[Foreign language]
Good morning, and welcome to Camil Alimentos video conference to discuss the results for the first quarter, 2022. Present here today are Mr. Luciano Quartiero, Director and President, and Mr. Flavio Vargas, CFO and IR Officer, and the company's investor relations team. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded, and during the company's presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. At the end, we will open for questions from analysts and investors. We would like to emphasize that any forward-looking statement that might be made during this conference call are related to Camil's business outlook, projections, and financial and operating goals that are beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as information currently available. These may involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur.
Investors may understand that such general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may lead to results that differ substantially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. We will start the presentation with Mr. Quartiero, followed by Flavio's presentation, and at the end, we will open for a 15-minute Q&A. Thank you. Mr. Luciano, you may proceed.
[Foreign language]
Welcome to Camil. Camil's comments on the results of the first quarter of 2022. We started fiscal year 2022 showcasing our positioning as a Brazilian multinational company with one of the most comprehensive product platforms and leading brands in the Latin American food market. The results for this quarter show the strength of our brands and business model, with growth supported by profitability, agility, and synergies resulting from the integration of acquisitions to our portfolio.
We reached an EBITDA of BRL 245 million with a margin of 10.2%. This reinforces our growth with profitability and represents the return to the historical levels of double-digit margins for the company. We concluded the integration of the four M&As carried out last semester with agility and good performance, entering in three new categories, pasta, coffee, and healthy products, and also into a new country in Latin America. In addition, the result is the first one to report the launch of Café União brand and our entry into the category with the reactivation of a brand that was once a market leader in the coffee segment in Brazil. Our profitability is also the result of a defensive business model and brands that are highly recognized by consumers.
Even in a challenging macroeconomic scenario for some of the countries where we operate in Latin America, we continue to pass on prices and maintaining assertive commercial strategies. As a result, we managed to improve profitability and increase sales of leading brands with a price premium in the market, such as the Camil brand, which is a leading brand in grains in Brazil. Now moving to the operating results. The highlight of the quarter was the sequential sales increase of our main categories, and also the annual growth we experienced in Uruguay, in addition to the entry into new categories in Brazil. If we look at it by categories and beginning the analysis with the grains market, in rice, we posted a sequential volume growth of 1.4%.
In an annual comparison, we had a strong base of volumes and prices in Q1 2021 due to the second wave of COVID-19, which was down from the previous year. However, year-on-year, the highlight of the category is the growth in sales of the Camil brand, which partially offset the drop in sales of lower pricing brands. Furthermore, regardless of the strong base price base of 2021, it is worth noting that rice prices in the market remained at high levels, and today it trades above BRL 73 recorded in the quarter. In beans, we posted 6% sales growth year-on-year, and 2% sequential growth. Annually, our net prices in the period were up 17% due to the gradual rebound in profitability and increased sales from the Camil brand. Sugar, there was a decline in sales when compared to the strong base of Q1 2021.
However, it's worth mentioning the sequential recovery after the stockout of sales in the fourth quarter, leading to a 16% increase in sales volume, in addition to price increases above 25% in the period. As for fish, volumes were impacted by the lower availability of sardines in the period and difficulties in local and imported raw material origination. This result was partially compensated by additional sales efforts in the tuna category, which posted sales growth and profitability resulting from price adjustments and a better sales mix. Net price was up 19% in the quarter. On slide nine, we show you the performance of the new categories in Brazil.
In pasta, we highlight the acquisition of Santa Amália, the fourth largest company in the pasta segment in the country, with leadership in the state of Minas Gerais, with over 40% of the pasta market share in the region. We had a quarter with sequential growth in volumes, reaching more than 25,000 tons of sales in the quarter, in a scenario where prices were passed on to the market, which yielded good results in terms of profitability in the period. Besides pasta, the quarter posted the first result of the company's coffee business. We entered the category at the end of March 2022, reaching volumes in this first quarter, volumes close to 2,000 tons and net coffee prices of BRL 25 /kg .
