Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Alsea's Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Video Conference. Today, our Chief Financial Officer, Armando Torrado, and our Chief Executive Officer, Rafael Contreras, will be presenting the quarter results. I would like to hand it over to Armando for his initial remarks. Please, Armando, go ahead.
Thank you, Nico. Good morning, everyone, thank you for joining our Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Video Conference. I'm very excited today to share about our results, regional and brand performance, and some insights on our ESG achievements. In the second quarter, we experienced a constantly and strong sales across all the company brands. This is a result of our strategic long-term plan to continue to generate value for our shareholders. We are pleased to announce a 12% year-over-year increase in total sales, amounting to MXN 18.9 billion post -IFRS 16, and a 19.9% increase, excluding the impact of a stronger peso. Despite a sequential increase in the comparable base, same-store sales showed an impressive growth of 18.6 % year-over-year.
EBITDA pre-IFRS increased by 15%, amounting to MXN 2.5 billion for the quarter, with a margin of 13.7%. Post -IFRS EBITDA increased by 6% to MXN 3.6 billion for the quarter, with a margin of 20.3%. This quarter's results and reflects a strong demand for our brands and the company's high profitability, driven by positive consumer behavior and supported by our strong business model. We served over 12.3 million orders by home delivery this quarter, reaching MXN 3.2 billion, representing a 12.8% increase compared to the second quarter of 2022. Home delivery sales accounted now for 17.1% of our total sales.
Regarding our brands, Starbucks reported an impressive year-over-year same-store sales growth in Mexico of 25.2%, while in Europe, 15.3%, and in South America, 42.8%. Excluding Argentina, the percentage was 11.8%. Regarding Domino's Pizza, sales were up in Spain and Mexico, 7.8% and 5.2%, respectively. We are pleased to announce that we were well-recognized in our two biggest markets, Mexico and Spain, with a Gold Franny Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed on Domino's franchisee owner. The award is based on several key factors, including operational audit scores, community involvement, store safety, and security.
Domino's International, as you know, entered into an agreement with Uber Eats in alignment to enhance our delivery service, especially in Mexico and Spain, while gaining deeper insights into our customers. In Mexico, our successful commercial strategy to increase participation at the carryout segment resulted in a remarkable 19% sales increase compared to the year before in this prestigious channel. Regarding Burger King, we reported another positive quarter, positive increase in Mexico and Spain of 9.5% and 3.1%, respectively. During this period in Mexico, it is important to say that our digital kiosk implementation has been very successful, with a 17% increase in average ticket.
We will be implementing this channel of digital kiosk in all our brands, in all our stores in the next quarters. Regarding Vips, Mexico continued with strong second quarter same-store sales, up to 7.5% year-over-year. Orders were up 8.1%. Vips remain to be focused on improving in-store overall experience. In Spain, we reported a strong second quarter sales increase of 12.8% versus last year. In Mexico, we continue with our revitalization efforts to the brand with an additional of 10 remodeled restaurants year -to -date, with a target up to 40% by the year, and which resulted in sale improvements around 15%.
The brand recently launched its communication platform, Igual que en casa, with the aim to prove guests with a unique experience in a home environment, offering familiar, close, warm, and personalized attention, taking care of every detail, creating great moments in each visit. Likewise, the brand resumed its presence on television, which has brought an increase in sales in the week 29. Our global casual dining segment also had a solid quarter, with the same-store sales up 10.2% and orders growing 5.6% versus the second quarter of 2022. Continuing with our expansion strategy, I am delighted to announce a significant milestone: the opening of the first Starbucks store in Paraguay, making the brand's debut in the country.
As we move forward, we will carefully evaluate each new potential location to ensure the profitability of our establishments. In line with our digital transformation strategy, our digital sales, which include e-commerce, aggregators, and loyalty, grew 21.4% versus last year, reaching MXN 4.7 billion at the end of that second quarter, 2023. This represents a 28% share of the total sales. Domino's achieved with a remarkable 40.2% penetration of digital sales, Starbucks, which sets a remarkable growth of 48.1% compared to the last year. Starbucks Rewards program, Stars for Everyone, we did a soft launching in Spain and Portugal in this quarter.
