Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the conference call for the earnings of Q3 2020 for Plano&Plano. We inform that this event is being recorded. All the participants will be in the listen mode only. Next, we will begin a Q&A session when further instructions will be supplied. If any participant needs help during the conference, please dial asterisk, zero to reach the operator. This event is also being transmitted live through the internet via webcast. It can be accessed at https://ri.planoeplano.com.br/en by clicking on the banner Webcast. The slides are available for download on the webcast platform. The information is available in Brazilian reals and and IFRS applicable to real estate developers in Brazil.
Before proceeding, let me mention that any declarations made during this presentation concerning the business perspectives of Plano&Plano operational goals, financial goals, are based on beliefs and assumptions of the Board of the company, and also based on information currently available. Considerations about the future are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks because they refer to future events, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors should understand the general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operational factors may really change things and bring results that may differ materially from those expressed here. Today, we have the presence of Mr. Rodrigo von, Mr. Rodrigo Luna, and Mr. João Hopp, respectively, CEO, Vice President, and CFO and Investor Relations Officer at Plano&Plano. Now I'd like to pass the floor to Mr. Rodrigo Luna, Vice President, who will begin the presentation. Sir, you have the floor.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon to all. Thank you for the interest and for participating in this audio conference of Plano&Plano. Please let us go on to slide number four. 2020 will be a landmark in the history of Plano&Plano due to the company overcoming the problems of the pandemic, the IPO, and all of this with sustainable growth and profitable growth of the company, generating jobs and delivering value to clients and shareholders. From the beginning of the pandemic, the operations of the company were adapted to, first of all, guarantee the safety of all the employees. We had no interruption in the construction sites. The construction continues at full speed, and our sales team adapted itself to serve our clients in the best possible way using digital channels.
With this, we're showing the robust results, and despite the challenge, we see the good results. We already reached a PSO of- we reached a PSV of BRL 533 million and BRL 905 million in the first nine months of 2020. Net sales BRL 1,232. When we compare with 2019, we had a robust growth of 36% in units sold, an increase of 45% in net revenue, an increase of 42.8% in net income, apart from an improvement in gross margin, which reached 36.3%. In September, we made our IPO with a great success, and we gave another step to perpetuate the company, improving even more our governance, aiming at sustainable and profitable growth.
Now, with very low interest rates and the banks reducing their rates for clients, we are very optimistic with the business perspectives for Q4 2020 and the year 2021. This way we continue our strength and solid growth capacity, as our numbers show. We are well-prepared and well-positioned to capture value for our shareholders and making Plano&Plano a company that is more and more admirable, an admirable company. Now I would like to pass the floor to our CFO, João Hopp, who will talk about operational and financial results in the period. João, you have the floor.
Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to be with you to discuss the earnings of Q3 2020 for Plano&Plano. Please let us go on to slide number six. In spite of delaying some launches due to COVID-19, the company maintained its objectives in terms of launches and worked in an accelerated manner in Q3. We see here the PSO. We see the PSV, sorry. The company launched BRL 533 million in Q3 2020, as we can see on the graph in the middle of the slide. Year- to- date, BRL 905 million in PSV, practically 30% more than the previous year. As can be seen on the graph on the right, we launched more than in the whole year of 2018. Next slide, please.
Net sales grew 42.7% in Q3 2020 in comparison with the previous year. Year- to- date, nine months, 30.5%, despite the reduction in sales during the first months of the pandemic, as we can see now with sales. Accelerated sales due to more launches and a good acceptance of the products accepted, launched by Plano&Plano. In Q3, it went 37%, a little below the previous quarters, reflecting the large volume of launches in the quarter, and these had a small contribution in the sales, the new launches.
Now slide number eight, please. On this graph, we can see the performance of net sales month by month. We see the sales of 2020 and the sales of 2019. After the beginning of the year, accelerated growth reaching 45% growth in Q1, then we had a decrease in sales due to social distancing due to the coronavirus. There was a drop in sales in April and May, and a strong growth as of June, when we began to open the sales stands. Commercial and sales areas adapted themselves. They began to use in a more intensive way the digital tools we have and trained its team to sell through the available channels. The growth in the second semester is here, and the company grew strongly in Q3, reaching 42.7% growth in net sales. Next slide, please.
The objectives of Plano&Plano is to have a minimum inventory of ready units. This will allow to sell the units before the delivery of the project. Of 8,187 units in inventory, only 194 are ready. Approximately 2% is ready. The result, we have the capacity to launch projects for the target public with good sales, adapting commercial parameters, and focus on the market. Now, slide number 10. Plano&Plano works with focus on the metropolitan region in São Paulo. We have a land bank with a PSV of BRL 10 million. 87% are inside the City of São Paulo. These are plots of land acquired and with contracts signed for the purchase.
