...We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded. The audio will be available on the Investor Relations website, as well as the material used in this presentation, which is already available for download. As a reminder, right now, all participants are connected in listen-only mode. After the presentation is over, we will start the questions and answer session when further instructions will be provided. Before we continue, I would like to emphasize that any statements made during this presentation regarding the company's business prospects, projections, operational and financial targets, are only the beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, based on the information that is currently available to them. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. They refer to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur.
Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may affect the company's future results, and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. With that, we will begin our presentation with Mr. Alexandre Nogueira, CEO, who will make his opening remarks, followed by Mr. Rodrigo Tostes, CFO and Investor Relations Director, who will comment on the company's results. I will now give the floor to Mr. Alexandre. Go ahead, sir.
Since we took this challenge of restructuring Light, we knew that we would have to achieve transformations in the economy side and the strategy. For me, the second quarter of 2024 can be considered an important milestone to build some of these pillars for the construction of a new, sustainable, and long-lasting company.
The first of these pillars is improving the company's capital structure, established with the approval of the company's recovery plan. We have advanced a lot. The plan was approved by the General Shareholders' Meeting on May 29, and ratified on June 18. It was approved by the vast majority of creditors present. So the plan was approved by the vast majority of creditors present at the meeting, 99.41%, and 99.12% of the claims present were in favor of the plan. Among the main options provided for the plan, the creditors will have the option of receiving part of their credits in convertible debentures, thus becoming shareholders of the company when the concession is renewed. And they may also receive part of their credit in debentures with amortization schedules of 8 or 13 years.
At the end of the process, the company's debt will be reduced directly with a conversion of BRL 2.2 billion in credits into shares, as well as an increase in private capital of up to BRL 1.5 billion. This will strengthen the company's cash flow, making Light better prepared for the challenges ahead. This shows the creditors' broad support for the future of the company. However, getting to this point has not been an easy process. In the last eight months before the General Shareholders' Meeting , the company spoke with most of these creditors, directly or indirectly, understanding their wishes, their proposals, and discussing the challenges and specificities of our concession. I can say that this stage of the process was marked by a lot of dialogue and transparency, something that has guided all of my interactions with stakeholders throughout my tenure.
I believe that the result achieved was the one that best converged between the company's financial capacity and the wishes of its creditors. This result, with the level of approvals at the general meeting, leads us to understand that shareholders also agree with this opinion. Although we are at an advanced stage, there are still a number of steps set out in the plan that need to be implemented, and Tostes will talk about them a little more later on. A second pillar in this process is the company's operational distribution. We have started implementing more efficient processes focused on results. It's still a beginning, but we are starting to see the first signs of it. It's a long process, but it needs to be implemented urgently so that operational gains can be visible, and so we can increase the service level for our customers.
This operational transformation process requires a good execution. Some of the initiatives that we started in the second half of last year are still presenting positive results. One of them is collection, which has improved. We also concluded the second quarter with a robust cash position. And finally, the loss indicator in the areas where we can work normally remains stable. On the other hand, challenges remain, and the level of losses continues to rise, unfortunately, in risk areas as a result of cuts and a more severe treatment of customers who are repeat offenders. The challenges are great, but the company has spared no effort to solve them. Also, in the second quarter, we faced occasional issues related to the quality of supply in Ilha do Governador, especially.
Once again, Light acted quickly, mobilizing teams and concentrating its efforts to stop the problem and mitigate its impact on consumers. The entire investment plan, planned to solve this issue, is being implemented according to schedule, and contingency actions are being maintained. This includes generator maintenance until November, which is when we will have the second redundancy installed in Ilha do Governador. We've contracted more teams who were trained over the last months, and they will begin working in the third quarter in order to be even better prepared to service the population and its concession and our concession. The third pillar is the renewal of the concessions, of the distribution concessions.
This has been addressed with the publication of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and they are essential so that we can continue to provide quality services and make the right investments, especially in modernizing our assets. Some of the guidelines set out in the decree address issues that are relevant to utility companies facing challenges in their concession area, like Light. The main one is recognizing a need for differentiated treatment in risk areas, for non-technical losses and for quality criteria, as well as defaulting. This was an important milestone, but there's still work to be done. We believe that we will have a more sustainable concession contract so that we can provide optimal services to our consumers and maintain the right investment level.