More than 170,000 new members joined the program since we launched it. Spain, France, and Portugal have a tender of 12%, 11%, and 10%, respectively. In Mexico, the Starbucks Rewards tender was a 28%. We expect to grow the tender in Europe in the coming quarters. Regarding ESG, finally, I would like to give you a quick overview of what has been going on in the company. In Europe, we highlighted Domino's Pizza's effort in Spain to transition from regular delivery fleet to electric vehicles, having already modified 13% of our fleet, with a goal of reaching 30% by 2026.
The installation of solar panels in three out of our four factories that we have in Spain, and also in other four freestanding stores, resulting in a 20.27 % reduction of CO2 emissions for the factories. In Mexico, Alsea and its brands, through the Va por mi Cuenta movement, led the Fundación Alsea, delivered five vehicles, two with a capacity of 5 tons and three with 1.5 tons, benefit five food banks of BAMX network, increasing the association capacity to combat hunger among vulnerable populations. In Mexico, we have 1,188 units powered by a clean and renewable energy, consuming 81 GWh, which represents 69% of our consumption in the country, thereby reducing the impact of Scope 2 emissions.
During this quarter, we certified 23 Starbucks Greener Stores, bringing the global total to 42, embracing the Starbucks Greener Store framework. The equipment in these greener stores increase efficiency, leading to a reduction in water consumption by 50%, energy consumption by 28%, and carbon emission by 4% compared to our normal regular stores. Thanks to all our team for a strong number in the first quarter. I'm pleased to report that we are running ahead of our guidance so far. We will see how the rest of the years unfold, but based on the current information, I am upbeat about the outlook going forward.
The consumption in Mexico is strong. The summer season in Europe is looking promising. Cost pressure have been eased in most of our regions. Operating leverage is being benefited on us, and our team has been executing exceptionally well our commercial strategies. Now, I will pass the voice to Rafael, so he can give you a more detailed overview of our brands, regions, results, and balancing items. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Armando. Good morning, everyone. We were pleased with the performance per IFRS 16 numbers also. Quarterly sales increased 10.9% on a per IFRS 16 basis year-over-year. Costs were up 45 basis points versus last year, and adjusted EBITDA was up 15% to MXN 2.5 billion. Looking to regions, in Mexico, sales were up 17.6% to MXN 9.8 billion, and adjusted EBITDA was up 23.1% to MXN 2.3 billion. This improvement was driven by digital innovations, new menu offering, and the continuous improvement in the retention of key talent, decreasing 2.9 percentage points in the turnover rate of the country compared to the same period of the last year.
Sales growth helped us to improve our operating leverage, and the cost was benefited from the appreciation from the Mexican peso, resulting in a cost reduction of 100 basis points. In Europe, sales were up 4.4% to MXN 6.6 billion, and adjusted EBITDA was down 5.1% per IFRS 16 to MXN 866 million. However, when excluding the effect of foreign exchange fluctuations, sales grew up by 15.7%. The increase in sales was driven by the normalization of consumption in the region, digital strategies implemented, and the product innovation. The contraction in the EBITDA was mainly due to the impact of the raw material and energy cost year-over-year, as well as the rise in minimum wage, partially offset by responsibility, price increases, cost control, and value strategies.
South America posted a strong 49% increase in same-store sales for the quarter, with adjusted pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA increasing 13.2% to MXN 526 million. The results in this region are mainly relating to the inflationary impact in Argentina, as well as responsible pricing strategies and product innovation. Our net income pre-IFRS 16 for the second quarter increased 89.7% to MXN 475 million year-over-year. This result comes from a very strong EBITDA generation and a benefit of the exchange rate variation. In the second quarter of the year, we achieved a pre-IFRS 16 earnings per share of MXN 2.74, and including IFRS 16, earnings per share rose to MXN 2.37.
