Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for waiting for us. Welcome to the teleconference for Kepler Weber for the earnings release of the second quarter 2022. We have here with us Mr. Piero Abbondi, the President, and Paulo Polezi, Financial Director, and Bernardo Nogueira, Commercial Director, who will participate only in the Q&A session. We would like to inform that this event is being recorded. The participants will only listen to the company's presentation. Then we are going to have a Q&A session to all attendees, and we are going to give you more instructions later on. I would like to say, if you need any assistance during the call, please ask the help of an operator. This event is also being broadcast simultaneously via webcast. We have www.keplerweber.com.ri, where this presentation will be available for download.
The replay of this event will be at the company's website right after the closing of this teleconference. Before we move on, we would like to say that the statements made during the teleconference relating to business outlooks, forecasts about operating and financial results, are related only to Kepler Weber's growth prospects and are merely projections. Future projections cannot be interpreted as performance. They involve market conditions, performance of the Brazilian economy, the industry, and international markets, and therefore are subject to change without prior notice, since they refer to the future and depend on the circumstance. The investors should notice that the general conditions and other events can affect the company's performance and can lead to results that materially differ from our forecasts. Now, I will give the floor to Mr. Piero Abbondi, the CEO, that will make the first part of the presentation. The floor, Mr. Piero.
Good morning, everyone. It is a great pleasure to be here with you again for the earnings release of Kepler teleconference. In the second quarter, we observed the continuity of the favorable macroeconomic conditions, such as agricultural commodities on the rise, the appreciated BRL, and clients capitalized, providing a good performance of the company in all segments. The first highlight was the growth of 48.4% of the net income as compared to the second quarter 2021. An operating performance very consistent that is backed by the quality and the relevance of the Kepler brand in the segments where we operate. Paulo will give more details of performance of each segment down the road. Another highlight of the second quarter was the EBITDA that grew 340.7% and reached BRL 24.3 million. The EBITDA margin grew 17.4 percentage points, reaching 26.2%.
This achievement is a result of the successful work of our team throughout the company's value chain. Likewise, the net profit grew robustly 410%, reaching BRL 60.2 million in the quarter. Finally, in the quarter, we had two important announcements. The Plano Safra 2022/2023 that will offer the record amount of BRL 5.1 million with very attractive interest rates and terms. The execution of the MoU for the acquisition of 50% plus one share from Procer. A move aligned with our innovation strategy that will speed up the post-harvest digitalization for the entire production chain. Now I will give the floor to Paulo so that he can talk about the performance of our business segments in the second quarter.
Thank you, Piero. Good morning, everyone. Now moving on to slide 4, I present the evolution of our five segments of activity. Starting with the Post-Harvest, we had a growth of 25.5% in the quarter and 39.6% in the first six months. The performance confirms the assertiveness of our strategic actions that enabled us to grow with profitability in all Brazil's agricultural regions. In addition to that, the assertive management of price and cost vis-a-vis the increase in input such as the steel, has allowed us to grow sustainably. The International Business also had a very good performance, growing 46.2% in the quarter and 54.1% in the semester. The maintenance of the premium position of the company in the international market enabled us to carry profitable business, even in the presence of the scenario of inflation of costs of logistics and foreign exchange volatility.
In Ports and Terminals, we had a growth of 195% in the quarter, reduction of 51.2% in the first six months. In this quarter, we started the invoicing of a sale made in the second half 2021 for the export terminal in Santos. The weakest amount in the semester is due to the absence of invoicing in the first quarter 2022, due to the postponement of delivery upon a request of our client. In the agroindustry area, the sales reached BRL 47.5 million in the quarter, BRL 141.4 million in the first six months, when we continue reaping the good results of the sales made in the previous year. Finally, in Replacement & Services, we had a growth of 22.3% in the quarter and 27.6% in the semester.
The segment that adds to our revenue in our portfolio through the modernization of the existing units and service to clients, such as training, inspections, upgrades, adjustments to the rules, always seeking the revitalization of the unit. In slide 5, I share some of the projects delivered in the second quarter 2022. The Ponta Porã and Mato Grosso do Sul project is a client who urgently need a unit in that region due to the great soybean and corn agricultural project. Due to Kepler, they were able to deliver the project in the challenging terms. In the Uruguaiana project to store rice, we highlight the testimony of the client, highlighting the quality of the labor and the speed of the contractor who made the construction work, allowing to deliver it on time.
