Morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Kepler Weber's first quarter 2024 earnings result video conference. Present with us today are Bernardo Nogueira, the CEO, and Paulo Polezi, the CFO and Investor Relations Director. We would like to inform you that the presentation is being recorded and translated simultaneously. The translation option is available by clicking on the Interpretation button. For those following the video conference in English, it is possible to mute the original audio in Portuguese. During the company's presentation, all participants will remain in silent mode. Ensuring this, the question-and-answer session will begin. To ask questions, click on the raised hand icon. When you are announced, there will be a prompt to activate your microphone, and you will be able to pose your questions.
Please bear in mind that any statements made during this conference call regarding Kepler Weber's business products, operational and financial targets, or projections of the company's board may or may not materialize. Investors should understand that political, macroeconomic, and other operational factors may influence the company's future and lead to results that differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. To open the first quarter 2024 results video conference, I turn the floor over to Bernardo Nogueira. Good morning, everybody. It is a pleasure to be with you for Kepler's first quarter 2024 results conference call. Today is a special day for me, the first conference call leading this fantastic Kepler Weber, which since 1925 has had a team recognized for excellence and with countless opportunities for growth in all segments in which we operate.
Speaking of the first quarter, our performance amplified the positive trends that we had in the second half of 2023 when there was a significant upturn in business. Our operation continues to deliver excellent results despite the climatic and economic challenges facing some agribusiness chains. Starting on slide three, I'd like to highlight net revenue, which grew by 17.7% vis-à-vis the first quarter 2023. The positive performance reflects the company's excellent market position, which has made certain moves to capture relevant and at the same time profitable business. EBITDA reached a robust BRL 90.4 million with a margin of 23.8%, an increase of 16.8% compared to the first quarter 2023. Here, I would like to highlight our operational efficiency, which contributed to greater dilution and absorption of costs, together with good commercial and logistic management.
Likewise, net profit totaled BRL 52.2 million with a margin of 13.7% and a growth of 2% compared to the first quarter of 2023. I now invite Paulo to speak about the different business segments. Well, thank you, Bernardo. A good morning to all of you. The farm segment reached BRL 132 billion, an increase of 22.8% vis-à-vis the same period 2023. We had a portfolio that upheld our billing in the first quarter of 2024, and we also showed our efficacy once again, making the most of business opportunities in the south of the country as a result of a strong harvest. In agribusiness, we reached BRL 106 million, down 3.7% vis-à-vis the first quarter 2023. This quarter, we strategically prioritized directing resources to the more profitable segments. As a result of this strategy, we managed to maintain a stable level of net revenue in absolute numbers.
International Business reached BRL 38.8 million, up 70.2% on first quarter 2023. An excellent performance generated by sales of larger projects closed during the fourth quarter 2023, contributing to a robust end-of-year portfolio. Ports and Terminals net revenue reached BRL 46.6 million, an increase of 46.5% compared to the first quarter 2023 as a result of delivery of equipment in three important projects: a grain handling terminal in Bahia, a port project in Pará, and a corn/ethanol industry in Mato Grosso. Finally, in Replacement and Services, we saw an increase of 11.8% compared to the same period of 2023, mainly due to the consolidation of Procer, which contributed with an increase of 9.5% in sales. On slide number five, I would like to share some important projects.
Concluded in the Três de Maio project in Rio Grande do Sul, we delivered a dryer with a capacity of 200 tons per hour, the main highlight of which is the automated furnace, which delivers greater yield, quality, and low energy consumption. The Correntina project in Bahia involved streamlining the unit of a large trading where we dismantled old equipment that had been in use for a long time and installed new equipment that brought efficiency and safety in grain receiving and storing. The Ivinhema project in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, a cooperative project delivered in March 2024, left the client very satisfied as we met the short delivery deadline, reinforcing Kepler's reliability and leaving us well-positioned to capture new investments. On slide number 6, we have the Tunas project in Bolivia.
This is the first KW Max dryer to be installed in the country and will be a benchmark and will attract new customers to the region. Finally, we mention the Treinta y Tres project in Uruguay. This is an expansion of the project where the client already operated a complete Kepler line and has now built a second line with a KW dryer 3800, keeping the same equipment configuration. On slide number 7, we show you the renewal of our portfolio. We had the entry of 18 different supplies contracted, which together amount to approximately BRL 178 million in new sales. In the table, we highlight the entry of 10 new simultaneous projects in agri-industries, totaling BRL 119 million, followed by BRL 35 million in five works on the farm and BRL 23 million referring to three export projects for serial customers, billing starting June and run until November 2024.
