Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to JSL's Conference Call to discuss the results for the Q4 of 2024. This call is being recorded, and a replay will be available on the company's website, ri.jsl.com.br. The presentation is also available for download. Please note that all participants will be in listen-only mode during the presentation. Afterwards, we'll begin this Q&A session, and further instructions will be provided.
Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that any forward-looking statements made during this call are based on JSL's management current beliefs and assumptions, as well as information available to the company. These statements may involve risk and uncertainties as they relate to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur.
Investors, analysts, and journalists should be aware that events related to the macroeconomic conditions, the segment, and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Joining us today are Mr. Ramon Alcaraz, CEO of JSL, and Guilherme Sampaio, CFO and IR Officer. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Alcaraz for his initial remarks. Mr. Alcaraz.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are pleased to be here today to present JSL's results for the Q4 2024 and the full year. I'd like to begin by highlighting our 2024 results, which reflect our consistent growth built on solid foundations for continued and sustainable development. Revenue of BRL 10.7 billion in the year on return on invested capital, around 15%.
That is, scale and profitability above what was projected at the IPO. Revenue up 20% year- over- year, 16% organic. Static pace of growth even at this higher scale. EBITDA BRL 1.7 billion with margin of 19.4%, a record since the IPO. Asset-light operations reached 54% of revenue in the Q4 , with 18% year-over-year growth, showing our increased focus on these types of projects. BRL 5.4 billion in new contracts signed throughout 2024, securing future revenue. Cash flow after growth of BRL 521 million, supporting our deleveraging.
On page three, we show the transformation in scale and efficiency. Revenue grew 216% since the IPO, a CAGR of more than 30%. EBITDA 287%. After four years since the IPO, we had a threefold increase in revenue and a fourfold increase in EBITDA, and we're still growing in 2024. 20% growth in Q4, 16% growth. In this case, 100% organic compared to the same periods last year.
That is a BRL 1.7 billion increase in revenue. This number alone, isolatedly, would already place us among the largest companies in the segment. On page four, we talk about the numbers of the quarter and full year. As I mentioned, gross revenue of BRL 10.7 billion for the year, up 19.7%, and BRL 2.9 billion the quarter, up 15%. On the previous slide, I mentioned 16% of the quarter because I was talking about revenue from services alone.
Adjusted EBITDA, BRL 1.7 billion, up 15.8% for the year, and in the quarter, BRL 434 million, up 5.6% year- over- year. EBITDA margin 19.4% for the year, 18% for the quarter. Net profit BRL 190 million for the year and BRL 36 million in the quarter. Here, I'd like to highlight the large volume of project deployments throughout the year, which led to pre-operational cost pressure on margins.
That has directly tied to the volume of contracts we've been announcing since 2023 and 2024. As these projects mature over the coming months, they will benefit our 2025 results. Guilherme will go into more detail on impacts on net profit. Return on invested capital, 14.6%. On page five, more highlights showing our discipline in capital allocation and management. Organic growth of 16% in 2024. Excluding here, IC and FSJ, we were not consolidated for the full 12 months .
EBITDA margin steady at 20% in 2024, even with pressure on costs because of inflation and pre-operational costs I mentioned earlier related to recently implemented projects. CapEx needs have declined even with growth, which helps support the leveraging. We reduced the average debt spread by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2023. With the amortization of CRA bonds in May 2025, we expect an additional 20 basis points reduction.
We are focused on additional initiatives aimed at improving results to offset inflation and rising interest rates. I'll mention some: reducing receivable terms , adjusting prices together with our customers, implementing a more robust cost program, and projects with ongoing evaluation to decide whether to acquire or lease operational assets.
On page six, as done in previous calls, we show how our logistics services portfolio breaks down based on contracts and services that are essential to our customers across the entire supply chain, from raw materials through production and distribution of finished products in retail and even to the end consumer. 29% of our revenue comes from specialized dedicated operations that do not involve trucks.
