Salmones Camanchaca SA
SGO:SALMOCAM
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Good morning. On behalf of BTG Pactual, welcome to the conference call on the third quarter financial results of Salmones Camanchaca. Manuel Arriagada, CEO; and Daniel Bortnik, CFO, will be presenting. Questions will be taken at the end of the presentation and can be submitted via chat panel. Manuel and Daniel, please proceed with the presentation.
Thank you very much, and welcome again, everyone, to the Q3 2024 results presentation of Salmones Camanchaca.
We will focus today on the financial highlights of the quarter, the production and operational updates, sales and marketing topics, and an overview of our growth plan. In the Q3 2024 highlights, in Q3, we achieved an EBITDA of $9.2 million, which is a substantial increase from the $2.9 million in Q3 2023.
This growth was driven mainly by a reduction in production costs for Atlantic salmon, particularly due to a strong sanitary and biological conditions in our farms and also a reduction in the feed price. With this, the ex-cage cost was $0.61 below than the same quarter last year, achieving an ex-cage cost of $4 per kilo live weight, the lowest level in the last 6 quarters.
Despite this positive EBITDA trend, the total operating revenues dropped by 12% compared to the previous quarter last year due to the lower volumes and a slight decline in the sales price for Atlantic salmon. Despite the lower price, we achieved a $0.76 price premium above the market reference on the quarter due to our value-added strategy and flexibility in markets and formats.
In relation to Coho, Coho sales were 1,700 tonnes in the quarter, accumulated for the year almost 10,000 tonnes, remaining a very low inventory level at the end of the quarter, with almost all the previous season already sold. At the same time, Coho price had recovered in the last month, but remained 5% below in the quarter versus same period last year.
We are also proud to note our excellent biological performance, outperforming industry metrics in the majority of the variables with low mortalities and good sanitary indicators. These conditions remains in the same way during the fourth quarter. Also it's important to mention the financial position of the Company with a reduction in the net debt to $150 million.
Finally, in terms of the projections for this year, we estimate a total harvest between 51,000 tonnes and 54,000 tonnes in both species, in line with our previous forecasts.
Financial highlights. So as we mentioned, revenues on the left in the quarter were lower than the previous quarters and also lower than Q3 2023 due to the lower volumes sold for Atlantic and lower prices for both species. For this Q4, we expect a higher activity level in both harvest and sales volume compared to Q3.
In relation to EBIT per kilo on the right, considering both Atlantic and Coho, the EBIT per kilo was positive in $0.12. Atlantic EBIT per kilo was positive $0.39, which is higher than the same quarter of the previous year, where we obtained $0.15. Coho, on the other hand, was negative in $1.28 in the quarter.
The EBITDA level in Q3 was $9.2 million, higher than the same quarter of the previous year, but below second quarter of this year. It's important to remind you that the second quarter of this year, the EBITDA was affected by nonrecurring positive effects due to some strategic negotiation in an amount of $6.4 million. So excluding those effects, the EBITDA level for Q3 was higher than Q2.
Next slide is harvest and stockings. Okay. As you can see on the table, during 2024, Atlantic harvest have increased throughout the year, driven by improved growth conditions and good biological conditions in general. The quarterly Atlantic harvest for Q3 was 12,400 tonnes, which is 30% lower than Q3 last year, which was a quarter with extraordinary harvest because of the cycle of the farms.
For the full year, Atlantic 2024 harvest is at a plan of a range between 47,000 tonnes to 49,000 tonnes. And for Coho, it is in a range of 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes, in line with our previous estimates.
In relation to the stockings, the total stocking for 2024 is slightly below 2023 with more in Atlantic and fewer Coho, in line with our plans. Atlantic stocking in 2024 increased in line with our production plan for 2025 and 2026 also when we are aiming to produce in a range of 55,000 tonnes of Atlantic. In relation to industry stockings, as of September, Chile Atlantic stocking increased by 2% and Coho decreased by 12%.
Let's go to the operational and Atlantic biological performance. Our Atlantic salmon has demonstrated exceptional biological performance, as you can see on the graph, especially mortality rates, which remain significantly lower than the industry average. This achievement is attributed to improved farming practices in general.
In the right table, you can see that all indicators were better than the industry average for closed cycles, such as mortality, feed conversion, growth, cycle length, and antibiotics consumption. The only exception was the average weight for closed sites due to the low weight on the first half of the year.
