Morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Auren's Conference Call to discuss results regarding the third quarter of 2022. This conference is being recorded, and the replay can be accessed on the company's IR website, ri.aurenenergia.com.br. The presentation is also available for download. We would like to inform the participants attending the conference call will be in listen-only mode during the presentation, and we will then open the Q&A session when further instructions will be provided. Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that any forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Auren's management and current information available to the company. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur.
Investors, analysts, and journalists must understand that events related to the macroeconomic environment, industry, and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the respective forward-looking statements. With us at this conference are Mr. Fábio Zanfelice, Auren CEO, and Mr. Mario Bertoncini, CFO and IRO. The Investor Relations team is also here with us. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Fábio Zanfelice, who will start the presentation. You may proceed, sir.
Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to have you here to discuss the results of the third quarter of this year. I'm going to start the presentation, so I would like you to move to Slide Three, where we show the agenda of the presentation.
We are going to discuss the highlights, the energy market, operating performance, financial performance, growth strategy, our social environmental performance, and finally, our closing remarks. Talking about the highlights for the third quarter, let's move to Slide Four. This quarter was characterized by the increase of the hydroelectric generation in relation to the same quarter of last year, an increase of more than 100%, showing the better hydrological conditions in the Brazilian system after it has gone through its worst crisis, hydro crisis of 2021. We would like to draw your attention to the generation of our wind farms. We added a generation of Ventos do Piauí II, I, II, and III. The generation of all our farms reached above the P90 in year to date.
From the financial viewpoint, we reached an adjusted EBITDA of BRL 498 million, with an EBITDA margin of 32%, and our operational cash generation amounted to BRL 259 million from January to September this year, accounting for a cash conversion ratio of 67%. As for growth and innovation, we are at the final stage of the construction of the wind farms Ventos do Piauí, and we have already started the operation of 93 wind turbines of the project. I'm going to make more comments about the project along the presentation, and it will be ready on the schedule. We are also going to talk about the negotiations for the construction with our service suppliers and service providers of Jaíba V and Sol do Piauí, which will add 655 MW.
We are also going to talk about the investment we made in the startup Aquarela that will intensify our analytics and artificial intelligence. Very well, now moving on to Slide Six, we are going to discuss the energy market. Here we see what we have seen since the last month or since the beginning of the period of 2020. In 2020, in the beginning of 2020 and along the year 2021, we can observe one of the worst hydro crisis that Brazil faced. We have a deficit of 26 GW average in relation to the long term. Fortunately, as of October 2021, the scenario was reversed. Today, in the past, considering the last 12 months, we have reached about 1 GW average GW in relation to the long-term average.
That represents a very significant recovery from the viewpoint of the hydro energy in the system. In the last quarter, from June, July to September, we observed that there was deficits of 8 GW average , representing 21% of LTA, but nothing compared to what we observed in the same quarter of last year when we had a higher deficit. With this, as we said, in relation to the hydro energy there has been a recovery which was very significant. All the scenario helped the recovery of the reservoir's level. In May, we observed 2022, the highest level of storage capacity. In the last 10 years, we reached 75% of the storage level in the aggregate and manner. This is a number that hasn't been seen since 2011 when we reached 89% of storage level.
Fortunately, we saw a recovery which was very significant of the energy situation for the system. In the following slide, we are going to discuss. On Slide Seven, we are going to talk about regulations. In the last month, ANEEL approved a resolution related to the public hearing 39, related to the review and the calculation of the TUST, which is the transmission tariff. There has been a change that established that we would review the local signal of the transmission of the system. We'd like to remind you before talking about the effects of those changes, since we consider the transmission tariffs with the generators. Since 2013, all the generator tariffs were stabilized for a period of 10 years. The generators in the free market had a stabilization for 10 years, and this was applicable up to now.
The generator companies had the tariffs, had their, the stabilization for the period of the grant. We no longer have the stabilization. The locational tariff has a higher weight in the calculation of the tariff for the distribution purposes. We are going to have a transition period during this process, and this is going to start just now when we are going to calculate the methodology, and we will consider both the old and the new methodologies. At 10% a year until we come to a combination of 50% of the tariff using the new methodology and 50% using the previous methodology. This will happen in July 2027.