On slide 8, we show you the evolution of EBITDA, where we generated BRL 90.4 billion, an increase of 16.8% vis-à-vis the first quarter 2023. EBITDA generation reflects an increase in the level of activity during the period and the result of balanced management of volumes, prices, and costs. The margin of 23.8% remained at a level above the average, and all the expenses are under control. On slide number 9, we show you the evolution of CapEx investments. In the first quarter 2024, investments amounted to BRL 7.8 million, 34% of which was earmarked for complying with standards and legislation, 27% for the development of new products, 26% for increasing manufacturing capacity, and 13% for IT systems. We will have an increase of production of 37% and also see significant advances in the economy, benefiting the associates in the company.
On slide 10, you see we had BRL 319 million for net cash, the same healthy level of the first quarter 2023. If we don't consider the indebtedness, our net cash position closed at BRL 173.4 million, reinforcing the robustness of Kepler. On slide 11, we show the ROIC for the first quarter 2024, which was 43%, in line with the ROIC for fourth quarter 2023, showing a balance between good profitability and the long-term investments made by the company. I would like to remind you that the high ROIC is one of the differentials of our business model. It allows us to add new operational capacities without making large CapEx contributions. On slide 12, we bring you the payment of BRL 74.9 million in dividends paid out on April 15, maintaining an attractive payout of 61%.
With this, I would like to conclude my part and return the floor to Bernardo. Thank you very much, Paulo. Before we end the call, I'm delighted to share with you two important initiatives in RNS, which we've been working on for months and which will enable us to get even closer to our clients and add value to them. Firstly, the launch of the Grains of Knowledge long-distance learning. It's innovative and unprecedented in the sector. It will enable us to train customers to increase efficiency and safety in the post-harvest. Another innovative tool is the Kepler Checklist, an application that carries out detailed diagnosis of equipment, resulting in a significant improvement in customers' operational efficiency. It is important to note that both projects are scalable and aim to continue generating value in customer relations.
In addition, we have the Kepler Checklist that will facilitate the entry of automatic orders for the purchase of new equipment through the app, expanding the possibilities of sales and efficiency, of course. Now, before we go on to the question-and-answer session, I want to reinforce our recent achievements, and I will comment on our outlook for the rest of 2024. First of all, I need to emphasize the consistency of the Kepler team's delivery, considering the adverse scenario that we are experiencing. We had profitability and turnover at healthy levels and above the historical average. In March, we also celebrated one year of the acquisition of Procer. If we consider the growth of the business during the year, we reached 1,450 people connected, an increase of 37%. The commercial and operational synergies are proof that we're on the right path.
Finally, I would like to highlight another quarter with a very healthy ROIC. We delivered 43%, maintaining consistency in this very important indicator. As an outlook for the rest of 2024, we continue to be cautious and at the same time confident in maintaining a positive demand of projects for Agribusiness, Ports and Terminals, Replacement, and Services. I would like to end by saying that although the second quarter traditionally has a lower level of billing due to the typical seasonality, we're working with a scenario of gradual evolution throughout the year. With this, I would like to end the presentation of the earnings results for the first quarter of 2024. We can now proceed to questions and answers. Thank you. We will now go on to the questions and answers. Should you wish to pose a question, click on the raise hand button.
When you are announced, there will be a prompt to turn on your microphone. Please do so to pose your question. During the question-and-answer session, the priority will be for the questions asked live. For those interested in making questions in writing, please use the link available in the chat. Because of the high number of questions we normally receive and to be able to answer to all participants, we will pull the questions according to the topic that is being announced. If your question is sent after the closing, the IR team will send you a response subsequently through email. The first question comes from Fernanda Urbano from XP. You may proceed, ma'am. Good morning, everybody. Can you hear me? Hello, Fernanda. Yes, we can hear you very well. Well, thank you. Congratulations for the results, and thank you for taking our two questions.
Both questions are thinking about the dynamics of profitability. We saw a very healthy margin in the first quarter of 2024, 24%, and the cost of raw material has been stable year-over-year. Which will be the pricing dynamic going forward? Will there be a price pressure as the raw material is more stable? Secondly, a question about mix. In the release, you said that in agribusiness, your priority are more profitable profits, but you also mentioned a less favorable mix in some projects with lower margins. Could you give us greater details on the effects of mix in this first half of the year and what we can expect in coming quarters considering the portfolio that you already have? Oh, thank you for the question, Fernanda. I'll begin with the first. Bernardo will help me with the others. You spoke about profitability.