Our current operation in Varginha, in the state of Minas Gerais, one of the main coffee producing regions in the country, is capable of producing close to 36,000 tons per year. We are expanding this capacity to reach 60,000 tons later this year to ensure product availability and sales volumes. In the international segment, volume grew 44%, driven by sales growth in Uruguay, with greater availability of rice for exports in the year, already reflected in Q1 2022 sales. In Peru, the sales volume of packaged rice and profitability continue to be pressured by the country's political and economic environment. In Chile, we had a year-on-year reduction due to the political landscape and the impact of the country's inflationary hike. However, showing an improvement in the country's sequential volume growth.
In Ecuador, we experienced our second quarter of consolidation for the group, still focusing on actions to improve efficiency and commercial structure. In Uruguay, we dealt with the integration of Silcom in the domestic market. It's a company focused on sales to the local market of a portfolio containing several healthy products. Both will allow the company to evaluate and implement efficiency and commercial actions, as well as we will gain more knowledge about a new category, which is that of healthy products. The profitability of the period and agile integration of the acquisitions were among the major achievements of the period. We have made important expansionary moves in 2021 and believe that our extensive and proven experience gained over the years in acquisition, integration, gives us a unique position to identify acquisitions and integrate them quickly into our business model, delivering scale and efficiency gains.
Now, to elaborate further on the financial performance of the quarter, I will give the floor to Flavio. Go ahead. You may proceed, Flavio.
[Foreign language]
Thank you, Luciano. Starting the analysis of the financial performance, our gross revenue reached an all-time high of BRL 2.7 billion in the quarter and a net revenue of BRL 2.4 billion. Revenue grew over 6%, driven by the entry of the company's new pasta and coffee businesses in Brazil, and also the growth in market prices for beans, sugar, and fish. In international, revenue was driven by the entry of the new acquisitions, Ecuador and Silcom in Uruguay, and by increased sales volume in Uruguay. COGS also grew as a result of prices and the entry into the new categories. SG&A grew 21%, representing 15% of net revenue.
The growth came from the increase of SG&A Brazil, attributed to the entry in the pasta category with Santa Amália in Brazil, with a good performance, and also the increase in freight and commission expenses in the period. It's worth noting that we achieved synergies in logistics, commercial, and other SG&A fronts amounting to about BRL 25 million in synergies in the year. In the international side, SG&A also increased with the entry into the Ecuadorian rice market with the acquisition of Dajahu and the acquisition of Silcom in Uruguay. Additionally, we had a substantial increase in sales volume in the period in Uruguay.
Taking all of these factors into account, EBITDA for the quarter was BRL 245 million, up by 33% with a margin of 10.2%, an increase in profitability and the return to historical levels of the company's margins, as already highlighted by Luciano. The company's total debt reached BRL 3.4 billion, up 32% due to the new funding to cope with the recently announced acquisitions. Sequentially, we also registered an increase due to the working capital seasonality. Net debt over EBITDA for the last 12 months was 2.4 x at the end of the period. Even considering the four acquisitions made last year, the company is still leveraged with enough room to meet its commitments and proceed with its growth strategy.
CapEx for the period totaled BRL 29 million, with investment in maintenance and postponement of the company's expansion projects in view of the new interest rate level in the market. We highlight that we canceled 10 million treasury stocks in the period after the beginning of our new current buyback program, which is the seventh since the IPO. We have 360 million shares in total and are currently repurchasing up to 10 million shares within the next 12 months. Finally, I would like to highlight that we have published our sustainability report based on the GRI guidelines, SASB, and principles of the World Economic Forum and the UN Global Compact. We have aligned our ESG actions to the strategic pillars disclosed to the market during the last Camil Day about purpose and people, quality and sales, and efficiency and growth.
Thus, we have initiatives in the report that are consistent with Camil's business plan for the coming years and in line with our commitment to carry out actions that are effective in our surroundings. For this year, our ESG agenda included our materiality matrix, which involved consultations sent to more than 3,000 stakeholders covering all the countries in which we operate. In addition to the environmental and social indicators published in June 2022, in an assembly meeting, we voted on the new slate for the board of directors, which includes 67% of independent members and also new female board members. We believe that this move increases diversity and supports the effectiveness of the board in terms of our strategic direction for the next coming years.