We will give more details about the company's results with our CFO, Rodrigo Tostes, who is here with me and will continue the presentation. At the end, I'll be available for the Q&A session. Please go ahead, Tostes.
Thank you, Alexandre. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to emphasize, as an initial message, that the company is continuing its journey of transformation, focusing on preserving cash and improving the company's financial health, the distribution company's financial health, which, as we know, is where the short- and medium-term challenges lie. Starting with the results for the quarter on slide four, I'd like to highlight the main results for the period. The company ended the quarter with a consolidated cash position of around BRL 2.8 billion, an increase of more than BRL 600 million compared to December 2023, positive for all group companies.
Our collection rate continues to improve. It's reached 98.6% in the twelve months ending in June 2024. This indicator increased by 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Considering now only the distribution results of the distribution company, in the year to date, the distributor's adjusted EBITDA was BRL 754.9 million, up 23.9% versus the same period last year. It should be noted that consumption in the company's concession area showed significant growth in the period, boosted by this quarter's results. Light's adjusted market invoice grew by 8.7% in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
Finally, Adjusted EBITDA minus CapEx, another important indicator that we use as a proxy for operating cash generation, showed an increase of BRL 141.2 million year to date when compared to the first six months of 2023. Continuing with Slide 5... We briefly comment on the evolution of the distribution company's market, which grew 4.8% compared to the previous year. The highlights of this period were the residential and commercial segments, which recorded significant growth, especially in the second quarter, influenced by the significant rise in temperatures. Continuing with slide six, we will discuss the main variation in the distribution company's EBITDA in the year to date. In the first six months of 2024, the distribution company's Adjusted EBITDA was BRL 755 million, an increase of more than BRL 140 million compared to last year.
The main reasons for this were the expansion of the net margin, due to the growth of the invoiced market, as we saw in the previous slide, and the evolution of PECLD, which was positive due to the improvement in expectation of future losses, a result of revenue protection initiatives and increased collection, as we mentioned before. As a result, the gains in margin and PECLD more than offset the growth in adjusted PMSO expenses in the period. This increase in PMSO can be explained by a couple of points. First, the effect of the shift in timing of the strike, which took place in June this year, but last year was recorded in July.
Also, the increase in emergency calls, especially during the first quarter of the year, and the effect of lower capitalization between periods, and also the growth of third-party service expenses, most of which were related to the transformation processes underway at the company. Moving on to slide seven, still on distribution, I briefly comment on the evolution of operating cash generation, measured by Adjusted EBITDA minus CapEx. In the year to date, Adjusted EBITDA minus CapEx was BRL 371 million, BRL 141 million more than the same period last year, which is a percentage variation of more than 60% year-on-year.
It's worth noting that when we look at the adjusted EBITDA minus CapEx for the first six months, we see a positive evolution, a consequence of the company's efforts to generate results while keeping investments under control, focusing on quality and maintenance, and also aiming to ensure financial balance and cash preservation. Continuing with slide eight, here we see the EBITDA of our energy generation and trading segment. In the first half of the year, the business generated an EBITDA of BRL 342 million, down 17.7% of the same period last year. The main impact on the margin is due to old contracts expiring in the trader's portfolio, with energy sales prices higher than the ones currently practiced.
Having finished the results for the quarter, I'd like to make a few comments on our court order recovery process. Moving on to slide nine, I'd like to draw your attention to some key points in the structure of our judicial reorganization plan, approved by the vast majority of creditors present at the General Meeting of Creditors, ratified by them in June this year. The first is a capital increase of up to BRL 1.5 billion, with up to BRL 1 billion anchored by the reference shareholder, which reinforces its commitment to the future of the company, while at the same time contributing to the financial position and need for future investments. With regard to shareholders with claims of up to 30,000 BRL, we have undertaken to pay these claims in a single installment in September 17th.
