Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (BMV:ASUR.B)
Mexico flag Mexico · Delayed Price · Currency is MXN
532.34
+8.35 (1.59%)
At close: Apr 30, 2026
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Earnings Call: Q1 2023

Apr 25, 2023

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to ASUR's First Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. My name is Paul, and I'll be your operator. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will conduct a question-and-answer session toward the end of today's conference. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one. If you want to withdraw your question at any time, please press star two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before making a selection. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. Now, I'd like to turn this call over to Mr. Adolfo Castro, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Thank you, Paul, and good morning, everyone. Before I begin discussing our results, let me remind you that certain statements made during this call may constitute forward-looking statements, which are based on current management expectations and beliefs and are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including factors that may be beyond our company's control. As usual, additional details about our quarterly results can be found in our press release, which was issued yesterday after market close and is available on our website investor relations sector. Following my presentation, I will be available for Q&A. Before getting into a discussion of the quarterly financial results, I want to note that our latest sustainability report is available on our website, and we invite you to read all it.

Last year, during the first quarter conference call, we laid out the seven key strategic objectives for the company to implement in the short term and medium term. Two notable advances made last year towards achieving these goals include the formation of the sustainability committee. This committee has three members and will support the board of directors in making decisions focused on environmental, social, and governance matters, and incorporate them into the company's long-term strategy. The company will support the organization in integrating sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the highest level of the corporate governance in the company. The committee held its first meeting earlier this year. We also made progress with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. We began installing solar panels at the airports of Cancún, Mérida, and Oaxaca, will generate 900,000 kWh annually in each airport.

We are already seeing benefits with a reduction in greenhouse emissions. One of our objectives for the next year is to expand this project to other airports in the group. As we continue to make progress to get closer to achieving our goals, we will provide you updates at the appropriate time. Moving to a review of our original and financial results together with some color on travel demand during the quarter. Note that all comparisons are year-over-year, unless otherwise noted. We are pleased to report record high passenger traffic, revenues, and EBITDA in the first quarter of the year, but we are more cautious for the remaining of the year, given the easy comps from Omicron during the first two months of 2022, and the negative effects of the personal suspension of two Colombian airlines during the quarter.

We delivered sustained growth in the number of passengers traveling to our airports, up 19% and reaching a record of nearly 18 million. Mexico posted the fastest growth, with total passenger traffic up 23%, reflecting increases across all of our airports. Domestic travel was up in the high 20s, with traffic at Villahermosa above pre-pandemic levels, while we expect Veracruz to fully recover this year. International traffic was up in the high teens, mainly driven by steady demand from the United States and Europe, and an uptick in Canada, which recovered pre-pandemic levels during the first quarter. These all regions that we operate within have recovered 12 months pre-pandemic levels. Puerto Rico follow with traffic up 22%, with domestic traffic up in the high teens and internationally up by nearly 50%.

Lastly, total passenger traffic in Colombia increased 9%, with domestic traffic slowing to the middle single digits and international passengers to the high thirties. As anticipated, this slower growth reflects an increase in VAT from 5% to 19%, which is impacting traffic trends and the suspension of operations of Viva Air Colombia at the end of February and Ultra Air during March. These airlines represented 17.4% and 1.9% of 2022 passenger traffic in Colombia, respectively. On a consolidated basis, the share of domestic traffic over total traffic stood at 59.3% of total traffic compared with 60.1% in the first quarter of 2022. Moving onto the P&L. As a reminder, all reference to revenues and costs exclude construction revenues.

Before beginning our key financial figures, revenues increased 22%, reaching all-time high of MXN 6.3 billion. This robust performance is attributed to the solid growth in both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues across our three geographic regions. Mexico represented 75% of total revenues, while Puerto Rico accounted for 15% and Colombia contributed 10%. Commercial revenues continued to show an upward trend, increasing by 22% overall, with Mexico up 23%, Puerto Rico 18% and Colombia 13%. On a per passenger basis, commercial revenues increased to MXN 123 from nearly MXN 121 in the year ago quarter. By region, commercial revenues per passenger were in the range of MXN 145-MXN 147 in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Of note, these figures include the effect of the strong Mexican peso, which appreciated 10.36% and 36.23% versus the U.S. dollar and the Colombian peso since the end of the first quarter last year through the first quarter of the year. Commercial revenues per passenger in Colombia were up in the low single digits in Mexican pesos impacted by the currency depreciation, but increased 37.8% in local currency, reflecting the opening of 29 commercial spaces over the past 12 months. Moving to costs, total comparable operating expenses were up 12% below the 22% revenue growth in the quarter. Note that comparable costs exclude the effect of the MXN 196 million expense recovery in the first quarter 2022, resulting from the application of the CRRSA Act in Puerto Rico.