They include interlogistic services for several industries such as automotive, consumer goods, pulp and paper, steel, and the management of dedicated multi-customer warehouses and even charter services. 63% comes from operations involving our own or third-party trucks. Here, we have transportation services for all types of goods: food, beverage, consumer goods, vehicle, gas, fuel, refrigerated cargo, pulp, minerals, grains, and more. This is for every Brazilian state and other six South American countries, plus two African countries.
We also provide urban distribution services, supplying retail and last-mile deliveries to end consumers. 8% comes from general cargo. These are basically 100% asset-light freight operations that are agile and flexible, ideal for handling demand fluctuations. On the next page, we show our management model with scale, geographic reach, and diversification, which continually enhances our expertise, client relationships, and new businesses.
Each client and contract is managed individually. We co-develop customized projects with customers using the right price, cost controls, and operational efficiency. Our managers have autonomy and agility in decision-making. Our business is fully focused on meeting each customer needs. Once a contract is signed, we execute the project with excellence, which helps us build long-term relationships and creates opportunities for growth. We also acquire well-managed companies with complementary services and industry exposure. This is how we operate.
Page eight showed the results of what I just mentioned in the previous page. Quality and efficiency lead to new business opportunities and expand services. We had BRL 5.4 billion in new contracts signed during the year of 2024, with an average term of 59 months. After this, 20 are new customers additional to our portfolio. That's worth noting that we saw growth across a wide range of sectors.
In Q1, for example, we had more contracts in pulp and paper and automotive. In Q2, it was basically food, beverage, and consumer goods. Q3 was led by chemicals and retail, and Q4, we again saw chemicals and pulp and paper. This shows our ability to grow in a diversified way with sectors that are essential for our economy. On page nine, we show growth by company, a true transformation of scale. We've grown at an impressive CAGR of 36% a year.
If we consider only organic growth, we are talking about 18% a year. All companies have shown double-digit organic growth on average, with expressive growth since their acquisition. Some have doubled or tripled size. This performance is driven by our management model. The quality and expertise of our companies, combined with access to capital, fuels accelerated growth. This is our formula for acquisitions.
The JSL ecosystem enables cost reductions in the purchase of assets, in the procurement of inputs and services, generating an average synergy of 2% on net revenue, which naturally improves our margins. We also use cross-selling potential to expand our customer base, which also helps on growth. Now, I'll hand it over to my friend and partner, Guilherme Sampaio, to give you more colors on our numbers. Guilherme? Thanks, Ramon. First of all, good morning, everyone. Going straight to the numbers.
Net revenue 2024 reached at BRL 9 billion, up 20% year- over- year. The figure includes the consolidation of IC Transportes, which was integrated into JSL in May 2023, and FSJ Logistics consolidated started in September 2023. Even with lower revenue from IC and the growth of FSJ, as we mentioned in previous calls, we still saw 16% growth in the year, which is in line with Q4 growth, 16.4% versus Q4 2023.
This level of growth reinforces our ability to continue growing organically, even at our current scale. 47% of total revenue comes from cargo transportation, both general and dedicated, as Ramon mentioned, 32% from dedicated operations, 13% warehousing, and 8% urban distribution. EBIT closed the year at BRL 1.2 billion in 2024, already excluding the reversal of the social contribution provision in the quarter, and EBITDA to BRL 286 million with a 12% margin.
A few important points that are important to EBITDA and net profit. Ramon mentioned the deployment of almost BRL 3 billion in new projects between the third and Q4 . Here, we are talking about BRL 15 million in pre-operational costs that have a mismatch by corresponding revenue yet and impact our results. Other important factors are asset sales, negative impact of BRL 5 million, and the recognition of a provision for bad debt of BRL 9 million due to the long-standing agribusiness cutterments from IC Transportes in judicial recovery. EBITDA for the year, BRL 1.7 billion.
The reported number was BRL 1.85 billion if we include the reversal of the social contribution provision, as I mentioned. Q4, we closed with BRL 434 million, up 16% versus Q4 2023. Adjusted net profit, BRL 119 million. Reported net profit was BRL 207 million in Q4, BRL 36 million.