In terms of our investments, the total CapEx for the second quarter amounted at MXN 1.7 billion. We allocated 39% of this amount to maintenance, 45% to store openings and remodeling, and 16% for the strategic projects. In the quarter, we paid MXN 44 million of our net amortizations. Our pre-IFRS gross debt increased MXN 3.1 billion year-over-year, closing at MXN 25.5 billion at the end of the quarter. This reduction in debt corresponds mainly to the devaluation of the euro against the Mexican peso and the debt amortizations during the period.
Our pre-IFRS 16 gross debt to EBITDA ratio at the end of the quarter was 2.7 x, versus a covenant of 4.9 x, and EBITDA to interest paid at 3.2 x. Net debt to EBITDA, 2.2x with a cash position of MXN 4.3 billion. The debt structure at the end of the quarter was 63% on fixed rate and 37% variable. Also, 87% long term, with 64% in Mexican pesos and 36% in euros, and we reach a return on equity of 25%. We can go to Q&A, please.
We will now start the Q&A session. If you have a question, please press the question button in the browser. The first question is from Mr. Sergio Matsumoto from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Armando and Rafa, could you comment more on the employee retention plan that you implemented, announced, and I'll say as of this year? It looks like you're gaining quite a bit of traction with it, with the frontline employees. You mentioned the recruiting and training are better. If you could give us more color on that. Is there more that we can expect from this program? You know, perhaps on technology and automation, if that's part of that. Also, if you can comment on the store manager's compensation that may help improve productivity.
Oye, Sergio. Thank you. How are you, Sergio? Good. Yeah, I mean, what we are doing, I briefly hear you, but you talk about the retention plans that we are doing, right? What are we doing regarding the retention plans? I've been very focused on that. Actually, we are very pleasing on record numbers in Mexico regarding turnovers, we're working hard in Spain to do so. We did three —some major things. We're focusing the people from 0– 90 days. The people that are here most, and past— that surpass the 90 days target, they stay longer. We're working very hard in retain all those peoples in a program. Of course, we do some adjustments, salary adjustments.
That is also with the ESG program in two of our brands regarding salaries. Other, we are focusing in critical zones, critical regions, especially in Mexico. We have four states where labor is starting to get—it’s been complicated. Regions that the labor is growing fastedly, and it's complicated to get those hands, so we are focusing there. We are also having a really good, robust selection plan, also working with AI, I will tell you. We've been having that platform of hiring with AI since last year. It working very good for us because we—in Mexico, just in Mexico, we hire more than 2,000 people a month. That is working fine.
Also, why not, I mean, develop a process of promotions with internal upskilling in our people. The other one, as you know, Alsea has a Gerente Dueño program and a Digital Coach program that has been working since two or three years. That's also giving us a good response of having the best managers and the best staff in our stores.
Thanks. Thanks, Armando. Just to, if I may clarify, those are four states that with more shortage, is that safe to assume they're up north in Mexico?
It's Nuevo León. For sure, it's Querétaro. We have in Quintana Roo, those three states, we're seeing some problems also in Bajío, you know, in the Bajío zone. All is the north shorting. Of course, we are looking, there's shortage of people especially in Nuevo León. That is a little bit the biggest one that we are suffering, you know.
Thanks for that call, Armando.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Ms. Camila Azevedo from UBS. Please, go ahead.
Hi, gentlemen. Thank you for the space for questions. Congratulations on the results. I have two from my side. The first for Armando: Could you comment about the commercial initiatives implemented at Vips Mexico, and which were the impacts on traffic? The second for Rafa: Considering the strength of the Mexican peso and your debt denominated in Europe, is there any chance you can take advantage of this, swapping or hedging the debt, perhaps? Thank you.
I mean, I will let Rafa start.
Well, in terms of the credit that we have in euros, we don't have a hedge because we have a natural hedge with the euros that we have in Europe. In Mexico, we did the hedge, no, when we issued the U.S. bond. Really with the FX that we have right now, we can't do, say, anything to have a better rate in terms of the cost of debt.