For other shareholders, this reorganization plan mainly provides for two payment methods. The first, called a convertible supporting creditor, provides a minimum conversion of 35% of the credits into shares. For the remaining portion of the credits, they will receive a bond with a yield of IPCA 5%+, or equivalent in dollars, and a maturity of eight years. This will reduce the company's gross debt significantly by BRL 2.2 billion. In the second modality, called non-converting support shareholder, supporting shareholder, there will be no conversion of credits into shares, and shareholders will be paid with bonds remunerated at IPCA plus 3% or equivalent in dollars, with a maturity of 13 years.
Looking at the right-hand side of the slide, as a result of the measures set out in our reorganization plan, we can see a lengthening of the gross debt amortization schedule, reducing short-term pressure and extending principal payments to after 2028. Finally, I'd like to remind you that the impacts of the debt readjustment plan will be reflected in the third quarter balance sheet only, since we have not yet completed this process abroad in relation to bonds. In the next and final slide, I share a summary timeline of our reorganization process, highlighting the following: On August third, we concluded the process of choosing payment options in Brazil. The process of choosing payment options abroad began in August and will be concluded on September fourth.
For creditors of up to BRL 30,000, payment will be made by September 17, within 19 days of the plan being ratified by the court. With adjustment of securities in Brazil and abroad, excuse me. With these steps completed, the adjustment will take place in the following months. Last but not least, as soon as the process of renewing of the concession is completed, we will begin procedures for the private capital increase and conversion of the remaining credits that will be converted into shares. With that, I conclude my remarks and reaffirm our commitment to transforming Light into a financially healthy company, in order to maintain the quality of service it provides to the population of Rio de Janeiro and to honor its commitments to its creditors. I will now give the floor to the moderator, who will begin the Q&A session.
Thank you very much.
We will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please click on the Raise Hand button so that your microphone can be turned on. If your question has been answered, you can leave the queue by lowering your hand. You can also send questions in text through the Q&A feature at the bottom of the screen. Please hold while we collect questions. The first question was asked by Conrado Ramos. He stated that he would like to hear more about DEC, which has been above the regulatory limit for the second quarter in a row. What is Light's expectation until the end of the year? He states that he understands weather events are responsible, but there are two quarters in which they have not been met. Is this related to reduced investments?
Good morning, Conrado. This is Alexandre. Thank you for your question. It is not connected to reduced investments. Level in January was far from the regulatory limit, and that's why we haven't met this requirement for two quarters. As I said, we're reinforcing our teams. We are including more than 50 teams right now in August, to try to reinforce the company's operations, and we expect that by the end of the year, we will reach the regulatory levels for DEC and FEC. Thank you.
As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, click on the raise hand button so that your microphone can be turned on. If your question has been answered, you can leave the queue by clicking on lower hand. You can also send questions through the Q&A button at the bottom of the screen. Please hold.
Once again, if you'd like to ask a question, please click on the raise hand button so that your microphone can be turned on. If your question has been answered, you may lower your hand. You can also send questions via the Q&A feature at the bottom of the screen. Please hold. The next question will be asked by Rodrigo Violaro.
He asks about the company's expectations about the announcement date for the concession renewal. Is this urgent in the Ministry of Mines and Energy? He also asks, when will be the date where shareholders' choices will be published? Right now, the website says September. Okay, let me answer the first question about the concession renewal, and Rodrigo Tostes will answer the second question.
So regarding that, there was an event on May 29, where the decree was issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. As I mentioned, they set out the guidelines, and what Light is doing is keeping track of the process, monitoring it closely, and we expect that it will be concluded very shortly. We're still waiting for ANEEL. Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please click on the raise hand button. Rodrigo, to answer your question about the date, the bond selection process will conclude by September 4. There's a number of legal and operational requirements that must be met. We don't have an exact date yet, but it will be after September 4.
Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please click on the raise hand button so that your microphone can be turned on.
If your question has been answered, you may leave the queue by lowering your hand. You can also send text questions through the Q&A button at the bottom of your screen. Please hold.
The question and answer session is now closed. We would like to give the floor to Mr. Alexandre for his closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for listening to our conference call, and have a good day. This conference call is now concluded. On behalf of the company, I'd like to thank everyone for participating, and underscore that the Investor Relations team is always available to assist you. Thank you, and have a good day.