This video conference is being recorded and will be made available on the company's IR website, ri.aerisenergy.com.br, where the complete material for the video conference is available. You can also download the presentation from the Chat icon, including slides in English. During the company's presentation, all participants will have their microphones disabled. After that, we will start the Q&A session. To ask questions, click the Q&A icon at the bottom of the screen and write your question to join the queue. When you are announced, a prompt to enable your microphone will appear on the screen, and you will then unmute your microphone to ask questions. We kindly request that all questions be asked at once.
We emphasize that information contained in this presentation and any statements that may be made during this video conference relating to business prospects, projections, and operational and financial goals of Aeris are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as on currently available information. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, market conditions, and other operating factors may affect Aeris' future performance and lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Today, we are joined by the company's executives, Mr. Alexandre Negrão, CEO and Investor Relations Officer, and Mrs. Cristiane Barreto Sales, CFO.
Before we begin the presentation, I would like to invite you to follow the day's agenda, which is on slide three of the presentation. We'll start with Mr. Negrão, who will address topics one and two, bringing the market outlook, then commenting on operational performance. After that, we'll turn the floor to Ms. Barreto, who will address topic three, presenting the company's results. Once this part is finished, we'll start the Q&A session, and finally, Mr. Negrão will return to make his final remarks. You may proceed, Mr. Negrão.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to one more earnings conference call. Moving on to slide number four, the global wind power sector set a new installation record for 2025, with approximately 165 GW of new capacity added during the period, according to data from GWEC.
China led this movement with around 120 GW installed, representing approximately 73% of all global additions for the year. This performance reinforces the strategic relevance of wind energy in the global energy transition, driven by growing electricity demand, data center expansion, industrial electrification, the increasing search for energy security. Looking ahead, the outlook remains positive. Projections indicate that the global volume of installations should remain close to the record levels recently observed, although with a significant shift in the geographic mix. A gradual reduction in the Chinese market share is expected, while other regions gain relevance, especially Europe and North America. In Europe, for example, we are seeing a significant acceleration in installations driven by the need for energy security and the expansion of renewable infrastructure, which was also boosted by the war between Ukraine and Russia.
In Brazil, according to Wood Mackenzie, 2026 should represent the lowest point at the recent installation cycle, around 1 GW, reflecting our lowest production level throughout 2025 due to the timeline required between blade manufacture and turbine commissioning. In the same context, we have a market impacted by the combination of high interest rates, curtailment, and postponement of investments in this sector. On the other hand, the outlook for 2027 indicates a gradual recovery with projected growth of approximately 5% in installations, supported by new projects under development. We understand that Aeris' operational dynamics directly reflected this market movement. In 2024, we produced 344 sets of blades, while in 2025, this volume was reduced to 208 sets, reflecting the lower level of contracts in the industry during that period.
Of the total produced in 2025, around 50% was destined for the export market, reinforcing the strategy of a geographic diversification and the greater relevance of international demand during the period. For the next cycles, however, we see a more positive outlook with expectations of volume exceeding 500 blades following the gradual recovery in demand. It's important to highlight that this expansion of the industry continues to be supported by consistent long-term trends such as the organic growth of energy consumption, increased per capita electricity consumption, fleet electrification, data center expansion, and new demands related to the digitalization and energy transition. In North America, we continue to observe an active market.
In the U.S., recent changes related to the former IRA, now within the context of OBBBA, have led to the acceleration of investment decisions and boosted project development, especially for those seeking to meet currently established deadlines. Although recent policy changes have increased the volatility of long-term projections, the U.S., North American market, both U.S. and Canada, continues to show significant resilience, with an average expectation of 9.3 GW approximately of new installations per year over the next five years, according to estimates by Wood Mackenzie. Canada has been gaining prominence with a forecast of 2 GW of new installations.
Despite the industry's positive long-term structural fundamentals, the high interest rate environment, coupled with challenges related to curtailment, continues to impact the business environment in the wind energy sector, mainly due to higher financing costs and lower predictability of project returns. In this context, the expectation of gradual monetary easing over the next few years, coupled with investments in transmission and infrastructure, tends to favor a more consistent recovery in demand in the medium term. Additionally, recent transmission auctions held in Brazil in March reinforced its outlooks by boosting new investments in the expansion and modernization of the electricity grid, which contribute to improve the flow of renewable energy, reduce operational constraints, and gradually mitigate the impacts of curtailment in the sector.
Having said that, Aeris has closed the first quarter with 1.47 GW in negotiations, contracts under negotiation, and we have announced the reactivation of four production lines aligned with the increase in demand. Moving on to slide five, the company has closed the first quarter with a net revenue of BRL 105 million, an adjusted EBITDA of BRL -27.4 million, and investments of BRL 0.7 million, and net losses of BRL 138 million. Moving on to slide six, we see the two lines that remain operational since last year. The, as announced previously, the four lines that will start operations again in the coming months.