We would like to say that 96.5% of the acquisition will be paid with the so-called financial barter. The owner will receive in installments as we receive the payments from sales made. Next slide. Of the BRL 8.8 billion in land bank inside the City of São Paulo, the majority representing 71% are in the south and the east side. This is in line with our studies showing where there is demand. Our total land bank of BRL 10 billion is sufficient for a few years of launches of the company, but Plano&Plano is actively evaluating and purchasing new plots of land for the long term. Now, slide number 12. We had a year with strong growth in deliveries.
In the nine months of 2020, we delivered BRL 758 million of PSO, 133% higher than the previous year. The performance in Q3 was high, growing almost 85% in relation to Q3 2019. Plano&Plano has 28 projects in progress, six less than in Q2. Let's go directly to slide 14, where we will discuss the financial results of the company. Q3 2020, Plano&Plano recognized this net revenue, the best quarter, BRL 230 million and 45.3% higher than Q3 2019 and 16.3% higher than Q2. Year to date, nine months, BRL 626 million, 25.9% higher than in the same nine months of 2019. Once again, this is due to the growth of the number of launches, more launches, and a good performance in sales.
Next slide, please. On this slide, we can see that in 2020 the gross margin is above the gross margin of last year. In Q3, the gross margin was 36.9%, and we can see here much higher. Now in the nine months 2020 gross margin is 36.9%, and again in relation to 33.7% in the first nine months of 2019. The company is managing closely the price of raw materials in construction, as well as trying to maximize the sale price to minimize the impact of the price increases in raw materials in the gross margin. Plano&Plano finished the nine months of 2020 with a growth of 25.3% in net profit in comparison with the previous year, reaching BRL 83 million.
This result is even more relevant when we consider that in 2020 the market in general suffered the effects, and we saw affecting especially the months of April and May. A lot of work was done to guarantee the safety of employees and clients. Even with these conditions, we delivered this excellent result in net profit. Concerning adjusted EBITDA, we'd like to highlight the improvement both in the comparison of Q3 and the first nine months when we compare 2020 with 2019. As we can see on the last line, we reached 22% and 20.3%. Also, we see the adjusted EBITDA in Q3 2020 and the comparison with the same period in the previous year. Now slide 18.
On September 30, the company's debt was made up by loans from the Federal Savings Bank by finance in the Casa Verde e Amarela, ex-Minha Casa Minha Vida. Total loans BRL 344 million above BRL 210 million that we had on December 31, 2019. We have also BRL 30 million in corporate debt. The cash and cash equivalent went up from BRL 159,000 to BRL 298,000 in September 2020. In this way, the net debt dropped from BRL 81 million to BRL 77 million in the same period. The net debt over net equity is 35.7%. Cash generation in Q3 2020, BRL 2.3 billion.
At the beginning of the year, we had a delay in passing the contracts to the Federal Savings Bank and also during some weeks during the social distancing period. As an offset, since civil construction was defined as essential, we worked nonstop in our projects during the year. There was an increase of BRL 66 million in our account, real estate under construction. Since the projects continue and sales grew in an accelerated way, the cash will come, and it is an issue only of time.
Next slide. We would like to conclude this first conference call sharing the recognition on the part of our clients for the products and services of Plano&Plano. Plano&Plano made a decision to become a company focused on the client five years ago instead of being focused on the product. This change required changes in attitudes that must be present in the whole company. Plano&Plano really used this, and now we see the recognition on the part of clients. We have one of the best classifications, and with this attitude being customer-centric, this helped us and is helping us to perpetuate our business in a sustainable way. We would like to conclude, and we are available for any questions. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. João. Now we would like to begin the Q&A session. To ask a question, please dial asterisk one. To remove your question from the list, please dial asterisk two. Our first question comes from Mr. Enrico Trotta, Itaú BBA.
Good afternoon. Thank you for the presentation. Two questions. The first concerning demand, thinking of sales. You had some projects that you launched at the end of September that you were not able to record the sales. I would like to know about the performance of these projects launched at the end of September. Can we accept an acceleration in VSO? Do you see any difference between the apartments with one bedroom and two bedrooms? Is there a difference? Concerning margin, gross margin was excellent, very good, improving in comparison with last year. I would like to know, how do you see gross margin from now on? Please, can you mention if there is any pressure on cost as we can see in Q3? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. It is a pleasure to talk to you. We are very optimistic with the sales in Q4. As you noticed, sales are growing during the year. Sales grew, and we had all these issues of coronavirus. Since we work with stores where all the products are sold in the same stores, we are always concerned in delivering what we do not want to have inventory when we deliver the buildings. We have been working this way.