In fact, we're quite proud of our profitability that we were able to deliver in the first quarter. A great deal of our efforts are made during the year to maintain productivity in the plant, assertiveness in the certification of products, good strategies for the supply of raw material, a good execution and delivery. It is that composition that drives up our profitability. You spoke about the stable price of raw material. Yes, you are right. We have followed up on the accommodation of commodities. We know that steel and other components connected to steel represent a significant part of our costs. There has been a drop in the prices during the year, and this has helped us to stabilize our cost base. We do not observe any trend for this to change.
Another important factor that we should keep in mind here for you who follow up on the company is the operating volume. We are delivering a quarter of growth, almost 18% growth in revenue, but this also means there is an adjustment in raw material, especially steel compared to last year, a significant price reduction. We do have a greater portfolio of orders, almost 30% higher in volume for this quarter. This, of course, places a great deal of pressure but also helps us dilute prices and decrease distortion, Fernanda. I would say that these variables will remain as part of our mix of costs and raw material as well, which does not pose any concern for the time being. Thank you. Hello, Fernanda.
Simply to complement the part of the mix and what we can expect for the year, I was thinking about your question, and this is the sixth consecutive year of profitability. Part of our strategy for this is to be present in the entire productive chain. We're working with farmers, small and larger, well-structured farmers, the cooperatives, agribusiness, all of that action of the Brazilian agribusiness. We're present in the entire chain until the ports and terminals. Now, yes, our strategy is to continue on with this diversification. And of course, year after year, some segments tend to be stronger than others. We have to observe how they behave. And there is a priority of others for businesses on farm as they end up being more profitable, but always keeping in mind diversification. We do maintain a relevant presence in all segments. That was very clear. Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Felipe Lenza from Citi. You may proceed, sir. Good morning, Bernardo, Polezi. Congratulations for the results. I have two questions as well. My question refers to the reduction of exposure of Kepler in farms. You said that Kepler has opted for this strategy to focus on more profitable segments. Now, the clients of agribusiness are much larger, and they don't need help in funding, while the farmers do need to have a lower cost access. There has been a drop in demand for storage in the first months of 2024 because of the rapid depletion of the harvest plan. Now, this being the case, could you give us more color in terms of that reduction that you have in terms of exposure to agribusiness? And what will happen in the southern region in August? Will this accelerate what you're doing?
My second question, I know it's still very early on, but if you could give us more detail on your entry into silos, the bags, and which is the outlook of the company for other segments, especially replacement and services. Thank you very much. Hello, Felipe. Is everything well? Well, okay. We have long answers, but we will try to give them all. We can also hold a conversation regarding that combination of farms and agribusiness. What is it that we have perceived? The two segments are quite strong in terms of sales, and billing depends on the timing of the execution and the delivery of the work. Sometimes we have a faster acceleration. We have a lower base compared to last year. In industries, well, we had a very good result last year, but we're not observing a slowdown in agribusiness. We have several projects in the pipeline.
This week or yesterday, we have an acceleration of investments in storage from cooperatives with a very good business pipeline with trading, agribusiness, and cooperatives. We are not observing a slowdown now. The chart of the first quarter will be very similar to the chart of the year. This is what the pipeline shows us, and this is very healthy. We like the diversification. To speak about strategy, we have a great deal of continuity in our strategy. We have attained a level of operational excellence, plant excellence, continuous improvement that we want to maintain and strengthen. There is significant work towards strengthening our development and launch of products. I mentioned at the beginning some of the services that are being launched this first quarter in the Agrishow that begins this week.
We have the launch of a BioCav that helps in the reduction of labor, optimizing labor in the storage units. We have a feeder for the dryer, and we have a cleaning machine, a new cleaning machine that will be launched in the second half of the year. So we have a great deal coming out that will add value and increase our revenues, of course. Now, to speak about the lease of units, I would say that we're at an advanced stage of discussions with some clients, and the goal is to set up a pilot this year to learn more. It's important to mention here that when we speak about the lease of units, our vision is that this is very well positioned. It allows us to know where the demand lies. All of this has been mapped throughout Brazil in terms of storage. We have several clients.