Expenses in Mexico increased in the low 20s below the 26% revenue growth. Higher costs were primarily due to personnel, energy, and maintenance, along with increased technical assistance and concession fees in line with higher EBITDA. We have worked hard to maintain our cost control policy, the 20% increase in the minimum wage had a negative impact on cleaning and security contracts. In Puerto Rico, comparable costs were relatively stable as a reduction in the maintenance reserve more than offset higher cost of services. Costs in Colombia were generally flat compared to a high single-digit increase in revenues. Solid passenger traffic growth, together with higher commercial revenues and increased operating leverage, resulted in another quarter of record high. EBITDA reaching MXN 4.5 billion, up 23%, and adjusted EBITDA margin of nearly 72%, up 90 basis points from a year-ago quarter.

Again this quarter, we delivered high profitability in our three regions of operation. Mexico posted the highest increase in EBITDA of over 28% to 3.6 billion MXN. In Puerto Rico, EBITDA was up 4% to 520 million MXN, while Colombia EBITDA rose 12% to over 415 million MXN. By geography, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 80 basis points in Mexico to nearly 77%, and by 150 basis points in Colombia to just over 3%. In turn, Puerto Rico posted a 260 basis points decline in adjusted EBITDA margin to nearly 55%. To recap, we delivered yet another strong quarter characterized by a record-breaking traffic and revenues.

The combined effect of these achievements and our operating leverage led to an increase of 15% in net majority income, reaching MXN 2.5 billion for the quarter. In terms of the balance sheet, we maintain a robust cash position of MXN 15 billion and a well-balanced debt profile. Account receivables were up 44%, mainly reflecting the high passenger traffic up across our airport network, as well as a surge in Puerto Rico from the recognition of other revenues disclosed in the fourth quarter 2022. We anticipate collecting these receivables within the first half of 2023. To a lesser extent, Viva Air Colombia and Ultra Air outstanding receivables to ASUR were a combined sum of MXN 22 million.

Capital investments during the quarter were MXN 143 million, of which nearly 50% was allocated to Mexico, MXN 47 to Puerto Rico, and MXN 6 million were invested in Colombia. Before we move to the Q&A portion of the call, some brief closing remarks. We are pleased to have started the year with a strong note. As we think about the remaining of 2023, the year-over-year comps will not be easy as we experienced in the first quarter. As I mentioned earlier, two of the Colombian airlines have recently suspended operations. We will continue to look for ways to further improve our cost structure and drive margin improvement. Our balance sheet is healthy, and we will continue to invest to support future growth.

Separately, on the news fronts, at the end of the quarter, the President of Mexico sent to the Mexican Congress a bill to reform 23 laws. The bill was to provide, among other things, additional grants for the Mexican Government to modify or to revoke license authorizations and permits. It's not clear whether the Congress will pass this bill and if it passes, the impact it may have on the Mexican economy and the company's operation. We believe this bill will be discussed by the Mexican Congress during the third quarter of this year.

In conclusion, with a keen focus on providing value to our shareholders, our board of directors has proposed an ordinary net cash dividend of MXN 9.93 per share payable in May, and an extraordinary net cash dividend of MXN 10 per share payable in November for each of the ordinary B and BB shares, series shares. Equivalent to a combined total of nearly MXN 6 billion in dividend payments. These, among other items, will be voted by our shareholders at our annual general meeting held this Wednesday. This end my presentation. Please, Paul, open the floor for questions.

Paul?

Operator

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is from Guilherme Mendes with J.P. Morgan. Please proceed with your question.

Guilherme Mendes
Executive Director of Equity Research, J.P. Morgan

Hi, Adolfo. Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. I have two questions. The first one is related to the regulatory noise that you just mentioned regarding the concession bill sent by AMLO to Congress. The question is if you see any kind of risk for your upcoming MDP negotiation. I understand there are still a lot of doubts, and we haven't seen, like, the full definition of it. What's your best guess on how this could potentially impact the sector as a whole? The second question is regarding to Colombia. As you mentioned, you have two less players operating in the region. How do you see the competitive environment in the region and the potential impact on traffic going forward? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hi, good morning. The bill is not a concession bill. The bill is affecting all the entities that have received from the government a license, a permit, an approval, or an authorization or a concession. It's not just for concession. This bill has some other things. It is not just to strengthen the power of the Mexican government in concessions. I'm not expert on laws or in legal matters. You can read the 20-F report, and you will see what my lawyers say about this document. In the case of Colombia, yesterday, very yesterday at night, there was a communication from the Ministry of Transport, where they are approving the merge between Viva Air Colombia and avianca under certain conditions. This may help in order that these airlines can restart operations.

