Good morning, and welcome to EcoRodovias' conference call pertaining to the results of the third quarter of 2023. With us here today are Mr. Marcello Guidotti, CEO, and Andrea Fernandes, CFO. This presentation is being recorded, and all participants will be in listen-only mode during the presentation. After that, we will begin the question and answer session for analysts and investors only, when further instructions will be provided. Should you need assistance during the call, please press star zero to reach the operator. The audio and the slides of this conference call are being broadcast simultaneously through the webcast platform at ri.ecorodovias.com.br. Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that the forward-looking statements that may be made during this conference call relating to EcoRodovias' business prospects, projections, and operational and financial targets, are based on the management's beliefs and assumptions, as well as on currently available information.
They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events, and hence depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may affect the future performance of EcoRodovias and lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. I will now turn the floor over to Andrea Fernandes, who will discuss the third quarter of 2023's results. Andrea, you may proceed.
Good morning. Welcome to EcoRodovias' earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2023. We thank you all for your interest and participation. On slide three, we would like to highlight the excellent operational performance of our highway concessions, which resulted in a record EBITDA in the quarter of more than BRL 1 billion, and contributed to the reduction of leverage to 3.5x .
The results of our mature concessions, together with the new concessions won over the last five years, demonstrated the assertiveness of our selective and successful growth strategy, which has extended the duration of our portfolio to more than 20 years. It is worth mentioning that the EBITDA of new concessions represented 48.3% of the Adjusted EBITDA of the highway concessions in the third quarter. The company made important deliveries in the last nine months, with investments of BRL 2.8 billion in road widening works, additional lanes, frontage roads, toll plazas, and operational bases, as well as road recovery works. We highlight that EcoRioMinas started operation and toll collection in seven new toll plazas in October, reaching approximately 96% of the total expected toll revenue. The other plazas will be operational by the end of this year.
In the third quarter, funding for ECO135, Ecovias do Cerrado, and EcoRioMinas was successfully concluded in the total amount of BRL 1.6 billion. It is worth mentioning that these fundings have improved the capital structure and the tax efficiency of the EcoRodovias group, lengthened the debt profile, and strengthened cash position. Additionally, in November, EcoRodovias Concessões e Serviços concluded the issue of BRL 1 billion in debentures. On slide five, we see the operational performance. Consolidated traffic grew 44.8% in the third quarter of 2023, and 34.6% in the first nine months, mainly due to the start of toll collection by EcoRioMinas, Ecovias do Araguaia, and EcoNoroeste.
Comparable traffic grew 6.9% in the quarter, and 5.2% in the first nine months due to the performance of soybean and corn exports, the increase in services activity, and favorable weather conditions. The highlight was the growth of 6.3% in heavy vehicle traffic in the quarter. On slide six, we present the evolution of revenue. Adjusted gross revenue reached BRL 1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2023, up 54.1%.
Comparable gross revenue increased by 9.6% due to the growth in vehicle traffic mentioned on the previous slide, as well as toll tariff adjustments of 9.3%. On slide seven, we highlight the BRL 1.4 billion growth in adjusted gross revenue, reaching BRL 4.4 billion, and the 15.9% increase in comparable gross revenue in the first nine months of 2023. On slide eight, adjusted net revenue increased 62.5% in the quarter, while cash costs grew 28.2%, considering the new concessions, Ecovias do Araguaia, EcoRioMinas, and EcoNoroeste.
We highlight that comparable net revenue grew 19.2% in the first nine years of the year, while adjusted cash costs posted a 4.8% increase in the period, a variation that is lower than the 5.2% inflation rate observed in the last twelve months. It is worth noting that excluding provision for Ecoporto, adjusted cash costs increased 5.8% in 3Q 2023, and 3.4% year- to- date. On slide nine, we show the digital transformation and innovation initiatives in our concessions. The company implemented nine self-service booths in the quarter, eight for light vehicles and the first for heavy vehicles at Eco050. In addition, the company implemented the research and development project for a multi-lane free flow system at Ecoponte in the testing phase.