We understand from their units. We have a knowledge of engineering, a knowledge of the execution of the work, and the maintenance of those units now. This knowledge is a value that we can add, and we can enter with capital. And the idea is to consolidate storage units for leasing without using the Kepler CapEx. Very generally, this is what we're trying to set up. Once we have this pilot concluded, doubtlessly we will invite you to come to the office so that we can offer you more details in terms of how this will operate. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Bernardo. Our next question comes from Álvaro Rui from BTG. The increase of rates on Chinese steel, does this impact the operational results of the company? Good morning, Álvaro. Thank you for your question.
Now, this issue of the import of steel and much more, I think it's important to discuss it very quickly to give you an answer. We have followed up on this on the last quarter, seeing a higher volume of imported goods, especially coming from China with a highly competitive price. And what impacts the operation of Brazilian plants is this. We were following up on this very closely. And last week, there was an outcome, the announcement on behalf of the government. Well, there were some announcements in truth. I'm going to put them all on the same place. The import aliquot for steel, 10.8%. And in that announcement, the new aliquot would be increased to 25%, but only for part of that steel. Now, what they call the NCMs do impact our operation. We would have an impact on the mix of products, especially the steel.
We don't import everything, but most of the imports are included on that list, as well as the players of our sector. Full clarity in terms of the rules, the average volumes, considering the years 2021-2022, would perhaps impact that aliquot that could reach 30% as an average of the three years. We know that up to March, the volume of imports was below those 30%. But regardless of these changes and the new rule that applies for the next 12 months, it is important to explain how we work with this at Kepler. First of all, we have our operational model. We transfer price. Steel represents 50% of our product cost. It is relevant, but obviously, this is reflected in the sales price as well. So we're transferring the price of raw materials. Secondly, because of our policies and governance, we don't calculate the price of steel.
You will recall that in 2021-2022, the price of steel increased almost 100%. Nevertheless, the company continued to work very well with this variation, delivering good result, growth, and profitability. We don't speculate on price. Why not? Because Kepler has that differential of knowing its order portfolio. We know what we're selling, the volume we are selling, and we work with a good inventory coverage that is balanced differently from what we see in the market. Kepler at present knows the margin we will be delivering in each order. This is very important in terms of our management. Kepler is a company that is a centennial company. It's been around for 99 years. We know how to work well with that. We make our decision based on guaranteed profitability.
And all of the unfoldings of the import aliquot, well, we're going to have to learn how to work with those mechanisms. And we're going to follow up on what will happen with those volumes in coming quarters. We will keep you informed. Thank you for the question. The next question comes from Felipe Lenza from Citi. You may proceed, Felipe. Good morning, everybody. I have already posed my question. Simply forgot to lower my hand. Thank you. Daremos priority to the question and answer session. We will prefer the questions asked over the microphone. Please hold while we pull for questions. Our next question comes from Mr. Werner Roger from Trígono Capital. You may proceed, sir. Good morning. And congratulations for your results. A challenging movement because of the lower prices, but we can see that you're contributing positively. I have two questions on taxation.
There is a discussion for a reduction of taxes at federal level in the Congress. I don't know if you have any news in terms of what is being negotiated, what is happening among the parliamentarians, and to explain the income tax that has had an impact on EBITDA but not on revenue. So these are my questions, both referring to taxation. Werner, good morning. And thank you for joining us in our earnings result. This is very positive for the company. Those are important questions that you have just posed. First of all, you are referring to the G-Silos, which is a program that is going through Congress with incentives to reduce the tax load for the work in terms of grain storage, something that is very important at this point in Brazil. On Monday, of course, there will be that Agrishow in Ribeirão Preto.
It shows the importance of agribusiness and storage. The price of commodities is somewhat better, but this is a very relevant topic for a country: that deficit in storage, even with the harvest break that we have had this year. When we look forward, the analysts and projections point to the fact that in 2025, the climate variations will not be severe. There is that perspective that we can go back to levels similar to what we had last year. This will place a great deal of pressure on the system, on the grain production system. A measure like this one, like GESILOS, is very important for our segment now. The information we have is that this is being debated at internal sessions to be sent to the Senate and the lower chamber. We don't have any updates.