The São Desidério, Bahia project, delivered in June for soybean and corn, allowed the client to double their capacity, guaranteeing the agility necessary to maintain its products within the specifications. In slide 6, we have the Araçá project, where the rural producer choose Kepler due to the acknowledged knowhow of our team to provide the best set of equipment to guarantee the rice and greater durability. Finally, the Palestina project in Ecuador, whose customized service and quality equipment and post-sale were decisive for choosing Kepler, and the product was sized for the local seismic zone, complying 100% with the international standards. In slide 7, to show the renewal of our order book, we have four supplies that together add up to BRL 80 million in new sales. In the Post-Harvest segment, we have the sale of two complete projects.
The first, for a rural producer, in the amount of BRL 12 million. The second, BRL 21 million, for a large cooperative that has an activity nationwide. In the Agroindustry, we made the sale of a large cooperative in the amount of BRL 18 million. In the segment of Ports and Terminals, I highlight the sale of conveyor and bucket elevators in the amount of BRL 55 million for a large port terminal in Paraná.
In slide 8, we have the evolution of EBITDA in the second quarter, where we generated BRL 94.3 million, a 341% increase as compared to the result of BRL 21.4 million in the second quarter 2021. In spite of the inflation pressure that has maintained on the high value all the supply chain, allowed us to operate within the control, allow us to maintain the margin. We added the economies of sale and reached the level of 26.2% of EBITDA margin in the quarter and 30.2% in the semester. Slide 9, the evolution of CapEx.
Slide 9, we show that in the second quarter 2022, the investment reached BRL 11.7 million, and the majority, 63%, intended for the increase our capacity in Panambi and Campo Grande. We highlight the acquisition of a modern punching machine for plates and a complete turning center within our focus of increasing the productivity and reducing costs. In slide 10, I highlight the announcement of June 29 of the Plano Safra 2022/2023, where BRL 5.13 billion, that is 24.5% greater than the previous year, will be directed to the program for the construction expansion of storage. The PCA, with very attractive interest rates to producers and percentage below inflation. These conditions allow the producers who seek financing to speed up their projects for expanding their storage, seeking to increase their efficiency gains in the next harvest.
I highlight the new limit of BRL 50 million per taxpayer ID will allow the results, the resources to reach the greatest number of grain producers. I would like here to highlight the availability of cash with a gross balance and a net of BRL 110 billion. It is important to highlight that we hired in the semester new finance in the aggregate amount of BRL 100 million to guarantee comparative terms and costs and the acquisition of Procer. Slide 12, I highlight the behavior of the liquidity of our share, whose average financial volume reached BRL 11.9 million, a level similar to June 2021.
Slide 13, we show the ROIC of 2022 that had an evolution of 57 percentage points in relation to the second quarter 2021, reaching 101.5%. The expansion of ROIC shows one of our strengths of our operating models, where we were able to deliver growth through modular investments. With that, I close my part and return to Piero.
Thank you, Paulo. In slide 14, I highlight the acquisition of Procer, the leading player in Brazil in specific technologies for post-harvest management. Founded in the city of Criciúma, Procer, 10% of the static capacity of grain storage. In addition to offer software, it has created a consulting area that defines the best option depending on the quality of the grain. This acquisition is subject to the signature of the final contract. It is a movement aligned to innovation strategy of the company that will speed up the post-harvest digitalization for the whole production chain, allowing a greater efficiency to agriculture and agroindustry through products and services supported by Industry 4.0. We will keep you informed about the next steps of the transaction.
Before moving on to Q&A session, I would like to stress the recent achievements. Then I will talk about the prospects for the remainder of 2022. Concerning the recent achievements, I would like to first register that it has the best second quarter in the history of the company, with growth of income and profitability, ratifying our assertive movements in face the expansionary context of agribusiness. Concerning Procer, we are very motivated with the new growth avenues that the partnership will give us, accelerating the digitalization and connection with our clients, and then strengthening our recurrent revenue. Finally, I brought the information that we approved a new repurchasing plan for actions for acquiring up to 10% of the outstanding shares, showing the trust of the management in the company's performance.
