Hello, and welcome to today's first quarter 2025 results conference call and webcast. My name is Leslie, and I will be your event specialist today. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Please note that today's conference call and webcast are being recorded. During the presentation, we will have a question-and-answer session. To follow the conference online, please visit https://consorcioara.transmission.com.mx. The word "transmission" is with one S only. If you would like to view the presentation in a full-screen view, please click the full-screen button in the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Press the same button to return to your original view. It is now my pleasure to turn today's program over to Alicia Enriquez, Administrative and Financial Director. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Leslie. Good morning, and I want to welcome to our conference call on the first quarter 2025 results of Consorcio Ara. This call will be also transmitted by a webcast accompanied by a slideshow for visual support. With me on the call to discuss the results are Luis Felipe Almada-Boussec, Vice Chairman of the Board; Miguel Lozano, Chief Executive Officer; and Felipe Loera, Chief Financial Officer. I want to alert everyone that certain statements and comments made during the course of this call must be considered forward-looking statements as defined by the Securities Mitigation Reform Act of 1995. Consorcio Ara believes that such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, but there are no assurances that current outcomes will not be substantially different from those discussed today. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company on the date of this call.
The company is under no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information that may become available in the future. As usual, at the end of our prepared remarks, there will be time for Q&A. We'll wait until then to open the Q4 questions. Results for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024. We had a very good start to the year, which was reflected in solid results for the first quarter of 2025, with improvements in virtually every financial metric. Revenues totaled MXN 1.85 billion, a growth of almost 16% over the first quarter of last year, while net income came to MXN 179.5 million, up 25%. Housing revenues came to MXN 1.78 billion for the quarter, a 16.4% increase, and results from the sale of 1,442 homes, 6.7% more than in the first quarter of 2024.
With this, the average price of the homes sold this past quarter was MXN 1,235,700, which is 9.1% higher than the average price in the same period of last year. This increase is attributable mainly to the higher weight of middle-income and residential homes in our revenue mix. Breaking down our revenues by segment, affordable entry-level homes brought in MXN 551.5 million, 7.5% below their level in the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to the completion of a development that accounted for 32% of the revenues in that segment in the first quarter of 2024. Revenues in the middle-income and residential segments performed very well in the first quarter of 2025, with significant double-digit year-to-year growth. Both in the middle-income segment, revenues totaled MXN 863.5 million, a 36.7% year-over-year growth, and residential home sales came to MXN 366.9 million, a 20.9% increase.
Revenues from other real estate projects in the first quarter of this year came to MXN 65.3 million, a growth of 4.8% compared to the same first quarter of 2024, supported by higher revenues from our shopping center division. The revenue mix for the first quarter of 2025, affordable entry-level homes accounted for 29.9%, middle-income homes 46.7%, and residential homes 19.9%, while the remaining 3.5% came from other real estate projects. The first quarter of 2025, we thought we will homes worth MXN 176.2 million under the deals with Infonavit Loan or Line 3 program. This will be recognized in our results as revenues in a maximum of six months as the homes are delivered. Revenues from title homes delivered under this program in the first quarter totaled MXN 326.2 million. Most of the homes titled under Line 3 were in the affordable entry-level segment.
In the first three months of the year, operating income totaled MXN 181.8 million and rose 11.8% over the same quarter of last year. Net income was MXN 179.5 million, a 25% increase, and EBITDA was MXN 245.4 million, a growth of 4.3%. The solid 25% growth at the bottom line was due mainly to the increase in revenues, as well as in financial income and equity in joint ventures. The operating margin in the first quarter of 2025 was 9.8%, the net margin was 9.7%, and the EBITDA margin was 13.3%. This generated a March free cash flow to the firm was negative by MXN 59 million, mainly because of our investment in the inventories, which is necessary to meet our 2025 target. Financial position as of March 31st 2025.
As of March 31st, 2025, cash and cash equivalents totaled MXN 2.50 billion, 8.2% lower than at the close of 2024, due primarily to the payment of principal and interest on the debt. Accounts receivable ended the first quarter of the year at MXN 673.7 million, 21% higher than on December 31st, 2024, due to an increased volume of homes titled in the last weeks of the quarter. Accounts receivable turnover was 1.1 months. Total inventories as of March 31st, 2025, amounted to MXN 18.48 billion, a slight 2% increase. On the same day, corporate debt came to MXN 2.59 billion, a 3% decline from the close of 2024. Short-term maturities, meaning debts coming due in the next 15 months, made up 14.4% of corporate debt and long-term debt, 85.6%.