In order to avoid a higher volatility, this would consider a range of more or less 5%, so that no major variations can happen during those five years until the permanent period is reached in 2027. From the viewpoint of Auren, on the right, we can see all the assets that have those transmission tariff already calculated, and the impact is going to be very minor for the time because of the reasons we place on that table. Porto Primavera is stabilized until 2029, so the tariff was recalculated and stabilized after SAP has been nationalized. Ventos do Piauí I and II and Ventos do Araripe have the tariff also established during the grant period as well. VDP sells energy in the free market, but the tariff was defined last year, so it also has a stabilization for 10 years.
Our assets where we have some stake in a consortium, they have their tariff also established in 2030, and they will end in 2023. As we can see in the map, when we see the comparison between the weight of the locational signal according to the methodology, we see that the assets are regions where the locational signal is going to have a lower weight. There will be some sort of neutrality and a reduction in the tariff cost according to the new methodology. We wanted to show you this slide for you to learn and to provide you some context of to which degree this methodology will affect the results of Auren, and we can see that the impact is going to be very minor.
Talking about operating performance on Slide Nine, when we also address the energy scenarios, fortunately, we have a very important recovery in the hydro generation for the quarter. Generation was 11.4% higher than when compared to the previous quarter of last year. GSF was 75% versus 51%. That was observed in the third quarter of 2021, and there was a positive impact in the cost of purchase of energy for us to level the impact of GSF. There was a reduction of 30% in the cost of the purchase of energy for the hydro assets. Okay? On the following slide, we see the generation of the wind farm, as we mentioned before, for the quarter, and we can see the details by asset, Ventos do Piauí I, Ventos do Piauí II and III, and Ventos do Araripe III.
In year to date, the generation of the asset was 5.9% higher than above the P90, which is the certification of those parks, and about 2% below the P50. These numbers are very close to what we observed year to date. It was 5% above the P90 and 5% below the P50. We had a reduction of generation in September where we observed an impact below average, but was partially offset by a higher generation in June, and very close to P50 in August. On the following slide, we show the inauguration of our portfolio for trading energy. We traded up to 2024 about 3.1 MW average , and this year we are selling 3.4 GW average . Nine percent is the level of contracting of this portfolio up to 2026.
Up to 2032, the contracting level is 65%. Okay. In the short term, the contracting level is very expressive considering the amount of energy that we have at our company, which is composed by the physical guarantee that we have with the assets. This is in addition to the share of the physical guarantee that Auren has in the assets where it has a stake in the consortium. We reached more than 700 customers in our portfolio. An important information about this quarter is that we traded more than 5 million I-REC, and more than 200,000 tons of carbons, which is initiative of our trader. We see lots of opportunities going ahead in the market, and this market has been growing a lot in order to fight climate change.
On the following slide, we are going to start talking about financial performance. Now I'll turn the call over to Mario so that he can discuss our financial performance.
Thank you, Fábio. On page 13, we have a highlight of the revenue and EBITDA. For the quarter, we ended with a net revenue of BRL 1.539 billion. There was a drop in our revenue that does not reflect the drop in margin. We had an increase in the margin. This drop has to do with the average prices of the market, even though there has been a significant increase in our margins.
Now, talking about EBITDA on the right, as Fábio mentioned in the opening remarks, we ended the third quarter 2022 with an EBITDA of BRL 498 million and an EBITDA margin of 32.4%. It's quite significant for us. In relation to this third quarter, I would say that the first aspect to be mentioned is that with the overcoming the hydro crisis, and as Fábio mentioned before, and with the convergence of the reservoirs, you know, which are getting closer to the long-term average, we had an adjustment of the energy price in the short and medium term, so we had a reduction in the energy cost. This favored our business as to the cost of energy when we purchase in order to level our energy balance.
This cost dropped to 39%, as we mentioned before, and it has a very important impact on the EBITDA of this quarter. In addition, we'd like to mention that with the partial operation of Ventos do Piauí II and III, we see that is a ramp up that's going to be completed in November, but in the third quarter, it has already caused a very good impact of saves of energy in the free market and also, in the test process as to the spot prices, and this was very important to the EBITDA. In addition to Ventos do Piauí III, that started operating at full capacity after the problems we had last year. The wind segment in the third quarter of 2022 contributed with BRL 90 million in addition to what we had in the third quarter of last year.
