Grupo México, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:GMEXICO.B)
Mexico flag Mexico · Delayed Price · Currency is MXN
205.88
+1.62 (0.79%)
At close: May 8, 2026
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Earnings Call: Q3 2024

Oct 23, 2024

Operator

Good afternoon. Thank you for holding, and welcome to Grupo México's third quarter earnings conference call. With us this afternoon are all of Grupo México's top executives, who will discuss the financial performance of the company during the third quarter two thousand and twenty-four results, giving you a summary of the latest news and addressing any questions you might have at the end of the call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that information discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's results and prospects, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially, and the company cautions not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Grupo México undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. All results are expressed in full U.S. GAAP.

The presentation may be followed through our webcast, but if you wish to ask a question during the Q&A session, you will need to do so via phone call by pressing star one, one. A copy of the slides that the company will be reviewing today is available on the website at grupomexico.com. At this moment, I would like to remind everyone that your lines must be in listen-only mode until the question and answer session. Now, we'll begin with Ms. Marlene Finny.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you so much, Carmen, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Grupo México's third quarter earnings conference call. In line today are the top executives from our three divisions. So as Carmen already mentioned, we will be following the presentation that you can download from our website or following through the webcast. So, starting on slide number three, I'll kick off with Grupo México's ESG highlights, followed by the quarter scorecard and financial highlights. Then Mr. Leonardo Contreras will provide detailed information regarding our mining division's main highlights, project updates, and comments on the industry's economic environment. He will then be followed by Mr. Fernando López Guerra, who will go through the financial results and main events of our transportation division. Lastly, Mr. Francisco Zinser will comment on our infrastructure division's relevant events which occurred during the quarter.

As usual, at the end, the line will be open for questions and answers. Before continuing with our results, I want to highlight that as a result of a long-term investment, Grupo México was able to benefit from a favorable copper price environment, which, along with excellent production levels and strict cost controls, translated into excellent results this quarter. We will continue our long-term investment strategy to generate value for our shareholders and contribute to the development of the communities where we operate. Now, let's start with our main ESG highlights on slide number five. Our continuous efforts to embrace responsible production have paid off, as our three mining operations in Peru have been awarded with a Copper Mark and Molybdenum Mark certification for responsible production.

Now, most of our copper and moly production is certified under these three, under these standards, which are very strict. Our infrastructure division was recognized for its community development management model by Banks and EY in its third edition of the Sustainable Innovation Leaders Award, achieving the first place in the social category, acknowledging our commitment to our operations' neighboring communities. Now, let's continue. We have more information about our ESG highlights, if you want to go through on our website or on our annual report. Continue to slide number six. Here you have our scorecard. Our cumulative revenue for the first nine months of the year totaled over $20 billion, representing an increase of 12.5% when compared to the first nine months of 2023, and 13.4% higher on a quarterly basis.

This was mainly due to the higher copper and by-product volume sold, higher volumes in our transportation division, and the remarkable performance of our infrastructure division. Following the same growth trend, our EBITDA showed important gains for the first nine months of the year, increasing 17.3% when compared to the same period of last year. This increase is even higher when comparing the quarterly results of 2023 versus 2024, and then there, our EBITDA improved 22%. Our net cash costs amounted to $1.12 per pound. These are more than 7% improvement versus 2023, on a cumulative basis. As far as the production, we continue to have higher copper production.

7.1% increase when compared to the first nine months of 2023, and more than 10% increase on a quarterly basis. As you know, we revise our dividend on a quarterly basis, and this is a decision that our board makes depending on our cash needs, our cash generation, the projects, CapEx. So all in all, this is something that we have to revise on a quarterly basis. So this quarter, our board approved a dividend of 1.3 MXN per share, increasing from 1.2 MXN seen last quarter and translating into a 4.7% implied dividend yield. On slide number 7, you can find there our financial highlights in case you need it at any point during the presentation, like there for your reference. So moving on to slide number 8.

