Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome at the audio conference discuss CCR S.A.'s earnings call relative to the first quarter of 2020. All participants will be connected in listen-only mode during the company's presentation. After that, we'll start the Q&A session, and further instructions will be provided. If you need assistance during the call, please request the help of an operator by pressing star zero. Before moving on, we'd like to state that forward-looking statements made during this audio conference concerning the company's business outlook, financial and operating projections are based on beliefs and assumptions on the part of the company's management and also on information currently available. Forward-looking statements are no guarantee of performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and depend on circumstances that may or may not materialize.
Investors should have in mind that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors might influence the company's future results and lead to results that will differ differently from these expressed in these forward-looking statements. I'd now like to turn the floor over to Mr. Eduardo de Toledo, Corporate Manager of CCR S.A. Please, Mr. Eduardo, you have the floor.
Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here with you this morning for our earnings call relative to the first quarter of 2020. Today with me at this call, we have Waldo Perez, our IRO and CFO, Marcos Dionísio Macedo, our IR head, Mr. Ribeiro, and Mr. Moraes, who are in our IR team.
Given the magnitude of this pandemic we're all facing, I think it would be only fitting to concentrate my opening remarks on the pandemic-related issues, and how we are at the company have been reacting to that. In moments like these, having a highly engaged and committed company and a conservative financial policy is very important. Of course, we have brands which are well-known. It is right at those moments where those features emerge as very strong pillars. Let's address this in a more chronological order, starting in late February, right after Ash Wednesday, when the first case was confirmed here in Brazil, the first case of coronavirus infection. Back then, nobody was really talking about that.
CCR created a multidisciplinary group at the very first week, headed by our own doctor. We decided to address issues concerning our internal publics. We created a 24-hour helpline for employees and their families. We bought inputs, supplies for suspected cases. We started training programs for all employees who are in contact with our users. Right after that, on March the 11th, we created our crisis committee composed by our executive management. This crisis committee has been meeting on a daily basis to make decisions and decide on what actions to carry on in response to the virus. On March the 18th, we disclosed our first material fact relative to the coronavirus and its impact on our businesses.
As of March 21st, we decided to provide information on a weekly basis as for the traffic of vehicles and passenger cars in our highways and also airports, so as to maintain the market up to date and to avoid any asymmetry with our official decisions. Also on March the 21st, those employees who could work from home started doing so. As of now, we have over 2,000 employees working from home and doing a very good job. The very publication disclosure of our results is proof of that. The company has shown strong capacity to do that, start working from home. Past those more immediate cases, we started looking at, of course, the financial side. I'd like here also to acknowledge the BNDES for taking action early on that benefited four of our concessions. That was very important.
Besides, we also focus on our conservative policy, we decided to raise another BRL 400 million. This was predicted to be raised by the end of the second quarter, we decided to anticipate the raising of those funds to provide more liquidity to the company. From then on, we started focusing our actions on issues related to costs, to adjust our costs to this new reality that we're now going through. First, we used the hour bank, vacations, because of the law, the MP 936, which was also very important, we were able to reduce working hours for all the leadership group as of May. We are now working fewer hours, and we have now over 1,000 employees in that situation.
We suspended work contracts for those who belong to risk groups and who cannot work from home, we adjusted, of course, the working days for all our concessions. We adjusted, of course, supplies and all other fronts vis-à-vis this new reality. We have always based our decisions on the principles of preserving the wellbeing of our employees, our partners, our suppliers, and of course, our contracted, and of course the users as well, to try and mitigate the economic impact on the company. Of course, always providing a lot of transparency to the market. Additionally, I'd like to mention other actions we took to take care of those who are responsible for ensuring supply across the country, truck drivers. We have handed out tips and guidelines as to personal care, and we offer meals because restaurants are now closed.
We offer masks for truck drivers. More recently, this is very recent, we made the decision to make 50,000 medical consultations free of charge to truckers. At the first sign of a problem, they can consult doctors remotely for free. We are ensuring that. They have access to free medical doctor consultations. Actions we put in place to reinforce the care we have towards our users. In this case, the truck drivers who are making sure the country is still up and running. I'd like now to turn the floor over to Waldo Perez for him to go into the numbers for the first quarter. Please, Perez, you have the floor.
Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, thank you all for participating and for your interest in the company.