As prospects for 2022, I mention the expectation of continued growth in all segments, preserving the margins at healthy levels, and the focus in finalizing the acquisition of Procer and preparation of the teams for the joint operation of our companies. We continue to maintain our efforts to maintain Kepler well-positioned to capture the best products in the market, speeding up growth and bringing predictability to our earnings. I now close the earnings release for the second quarter 2022. Please, operator, let's move on to the Q&A session.
Thank you. We are going to start the Q&A session. If you have any question, please press asterisk one. If the question has been answered, you can leave the queue pressing asterisk two. Our first question comes from Renata Cabral from Citibank.
Hi, good morning. Thank you for answering my question. In fact, we have two questions. The first one, I would like to know your view concerning the opportunities you see with the release of PCA announced in June due to this limitation of funds based on each producer and taxpayer. Are you going to have to make any strategic change, and how do you see this in terms of growth and revenue for the second semester? The second one is related to commercial clients. We know that the agribusiness continues doing very well, but we saw an increase in the price of fertilizers, although it is lower than everybody expected. My question is, how is the dynamics vis-à-vis the client in terms of pricing and even acceptance for the construction of silos? These were my questions.
Renata. Good morning, everyone, and good morning. Thank you for your question. First, I'm going to answer the first one and then Piero and Bernardo will talk about the commercial part of your question. You touched upon a very important point, the announcement of the PCA, the main credit line for our sector, together with the harvest plan or P lano Safra. We were very highly motivated with the numbers we achieved. The level BRL 5.1 billion, 5% higher than the amount for last year. We, in the call, we talked about the interest rates that are in a very competitive 20% of the Selic in 12 years. So the conditions were maintained in an attractive level, and this is very important to our sector.
We also had this news which was a pleading by ABIMAQ to put a cap per taxpayer that is BRL 50 million, and we understand this will democratize the access to financing. We know that the funds are important but are insufficient to meet all the demand for financing from the market. The early birds have access, and the ones that come later have to wait or find other ways to finance. This will limit and will give access to a greater number of companies and farmers to reach the PCA. We have a calculation that we would need BRL 10 billion of investment per year for 10 years so that this shortage of storage of 100 million as compared to the grain production could be closed.
This is very important. This is an important step with this new line and that will be highly positive. The harvest year has started, and this will be very positive for the farmers, having this new line. On the market side, you asked about the dynamics for pricing the commercial side. Bernardo, if you would like to talk about the environment, the prices.
Thank you, Piero. Hi, Renata. Concerning prices, we see price stability and with a very high demand. We are coming from a record harvest, and we are going to another record harvest. They talk about 320 million tons, 40 million, 50 million higher than the previous one. In this context, you talked about the fertilizers. Brazil is well-supplied with fertilizers. We have all the inputs we need. There is no risk in the area of input. We are going to have a good volume for a record harvest. This is the first point. We look at the profitability of the farm is very healthy, very good in historical levels. They talk about prices second half 2022 and 2023. The prices will be maintained 20%-30% above the last 10 years.
The environment for the farmers is highly favorable. The quality of change, how many bags of soybean they need to build the storage and the growth of production bring other interesting factors. The whole chain pulled with that. We see a major opportunity for agroindustry, the crushing of soybean. We have a record harvest of wheat. We have to be prepared to store more. The ports, I was looking some data. Brazil is growing the soybean and corn exports about 10% per year. The ports need to be renovated, expanded. There is a huge demand in the area of ports and terminals.
Our next question comes from Vitor Colli, Vant Capital .
Good morning. Can you hear me well?
Yes, Vitor.
Good. Thank you for answering my question. Congratulations for your earnings. I have two questions. The first one concerning the rate of utilization of the plants and if you have a heated demand, a lot of orders and 65 million, and a good deal of that is how quickly we can see you are improving and your capacity, and how is it today? As I knew you were close to the maximum capacity. It has increased 10%, your capacity in 2021, and here is 26.5. How do you see the market and the capacity? Can this figure be changed and increase the CapEx with higher costs? How easy this would be to expand if you were to build a plant from scratch? The second question would be an update concerning the digital, such as the Sync and Capital Letter, and how is this going? Thank you.