This number, we did not adjust it for the provision of bad debt or pre-operational costs. Remember, in the release, we always detail our adjustments. One more note. This is something we have discussed a lot in previous calls. Q1 and Q2. JSL in 2023 had the benefit of income tax credits to investment incentives, BRL 73 million in 2023. We did not have the benefit in 2024.
In the quarter, the difference was BRL 21 million in net profit. I am saying this just for you to have the same basis of comparison, but it is part of our business. ROIC closed the year at 14.6%, a healthy level and in line with the actions we have discussed. On slide 11, we break down our operations asset- light and asset heavy. Asset- light accounted for 54% of revenue, all with the impact of new signed contracts.
Revenue BRL 1.3 billion, up 16%, 18% year- over- year, and EBITDA BRL 209 million with margin of 16.1%. Light represents already a large part of our revenue with the contract signed. Revenue stays at BRL 1.1 billion and EBITDA at 16% margin. Here is when we include the provision of bad debt of IC Transportes, which is a 100% asset- light operation. Asset heavy operations ended the quarter with BRL 1.1 billion, 14% of consolidated revenue, 14% year- over- year. EBITDA 20% margin already following the pressures of costs we had in the quarter.
I already mentioned, but it's like it's important to reinforce that we are monitoring our contracts from close. This allows us to engage in price adjustments when necessary, and this is already happening. On slide 12, we have the CapEx for the period in line with our plans, closing the year with BRL 800 million in net CapEx.
In the quarter, BRL 190 million, 80% of which went towards expanding new projects. CapEx also impacts our numbers, but as we always emphasize, it will generate future revenue supporting our growth for the coming quarters. In the slide below, we have three real-life cases of recent projects showing the creation of revenues versus the capital invested. Moving to the capital structure on slide 13, we show our cash availability of BRL 2.6 billion, BRL 700 million in undrawn credit lines and BRL 1.9 billion in cash.
Average maturity is five years. Net debt stood at BRL 5.5 billion in a year with leverage at 3.04 times, considering that debt EBITDA ratio and 2.63 net debt to adjusted EBITDA, which is our internal covenant reference. One point I want to emphasize, especially in a high interest rate, is that all the work done has already reduced our average debt spread by 50 basis points.
Once we pay the CRA bonds maturing in the Q2 2025, we have an additional benefit of a reduction of 20 basis points in our average debt cost. Before handing back to Ramon, I'd like to highlight the focus of 2025. Beyond continuing to drive gross margin, as Ramon mentioned, we'll focus on having a leaner balance sheet in working capital, asset inventory, and even possibly a lower CapEx level while still maintaining our growth.
We can talk more about this initiative during the Q&A. Now, Ramon, back to you. Thanks, Guilherme. On slide 14, we highlight our actions and recognitions in ESG during 2024. I could here mention several initiatives, but I will mention two that we are particularly proud of. The Women Behind the Wheel program aimed at training and empowering women in the logistics sectors.
We have seven additions this year alone, with 13 additions since the product launched in 2021, with brand new formats. Women in maintenance, women in mining, women in charter services, in addition to promoting gender diversity, also doubles our talent pipeline in recruitment, also Connecting Frontiers. The first edition focused on inclusion, employability, and socioeconomic integration for immigrants and refugees.
Also to highlight are some of the recognitions we received during the year. First year in the B3 Corporate Sustainability Index for public traded companies, recognized for commitments with sustainability. Gold Seal in the Brazilian GHG Protocol program for the fifth consecutive year. B from CDP, which is above the global average for the transportation and logistics sector. We are listed among the five largest companies in fastest growth by Time Magazine.
We are named Best Company of the Year in the transportation and logistics sector, and here with all models: air, rail, of course, road by Islamic Magazine. We are also recognized by our customers in health and safety. Some of the companies that acknowledge our services, I mentioned several: Vale, Suzano, Unilever, Ambev, Gerdau, among many others. On slide 15, we reinforce our unique management model and irreplicable ecosystem.