It's a natural effect on the margins because, as a result of the correction of the agreement. Moving on to page 14, we can see the highlights of capital structure and cash flow. We ended the quarter on September 3rd with a net debt of BRL 2.7 billion, a gross of BRL 5.7 billion, and the leverage is 1.7 net debt over adjusted EBITDA. Our gross debt profile can be observed in this pie chart. 40% account for debentures. Above all, infrastructure debentures and 52% are related to BNDES proceedings for the long term. The amortization schedule can be seen on the right at the top, and our cash position is at BRL 3.1 billion, and no pressure whatsoever on the medium shorter terms in terms of maturity date.
We have an average term of debt of seven years, and we continue with the process of extending the debt. As to the cash flow, here we show the numbers year to date. The first nine months of the year, because I think there's more complete information as of the adjusted EBITDA of nine months. We had a cash conversion ratio of 67%. In other words, the cash, the operating cash flow, including debt service, debt interest, was BRL 846 million. Therefore, 67% of the EBITDA of the period. Based on this operating cash, we see what was invested as CapEx. Also relating in relation to payment of litigation, funding and amortization of BRL 842 million that were raised in the quarter that has to do with Ventos do Piauí.
In addition to the capital increase by the controlling shareholder. In this quarter, as Fabio mentioned, we used BRL 306 million for the migration of the participants of Investprev related to the pension fund of Investprev. I'll turn the call back to Fabio so that we can move on with our presentation.
Thank you, Mario. Let's move on to the growth strategy on Slide 16. We have already mentioned our assets, Ventos do Piauí II and III, and we see the budget and the schedule. In the next quarter, when we talk about the closing of the year, we are going to talk about Ventos do Piauí II and III in full operation, planned to happen in November.
This was a project that was funded by BNDES, BRL 1.6 billion, that will be paid in 24 years at a very competitive rate. 70% of the energy has been sold up to 2032. As we have mentioned, 90% of the turbines are already in operation. The performance is very interesting of those turbines and the assets, which is very close to P50 and sometimes even above the P50 in the first months of operation. In the next slide, we're going to continue talking about growth. Jaíba V and Sol do Piauí are the assets that we announced in the last quarter.
I would like to say that when we announced the operation of those projects, and it was approved with a CapEx of BRL 2 billion, this was the market estimate that we had raised at the time before approving the project. We are in the final phase of negotiation and acquisition of equipment and services for the installation. We are also maintaining this estimated CapEx, so which is all very much in line with what we had estimated. There are no surprises in the construction of those two assets. The news is that we have already hired for Sol do Piauí nearly all the fund for the project. 75% of the BRL 255 million of investment have already been funded by BNDES at the rate of IPCA + 3.65% per year.
For Jaíba V, we have already hired the funding with BNDES. Both funds have a term of 24 years. On the following page, we are going to talk about our investments in asset-light. In the past few months, we acquired the share in Aquarela. Aquarela is a startup using artificial intelligence, not only in energy, but also used for agribusiness, education, oil and gas, and aerospace projects. Aquarela has been taking part in Auren's portfolio to help us to optimize our business of trading, and especially to help us go deeper into our knowledge of the behavior and the profile of consumers in the free market. We understand with the market opening, it's essential that we should know the profile of consumers ever more deeply and, in a quick way based on technology, so that we can be successful in this new scenario.
Of course, in addition to Aquarela, in this partnership, Auren also contributes with our knowledge to Aquarela in the development of their new products that will help not only Auren, but other products and services based on analytics and artificial intelligence that can be used in other agents and also to consumers in the sector. Okay. Very well then. Our next item is the socio-environmental performance and something that I'm very pleased to discuss. On Slide 20, we can see, as always, the socio-environmental projects of which Auren participate. This is a project that makes us especially proud of. This is related to strong women and this is a project we developed in Serra do Inácio, together with BNDES and Instituto Votorantim. This is for the development of income and entrepreneurship in the areas.
We provide the technical support to the communities where we operate in order to encourage production chains and also to qualify and train entrepreneurs that operate with us in the regions where we have energy production. We started this project in 2017, and we were very happy with how it progressed. We have some photographs of those entrepreneurs, and they have worked with us in the region. Very well for the closing remarks. Okay, let's move on now to Slide 22. For the final remarks, we show the highlights for the quarter, what has been happening along the year, and we also like to talk about our management in the energy balance. We made a decision right in the beginning of this year to hire 25% of the resources of energy.