To conclude, we are committed to move forward and exploit actions to increase the return to our shareholders, and at the same time, we will continue to make progress towards increased efficiencies and quick integration of the acquisitions. We continue to evaluate new opportunities to expand based on our know-how and our distributed platform in Latin America. Now we will initiate the Q&A session in case you have comments or questions. Thank you very much.
[Foreign language]
Thank you. We will now initiate the Q&A session for investors and analysts. In case you have questions, please press the icon Raise Hand. Once your question is answered. If your question has been previously answered, you can remove yourself from the queue. In case you want to pose written questions, just use the Q&A icon. Please hold while we collect the questions. Our first question comes from Mr. Gustavo Troiano.
Your mic is on. You can proceed, sir.
[Foreign language]
Good morning, Flavio and Luciano. Thank you for taking my question. In fact, I have three questions. The first question is on coffee, considering that the ramp-up of the monthly volumes were down from April to May. I would like your view about sales in the second quarter and what could be expected in terms of sales volumes going forward, considering that you will, you know, expand further to 5,000 tons a month. You said something about until by the end of the year, but I just want to understand whether this quarter things will pick up or not, whether you will accelerate the company's plans. My second question is about profitability going forward. I mean, you already posted a double digit even with issues related to sardines and the Peru issues.
Would it be reasonable to assume that the margin would be higher than what we saw in the first quarter, even considering the fact that the ramp-up of new business could be an increment in margin vis-à-vis the average margin of the company? Or you think that this improvement in profitability could be passed on over the prices so that the company can continue to grow? The second question relates to new M&As. Considering the recent drop in wheat, what are your current negotiations with the wheat segment of the market? Or maybe, you know, this may, you know, decelerate that process a little bit. Thank you.
[Foreign language]
Well, Gustavo, thank you for all of your questions, and good morning. Regarding coffee, the company was very cautious in the initial months in terms of the opening of sales.
We started with two states, state of São Paulo and Rio. We were just trying to feel the pace of the market and how was acceptance. As I mentioned during our last call, we said that customers were quite pleased with the product. Acceptance was very really good. We were, you know, having a very successful sales, and sales are growing as expected. I think the major concern was, I mean, start taking capacity and then we wouldn't be able to supply the market as expected. We are moving very carefully and gradually. Now we're just beginning to enter into a new stage. Things are according to plan, excellent acceptance. You know, there has been a repurchase of the product, so everything is according to what was expected and in line with the growth sales of coffee.
The expansion plan, it should be concluded by November or December, and the idea is once we get there, our sales will increase month after month. I'm trying to refrain from giving you any further guidance on sales. Your question on profitability, I'll just give you a more generic answer because, again, we don't give any guidance. The company was very much focused on resuming our profitability levels of the past. I mean, then we reached that goal this quarter. In the mid and long run, we want to achieve a profitability level that is beyond our historical levels in view of the new categories and other operations outside Brazil. Therefore, the company is on the right track. I think that as you all know, this is another challenging year. You know, it is just like the two previous years.
I mean, we have sales coming in the next few months, and I think this will help retail, and this will certainly be very favorable to our industry. Now, in terms of the M&As, this drop in wheat, we haven't felt that yet in the physical market. The company adopts a very good position for the next coming months. I mean, the season starts in the second week of September, and then we believe there might be some price impact. I mean, the futures market is changing, but at least for us in the physical market, these drops are not occurring. I mean, supply is still small, so we don't see any short-term impact. Our interest in terms of wheat still remains valid regardless of the price levels.
Well, we are already operating in the pasta segment, and Camil remains interested in entering into the other aspects of this chain. Flour is something that we are looking at. Biscuits, we are looking at as well. Therefore, the price of wheat is not an issue. Now, in terms of M&A, we are also looking at new countries. We are looking at new segments in the countries where we already operate. Therefore, you know, we still remain in the same path.