There is a trade-off because there is a difference between doing this and giving deep discounts. We do not see the need to give deep discounts since our methodology has been working. Let us remember, we delivered in the last six projects, almost 1,000 units, and we have 15 days of inventory. We are very optimistic with the sales in the last quarter, even bearing in mind the strong quarter with a lot of launches, and the fourth will also be very strong c oncerning gross margin.
Good afternoon. I will pass the floor to Rodrigo. He is in another location. He will talk about pressure on costs and give you a vision of the future. Pressure on cost and pressure on margin. Rodrigo will answer.
Enrico, good afternoon. We talking about costs. Everyone is concerned with costs. At the beginning of the year, everything was okay. Then came COVID, an increase in demand. All the companies launching projects at the same time. There was a lot of demand for materials. The suppliers were not prepared for this recovery. The exchange rate also rose very much. Devaluation of the local country due to fiscal problems. Also we have a problem with the valuation of commodities in U.S. currency. I prepared a comparison to help you understand. I took a project that we had prepared a budget in January, and the same project preparing the budget now. The difference between the first and the second was 9%.
Now, the INCC of the period was 6.7%. So what happened? Our inflation inside the company is 2.5% above the INCC. So there is a pressure, and this we can also pass on to the buyers. So we have an average of 30 projects. Many things were already bought with fixed prices. So what happened in this period, on average, if I were to finish these projects in January, I would have 3% savings. So we have BRL 1 billion in projects. So the difference would be 1.5%. So we have all our projects in progress without any problems in labor and materials costing more. So we have everything in line. We will deliver all the projects on time. The pressure in terms of the price of materials is manageable. We have now less increases.
We're seeing less increases now. In the future, we might have labor problems. This has not happened yet because we will have salary increases. Now, thank God we have strong partnerships and we haven't had labor problems. Since the projects are standardized, sometimes, for example, we know that steel, they are asking for 60 days, but I can take steel from construction iron and steel from one project and take it to another while I wait for deliveries. So we will be able to finish all the projects without additional pressure.
Thank you, João. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Jorel Guilloty , Morgan Stanley.
Good afternoon. Thank you for the call. I have two questions. We're seeing a robust demand. I would like to understand, do you believe you can launch more projects, accelerate launches in the short term, and also the payout dividends? Since the IPO, you had 100% payout. You've seen the performance during the year already. Can you talk a little about 2021 and your vision about payment of dividends? Thank you.
Thank you for the question. João Hopp again. Concerning launches, since the middle of this year, we made a plan until 2023. We are maintaining our plans. As we said before, we're projecting double-digit growth. We can't give you specific guidance, but double-digit growth. This is what we imagine we will deliver in the next few years, and we're maintaining our schedule for launches. Our internal capacity to work and develop projects is one of the important things. We did not change our rhythm. Our rhythm is high and very important. We haven't changed anything in terms of perspective for launches. We are maintaining the plans until 2023.
In terms of dividends, what we have in this reality of accelerated growth, we want to use money for working capital, and this is to finance the operations, our projects, the beginning of the projects. We do the sizing of the cash and net equity, which is comfortable for expansion in the next few years. We will decide also how much we will pay out as dividends. We have cash surplus. Money above the comfort level will be distributed to the shareholders.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jorel.
Our next question comes from Gustavo Cambauva , BTG Pactual.
Good afternoon. I have two questions, too. The first, could you comment within this issue of launches, the product mix that you are imagining for the future? We see a good performance, and through financing in the City of São Paulo, we see a strong demand. Do you have any intention next year to explore the segments and talk about the product mix, one bedroom, two bedrooms? My second question has to do with competition in São Paulo. You showed good plans, but there are some companies saying that São Paulo is becoming more difficult to buy land, a lot of competition, small and medium-sized companies wanting to grow. How do you see the future in São Paulo, competition in the City of São Paulo?
Good afternoon, Cambauva. Thank you for the two questions. Talking about product mix, the first thing Let's remember that before the Minha Casa Minha Vida project from the government, we had projects number four. Today, we are totally focused on the so-called Casa Verde e Amarela, the government project. If we have an advantage to be focused on São Paulo, the plots of land are strategically in locations that enable us to sell units for income a little above the government's project. So we are looking at demand and the best usage of our plots of land versus economical feasibility or financial feasibility of the projects. All our projects are approved after an in-depth study of offer and demand.
Then we calibrate the products. So we look at one case after the other to see which is the best product for that region. If we notice that there is space for better results in what we call number four, we will operate, yes, because the company's history allows us to work with higher income levels. Concerning competition in São Paulo, as you saw, we are at the end of 2020. We launched BRL 900 million, and we are buying as more plots of land as we sell. So we are not feeling a lot of competition nor higher prices for land.