We are an undisputed leader in the sector for over 24 consecutive years. With a market share of 3%, our growth potential is enormous. The companies we acquire are independent and are focused on their core business. We are present in over eight countries with essential sectors of the economy, more than 16 different sectors, with a diversified customer and service portfolio, proven DNA of services based on cross-selling and long-term contracts.
We have more than 35,000 employees, 250 managers who have been with us for over 10 years, which reinforces and preserves our culture. Ladies and gentlemen, to close, I would like to reinforce our takeaway messages. Our business model ensures resilience regardless of market cycles with strong growth potential. We are fast to adjust prices when necessary because of cost increases. That is because we manage each contract individually with technical and operational oversight and have built-in adjustment mechanisms.
We focus on operational efficiency and continuously reducing costs to continue competitive in a highly fragmented market. We optimize capital allocation to improve working capital and maintain a leaner balance sheet. On the tech front, we believe this is more and more the path to efficiency and agility. Our JSL digital platform, for instance, has already completed over 1,000 fully digital travels.
Our track record shows that in market environments like the current one, we find major growth opportunities driven by the trust we have with our customers, and they want to keep quality and reliability. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. Guilherme and myself are going to be here for your questions. Thank you very much.
We'll now start the Q&A session for investors and analysts. If you want to ask a question, please click on "Raise Your Hand." If your question is answered, you can raise or lower your hand. If you want to ask a question in writing, please type in your question on the Q&A button saying your name and company. Please wait while we collect the questions. Our first question comes from Andre Ferreira from Bradesco BBI. Andre, you may go on.
Hello everyone. Thanks for taking my question. I would like to address two topics. First, to talk about the possibility of renting assets or leasing assets or deleveraging. I would like to know how advanced the idea is and if we could see an increase in leases in the Q1 . Also, if you could give us a bit more color about the provision for bad debt this quarter. Thank you very much.
Hi, Andre. Thanks for your questions. About asset lease, indeed, we are looking into this possibility in the end of the way. You have to do the math and consider economic issues. We've done that in previous quarters. This quarter, as you asked, we do have leases, but always with a balance. Again, you have to do the math. You have to compare our costs and lease costs. Many times we go for lease because of the opportunity.
An asset in a rental lease company, Vamos, or a competitor. By the way, we have leases from several Vamos competitors. Whenever there is a lease in inventory of the lessor, this is an opportunity and this is what we take into consideration. This is part of our analysis and yes, we might continue to have that and even increase the percentage along the year. It is a strategy. Provision for bad debt, I will leave it to Guilherme.
Hi, Andre. Good morning. Okay. Provision for bad debt. Two former customers in agribusiness for cargo transportation of IC. These two customers are in judicial recovery now in the Q4 . With that, we had to have a complementation of our provision for bad debt of 100% of receivables.
The recovery plan, if approved, depending on the negotiation, part of this will return to the company. Even considering accounting rules, when you have a judicial recovery, you have to provision 100% of the loss. Remember, we have not adjusted the number in asset- light results where the operations concentrate or in the consolidated results. Okay, very clear. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Gabriel Rezende from Itaú BBA. Mr. Rezende?
Hello, good morning everyone. Ramon, Guilherme, thanks for taking my question. I'd like just to try and understand the dynamics of better profitability along the quarter vis-à-vis the several variables that we see impacting your customer portfolio and costs. If you could talk a bit about the fuel prices in February, if that generates volatility and profitability, if you can fully pass through costs, that would be very interesting to us.
Also, understand the leverage dynamics of the company throughout the year. How do you see it behaving and what do you expect for the first and Q2 of this year given the peak of interest rates that we should see in the coming months? Thank you.
Good morning, Gabriel. Thanks for taking my question. Okay. Thanks for your question. I'm sorry. At the end of last year, in the beginning of the year, all companies in Brazil are suffering because of the increase in prices. Each one for their own reasons. I'll mention some. We had an increase in the prices of parts, tires because of the dollar fluctuation, the exchange rate fluctuation. Diesel, as you mentioned, did increase, not much, but between 4-5% in February. Also, the payroll that increased at about 5% a year, getting up to 20% starting this year.