Thank you, Vitor, for the two questions. They were quite interesting. This is Piero speaking. I am going to talk about the first one concerning capacity. Undoubtedly, we are getting close to the full capacity. We have been growing significantly year-on-year, and for many years, we have made investments to keep up with the demand. This is our constant concern, to look towards the future forward and not miss opportunities for growth. This has been done very well in the last few years, and we continue to do that. It is important to highlight the situation of Kepler Weber. Kepler Weber has two robust plants, Campo Grande and Panambi in Rio Grande do Sul. When we talk, we operate close to the full capacity. There are some operations that have bottlenecks. The plant as a whole can absorb significant growth of demand.
Talking, for example, in the silos line that demands greater investment, these lines have capacity for several years. We have available capacity, even the opportunity to include the third shift. The investments we have been doing are to solve some bottlenecks that give us a quick reaction. There are some equipment, not simple, but they are not complex, that we can act quickly. That is what we have been doing and will continue doing. We are making investments constantly to keep up with the demand, and we are thinking about 2023, so as throughout the second half, we are going to prepare for the demand in 2023. Due to these plans are robust, they allow the increased capacity with marginal and low investments. This is important that bring good returns to our investment. That is what we have witnessed in the last few years.
Concerning the BRL 65 million, I would like to emphasize that we are making major investment in the powder paint, and this puts Kepler Weber at another level, both in terms of production level inside the plant, which is another process, and as well as in the quality of the finished product. So we are carefully keeping up, and we maintain this, that has maintained, has been around 40% in the last few years. So I hope I have answered the question concerning capacity. Now let us talk about the digital world, which is quite interesting. Many things are happening or have happened along our digital path. Kepler Weber has invested in the last few years. It was launched in 2019, our Sync platform, and we have been making investments in this line. This year in June, last month, we announced a strategic investment in Procer, which is along this line.
Procer is a leading company in the sector and has approximately 10% of the plants in place in Brazil monitor in terms of conservation of the grain. With this new acquisition, we acquired 50% plus one of the company, and this will speed up our digital journey. We are going to integrate the digital operations from Procer, and we for sure will leverage the situation. We are going to maintain a broad licensee. Procer will sell its digital solutions to the whole industry. That establishes a standard to the industry. The rural producer can have any equipment using the best digital solution available. Procer. Why have we made the acquisition of Procer? Because Procer, it is a company that 11 years has been creating digitalization. They are three partners that are highly experienced, very knowledgeable, that had an excellent journey in the post-harvest digital area.
We believe and we are highly motivated that integration of the two companies will generate an opportunity for offering service to generate value for the industry, for the producer and plant management. We are going to capture that with recurring revenues. That is excellent. The provision of service to the farmers and our investors. I will give the floor to Bernardo that will give further details of our view in each segment and the growth avenues that we see in this area.
Thank you, Piero. You have covered very well the topic, but I am going to complement. The great need for the farmer today is the conservation of the grain, and Procer brings intelligence to maintain the grain, the IoT that will help the producer to automate this and reduce the reliance on human capital that is scarce. The second part is concerning the energy conservation efficiency.
We can have the drying and grain aeration process with the reduction and optimization of energy that has a high cost. Some other benefits are indirect benefits and to both parties for the company and the farmers is the greater proximity. Piero talked about recurrence. Today, we have the service area that brings recurrence and OpEx, and the digital part reinforces and accelerates that. Our intention is to maintain the contact with the farmers throughout the life of the project. If the project lasts over 50 years, we will be in contact with him through the digital means. The last point, quite interesting, the connected silos and a more transparent change reduces the risk throughout the chain and generates value.
Thinking about the trading, the banks, and the farmer allowing the access by the bank to its inventory and trading companies, it is going to have access to financing in better conditions and this generating value through the digital pathway.
Vitor, are there any further questions? Is everything okay?
No, it is very well explained. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to remind you if you want to ask any question, please press asterisk one. Now, we are going to move on to the questions sent via webcast. We have several questions, written question via webcast. The first one is from Carlos Herrera, who is asking, "Are you seeing any turn in the agribusiness cycle? Do you see any indicator that shows the weakening in the future demand for silos?"
Piero, could you please start?
Okay. Thank you, Carlos, for your question. Now, moving on with what Bernardo said concerning the city question. The farmer situation in Brazil is quite favorable. The exchange relation, profitability. So we see in our horizon very positive outlooks. On the contrary, we do not see any sign of weakening of the demand. A positive profitability, the farmers are capitalized. The growth, a significant growth of the harvest. Last year, we had a record harvest of 272 million tons, but below the potential due to the drought in the southern region. This year, if the climate conditions allow us, and they seem to be very appropriate, we will go to 320 million according to the first estimate. So you imagine if 270 million, we see these pictures of corn in Midwest stored in the open air with 60 more tons, what it is going to be. So the demand exists.
