Earnings Call: Q3 2021

Jan 8, 2021

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the question and answer session for investors and analysts related to Camilo's results in the Q3 of 2020. With us today are Mr. Luciano Quartier, Director of President Flavio Vargas, CFO and IRO and the company's Investor Relations team. This audio is being presented simultaneously in the Investor Relations website of the company. Companies from the management about the quarter and the Q and A session and may contain forward looking statements related to future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties and therefore may lead to expectations that may or may not occur or that differs substantially from what was expected. We will now initiate the question and answer session with the comments from the management on the quarter. That will last 20 minutes. And right after that, we will proceed with the Q and A session. Thank you. Welcome to the management's comments on the results. Before speaking about the results of the period, I would like to highlight the results of the period. Before talking about the results of the period, I would like to stress that the effects of the global crisis caused by COVID-nineteen are still present. This year in Brazil and the world over, we will continue to experience one of the most challenging scenarios ever due to the effects of the pandemic. In 60 years of history, this is an unprecedented moment in our business, and we are aware of Camille's The continuity of our operations and the company's liquidity position, maintaining these three pillars very active and coordinated, constantly monitoring the actions in place up to now. Also, we strengthened our contributions to fight the impacts of COVID-nineteen in the communities We operate by acquiring equipment and supplies for the healthcare units of the municipalities where we make production units. Moreover, we distributed over 1,000,000 BRLs and 2.30 tons of products to the most vulnerable communities. As for the results in the period, in the Q3, we continue to face high raw material prices in Brazil, especially in the rice category, and it has been to acquire sardines in the fish category, posing an even greater challenge in terms of volume and supplies. Since the beginning of the period, we have been acting in a coordinated fashion in our value chain to prevent lack of Food on the table of Brazilians and in the other regions where we operate. Our management efforts in the last past quarters focused on increasing our inventory levels of inputs and finished products by readjusting our organization in terms of production, logistics and supply. Like the first half of the year, the third quarter experienced a reduction in rice volumes in Brazil due to the Prices remained high, with CPA izalki reaching an average of R105 per bag in the period, up almost 130% year on year. The spike in prices extended to the other categories and countries and altogether contributed to The robust results and profitability growth reported in the quarter. In the International segment, we posted lower volumes in Chile and Peru due to the challenging situation brought about by COVID-nineteen. Despite this dire landscape, increased volumes in Uruguay, Prices and the foreign exchange effect in the international segment partially compensated for the negative effects coming from those countries, boosting profitability in the quarter. Moving to the results and highlights of the period. The company's actions towards further Efficiency, combined with the scenario of higher raw material prices, led to a dilution of costs and expenses and the recovery of profitability to our historical levels. It was a period marked by 2% annual reduction in consolidated volume, mainly attributed to the drop in rice and fish volumes in Brazil, but compensated by the growth coming from beans, Sugar and from the international volume. Net revenue up BRL 2,000,000,000 in the quarter, up 38 percent visavisame period of the year before. Gross profit of BRL469 1,000,000, up 37% with a margin of 23.5 percent in RBLs up 78 percent year on year with a margin of 11.9% in the quarter accounting for an increase of 2.7 percentage points. It's worth mentioning our improved profitability in the period attributed to price increases in cost and expenses dilution in the period and net income of BRL130 1,000,000, growing 90 6% visavisheprevious year with a margin of 6.5%, up 2 percentage points. Earnings per share was $0.35 also up by 96%. Starting the analysis of the quarter and the year with our Grading results in the rice category, volume totaled 163,000 tonnes, down by 16% in the quarter Due to the regularization of customers' and retailers' inventories, mainly in October, and the regularization of prices after the Furthermore, the result was impacted on a year on year and quarter on quarter basis by lower sales from Camille and low pricing brands due to higher prices in the period and the subsequent reduction in demand after the first half of the year when people were home due to the pandemic. The average raw material market price was BRL 105 per bag in the period, an increase of 127% when compared to the previous year. Gross price in the quarter was R4.5 BRL 7 per kilogram, up 81 percent and net price was BRL 4.03 per kilogram, Growing 79%. In the beans category, volume reached 25,000 tonnes, growing 10% in the quarter with lower sales from the Camu brand and higher sales from the lower pricing brands. Volume was adversely impacted by