[Foreign language]
Thank you, Luciano.
[Foreign language]
For questions, please use the Raise Hand icon, or if you want to pose written questions, just use the Q&A icon. Our next question comes from Mr. Rodrigo D’almeida.
[Foreign language]
Good morning, Luciano. Good morning, Flavio, and the entire Camil team. I have two questions on my side.
I think, first of all, I think it's something that Luciano already talked about, but I would like to understand a little bit more about the consumer side. You talked about two categories. I mean, the transfer price that you're able to do in the last quarter and volumes are reacting positively as well. I just want to understand whether you felt any impact in terms of, you know, the aid from the government. I just want to understand how you see the landscape in the next quarters, considering the additional aid coming from the government in the coming months. Also, in regards to pasta, where do we find ourselves in terms of synergies? So you said something about BRL 25 million on an annual basis in the last quarter. So I just want to understand how this is already reflecting in your results.
[Foreign language]
Well, in terms of the consumption environment or the consumer environment, Rodrigo, we are able to grow in terms of our main brands. We refer to Camil's growth. We are very much committed to the execution. We have the opportunity to explore distribution of Santa Amália in Minas Gerais. This is something that we've done. Therefore, I think that we have many opportunities. We have managed to capture them despite the current landscape. I believe that if we get into a more extreme scenario that could eventually impact consumption, and if there is such an impact, it won't be very significant. In a more extreme scenario, I think Camil was able to grow due to the new areas that are yet to be exploited.
In terms of the government aid, I believe that not only, I mean, ourselves, but our segment as a whole, I mean, the retail should have a positive impact on sales. The topic of the purchasing power is something that has been constantly mentioned, and we've been focused on increasing competitiveness, having more efficiency, and I think that we are making important progress. Well, it's a challenging period, but the company is prepared to face any scenario. In terms of synergies and the way we are capturing the synergies, we already capture that BRL 25 million. We have some additional things to be captured, especially in terms of industrial efficiency, but this still takes some additional month until everything is totally captured due to necessary investments.
Therefore, in terms of pasta, the pasta segment, I mean, we started off in a very challenging scenario with the high prices of wheat, but the company is very pleased with the results posted so far. Integration was conducted in a very short period of time. We were able to integrate the systems and everything else. I mean, the speed by which we were able to capture all the synergies was really amazing and how much we are able to exploit from that commercial synergy and the growth we experienced this past quarter. I think this is very unique landscape with the war in Ukraine and issues with wheat. Despite the challenging scenario, the company had a very good performance, and we posted margins above what we expected.
This is a company that operates in multiple categories and the company overall is very pleased with the results.
[Foreign language]
Thank you. Thank you, Luciano.
[Foreign language]
As a reminder for questions, just use the Raise Hand icon. For questions in writing, please use the Q&A button. Our next question comes from Mr. Guilherme Palhares. Your microphone is on.
[Foreign language]
Good morning, Luciano, Flavio. Thank you for taking my questions. In fact, I have two questions. The first refers to CapEx, because it was quite low this quarter, so I just want to understand what would be the runway, what would be your maintenance CapEx from now on with all of the business already integrated in the company, and within this CapEx, looking into the expansion.
Just to recap in terms of what we have in the pipeline for this year, also including the thermoelectric project, whether this will happen this year or next year, and whether there has been any changes in the CapEx level in view of the current inflationary scenario? My second question is about fish. Well, about sardines. We've been talking about that for quite some time, so if you can tell us a little bit more about the sardine business, I would appreciate it.
[Foreign language]
Well, I will start with the sardine part, and then Flavio will talk about CapEx. In terms of supply, I mean, we faced a very challenging landscape in that regard. But in the past few weeks, it was significantly improved, and this has allowed us to increase our production.
The company has been very cautious, especially when we talk about supply, because, in fact, it's very unpredictable. In the past weeks, there has been an increase in domestic fishing, and also there was a significant improvement in the fishing market coming from Morocco. If things go on like they are now, we will be able to recover in the next coming quarters. Again, there are lots of uncertainties in the market, but we had many good news in recent weeks. CapEx now.