We maintain a high level of contracting so as to mitigate any risks that the company can run. We have seen betterment in the energy conditions. Another highlight is that we created an ecosystem for trading. Now with Aquarela helping us in our portfolio, we continue working in order to increase the capillarity of Auren in the market. Another important highlight that we announced in the prior release is the wind project, Serra de Ibiapaba of Auren. If you know what we are talking about, as we announced last year. When we announced the construction of Auren, we also announced that we would have a partnership with our controlling companies, with CPP and Votorantim, with initiative to have early-stage projects related to energy transmission. In the consolidation project, this asset was acquired by the old VTRM.
That was CPP and Votorantim project. Ibiapaba was a project that would be connected to this initiative because this project was still in the development project. It's still in the project of obtaining grant and the permitting. Along the time, it so happened that this project progressed quickly, and now it has a level of maturity that is according to the strategy of Auren. With this, the decision was to maintain the project that now incorporates our greenfield initiatives in portfolio for generation that we announced as 1.9 GW. We also added this asset, which is 380 full capacity project.
We would also like to talk about the increase of 25% of current physical guarantee after the conclusion of Ventos do Piauí II and III, Jaíba V , and Sol do Piauí. The physical guarantee has increased, and in terms of power, it would account for 36%. Lastly, we continue with the capital structure, which is very solid for the company's growth, and we reiterate our discipline and focus on adding value. We continue looking for opportunities also for inorganic growth, and the team is very enthusiastic to use and allocate the cash at levels of return and risk compliant with the expectations of our shareholders. This is what we had to present to you, and we are now going to open the Q&A session. Thank you.
We are now going to start the Q&A session for investors and analysts. If you wish to ask a question, please press Reaction, wait, and then click on Raise Hand. If your question is answered, lower your hand. Our first question comes from Antonio Junqueira from Citi. You may proceed, sir.
Good morning, everyone. Can you hear me?
Okay.
I have the question. The first one is related to the crisis that we went through. We prepared for a more difficult scenario for this year. Of course, this involved costs in the quarter. Could you estimate how much better could be the EBITDA? If the company hadn't had a hedge for this year. The second question, when we look at the release of results of the second quarter and compare to the third quarter, we see that there is a small decontracting level about at 20 MW-25 MW average . Or from 65 MW to. There is a small level in relation to the level of contracting that was applied for the previous period. Thank you.
Junqueira, thank you for the question. We have to make some calculations in relation to the average price, but it's a bit more difficult to get to an accurate value. Now, right now I'm looking at the consolidated amounts.
Our contracting level as a whole has a unified management considering all the assets of Auren, regardless of how the decision was made last year when the assets all had independent management. This is the detail. Now talking about the predictability for this year, we'd like to say that the decision made for contracting energy in order to level the hydrological risk for this year was a decision made back then based on the best risk methodologies and when we observe a higher level. Yes, the decision was quite correct. I just wanted to know the numbers. I'm not questioning the decision. We are well-aligned. We could have different assumptions because the company has been consolidated. If the company was consolidated back then, it would have been easier.
We can try to make the calculations, and then I will ask the IR team to send you the calculation. We would have to elaborate on the answer because we're not only talking about the price of the energy. Okay.
Okay, adjustment. In the balance, you mentioned about 30 MW average of adjustment.
In the balance in relation to what we had in the past. This is the calculation of the trader. This is according to the adjustments of the commercialization activity. I don't know the accurate number in detail, but we can have the net of the agreement also because of the consolidation. Remember that now we are making the consolidation of the trader. It's like a merge of Votorantim Energia in the past and the AES. We're now creating the Auren trader.
In this consolidation process, we made some agreements. There was also, we have to evaluate some eliminations according to the agreements of some companies. There were some adjustments. There were agreement of SAS, which is our energy that. Now it doesn't make too much sense as we consolidate the structure, so we can detect the detail of when each thing happened. This is the effect in all the consolidation that is happening now. Yes, it's a very marginal change. By the way, I mentioned the year wrong because I should have said 2024.
I can see the aggregate number even increased. Okay, but thank you.
Our next question comes from Carolina Carneiro with Credit Suisse. You may proceed, ma'am.
Hello. Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Yes, Carol.
Thank you for the opportunity for the call. I have two questions. I would like to go back about the energy balance. Talking about the new agreements that you made comparing the energy balance that we used to have, which is much more complete, and the release that you published, we had a feeling that some agreements were closed with 42 MW- 43 MW average versus the previous energy balance. Was there a negotiation of new agreements? If so, what would be the term so that we can have an idea of the price levels of those pro questions. Another question would also go back to the trader company. It would be useful if you could share the information with us. Obviously, the MTM helped the market to market.