Regarding the strategy in Vips, since we started in the last December, we were losing traffic in that specific brand versus 2019. You know, mobility was a big concern, that family restaurant segment is really moved by mobility, you know? What we did in January, February, March, is actually doing a very aggressive strategy in, I would say in price, but also involve innovation process, no? We look at what was working, what was the product that was originally for us. We look at the receipts. We focus in the quality of what we were selling, giving an attractive menu during weekdays.
We did that from January to March, with a long, well-executed strategy that gave us traffic and momentum. Right now, we went again with Los Clásicos and another promotion that is just working well. As I told you, the brand was back in national TV. We've been having two or three record weeks. The last week, the best week that we ever had in Vips, we are very pleased with that. Margins are strong, going back to 2019. There's a lot of things, well, and good momentum to come in that brand regarding— especially in innovation. That's where we want to make, like, a transformation there.
We are pleased that we're gonna remodel 40 stores. This is 40 restaurants. That's a big milestone for us. We are already up to 12, more or less, year -to -date, and we've seen an increase of sales when we do the remodelations of 15%. That's a little bit our comment in what, why the results are strong in this brand.
Thank you both. Very clear.
Antonio Hernandez from Barclays Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Antonio Hernández from Barclays. Please, go ahead.
Hi, good morning, Rafa, Armando, Nicolás. Thanks for taking my question. Regarding Europe, I don't know if you could provide more light on your expectations there, and also how you mentioned a strong summer season, but now, for the last part of the year, your expectations are both in terms of sales and profitability, and how much is the warm weather in that zone, in that region, also impacting both sales and margins because of energy? Thanks.
Oh, yeah, Antonio, as I mentioned, yes, this has been strong. The first 4 weeks of July, we are up 12%, way above the second quarter that this Europe unit report. It's been a great study, especially in the tourism places. We also, in the tourism places, Starbucks, and we have restaurants, we've seen a good momentum and increase. I mean, we have still a way more to go because, you know, August there is stronger, we are looking. Regarding the heat waves that have been coming for our business, the cold beverage moved, and that is a strong profitability product. Now, we moved just in Mexico for 42%-46% in those two weeks, that gave us a good momentum.
We have the same impact then in Europe. As you know, and I mentioned, with some third parties, we did an analysis on a strategic price and strategic analytics. We are right now in place, especially in Europe, in some of the summer places of vacation, having a differentiation in price that is giving us a better result in margins. Regarding energy, as you know, with the worst quarter that we report energy effects the third quarter of last year in Europe, things are way down in the price of electricity that we are paying.
The result from Europe, third three quarter of this year regarding that one, it will be a lot stronger. We are seeing a good momentum, raising prices in the products that really are affecting us, like coffee, like cheese, like wheat and harina. That is a little bit what is happening, no? There's a good momentum in all the geography and with all the brands, no? I'm happy to announce that things look better than we thought and expected, and especially than the second quarter or the first quarter in Europe.
Perfect. Thanks for the call, and have a nice day.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Joaquín Ley from Itaú. Please go ahead.
Hi, Armando. Rafa, good morning. How are you?
Good.
Two questions, if I may. The first one, now that you've sold El Portón, are you comfortable with the portfolio of brands that you have, or should we expect further rationalization, right? Along that question, what have you learned from the acquisition of El Portón regarding potential future M&A? The second question goes to Europe, energy. Could you elaborate a bit more on the sequential behavior of energy prices that you're seeing for your operation in Europe? Are you thinking again about potentially hedging at the prices that you'll see for the second half for 2024?
You wanna comment a little bit, Rafa, on energy? A little bit.
Well, yeah, in terms of energy, the cost of energy in the first quarter was in average, EUR 97 per MW. In this second quarter it was EUR 95 per MW. What we are expecting is that the cost goes down for the second semester. The special guys told us that it can be better next year, we can expect around EUR 60 per MW. I think, or we think that that can be a good cost to have a hedge or an or a long-term contract with somebody.