On slide seven, the company reported 400 MW LTM in the first quarter, which shows that the drop reported quarter-on-quarter in the last two years tends to become flat now as we resume operations. We closed the year with 90 sets of blades, which shows an inflection point. Now I turn the floor to Cristiane, our CFO, for slide eight.
Good morning. Thank you, Alexandre. Moving on to slide eight, net revenue totaled BRL 105.6 million, a decrease of 7.8% compared to Q4 2025. This performance continues to reflect the lower level activity in domestic market over the last few quarters, a consequence of the more challenging scenario for the wind sector in Brazil.
On the other hand, we continue to observe growth in exports, which increased by 19% and continue to gain relevance in the company's revenue mix, partially offsetting lower domestic demand. As Alexandre mentioned today, the operation is concentrated on two mature production lines, which are still operating below their full potential. On slide nine, we show the evolution of operating expenses. In Q1 2026, operating expenses totaled BRL 36.5 million, a reduction of 39.7%, of BRL 24 million compared to Q4 2025. This improvement reflects reductions in personnel expenses, service costs, travel expenses, rentals, and utilities, as well as the absence of non-recurring effects recorded in the previous quarter. It's important to remember that Q4 2025 was impacted by the recognition of impairment of BRL 234 million, with no cash effect.
Moving to slide 10, we see the evolution of expense variations over the last four quarters compared to the same periods of the previous year. We see reductions in almost every period, which demonstrates our cost discipline. The company continues to advance in initiatives aimed at optimizing its cost and expense structure, maintaining a disciplined approach to operational management with a continuous focus on efficiency, cash preservation, and greater rigor in capital allocation. On slide 11, we have the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, which was negative by BRL 27.5 million, with a negative margin of 26%. Despite still reflecting a pressured operational environment, there was an improvement of BRL 33 million compared to the previous quarter. Operational performance remains pressured by the lower occupancy levels of production lines, reflecting a reduction in domestic demand in recent quarters, which plays an important role in diluting fixed costs.
The gradual resumption of exports and possible reactivation of production lines over the next quarters could contribute to improved operating dilution and a gradual recovery in profitability. Finally, on slide 12, we reinforce the current capital structure, which reflects the effects of renegotiation completed in 2025. The debt restructuring allowed for a significant extension of maturities and a reduction in short-term pressure of the company's cash flow. Currently, there are no significant amortizations projected for 2026, which provides greater financial predictability during this period of gradual margin recovery. We continue negotiations regarding the debt with BNDES. At the end of the quarter, gross debt was approximately BRL 1.88 billion, and the free cash position was, what, BRL 16.3 million. The company remains focused on studying alternatives to optimize capital structure, preserve liquidity, and strengthen financial position. This concludes the presentation.
I turn the floor over to Laís, who will open the Q&A.
Thank you. Now we'll start the Q&A session. In order to participate, click on the Q&A icon at the bottom of the screen and write your question to enter the queue. If you prefer to ask your question out loud, use the Q&A. A request to open your mic will appear on the screen. Access it to speak. Please make all your questions or ask all your questions at once. The first questions come from Moises Bacbau. He's a private investor.
Considering the free cash flow of only BRL 6 million and the net debt of BRL 1.8 million and the emphasis on the auditor operational continuation, what's the plan of the liquidity for the company if the renegotiation with BNDES is not completed before the maturity in August 26? Is there a plan B?
With the forecast of reactivating four production lines and the backlog of 1.4 GW, what's the estimated level of use of the capacity needed to return to positive EBITDA and break even of operating cash? What is the expected cash, free cash generation after reactivation of lines of the 1.4 GW already contracted and 0.7 GW in negotiation? What percentage has a firm production schedule, approval of investment from customers, and visibility of invoicing for 2026 or only 2027? Does management consider any form of capital enforcement in the next 12-18 months, including follow-on strategic [investments] and conversion of debt to equity? Finally, the contracts recently announced have structured margins above those observed in contracts signed before the crisis, especially considering inflation of cost productivity and exchange rate transfers.
Good morning, Moises. Thank you for the questions.
I'll answer Since you asked several questions, I'll just answer them in a more generic way regarding sales aspects, and then Cristiane will talk about the financial aspects. Regarding new projects and expectations for coming years for the new, for the four lines that we are reactivating, obviously, the volume is still not high. We believe we will manufacture 100 blades per month when all six production lines are operating. Today, we are way below that, but we have manufactured 250 blades per month. These volumes are still low. However, they allow us to have sustainability in terms of cash from, generated from operations. The new contracts with better margins are basically OEM contracts with generators, especially in Europe, where they had urgency to install new blades, and we could see the margins of OEMs with a relative increase.