Our challenge is to be able to convert the potential demand into sales. This is very encouraging. The PCA is below the need, but it is appropriate. The farmer is well capitalized. We have our tools, financial tools, as Paulo will say, to complement the PCA financing. We see very good opportunities for the next harvest that will be second half 2022 and the first semester 2023.
Thank you, Piero. Now, moving on to a question from Mr. Anderson Bezerra. He is asking, "What is the current capacity for Kepler Weber's supply post-harvest in millions of tons of grain, and how this number has been evolving over the years?" He complements, "How Kepler Weber's market share is behaving throughout the last few years?"
Anderson, we talked a little bit about our internal capacity. As Piero said, it is very close to the full capacity of supply with the conditions to gradually expand as the demand grows. This is typical of our business model. In millions of tons, the volume, we work this internally, and there is an amount, and this is a sensitive information, and we do not release that. We can give you this information through a call with the RI. What I can say is that this figure has evolved proportionally to the growth of our income. In the last three years, we had an increased capacity internally. As regards the market share, as Piero said, we work around 40%, and this is a stable figure.
In the last few years, we have stayed at this level, and we work very focused to maintain this focus. We are a leader in the market. This 40% gives us comfortable leadership, but we carefully work to maintain it or even trying to increase it.
The next question comes from John Lime. "Congratulations for your earnings. Could you talk about the backlog, the current backlog, along the same lines? Is there the possibility of implementing a third shift in some plants?" He has another one concerning dividends. "Is there a possibility of paying out dividends this year or only at the shareholders' meeting?"
I will start with the last one. John, yes, there is a possibility of paying dividends still this year for the second half based on the ascertainment of the profit. We will have the basis to ascertain that, and we have JCP and dividends. JCP interest on equity, we are going to decide in the next months, and we have a cash capacity that will allow us to pay supplementary dividends. We do not need a shareholders' meeting, wait the 2023 shareholders' meeting to pay the dividends.
Piero. I would like to talk about the backlog. Our order book is very robust. Obviously, it is a result of what I mentioned previously about the market. We are very optimistic, and this is a robust order book that gives us comfort the next few months. Concerning the capacity, the third shift, we have already explained our dynamics for growing the capacity, and Paulo mentioned our business model allow us to make quick investments to meet demand. We have two robust plants that absorb the growth of demand, and the third shift is one of the levers we can use. We use specifically wherever is necessary and whenever is necessary. As we mentioned in our release, we are very concerned with costs, and cost management is very important. Everything is part of a package. Investments, third shift. We are always evaluating these issues.
Thank you, Piero. Another question. Mr. Guiman. Excuse me, Eric from [Guiman Assets]. "How are the studies for the build to suit mentioned in previous teleconferences?"
That's a good question. Undoubtedly, there is a solution, and it is in our radar. We are assessing it. We think this would be an additional alternative to encourage the financing of the plant for the rural producer. It would be easier for them because they would be committed with a lease contract, perhaps for five years. It's not a simple solution to put in place. It's not a commodity, the storage plant. It's not a commodity that I can have the same project as an industrial shed, but we think there is a solution. We are going to begin with the financing area, which is a simpler and standard solution.
Paulo is coordinating the launch of our fund, and we are putting it in place, and we are conducting studies for this solution. As soon as we have a robust solution, we are going to potentially launch it. It would be a marvelous solution to leverage even more our sales, and it's a solution to transform the potential demand into sales. It's in our radar, and we are going to continue focusing on it.
Thank you, Piero. Next question from Mr. Ricardo. He's asking, "Could you talk about the level of margin that has been delivered? I would like to understand how sustainable can this level be, and if the pricing of the products above the costs."
Ricardo, I can begin, and my colleagues can complement. I will begin by the end of your question. The pricing above the increased costs. When we look at the profitability of this year in the first quarter, we saw EBITDA margin around 33%. It's a fantastic EBITDA margin. Obviously, it was built based on managing costs and the prices of raw materials, steel, which is the most important input. At the turn of the year, we felt insecure and worried about the price increase. We worked at the price level that would allow us to have a scenario of continued increase in the price of steel, and therefore we had a very healthy margin of 33%. In the second quarter, we saw the margin around 26%, which again is excellent. But it translates the stabilization of the costs.
