option. So the reason for the drop would also bring on more benefits for you to buy car prices, sorry?
There's still a lot of incentives happening for new cars. They don't affect the list price. So the correction factor is the discount. You don't see that in the public price list, but the correction factor for our industry is through a discount. So it's a mix and there's the affordability even though it's a very positive news in terms of credit. Credit has been the most positive variable. We've seen expressive changes that are very positive regarding that.
And that really helps, especially in the more mainstream car sales. But there's still a number of incentives and offers from the automakers, and that affects the residual value of the used cars in the short term.
Well, we're moving towards the final minutes of the call, but we do have three questions in the chat. First one is from Lucas Barbosa, Santander. I'd like to hear what Localiza believes about the auto -- Chinese automakers in Brazil. Although their aggressive prices in new cars in the long term would Localiza benefit from the lower use capacity in the automakers?
Obviously, we have to separate that into the short, medium and long term. If we have new competition, new entrants and new capacity, that's absolutely positive for our industry and especially for Localiza because we are the biggest car purchasers. So if you have an environment with more investments in the industry, that's really positive.
If we were talking about automakers leaving restrictions, closing down their plants, that would be much more negative for the industry. And obviously, in the short term, you'll have a more competitive environment, and that leads to new adjustments and that could take longer for price adjustments and eventually for the new car prices that could take longer. So more automakers in our market, we believe that is a structural positive effect for our industry, especially for us that we really depend in that production capacity in the country.
And here , to the last question, I'll consolidate Pedro [indiscernible] from [indiscernible], and how do we extend the use of the cars? Would it be slow down the sale of the cars and sell them between 2 or 3 years?
Well, in our vision, the fleet renewal is the path we have to follow. When we talk about extending the use of a car, we have some factors that really affect the return and diluting the discount across time, you're competing more with used cars instead of new cars. And when you look at that movement in addition to have a worse use of the vehicle, it's going to break down more. It's spending more on maintenance and operations, worse customer satisfaction.
So the model of having these cars with more mileage, higher terms of renewal is a model that makes more sense. So that's why we're developing our Seminovos capacity, and we're gradually growing the sales. We don't believe that, that's an adequate strategy at least for Localiza to extend the use of a car.
Okay. We've reached the end of the conference call. I'd like to reiterate that there is still some questions that are on the list, please send them to ir@localiza.com, and we can answer those questions as soon as possible. We are available for any further clarification. Have a great day, everyone.
[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]