We emphasize that since 2020, the company has been carrying out tests of the Free Flow system on a gantry at Ecopistas, still without charge for users. We also highlight the start of collection of suspended axles of non-empty vehicles through the integration with MDFE at EcoRioMinas in August, EcoNoroeste and Eco050 in September, Ecovias dos Imigrantes and Ecopistas in October. In the chart on the right, we present the collection of tolls electronically via automatic vehicle identification, AVI, self-service and digital payment methods, which totaled 77.7% of toll revenue in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the third quarter of 2022.
On slide 10, we show the evolution of A djusted EBITDA, which reached more than BRL 1 billion in the third quarter of 2023, a record for the quarter and growth of 85.7%, with a margin—EBITDA margin of 71.8%. The contribution of EcoRioMinas, Ecovias do Araguaia, and EcoNoroeste was of BRL 331.4 million, reaching a 32% share in Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. Comparable EBITDA increased by 20% in the third quarter of 2023, and margin of 70.1%, due to the growth in vehicle traffic and toll tariff adjustments, demonstrating the resilience and growth potential of our concessions. On slide 11, Adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 2.8 billion in the first nine months of 2023, a growth of 84.3%.
Highlights were the increase of BRL 724 million from the three new concessions. Comparable EBITDA reached BRL 2 billion in the first nine months, an increase of 29.7% compared to the same period of 2022. On slide 12, we highlight the increase in net income, mainly due to the increase in Adjusted EBITDA. We ended the quarter with net income of BRL 230.3 million, compared to a net income of BRL 121.2 million in the third quarter of 2022. On slide 13, net income for the first nine months of 2023 totaled BRL 467.1 million.
On slide 15, we highlight the investments of BRL 1.3 billion made in the third quarter of 2023, and BRL 2.8 billion in the first nine months of 2023, demonstrating the capacity to execute and deliver works in the company's growth cycle, as well as our commitment to the maintenance of our highways. Slide 16 shows the main deliveries made in the quarter, with emphasis on the implementation of toll plazas, operational bases, and special pavement conservation works at EcoRioMinas, road widening and pavement conservation works at ECO135, and special pavement conservation works at EcoNoroeste and Ecovias do Araguaia. We also highlight that in the first nine months of the year, ECO135 completed work of 63 km of road widening work and 11 km of additional lanes....
In September, Ecovias dos Imigrantes delivered the works of the second phase of the remodeling of the entrance to Santos, Santos Binary Two, two months ahead of schedule. On slide 17, we ended the quarter with consolidated leverage, measured by net debt over Adjusted EBITDA of 3.5x , down 0.4x from the end of the second quarter of 2023. This reduction is mainly due to the strong operating performance of our road concessions, our highway concessions, which resulted in an increase in EBITDA. The leverage of EcoRodovias Concessões e Serviços ended the quarter at 3.4x . EcoRodovias has worked strongly on the optimization of our capital structure and tax efficiency, increasing the share of net debt in highway concessions by 21 percentage points when compared to December 2022.
On slide 18, we ended the quarter with a cash balance of BRL 3.3 billion. The maturities of BRL 2.8 billion in the second quarter of 2024 are concentrated in Ecovias dos Imigrantes, BRL 1.4 billion, and in EcoRodovias Concessões e Serviços, BRL 1.1 billion. The funds for the payment of EcoRodovias Concessões e Serviços were already raised in early November. The pro forma cash, considering those issuance, reached BRL 4.3 billion, an amount that is higher than the short-term maturities. On slide 20, we present the main highlights of the ESG agenda. In August, EcoRodovias' shares were included in B3's Diversity Index. Being included in this index reinforces our commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in leadership positions.
In October, the concessionaires of Grupo EcoRodovias won two awards at the GRI Infra Awards 2023. The first place in the atmosphere, Decarbonization and Circular Economy category, with a project for the use of milled pavement, RAP, added to Ecosul's asphalt mix. The second place in the Connection, Transformation, and Urban Life category, with the Internet Implementation Project, 4G Internet at Ecovias do Araguaia. As for the environment, our federal concessions were awarded in the ANTT's Environmental Development Index. More details on our ESG agenda can be found in the earnings release and the integrated report. We conclude this conference call by reinforcing that EcoRodovias is focusing its efforts on the execution of its investments, carrying out extensive works and important deliveries in its concession. In addition, the company continues to advance in its digital transformation and innovation program, which will bring results throughout 2023 and 2024.