As you mentioned, Fábio, when we swap a contract from SAS to a single platform for the trading of your company. This is just for us to have more clarity so that you can disclose any information for the future quarters, if there's anything that is about to happen, if there's anything missing. We understand that mark-to-market is something that is difficult to anticipate because it depends on the price curve specification. I would like to understand whether there's still adjustment between the companies and the allocation of the agreements in a single vehicle, or if everything has been included in this quarter. Thank you.
Okay, Carol. Yes, we made new agreements. We executed new agreements in this quarter. Now, about prices. Since we had already closed the balance of Auren, those prices were very aligned with what we observe in the market now. We are using the volatility windows and in order to do the closing. Everything's aligned with the market price that we have been observing now. It's within the margins levels of commercialization. The terms of three and four years, as we have done in the other activities. This is aligned with our strategy. We see that we can add more value with that when we have those trading activities. MTM had its highest adjustment now, and this was a result of the consolidation of two traders, and there are other details involved in the process.
As I mentioned in the answer I gave to Junqueira, for the next quarter, we estimate that if there's any adjustments of MTM, it will be at about 15%, a marginal change. We do not expect anything major in terms of MTM, and we are going to get into the natural process of making adjustments according to the spot market price. If the company adopts a different position, you would also. In that case, we would enter into the permanent regime, normal activities. This month it was different because of the consolidation.
Okay, thank you.
Our next question comes from Luiza Candiota with Itaú BBA.
Can you hear me?
Yes, Luiza, go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity of asking question. My question is more related to the growth strategy. I would like to understand if your idea is to continue growing in renewables via M&A or developing the greenfield pipelines, or does the company have plans to get into the transmission segment if you are analyzing the next auctions, especially in 2023. I would like to know if you analyze the EDP Renováveis that were sold to Copel recently.
Our idea is to continue growing with renewables. Greenfield is a little bit of our tradition since Votorantim, and we have 1.9 GW to be constructed. In fact, it's greenfield and also inorganic growth by means of acquisition. Mario Bertoncini and Joaquim Spinola's team have been working on this, identifying growth opportunities so that we can go to the inorganic dimension.
We had the opportunities to take part of CEEE-G, and we were not winners in the auction, but we showed interest for the company to grow inorganically. We did not take part in the process of the sale of EDP. In relation to transmission segment, we understand it's a very interesting asset for the company. According to our strategy, it would make sense to have them considering the characteristics of the asset. Obvious, we are going to be looking at a return that would make sense to the company. You know that generation has a higher return than transmission, but if we spot an asset that would be aligned with the return that we're expecting, so it would of course be an asset that would make sense to the company.
We're still evaluating whether or not we are going to take part in the auctions next year. We haven't made a final decision as yet.
Okay, thank you.
Our next question comes from Henrique Peretti with JP Morgan.
Hello, good morning. I have a question about the Três Irmãos asset. We heard along the third quarter that there was a possibility of excluding the payment of the compensation. I'd like you to give an update on this aspect and if there are any negotiations outstanding with the government, if there is a change in leadership of the government, the Minister of Mines and Energy. So how would you go? Would you have to start from scratch, or is there anything more advanced in this process?
Thank you for the question. This is a recurring question that we've received in the company. I hope you can understand as I give the answer.
We do not make any comments in relation to any event related to Três Irmãos except for the case we have in the court. We do not make any comments because the topic is very sensitive. The amount is very significant, and any opinion that the company would give about this topic would provide a guidance or could generate expectations. We do not want to generate any expectations that could be frustrated over time. We have proposals because this is a topic that the company discusses every week, and this is one of the priorities of the company. It will always be a priority for the company to find a solution for the asset claimed amounts and the lawsuit.
The way it's being updating or is being progressing, we are not going to disclose any detail, and I will count on your understanding since this is a very complex and sensitive topic. We are not going to give any official opinion about it. Okay?
No, of course, I understand. Thank you.
Our next question comes from André Sampaio with Santander.
Good morning, everyone. I have a question, a quick question about the physical guarantee review. I know that the process has started, but hasn't been completed yet. What are your expectations of what will happen after the process is completed? And what have you heard from the association so that we can understand the potential of implementing the physical guarantees? Thank you.