Also, I received a notification from Ultra Air that they want to restart operations. This may improve the situation in Colombia because what I believe is that currently avianca and LATAM does not have the possibility to absorb all the passengers these airlines left into the tail. I hope that these two things will improve and we will see information, I would say, over the next week.

Guilherme Mendes
Executive Director of Equity Research, J.P. Morgan

Okay. Thank you very much. Have a nice day, Adolfo.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Rodolfo Ramos with Bradesco BBI. Please proceed with your question.

Rodolfo Ramos
Head of Mexico Research and Strategist, Bradesco BBI

Thank you. Good morning, Adolfo. A couple questions from my side as well. The first one is, you know, if you can share a little bit on your expectations for international traffic, particularly coming from the U.S. I don't know if you have any visibility as to bookings or anything. We were looking at air travel searches from the U.S. towards Cancún, and it looked like they're a bit off from what we saw at this time of the year in last year. Just wanted to get your thoughts there. I have a second question, a follow-up on the first one.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Okay. Rodolfo, good morning. We do not have too much or a decent information of the one you have. Of course, we have the bookings up to the end of the season, of the winter season that ends almost at the end of April. What I expect is more stable growth in the case of the U.S.. The important point will be the summer in the case of the U.S. and domestic, and towards the end of the year, again, the Colombian traffic.

Rodolfo Ramos
Head of Mexico Research and Strategist, Bradesco BBI

Okay. Thank you. A follow-up on the previous question. you know, on your MDP, I mean, I don't know if there's anything you can share as to the progress of your MDP. I mean, you know, the, you mentioned that this reform doesn't contaminate, so to speak, the process. Just wanted to get your, you know, any initial comments that you can make regarding perhaps tariff expectations or any projects or in terms of CapEx. Just anything for us to have visibility at this time where, you know, kind of like the regulatory concerns are a little bit more, you know, heightened. Thank you, Adolfo.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

The only thing that I can say about the MDP is that the first half of the year, normally the authority pays a visit to each one of the airports basically to check two things. One is what we call the inventory. What is the real status of every single piece of the infrastructure at the airport. The second one is to review each one of the pre-projects we have proposed to them. What I can say to you is that these program of visits have started and they are at the airports as we speak. The second half of the year is when the government will start checking the passenger traffic, discount rate, and final calculations.

Alberto Valerio
Executive Director and Equity Research Analyst, UBS

Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Alberto Valerio with UBS. Please proceed with your question.

Alberto Valerio
Executive Director and Equity Research Analyst, UBS

Hi, Adolfo. Thank you for taking my question. I would like to do another follow-up on the MDP. You are the only one to provide a CapEx estimate for the following five years of the current MDP. If you're not mistaken, in 2018, you provide a MXN 10 billion CapEx. Can you assure you that it's updated, if it makes sense or if it not makes sense anymore? Another point is that CapEx that is postponed from the extraordinary MDP in 2021, if you could add this extra CapEx to your planned CapEx or planned CapEx back in 2018. Just to complement, do you think that the spread between the spread above the 10-year bond of Mexican bonds could be close to what we got in 2018, close to 1%, or do you think can be higher for the next period, the MDP? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hello. Your line is cutting. I couldn't hear well your question. Let me say that in the case of the MXN 2 billion that were postponed from the previous CapEx, of course, those will be considered in the current MDP numbers. Also, in the case of the situation of this postponement is due to the fact of the new passenger traffic forecast. The project got postponed because if we do not reach the levels of passenger traffic that is required to make the projects, the government is or take the decision to postpone those projects in order not to affect the maximum rate. I know that you had some other questions. I couldn't hear.

Alberto Valerio
Executive Director and Equity Research Analyst, UBS

Can I try again? It's better now?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

It's really cutting.

Alberto Valerio
Executive Director and Equity Research Analyst, UBS

I can follow up with you by email. Thank you very much, Adolfo.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Okay, you're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Juan Macedo with GBM. Please proceed with your question.