Okay.
Just to mention that, Joaquin, just going to your second to first and your second question, you know, there is a big impact there. Renewable energies in Europe are really coming back, no? There's some big projects of renewable energy, we are seeing to have the whole amount to go to to close a deal with some other guys. We're already talking to that. I think we're gonna stay standby now to see what is the future and not sign anything. Thank you for your question. That was a very good one.
I mean, regarding, first of all, the portfolio, no? I think we still have some other units that you can see that we've been not growing those units and those brands and some regions, we're gonna trying to exit that. We've been trying already since the last probably one year that I saw you and that I took position, no? I was very clear that we're gonna focus in the brand that makes us really remarkable difference.
Still, our casual business and division of the whole is being very profitable, is growing in traffic, is growing in sales, and they are four -wall EBITDA above 20%. They are doing well. Even though there's three brands there in our portfolio that are already in the process, and they are already in the market with some special people, that as to seek for a sale, no? That is a fact. Regarding what are we learning, no? There's a lot of learnings, no? If we don't have critical mass, we have to decide where and where to play the game, no? El Portón, it's a great brand.
It was a great product for us since the beginning, when we bought 10 years ago from Walmart, that was the second brand in the portfolio. That, Vips was the first one always. If you go, we have a lot of combos where sales of those combos, Vips did 100,000 and the other one did 40,000, no? It was always back to the store and back to the door of Vips, no? That was never a brand. Actually, we never opened since we started. We never opened a new Portón. We opened another kind of a segment, Corazón de Barro and La Finca, we never saw that brand had a growing path to focusing.
I think that now not having in the portfolio is a good news for us, so we can focus in the brands and in the strategy or long-term strategy that I been talking in this, in this table, no?
It's great. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Fernando Herrera from Compass Group. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. First of all, congrats on the results. Just two questions. The first one is related to margins in Mexico. In EBITDA pre-IFRS, we have seen a expansion in margins, maybe due to raw materials like coffee and cheese. I just want to understand, what's going on with EBITDA post-IFRS, because we're seeing a contraction there.
In EBITDA post-IFRS, we have some the increase in sales in many of our brands, but mainly in Starbucks. We have these variable rents higher than last year, that's the main impact. If you see, we open the rents on our report, and you can see the impact of one point because of the variable rents that we are paying. The variable rent, we doesn't take out of the IFRS 16 expense.
Okay, perfect. Second question, it's related to Starbucks. What are you seeing in terms of drive-through model?
Well, in drive-throughs, actually, like I said, of is the. Most of our portfolio, there's a big amount of percentage of drive-throughs opened this year. Last year.
50%.
Quanto?
50.
50%.
That also is giving us the amount of average weekly unit sales that we have, because the average, also in investment, is bigger, but the average of that channel is around 2x the regular stores. No? With better margins also, because we've been able to have better proposals in rents, site selection. No, those stores are mainly in highways, carreteras, and that is being very proven. We are also opening our first drive-through in France this year and in Spain this year, and we will continue with our strategy that has been very way good profitably for the brand and for Alsea.
That is gonna be still, a momentum to focus and a channel that we are all very interested to still develop, no?
Thanks, guys.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Felipe Cassimiro from Bradesco BBI. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Buenos dias, Armando, Rafa. I wanted to dig deeper into the competitive landscape in the fast food segment. That is one of the underperforming segments in Mexico, right? Alongside casual dining, but mostly on pizza segment. How is the competitive landscape with Little Caesars, and how are you dealing with the pressure from this more aggressive player? If we could dig deeper also in Burger King performance in Mexico as well, that could be very helpful. Thank you.
Let me tell a little bit what are we doing here to gain more share of wallet, no, against not only Little Caesars, against all our competitors, and how the results line. I mean, same-store sales had, of course, a comparable tougher base, no, for other brands, no? Especially in the Rivoli, that 2022 were stronger, no. Do you saw there's a same-store sales growth of around 5.2% this quarter, no? That's a lot higher than the other quarter quarters. We're expecting, again, to boost them in the upcoming quarters, no, with a different strategy that we are focused. We implement an attractive, very attractive promotion in the carry-out segment.