In Q3, harvest weight was 5.1 kilos WFE. And for the coming months, we also expect harvest weight above 5 kilo. So good performance and good evolution in harvest weight during the year. In relation to the Atlantic farming cost, as I mentioned, the ex-cage cost was $4.08 per kilo live weight, reflecting a $0.61 reduction from last year, reinforcing the effectiveness of our biological and operational strategies at sea farms.
Q3 2024 cost was also lower than the same quarter of 2022, Q3 2022, which is the comparable year in terms of the farming cycles. Also it's very important to mention the effect of the reduction of the feed cost, which have a reduction of 21% versus Q3 2023 and 17% versus previous quarter. This is mainly due to a reduction of the feed raw materials, both in proteins and lipids such as fishmeal, feather meal, and vegetable oils.
Going forward, in the coming months, we expect another decrease in the ex-cage cost due to better harvest weight and harvest from sites with positive conditions. The total cost, all-in cost, which is ex-cage plus processing, our total finished product cost decreased by 9% versus the same quarter of last year to $5.5 per kilo WFE, showing continued progress in the cost management. Processing cost increased slightly compared with the same quarter of the previous year, driven by a higher share of value-added products and also lower volume.
Sustainability indicators. We remain focused on sustainable practices in our farming. Our fish-in and fish-out ratio stands at 0.34, well below our targets, reflecting our efficiency in feed conversion. Cycle length was at optimal levels, and we also obtained 69% of the harvest biomass ASC certified as of September. However, antibiotic and anti-parasitic consumption were not in good levels because Q3 figures are coming from a single particular site harvested during the quarter with a higher tariff pressure compared with others.
It's also important to highlight our very recent and good evaluation in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 2024, in which Salmones Camanchaca was ranked #4 position among all Chilean companies and first in the category of food products, increasing its overall score by 5% from last year. This is a very important result and Salmones Camanchaca remains in the first position of food producers in Chile in the last 4 years.
Let's go to the markets and market overview. So the table shows the evolution of the Urner Barry price, which is the reference price for fresh fillets in the U.S. market during the year. As you can see, the price maintained at low levels in Q3, on a context of a weaker global demand. Despite this, there are positive signs of price recovery, particularly in recent weeks. Our flexibility in production formats and markets help us to stay competitive and ready to benefit from the market recovery. In relation to the global supply for this year, Kontali expects a 7% drop in the Chilean supply with a big drop in the first half and no growth in the second half. And for global supply, Kontali expects only a 1% increase for this year.
In relation to the Atlantic price achievement, as I mentioned, market prices have decreased since January. And at the same time, Salmones Camanchaca price remained more or less stable and higher than the market prices. Our raw material return was $0.76 above Urner Barry during the quarter and ending the year with a positive gap of $0.20 as of September.
The Company's flexibility to react to market changes by changing formats and markets allow us to achieve prices that are above market prices in the medium term. Also the Company's strategy involves increasing the added value of its products and associating sales with medium-term commercial agreement with key customers that mitigates volatility. So more stable prices and higher than the market because of our strategy.
In particular, for Atlantic salmon, the sales distribution and sales mix, the U.S. market remains our largest market, now representing for the quarter, 47% of our sales compared to 37% in the previous year same quarter. This growth highlights our success in penetrating the North American market with value-added products and contracts.
With 81% of our sales volume in value-added products, we are strategically aligning our offerings with market preferences. The second market in importance is LatAm, which is mostly Brazil with 17% of the sales, and then Mexico with 10%.
In the case of Coho, in the next slide, LatAm, which in this case, includes also Mexico, has taken the lead as our primary market in the quarter, accounting for 35% of the sales volume, followed closely by the U.S. market at 28%. The value-added sales for Coho dropped to 63% in this quarter due to the increased production volume that we had in the last season.
Same as Atlantic, it's important to say that there are signs of price recovery in Coho, particularly in the recent weeks, influenced by -- in part by the lower supply expected from Chile for the next season.
Now Daniel will cover the financials.
Good morning, everyone. After Manuel's presentation, I will be focusing on the Q3 2024 results for Salmones Camanchaca and our financial performance.