As of March 31st, 2025, 65.2% of our cooperating debt was in the form of the ARA 23X and ARA 21X2X notes. 12.5% were simple and secure loans without real estate collateral. 13.5% were simple secure loans for our shopping centers, and the remaining 8.8% were lease liabilities. Net debt at the close of last year was positive by MXN 447.7 million. Leverage ratios remained at optimum level. Cooperating debt to EBITDA was 2.47 times, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was just 0.43 times, and the interest coverage ratio was 3.26 times. If we take this ratio of coverage of net interest, meaning interest expense less interest income, it would be 10.65 times. On March 12th, Fitch Ratings ratified its long-term national estate rating of ARA 12 for ARA, with a stable outcome. At the same time, it recognized its AA minus rating of ARA 21X2X notes.
According to that agency, Ara's ratings recognize its strategy of maintaining and high cash balances, and therefore its investments. Attention that levels will remain in line with the ratings and the companies' liability to generate positive free cash flow. This report is reviewed on our corporate website. Housing industry performance. According to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography, INEGI, in the first two months of 2025, industrial activity in general grew by 0.4% compared to the previous year. Construction industry growth was 0.5%, and the business sector, which includes housing and industrial base, grew by 9.5%. According to data from the Unified Housing Registry Group, in the first quarter of the year, 49,171 homes were registered, a 10.7% increase from the same period of last year, and 28,534 homes were produced, a slight decrease of 1.4%.
Regarding mortgage lending in January of this year, based on data from INEGI, Infonavit granted 12,929 loans for the purchase of new homes, which is a growth of 2.3% compared to the same month of 2024. These loans represented an investment of MXN 9.49 million, a 5.9% growth in the same period. The average size of a new home loan in January of 2025 was MXN 734,000, an 8.5% increase compared to January of the previous year. Fovissste granted 905 loans for new homes in January of this year, 14.8% less than in the same month of 2024, and the investment in these totaled MXN 900 million, 3.4% lower. The average size of a loan granted in the first month of 2025 was MXN 994,000, which was 13.3% higher than the same period or month of last year.
As for commercial bank home financing, in the month of January of this year, 5,793 mortgages were granted for the acquisition of new and used homes, a 10.2% reduction compared to the same month of 2024, and the investment in these totaled MXN 13.96 million, a 3.1% decrease. The average size of a loan granted in the first month of this year was MXN 2.41 million, 8% higher than in January 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, 66.1% of our revenues came from homes financed by Infonavit, 8.8% from Fovissste, and the remaining 25.1% from commercial banks and homes purchased without financing. Shopping centers. Continuing with the growth results, our shopping center division also delivered strong numbers for the first three months of the year, with revenues up 6.9% to MXN 125.9 million, and net operating income rising 3.5% to MXN 87.1 million.
These results correspond to shopping centers that are 100% owned by Ara and are consolidated into our financial estate: Centro San Miguel, Plaza Santilla, Centro San Buenaventura, Plaza Querétaro, Uni and Mini, as well as 50% of Las Américas and Paseo Ventura, according to our estate in DOM Property, which are entered under the SAP CAMPS. Total gross leasable area in our six shopping centers and Uni and Mini shopping centers is 212,003 square meters. The efficiency rate as of March 31st, 2025, was 93.5%, a very competitive level. Main resolutions passed in the annual general shareholders' meeting. On April 25th, Consorcio Ara shareholders' meeting for its annual general extraordinary and ordinary meeting. Among the most important resolutions passed were appointment of Germano Humada Aldusi as Chairman of the Board and Germano Humada Roses as Honorary Chairman.
Shareholders also welcomed new board members, Luis Felipe Almada Rafferty and Claudio Nunez Sanchez de la Barquera. With participation, we are confident we'll be of great value to the companies. We also extend our most sincere thanks to outgoing members, Pedro Alonso Angulo and Raúl Robledo Tobi, who are resigning after more than 20 and 10 years of service respectively. A dividend payment totaling MXN 200 million equivalent to 29.1% of our 2024 net income. The dividend per share amounts to MXN 0.604280 per share, a yield of 5.13% based on the closing price of 2024, which was MXN 3.20. This dividend is paid out of the company's retained earnings from 2014 fiscal year's account and the net fiscal earnings account, which means it's not subject to tax withholding.
You may recall that Consorcio Ara has a policy of paying dividend out dividend to its shareholders, equivalent to up to 50% of net income from the prior fiscal year, provided the company has sufficient balance in the net fiscal earnings account and is generating positive free cash flow. Shareholders also voted to approve the cancellation of 4,731,327 shares acquired using the stock repurchase fund, representing 0.39% of our total capital stock. After that cancellation, our capital stock consisted of 1,270,894,226 shares. Conclusions. Although the global economic environment poses daunting challenges with high volatility and uncertainty, we believe that Mexico's housing industry stands on solid ground. It's fundamental to sustain housing demand and vigorous mortgage lending remain firmly in place and should sustain the industry.
