Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the earnings conference call of Tupy S.A. for the fourth quarter of 2024. This conference is being recorded, and the replay can be accessed on the company's website at ri.tupy.com.br. The presentation is also available for download on the Investment Relations platform and website. Please be advised that all participants will be in listen-only mode during the presentation, and later we will begin a Q&A session when further instructions will be given. This presentation is being recorded and translated simultaneously. Translation is available by clicking on the interpretation button. For those listening to the video conference in English, there is the option to mute the original Portuguese audio by clicking on "Mute Original Audio." Before proceeding, I would like to reinforce that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Tupy's management and on information currently available to the company.
Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, as they refer to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors, analysts, and journalists should take into account that events related to the macroeconomic environment, the industry, and other factors may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. The following people are present at this conference call: Fernando Cestari de Rizzo, CEO; Mr. Rodrigo Perico, CFO Mr. Ricardo Fioramonte, Vice President of Sales; Mr. Gueitiro Gensu, Vice President of Innovation and New Business; and the Tupy Investment Relations team. I would now like to turn the floor over to Mr. Rizzo, who will start the presentation. Mr. Rizzo, you can start.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on our conference call. Throughout 2024, we rigorously executed our strategic agenda.
Despite the sharp drop in physical sales volumes, we increased operating margins and achieved the highest EBITDA in the company's history. The company is more efficient. We implemented several cost and expense reduction initiatives in all areas of the company, which, together with a favorable exchange rate scenario, contributed to the year's results. These actions cost BRL 58 million in 2024, related to ongoing restructuring that are still ongoing. In addition to operational gains, we have a product mix with greater added value, the result of commercial initiatives and opportunities arising from the acquisition of MWM. In the next slide, I would like to detail the performance of our margins separating the traditional business and MWM. We made important acquisitions, which accounted for 40% of our revenue. Prior to the acquisitions, the company-adjusted EBITDA margin was 14%. In 2021, we acquired Betim and Aveiro Operations, with margins of 4%.
Back then, we announced a plan to bring the combined margins of the traditional business to historical levels in four to five years. Even with the 12% drop in revenue based on 2023, impacted by the dilution of costs and fixed expenses, and despite restructuring costs, the margin has reached 13%. On the slide, you can also see the evolution of revenue and structural components and the period post-acquisition. Although with nominal gains, it is a significant growth. These are organic growths combined with acquired businesses, with a lot of work to correct margins. We also gained a lot of efficiency in MWM's operations, increasing the margin from 6% before the acquisition to a level between 8%-9%. This margin also includes a large portion of expenses to develop new business that will be shown shortly, about BRL 70 million.
If we hadn't made this effort, the margin of MWM would be 11%. The next slide, I want to highlight the performance of MWM. We continue to invest in new businesses towards the construction of a new Tupy, a more diversified company exposed to new business opportunities. A significant portion of this unit's revenue comes from assembly and engineering services to third parties, which, given their nature, have lower margins because we buy the components and include them in the sales price. On the other hand, it presents a very high ROIC and cash generation. These are benefits of the physical capacity acquired with MWM, with the competitive multiples, and that holds many opportunities for the near future, given the opportunity for new businesses and also great opportunities of negotiating with car manufacturers.
In 2024, invested BRL 469 million in Tupy, and out of this total, BRL 195 million were invested in equipment expansions linked to new businesses of cast and foundry. In addition, machining, we exceeded BRL 120 million in the development of new businesses in technologies that include bioplants, biofuel-powered engines for using truck structures, agricultural machinery, generator sets, and maritime engines, with no revenue in 2024. These high expenses are developing valuable knowledge. Such technologies, in addition to generating patents, will be the basis for future creation of value of Tupy and MWM because the use of biofuels reduces the operational costs and will be widely used in Brazil, a country that has biomass richness similar to India, United States, Indonesia, Argentina, and many others.
Even in a year of reduced sales, the company prioritized maintaining investments and expenses in R&D and innovation, which impacted the margin but maintained the commitment and discipline for future value generation. On the next slide, we address the operational efficiency initiatives that will play a fundamental role in the company's operational leverage. As we have commented in other calls, we are directing production to more efficient units with lower cash costs, taking into account the characteristics of each product and the needs of customers. This is a planned movement with lasting gains and which is part of our synergy plan, and it's not related to the current scenario of volumes or uncertainties about tariffs and the U.S. economy. It is focused on pure economic efficiency. The presented margin of 13.4% in structural components does not include any of that.