Fuels and payroll, this is something that is basically automatic. It is established in contract. It's not a click. Of course, you have to negotiate with customers, but it is already in contract. Other costs, as a reminder, IPCA is already at a very high level that affects our business. As we did in 2021, 2022, we are having a very strict campaign of renegotiating contracts, not only with what we already have in contract, but also increase of other costs that, as I mentioned, are affected by the exchange rate fluctuation and others.
This is not a fast process. We have a very extensive customer portfolio, each one with their own characteristics, but we should complete this process along the first, Q2 of 2025 when we go back to probably the same level operating margins that the previous quarter.
As for leverage, I'll leave it to Guilherme. Hi, Gabriel. Good morning. Okay, we talked a bit about what we are considering in the presentation, but I'd like to reinforce some points just to show the how. First, in 2024, JSL, thinking of free cash flow, already delivered BRL 520 million operating cash flow, that is after growth, which gives me the possibility of showing that the growth of our EBITDA in cash generation is becoming stronger year after year, therefore giving me more capacity to serve our debt and therefore deleverage.
We also announced something important. We always have a very strong second half of year in terms of growth of revenues, EBITDA, because of the maturity of some contracts, the volume of some industries that is higher in the second half of the year.
The trend is to have a stronger, faster deleveraging in the second half of the year. Again, keeping the trend that each year we are going to deleverage some. Some actions that we have adopted, we mentioned some. Undoubtedly, the strategy of leasing assets that can be an option, a lever to deleverage. Obviously, cash generation is a very important factor. Operational results better, operational results, the result of customer renegotiations helped me in the process. We also have been working a lot to improve the company's working capital.
We are talking about payment terms for customers along the years and historically. Ramon does mention that the service industry extended payment terms to receive from customers due to several initiatives, including commercial initiatives. Now accounts receivable is weighing a lot in the company's balance sheet.
We are negotiating with our customers to balance our contracts and reduce payment terms and also working on inefficiencies that we might have in the process of collection issues of invoices and collecting from customers. All this together, operational growing, net debt being less impacted by CapEx investments and initiatives to improve working capital lead us to deleveraging year- over- year. I hope I have answered your question. Yes, very clear. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Ramon. Our next question comes from João Silva from XP. Mr. Silva?
Hello everyone. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I have one question about the volume of new contracts. You did have a strong growth in 2024. What is the ramp-up of this new project like and what is expected for 2025? A second question, any specific sector you want to increase your exposure in the next years?
Hi, João. Good morning. Thanks for your question. As we mentioned, we closed BRL 5.4 billion of new contracts in 2024. I think the best thing is not only the amount, but the segments. As I mentioned, we grew in different segments: pulp and paper, chemicals, beverages, e-commerce. The most varied sectors.
This is precisely our core, to grow in several industries, to have operations in several areas and enjoy the benefits of each one of these segments and have a hedge if the economy strikes one segment over the other. We have been doing that not only this year, but in 2023, we had BRL 4 billion. In 2022, if I'm not mistaken, something close to BRL 4 billion as well, and so on. In 2025, it is the same thing.
We have closed very good contracts, and we are going to disclose that in the close of the Q3 and the volume of contracts with the same line, the same as 2024 or even higher. As for sectors, we do not have a silver bullet. Okay, this is the sector we are going to address. Now, what we try is to see if we have some characteristics. Is it essential service? Am I going to be part of the customer's supply chain?
Do I have an effect on their business? If I do, I become essential and I generate value to my business. It is not for chance that in 2022, 2023, and 2024, mostly 2023, 2024, we grew in intralogistics and warehousing because we precisely believe that these are essential sectors. They are inside the plants of our customers, for example, and we have less competition.
This is a sector that we like a lot, and we have invested in that. Not only that, in 2024, we grew a lot in chemicals. It is interesting that this is a sector that has not grown itself, but we did grow market share in the sector. Why is that? Again, because it is an essential service. We carry oxygen to hospitals, for example. Certainly, even diversifying sectors, what we see is essentiality, differentiation.
