Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Q&A session for investors and analysts related to the results of the third quarter 2019 of Camil Alimentos. Here today are Messrs. Luciano Quartiero, Diretor Presidente; Flavio Vargas, CFO and Head of IR; the company's investor relations team. In case you need any assistance during this call, please press star zero to reach the operator. The audio is being played simultaneously in the company's IR website. The management's comments on the results of the quarter and the Q&A session may contain forecasts about future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could lead to expectations that may or may not occur or could cause results to differ substantially from what was expected. We will now initiate the Q&A session for investors and analysts. In case you have a question, please press star one. Ladies and gentlemen, please hold.
Our first question is from Isabella Simonato from Bank of America.
Good morning. Can you hear me well? I have two questions. First of all, I would like to learn more about the working capital, because we saw a worsening of the cash days was worse than expected, and also if you could elaborate a bit more about receivables.
Let me interrupt you. Our line was down. Could you repeat your question once again? I do apologize. Our line was down even before you initiated your question.
Sure. Can you hear me now?
Yes. Now we can.
Okay, great. My first question is about working capital, because I think that the name of the financial cycle is below what was expected, especially regarding to your receivables line. Can you please elaborate on that a little bit, that could give me an idea of what could we expect looking forward.
The second question is a more operational question, whether you could elaborate a bit on the margin improvement. We saw a sounder performance in terms of your sugar segment and cost expectation. Could you please shed some light in that area and what could be the expected profitability if sugar prices are recovering, whether we have further performance to expect looking forward?
All right. In regards to working capital, we do have a few comments. First of all, in relation to receivables, because of the snapshot of our closing, we had a major sale at the end of November that is still to be received, and this changed a bit our closing figures. This is certainly related to the recovery of sales from Uruguay and Brazil. We also had receivables that is very much related to our pace of sales.
There was an impact in the Brazil inventories. As we anticipated this small inventory from one season to the next, we thought that there could be a small pressure on the demand side. Here in Brazil, our inventory levels are slightly above the regular levels, and these levels should go back to normal levels in the second quarter, both in terms of receivables and inventory. There is nothing new or no changes in our working capital structure. Now, in terms of margin improvement, the company was already seeking for further efficiency, seeking for further expense and cost reductions. We also put a lot of effort in the distribution and logistics grid. This is still in progress, therefore, the results are now beginning to show.
As you well noted, in the sugar segment, we had a good performance and good profitability in the quarter, and we do believe that this performance should remain good in the next quarter. In the case of rice, where we had a mismatch of prices throughout the year. This is alongside the process that we commented on the previous call, which is along the lines of a gradual recovery. There was a recovery in the third quarter, and we do believe that this recovery should remain in progress throughout the next quarters. Therefore, this is a gradual recovery of the grain profitability, and we do believe that it will continue to occur, but at a gradual pace.
That's very clear. Thank you very much.
Next question from Pedro Zaniolo from Condor Insider.
Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. Do you see any macro improvement that would allow you to end up with that trading down that we've seen in the last quarter and the possibility of transferring price, particularly in the rice segment?
I think that the recovery process is beginning, but it's still gradual. This price transfer will occur gradually. As I said before, this system of price transfer in this segment follows what has happened in the past, weekly and monthly tables. The mismatch that led the margins to go down in the first half of the year, we've started to see this recovery on the third quarter, and we feel that that will continue. We will not be able to recover the entire grain margin from one quarter to the next, but we believe that in the next three or four quarters, this will be 100% resolved.
In terms of the macro recovery, it will be slow, but we will end up by recovering our margins at the end.
I would like to remind you that for questions, please press star one. Once again, for questions, please press star one. As there are no further questions, we would like to now conclude the Q&A session. I turn the floor back to Mr. Luciano for his final remarks.
I would just like to put the company landscape into perspective, speaking a little bit about each segment in each country where we operate, and also talk a little bit about working capital and Net Debt/EBITDA ratio. We believe that things are happening, and we believe that recovery will happen gradually. Price levels of rice and beans should reach higher levels when compared to last May's prices.
In terms of sugar, the Super Barra plant is almost at the efficiency level we anticipated. We are at the end of the ramp-up process, and the plant has performed according to plan. Economies and gains, savings and gains are beginning to show. The expectation in terms of sugar margins in the next quarter, because of the new season, should perform well. There should be a landscape review. In terms of fishing, we are in the pre-Lent season. There should be a higher concentration of sales. In the last 18 months, the company is working hard to gain more efficiency in the fishing segment. We are now reaping the benefits and seeing the results of our efforts. In terms of other countries, Chile is performing well. It is delivering an important growth.
In Peru, there has been a recovery, whereas there has been a change in terms of variable rates for all products in the rice category, and that's brought about some additional competitiveness, and the company is now seeing the reflections of that in our sales numbers, and this new level should remain in progress next year. In Uruguay, it's more challenging because the profitability in the entire chain is not so good. This year tends to be very similar to the past two years, speaking about Uruguay in particular. Now, in regards to working capital and prices, to answer Isabella's question, it should be normalized on the fourth quarter. Our leverage or Net Debt/EBITDA margin was high because of working capital and cash release that usually takes place in the fourth quarter. We expect that this leverage should remain below 3 times.
The company continues to look for further acquisitions. That's what I wanted to say as my final remarks. I would like to thank you all for participating, and have a very good day.
Camil's conference call is now concluded. I would like to thank you all for participating, and have a very good day.