The estimated gains are in the order of BRL 150 million-BRL 200 million per year in fixed and variable costs and expenses, in addition to the lower volume of maintenance CAPEX. This will be captured later. In this scenario impacted by volumes, we prioritized the generation of operational cash, which reached BRL 1.4 billion in 2024, although some decisions have harmed margins. On the next slide, we highlight the annual evolution of our operating cash generation. I reinforce our commitment when starting the acquisition cycle. We were very careful to buy relevant assets at low multiples, such as Teksid at a 3.8% EBITDA margin and MWM with 6% margin, and we consolidated into a solid company with growing margins and healthy cash generation. We'll still have many opportunities after completing the synergy capture cycle, with the stabilization and maturity of the traditional business, higher sales on a smaller asset base.
Now I hand the floor over to Rodrigo to present the fourth quarter indicators.
Thank you, Fernando, and good morning, everyone. Revenues fell by 5% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching BRL 2.5 billion, of which 44% originated in South and Central America, 37% in North America, 15% in Europe, and the remaining 4% in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In the composition of revenue, 85% originated from structural components and manufacturing contract segment, which includes cast iron products and high-value-added services such as machining and component assembly. The energy and decarbonization segment accounted for 7% of revenue, with emphasis on generator sets, self-manufactured engines, maritime applications, lighting towers, products, and services related to decarbonization. The remaining 8% came from the distribution segment, which includes the sale of MWM spare parts and hydraulic products.
On the next slide, in the domestic market, revenues from the structural components and manufacturing contracts were impacted by the increase in the production of commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, revenues from the foreign markets showed a decline, reflecting the lower demand for applications for trucks and off-road equipment, impacted by high interest rates, falling prices of commodities in agriculture, and macroeconomic uncertainties. Products with higher added value represented 47% of this unit. In the next slide, we have the performance of the energy and decarbonization unit, which encompasses generator sets, in-house manufactured engines, maritime applications, lighting towers, and products and services relating to decarbonization. The segment showed a 7% increase in Brazil, impacted by the strong growth in sales of generator sets. The drop in sales of our own engines, resulting from the performance of agribusiness, affected the performance of this unit in Brazil and abroad.
This unit accounts for 14% in revenues in the domestic market and 2% in the foreign market. On the next slide, we highlight the distribution unit, which includes spare parts and hydraulic products. In Brazil, sales from this unit accounted for 15% of domestic market revenue, with an increase of 2%. Sales abroad fell by 14%. In both markets, performance was affected by lower demand for hydraulic products, resulting from the economic scenario. Moving on to the next slide, we highlight the 6% reduction in the cost of goods sold, accompanied by a 120 basis point increase in gross margin. This result was achieved despite the negative impacts of the drop in volume, the depreciation of Mexican peso, and inflation in labor and services, which were offset by cost reduction initiatives and productivity gains.
Operating expenses increased by 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, mainly reflecting the increase in freight costs pressured by logistical bottlenecks. In 2024, expenses showed a reduction of 2%, reflecting the success in contractual renegotiations, decrease in volumes, in addition to the capture of synergies and efficiency gains obtained over the last few months. Continuing with the presentation, we highlight at the top of the adjusted EBITDA, which totaled BRL 252 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The quarter's result was impacted by restructuring expenses in the amount of BRL 58 million.
EBITDA margin on revenue reached 10.1%, exceeding the percentage recorded in the same period of the previous year. In 2024, the margin reached 12.1%, an increase of 100 basis points compared to 2023. It is worth noting that the company has consistently invested in innovation projects and new businesses, still in the development phase and without generating revenue.
Throughout 2024, investments related to these initiatives exceeded BRL 120 million. We continue to capture synergies from acquisitions, with performance above that of what was forecast in the business plan. The initiatives already mentioned, such as cost reduction and transfers, in addition to contractual renegotiations with customers and suppliers, help to mitigate the significant impact observed in recent months, especially reduction in volumes and inflationary pressure on services and labor. At the bottom of the slide, we highlight the net profit performance. In Q4 2024, the result was impacted by an impairment of BRL 250 million, resulting in a loss of BRL 98 million in the quarter.
This adjustment is related to the write-off of assets linked to operational efficiency projects, with the reallocation of production to lower cost lines. Disregarding this effect, the net income would have reached BRL 67 million in the quarter and BRL 247 million in 2024.
