Sacyr SA

MAD:SCYR

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

Good morning. I'm Manuel Manrique, Chairman and CEO of Sacyr. Joining me today, this presentation is Mr. Carlos Mijangos, the CFO of the company. Thank you very much. Dear analysts, media representatives and investors for attending these financial results presentation of Sacyr for the first quarter of 2023.

Sacyr during 2023 continues to hold a very strong profitable growth position with strong concessional assets that increase our value by investing in new concessions looking forward. Revenue in the amount of EUR 1.29 billion and EBITDA in the amount of EUR 320 million are growing strongly by 32%, respectively, over the past quarter.

As for EBITDA margin, it has reached 24.8%. That is 450 basis points more year-on-year. EBIT has gone up by 54% up to EUR 273 million. As for the EBITDA margin coming from concessional businesses accounts for 85%. And as for cash flows, it has also grown by 11% up to the amount you see on the screen.

As for the milestones for the first quarter of 2023, as you very well know, we have a divestment plan in order to accelerate our recourse net debt reduction. Based on the operation process that we reported to the market in October 2022 due to the interest shown by potential investors 2 separate processes have been established for Valoriza [indiscernible] and for Sacyr facilities up to 100%.

In March, we received some indicative proposals and right now we are going through the due diligence process that is the confirmation phase in order to have a binding proposal ready by the end of May. Regarding processes, they are steering up a great deal of interest by investors, and we believe that a successful resolution will be attained in both cases.

Once we have completed both these processes, we shall focus on Sacyr [indiscernible] our Sacyr Water. This divestment plan does not actually divert our attention that is to keep on growing while keeping a strong shareholder remuneration. In January, we paid out the first scrip dividend for this year equivalent to 1 share every 45, whereas the market share price has continued to grow, therefore, boosting shareholder remuneration. 21% of investors decided to collect scrip dividend.

As for the shareholder remuneration, it's 5%, and that was our established commitment. We continue to make steady progress in order to finalize the construction and commission the concessional projects foreseen for this fiscal year. That is the Pedemontana-Veneta Highway in Italy, the Pamplona-Cúcuta Highway in Colombia. The Railway Central in Uruguay and the 27 roads in Paraguay.

So through the commissioning of these 4 concessional assets and an additional 6 that were commissioned in 2022, the current portfolio of 67 portfolios with 57 being already up and running and 2 in the construction shows how we continue to boost and enhance our profile year after year.

With regard to ESG criteria during the first quarter, I would like to underscore the fact that we have been certified with SA certification regarding social responsibility, and this is concerned with our Infrastructure and Engineering division.

Maybe you have heard this morning that our next General Annual Meeting, we are going to boost the company's corporate governance further in line with what many of you analysts and investors have been discussing with us as of late. There are a number of measures that we are going to propose to shareholders such as appointing 2 independent female directors that will substantially increased the profile of our Board of Directors' composition.

Specifically, the incorporation of this is that we are going to have 14 members and independent directors will account for a significant value. So the Board of Directors will also submit to consideration other proposals aimed at improving the company's corporate governance in line with best international practices in order to limit the quality vote of the Chairman also reducing the maximum number of members from 19 to 15 and reestablishing the figure of the coordinating director.

In addition, and based on the information that we have provided for this presentation of results, we undertake the commitment of dividing the figure of the Chairman and CEO into 2 separate executive positions in 2025.

In addition, by 2025, the list represented gender on the board should be 40% over the total. We hope that this reinforcement and additional commitment will reinforce your trust in our company in order to keep on growing along the same path of profitability and growth in order to overcome any challenges we may still have ahead.

As for the key financials compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, you can see that revenue went up by 8%, whereas EBITDA grew by 32% from EUR 243 million, up to EUR 320 million.

As for concessional assets, they account for 85% compared to 83% last year. EBITDA margin went up by 450 basis points, reaching 24.8%. Event climbed by 54%, reaching EUR 273 million. Net profit we made at 51% compared to last year, we grew from 20% to 31%.

Operating cash flow increased up to EUR 167 million, that is to say, up 11%, whereas the backlog has also grown by 8%, reaching almost EUR 59 billion.