[Foreign language]
Guilherme, thank you for your question. I think in terms of CapEx, in this new scenario of higher interest rates, this has stirred up a lot of debate about which investments we will focus our attention to. When it comes to maintenance CapEx, it's around BRL 100 million-BRL 120 million. This is the pace.
Obviously, there is sometimes some discretionary choices. You do a little bit more of this or that, depending on the scenario and the return you expect. In terms of the expansion and in relation to that thermal plant, this is one of the projects that we did not stop or halt it or anything. It's a long-term project. I mean, you have to commit your funding way in advance. This in total would add up to BRL 150 million. This is maintained, and I think it should be operational around July of 2023. What we've been looking at, and this is more like a discretionary CapEx. In terms of pasta, CapEx will be about BRL 70 million, and this is an investment that will help us make improvements in the plant's efficiency.
This would also allow us to gain additional capacity with minor improvements to the current plant, but we're also looking at adding a new line so that we could increase our production further. This coffee CapEx. That will allow us to reach that 5,000 tons-6,000 tons a month of capacity. This will total an additional BRL 20 million . The bulk of the CapEx that we've been looking at, but in this kind of scenario, we decided to postpone, and this would be the CapEx to transfer our plant from Itaqui to Cambaí, which is in a nearby area. This is a larger CapEx of around BRL 250 million. Well, it will bring lots of benefits in terms of industrial efficiency, but in view of the current scenario, this investment is now on hold.
[Foreign language]
Perfect. It's very clear. Thank you very much.
[Foreign language]
Our next question comes from Mr. Pedro Fonseca.
[Foreign language]
Good morning. Good morning, Luciano and Flavio. Congrats on your results. I have two questions. The first is about this SG&A growth on the international segment, which was significant. My question is. Well, I mean, you said that that refers to entry into new markets and etc. Could you please throw some more light there so that I would know what is a one-off situation or the new level of SG&A, and what you see in terms of EBITDA recovery margin for the rest of the year? My other question refers to Uruguay. I think that we already noticed that it was coming strong, but with the recovery in Uruguay, do you think we could expect some positive surprises, or you're still sticking to the budget of around 15% for Uruguay? Thank you.
[Foreign language]
Well, starting with Uruguay, but the same thing applies, 15% because of the crop season, and it's a product that will be sold throughout the year. This is the outlook for growth. For Uruguay, this has been maintained. In terms of SG&A in the international segment, there are three major effects. We have the entry of Ecuador that in an year-on-year comparison that wasn't there before. We have the addition of Silcom in Uruguay because now they entered our numbers as of March first. This was the first quarter that recorded that operation. This volume coming from Uruguay also represents higher freight costs than that as part of their calculation, and that's why we arrived at that level.
Ecuador and Silcom, they take us to a different level, and that's why we have the impact of increased sales volume, and so this may have an impact going forward. These are probably the main explanations related to the international operation.
[Foreign language]
That's very good. Thank you.
[Foreign language]
For questions, just use the Q&A icon or use the Raise Hand icon. Next question came in writing from Mr. Jefferson Fringachi. Good morning. Could you please tell me what are your expansion plans in Latin America?
[Foreign language]
Jefferson, thank you very much for your question. The company's expansion plan, I mean, we are pursuing the same strategy. The company usually puts it very clearly that in Brazil, we want to work in categories of high turnover because the company learned how to operate well with sugar, fish.
You know, pasta, we're still learning, and the same thing goes for coffee. We are interested in operating in these categories in the countries where we are already present, Uruguay, Chile, and Ecuador. I mean, different timings, but we also want to be multi-categories in these countries. I also said that the company has this very old desire to get into Colombia. We see a lot of sense to operate in Colombia because they have an interesting consumption of rice. Whenever we get into a new country, we start with rice, and then we gradually introduce new categories. More recently, the company has put some efforts towards getting to learn more about countries in Central America. There is a new front that we are looking at, and so this is what the company is looking at when we look outside Brazil.