On the next slide, we have the financial result for the period. The increase in financial expenses is mainly due to new borrowings, which resulted in greater interest payments. Furthermore, the depreciation of the real against the dollar negatively impacted the provision of interest on debts linked to the corporate bond. On the other hand, financial revenues totaled BRL 44 million, exceeding the amount recorded in the same period of the previous year, driven by the increase in the cash position resulting from fundraising and strong operating cash generation. In the result with exchange rate variations, we recorded revenue of BRL 84 million, composed of two main effects: result of operations of hedge, which totaled an expense of BRL 30 million, of which BRL 8 million positive coming from mark-to-market, and BRL 38 million had an impact on cash.
Positive effect of BRL 114 million related to exchange rate variation on balance sheet accounts in foreign currency, reflecting the depreciation of the real against the dollar. Following the presentation, we have the variation of the main working capital accounts using the third quarter of 2024 as a basis for comparison. In accounts receivable, we recorded a reduction of BRL 273 million, which resulted in an eight-day drop in the average collection period. This performance mainly reflected the seasonality of the period and the exchange rate depreciation on values in foreign currency, which account for 70% of the total. In inventories, there was an increase in BRL 128 million, driven by the exchange rate devaluation. This impact, however, was partially offset by initiatives aimed at operational flexibility and the reallocation of products between production units.
In accounts payable, we highlight the progress in management initiatives with suppliers, which resulted in an increase in the average term by four days. On the next slide, we present the operating cash flow. In 2024, we reached a new record with cash generation of BRL 1.353 billion, a growth of 63% compared to 2023. In the quarterly vision, we recorded the highest value in the company's history, driven by discipline and working capital management, solid performance of MWM's operations, and the refund of taxes abroad, and the positive impact of the appreciation of the dollar. Finally, net debt at the end of 2024 was BRL 2.3 billion, corresponding to 1.81 times the adjusted EBITDA for the last 12 months. Foreign currency obligations represented 65% of the total debt. In contrast, the cash position was equally divided between local currency and hard currency.
We ended 2024 with a cash position of approximately BRL 2.450 million.
Now I hand the floor over to Ricardo, Vice President of Sales.
Thank you, Rodrigo. Good morning, everyone. I'm Ricardo Fioramonte, Vice President of Sales at Tupy. I've been with the company since 2019, and I'm responsible for relationships with automakers in Brazil and abroad, leading a highly experienced team. Tupy has increasingly been an important partner for customers, with a strategy of outsourcing and expanding local content. Last Wednesday, the 26th, we announced new projects with two automakers, with revenues starting in 2027 and 2028. These are projects aimed at a new generation of engines that will be manufactured in Brazil, replacing products that are being imported from other countries. Since 2023, we have announced new contracts that, when reaching maturity, will generate additional revenues of over BRL 1 billion. Another important point is new services.
This year, we will start the machining operation in Mexico, and all the necessary investment has already been made. The addition of value to the achievement of projects with more complex engineering means that contracts announced in recent years have a higher average price, and they are much better than the contracts that they replaced. On the next slide, I want to comment on the outlook for 2025. Starting in Europe, after a significant drop in the production of heavy vehicles in 2024, we are beginning to see signs of increasing demand. We also see, on a positive note, the appetite of European governments to invest and to reduce fiscal rates and tax rates. In the United States, economic uncertainties have impacted the beginning of the year, with impacts in the commercial vehicles sector.
Although the demand is lower, it does not disappear, and we will certainly see growing volumes in the second half of the year, especially with the possibility of beginning of pre-buys still in 2025. In the construction sector, we see an upward trend in residential buildings, and despite the uncertainties, the non-residential construction remains high. Customers' activities will be favored this year because of the adjustment of inventories that happened in 2024. Finally, in Brazil, despite the increase in truck production, we expect the production to be stable, both for trucks and agricultural machinery, although we see at the beginning of the year above expectations. To wrap up, I would say that the new contracts in Europe and the pre-buy in the United States will be very favorable wins for our business. Now I hand the floor over to Gueitiro, who will talk about new businesses.
Thank you, Ricardo.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Gueitiro Gensu, Vice President of Innovation and New Businesses. I had the opportunity to welcome many of you at our plant and introduce you to our Engineering Technology Center and the leaders who drive our initiatives. When we talk about new businesses, these are new operations for Tupy with different degrees of maturity. In some segments, we have a well-consolidated position. We have the most recognized engine brand in the country, which leverages the spare parts business, and we are leaders in generator sets.