In Brazil, we have not yet seen this actual gain in margins regarding the projects. Also because there has been no projects, so now new projects are starting to appear, so it's hard to say what will be the result of OEM in terms of the new contracts that are being negotiated. In summary, we believe that the second half of the year should, we should see operations with much better margins compared to the first half of the year, although still low because the volume is not the volume that we believe would be ideal.
Thank you for your questions, Moises. Like, Alexandre, I'm going to consolidate some topics that talk about the same topic.
In general, we continue to operate with a strong cost discipline in order to solve the impact to non-dilution of a fixed cost because we are operating below our capacity. As the new lines are activated, the profitability increases and costs are more diluted. We still have to work to improve that. As for costs, we are studying alternatives to improve capital structure with several creditors. We are checking the best possibilities in order to address the company liquidity in coming years. In the operational side, we're trying to capture the best cash from operations. As Alexandre mentioned, in the second quarter we see or in second semester we see an improvement in results because we'll deliver higher number of blades, and also in view of some agreements we're discussing with customers.
There's a challenge for the second half of the year in 2027 that we are addressing. In the next call, we'll have more information. We don't give guidance in terms of cash flow that will be generated or future guidance, but it's important to keep track of the development of our challenges at Aeris in coming months.
Thank you.
The next question is from Alexandre [Gies].
In the domestic services area, do you consider the scenario mature or is there market share to be gained?
Thank you for the question, Alexandre. We still consider that there's market share to be gained.
The services market is more scattered by nature, and the curtailment which has been implemented in Brazil in the last two years, is an extra difficulty for rendering services because the generating companies, s ince cuts are being made, you know, without any plan, they're trying to provide services as much as possible, so they really call us when they are really in need. That is limiting our growth in terms of what we predicted, but we are gaining market share. The company is growing consistently in the last three years. The profitability is also growing. Again, I believe there is market share to be gained, and Aeris has a competitive advantage because we are able to integrate technicians that are on the field at periods of strong winds. We're able to have them in our plant.
At high- service seasons, we send them to the field. In addition to the quality of our service compared to other service companies, this is an additional advantage. Figures shows that we continue to grow with the market and above the market.
The next question is from Marcos Rodrigo Carneiro, analyst from CL4 Capital.
One, from pipeline of 1.4 GW, what's the feature of the blades size/ megawatts of turbines? Two, from 1.4 GW, do you expect to deliver everything by 2028? Three, what's the expected ramp-up time for the lines? Do you need to hire more people? Number four, do you predict anticipating receivables of these new 1.4 GW projects?
There is an extra question from Marcos, also from you, saying if it's 100 blades per month, that would be 400 blades in the year.
We're going to attain 100 blades per month in the third or fourth quarter. This project of 1.4 GW is to be delivered until the end of 2027, so it's not for 2028. These are turbines of 4.5 MW for Vestas. These are projects with a duration of a year and a half. The ramp-up, we believe, will happen in three to four months because we are restarting a project that we already operated, so it tends to be faster. Usually, ramp-up takes 6- 10 months, but this time we expect it to last three to five months. I think this is it.
I think that answers all questions.
The next question comes from Lucas from [Omai].
The project to manufacture cylinders to transport hydrogen, is it still active?
Lucas, this is Alexandre speaking. The project is on hold because we lack capital for new projects. The focus of the company is on being able to make the ramp-up of the four production lines, and again, resume the full potential and optimization of the production lines that were in operation but not running at full capacity in the last two quarters. This is our focus for now.
The next question comes from Ramon from Axial Capital.
Good morning. How do you see the advance of BESS plus wind in Brazil?
Good morning, Ramon. We are taking a close look at that.
BESS is a reality in other countries, especially in the U.S., which shows an important development. They recently announced BESS within 15 GW of energy from the system coming from BESS. That is a reality in other countries, and it will be in Brazil as well. The government has promised a BESS auction for this year. Let's see if that will happen. It's certainly a reality that will arrive here sooner or later, and it's one of the measures that we believe will be a solution for curtailment.
The Q&A session has now ended. I would now like to turn the floor to Mr. Alexandre Negrão for his final remarks.
Well, thank you, Laís. Thank you all for attending another earnings conference call. I believe that we are at an inflection point.
We have total focus on returning the two lines that were active to their full capacity, as well as the ramp-up of the lines that were deactivated. This moment requires a lot of attention on operations as well as working capital. These are the two key points we are focused on. As I said, we are going from 20 blades per month to 100 blades per month in production, and that requires hiring staff, buying raw material, a high need for working capital, and a good cash management and operational management. Our total focus is on these two points right now, and I believe that we are actually at an inflection point, and we will see a growing trend in the coming, in coming quarters. Thank you once again for your attendance, and I see you soon.
The earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2026 of Aeris has ended. We thank you all for your attention.