We grew in mining as well. E-commerce, that was a sector we were not even operating in 2023, but along 2024, we grew a lot. Just for you to have an idea, if you get to the main players of e-commerce, they are already our largest customers, and they were not customers until 2022. We bet on diversity, but essential sectors where we can make a difference.
General cargo, that is more of a traded sector, that does have its appeal, and that is where the company started. Perhaps most know us from that because of the trailers that are all around Brazil. Today, it accounts for only 8%. I hope I have answered your question. I have a comment, Guilherme, here talking about e-commerce, and I think this is the beauty of diversifying our portfolio.
Ramon did mention, João, that in 2023, one of the main e-commerce players was not our customer then. We had the acquisition of FSJ. It was a relevant customer. After the acquisition, because of the portfolio of services the other company groups offer, we expanded. Today, we have contracts on transportation, chartering at JSL, urban distribution with Fabel, that is its specialty, last mile.
In addition to what FSJ already had, and it did grow a lot with the customer because of the capacity of investment it has within the JSL system. This type of situation, today, a customer based on sometimes we are very relevant at the service, but because we create expertise in other business lines and services to be provided, we can have cross-selling very strongly. This is a specific case.
This is a customer that was not a customer of the company one year ago, and today is one of our top 10 customers, and we believe there is still a lot to be done. Just an example, a specific case that I think is an interesting case. Very clear. Thank you very much. Thank you, João.
Our next question comes from Julia Orsi from JP Morgan. Ms. Orsi?
Hi, Ramon, Guilherme. Good morning. I have two questions on my side. Second, pre-operational costs of contracts. Does it make sense to assume that costs are going to be back to normal in the coming quarters? Second, operations abroad. Again, that was announced last year, South Africa. How are these operations evolving vis-à-vis the expected? First, in the last call, we did talk about potential new countries, Mexico. Any news on this round? Thank you very much.
Hi, Julia. Good morning. Thanks for your questions. Talking about pre-operational costs, it is what we mentioned. We close a large volume of contracts, and these contracts generate requirements, hiring people, training. For some time, you have to hire, train, and then start performing. The same with vehicles. You have to buy the assets, then you have to deploy the assets. That takes approximately two months between acquisition and the start of operations.
Perhaps we do have an advantage in lease because you can get part of that. You only pay the lease when you are starting operating. Just going back to one of the questions that was asked before. Just to give you an example, in 2024, in the Q3 , Q4 , I had BRL 3 billion in new contracts. Contracts that are being implemented between the Q4 2024 and the Q1 2025.
These are operational costs that affect us, but they are part of our business, and they are going to be offset a long time. Just to give you an example, this year, we grew BRL 1.8 billion in new revenues. Obviously, to grow, you had operational costs along the year, and it does affect the margin, but it is a lot cheaper than starting a company. This is part of the company's strategy.
Yes, you are going to see the improvement along the coming quarters. It can happen that we have new contracts again that overlap. Yes, if we were to decrease the pace of growth, you would see the results immediately. We do not think it makes sense. Quite the opposite. We see the market with a huge opportunity of growth. You are talking about a company of BRL 10 billion that grew BRL 1.8 billion year- over- year. Just this BRL 1.8 billion would already place us between the 10 largest companies in the sector, but we are still with a 3% market share. The opportunity for growth is still huge. We are not even close to its end. That is what we are betting on.
About going international, we have the countries where we have the transportation from Brazil to neighboring countries, and we have countries that are independent from Brazil. We have independent operations: Paraguay, South Africa, and Ghana more recently. We're doing well. Ghana is a country that we don't know well. I myself did not know much of the country, but it's doing very well.
We did have some difficulties in terms of safety culture, and this is, again, an opportunity for us. Ghana you have 25 million inhabitants. Africa is always a huge opportunity. You have to be cautious to know what is worth it, what's not. This is a continent with huge population, acquisition power going up, and consumption average that is low. We have a trend of exponential growth.