Furthermore, as one of the strongest companies in the industry, we are deeply committed to supporting the government's viable initiatives aimed at providing access to decent housing for families that have not yet had the opportunity to purchase a home. We are holding fast to the targets we set at the start of the year and are on the alert for any factors that might either support them or require a change of strategy. Thank you, and we will now move on to the questions and answers.
We will now start the Q&A session. We would like to take any questions you might have for us today. If you would like to ask a question over the audio lines, please enter STAR eight on your telephone keypad. In case your question has been answered, you may cancel it by pressing STAR eight again.
If you have been listening to the webcast and would like to ask a question, you may type your question using the chat area located on the right-hand side of your screen and click Submit. We will begin by answering questions from the audio lines followed by those we receive from the webcast.
Let me see, do we have questions on the line?
The first question from the audio lines is from Mr. Jorge Vargas from GBM. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for taking part in the call and congratulations on the results. You invested significantly in inventory during the first quarter of the year, leading to a slightly negative free cash flow. Could you share your expectations for inventory turnover in the next quarters, and should we expect positive cash flows towards the second half of the year? Thank you.
Yes, Jorge, thank you very much.
Regarding the free cash flow generation, yes, at the end of the year, we expect to have a positive free cash flow generation, although we have to consider that in this year we are going to open new projects. Eleven considered new phases and five are new projects, so we need to continue investing in our inventories. According to the dividend payment, we expect to pay the dividend during this second quarter. As soon as we have the exact date, we are going to deliver the notice to the Mexican stock exchange, Jorge.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Jorge.
Thank you very much for your question. Our next question is from Mr. Andres Aguirre from GBM. Please go ahead.
Hi Alicia. Thanks for the call and congrats on the results. We've seen a favorable shift towards middle-income and residential segments.
Is this trend expected to continue for the remainder of 2025? Additionally, we saw that during the quarter you had a slight increase in SG&A. Can you talk about the drivers and if you expect this to continue for the remainder of the year? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Andres. For this year, yes, we expect greater participation of the middle-income and residential segment because, of course, it is good news, but unfortunately, we have the completion of one very successful project in the affordable entry-level segment. The good news is that we already have land, but we are going to start, this is a new opening for this year, and we expect to have revenues in the following year, not in this year. Yes, we expect a greater participation of the middle-income and residential segment.
Yes, Andres, we have more general expenses because, as we know, the start of the year is a little slow, so we have to increase promotions and pricing in order for the home buyer to decide. Yes, we have this increase. Also, one thing that we have in this first quarter is that, in order to be more efficient in terms of our operations, we downsized a commercial division along with the entire team, I mean, director, managers, etc., so that required us to make several payments. In wages and in advertising and promotions, we saw the higher increases.
Perfect. Thank you, Alicia.
Thank you, Andres.
Thank you very much for your question. We have finished with the conference call questions from the audio lines and will now continue with the webcast questions.
If you have been listening to the webcast and would like to ask a question, you may type your question in the chat located on the right-hand side of your screen and click Submit.
Thank you, Leslie. The first question is from Michelle Gálvez. Nice to hear from you, Michelle. I already mentioned that we expect to pay the dividend during this second quarter. As soon as we have the exact date, we are going to deliver the notice. The second is from Carlos Alcaraz. Hi, Carlos. He says, "Hello. Thank you very much for the call and for taking my question. My first question is about the operating margin for the quarter. Do you expect this to remain the same for the next quarter?
Regarding the affordable entry-level programs announced by the government, will you be looking to participate in these programs? Thank you very much. Carlos, I already mentioned that we have some extraordinary expenses because we reduced one commercial director. Also, we have to invest more in advertising. For the following quarters, I could tell you that we expect to recover the operational margin. Yes, we are very happy that now doors are open, so we are exploring some options that Ara has to work with the government. It is a very big goal that the government has, as you know, is more than to provide in the following six years to provide 1 million houses. We are exploring, and as soon as we find something with the government, we are going to disclose it to the market.
We are very positive on that. Michelle Gálvez. Okay. The new members of the board and the change of the CEO, it would change the liquidity policy of the company, or we expect to maintain the robust liquidity? No, Michelle. I could tell you, Germano Humada Aldusi, as you know, is son of Germano Humada Roses, and also he is very convinced that to have a healthy financial position is something mandatory in our housing sector. No, no, no, no, do not worry. I think that's it. Thank you very much for your interest in Consorcio Ara. Please, Leslie, we can finish the call.
That was the last question. This concludes the question and answer session for today. Consorcio Ara would like to thank you for participating in today's conference call and webcast. You may now disconnect.