the high volatility of prices of the category in the period. The average raw material market price was R2.37 per bag in the quarter, growing 42% year on year. Gross price was 6.10 bureaus per kilogram, up 46% and net price of $5.66 per kilogram, up 49% when compared to the previous year. In the sugar category, volume reached 149,000 tonnes, growing 14% in the quarter with higher sales from the UNION brand and lower pricing brands. The average raw material market price was BRL94 per bag In the quarter, growing 48 percent. Gross price was BRL2.48 per kilogram, up 6% And net price of $2.16 per kilogram, up 6%. In the fish category, volume totaled 8.3 1,000 tonnes, down by 17% in the quarter, mostly attributed to a reduction in sardine availability during the period due to difficulties to import the raw material because of the effects of COVID-nineteen in the main exporting markets. Gross price was It's R19.45 per kilogram, up 22%. In the International segment, Sales volume was 178,000 tonnes in the quarter, growing plus 1% with a 9% sales increase in Uruguay, partially compensating for a 20% decline in sales volume in Chile and 19% in Peru. Both countries suffered with the effects of the COVID-nineteen pandemic that resulted in the shutdown of the main consumer and in Chile, the main retailers head of freeze prices. Camille continues to believe in the South American Food market that combines resilience, growth opportunities and has proven to be an important industry in the COVID-nineteen environment. In addition to the initiatives to cope with the pandemic, we remain firm in our commitment with ESG and the alignment of our sustainable agenda for the coming years. In January, the Board approved the creation of new management committees, including the Strategy, Innovation, Brands and Market Committee and the ESG and Ethics Committee. These additions will We remain focused on our employees, customers, social responsibility and business agility to cope with this challenging pandemic scenario, and we are very confident that the company is on the right track to anticipate trends and straighten its position in the food industry of South America. To elaborate further on the financial performance of the quarter. I will give the floor to Flavio. Please, Flavio, you may proceed. Thank you, Luciano. Welcome to the comments on the results of the Q3 of 2020. Regarding the analysis of the financial performance, gross revenue totaled BRL 2,300,000,000 in the quarter, up 36%, driven by the combined effect of price increase and exchange rate in the period. Net revenue was BRL2 1,000,000,000 in the Quarter up 38%, boosted by higher revenues in Brazil and in the International segment. Cost of sales and services in the quarter RBL1.5 billion, growing 39%, mainly due to a 45% increase in cost of goods sold in Brazil, driven by the increase in raw material cost. This result was also impacted by Taking all that into account, gross profit reached BRL469 1,000,000, growing 37 when compared to the same period of the previous year with a margin of 23.5 percent in the quarter. SG G and A in the quarter was R275 million, up 12% and equivalent to 13.8% of the new revenue in the period. Nominal growth was impacted by a 6% increase in SG and A in Brazil due to higher General and admin expenses attributed to the provision for bonus payments and stock options in the period. This result was partially compensated by lower sales expenses due to a drop in freight expenses in the period. Growth also stemmed from the 25% increase in international SG and A and the increase It's also worth mentioning that despite the nominal growth, we noticed a reduction of 3.2 percentage points in SG and A as a percentage of net revenue, thus reflecting the dilution of costs and expenses deriving from the companies' initiatives to reduce SG and A in the last few years. Other operating revenues totaled BRL3 1,000,000 in the quarter, mainly attributed to non recurring tax effects and other revenues. Taking all of these factors into consideration, EBITDA reached R237 $1,000,000 growing 78% when compared to the same period of the year before with a margin of 11.9 percent in the quarter, up 2.7 percentage points. In regards to the financial result, we had expenses of BRL 29,000,000 in the quarter, up by 52%, mainly as a consequence of the Foreign exchange variation and hedging in the period. Income tax and social contribution posted expenses of BRL37 1,000,000 in the quarter or 22 percent of the after tax result mainly attributed to the effects of excluding investment subsidies related to ICMS credits and interest on equity payments. With that, net income in the period came up to BRL130 1,000,000, Up by 96 percent with a margin of 6.5 percent accounting for a 1.9 percentage point increase when compared to the net margin of the Q3 of 2019. Earnings per share was $0.35 up 96%. The company's total debt position was BRL 2,500,000,000, up 22% year on year due to new funding in Brazil and in the International segment carried out in the Q1 of 2020, totaling approximately BRL1.2 billion to serve the short term maturities of the company. It's worth highlighting that the foreign Changed depreciation in the International segment led to the increased debt in the period. As Part of the work we are doing to meet the company's commitments maturing early next year, together with the cash restructuring, This quarter, we announced the conclusion of the 9th issuance of debentures for public distribution with Placement in the amount of