Obviously, we had an increase in the price of steel and a price increase by the steel works in the beginning of the year. This level of margin reflects the stability in the prices and in the costs. So you're asking us how sustainable can these levels be. It will depend on how the price of commodities will behave from now onwards. From what we have seen is a stabilization, accommodation of prices, and we work with this scenario. If this stabilization is confirmed concerning the inputs, we can also believe in the company's capacity to work with margin around the margin for the second quarter.
All right. Next question. There is a question coming from José do Carmo. "I would like you to talk about the competition. Is there a market for everyone?"
Paulo, I'm going to answer this question. José do Carmo, right? Undoubtedly, there is a space for everyone. What we have just said, the growth of demand in terms of the harvest. The harvest has grown in the last 10, 20, 30 years continuously. One year, sometimes lower, sometimes higher, but it has been growing continuous at compound rate between 4% and 5%, looking at any horizon of growth along the last 20, 30 years. The demand does exist. It is up to the sector and to the companies to work in order to make these investments feasible in several ways. First, to facilitate, to make available financing and giving finance to the rural producer and show the benefits they have, the potential gains they have with efficiency, additional gains with their operation, which are an integral part of the logistics. The storage is part of the logistics too.
We see that there is a potential for growth for everyone, and if we can convert the yearly growth of the harvest into demand for silos, we are going to have an excess market. We are not going to have a shortage of market. We are going to have an excess of market. Now I am going to mute and see who is going to answer the other questions.
A question by Mr. Brenno Ramalho from Frontier Capital. He is asking, "How the favorable moment of the agribusiness with the farmer capitalized has been affecting Kepler's projects. Have you observed an increased demand by the clients, even those who did not have access to the main finance in the sector?"
Bernardo, could you answer?
Thank you, Brenno, for asking this question. Yes. I am also a farmer. I have been in the agribusiness for 20 years, and in the last four harvests, the last two and 2.5 are the best ones. It is good to comment that Brazil has changed levels. We have exceeded the U.S. as the main exporter of soybean, and we are going to exceed in terms of the corn in the world. In wheat, which was a production of 5 million tons in the last five years, in the last three years, it has doubled. We have a wheat production of 11 million tons. The Brazilian farmers are not only more capitalized, but they are more diversified and more competitive worldwide. I saw a statistic.
If you export soybean from Mato Grosso to China 20 years ago, when I graduated, and exported today, 20 years ago, Brazil was 20% less competitive than the producer in the U.S. Midwest, and today we are 15% more competitive. We were able to reduce the cost, Brazil, for export, and I believe in a change in level. The world recognition of Brazil's importance in the supply of food and a change in the level. As Paulo and Piero mentioned before, the farmer with a record producer and with the corn stored in the open air and storage adds value and increases the final profitability, reducing the losses and selling at the right moment, the whole chain being professionalized, and with increase of ethanol production.
For soybean, meal, oil, the whole Brazilian chain is in another level, and the figures of agribusiness show that, and Kepler's figures also show this result.
Thank you, Bernardo. Another question. We have time for two additional questions.
Mr. Fabiano Vaz from Nord Research. "What is your prospects for steel? In the first quarter, we see a good recovery of margin. For the last quarters, it is the expectation for the last quarters to have this level. Do you see any risk in regards to that?" It is Fabiano from Nord Research.
The steel issue inside Kepler, around 50% of our manufacturing cost comes from steel, but we also have other components, automation, but steel is very important for our cost matrix. The first point concerning the steel, we also avoid speculating with the steel price. First point.
Second point, we work having a long-term view, and we have inventories, and that is matched with the order book, which gives us a good predictability. We work with good partners. The major manufacturer are our suppliers, and they understand very well the dynamics of the price chain and help us to understand the movements. With that, we always work trying to capture the benefits to our clients and shareholders. We avoid working with projections to see if we can work in the right direction, if it is going up or to fall down, always trying to give the best delivery to our clients and the stability of our operation. Our view now is of stability.
Moving on. Fabiano has another question. "Have you analyzed inorganic growth opportunity? The focus is in new products in line with Procer or are we going to see anything in relation to storage? Congratulations for your results."