Next, Carlos Mijangos will throw light and color, the group's results broken down by each business unit and the holding as a whole.

[Carlos Gorozarri, executive]

Thank you very much, Mr. President. So we are going to analyze the operating performance of the company.

First half, if we analyze revenue, EUR 1.29 billion is a number reported. Infrastructure accounting for 46%; Concessions, 32%; as for Services, 22%. And with 39% of operations in Latin America, 54% in Europe, 2% in other countries, so 5% in the U.S.A. and Canada.

As for the EBITDA contribution 53% comes from Concessions, 29% from Engineering and Infrastructure and 8% has been posted by Services. If we take a look at growth in terms of EBITDA, we can see that concessions provide EUR 70 million more than last year. And then we have Services providing more than 3 compared to last year. All in all, we talk about EUR 320 million.

With regard to EBITDA from concessional assets, the total amount is EUR 273 million, 85% of the total of the associate group. If we take a look at the backlog, it is equivalent to almost EUR 60 billion, growing by 85%. In the case of the international sphere, Concessions contributing 81%; engineering and Infrastructure, 12% and services, 7%. 40% is found in Europe, 54% Latin America, 4% in the U.S. and Canada and 4% is contributed by other markets.

With regard to net debt evolution on a consolidated basis, it has grown up by EUR 380 million. We have 98 corresponding to the recourse data we are going to explain in a minute. If we take a look at the evolution of the activity at a curve level, EUR 167 million has resulted from Operations. In this case, we had EUR 320 million from EBITDA, then we have BRL 48 million of working capital.

And then we have other kind of taxes. The financial results has been set by the financing of the concessional assets. So EUR 220 million is our net investment. As for financing flow of ForEx and other, it reached BRL 170 million, then we have some other minor adjustments.

If we take a look at the recourse evolution, as you can see, now amounts to BRL 19 million on the operational side, we have EUR 45 million coming from FFO with some impairment of working capital in the amount of BRL 87 million over the quarter that will continue to go down before year-end as it normally happens.

Then there is also a EUR 14 million contribution from Concessions, EUR 40 million has been invested, EUR 37 million corresponds to our concessional projects. In this case, this evolution will be clearly reduced once we complete the divestment plan that the Chairman has explained before.

Now we are going to analyze each business area. In the case of the Concessions, there has been a significant growth in terms of revenue, which grew by 20%, the same as EBITDA that grew by 53%. The figure that reflects Concessions revenue of 46%, and this is mainly due to the good operation of our assets because over the past quarter, the somebody wrote that was commissioned last year began to contribute to this result.

There are many other sections that are now being commissioned, there has been an increase in traffic, especially in Spain. The Water division has also been awarded some new projects. And finally, as for Construction, there was a reduction in revenue as a result of the completion of some large projects, especially in Chile and Colombia that occurred in fiscal year 2022.

The same EBITDA margin remained steady at 65% in the case infrastructure rate projects and 24% in the case of the water concession projects. The average life is 24 years, and we have invested more than EUR 1.5 billion Infrastructure concessions and EUR 121 million in the case of water concessions.

If we now look into the 4 major concessional assets that will be commissioned during 2023. We can see that the Pamplona-Cúcuta is about to be completed in Colombia. We are waiting for some final political decisions in this regard. Then Route [indiscernible] in Paraguay, 94% has been completed with [indiscernible] haven't been commissioned along 9.1 kilometers.

As for Uruguay Central, it has been completed by 95%, and we have completed the last metal bridge gap assembly on the river. As for Pedemontana, we are about to commission the final tunnel pending some final political decisions, but this is about to be fully completed.

With regard to Concessions and the breakdown by country, and EBITDA contributed by this division. If we take a look at Italy, you know that this is posted for accounting purpose is under construction. We can see that Italy, Chile, Colombia and Spain are the countries contributing more than 60% to EBITDA.

As for the number of assets, the total 69, 57 are already operational. Therefore, the portfolio's risk is now lower because we are completing some of the projects that was still under construction.

Regarding Engineering and Infrastructure, we were able to increase profitability to 4.3% from -- 3.7% to 4.3%. We have a focus on profitability over volume. EBITDA amounts to EUR 92 million, up 4%. And the backlog is EUR 7.76 billion.