We invite you to see more details about this agenda in our earnings release. We also highlight that the company will continue attentive and evaluating opportunities, albeit more selectively, for new growth opportunities, since the agenda for new auctions is very promising for the medium and long terms in Brazil. With that, we conclude our presentation. We would like now to move on to the Q&A session. Operator, we are ready to take questions from our analysts and investors. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session for investors and analysts. If you have a question, please press star one on your telephone. If your question is answered during the session, you may remove it from the line by pressing the star two key. The questions will be answered in the order they are received.
We kindly ask you that you use the headset when asking your question in order to maintain excellent sound quality. Our first question: Guilherme Mendes, JP Morgan.
Good morning, Guidotti and Andrea. Thank you for this opportunity. Two questions from our side. The first, Andrea mentioned in the end of being more selective on growth. Would you wanna talk a little bit more about your interest in upcoming processes? There's some for this year and the ones in Paraná next year. How's your interest, and how aggressive do you think competition will be for those bids, those auctions? And the second question about ECO101. Today's announcement, earlier today, leads us to understand that you're getting closer to an agreement to a settlement, but considering the secrecy, we don't have any details.
So is there any type of detail on the terms of the settlement or the timing for that to happen? That'd be great to know. Thank you.
Good morning, Guilherme. This is Marcello. Thank you for your question. I'm sorry. Once again, thank you, Guilherme.
Marcello, you end, but we do not hear... It seems that the audio is de...
Hi, Guidotti. We had an issue when we interrupted, but we're back. So question about the se... The sound is breaking up. Guidotti, I don't know if it's my audio, but...
Speakers, please, you can go on the backup line.
Hello, Guilherme, can you hear me?
Yes, Guidotti. Had an issue here getting feedback, and anyway, question about the selective growth.
EcoRodovias as a strategy and select ahead of time the potential assets based on we follow, we choose these shows, the documents, the complexity of investment, whether there are fewer synergies with the current volume, and a series of indicated, and we have it there to make the best decisions possible. We continue with this approach. There's a lot of opportunity. Of course, we don't have any decisions of participating in any specific, but we'll be very selective, rigorous. We will choose and select the best assets that could bring us the best returns, and that's one auction this year, plan a few more next year, add to the most of the opportunities. I'm going to avoid making any detailed comment, comments, but that's, EcoRodovias' approach, to study and be prepared in order to decision when there is a big ahead.
About ECO101 confidential, but what we published is the formalization of the losses in the account court, the federal account courts. That's the last level of the discussion for the possible and will be improving this contract. If we make the discussions, the discussions will start now, the responses and sort of analysis, it's going to take so I have 90 days discussion. But the objective of EcoRodovias, to make ECO101's agreement a good, balanced product that's good for users, for the grantor, and for... So it's discussion, but we're optimistic if that we'll be able to succeed. On the other hand, the return process is extended until February year, to see whether or not we can improve the conditions of the current agreement. That's clear to you. Gabriel Chen, Itaú BBA. Andrea, congratulations on the results.
Appreciate it if you could talk more performance in the highway concession segment with margin quarter- on- quarter. I think there's the traffic side, the tariffs model, the highway business model ability, and we're seeing positive surprises repeatedly. So if you could talk a little bit more about the main drivers of these advances, it would be really good for us. And the second point, just touching on something in this discussion, is about the CapEx curve for the company, not only the curve that you present in the release, but considering the new assets. If you could talk to us a little bit, looking today to the commodity price levels, the negotiations with suppliers, what do you see for the curve now? Is there room for this to be corrected downwards, or is it going to remain in line with what you've been showing in previous quarters?
Thank you. Thank you, Guilherme. About performance, I think the results, and you're right, the concession model is relatively stable, and all the costs are fixed costs, technically. But with structured programs for efficiency in the medium term, we're able to improve that base, and that's what EcoRodovias has been doing in these years, taking the potentialities to the most in the platform model. Today, we operate 11 concessions, but with a lot of services that are centralized. EcoRodovias Concessões is the single platform, and the 11 concessions are managed centrally. So when you get to a dimension, this savings in scale naturally appear. So we have the efficiency program, digitalization, these programs that you've been following, and this digital transformation, everything makes the base of the fixed cost of the concession to get to a higher level.