Talking about more developed countries like Europe and the U.S., Mexico, because it's close to the U.S., we continue to look into opportunities. Very recently, we did have an opportunity in a country from Europe. We are always looking into opportunities or opportunity in the market or moving on with the customer. As we mentioned, our strategy of going international continues. One day, we would like to have 30% of our revenues in other currencies. This is a journey, and the journey has to be taken cautiously. I hope I have answered your question, and thank you for your questions, by the way. Thank you for answering.
Our next question comes from Ricardo Pucci from Una Capital. Mr. Pucci? Mr. Pucci, you may go on. As a reminder, if you want to ask a question, just raise your hand or click on the Q&A button. Please wait while we collect the questions. We'll now start the questions in writing. Mr. Guilherme.
Okay, the first question we got from Lorenzo Lima, our shareholder. What is your expectations in terms of recovering operating margin along 2025? Ramon? Hi, Lorenzo. Thanks for your question. Part of it has already been answered in the previous questions. Just to reinforce that, what we believe is adjusting prices. We have a very strong strategy, customer by customer, analyzing the characteristics of each contract, each customer.
We have a strategy that we started in January, and we have already reached half of our challenge that we have decided to go for. When I'm talking about price adjustments, not only with things that were provided in contract, even extra additional things, which is not easy, but with good argumentation, being coherent, it's always what I say.
We don't want to spoil the relationship with the customer, but it's necessary to adjust prices and also reduce costs. We did have the largest cost reduction plan encompassing several things: optimizing resources, reducing costs, and etc. That is the idea. In parallel to that, we have operational costs, which is not really increasing costs, but somehow do impact our margin. That naturally, as contracts are deployed, is diluted.
Basically, the strategy is this: adjust prices whenever we have room for that, and mainly seeking efficiency by reducing costs or by doing more with less. That's it. I'm going to go to the second question. The second question comes from a shareholder. I'm going to read it in Portuguese, and this is going to be translated into English. There are three points in the question. The first is the same question that Lorenzo asked.
That is how we expect to recover margins over the next couple of months. I think Ramon answered that. Second, initiatives to improve working capital and probably deleveraging the company. And the third question about our expectations in terms of a return on invested capital run rate. Now it is at 14.6%.
What's our expectations for the end of 2025? Ramon, if you want to talk a bit more about price adjustments, and then I'm going to talk about return on invested capital and working capital. No, I think margins, I have already answered the question. I think you should focus on the others. Okay, [Karen]. I think I did mention briefly on the previous question about the main actions in terms of working capital and capital expenditures.
Just as a reminder, we are talking about improving our working capital to reduce the term of receivables from customers, reduce accounts receivable to have a faster turnover, to receive as fast as possible, and therefore improve the performance of sales of inventory available for sale. That is, assets that have been retired and are available for sale. We increased our sales force recently to be able to have a larger volume, again, for a company of BRL 10 billion.
Consequently, we have expectations of this number to rise along the next quarters. Therefore, we are going to have a leaner balance sheet collaborating to this strategy to reduce working capital and being leader in terms of balance sheet. As for return on invested capital, the main comments I already mentioned.
Undoubtedly, we cannot give guidance for a specific number for the end of the year, but we want it to go back to recent levels for return on invested capital. Expanded, lighter balance sheet, better operational results, and therefore going back to this level of return on invested capital that we had recently, an expansion of 14.6%, although 14.6% is healthy considering our cost of capital and everything else. Sorry not to be specific, but again, we do not give guidance for the year-end in terms of return on invested capital.
One more question, Ramon. Ramon and Guilherme, thanks for taking my question. If you could talk a bit more about the average age of your assets in operation versus previous periods. This is from Antonio Rizzo from Inter. Average age has not changed much. It is about four to four point some years. That is connected to our contracts.
We have lots of assets in forestry, in mining, and the contract already establishes renewal after three, four years. That is why the average is down, especially compared to Brazil. Other segments in which we are growing, like chemicals, are lighter operations. We should have changes after six months. We might have change of this average in the coming months, but that is very much connected to the type of business and the type of contract that we have.