Before talking about the results, I'd like to inform that the respective release is available at the company's website, ccr.com.br/ir. As mentioned before, we saw in this first quarter the first impact coming from the COVID-19 situation in our operations, especially due to social distancing and traffic restrictions, which of course impacted vehicle traffic and most of the concessions we have under our control, and of course, a drop in demand for our in-airport users as well. CCR's result remained stable despite of that, showing operational efficiency and resiliency, as we'll see going forward in this presentation. Speaking of the main highlights of the quarter, pro forma traffic, which saw a growth of 3.9% when compared to the first quarter of 2019. Excluding the ViaSul concessionary, there was a drop of 1.5%. For light vehicle traffics, it is 6.6% below last year.
For heavy vehicles, we saw an increase of 3.9%. The main pro forma numbers for first quarter, in other words, considering the business over which we have no control or where we share control, they're consolidated proportionately to our stake. For the same basis number, we included new projects of assets where the company has changed its participation, its stake, as it has been detailed in our earnings release. The net revenue on the same basis, BRL 2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2020, which is an increase of 2.5% when compared to the first period of last year. The adjusted EBITDA on the same basis increased by 0.2%, reinforcing the company's operating efficiency in this period.
As I mentioned before, the month of March was highly impacted by the COVID-19 situation, still our adjusted EBITDA on the same basis saw a slight growth when compared to the first quarter of last year. 61.9% for the adjusted EBITDA, a drop of 1.3 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of last year, reflecting the same effects that I mentioned just now. Same basis net profit, BRL 246.8 million in the first quarter of 2020, a drop of 29.2% when compared to the same period last year. Net profit reached BRL 289.7 million, a drop of 19.1% compared to last year's first quarter. That reflects mainly depreciation and amortization as we get near the end of the concession period for RodoNorte and NovaDutra, and also coming from the impact coming from traffic restrictions, once again, due to the COVID-19 situation.
In the first quarter 2020, investments total BRL 529.9 million. Concession areas which most invested was VSU, RodoNorte, and VLT. For VSU, BRL 100 million were invested, and RodoNorte BRL 609 million, and VLT BRL 589.2 million, as you can see on the slide. As to the pro forma net debt, BRL 14.9 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 7.51% vis-à-vis the first quarter of last year, and 0.2% when comparing to the fourth quarter of last year. The company's leverage sat at 2.4 times in the first quarter and remained flat when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. That ratio reflects a very comfortable situation, which reiterates our strategy for growth. Despite the volatility brought about by the COVID-19 as of early March, CCR has had ample access to financing lines.
As Eduardo mentioned in his opening remarks, in April, we concluded BRL 1.2 billion in terms of funding, which had already been planned for all four of our concessions. Between March and April, we made the strategic decision to anticipate hiring of credit lines, which were planned to happen through the year, so as to reinforce our cash position. Up until now, that totaled BRL 900 million. That strategy was adopted, grounded our consistent follow-up of the economic scenario, and also in light of the uncertainties that lie ahead. Despite the availability of credit at hand, the market was quite restricted in terms of terms and maturities. As of recently, we have seen some changes, terms have been extended from 12 to 24 months, in some cases up to 36 months. We see an improvement in the credit scenario.
We continue to seek opportunities to raise more cash, which are scheduled to happen later in the year, so as to further increase the robustness of our cash position. For more details, please refer to our COVID-19 section for our earnings release, of course, the explanatory notes of our financial reports. We're now open for Q&A. Please, operator, you may have the floor.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'll start the Q&A session. To ask a question, please press star one. To remove your question from the queue, please press star two. Please stand by as we collect the questions. Our first question comes from Victor Mizusaki from Bradesco BBI.
Good afternoon, everyone. I have two questions, please. Number one, as you mentioned, you have a very conservative profile in your portfolio.
Given the current scenario, what can we expect in terms of impact on the dividend payout policy for CCR going forward, say, 12 months? Does it make sense to imagine something around 25%? The second question, relative to the balances going forward. You just mentioned government decisions. If you could break it down for us, especially in terms of airports where we saw revenues drop significantly, and also urban mobility, and also if you could touch upon the concessions in the state of São Paulo, please. Thank you. Thank you for your question. We'll address both of them. Number one, in terms of dividend payout. Our policy has been to have two payouts a year, one in April and the second one typically in October, in the second half. It'll depend on the moment. We have not made a final decision now in terms of dividend payout.