One, that is been in the market for only 10 weeks now, that is pizzas are 10 for 149 pesos. We have some other stores, like 175 stores, with a 129 large pizza. Now we are seeing our segment growing, like I said, 19%. Very focused in, first of all, that we are the owners, the leaders in the category, the number one in the category of delivery. We are going against our— to take out also the carry-out business. I think that's a very lucrative business. That is, it's very well in margins.
We don't do the delivery, that we save a lot amount. We can offer a very good quality product there, and differentiation of our competition. Our competitors, they do pizzas for carryout, but with a different kind quality and sizes. We do it to order, and they do it ready to go. Those pizzas are already done versus the ones that we have, you order it, and we do it custom the way, your way. I think. As you know, we are also switching to Domino's cloud application app. That will be ready, hopefully, in this quarter, and that will give us a high conversion rate, also in service in the counter and also in delivery.
That is a little bit of momentum that is going. We have 100 stores more than our second competitor, and we are growing a base of 50–80 stores this year in Mexico. The first time the franchisees opened more stores than us, that's a little bit of credibility that the brand and the momentum that we are doing that, no? Regarding the Burger King, when I addressed that in the report, things are looking very well, normally, that company, they increased their profits 3x in the wholesale, in the semester from last year, going into the decreasing cost, almost four points. That is a great momentum that the brand is doing.
Also, like I told you, that kiosks, the digital kiosks that we are starting to implement, I would say we are looking to 18% increase in ticket average and around 22% conversion, people that goes directly to the digital kiosk, no? We are doing our program of remodel the whole portafolio. In Argentina, it's already at 70%. In Chile, it's already 89%, and we are starting to do it in Mexico with 10 stores that we're gonna remodel. That is why I think we're living the best times for that, for that brand. I'm excited to report that, again, in these quarter better numbers for that, for that unit.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Bernardo Gonzalez from Sura IM. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for the space, and congratulations on the results. My first question is regarding the certificados bursátiles that are coming due in the in the short term. Is there any refinancing plans for them?
Yes, the next certificado bursátil that we are gonna have, it's of MXN 1.3 billion in March next year. What we are gonna work first is with the rate agencies. We think that with these numbers, we can have a better rate. Yes, I think we have two opportunities to refinance this certificado bursátil, go to the market next year, or with a bank credit also, no? In Mexico, as you know, we only have Bancomext. We don't have any other bank credit, so we have a pretty good opportunity also to have a bank credit to refinance this CEBUR for next year.
Perfect. Thank you. Thank you very much. My second question is regarding the debt covenants, specifically the interest coverage. I saw that for this quarter, it was very close to the limit of three times. If you can comment on that. I don't know if I mean what could happen if you reach this level in the coming quarters?
Well, we don't, in our projections, we don't see that we can break the covenant, no? Because the increase in EBITDA and also that 66% of our credits are fixed. Even though the increasing in cost of the other 30% that is variable, we don't see that we can break the covenant.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much for your question. As a reminder, if you have a question, please press the Question button in the browser. Our next question is from Mr. Jorge Izquierdo, from BTG Pactual. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Armando, Rafa, Nico. Thank you for taking my questions. The first one has to do with the impressive results we saw on your global employee turnover rate, almost two percentage points of rate reduction. If you could share any color on the performance by region, would be very helpful. The second one is regarding home delivery. Why is it growing so fast? What is behind these dynamics? Thank you very much, and congrats on the results.
In the turnover, Rafa, we only are reporting Mexico in the report. I think we can give you. I don't have exactly right now the. I mean, in Mexico, we did exactly second quarter, 67.7%, more or less. In the second quarter, we did 64. We are reducing, yes, the turnover by 2.5 points, percentile points. In global, we were in 73%. I think we are reporting around 68%. We did a also reduction in turnover about 5.5 points, no? It's the.