The good news, of course, is that it is being debated at Congress, and it will bring us novelties for the harvest coming year. The second part of your question, as of the 1st of January this year, we have Law 14.709 of 2023, a law that has fostered changes in taxation and investments granted by the states with a reduction of the gross aliquot of ICMS. There are two industrial operations, one in the south, the second in Mato Grosso do Sul. This is a newer plant that was built 20 years ago. And we have had that investment incentive. It was very important for our operation, for the production capacity, for streamlining of the plant. Now, this alteration, this new law, will maintain the benefit of the ICMS, the circulation of merchandise.
It will preserve our EBITDA at its present level, but it excludes the benefit of the reduction of the income tax. Now, the difference is of 6.5 percentage points of the rate, the aliquot. And we had already captured this since last year. All of the Kepler planning and budgeting already included that variable, and it has not impacted us. What is more important in our business is that this investment has already been made. It is paid off. And because of this incentive, Kepler nowadays has a very streamlined plant with available production, and the market will grow. There will be the need for storage. We are one of the leaders, and we will have room and capacity to continue to invest and increase our production.
So this law has been helpful for Kepler, and we continue with the benefit of the ICMS and not benefits in terms of net revenue. That was the main effect. If you allow me a comment, we have La Niña in the northern hemisphere. Já aponta para problema climático que nós tivemos aqui. Talvez isso possa contribuir. And it's already pointing towards a problem. We may have a problem with prices. We'll see that better in the second half of the year because there has been a break in soybeans in the United States. Simply an additional comment. Thank you for that comment about La Niña, Werner. And we are following up very closely on the evolutions in the American harvest and in the Brazilian harvest as well. There are two interesting elements that we can remark on. First, the climate, our geographic positioning.
Present-day, Kepler, part of our resilience is to be present throughout the business and to be present throughout Brazil. Now, Kepler, 30 years ago, was concentrated in the south. When there was a drought in the south, the company would suffer. Last year, we executed work in more than 300 municipalities throughout Brazil. Events such as La Niña, La Niña will impact the region but will benefit other regions, which was the case this year with abundant rainfall in the south and a drought in the north. Well, regarding La Niña for the coming year, it's a bit early to speak about the Brazilian production, but La Niña in the 2024-25 harvest would bring about good rainfall and good production. And in the south of Brazil, in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, a drought.
And that would be welcome for our clients and will end up having a positive impact for us. Our next question comes from Ricardo Robino from 41 Investimentos. You may proceed, sir. Ricardo, seu microfone está aberto. Pode. Ricardo, your microphone has been unmuted. You may proceed with your question. Por favor, senhor Ricardo. O senhor pode prosseguir. Ricardo, you may proceed with your question if you wish. Our next question comes from Cristian Matheus de Oliveira from Levante Corp. You may proceed with your question. Good morning, everybody. Congratulations for the results. We have two points of discussion. First of all, you mentioned that you have focused on more profitable segments, but this did have an impact. You're working with larger, more complex businesses. If you could refer to these more profitable products, which is the outlook for the farm segment for the second half of the year?
Secondly, the reduction of commissions. How could this impact your sales team? Oi, Cristian. Bom dia. Good morning, Cristian. We're here getting organized to answer your questions. We had a bit of noise in the first question. It was somewhat difficult to understand what you were saying. You were speaking about a more profitable mix. Could you please repeat the first part of your question? Of course. I'm sorry. I said that despite the more profitable mix, you mentioned an unfavorable impact on the more complex projects, if I could understand that ratio of mix and the positive impact you had on cost. Cristian, agora ficou mais claro. Obrigado pelas. Okay, very well. That has clarified the question. Thank you for your question. In fact, we do have a different mix vis-à-vis what we had last year, but this is not just present in 2023.
If you allow me to go back a bit, we had a greater concentration on the farms and lower-sized projects. We had a change of mix, as you have observed. That takes us to larger volumes, imports, and terminals, a sector that has an enormous project pipeline that is underway as part of the agrochain. We also have agribusiness and the cooperatives. Bernardo mentioned that there was an article in Valor Econômico referring to agribusiness and some of those opportunities that allow Kepler to better gear its mix without losing its focus on the opportunities, of course. Farms was a significant answer for our model. Despite what Bernardo will comment of the commodities losing price in international business, the same holds true. A greater growth among our segments, where we have a footprint in international business. We have had a higher billing in this quarter.