As you can see here, we maintain a solid balance sheet with low leverage and a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.1 times. As you might already know, our debt is mainly issued in U.S. dollars, representing 78% of the total debt, while the rest is denominated in Mexican pesos, and 95% of our total debt was issued at a fixed rate. On this slide, you can also see the dividend paid from 2022 to 2024 and the implied dividend yield, including the $1.30 cash dividend for the quarter approved by our board. We continue to have a comfortable debt maturity profile, as you can see on slide 9, with no payments over $1 billion until 2035, and our cash and equivalents position ended the quarter.

Speaker 12

Hello? 7.6. Bueno?

Hello, sí, buenas tardes.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Yes?

¿Nos escuchan?

Speaker 12

Sorry for that.

Operator

You may continue.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Sorry. We have no payments over $1 billion until 2025 until 2035, and we have a cash and equivalent position of $7.6 billion at the end of this quarter. I will now let Mr. Leonardo Contreras comment on the mining division's performance.

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

Thank you, Marlene. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you again for joining us today. I will start today with some remarks on the current copper market on slide 11. The LME copper price increased 10% from an average of around $3.80 per pound in the third quarter of 2023 to roughly $4.20 this quarter. Based on supply and demand dynamics, we are expecting a slight market surplus of about 100,000 copper for 2024. At this point, we estimate that the copper supply will register growth of 2.7%, and we expect demand to grow around 2.3%. Now, looking at demand, although we still see a weak demand from China, we believe the recently announced economic measures will promote economic growth and fuel demand from the world's largest copper consumer.

Furthermore, our resilient U.S. economy and new demand from decarbonization technologies, coupled with need driven by artificial intelligence, are expected to bolster support for long-term copper, copper demand. Now, let's continue with the mining division's financial highlights on slide 12. First, due to higher copper and by-product sales volumes, along with increases in copper, gold, and silver prices, it allowed us to reach over $9.4 billion of revenue for the first nine months of 2024, a 13.2% increase when compared to the same period of last year. Our year-to-date EBITDA total $5.1 billion, which is 22.8% higher than 2023, and 32.3% higher on a third quarter basis, setting our EBITDA margins at 54.2%.

We ended the period with a total copper production of 819,638 tons, a 7.1% increase compared to the first nine months of 2023, mainly driven by an increase in production in southern Peru and Minera México. On a quarterly basis, we saw an increase of 10.6% due to a general production increase in our operations. As a result of higher copper volumes and higher moly, zinc, and silver by-product credits, our net cash costs total $1.12 per pound year to date, a 7.2% improvement versus last year, and 19.2% better on a quarterly basis, reinforcing us as a cost leader in the industry worldwide. As for our CapEx, we invested $867 million during the first nine months of 2024.

Now, let me give you a brief project update on slide 13. I will start with Tía María, which as of September 30, 2024, we have generated over 422 jobs, of which 355 were filled with local applicants. In the upcoming months, we expect to have a busy schedule as we plan to build roads, access points, train operations, update the topographic network, install and delimit properties along the limit fence, install a temporary camp, and begin earthmoving and stripping activities to begin the construction in 2025. Now, in regards to Los Chancas, our project in Apurímac, Peru, as of September 30, we continue to engage in coordinated efforts with the Peruvian authorities to eradicate illegal mining activities.

Once this process is completed, we will restart the environmental impact assessment, initiate the hydrogeological and geological studies, and conduct a diamond drilling campaign to gather additional information on the deposit's characteristics. In regards to our Michiquillay project, as of September 30, 2024, we have a 30% completion ratio of the exploration project, where we have drilled 121,000 meters out of a total of 148,000, and we have obtained 369,234 drilled core samples for chemical analysis. The diamond drilling campaign is on the way, and we'll provide data for cross-section interpretation, geological modeling, and resource evaluation. The geometallurgical studies are currently underway, and the hydrological and hydrogeological studies will begin shortly. On slide 14, you can see a summary of all of our upcoming projects and the production and CapEx profile.