That is globally, no. I think also that is the important that the first question that Matsumoto just gave me around what, what are we doing really in there, no? That's the five things, very simple, but very, very aligned to our strategy of being the best employer of the channel, no? Reducing turnover, and so— I think that is the greatest. Like, somebody also asked me, the first thing we need to do is have the people and the hands in the stores as soon as to give the better service and the better... And perform the traffic that we're having in store. That's taking care, no? Regarding home delivery, it's still strong.
I mean, there are some other players. I've been having one-on-ones with our aggregators, companies with our align aggregators or partnerships aggregators that we have. There is some other restaurants that are stepping down in the delivery. No, they are stepping down. They took that decision to go to delivery when this pandemia came on, and they are not doing right, they are not doing for the long term. There's, I think, some other less players still in the, in those platforms, and we are one of those. We have, as you know, a special area department here in Alsea that just do deliver, home delivery, besides the delivery that we do for Domino's.
We have people and a team just every day taking care of the platforms around the globe team. How can we do better and attractive promotions and products and innovation products for delivery, taking care of the packaging, taking care of the times, no? Of course, how we don't have any errors in those orders, no? Most of the problems that come from that channel or one of the first thing that the customers reclaim is exactly, "I didn't receive my product like it was and the time." That we are in experts in that, so we are doing a very well focus in the order that is complete and in the times that has to be delivered, in the time that is set.
Something that help us in the quarter is that the client can pay in cash right now, not only with a credit or debit card. That increase also sales because of this.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your question. As a reminder, if you have a question, please press the Question button in the browser.
Thank you very much. There's one left? Okay.
Eugenia, no?
Eugenia is there, no?
No. Do I have a question?
Si.
Okay. Let's finish with Eugenia.
Okay.
Yes. Sorry.
Hello, Eugenia, can you hear us?
Can you...
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes.
Yes, we can hear you.
Perfect. Thank you very much for taking the question. Actually, what I wanted to understand a bit more is if you have any changes for the cash flow walk that you gave us during the Investor Day, or anything regarding the share buyback plan that you have. Just trying to understand how the free cash flow should shape through year-end. Thank you.
No, really, in terms of the free cash flow for the whole year, we maintain our budget to have a positive free cash flow of around MXN 200 million. As I mentioned, with a CapEx of MXN 5.5 billion, and an EBITDA of higher than 13%, we mentioned that the EBITDA can be around MXN 10 billion. It can be a little bit better because of the performance that we have this is the first semester, free cash flow will be positive for the full year.
Thank you, Rafa. Do you still expect to go with the share buyback plan that you had? If I'm not mistaken, it was MXN 500 million.
You know, in terms of the, the buyback shares, we already did that. The amount that we already cancel. If you this year, we bought back MXN 4.9 billion pesos, and we already canceled that. For this year, it was it. For the next year, we'll see what we're gonna do in terms of dividend or something like that.
Okay, perfect. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Armando Ciordia from Banco mext. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Armando and Rafa, thank you very much. My question is, based on the good results reported up to the second quarter of 2023, do you expect any upgrade in the ratings aside from Fitch and HR Ratings?
Yes. As I mentioned, we're gonna start with the result of the second quarter. Yes, we expect a better rate with both of them, no? Because one of the main concerns, it was the leverage ratio that we have, no? As you saw, net debt, EBITDA prior for IFRS 16 was 2.2x right now. It's a pretty good number, no? Better than the projection that we had two years ago.
That's good news. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your question. That was the last question. This concludes the Q&A session for today. I will now hand over to Mr. Armando Torrado for final comments. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much for attending our quarterly video conference. Thanks for the questions in the Q&A. If you have any further questions, like anywhere else, please let be in touch with our investor relations team. Thanks for today, and we hope to see you in October, and have a great day. Thank you.
Alsea would like to thank you for participating in today's video conference. You may now disconnect.