BRL 350,000,000. The issuance was done at CDI plus 2.7 percent with a 5 year term, and it will be amortized into annual payments on year 4 and at maturity. Furthermore, the company got new funding of approximately BRL400 1,000,000 to refinance the short term funding from the beginning of the year. Net debt was R1.3 billion dollars and the net debt over EBITDA ratio of the last 12 months was 1.7x, posting a 2.1x reduction visavis the year before. CapEx was BRL72 1,000,000 in the period, up 98%. This quarter, we continued to We acquired 2 industrial facilities, 1 in Rio Grande do Sul to receive and dry rice, and the other plant is located in the state of Pernambuco, where the company already operates. Furthermore, we are investing in a new grain processing plant in Rosasco in the Greater Sao Paulo region. The acquisitions refer to strategic operations to reinforce the company's commitment to guarantee supplies to grow and be even more efficient. Besides the investments to expand, we've revisited the projects planned for the first half of the year that have been postponed due to the pandemic. They include the expansion of the storage and production capacity, scheduled maintenances and technology projects. Working capital was up 12% year on year, mainly due to increased inventories to guarantee the supply of inputs during the COVID-nineteen pandemic and higher advanced payments to suppliers, both under the impact of higher raw material costs and foreign exchange Appreciation in the international segment. Accounts receivable also posted growth in the period with increased revenue. The supplier line also grew when compared to the previous year with the increase in raw material cost. Before concluding, I would like to reinstate a point raised by Luciano about the continuous adaptations and initiatives promoted by the to cope with the COVID-nineteen pandemic. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been operating in a preventive way to ensure the continuity of business during this period. Although the operations of the company have not been adversely affected until now, we cannot estimate or predict what the future holds. Therefore, we protected our people, operations and our liquidity position, and we'll continue to monitor the future financial impacts and to evaluate the possible course of action. Luciano, the IR team and myself will be available to and connecting instructions are available through our Investor Relations website. Thank you all very much. Ladies and gentlemen, please hold. The Q and A session will start in a few moments. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now initiate the Q and A session for investors and analysts. Our first question comes from Guilherme Pagliaris from Bank of America. Good morning, Luciano, Fabio and the members of the IR team. Happy New Year to you all. I have two questions here. The first is related to 2021. Retailers were reducing their purchases, waiting for better prices. But at the same time, there are many other variables. We see Konabe talking about lower harvest year on year due to climate conditions. And at At the same time, there is the issue of competitiveness because, as I see, Due to the same situation, customers will reduce their purchases. So how do you see the situation in this first half of twenty twenty one. And the second question relates to your international markets because you talked about the fact that you really believe in your South America strategy, but you have to look at what happened thus far. We can already have some kind of reading in terms of Some gradual recovery, both in terms I would like to hear from you, your ideas about price freezes and pricing in all of the different regions and whether you believe that you will benefit from some untapped demand. Good morning, everyone. As you also said, Happy New Year to all of you. Now moving to your questions. In fact, during our last earnings results call, We had already noticed this movement of inventory reduction. Therefore, back in August of last year or when we started seeing a spike in rice prices and every time there was an intense increase and that one that happened in August was very intense. Then people started buy more. And this process of replenishing inventory, in our opinion, started back in October in a more intense way and it continued at a lesser level in November December. So now we begin to see a normalization on the purchasing movements. So things are now experiencing a rebound in a back to normal situation. Another factor that usually happens in that Part of the year is that in the Q4, we always posted lower volume when compared to the other periods of the year. And this is mainly due to the fact that we are approaching the harvesting season. There is a drop in prices during the harvest season. And usually, the price curve, I mean, it's lower during the harvest season and then in between seasons, with the exception of a few years when the curve is reversed. So in addition to the reduction in inventories that we saw in November December, Our Q4, which is December, January February, has a lower volume of purchases because also the costs are lower. This explains why historically, our 4th quarter underperforms when compared to the rest of the year. As we mentioned before, in the Q3, the average rice price was around BRL105. Just as a reminder, back in 2019, the price was BRL 145 and the average in 2020 of the 2020 harvest season or crop season that goes from March of 2020 until February 2021, that's