Other businesses are in intermediate or early stages. We are using our expertise in engines, biofuels, and circular economy to project focused on energy projects, focused on energy efficiency, and decarbonization. Next slide, we show the potential for replacement market for parts for diesel engines. Estimate a market of BRL 4 billion, in which we currently have a share of less than 10%.
The MWM brand is very strong and has the second largest distribution network in Brazil, with more than 700 points of sale. We launched 2,000 new products in 2024, expanded our distribution center, and created a pipeline of parts suppliers in China. We'll increase substantially the number of items for MWM and other brands to offer new services that will contribute to market share. On the next slide, we'll talk about generator sets, which we started offering in 2019 and became leaders in the country a few years later. In addition to diesel versions, we launched biomethane products aimed mainly at agribusiness. The world has increased demand for generation and backup of energy in a wide range of applications, including data centers, which will be an important avenue for growth, as well as exports to markets with high demand, such as the United States.
Now I'll talk about our solutions for the maritime segment. These are onboard engines and generators designed for work vessels, which operate around 20 times more than leisure vessels and require robust and reliable solutions, and address a full market of around BRL 20 billion. Recently, we announced a contract with ferries operating on the coast of São Paulo and pilotage operations. On the next slide, we have many opportunities to explore the vehicle transformation business with the replacement of diesel engines in existing fleets with biomethane and ethanol engines, a market worth more than BRL 50 billion. We'll announce several contracts in 2025 with partners in the on-road and off-road transportation segments, urban mobility, and agribusiness. Regarding this topic, on the next slide, I'll talk about bioplants. We started our operations with Primato, and we have a good pipeline of announcements that should be made in 2025.
We are the only player that offers complete solutions covering all the necessary technical skills, which contribute to the viable decarbonization of agribusiness, allowing for increased productivity, which will be necessary to serve a market that will grow 24% by 2033. Thank you for your attention, and I'll pass the floor to Fernando.
Thank you, Gueitiro. Since its foundation, Tupy had research and development as a competitive advantage, which has added to our operational excellence, the efficiency of our products and services, and technological pioneering. We are a global player, a reference in our industry, and we are advancing into new business. Thus, we are building every day a larger and more diversified company. This is reflected in our positioning and will impact our multiples. In the next slide, we discuss the repricing that will occur in the future.
Approximately 25% of our revenue comes from segments that are traditionally traded at higher volumes than capital goods. As these segments increase their share and become more prominent in our results, we will unlock significant value. In its core business today, the company has very high growth prospects. The company in the core business is much lighter, and even despite the drop of 20% in physical sales volume, we increased our operating margins. We will benefit greatly from the recovery of volumes, which should occur later this year. To conclude, the next slide, we address the transformation we have undertaken and our ambitions. We are positioned in perennial segments with solid foundations such as transportation, infrastructure, and agriculture, construction, and working strategically in offering viable decarbonization solutions. We will also explore the full potential of Brazilian agribusiness with a wide range of solutions.
We have allocated many expenses to develop engines, generator sets, and other equipment powered by biofuels, such as ethanol and biomethane, with applications in the countryside and cities. Finally, we are exposed to countercyclical sectors such as diesel engine parts replacement, and we can now monetize important assets such as MWM brand and our distribution channels. I thank everyone's presence, and now let's move on to the Q&A session.
We'll now start the Q&A session. To ask a question, please click on "Raise Hand." If your question is answered, you can leave the queue by clicking "Lower Hand." The first question comes from André Ferreira from Bradesco.
Good morning. Thank you for the question. I have two topics I would like to ask about. Talking about U.S. tariffs, there is an exposure of 40% to North America. I would like to understand two things.
We have allocated many expenses to develop engines, generator sets, and other equipment powered by biofuels, such as ethanol and biomethane, with applications in the countryside and cities. Finally, we are exposed to countercyclical sectors such as diesel engine parts replacement, and we can now monetize important assets such as MWM brand and our distribution channels. I thank everyone's presence, and now let's move on to the Q&A session. We'll now start the Q&A session. To ask a question, please click on "Raise Hand." If your question is answered, you can leave the queue by clicking "Lower Hand." The first question comes from André Ferreira from Bradesco.
