Hello! Starting the crop year 2023, welcome to Camil's comments on the results of the 1st quarter, covering the months from March to May 2023. In these first slides, we present an update on how Camil stands today as one of the most complete brand platforms with leading positions in the food market in Latin America. We have 35 plants and 23 distribution centers in South America, with more than 8,000 employees operating in the categories of grains, sugar, fish, pasta, coffee, and cookies in Brazil. In the international segment, we are present with grains and a line of healthy products in Uruguay, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. We also have leading brands in all countries and regions where we operate. On slide three, we give you an overview of how we will present our results going forward.
In 2021 and 2022 in Brazil, we added new categories to the portfolio that boosted the company's diversification. These categories: pasta, coffee, and cookies, have relevant growth potential and higher added value. To facilitate market analysis and to align the publication of our results to our strategy, our communication will now be focused on three business fronts: the high turnover segment, which in Brazil comprises grains and sugar; the high-value segment, which includes pasta, cookies, coffee, and fish; and the international segment, which combines the results from Uruguay, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. Moving on to the financial highlights of the period, our gross revenue was BRL 3.1 billion, and our net revenue stood at BRL 2.7 billion, up 11% year-over-year. Once again, a record turnover, setting a new level of scale for the company.
EBITDA stood at BRL 199 million in the quarter, with a margin of 7.5%. Despite the year-on-year reduction, we point out that Q1 2022 comparative base was a strong one for the company. We delivered sequential EBITDA growth. We will elaborate on this sequential effect later on. What is worth mentioning is that on the operating side, the first quarter of 2023 was a result of the resumption of sales volume against the fourth quarter of 2022 in Brazil. At the end of last year, our industry was impacted by the lower seasonality and the temporary reduction of purchases by retailers. This effect led to lower volumes and a lower dilution of fixed costs and expenses in the fourth quarter, impacting the profitability of the period.
With the normalization of this effect and the resumption of sales volume, the first quarter of 2023 brought a sequential growth of 1.2 points in the EBITDA margin. After the integrations and acquisitions we have been through over the last two years, the company is now focused on sales and efficiency projects. We hired a consulting firm that has been working on a project to review our integrations, synergies, and expenses, focusing mainly on keeping our structure lean, agile, and integrated. In the commercial area, we continue to focus on the product mix with a greater added value and on training and structuring our sales team. Among our priorities is our cross-selling, improving our strategy to leverage sales across categories. In Brazil, the operating highlights include a reduction in volumes in High Turnover compared to the previous year, but sequentially growing 23%.
This result came as a consequence of the previously mentioned effect of the resumption of purchases by retailers. Profitability of grains improved in the period, we continue to experience an adverse impact on profitability in the sugar category due to the more competitive pricing scenario from competitors. In the high-value segment in Brazil, which includes fish, pasta, cookies, and coffee, volume grew 37% versus Q1 of 2022 and 16% sequentially. This effect reinforces the continued growth of the new categories, as well as the entry of cookies with the acquisition of Mabel. Giving you a little bit more detail on each of the new categories, we continue to leverage our profitability with the recently acquired pasta operation, simplifying and repositioning the portfolio in the last year, which is driving the continued profitability of the operation.
In coffee, we keep growing our sales volume and working hard to gain scale and launch new products under the União brand. With one year and three months of operation, we grew our share from 0% to 5% in São Paulo and Rio, with one of the most traditional brands in Brazil that was once the market leader in coffee. Regarding the entry into cookies in November of 2022, which posed many operating challenges, we worked hard and quickly reaped excellent results, improving volumes and profitability since its entry into Camil. The grouping of high-value categories represents an important step towards the diversification of the company, with categories that have relevant growth potential, higher added value, and strong brands, which further boost our positioning as one of the main food platforms in Latin America. We remain confident in its growth and potential.