when the new harvesting season occurs. So at the end of the period, this should be about BRL 120. So the quarter was online, was in keeping with the past. And in the Q3, it was higher when compared to the previous quarters. As I said In other occasions, we believe that the average price for next year will be around BRL 80. So in terms of the range between lower and higher prices, it will be much lower when compared to previous seasons. It was about BRL 40 to BRL 45 and at the peak it reached BRL 110. I do not want to convey any idea about what would be the range for the coming the next coming year, but the expectation is that the average will be very similar. We also mentioned CONABE. And in fact, there was the climate effect with a drought in Rio Grande do so and the Expectation is that the crop season will be 2% to 3% lower in terms of yield. Our Transfer inventory is very low and this is what we maintain rice prices as such and that's why we believe that The average prices will be very similar to what we experienced this year. In terms of the competitive landscape, We don't see any major differences. I think that competition has always been around and has always been very peers and very strong. Our larger competitors find themselves in a very similar situation when compared to us in terms of receiving rise during the season and buying throughout the year. So the large competitors operate very much like us and the smaller competitors operate differently. There was a lower offering in the spot market because of the supply and demand curve in Brazil. And earlier in the year, supply will return to normal levels. Therefore, we will be able to see Things going back to normal, but throughout the year, this we think that we will see what happened in the second half of the year repeated again, lower supply and so smaller players will find it more difficult to operate. Now referring to South America, I think here we approach 2 very specific topics. When we talk about the price freeze in Chile, This was not a government policy, just some retailers decided to freeze their prices and the company could not meet the prices at the levels they were. So this was probably The higher sales impact we suffered and after when the New Year began, I mean, the year is just beginning. So that cycle of price freezes will end because in practical terms, the cost of rice in Chile was There was also the foreign exchange effect. And therefore, it's I don't think that this price freeze will continue. In terms of the end of the period and the closing of the period, 80% of rice consumption is in bulk. There is only 20% in ballpark figures that is packed. In the areas where they will sell they would sell rice in bulk, They went through several periods where they had to shut down because of the pandemic. But since the pandemic show is not yet solved. That problem is not solved also. And so we had a difference now in terms of packet Rice, the normal functioning of these markets will certainly depend on how the pandemic situation will evolve in the coming periods. If you have any further questions, please go ahead or give me. No, that's perfect. It's very clear. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Pedro Zaniolo from CounterInsider. Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. I have Two very simple questions. In fact, the first refers to volumes, mainly Beans and sugar, because we noticed there was a significant increase in this quarter. I just want to understand Why? And the second question is whether you could elaborate a little bit more on the pet food acquisition in Chile because I think you had a quality back in the past. That's all. Well, the beans market It has been more intensively looked at by the company. When We look at the consumption of beans in Brazil and beans production, there is a major difference. So it is clear that the company is probably not tapping all of the opportunities we see in the market today. So the company is making great efforts. And as part of these efforts, we are now changing the location of our beans plant. We are now moving to Osasco and that entitles major investments and the purpose is to be even more Cost competitive, the beans market, therefore, is an area where the company, again, sees a lot of opportunities and we are focusing our efforts to capture further growth. In the sugar market, the company Also has the maturity of the efficiency gains from the new plant, and this is bringing further Efficiencies and productivity, we are focusing on recovering volumes because we encounter some Setbacks and we are now focusing on the new plant. At another moment, we had a supply facility. Therefore, the company is focusing on recovering volumes and go back to a normal situation. That's why we are putting our efforts in all of these directions. I don't have any specific information about these two markets. And Flavio may talk about the topic of acquisition, so feel free to add to that first part of the question. Pedro, thank you very much for your question. We don't have any major news in regards to that Pet Food acquisition because as we mentioned in the past, we said that there was a quality issue that needed to be addressed. We had to do a recall of some of the products and they even stopped production. But The new thing about the topic is that they resume production. And at first, they also out source their production to other companies and they are now getting ready to relaunch their main brands and this is something that is in progress. And more recently in the past 15 days, they recently announced the conclusion of a deal They had with some government authorities to pay indemnification to consumers that were hurt by that issue. But so to make a long story short, they are still in this process of remediating or fixing the damage that was caused to the brand and the company. We are still waiting to see how this will unfold until the operation is more stable and the results go back to normal so that we can resume our negotiations and address the topic again. And so at the end, we will be able to conclude the deal. That's fine. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Marcel Moraes from Santander. Good morning, everyone. My first question is about the sales price gap of Camille, be it in rice or sugar. In relation to the acquisition cost, in your report, I noticed that you compare gross price and net price per kilogram, how your prices varied versus market prices. And both in rice and also sugar, which are 2 very important items, commodities. There was a price increase, which was lower than the commodity price increase. Despite all that, the gross margin of the company was relatively flat, which came as a surprise to me. I understand that your production costs, the company's internal cost is different than what we see in terms of the raw material because you have cost dilution, etcetera. Could you please give us an idea of how Should we read the this evolution of costs and prices looking forward, whether your cost Looking at the Q4, whether this cost continues to increase because your inventory levels are higher. So costs will continue to grow compared to the sales price, Given the fact that prices are starting to go back a bit, could you please elaborate on that subject to help me understand how your gross margin remained stable once Prices did not follow the costs the way that you show it in your report. Marcelo, I think that the main aspect here in the chart, we give you just public information. The ASALC indicator that doesn't necessarily reflect our acquisition costs and our strategy to acquire raw materials throughout the year. The company, which was the case of this past year, the company acquired inventory much faster before the increase in prices and that's why our inventory cost had a mismatch with the market reference, which is Ezauki. That explains why you see this difference both in rice and also sugar. What now talking about what happens looking forward, throughout last here when there was that spike in prices, the company positioned itself in a way that now the inventories will go down until we reach February. So now we are reducing The production that we acquire, which is something natural because it was used up during the year, what was not natural this year was the volume of goods that we acquired throughout the second half of the year. So now We are going through a reduction in inventory that will go into February when the new season begins. I think that's your major question. The public information by Ezeoki, which is published in the market versus our acquisition costs and our supply strategy that the company pursued throughout the period. Yes, the answer was very clear, Luciano. I know that my question was also very long. I do apologize for that. Now looking forward, when I think in terms of raw material costs, which is Embedded in Camille's cost, this cost per kilogram, do you think that will continue to rise in the Q4 and the Q1 of next year? Or do you think it will be flat? Well, I'm smiling here. I cannot tell you what is our average inventory cost. But considering this entire process of inventory reduction means that I will buy very little and I will sell what I have. So regardless of the market price, this has very little impact on my inventory, right, until February. I don't know whether I answered your question somehow. Yes, you did. You did answer. My last question, though, Did you expect to see such a strong result in the Q3 or you did not? What came as a surprise to you? That result was expected. Well, both part of that extraordinary result comes from our execution. So that means that the company had a very assertive supply strategy. The fact that we implemented that strategy throughout the second half of the year and mainly even before August, it was clear to us that our results would be good. Our production in terms of inventory was very competitive. There is yet another factor that is important to mention and that is how much We advanced in terms of efficiency gains and how much of our costs we were able to reduce. Looking forward, the rice price expectation will be relevant. I mean, if you Look, year on year, I think the same category of sugar that we anticipate now, higher prices because there is now volatility, but the prices are at a higher level now. And this allows To have a good performance in terms of pricing, the company did not expect that we would have a bad quarter in rice like we had in the past. So to answer your question, that good result was expected. What was not expected was the performance in terms of sales volume. That's very clear. Thank you very much, Luciano. Now I will go back to the company so that they can read the questions that came through the webcast. Good morning. I'll try to organize because we received several questions from our individual shareholders. I'll start with Mariana Beja, where she thanks us for the call. And she's asking how do we analyze the impact of employment reduction of lower