So we end up having an accommodation. Now, this different billing brings us greater volumes into the plant, a longer delivery term, and an increase in the cost, the average cost, weighted cost of the company. This is the result. Despite this, Kepler continues to work and has been able to preserve its profitability with a different mix compared to what we had in the past. But we have been able to maintain ourselves' margins and the important dilution. This is what we attempted to explain in the results. We see that this will continue on in the coming quarters, but we're making efforts towards a greater diversification, not only when we're servicing clients but also in the internal part of the plant, in our portfolio. Enormous effort from the teams, and we have been able to deliver this differentiated mix.
Once again, it's a different mix with a somewhat higher cost that will not impact, as it has not impacted, our profitability. I give the floor to Bernardo to answer the rest of the question. Oi, Cristian. Sobre fazer. Cristian, about farms. Very quickly, I think it is worthwhile mentioning two points here. This year, we saw the price of soybeans dropping 20% or 30% vis-à-vis last year. So we were cautious about working with farms. In our portfolio, in sales and procurement, we have observed a need to invest with our clients. There are several segments in agribusiness that have felt that retraction of farmers, but we haven't felt that in terms of storage. And in the conversations we hold with our clients, we see that the priority is storage. Among other investments, of course, the greatest bottleneck and the greatest profitability lies in storage.
An interesting side comment. I was working with a Pareto map here. If we look at sales and billing to farms, 50% of our clients from farms invoice BRL 50 million. And this extends to BRL 2 billion in the case of some agricultural groups and other groups in Mato Grosso. When we speak about farms, therefore, we should keep in mind a farmer. But these are very well-structured groups that work with hedging. They work with enormous professionalism in terms of their cash, and they're better able to deal with these market fluctuations compared to the smaller farmers or the farmers we had 20 or 30 years ago. Durante a sessão de perguntas e respostas. Now, during the question-and-answer session, the priority will be for questions that are posed live over the microphone. Our next question comes from Ricardo Robino from 41 Investimentos.
Last year, you made a last investment in painting at the plant. I would like to know if this has been concluded and if you have other large investments in projects, which is the CapEx level that we should expect as being a recurrent level for coming periods. Ricardo, thank you for the question. We got it in writing. Now, to begin with the painting line, there was the inauguration in September last year. That is a good example, Ricardo, of the streamlining that Kepler is carrying out in its plant. It's a company that, in the last few years, has set itself aside. We have been able to take Kepler to another level. As far as we can observe, Kepler has had a significant evolution. It's not different in terms of investments to streamline plants. The painting line is a state-of-the-art technology.
It reduces the cost of the product. It enhances the quality and brings about other benefits. It's a part that is sensorial. It has the programming part. It's a highly modern plant that is already under operation. Now, we have created a plant so that it will absorb growth in the coming five years. We do have good capacity for the coming five years, and we're very satisfied with the results attained so far. In Brazil, only two companies have that technology: Kepler and a company from another sector. Now, referring to the investments, the volume of investments, you will have observed that the company has invested 5% of net revenue. If we compare this with the depreciation of around 3%-3.5%, we're investing somewhat more than the depreciation.
This is very important for us to update our plans, to ensure that the level of productivity goes up, and to address the increase in volumes that we have. Now, this quarter, the volume that our plants have been working with is 30% greater vis-à-vis the first quarter last year. And we have had a good response thanks to our investments. To conclude here, we do have a strategic plan for five years and 10 years. We are aware of the bottlenecks and the investments we need to make. So, in the short term, this level will continue of around 5%.
Every 3-5 years, depending on the demand, we will have to make investments similar to those of the painting line, something like investing in silos or capital goods for agribusiness, perhaps, because we are able to grow significantly with the investments of CapEx at lower levels. The result of this is a high ROIC, and this is the model that we will continue with in our business. Thank you for the question. If you could please hold a bit more. We're pooling some questions with the same topic. We will remain in silence while we pool these questions. A nossa próxima pergunta. Our next question comes from Kalil from Rich Capital. Good morning and congratulations for the result. What is the outlook for the KW, and which is the position of dryers in the international market?
Was this one of the drivers for the growth in the segment this quarter? Hello, Kalil. We're very enthusiastic with this Biocav. It's part of the Kepler strategy of investing in equipment that optimizes labor, bringing about efficiency for clients and greater security in the operation. There is a huge demand. I went to speak to 200 clients. The 200 have difficulties in labor, and so Kepler can develop this equipment to help them optimize the labor on the fields. Biocav basically is a feeder that goes to the furnace for the drying of grains. And the alternative, which is used now, is to feed that furnace with logs, with pieces of logs. And there's nobody else who's going to work feeding logs into a furnace.