And of course, the quality of the assets and the control of traffic. We tap into all the positive trends that happen in agribusiness, tourism, the industrial performance. Our corridors capture all of these dynamics, and this is also reflected in margin. This year, the tariff adjustments that follow inflation. In addition to maintaining balanced contracts, adding other triggers, for example, for Ecopistas and Ecovias that had two triggers due to rebalancings from the past. So all of that is combined and gets margins to improve. So it's not surprising, but it's the result of work that has been ongoing that leads to these good margins, good EBITDA margins. About the CapEx curve, we today can assure you that we are within the business plan. There's nothing today that indicates anything different. All inflation curves, the pyramid, P-parameter curves, everything is in line with the business plan.
I'd say some of them are even better than plan, in, in the business plan, but we're concluding all of these analysis now, and by the end of the year or the beginning of next year, we'll update the contractual obligations, including Noro este and Rio-Minas, with all the studies already updated. But what I can tell you is that we are within the expected, according to the business plans.
Great, thank you, Guidotti, Andrea. Have a good day.
Our next question, Rogério Araújo, Bank of America.
Good morning, Guidotti, Andrea. Thank you for this opportunity. I have two questions here. The first, still talking about costs, I think it was clear to have those, about those initiatives of cash cost.
If you can talk about a trend looking forward, if you've already captured the majority, or there should be a carryover, or is there a further reduction to happen based on those initiatives? And non-cash costs, depreciation went down compared to the second quarter, even with the relevant investments in the quarter. Was there any specific reason for that? Any change on depreciation rate for us to understand and to project how it's going to be forward? And my second question is about the holdings debt. You're talking about a drop from 59% to 38% of the total debt. Is there a target to further reduce it, and what would be the timeline for it?
Thank you. Rogério, thank you for your question. About operational efficiency, as I said, our objective was to transform the company's fixed cost base into a more efficient and sustainable basis.
That's what's appearing now is the result of all that work, and it's sustainable. Starting at a certain point, the gains become more marginal, but we will continue with the digitalization activities of the operating model that's quite advanced, and these results will start to come up. A lot of effort's been made, and this guarantees that the future cost base will remain in these levels, with the trend towards improving if there's no disruption. But of course, the entries and the structures will have an impact on the cost base. Other technologies that we're implementing in some concessions as well, such as the weight in motion system, that's also going to reduce the cost base, automatic booths, the use of technologies and the monitoring of highways, all of that brings results, and this will show up in the margin.
It's not going to be disruptive, but it's going to be a continuity. The traffic continuing to improve, perform well, of course, the margins tend to do so. And about your second question, Rogério, your second question, we'll get back to you to answer, okay?
Great, thank you.
The second, do you mean depreciation or the holding debt?
No, depreciation.
We're gathering the information here, and we'll get back to you. About the holdings debt, it was a way to show that there's a series of actions that may be taken to reduce the holdings debt. We don't have a lot of flexibility, but everything that we were planning to do was done. And what's happening, actually, the good perform...
Explaining the good performances of operating assets, both the new and the mature assets, Ecopistas, Ecovias, Ecosul, allow us to expand the leverage capacity of the units and return. So all of this strategy of improving the performance of those units with cost reductions and capturing revenue, the natural consequence is for us to be able to transfer debt to other assets, where there's tax benefits and reduce pressure at the holding. So it's one of the consequences of having a good operating performance. But if there's a one-time event where we can have an operation like we did at Ecopistas, an operation that returned with a lot of it intercompanies and so on, we will. But looking now, we just make the most of the operating performance, reducing the holding's exposure and their debt.
Very clear. Thank you.
Next question, Victor Mizusaki, Bradesco BBI. Good morning.
I have two questions. The first, if you can talk a little bit more about the CapEx for 2024, and how this will impact leverage. We've been seeing a continued drop on leverage, so how can we think about these two variables in 2024? And my second question, you distributed dividends again, and what can we expect looking forward? Thank you.