As you said, the small and medium companies are suffering a lot, and they suffered more in relation to coronavirus in relation to larger companies. So for the time being, we are not seeing a lot of competition if you compare with the beginning of 2020. Bearing in mind the large geographic dimension of São Paulo, especially the outskirts, offering a lot of plots of land, of course, they have to be okay for our business model and our assumptions too.
Thank you. Just a follow-up question about the mix. Have you seen plots of land? Do you have any interest? For example, do you intend to build more towers? Describe the opportunities.
A plot of land on the outskirts of the city, they have a greater probability for lower income families. The better plots of land in good locations in the more central region, they can be used for low income or higher income. When we buy a plot of land during the approval phase, which takes a year from the city hall, and when we work to legalize the plot of land, we have the option to sell to a certain income level or higher.
We choose the best. I confess that all our studies are showing still that the liquidity, and if we work in brackets two and three are better than those that come from HIS, where you lose some benefits according to legislation. For example, the exemption of surcharges from the city hall. If you go to a certain income level, you lose some privileges from the city hall. For the time being, we still see advantages in working in HIS model.
Thank you. That was very clear. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Raul Grego, Eleven Financial.
Good afternoon. I have a question. You explained about competition, plots of land in São Paulo. On the other hand, you had many launches with a drop in VSO. Is that due to the launch, or did you find more competition with similar products? What happened to have this drop in VSO?
Thank you for the question. There's a mathematical issue, PSV. We had a launch without recognizing sales, so the denominator increased without the increase in the numerator. There's another factor that we're discussing with some analysts and shareholders with whom we interacted since the IPO. As a coincidence, this year we had more launches of one-bedroom projects than our average. Our average is based on demand, and out of every four, one we want to be one bedroom, and we had more launches for one bedroom.
Since we have a greater percentage, maybe 40%, of one-bedroom projects, yes, this had this effect. So it is due to more one-bedroom apartments. Now, looking at 2021, our pipeline already shows that during the next months, our launches, we will have less launches of one-bedroom apartments, and then we finalize during 2021 with a balance of 25% being one-bedroom apartments, and we will go back to normal. So there's the issue of one bedroom, which is important to make clear to you.
Just one more point. The focus on the metropolitan region in São Paulo. Are you thinking of exploring other regions outside the metropolitan area of São Paulo for your land bank in the next four or five years? What is your vision in the medium and long term in terms of region?
Okay, Luis Rodrigo. Historically, our company has expertise and results that are very good in the whole state of São Paulo. We have projects in Campinas, in the interior, Hortolândia, Jundiaí, in the State of São Paulo. In the last few years, we have focused on the metropolitan region of São Paulo, not only due to the economic strength of São Paulo and the great demand, but also because of legislation, which is more favorable to these projects involving social projects. Right now, we're focused on the metropolitan region of São Paulo, where we can find robust results like the numbers we just showed you. But we're always alert. We're always studying other regions in the state of São Paulo, and even other regions that we believe may be strong and interesting markets like the metropolitan region of São Paulo.
Thank you.
Our next question came through the webcast platform from Luis Kotake concerning the IPO. The numbers are impressive.
The exchanges, are they financial or physical when you have swap or exchanges?
Luis, thank you. Beginning with the second question, the swaps are financial. We have our land bank of BRL 10 billion, and our cost in terms of plot of land is 11%. The plots of land cost 11% of the project, and we have 3.5% is paid in cash before construction and 96.5% to be paid in a financial exchange during sales as the company is paid. The owner of the land is aligned with our accounts receivable. They receive when we receive. 96.5% financial swap.
Now, concerning your first question about return on capital used, our return on investment, yes, it is high. There is a historical issue. It was born in 2016, and we built the equity. It is more lean than other companies. But on the other hand, we have dynamics. We have a dynamic to be low in assets. The purchase of land is not paid in advance. We have a lot of money invested in plots of land. And when we deliver, we don't have inventory after delivering. We receive the money during the construction period. With all of this, a company with high potential and also high profitability works this way.
If you do a calculation in the last 12 months, this number should be 55% return on net equity since it grew to BRL 214 million on September 30th, with BRL 32 million in cash in the IPO, and the growth coming from accumulated profits. The company generates profit every quarter. I hope I answered your question about the perception of ROI.
Since there are no more questions, we'd like to conclude the Q&A session. I'd like to pass the floor to Mr. Rodrigo Luna for his final comments.
I'd like to thank all the participants for being with us in the conference call for earnings, and I'd like to conclude saying that we're very optimistic in relation to Q4, feeling that there is strong demand for housing and the funding structure with an increase in financing for real estate. We are well-prepared, and we trust that we will close the year in line with this growth we have been delivering in the last few years, double-digit growth. Thank you very much, and we will meet again next time.
The conference call for results of Plano&Plano is concluded. Thank you very much, and we wish you a good afternoon.