Juan Pablo Macedo
Equity Research Analyst, GBM

Hi, Adolfo. Thanks for the call, congrats on the results. I have two questions. My first question is regarding the commercial segment. We saw great results in non-aero revenues per passenger on Colombian concessions despite the Mexican peso appreciation. Could you give us some color on that dynamic? Is it due to commercial expansions, or does it come from passenger behavior?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Well, this is coming from what we have done there. As I mentioned in the remarks, we have opened 29 spaces in the case of Colombia, and those are producing well results. Of course, as I mentioned during the initial remarks, probably we are not seeing the full effect of these in Mexican peso figures because of the appreciation of the Mexican peso versus the Colombian peso, that it was 36% over the last 12 months. If you put all of these on the top of the number we have presented in the report, you will see that the results in Colombia are very good.

Juan Pablo Macedo
Equity Research Analyst, GBM

Yeah, agreed. Thank you. My second question is regarding tariffs. Could you give us some detail on when and how the tariff increment implementations go during the quarter?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Remember that the tariff, or the level of how much we reach of the maximum rate, is measured once a year in a calendar year. Last year we end up around 96%. I do believe, with the current expectation of inflation this year, probably we will be at 98% this year.

Juan Pablo Macedo
Equity Research Analyst, GBM

Great. Thanks for the color.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Bruno Amorim with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

Bruno Amorim
VP of Equity Research, Goldman Sachs

Hi. Good morning, Adolfo. Thank you for taking my question. It's a follow-up on MDP as well. I know you cannot comment on the outcomes, of course, but maybe you can help us understand where do we stand in terms of, you know, traffic, the need for CapEx, and then cost of capital, right? The first question would be, you know, is it fair to say that traffic is now above what was initially expected when you and the regulators agreed on the extraordinary revision during the pandemic, given the sharp recovery in traffic? The second question would be. You know, is there spare capacity to accommodate this additional demand without the need for higher CapEx? All else held constant, should this eventually stronger than initially expected traffic rebound drive higher than initially expected CapEx?

The last question would be on cost of capital. You know, at the moment when you have reset the tariff and the CapEx plan during the pandemic, has the regulator adjusted the cost of capital as well or, or not? I'm asking this because at that moment in time, you know, 10-year rates in Mexico were well below the current level, so, this could have an implication for the direction of the tariffs as well. Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hello, Bruno. In the case of traffic, yes, in some cases traffic is higher than expected, in comparison with what we presented in our extraordinary maximum tariff revision. Remember that we did that in the first quarter 2021, you know. But that's for some airports. For some others, it is not. In total, I would say probably it's high, but just a bit. In terms of high CapEx, what I can say to you is that the projects, important projects will come in the case of Cancún Airport. We are talking about terminal expansion. Remember that the $2 billion or the most important portion of the $2 billion that was postponed in CapEx was the expansion of board holding gates in the case of Cancún Terminal 4. Of course, those are gonna be included in the new MDP.

In terms of the cost of capital, that will be measured, as I said, during the third and fourth quarter this year. Remember that the government uses the last 24 months of the Mexican paper issued in the international markets long term. We will be able to answer your question up to the third or fourth quarter this year.

Bruno Amorim
VP of Equity Research, Goldman Sachs

Yeah. Just a follow-up on the cost of capital. When you and the regulator agreed on the extraordinary revision during the pandemic, has the, you know, allowed return being adjusted at moment in time reflecting the cost of capital at that time or not?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

It was adjusted, yes.

Bruno Amorim
VP of Equity Research, Goldman Sachs

Okay. Thank you very much.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Filipe Nielsen with Citi. Please proceed with your question.

Filipe Nielsen
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup Inc.

Hi, Adolfo. Good morning or afternoon, thanks for taking my questions. I have two questions on my side. The first one is with the MDP review on the horizon, how should we think about the technical assistance fee? If you think that it's reasonable to consider that fee given that ASUR is much more experienced versus back in 1998. The second question is how now that we are in the halfway mark of the 50-year concessions, do you think that it's fair to assume that ASUR could have some sort of opinion to renew its concessions? If it's too early to say, maybe some color on those two points. Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hello. In terms of the technical assistance, it's important to say that this is not for free. We have an agreement with ITA that they have to comply with. Also I have to say this is one of the most important moments where they have to deliver, which is the case of the MDP. In the case of the renewal of the concession, the contract says that it's for 50 years, and it can be renewed. The contract doesn't say how, and I'm sure that I'm not gonna be here in this company or maybe in this world when this will occur. For the moment, I'm not concerned about the renewal because that is or that will or should appear in 2048.