We're all very excited about developing this robust pipeline of projects coming in line at such an exciting time for copper. Please, if you have any follow-up questions, we'd be pleased to address them during the Q&A session. And now I will let Fernando comment on the transportation division.

Fernando López Guerra
Head of Transportation Division, Grupo México

Thank you, Leo, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Continuing with the transportation results on slide 16, I would like to talk about our financial highlights for the first nine months of the year. Our revenues are up almost to that, achieving almost $2.6 billion during the first nine months of two thousand twenty-four, a 77.5% increase versus twenty-

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Sir, we cannot hear you. Can you hear us? I think...

Operator

Can you repeat the sentence? We lost your audio for a few seconds there.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Sorry, I think we're having some technical issues. Sorry for this. Can you just give us one minute to continue?

Operator

Thank you so much. Please stand by, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. Please continue to stand by.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

I think in the meanwhile, while we get the transportation division on board again, because of these technical issues, we will let Francisco Zinser comment on infrastructure division, and then we will resume the transportation division.

Francisco Zinser
Head of Infrastructure Division, Grupo México

Perfect. So thank you very much, Marlene, and good afternoon, everyone. I will start by going through the financial highlights of the infrastructure division, shown in slide number 21. I am proud to announce that we continue to have a solid performance during 2024, in generating value and growth in our different business units, with revenues increasing over 9.1% on a cumulative basis year over year, thanks to the integration of Planigrupo, the start of operations of our Fenicias Wind Farm, enhance the daily rates across our six drilling platforms, an increase in revenue and traffic across our toll roads division, and optimized production within our construction and engineering business unit.

Our EBITDA and net income showed double-digit growth on a cumulative basis when compared to 2023, with EBITDA growing almost 27% and net income growing 75%, totaling $331 million and $100 million, respectively. All of this coupled with a 57.3% EBITDA margin over sales. To close the infrastructure division highlights, I would like to go through some of our most relevant events depicted on slide number 22. Perforadora México, our drilling division, continues showcasing the highest operational efficiency as of the end of the third quarter of the year, with a 99% availability rate and consistent profitability improvement. Year to date, PEMSA has reached $178 million in revenues and an EBITDA of $97 million, a 17% and 30% increase respectively when compared to the same period of last year.

These results were driven by daily quota adjustments and strict cost control measures. Continuing with the relevant updates, by the end of the third quarter of 2024, our Fenicias Wind Farm reached total net sales of $13 million and an EBITDA of $15 million. As the wind farm began supplying electricity to the mining and metallurgical operations in our underground mining division, IMMSA, as of August first, marking a key milestone in the contribution to our energy sustainability strategy and reinforcing our long-term commitment to cleaner energy solutions. Our toll roads divisions delivered strong financial performance with a 9% increase in the equivalent of daily traffic year over year, driving revenue growth and enhancing profitability. Total net sales reached $54 million, while EBITDA stood at $36 million, an 11% increase in both metrics when compared to the previous year.

Lastly, our real estate business unit achieved significant growth, reporting $58 million in revenues and $36 million in EBITDA, a 7% and 18% increase, respectively. These results were driven by increased rents and fees, an increase in occupancy rates, and the integration of nine new power centers in September. So I would now pass the word to Fernando so that he can continue with his summary of the transportation division. Thank you very much.

Fernando López Guerra
Head of Transportation Division, Grupo México

Thank you, Pancho. I think our connection got lost. Going back to the transportation division, our revenue totaled $2.6 billion for the first nine months of the year. This is almost an 8% increase versus last year, driven by a 9% increase in car loads and a 4% increase in net ton kilometers. Our EBITDA closed total to $1.1 billion for the nine, for the first nine months of the year, a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to previous year, and a 7% decrease versus last year on a quarterly basis. This translates into a 43% EBITDA margin. This is a 360 basis point contraction year over year.