We are now testing some of the projects, the A6 Highland has been also completed in Northern Ireland. And the second way at Jarque Chavez Airport in Lima Peru has also been completed as well as oncology unit at the Gregorio Maranon Hospital, Madrid.

If we don't take into the Pedemontana Motorway, this margin would be 4.3%, which is actually the contribution coming from the Construction division. The backlog accounts for 55%. We are talking about 34 months of activity, all in all.

As for the main awards over the quarter, come from the study design and construction of Canal del Dique in Colombia, starting in the Magdalena all the way to the Cartagena the Indias in the country.

Then several construction real estate development plans in Spain accounting for EUR 86 million, Then the design and construction [indiscernible] search complex in Spain accounting for EUR 19 million, and the total renewal of the rate line in Spain. This project totals EUR 13 million.

Regarding Services, it performed very well over the quarter in terms of awards and margins growing by 20% in revenue, 13% in EBITDA. The award of contracts reached more than EUR 500 million. Here, we're talking about Madrid and Barcelona waste collection projects that we were awarded in 2022.

In the case of Services, we were awarded some projects in the city of Madrid and then 6 catering establishments are the Airport in Madrid have also been awarded to the company. So the backlog is now almost EUR 4 billion at 12% year-on-year.

As for the main awards of Services, we have EUR 111 million coming from the management of 6 restaurants in Madrid. Then the Madrid Metro Cleaning Lock C&E amounting to EUR 60 million echo-friendly treatment, management plant in Spain. This is a EUR 54 million extension, the home assistance project in Seville county accounting for EUR 25 million, the cleaning and collection. Maron project in Civil for EUR 22 million. So that's all about the company's performance by business division.

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

Thank you very much, Carlos. Now we are open to answer any questions that investors may have.

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

Good morning, everybody. So we're going to start with a Q&A session. We will start with the questions that are coming the telephone and then we are going to a lot of questions coming via webcast.

[Operator]

The first question is from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux.

[Luis Prieto, analyst]

I have two quick questions. The first question is the following. What about the implications of the division of the roles of Chairman and CEO of the company?

Who is going to take -- get of each position. And on the other hand, will this be subjected to voting during the Annual General Meeting of 2025 and 2026. What about the timing?

And the second question, my apologize if this was already carded. As for the working capital evolution and performance that we should before year-end. After the increase due to the offsetting you presented, what should we expect in this regard?

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

Okay. We are going to answer your question in just a minute. Good morning. If you would allow me, let me refer to what we have already approved. Since we have undertaken the commitment of dividing the role of Chairman and CEO into 2 executive functions in 2025. This is the resolution that has been adopted and reported and included as 1 of the items of the agenda of the AGM.

As for the working capital question is, the natural performance of this business shows that the first quarter is usually the worst over the year and the last 1 is normally the best.

Last year, we were able to report an increase of EUR 50 million. So this amount, this EUR 8 million will be absorbed over the year as we receive cash flows after certification. Carlos?

[Luis Prieto, analyst]

I understand. I believe that this is due to the normal unwinding process as well as after offsetting inflation rate increases. So at the end of the day, you are expecting to report a normalized figure, right?

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

This is a normal process. Usually, contracts are subject to price reviews, they are certified and afterwards, they are collected. Besides you should bear in mind that working capital should be considered when analyzing debt and the fact that concessional assets are more concentrated usually at the end of each quarter, but this is business as usual.

[Operator]

The next question is by Joao Safara from Santander.

[Joao Safara Silva, analyst]

I have 2 questions. The first question has to do with the Construction business. I would like to understand whether you have established any particular strategy in order to reduce the Construction division's weight or whether you are planning to reduce volume in order to focus on profitability.

And as for the 4.4% EBITDA margin. Do you think that you will be able to maintain that level over the year? And I have 1 last question. Out of curiosity, actually, because we know that this has no impact on revenue. Are there any factors that can account for the drop in traffic in Latin America, specifically in Chile. Does this have to do with an economic situation or an increase in tariffs in the country? Could you please throw some color on that?