Good morning, Victor. On your first question, CapEx, we're finalizing, fine-tuning the numbers, but it will be around BRL 4.5 billion in investments next year, including all of the obligations, new contracts, Rio Minas, and so on. This is more or less the amount we're estimating. About the dividends, the minimum dividend payout data from 2022, the company will have to discuss and propose at a general meeting about the next results.
But we need to watch this very closely, considering the capital structure, sustainability of the debt, and we will take that into account. It's a matter of prioritizing capital structure and whenever possible, to resume having better dividend payments. But this year, we distributed last year's minimum, and we'll present a proposal to the meeting and prioritizing the capital structure and the balance sheet.
Thank you.
Next question, Filipe Nielsen, Citibank.
Good morning. Congratulations on the results. I have a question related to capital structure. We've been hearing from you talking about higher leverage for some time, considering the CapEx level. I'd like to understand if you're evolving or seeing any type of alternative for equity, be it partnerships, new concessions, to be able to achieve a new capital structure, or a, or if we should expect leverage at these levels for longer?
My second question about competition in the coming bids, what you've been seeing in terms of level of competitiveness and thinking especially of BR-381, that's the shorter term one.
Thank you for your questions. About leverage, we're deleveraging now, but it was expected as the CapEx, especially of Noroeste, RioMinas, start their road widening works from 2025 onwards, leverage will go up again, probably at around 4x. And there's a reflection of the CapEx cycle. So all of that is anticipated, it's known, and we have the good performance of the efficient assets that further increase the capacity to withstand this type of CapEx level. As I said in the beginning, with good news about the inflation, make this CapEx a lot, a lot more reliable and safe, and in the price point of view as well.
So all of that makes us comfortable with the possibility of going through this cycle of a more concentrated CapEx cycle for RioMinas and Noroeste in 2025-2030. So the capital structure in itself is sustainable. New businesses, of course, more organic and the new auctions, we will have to, in the future, look cautiously in how they fit into this and how they affect this period we have in the current business plan. And consider solutions for, to reinforce capital structure via equity or maybe even an M&A that may come in the future. But these are discussions, again, that let's take care of the current portfolio and watch carefully at the new, new opportunities, and if it makes sense or when it makes sense, we will have the possibility for equity alternatives. About competition, competition exists. It's been structuring.
We've been seeing new players a lot. The auctions, BR-381 and the others, are not as large as the auctions we had a few years ago, like Dutra, Rio-Minas, and here in São Paulo, some of the very large auctions, Araguaia, even. So that, of course, calls the participation of other players that may be structured to participate in consortiums. But competition exists, and it's not, of course, an out-of-control competition. It's very positive. It's a competition that studies and does their homework, and I think it's positive for the industry. There's a lot of opportunities ahead, so even with a slightly bigger competition, that does not prevent us from making the most of good opportunities and adding value. Thank you.
I was just going to say thank you. I don't know if you had anything to add, but it was very clear. Thank you.
Next question, Andressa Varotto, UBS.
Good morning. I have a quick question about traffic, that we've been seeing very good traffic data. My question is whether this trend is sustainable, or if there's any effect here that may be non-recurring, that affects the traffic trend. Thank you.
Andressa, thank you for your question. I would say it's sustainable. It has been sustained for a number of months. If we had 10% one month and 3% the other, maybe, but it's coming. Of course, it's a wide, a big portfolio, almost 5,000km . Each concession has its own dynamics. Maybe one benefits from one event, the other from another. But overall, what we're seeing constantly and significantly, it's a solid traffic level, so it's not a one-off thing.
We know that it's more for traffic here or there, rainy months are different, but throughout the year, there is seasonality at play, but still, it's going very well. I also think it's worth noting that it's a result of the investments we're making. Our highway work has been improving constantly, the road widening works, our reality, the overpasses, signaling, maintenance, all of that... helps traffic grow, so it's normal. The quality of the assets as well, and the works, and maintenance, and the care that we take with our structure also play a role there.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our Q&A session. I would like to turn the floor over to Ms. Andrea Fernandes for her final comments.
I'd like to thank you all for your participation, and myself and my team are available for any questions you may have.
Have a great weekend. Thank you. EcoRodovias' conference call is now closed. Thank you very much for your participation, and have a very good day.