Of course, we'll make that decision in light of the conditions we'll have in the second half. We will need more data to see how the pandemic's advancing, the impact on the business. We'll have a clearer horizon in the second half. As I said, we have a very conservative policy, and that leaves us in a, I'd say, reasonable financial situation because of that. I do not anticipate any reason for us to change our dividend payout policy. Again, we'll make a decision when we cross that bridge, as they say, when we come to it, the second half, when we have a clearer picture of the scenario. As for the balance issues, I think we have very distinct situations for the different modes of operation we have.
For airports, we have a more dramatic situation, of course, because the drop in revenue is reaching around 97%, and has been announced, disclosed. For that industry, we'll need short-run measures to reach a balance. Given the situation of some sectors, we'll need measures to bring balance to that in the short run. The government has proven to be sensitive to that situation. They have been changing payments for concession or delaying those payments, that's a way to try and reach a new level of balance when you delay payments of the concessions. That's also a way to try to bring balance to that equation. Of course, as I said, airports are a very specific animal in this case. Of course, all airport concessions are being affected, not ours only. For mobility, I think the situation is slightly different.
The drop was not so significant as it was the case for airports. It's also local. It depends on the local situation. All depends on how the pandemic is playing out in different places where we have the concessions. As soon as we have permission to resume activities in an organized way, of course, we expect to have a faster recovery for mobility than we expect for airports. Different dynamics, as I said. Some of our concessions are already a way to reestablish balance because we have been addressing the drop in demand by alternative ways. Lastly, for highways, it's also a case-by-case analysis. Some of our highways had not seen any change in traffic volume, for example. In the state of São Paulo, I think that's a point where this issue is even more relevant.
Since early on, we've seen a desire from the state government to be very supportive. In the wake of that, we need to address if there will be space for new investments. We see a very positive picture in that respect. As we go through this economic crisis, whatever actions, measures that might bring investments, employment will be helpful, will be supportive of a speedy recovery. The government was already sending signs that they were going to look at this issue very carefully. That becomes even stronger now. The perception is even stronger now.
Okay, if I could have a follow-up question. When you talk about the highways, for example, because of the COVID-19, are you talking about the drop in traffic for 2020, or are you including discussions about a more permanent change in the traffic curve going forward?
We are at the first steps of that, right? It's difficult to predict what kind of impact are we going to have. Ideally, we would need to have short-term mitigating measures, including financial measures. The short-run balance would be supportive of a better scenario in the future. To have a final calculation, as you are asking for the future, we have to wait. This is only the first steps.
Our next question comes from Larissa Salgado from UBS.
Thank you for the call. My first question is about the increase of the variable compensation. Is that a recurring item? A second follow-up about this rebalancing situation. Anything new in terms of airports, if you have any timing expectations for São Paulo? That's it. Thank you. Larissa, thank you for your question.
As for the increase in personnel costs, the previous system we had at the company of variable compensation, it was slightly different because you had positions which were more controlled, and then it would be more discretionary to provide the whole compensation to make it cover all the compensation policies. That in good years, it could, of course, pay more. From that point of view, that policy would make different quarters present different situations, of course. When we were to pay the PLR in the third quarter, we would see a natural growth. That's why we had an oscillation. Under the new system which was created, we have lower discretionary changes. The policy is the same, right? In good years, compensation is better and so on. The policy doesn't change at all. Now we have a more uniform provisioning. That's the change.
When it's not a quarter we have to pay PLR, the situation is more comfortable. As for international airports, we now have to deal with the different legislations for different countries about international airports. We don't know how the revenues will be in different countries, but we need to face the different situation in different countries. Different countries, different governments, they make different decisions that affect us differently. Now, airports are a minor proportion of our issues now. As for São Paulo, is what I had said to Victor before. Conversations are going well, I feel, as I said, a strong desire coming from the state government to solve the situation in a way that will be good for the company, for the government, for all parties involved. In the wake of this agreement, there is room for more investments, of course.
Given the current scenario for the state, specifically of a harsh drop in economic activity, there is more incentive to look for other investments to work countercyclically to what we're seeing right now to, as I said, provide the means for a speedier recovery.
Okay. Thank you.
Next question comes from Mr. Rodrigo Sternberg.