On the international front, the result of the segment was impacted by the continuation of a challenging macroeconomic scenario, both in Peru and Chile. We made the necessary moves to minimize impacts in the segment, including our diversification with the entry into the Ecuadorian rice market, with the acquisition of Silcom in Uruguay last year. Regardless of a more challenging macro scenario for our high turnover operations in Latin America, we are confident that our growth and diversification strategy has great potential within the company's growth expectations for the coming periods. 2023 is a special year as we celebrate 60 years of Camil's history, with a track record of entrepreneurship and growth in Latin America. With a high-value product mix and geographic diversification, we continue to strengthen our brands that are highly recognized by consumers in all categories and countries of operation.
With this robust platform, we remain increasingly confident that the company is on the path to strengthening its position as a consolidator in the South American food sector.
Thank you, Luciano. Good morning to you all. Starting the analysis of the quarter's financial performance, we reached BRL 2.7 billion in net revenue in the quarter, up 11% year-on-year. Cost of goods sold also grew due to prices and the entry into new categories. Our gross profit reached BRL 550 million, with a margin of 20.7% in the quarter. SG&A amounted to 16.5% of net revenue for the period, with an increase in freight, trade marketing, personnel, and the entry of the cookie category from the acquisition of Mabel.
In other operating revenues, we had the impact of the price adjustments and revision of the fair value of the assets acquired in the cookies acquisition. With these effects, EBITDA for the quarter totaled BRL 199 million, with a margin of 7.5%. The net financial result showed expenses of BRL 105 million due to the increase in interest rates between periods, resulting in higher financial expenses. As a result, net income amounted to BRL 64 million, with a net margin of 2.4%. It is worth highlighting on slide nine, the recovery of the main indicators in a sequential manner. As mentioned by Luciano, the first quarter of 2023 reflects the resumption of sales volume vis-a-vis the fourth quarter of 2022, and as a result, we improved profitability in grains and in high value.
This effect, together with the price movement in the period, led to a 6% increase in net revenue, growing both nominally and in gross profit margin. Our SG&A remained flat at 16.5% of revenue compared to the previous quarter. This combined result led to a 26% growth in our sequential EBITDA, with a margin of 7.5%, up 1.2 percentage points. Our net income posted a sequential improvement of 303%, with a margin of 2.4%. This effect was also driven by taxes in the period, which included tax credit subsidy exclusions. The company's net debt reached BRL 3.1 billion, with net debt to EBITDA for the last 12 months, standing at 3.5 times in the period.
As a subsequent event, the company concluded the 12th issue of CRA-backed debentures in June of 2023. The issue consists of simple debentures in a single series in the amount of BRL 625 million at CDI + 0.9% per year, maturing in a single installment in December of 2025. With this issue and other funding carried out in the last period, we are in a comfortable position to meet the company's commitments for the next 12 months. Working capital amounted to BRL 2.8 billion, higher than the previous year due to the relevant seasonality over the quarters and more specifically in the rice category. Thus, in the first quarters of the year, our business model shows an increase in working capital, and the fourth quarter shows a free-up and improvement of operating cash flow.
CapEx amounted to BRL 95 million in the quarter, including capacity expansion projects already contemplated for the pasta and coffee categories. In ESG, our actions are reported in the new sustainability report, available to you at CVM and on the IR website, consistent with Camil's business planning for the coming years and in line with our focus on taking actions that are effective in our surroundings. We continue to highlight our efforts in the environmental area with the acquisition and own generation of renewable energy through our rice operation, as well as our actions in the area of climate change. In terms of social investments, in addition to Camil's partnership and support to several projects, we highlight the confectionery and business school, Doce Futuro União, which offers technical content on the preparation and commercialization of sweets as a source of income and has already trained 652 people.
After the end of the cycle, 42% of the participants stated that the production of sweets already represented one of the main sources of income for the family. On governance, we highlight the performance and composition of our board of directors with 67% of independent members and the women on the board seal. In case you want to learn more, I invite you to read our report and contact our IR team in case of questions and suggestions. To conclude, as already highlighted by Luciano, we are working hard to maximize sales and increase our efficiency with acquisitions in this new moment of Camil. Today, we have initiatives aimed at increasing our profitability and exposure to high-value categories, as well as working internally with specialized consultants to optimize costs, expenses, and the structure.
We are confident that both initiatives can lead the company to new levels of scale and profitability. We now remain available to take your questions, and thank you all very much for joining us today.