[Foreign language]
As a reminder for questions, just use the Raise Hand button or use the Q&A to post written questions. Our next question in writing came from Mr. Alexandre de Tovum. What is your current production capacity in the pasta segment, Santa Amália, and other expansion projects?
[Foreign language]
Our current capacity is close to 100,000 tons of pasta. Speaking about pasta, there are other products. The company is also looking at growing that capacity. We intend to grow that to reach more than 150,000 tons. This is the CapEx that was mentioned by Flavio. Briefly speaking, that's it.
[Foreign language]
For questions, again, just use the Raise Hand icon or the Q&A in case you want to post written questions. Our next question came from Mr. Mauro Santos. Expansion could come from other retailing partners that could also probably generate partnerships and SG&A reduction. If you could talk about freight and logistics, I would appreciate it.
[Foreign language]
I don't know if I understood your question, but the company has exploited partnerships in distribution. We look at all of the digital channels of our clients. We have partnerships with Rappi, with BEES from Ambev. I don't know whether I'm answering your question or not, but we are certainly looking at other sales channels. We are looking at possible partnerships. Therefore, we try to operate in different channels. Mauro, I'm sorry if I did not answer your question, but you can ask it again.
[Foreign language]
For questions, just use the Raise Hand button or the Q&A. Please hold while we collect more questions. Our next question from Mr. Sebastian Rickman: Could you please share views about your ESG targets going forward?
[Foreign language]
Sebastian, thank you so much for your question. ESG topic is something that is not only a very important part of the company, but this has been adopted across the board by many industry sectors. We made an important progress throughout the years because we managed to engage the entire company. There are more than 100 people today directly working with ESG in their different areas of expertise. This is a project that allowed us to turn the company around. That was a global project that involved not only the people from Brazil, but we were also able to engage people from all of the other geographies where we operate. We just published our new sustainability report. I mean, last year, we had already given the initial steps.
That was our report based on GRI. This year, we even increased and improved our transparency level with all of these new methodologies, SASB, GRI, and all of the principles of the World Economic Forum. The UN Global Compact allowed us to produce a very complete report, and we report all of our initiatives. Even going beyond that, we were able to relate how these initiatives relate to all of our stakeholders and how important they are for the company. Just to give you a highlight, in regards to governance, we made an important progress just by publishing our new report because we were able to build or to put together a committee of ESG and ethics. It's made out of some board members of the company because they help us with some strategic guidelines. We made important advances in terms of the independence of our board.
In our last general assembly in June, we have 67% of our board members are independent members. Now, we also have two women as part of our board of directors. For this new cycle in our last meeting, I mean, when we introduced our fiscal council, we also elected Maria Elena, a woman that is now presiding over our fiscal committee. All of that to say that we are making important progress towards strengthening the company's governance. In terms of the environmental aspect of ESG, what we have embraced is the topic of energy. Energy considering energy efficiency or the energy that we utilize in all of our operations because we focus on re-reducing energy consumption, and we have a major concern about using sustainable energy sources. Today, our consumption or more than 90% of all of the energy we consume comes from renewable energy sources.
We have projects both in Brazil and abroad to use the husk of the rice as a source of renewable energy. With that, we will give another step with the startup of the new plant. This will allow us to be self-sufficient in that regard in terms of production. All in all, to say that this also helps us to take care of the waste coming from rice. This also allows us to have more predictable costs because our energy cost is no longer depending on the local energy coming from the local market. This is not only important to the world, but it's also important to our business. Now focusing on the S of social from ESG, we're very much concerned with safety.
In the past years, we set up the goal of having zero incidents, and in Brazil, we managed to achieve a significant reduction in terms of lost time accidents, more than 23% in Latin America. That drop in Brazil was even more significant. We are also trying to work in projects that are in tune with our business. We have a project called Doce Futuro, or Sweet Future. We have online classes where we teach people to bake cakes, and most of the participants are women, so we are trying to empower women from the lower brackets of society. We are trying to help them to be more independent. This is good for society and also good for the company. We create more loyal consumers, people that can be ambassadors of our brand. They will advocate in favor of our products.