As we have been mentioning on the previous quarters, the main impact to us was the most significant impact, the migrant crisis, where we had to stop trains to allow the Mexican authorities to do the operations and send the migrants back into the southern border of Mexico. Hundreds of trains were stopped. Our network completely collapsed and, but we're back into our speed is back up. It dropped the average speed. It dropped from 39 kilometers per hour to 27. As of last week, we are back at 37 kilometers per hour. For us, speed is everything. It's our capacity. It also translates into...

A reduction of speed translates into more diesel being burned, into more car hire being paid for the rail cars from other railroads, as we pay on a per hour basis and a kilometer basis, and also extra time for the crews and recrews that we have to use for the same amount of trains. So for us, speed is of the essence, and that's where our main focus comes to. Returning to the good notes, net income totaled $389 million on a cumulative basis. This is a 4% increase versus 2023. Lastly, or as you might already know, a dividend of $0.50 per share was approved by our board.

This is as we have managed to remain consistent with the dividends for the past three years, offering an attractive shareholders return. Continuing with the main variations of our revenue on slide 17, we see a mix of results throughout our different segments on the quarter, with intermodal segment being above the rest, with an increase of 33% due to volume increase in our cross-border and domestic operations, as we continue to gain market share versus our competitors. We have brought from our competitors, the largest intermodal marketing companies, so we now have J.B. Hunt with us, we have Hub Group, we have C.H. Robinson, we have APL and Matson. And with this, we have built the frequencies that we need between Mexico and the U.S.

We started with short trains, which are also, they also have an impact on our margins. But as the trains continue to add scale, that, that and the margins become healthier, and so on and so on. As a reminder of these variations, we are considering results in Mexican pesos, so this might vary using a different currency. In relative terms, this quarter second top performer was agricultural segment, which we saw an increase of 19% as we saw local crops being substituted by grain import, grain imports. This, as, as well as intermodal, these trains are dedicated trains, so they do not allow us to, to consolidate into the remainder trains of our, of our network.

So that it's more trains into the Ferromex networks that we did not have the ability to consolidate them, therefore, we did not have a benefit of scale on the current network, no? Another segment which we saw double digit was chemicals, driven by volume increase and better car cycles. And the last segment with double digit growth was energy, with growth in fuel oil and LPG volumes during the quarter. Next, the industrial segment ended quarter in line with the volume seen last quarter, as we have normalized volume after a 2023 inventory backlog. The segments where we saw a revenue decrease are cement, with a 4% decrease due to reduced demand in the United States.

Automotive, with a 5% decrease in revenue, as we mitigate the decline by capturing additional market share from haulaway services and the other competitors. Metals, with an 8% decrease, as we observed lower production of volumes in finished goods. And lastly, minerals, where we saw a 13% decrease, with a significant national project in southern region of the country being concluded, and one of our major customers that suffered a production setback. Now, taking a look at our operating metrics on slide 18, this quarter has been complicated, as I just mentioned, on some of our operating metrics, due to the congestion of the migrant crisis and what followed as our network slowed down, theft and vandalism picks up. So that is also another challenge we're now addressing.

Our average train speed decreased from 39 all the way to 27 km per hour. Then the average is 33.7 now, but as I was mentioning, as of last week, we are up at 37, which is a significant increase and improvement. Dwell time at the terminals gets directly impacted by the lack of fluidity in the network. The fact that we are slower on the trains and on the trains moving throughout the network, it then we need to hold some of the product and some of the rail cars at the terminals, and this also translates into a rail car velocity decrease of 13%. As for average train length, it only increased 5% to 1.8 km, and the gross tons per train, 5% as well.

As I was mentioning a little bit before, the fact that our growth is mainly on intermodal and agricultural products has not allowed us to have a bigger efficiencies on this train length and tonnage per train. In slide 19, we show our expected CapEx for 2025. As a result of the volume growth we have estimated for 2025 of between 5% and 7% in net ton kilometers, the board of directors authorized us a new investment plan that includes several expansions, safety and efficiency projects that will enable us to grow and improve our service, as well as to optimize the productivity and performance indicators.