So KW Biocav will be an equipment that will face up to this very large demand that we have from clients to optimize their labor. Procer itself brings about optimization, automation with artificial intelligence. The idea, and this is a spoiler for you, we're going to bring about the Kepler portfolio referring to labor optimization. Basically, Kalil, what is very interesting is that the same unit, the capacity of 500,000 bags, can cost X or Y in construction and can have a support that will cost X or Y. The intention is to add value in the construction of the unit so it comes out with better technology and will limit the number of people working there, enhancing the labor of people through 20 or 30 years of future operation.
So we do have an enormous opportunity as a company to be protagonists in this transformation in terms of technology and labor in storage. A próxima pergunta. The next question comes from Antonio Lopez, investor, about grains of knowledge. Will the company investors have access to this remote educational system to know more about the operation? Bom, Antonio, com certeza. Well, yes, Antonio, of course. Once again, to go back to labor, there is a constant demand from our clients for training. We know that a well-trained, a well-qualified employee can operate a dryer, a cleaning machine, and preserve the grain better than one that is not well-trained.
We see that Grains of Knowledge will be an opportunity to offer that training in a very modern way through a smartphone using short videos where the operator can regulate a machine, for example, or ensure that the operation is running properly. Our intention with remote distance is to initially offer this training so that when the client decides which investment they're going to make, they will work with Kepler, thinking of the team that we have for this. Now, this is the first way of monetizing Grains of Knowledge. Eventually, a version 2.0, perhaps not this year, but for the coming year, this remote education will become a portfolio of certification. If you're going to operate a dryer that costs a fortune that could catch fire during the operation for bad labor, the operator can say that they know how to work with that operation.
So we can evolve from distance learning to a type of certification to operate different equipment within a unit or to work within the entire unit. This is another way of monetizing that education platform for labor and for the training of operators. A sessão de perguntas e respostas. The question-and-answer session ends here. We would like to return the floor to Bernardo for the closing remarks. Beleza, pessoal. Estamos chegando aqui ao final. Now, we're coming to the end of our call. I would like to begin by thanking a person here, Piero Abbondi. I thank you for having led these results. Presently, Piero is supporting us and working with us at the Kepler Board. So, first of all, my thanks go towards Piero. I begin this closing by saying that we began 2024 on the right foot.
We had an excellent performance in terms of billing with a growth in revenue. Our sales have been very successful this quarter. This allows us to have a very good portfolio for the first half of the year. Execution in engineering and the plants and logistics, they all deserve congratulations. I would also like to underscore the power of our implementation team. They set up these works in the field. What we sent to the field is a Lego that needs to be assembled in the different units. We had 72 works delivered now in this first quarter with an exemplary NPS of 81. For those who know the NPS methodology, you know that 81 is comparable to Apple, Netflix. It's in the zone of excellence. We're highly satisfied with this. It means that the purchases were done with healthy margins.
We had 1,700 and some clients serviced, 4% higher than last year thanks to that effort of coming closer to clients with distribution centers with digital marketing. It's a company that is celebrating 99 years now. In May, the portfolio has continued to grow, which is very healthy. This semester, we also celebrate the year of investment in Procer that has been a milestone. It is a company from the steel industry working with steel transformation. And it is now working in digitization and the process of digitization post-harvest and harvest. We had a growth of 3% in revenue and 100% in terms of software and recurrence at Procer. We're highly enthusiastic with this opportunity of doing in storage what was done in the rest of agriculture with the tractors, the harvester, working with digitization and streamlining.
We're going to gear all of this to storage through Procer. So, with this, we end the first quarter. We're going to continue the year focused on operational excellence, continuous improvement. This is part of our DNA. Looking forward, what can we expect from 2024? We spoke about our line. The consensus of consultants, of specialized technicians, is that we're already speaking about the harvest of 2024, 2024. All of the inputs have been purchased for the sowing that begins in October and September. The consensus is that our harvest will be between 320-340 million tons. This, of course, will bring about pressure in storage. That is why nowadays we're working very arduously so that 2024 can surpass 2023 and be the second best year in the company. We're sharing this with you transparently. We will bring updates during the quarters.
We would like to end this first quarter highly satisfied with our results and very confident with the year 2024 and the work that is being carried out by our technical team. Thank you very much, everybody. The earnings results video conference for Kepler Weber has ended here. Should you have any additional questions, please send your questions to the IR team. We thank you for your attendance and wish you a very good day.