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

Yes, 1 minute, and we will get back to you, Joao. Thank you. As for the first question and from a strategic viewpoint, we would like to have a strong foothold in construction and concessions. And we want to move forward to reach a 60% and 70% goal or target. This is out of our strategy. It's not a random decision.

As for margins, we believe that it's going to -- they are going to be similar to the results reported during this quarter. And as for traffic volumes in Latin America, specifically in Chile, it's true that there has been a drop in traffic rates went up by 12% and 14% according to inflation rates in those countries.

However, this risk is totally mitigated in Chile due to the cash flows we received. Therefore, this is actually offset through an extension over the project terms. That's how we are offsetting any drop in traffic.

There are no further questions over the telephone. So now we are going to switch over to the questions posted via webcast. Filipe Leite, has 4 questions. I'm going to break them out.

The first question has to do with working capital, I should say, the reasons why there was an impairment in working capital over the first quarter of 2023 and whereas the snapshot we should expect before year-end?

Filipe, I believe that this question has been answered already. We have already spoken about the division of the roles of Chairman and CEO. This is considered to be a best practice by many international regulators and experts.

The Chairman answered that clearly. And then as for the privatization of the Puerto Rico network Filipe would like to know whether we are working on it and when the final award should be expected and how the investment will be arranged.

According to the media, this is going to be amount to EUR 2 billion. As for the canal of Panama proceedings, he would like to know whether any update could be given on this matter.

[Carlos Gorozarri, executive]

Filipe, I'm going to answer the question about working capital, even though I mentioned this already. During the first quarter is the worst in any fiscal year, the last quarter being the best.

We expect that this is going to evolve quarter after quarter. And by the end of the year, we should reach a neutral position. As for the -- what way in Puerto Rico, the proposal will be submitted by the end of July. This proposal contains some investments on some operation components. They are similar to the A3 and A21 highways in Italy.

So usually, we make a proposal based on future cash flows. And there is, of course, some actual cash flows and some investment components.

As for the Panama Canal proceedings, we believe that a final award will be issued shortly, and we believe that the design of the [indiscernible] and all the labor-related matters will be solved as part of that award.

The last question is the following: could you please explain the impact on cash flow that put in tariffs or holdings and countries could have. What about the performance of traffic in Latin American assets? Apparently, this has been negative, though 90% of these assets are not subject to demand risk. Do you have any traffic volume forecast?

And as for the second part of the year, are you planning to sell any concessional assets. Colombia could be an option in this case.

And Alvaro is also asking whether we could be more specific as to the cost spread terms regarding Repsol. So we are going to get back to you in a minute, Alvaro.

Okay. Let's start with question #1, both in Italy and Colombia we decided not to transfer the impact of rates over to users, and we resorted to public administrations in order to offset such increases in the case of Spain specific fund has been created.

In Spain, we do not have any concessional assets subject to concessional risk, but that's how it works. That is an offsetting account that is used as provided for by the national administration. And the same happens in Colombia. In Colombia, tariffs have been increased gradually. And we are collecting relevant amounts from the public administrations.

As for the evolution of traffic volumes, we shall wait and see to which extent this increase in tariffs and GDP growth in Latin America will somehow enable us to recover traffic volumes. But let me insist, since we do not have any volume risk, we can counter with the situation with extensions of the contracts and payment upon availability once concessions are commissioned in Colombia.

And as for the divestment plan, in Colombia -- in Colombia for the divestment plan in Colombia. Once the fourth, Pamplona-Cúcuta project is finalized, of course, we shall study the possibility of partnering up with a financial partner up to 49% in order to recycle our capital to carry out further investments in the country.

As for the maturity of Repsol derivatives, we expect this to happen at the end of this fiscal year.

[Operator]

There are no further questions. So now let me give the floor back to the Chairman.

[Manuel Manrique Cecilia, executive]

If there are no further questions, I would like to by underscoring the success of these economic results and the sustainable balance sheet of the company is due to the team. We have works with full commitment and making many efforts at Sacyr that enable us to be better and better every day.

In closing, thank you very much for attending this financial results presentation and for your interest. We look forward to meeting you at time when we're going to present our half yearly results for 2023. Thank you very much, and have a very nice day.