The investments to be made include an increase of 15% in the fleet of locomotives, 16,000 additional rail cars, incremental capacity at our yards and terminals, as well as important rail safety programs that will improve coexistence within the locations where we operate. I believe that is all for the transportation. I will give the call back to Marlene.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you so much, Fernando. And thank you, Francisco, Leonardo, and everybody for being here today. Now, we will let we will open the line for any questions you might have, and we will try to answer the best we can. Thank you so much for your time.

Operator

Thank you so much, Marlene, and for our audience, if you do have a question, simply press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw the question, simply press star one one again. One moment for our first question, please. It's from Gabriel Simões with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Gabriel Simões
VP of Equity Research, Goldman Sachs

Hi, Marlene. Thanks for taking my question. I have two questions on capital allocation, actually. So the first one is, given the comfortable balance sheet position you find yourselves in, how should we think about capital allocation in the future, right? So are you considering potential new acquisitions? And if so, should we see new acquisitions be within the current portfolio scope, or are there other sectors you would consider going for? Any geographies worth highlighting, right? So this is on the first front, and the second one would be, on the dividends, right? So you have been distributing for a period of time, you distributed less dividends than those received from Southern Copper....

In the past few quarters, you've been distributing an amount that's close to the one you've been receiving in cash, right? Just wanted to check if there are any plans to change the magnitude of your distributions at some point, once again, given the comfortable balance sheet position that you find yourselves in. Thank you.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you so much for your question, Daniel. Regarding capital allocation, is a complicated question because, or a complicated answer, because this has to be reviewed on a quarterly basis. So in terms of our balance sheet, we are not actively looking to diversify, but we are always looking to opportunities. But as of now, what we are, we are giving priority to our organic growth, mainly as we discussed this morning, during Southern Copper, we have our Tía María project and all the other projects, we have projects in infrastructure and transportation divisions as well. So with that, our focus right now is on our organic growth, and at the same time, we keep on giving a very good dividend. Dividend yield, we have increased that.

I know that in. I think you were referring to Southern Copper, that dividend that was half in stock dividend and half in cash. That is also one of the reasons in Grupo México, that we have to take care of the cash, because we don't know, and we have some maturities next year at the Southern Copper level, at all of the three divisions. So we have to take into consideration cash generation and CapEx needs, prioritizing our projects. I think the dividend and dividend yield continues to be very solid, and it's like 50%. So I think that's a very good. Normally it is around 50% of Grupo México's income, the dividend.

Gabriel Simões
VP of Equity Research, Goldman Sachs

Okay, thank you.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Camilla Barder with Bradesco BBI. Please proceed.

Camilla Barder
Analyst, Bradesco BBI

Hi, good afternoon, and thank you for taking my question. Just a quick question on ASARCO. Could you provide your expectations for copper production and cash costs, costs before by-product credits for ASARCO in 2024 and 2025?

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

Yes, hello, Camilla. In regards to your, to the guidance for 2024 for ASARCO, in production we should be around 116,000 metric tons of copper, and in cash costs before by-products, we should be around, before by-products, $3.25, and after by-products, around $3.10.

Camilla Barder
Analyst, Bradesco BBI

This is for 2024. Do you have any outlook for 2025 as well?

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

Yes. For 2025, we should be around 117,500 metric tons of copper, and the cost should be more along the in line with what we have for 2024, so around $3.10 after by-products.

Camilla Barder
Analyst, Bradesco BBI

Okay. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. One moment for our next question, please. And it's from the line of Alejandro Demichelis with Jefferies. Please proceed. Alejandro, please check your mute button.

Alejandro Demichelis
Managing Director, Jefferies

Yes, hello.

Operator

We can hear you.