Good afternoon. Thank you. Congratulations on the results. As for the international scenario, given the current situation, what's the company's strategy in terms of asset management? Are you looking for something outside of the country, or are you going to be focusing on Brazil mainly? Thank you.
Rodrigo, thank you for your question. I'd say that if opportunities in Brazil grow, and they have grown strongly, especially in this government with Minister Tarcísio and with the state governor of São Paulo, we're seeing many opportunities.
We understand that the government's view is that infrastructure might be a strong driver for economic growth. In a post-pandemic scenario, that would be even more intense. When you have so many opportunities, so many concessions, so many infrastructure projects under construction, we of course, become more selective in terms of international products. That does not mean we're not looking at that. We're only looking abroad in a more selective manner than we did before because of the attractiveness of the local market.
Okay. Thank you.
Once again, to ask a question, please press star one. Once again, to ask a question, please press star one. Please stand by while we call for questions. Our next question comes from Santander, Lucas.
Good afternoon, everyone. A question along the lines of Rodrigo's question about going abroad, going international.
If you could perhaps talk about the pipeline of local concessions for highways, looking more at the local situation. What if you have delays for those concessions? In terms of competition. What kind of competition are you expecting? That might be more attractive for a company like CCR, which has a stronger, more robust balance sheet. The question is about the pipeline for local concessions locally and the competition as we move forward with bigger companies in the market, bigger players.
Thank you for your question. Yes, we'll need to adjust the bids which have been approved before the crisis. In moments of great uncertainties, such as now, there are mechanisms which are currently used. Different triggers for investments need to be readdressed under this new scenario.
There are mechanisms in place to make those adjustments if the need comes to postpone or delay some of those projects. The projects will eventually emerge and materialize. We're talking about months. It's a matter of months. We do not see it is a matter of years, especially for those projects which were further along. As for competition, I think it's early to say how the competition is going to behave or how the world will look like in six months or eight months. I think we still have a lot to go through. As I said, CCR has always adopted very conservative management procedure, and our team has been able to deal quite well with everything that's happening, have been able to respond expeditiously, efficiently, and that places us in a more positive light in this scenario.
As for the others, what other players will be present, it's still early, I think, to be able to list those competitors as you have asked.
Okay, thank you.
Our next question comes from Roberto Bisiani from Citibank.
Thank you for taking my question. The growth in highways, how do you explain that in some of your highways? How do you explain that? Thank you.
The connection was slightly choppy. Thank you, Roberto. As I see it, we have been seeing growth in heavy vehicles specifically. For light vehicles, we have a rather homogeneous situation across the country. For heavy vehicles in RodoNorte, for example, we see a slight growth actually. I think it's because of the agribusiness, basically. The fact that we have a very unusual foreign exchange rate that favors agribusiness, of course. It's difficult to make predictions around foreign exchange ratio.
Should the current situation continue, we'll see a trend of heavy or high traffic volumes for heavy vehicles, because that serves as an incentive for agribusiness, no doubt.
Okay. About e-commerce, what can you tell us about it?
Can you repeat the question?
The question is about e-commerce.
As for e-commerce, well, the heavy vehicle traffic is doing well even in São Paulo, at the same level as before. In RodoNorte, as I said, we saw a growth. In São Paulo, a slight drop. Of course, that is clearly a sign that e-commerce is working, and also food services. In other words, consumption has remained at a relatively high level. The economic activity on that front has been somewhat preserved, especially for food and grocery stores. I think they're presenting a very high economic activity right now.
Okay. Thank you.
We now close the Q&A session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Eduardo for his final remarks.
Well, we are now going through times of uncertainty, as I said, high volatility. It's difficult to have visibility of things going forward. Still, I remain very confident in the company, in CCR, and the infrastructure sector is recognized around the world, not only Brazil, as the one which will be able to boost the economy in terms of growth and jobs, especially in a moment like this we're going through in the country. It becomes even more important, right? The issue of infrastructure is key for the country's recovery going forward. CCR, given all its characteristics, its financial robustness, its technical efficiency, its operating efficiency, all of that combined leaves the company in a position to play a leading role in this recovery process.
Thank you all for participating, and have a nice day. It was good to talk to you. Stay safe, stay well, and we'll see you next time. Thank you. CCR's conference call is now over. Thank you all for participating, and have a nice day, everyone.