Two follow-ups on the same topic. Antonio is asking, what would be the ideal asset average? What is the average cost of a leased asset vis-à-vis your own asset? There is a calculation for the optimal average age average, and it has to do with the cost of depreciation, the financial cost of depreciation vis-à-vis the maintenance cost.
Maintenance cost is broken down into the cost per se, but also the non-availability of the asset, which really hurts the business. You have a chart correlated both and where the two curves meet, you have the optimal part. In sectors that are more aggressive, like forestry and mining, three to four years, sectors where assets only drive on roads, 10, 12,000, it goes to five years. In even lighter operations, urban distribution for beverage, you can have an average age of 10 years because the mileage is very low. It varies. The correlation is important, financial cost versus maintenance versus availability. With that, we go back to the operator. Thank you.
Thank you. JSL Q&A session is now closed. We'll now hand it back to Mr. Alcaraz for his closing remarks.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for being here with us today, your attention that honors us and gives us fuel to continue working. I'd like to draw your attention about a few points. I did talk a lot in my opening remarks and in the Q&A. I'd like to draw your attention about our capacity to grow even at a very high level.
We are absolute leader for 24 consecutive years. I've been in the segment for 40 years. I have been following the ranking in specialized magazine for 35 years since the first ranking. The only company that has been leader year after year is JSL alone. Still, we are growing at a very fast level, 20% a year. Growth year- over- year, as I mentioned, would already mean a company among the 10 largest in the market.
We have been exploring markets that were not in our DNA like a decade ago, like intralogistics and warehousing. These sectors already show us the largest players, sectors that were not present before. We are exploring segments, e-commerce, that we did not have a few years ago. Now we are already leading the business. Chemicals, again, not a sector in which we were present two, three years ago. We have substantial operations now.
Our capacity to grow and grow in relevant segments and gain scale is a very strong potential of our company. That always diversifying, 16 sectors, primary, secondary industries, retail, you name it, automotive, chemical, e-commerce, beverage, food, mining, forestry, always providing excellent services, proving by our cross-selling capacities. Why do not we lose ourselves? Because of our management controls. We have our executive managers.
We have our contract owners that are going to oversee contracts as if they were the only ones. Our customers like the size of the company because that gives them a capacity to invest. In terms of execution, they want JSL for themselves as if they were our only customers. This is the view of the business owner that we have with the customer. Our capacity to grow, just to give you an example, we talked about BRL 5.4 billion last year, but something that we did not mention much.
Out of these, we have important cross-selling, and we also have 28 new customers, 28 new customers that started with small contracts. Because of our cross-selling capacity, they will become relevant in the coming years. This is our strategy. We are a company for the long term.
We are going to have disturbances, some periods, price increases, dollar or exchange rate fluctuations, interest rates. We are used to that in Brazil. There is nothing new. We bet on mid and long term, and this is what you should expect. Thank you very much for your attention. Guilherme, no, I think that's it. You said it all. I think the management model that we're able to develop along the years at JSL, where we have a specific contract owner, a specific operations manager, we are inside the customers. We look into opportunities.
We understand their challenges, and therefore we develop products together. That makes us able to grow looking into contract by contract. That is, for the customer, we operate as a small company trying to be better and better. With that, we are qualified for new opportunities and therefore grow inside our customers.
I think the management model that we created, business owners, the owners of companies that require that continuing the company to be independent and be agile makes us not to get lost in our size. We work as a small company, but benefit from the scale of a company of more than BRL 10 billion revenues. I think that's it. Yeah, if you want to make an analogy when you think of margins costs, this is the analogy I have with my customers when I'm trying to sell a contract. I say we are a service company. I'm not going to promise to you, customer, that I'm not going to have problems, that I'm going to be the fastest to solve problems. That's true for brands.
We cannot avoid headwinds in a country like ours, but we are going to be the fastest in the sector to solve our problems. I wish you all a very good day. That is it. See you next time. JSL Conference Call is now closed. We thank you very much for joining us and wish you a good day.