Alejandro Demichelis
Managing Director, Jefferies

Thank you very much for taking my questions. Three questions, if I may, please. First, could you please give us an update on how you're seeing the potential changes in regulation in the Mexico mining industry, and a potential ban on open-pit mining? That's the first question. Second question is, could you also give us an update on how you see the cargo railways sharing some of the infrastructure with the passenger railways in Mexico, and how you see that developing? And then the third question is, your discount to your net asset value of some of the parts still looks very wide. How are you thinking about that discount then?

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

Hello, Alejandro. If you don't mind, Marlene, I will answer his first question in relation to the open-pit mining regulation in Mexico. We've been following it closely, and as far as we know, I mean, what has been in discussion and nowadays it's not necessarily advancing, no? That's one of the things that we follow. But overall, if there were to be a movement or a regulation, it would be basically for any new concession for open-pit mining. So for us, for example, all of our organic growth and so forth, it's for concessions that we already have, and we wouldn't have any issue at all going forward. I don't know if that would answer your question?

Alejandro Demichelis
Managing Director, Jefferies

Yeah, that answers the question. What happens in a situation like El Arco then, or the Arco project?

Francisco Zinser
Head of Infrastructure Division, Grupo México

... Yeah, El Arco, we already have the concession, so we don't have any issues at all.

Alejandro Demichelis
Managing Director, Jefferies

That's great. Thank you.

Francisco Zinser
Head of Infrastructure Division, Grupo México

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you.

Fernando López Guerra
Head of Transportation Division, Grupo México

If you want, I can answer your question regarding passenger service. The government has announced a couple of projects, one Mexico-Pachuca, the other one is Mexico City to Querétaro. Those projects, they have been, the presentations that they did was that they will be built by the Mexican army, and this is a double track built in the same right of way. These are new, completely new tracks that will be built in the same right of way, respecting and being completely independent from the cargo network.

I think, I believe this government has very clear that they should not put them together if they wanna have a network that's fluid and working for the nearshoring and all the projects that we need to continue to grow as a country, no? So that I think it's good. They now will have a good passenger service with high speed rail, and we will continue to invest and deploy capacity for cargo on our own network.

Operator

Thank you so much. And our next question is from the line of Sofia Martin with GBM. Please proceed.

Sofía Martin
Analyst, GBM

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I have two questions, one on GMXT and one on infrastructure. The one for GMXT, we've witnessed favorable dynamics in railroads specifically. How much of this is due to transferring cargo from highway cargo to rail cargo, and what should we expect going forward? And for the infrastructure division, question, we saw a significant increase in CapEx, just trying to understand what drove these dynamics and what should we expect going forward? Thank you.

Fernando López Guerra
Head of Transportation Division, Grupo México

Thank you. I think I will take the transportation, Marlene, and as you probably read, there's one of the points of our president's new focus for her government was to convert cargo from highway into rail, and for that, there are five main topics to be addressed at. One is the fluidity of the network, and I'm talking about migrants and theft and vandalism. For that, the government has been very supportive, and the continuity of that support throughout between one term and the other, one government and the other, has been very good. The second item, it's the hubs and the terminals that need to be built. By that, I mean new capacity at the ports. I mean, certain inland terminals that pair with that capacity at the ports as well.

We're also working on borders and customs processes, and to be fixed and improved throughout the entire country. You'll see this, and we're already looking at it, and you'll probably feel it at the airports. We're feeling it at the ports as well, and at the borders, so we're working closely with them. The third item that needs to be addressed is to have competitive energy sources, competitive diesel for us. As of right now, our diesel in Mexico is 80% more expensive than what it is in the U.S., and 40% the rail diesel versus over the road diesel. As the trucking companies have, they are enabled to credit IEPS, the specialty tax versus their other, their income tax, and we're not. So that's another item. The fourth item, it's weight.

There's the law in Mexico is very clear, but it's not enforced. There's one scale every 3,000 km in Mexico, and none of them work. So that's why you see our highways so destroyed. They were designed, built, and maintained for other specs on versus what there is actually put on them, you know? And the fifth item, it's the hours of the drivers, which, there's also a regulation, but it is not enforced. So that's probably this last item, the most dangerous part of why highways have certain hidden subsidies. These are drivers that have been driving for 12, 14, 16 hours straight, and they're tired, and sometimes they're under the influence of certain substances.