Excellent question, Fabiano. Kepler will complete 100 years, so we have been in existence for 97 years. Throughout this journey, Kepler has built a reputation of quality products, innovative products, and this differential is shown by the preference of our clients, our share, and we continue building this differential, and this is built in several fronts. New products in our line, and I mentioned the KW MAX, which is an innovative dryer that is more efficient in terms of energy, bringing savings to the producer. The SG, which is environmentally appropriate or friendly. There are other products, but this does not prevent us to look at other alternatives outside our current line. Procer is an example in the line of digital services, which is very important for the future of our company t o provide more service.
Procer brings growth avenues, not only in conservation services, but another avenue of maintenance that will leverage the ERS and other avenues of service to the rural producer that are far from our current main line. Procer was a large acquisition. We are working on it, and the next months will be devoted to leverage that and make it grow and to be more and more relevant. They have a very good team, highly experienced, that together with our market coverage, will for sure be able to accelerate this growth. I would like to remind you of an acquisition we made two years ago, which is Seletron, with our equipment for selectors, and it is a modern technology that will have a broad application. Today, it is more applied in premium grains for food, seeds, but we see that it is going to have major applications in the future.
Answering your question, yes, we are keeping an eye on inorganic growth. An example is Seletron. We have had very satisfactory results. We are very pleased with the acquisition. Procer, we are in the middle of this process. We are highly motivated, and we think we are going to have excellent outgrowth of this acquisition of Procer, and there are some others that we are evaluating. We have to digest and deliver what we propose and move on with some other alternatives.
Thank you, Piero. We are running out of time. One hour of call, and we are going to have time for two questions.
Vinicius Escobar says, "Good morning. Congratulations for your results. Is there a perspective for expansion of sales to the international market? We grew 46% in the quarter and 54% in the semester with the international area."
Hi, Vinicius. Paulo mentioned about the growth of 54% throughout the year. We see the strengthening of our leadership in Latin America, several countries in different situations. An interesting point in the international market is that the shocks of offering Eastern Europe brought a greater need of countries and people in the food chain of storing more. We are exposed with a high price volatility, and we have to store more grains close to your end consumer. We see a growth in our international business, and we are very well prepared to meet this demand.
Thank you, Bernardo. One last question.
We still have some other questions of the exclusive fund that Kepler has launched to meet our clients' needs. I am going to read one of them. Mr. José. "Good morning. How is the launch of this fund together with the BTG?"
The company, the first movement, we noticed the need for having an alternative of financing for our clients to supplement the PCA, which is extremely relevant, but the funds are exhausted very quickly. Since there is this demand, we worked in partnership with BTG to launch this product. It is a fund in the FIDC format. We have the Fiagro conditions that are highly favorable, and it has a 10-year term, and the interest rate is based on the CDI. Our goal is not to have a fund that would compete with the PCA. The product is ready, it is available, it is open, and we have a pipeline of clients that expressed an interest in this fund, and this is the moment where the PCA was announced recently. There is time for accommodation as the PCA lines are released.
We work with the expectation that some clients will join our fund. In fact, it is a product that we think will be perennial. This first series is BRL 120 million , but we built it in a format where it can be launched every year. As the first series ends, we can issue the second one, and so on and so forth. Thank you for your question. With that we close the questions, respecting the one hour for our call. I will give the floor to Piero for his final remarks. Thank you, Piero.
Thank you, Paulo. I think we have talked a lot about our earnings, our company, and now I would like to thank you all that keep up our company, our call. Thank you for your interest in our company. I would like to make a special thanks to all Kepler's team, 1,600 associates. Some of them are in the call, and they were fundamental for the delivery of these results. We faced several challenges, and this result has a little piece of each one of the 1,600 associates. Our business is very complex. We sell a project that takes from six months to a year to be delivered, highly complex with several parts. If a screw is missing, the client will not receive the product. This requires a great integration, a great involvement of our associates. I would like to thank all of them.
Finally, I would like to thank the investors and current shareholders that have supported and encouraged our company and made the delivery of these results possible, and all the investments the company has made in CapEx that we mentioned in the acquisitions, and the support in our management. I thank you all, and I hope to see you again within three months for the call of the third quarter. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.
The conference call of the Kepler Weber is closed. I thank you for your participation, and have a nice day.