employment and how could that impact sales of the company and the effects of market share, particularly in regards to rice and sugar. This is a concern not only to our company but to the entire economy of the country, unemployment and lower income. Camille and our main competitors, we work with basic staples. Therefore, whenever there is a shrinkage in purchasing power and household income, They the families will start cutting everything that is superfluous until they start reducing or changing the quality of their basic staples. And I said I think that I I mentioned that in our last call, when the economy is moving well and performing well, We keep our sales volume and when the company is underperforming like when we face years of recession, They still buy basic staples and the company is very resilient because we operate and we sell basic food, basic staples. In terms of market share of rice and sugar, to answer your question, The company always tries to serve well their clients by increasing its geographic coverage because these are the 2 categories where per capita consumption does not grow. So we see a very small growth in market consumption. We have an expression that we have to steal market share from others. The company tries to be well prepared to be very efficient and to keep stringent control of costs to gain more scale and therefore, to have a positive performance. In the short term, sometimes there is a market share Fluctuation at first, we there was higher consumption of lower pricing brands. With the corona voucher that had an impact in the market and the company also looks at market share more like a consequence rather than our major objective. What do I mean by that? I mean that we are not just focused on clients that give us share, but We try mainly to increase our scale and market share comes as a consequence. So the company grows in areas that have a larger coverage by Nielsen. So these short term oscillations do not concern the company. It's just Now Changing categories a bit. We have here 2 questions, one from Mauro Santos and another one from Renato Ferreira about The fish segment, Mauro asks whether the company intends to expand its Fish segment, depending on the availability of sardines and whether the same thing could apply to Chile and Peru in terms of supply. And he has another question about verticalization through new acquisitions in the productive chain and whether we could see an increase of our net margin. And also, alongside Renato's question, Renato asks, what is the company's expectation in terms of availability and the regularization of the Chardin supply markets. Now looking at that portfolio question, And the company, I mean, we had launches in the fish segment in the last 18 months. These are products of higher added value and lower sales volume. This is part of what the company usually does. But I don't think we have enough scale that could offset what is happening with the sardine market at the moment in terms of I mean, I will first talk about availability and then I will refer to the other countries. Sardine availability, especially from Morocco, which is our major supplier, it's now becoming more regular. We were able to solve that issue, but that supply was not enough In terms of what we were able to import from these countries in October November to have that period during December February. So what we produce now are things that we imported in the last 20 to 60 days. This decreased our productive of capacity in not only ours, but in the entire sector in terms of many other products. And this should go back to normal as of April in terms of the volumes we are able to acquire now. So this was a one off situation And this coincided with Lent, which is the busiest period of the year. And So this is what I could say looking in terms of the first half of the year. In terms of verticalization, the company It does not intend to verticalize in grains or sugar and also fish because it does not make sense for the company to have vessels because we have our own suppliers, it wouldn't make sense for us eventually, I mean, according to the company's view to plant rice. We understand that this is another business. It's a different business and this would require capital allocation. So it makes more sense for us to look for more for other synergies like to get into other categories in other countries because this will would help us to decrease costs, increase scale and be closer to our clients. Therefore, the company sees that it makes more sense to operate in these areas rather than favoring verticalization. And I would also like to clarify the topic about Chile and Peru. If you could clarify your question about that because I didn't understand that question so well. Now in terms of I think it was in terms of increasing or expanding our portfolio in Chile and Peru. Well, we look at exports of Tuna and sardine in those markets, sardines, that's not a common consumption habit in these countries. It is in Brazil, but the company cannot compete with Ecuador, which is the largest supplier of tuna in South America. So we have to look at opportunities all the time in Chile and Peru. Today, the company exports into Uruguay and sells in Uruguay our brands of tuna and sardine, just to to finalize that answer about those countries. Thank you very much. As there are no further questions, I would like to inform you that Camille's Q and A session is now concluded. I would like to thank you all for participating, and have a very good day.