André, I'm going to talk a little bit about the experience that we had in relation to the sector.
The process is well-defined. The discussion is about the critical period. I understand this has advanced in relation to the previous months, and I understand that potential. Well, I don't think this is going to take the legal aspect. In relation to the new critical period definition, I, myself, I'm speaking on my behalf and from my knowledge of the sector, I do not believe this is so clear and so accurate, the decision that we see at this moment. I understand this is one of the worst hydrological period of the sector, but it's difficult to define what's a critical period from the technical viewpoint. I think the closing of the critical period, we should say that it started in 10 or 12, and it goes on up to now.
It's difficult to establish this because we say, "When will the critical period end?" We're still in 2022. Maybe with the higher inflows of 2022, maybe we can define that was the worst period that we had in our history. I think it's difficult to compare the original critical period of the sector that is being established for the definition of the physical guarantee and the definition of the new critical period. I believe that this is a topic that, as I see it has been considered in relation to other periods. From the technical viewpoint, to make a physical guarantee when the physical guarantee is higher than we had established, this wouldn't make sense considering what we have seen in the past years in relation to hydrological mismatch.
I believe there has to be adjustment. I think fiscal guarantees need to be reestablished. I do not see any technical sense to increase the fiscal guarantee in the system considering the generation that we have seen in the country lately.
Okay. Perfect, Fábio. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Mr. Daniel Travitzky with Safra.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you, Daniel.
What about capital allocation? The company has a level of leverage which is very comfortable. We see that there are opportunities in the market for inorganic growth. If you do not find or if you're not successful in the allocation of the capital in the market, what would you do in the fourth quarter in terms of dividend distribution? Thank you.
Okay, Daniel, thank you for the question. This is a topic people ask a lot about in relation to the moment and the capital structure, which is not ideal, and the cash level and the payment of dividends. What's your position in relation to this topic? We structured Auren for growth. The capital structure is very compliant with our aim to make the company grow. Of course, we have already said that we are not going to grow at any cost. We are going to have a lot of discipline during the growth and according to the return that are expected by our shareholders. If this does not happen in a certain period of time, I'm not saying that this is going to happen next year. I do not believe it's gonna be immediate. The company's management will propose to the board an alternative on how to use this cash.
We have to test the market opportunities. We have some time to test all the opportunities offered in the market. As we saw in March of this year. We have been doing this for six months. It's a very short time to have a good allocation in order to add value for growth. As we collect the new opportunities, and I believe that this, we are going to be very successful in our inorganic growth. However, if we are not, and since we are going to collect experience along the process, it makes sense for the management to propose to the board something related to the dividends. It would make sense to distribute high level of dividends, and then along the way, the company wouldn't have resources to have an acquisition as an opportunity along the way.
This is how we see this process. I would like to ask Mario if he has anything to add.
Yes, it's well put. It's exactly that. I have nothing to add.
Okay, nice. Could I ask a follow-up question? You talked about crazy amounts. You wouldn't like to disclose any expectation in relation to timing or anything related to this topic? As to the allocation, could we think about bringing forward this discussion to allocate the resources or the amounts?
In a hypothetical situation, if this occurs, we will have to evaluate. The management will have an analysis, and we'll submit to the board on how we are going to use those proceeds. We still do not have the scenario materialized, and we haven't received any significant amount, so we haven't even started the conversation in order to decide how to allocate the possible resources.
If the amount is very high, it would make sense to evaluate how it's gonna be used, that would not necessarily be related to growth. We would have to analyze the market expectation and the leverage level, and considering all those items, all those elements, if the cash level is very high, we would start a discussion with the board so as to include the payment of a dividend in addition to the ones that are planned for the day. We still haven't discussed it, and we haven't made any decisions related to this topic.
Excellent. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
The Q&A session has come to an end. We would like to turn the call back to Fabio for him to make the final remarks.
Thank you very much for taking part in this results call. It's an honor to have you here with us discussing the company's business. I think this quarter was very important quarter for us. We reinforce our commitment to add consistent value. We have good figures with good expectations for growth, especially with related to the assets we have developed and also related to our trading activities. I would like to thank you all, and I hope to see you again next year as we close the year 2022. Thank you, and have a good day, everyone.
This conference call has come to an end. We would like to thank everybody's attendance and have a good day.