Filipe Nielsen
Equity Research Analyst, Citigroup Inc.

Great. Thank you very much for the call.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Gabriel Himelfarb with Scotiabank. Please proceed with your question.

Gabriel Himelfarb
Associate Director of Equity Research, Scotiabank

Hi, Adolfo. Thanks for the call. Just a follow-up question on the MDP. For modeling purposes, do you think it's appropriate we add a risk premium to the discount rate due to the current, you know, regulations that are being proposed in the Congress? Also, do you think we should consider additional CapEx for example, connecting the terminals with the Tren Maya or any tariff increase that could be allowed due to the Tulum Airport? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Well, in the case of the cost of capital or the discount rate, you know, that has been defined as the work of the MDP. Of course, the process to calculate that is the Mexican paper issued in the international market the last 12 months, average for the last 24 plus something. Okay? Again, that will be disclosed during the third, fourth quarter this year. You know, in the case of what you're saying about the connection with the Maya Train, we're working today as we speak with the government. To be able to connect the Maya Train with the airport. Yes, that will be or should be considered in the next MDP.

Gabriel Himelfarb
Associate Director of Equity Research, Scotiabank

Okay. in the case of the Tulum Airport, if the airport is approved, do you think the government Will allow you for higher charges that compensate the traffic growth?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Is not to allow the higher traffic. Remember that how we do the calculation is to forecast our passenger traffic in the future, and that of course include all the effects, the economy, the tourism trends, hurricanes, Tulum airport, everything.

Gabriel Himelfarb
Associate Director of Equity Research, Scotiabank

Okay. Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Francisco Suárez with Scotiabank. Please proceed with your question.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Hello, good morning. Also thank you for the call. A question on your sustainability report. I was noticing that you are doing a really good job in overall energy consumption in absolute and relative terms, compared to 2019 figures. I just noticed that in terms of water consumption and waste of no hazardous waste, that is not the case. Can you explain a bit of why it might be happening and what is your overall strategy to cut the cross consumption of water in your terminals in Mexico? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Absolutely. In the case of water, that's a good question because our next MDP, or I would say the focus or the important focus of our next MDP is water, you know? It's clear that we have not done yet, most of the things that we can do there. Of course, what you are seeing in the numbers includes the water that we have to spend to construct the expansion of the buildings, you know?

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Gotcha.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

That is why probably you see some higher numbers in the case of Mexico and some other airports. We will see these improvement once we finish with those works.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Great. Thank you. If I may, a follow-up on this, Adolfo. It is interesting because when we discuss about potential retrofits in other type of structures with companies, those are kind of challenging in terms of the economics to do that. Under your industry, it seems that you are in a great position to put that on the MDP as well to make a retrofit in the terminal, for instance, and with that, cut your overall energy and water intensity in those buildings. Do you think that that might be a possibility?

If it's actually correct what I'm saying, that perhaps if this type of CapEx is placed on the MDPs as you are going to do that now in the next one, that is actually the way to make a profit out of those investments that in other industries seems to be more and more challenging.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Well, in the case of the energy, you will have to go back to a big day or press release that we issued the 15th of December, 2015.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

One, you will see that we were announcing that we signed an agreement with a company called SunPower to purchase energy from solar source. That, the moment represented 100% of the energy consumption at the airports. Today, probably this is around 78% of the consumption because after that we opened Terminal 4 and all the reductions that we have been able to manage since then. We are waiting these to be in place. The solar farm is waiting for the approval from the energy authorities here in Mexico. The solar farm is ready since the 1st quarter last year. Once, they get this approval, our increase in the case of solar energy will be extremely important.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Got you. Going back to my initial question, does retrofits to your existing buildings, the older terminals can be put in the MDPs and with that, not only cut your overall energy and water intensities but also earn a profit out of these investments?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

I don't know, the good definition of your retrofit, let me say. The most important consumption on energy we have is related to air conditioning.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Yeah.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Of course, when we construct a new building, the new equipment will be more efficient in comparison with the others, you know? That's where we get these benefits of the new equipment or when we replace those in the old buildings. Those of course are in the MDP.

Francisco Suarez
VP and Senior Equity Analyst, Scotiabank

Yes. Yeah.