Our EBITDA this quarter reached $9.2 million, tripling the $2.9 million recorded in Q3 2023. This improvement was primarily driven by lower salmon cost, which resulted in a $4.7 million reduction in the cost of goods sold, and a $5.5 million positive adjustment from the reversal of inventory provisions made in prior quarters when expected sales prices were below inventory costs.
These provisions, as of September 2024, had a positive impact of $2.2 million due to better prices and lower cost compared to a $3.3 million negative impact in Q3 2023. Despite a [ 21 ] lower volume and price drop of 3% for Atlantic salmon and 5% for Coho compared to last year, all these factors accounted for a $4.8 million negative effect. Overall, the EBITDA improved comparing quarter-to-quarter by $6.3 million.
Next, [ Alvaro ], for the profit and loss. As previously explained, total revenues decreased by 12% to $72 million this quarter, primarily due to lower prices and volumes for Atlantic salmon and lower prices for Coho. The fair value of biological assets increased by $6.2 million, reflecting better margin expectations at the end of this quarter compared to last year. Financial expenses rose $3.6 million, an increase of $700,000 due to higher interest rates.
The Trout joint venture generated a $1.1 million loss, a $0.9 million improvement from Q3 2023. An early termination agreement has been reached on this joint venture and the financial impact is expected to conclude by the first half of 2025 or once the remaining product in stock as of September is sold.
Consequently, the Company posted a net profit after taxes of $4.1 million, a strong recovery from the net loss of $5.5 million in Q3 2023. Related to the cash flow, the operating cash flow was $10.6 million compared to a negative $28.6 million in Q3 2023. The improvement is largely due to the reduced payment to suppliers and lower working capital from Coho following a scaled back grow-out operation in 2024.
Investment cash flow of $4.6 million was used this quarter, in line with $4.9 million from last year, mainly for asset maintenance and preparation of Atlantic site in the 11th region.
The quarter saw a financing cash flow of $8 million outflow, driven by voluntary short-term debt prepayment, contrasting with a positive of $39 million in Q3 2023 when additional debt was taken for Coho growth operations.
As of September, Salmones Camanchaca cash flow stood at $12.8 million. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio over the past 12 months reached 3.95x, back within the range agreed upon with our syndicated credit banks, following a 2 quarters breach. This reflects our debt management strategy, which balanced debt reductions with growth and efficiency initiatives to reduce costs.
Going to the guidance for this year and next year. '24 harvest guidance, we maintained our target at 47,000 to 49,000 metric tonnes for Atlantic and 4,000 to 5,000 metric tonnes for Coho. For next year, with an additional Atlantic site added, we expect to harvest around 52,000 to 54,000 metric tonnes, a 10% increase over 2024.
Given weaker-than-expected demand and higher supply from Coho, we have limited stocking of these species to a single site both in '24 and '25 with an estimated '25 Coho harvest of approximately 4,000 metric tonnes.
Finally, the main take away from the quarters are, an EBITDA at $9.2 million, 3x higher than a year ago with improved EBIT per kilo. Lower production costs with a 13% reduction in ex-cage costs related to good sanitary conditions for harvest sites and downward trend in feed costs.
Atlantic salmon prices were lower than in 2023 in the context of a weaker demand and a drop in the Chilean supply, but still outperforming industry benchmarks. Nearly all the inventory from previous Coho season has been sold. 2024 harvest targets remain on track at 51,000 to 54,000 metric tonnes and 2025 target harvest of 52,000 to 54,000 metric tonnes of Atlantic and 3,000 to 4,000 metric tonnes for Coho.
Finally, Salmones Camanchaca NDR were delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange in October. Currently, 0.35% of the Company's shares remain with the NDR holders, which will cease to exist in October 2025. The Company's shares will remain to be traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange.
To close, Q3 has shown both challenges and achievements with strong improvements in EBITDA and production efficiency positions us well for sustained growth.
Well, thank you for your attention. We welcome any questions you may have through the web chat that is in this conference.
But before that, we also would like to ask you to complete the feedback service linked in the same chat as it helps us to improve each quarter. So if you have any questions, please feel free to send it to us.
Yes, we will give some minutes for -- if there are some questions and the time needed to be written.
Well, it seems that there is no questions. So thanks, BTG, for hosting this presentation. We will look forward to meet you again in February with Q4 results. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Bye-bye.