Therefore, I'm very happy with your question because, in fact, ESG is a very serious topic for us and very dear to us as well. We are constantly looking for projects that can add more value to our company. Now Luciano is just saying something important about ESG. Just to reinstate our commitment, nowadays, all of the officers of the company have to have a goal related to ESG. Some people have to achieve goals related to governance, some people have goals related to safety, energy efficiency. All of the goals have to be consistent with their day-to-day activities. We understood that this, in fact, could be a way to reinstate these values within the company.
[Foreign language]
For questions, just press the Raise Hand button, or if your question comes in writing, just post it in the Q&A icon. Next question from Rodrigo D’almeida. Your microphone is on.
[Foreign language]
Go ahead. Good morning again. I just have a follow-up question about your working capital. What could we think in terms of working capital going forward? In the first quarter, there is always that impact of the rebound of sugar. There was the issue in Uruguay. Everything was pretty much expected. But I just wanna understand the trend going forward when we look at the business that is ramping up right now in coffee and pasta. If you need to have any additional investment in terms of working capital, how does that work? I just want to understand the trend going forward for working capital.
[Foreign language]
Okay, Rodrigo, as you noted well, we have working capital seasonality.
The first quarter has a demand very much related to the crop season, not only the sugar season, but rice in Uruguay, rice in Chile, and a little bit in Brazil as well. That peak comes in June and July, and then things go back to normal. Therefore, we are moving along an expected curve. I think in the first quarter of last year, working capital was around 35 days, and today it's now, at the end of the quarter, is 39 days. Therefore, it's pretty much in line with the previous years. Well, when we calculate the number of days and we look at our sales from the past 12 months, we are not contemplating a full year with all of the acquired companies. Maybe that's why we see this minor difference in terms of days.
We do not expect any additional need for additional working capital in terms of pasta. In coffee, maybe we will need some additional working capital with the expected sales growth coming from that segment. But all in all, everything is business as usual. It's as expected. We are reaching a peak, and now it will start to go down.
[Foreign language]
Okay, thank you very much.
[Foreign language]
Next question from Mr. André Sanson.
[Foreign language]
Good morning. The company has focused on decreasing working capital. Is there any number of days as a target? And if yes, can you tell us what are you doing to improve these metrics? Thank you.
[Foreign language]
Thank you for your question. Obviously, I mean, as a company, we try to address all of the financial aspects. As Luciano said, our working capital has a significant seasonality in the first quarter.
We have to follow, you know, a business cycle. In the second half of the year, we release more. We are constantly looking for further efficiencies, but we do not disclose our internal targets. We try to be very disciplined. In fact, we only materialize actions that can reduce working capital because this impacts price and costs. Because sometimes people improve their working capital, but on the other hand, you pay a price on the cost side. We are constantly looking at all of the initiatives that we can implement to improve our management without having any impact on our bottom line.
[Foreign language]
For questions, just press the Raise Hand button. If your question comes in writing, just use the Q&A button. Our next question is from Luiz Eduardo Martins.
[Foreign language]
Good morning. The expansion for Latin America in terms of M&A, would it be more in terms of rice or wheat, like biscuits or pasta? Thank you.
[Foreign language]
Luiz, thanks for your question. Usually, at least up to now, in all the countries we entered, we usually entered with rice because we have a lot of knowledge about that segment. Then in the second moment, we look at new categories like we're doing in Brazil. I think that, you know, to answer your question, are we looking for opportunities in the wheat chain in the countries where we operate? Yes. As we are also trying to get more knowledge about coffee, but we are also always looking at fish. We are interested in introducing new categories in the countries where we are already in.
[Foreign language]
Again, for questions, use the Q&A button or the Raise Hand button if your question is out loud. Wait while we collect more questions. As there are no further questions, the Q&A session and this video conference is now concluded. Thank you very much for joining us and have a great day.