Fernanda Redia
Equity Research Analyst, BTG Pactual

Perfect. Thank you, Adolfo.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Fernanda Redia
Equity Research Analyst, BTG Pactual

Congrats on the results.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Alan Macias with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Alan Macias
Equity Research Analyst, BofA Securities

Hi, Adolfo. Thank you for the call. My question was answered, but can you just repeat your dividend payments that you mentioned? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Yes. The annual general shareholders meeting it's gonna take place tomorrow. The proposal is MXN 9.93 in an ordinary dividend to be paid on May, and the extraordinary is MXN 10 per share to be paid in November.

Alan Macias
Equity Research Analyst, BofA Securities

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Lucila Gomez with Compass Group. Please proceed with your question.

Lucila Gomez Palomino
Senior Investment Analyst, Compass Group

Hi. Good morning, Adolfo. Thank you for taking my question. Just a quick follow-up on the Cancún Airport after all this expansion. What is the annual capacity that the airport has right now in terms of traffic? Where do you think you'll be reaching for this year?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hi, Lucila. The capacity of a building, of course, has to do with the level of service. It's very difficult to say what is the full capacity of a building in a just a single number. A restriction can be a security filter or something that you can solve with, let's say, $100,000, you know? If you want just a single number in the case of Cancún Airport could be today 31 million-32 million passenger traffic a year. Okay? More or less what we have today. We are very close to the capacity defined in terms of the level of service we want. You know? In other words, that doesn't mean that we cannot have more passengers.

Of course, in some time of the day, in some these days of the year, probably the level of service you will receive there is not appropriate.

Lucila Gomez Palomino
Senior Investment Analyst, Compass Group

Just as a follow-up, if you wanted to add more passengers, what would be like the most it would allow you to reach at the moment?

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Okay. In the MDP, the way we do is we draw our passenger traffic line for the next 15 years, and then we convert these into use per hour in each one of the features of the airport. The standard is that we can have lack of capacity just 30 hours in a year. That means if the 31st visit hour of the year, demand decides that technical capacity, we have to go to the next step. To increase the security filter, to increase the boarding gate, to increase the letters stand, et cetera. You know? That is how we construct the MDP.

Lucila Gomez Palomino
Senior Investment Analyst, Compass Group

Okay. Thank you, Adolfo.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is from Fernanda Redia with BTG. Please proceed with your question.

Fernanda Redia
Equity Research Analyst, BTG Pactual

Hey, Adolfo. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I have two on my side. The first one, we heard that this year should be the record in terms of sargassum. I was just wondering if you could provide us your thoughts on the potential impact this could have on Cancún's airport. The second, we see that you are net cash as of Q1. I was wondering if you could provide us any thoughts regarding capital allocation besides dividend payment, if you're thinking of further expanding your geographic footprint. If it does, which region would you be focused on? Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hi, Fernanda. Thank you for your question. Well, I don't believe that this year is gonna be the record year. I believe that 2018 will be the record year so far. It's, it's true that we are having sargassum, and the hotel owners are doing an extraordinary work cleaning the beaches every single day. In the case of cash, yes, MXN 15 billion is a very good number, but as I mentioned, I will have to pay MXN 6 billion of those MXN 15 during this year. It's true that we have a low CapEx level this year, but we have to be prepared for next one.

Fernanda Redia
Equity Research Analyst, BTG Pactual

Okay, thank you.

Operator

As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. Our next question is from Mauricio Buitrago with AM Advisors. Please proceed with your question.

Mauricio Buitrago
Equity Analyst, AM Advisors

Hello, Adolfo. I have two quick questions. The first one is how the close of operations of Viva Air in Colombia impacted your results in the quarter? Second question is just if you can repeat the guidance of CapEx and EBITDA for this year, please.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Hi, Mauricio. In the case of Viva Air Colombia, as I mentioned, they stopped operations at the end of February, so no passengers during March, and they represented 17.4% of our traffic in 2022. The impact in the case of Colombia, you already saw that with March passenger traffic figure. It was an important adjustment in the case of the month of March in comparison of how it was in February. In terms of the CapEx, what we are expecting is round number MXN 700 million in the case of Mexico and around MXN 20 million, MXN 20 something million in the case of Puerto Rico, and probably MXN 10 million in the case of Colombia.

Mauricio Buitrago
Equity Analyst, AM Advisors

Perfect. Adolfo. Thank you.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

You're welcome.

Operator

This concludes our question-and-answer session for today's conference call. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Castro. Mr. Castro, for any closing remarks.

Adolfo Castro Rivas
CEO, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Thank you, Paul, and thank you all of you again for participating in the first quarter results conference call. On behalf of ASUR, we wish you a good day. Goodbye.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes ASUR's First Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. We would like to thank you again for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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