By addressing those five items, if right now rail has about 26%-27% of the land transportation share, we could achieve what the US and Canada have, which is the mid-40s. This is 2x for us, plus the growth of Mexico itself, no? Sorry for taking so much, but I think it was good to be clear.

Francisco Zinser
Head of Infrastructure Division, Grupo México

And for your second question, Sofia, for the infrastructure division regarding the increase in CapEx, this was driven by the incorporation of 9 new power centers that we included in the real estate division, what used to be Planigrupo. These were power centers that we administered or managed before. Once we bought the company, we bought 27 power centers, and these 9 remaining ones, we were only managing them, but we were not the owners.

We had the option to purchase them at the same methodology and valuation that we used to acquire Planigrupo, and so we exercised that so that we could have the control of the 36 power centers. That's the reason why you can see the increase.

Sofía Martin
Analyst, GBM

Very clear. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you so much. One moment for our next question. And it's from the line of Alfonso Salazar with Scotiabank. Please proceed.

Alfonso Salazar
Analyst, Scotiabank

Yes, thank you. I have just one question on Grupo México. We have seen how Southern Copper has been paying a hybrid dividend, cash and stock, for three quarters now. So just wondering, what is the strategy behind or the rationale behind this decision from Grupo México's standpoint? What is the goal of doing this? And is it likely to continue, or it will go back to only cash? Just wondering if you can give us some color on this, please. Thank you.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you, Alfonso. Yeah, I think it's been two quarters now that Southern Copper has been paying half in stock dividend, but that's a decision made at Southern Copper's board, depending also on Southern Copper's cash generation, CapEx needs, maturities that they have to pay. So that's not a decision made on Grupo México's board, but more on Southern Copper's board, so it's on their standpoint. And this is, they want to preserve liquidity. They have a maturity next year during the second quarter of $500 million. They are going or they are advancing at a very good pace with Tía María and all the other projects.

I think that is one of the reasons why the board, and I'm just saying the reasons I think, but that was one, that is why Southern Copper, on a Southern Copper standpoint, gave that. On a Grupo México standpoint, we continue to increase our dividends, so you can see now 130. But we have to always take into consideration as well, the percentage of how much it represents of our net income, and we have to also take into consideration what if we're gonna we need some we wanna spend more CapEx on other projects, which, as I mentioned before, we are not looking to diversify, but it is, we are not gonna pay 150% of our net income in dividends, neither.

So it's like we try to have a balance, and this is obviously a decision from the board, and that's why we try to translate to you on every call. I hope that answers-

Alfonso Salazar
Analyst, Scotiabank

Yeah, just to follow up. So if I understand correctly, the plan with from Southern, from Grupo México's standpoint, the plan is to maintain your position in Southern Copper unchanged, meaning that all the shares that you get, you are not planning to sell any of them?

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Sí, Alfonso, that's correct. Sorry, I didn't-

Alfonso Salazar
Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

I didn't get that part of the question, but that's correct.

Alfonso Salazar
Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay, excellent. Thank you so much, madam.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And as a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have a question, press star one one to get in the queue. Our next question is from Henrique Braga with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.

Henrique Braga
Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Hello. Thanks for taking my question. I just have a follow-up on ASARCO. If you could, please disclose what was the cash cost before and after byproducts during the third quarter? Thank you.

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

Yes, Henrique. In regards to the cash costs during the quarter... Give me one second. Yes, the cash cost before byproducts was $3.40, and after byproducts, $3.26 during the third quarter of 2024.

Henrique Braga
Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Thank you.

Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada
Head of Mining Division, Grupo México

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. And sir, I do not see any further questions in the queue.

Marlene Finny
CFO, Grupo México

Thank you so much for your time, and thank you, Carmen, for everything. I hope you have a good day. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you everyone for participating in today's conference. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

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