Good morning. Thank you for the question. I have two topics I would like to ask about. Talking about U.S. tariffs, there is an exposure of 40% to North America. I would like to understand two things.
First, confirming who is directly impacted by tariffs is the customer. Secondly, what do you expect in general volume for 2025, given tariffs, but also given that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is trying to postpone the standard set for 2027 of emissions. Since the change in the CEO, whatever you can comment on your strategic plans for Tupy in the new management. Thank you.
Thank you for the question. I'll start talking about tariffs and environmental laws in the U.S. It's important to know right now that all our contracts in the United States are protected by clauses that include the transfer of tariffs. We don't see any impact for the company. As for the possible postponement for the new emissions rules, we don't have anything certain or confirmed.
Talking to customers, our customer's position in general is that everything has been developed already, and it would be worse, in their opinion, if that is postponed. Nevertheless, we must keep track of what's going on and make the necessary decisions whenever we have more clarity on that.
Thank you, Ricardo.
About the CEO question, there will be no changes in the strategy. In the closing remarks, we'll address that subject. Let's continue. Thank you.
Very good. Thank you.
The next question comes from Gabriel Rezende from Itaú BBA. Mr. Gabriel, your microphone is open. You may ask your question. Our next question comes from Fernanda Urbano from XP.
Good morning. Thank you for answering our question. I wish success to Fernando in your future challenges. My question is about the profitability drivers. You've seen in these earnings more results.
You've given more details about business performance, which is valuable for us to understand the dynamics of earnings. I would like to explore two points. First, the MWM margin dynamics to understand whether you see room for some growth given the operational efficiency initiatives you have endeavored. Secondly, understand the mix dynamic because you mentioned it has had a positive impact on the margin of the traditional business. I would like to understand that better. What do you expect for 2025 in both areas? Thank you.
Good morning, Fernanda. Thank you for your question. I'll talk about MWM quickly. We do expect a better return in margins and a better profitability because that was done based on a margin of 6% together. Today, we are delivering 30% in addition to acquisition margin. If it wasn't for the pre-operational expense, we would be close to 11%.
This is an expense in which we expect revenues to come short, higher than the traditional business.
This is Gueitiro speaking, Fernanda. I will make an additional comment to what Perico said. This breakdown of MWM's business is part of a strategy that's happening for some time now. More and more, you will notice that businesses are being seen as business units that deliver specific results in their verticals, and this is how they are managed according to our strategy. More and more, in next quarters, you'll be able to have a closer look on each business, which has specificities and different margins. That will allow the market to keep track in real terms what was thought about when we purchased MWM, what was our strategy, because that brought new growth avenues to our business.
We will discuss these businesses separately later in further calls. Just to add something, in the traditional business, margins come from operational efficiency, and this mix that will include machining. We showed an interesting margin last year, which comes very close to historical levels. If you notice, revenue is almost double than it used to be before the acquisitions. There are several machining projects that are ongoing. A major highlight, we just highlighted the largest organic CAPEX in Mexico in the last two years. This is a machining area that is only starting and will start the ramp-up because we are replacing a European product. All these areas, fortunately, we see growth also in engine assembly. There is a very high demand. It is a new proposal for the industry. The other areas, Gueitiro has expanded about bioplants, generator sets.
Everything is solid, well-built, and now we start to see the growth. I also thank you for your good wishes for me. In answering the previous question, I would like to say that I will remain in the company until April 30, and we'll also have a call so that you can talk to Rafael Lucchesi and discuss a bit. In essence, this is a market question. Will the strategy remain? Yes, the strategy will remain. It has been approved by shareholders, and it will remain the same. Thank you.
That's very clear. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Gabriel Rezende from Itaú BBA. Mr. Gabriel Rezende, your microphone is open. Our next question comes Gabriel Frazâo from Bank of America. Go ahead. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the question.
I have a question about the reduction in production capacity that was mentioned in the release. Could you give us an idea of how much that reduction is about? If, in addition to the positive impact of the cash cost, it will also improve the production products of the company. Also, if you have any plans to further reduce the company's capacity, given that three of the five plants have idle capacity.
Okay. Just a message to Gabriel Rezende. If you can send your question through the chat or WhatsApp of Hugo, if you have trouble opening your mic, we will answer that if you send it in writing. Okay. The other Gabriel question.
When we made the acquisitions, we saw an industry that was mature for consolidation, in which it makes sense to consolidate portfolios, reallocate products in a more competitive footprint, given the features of each product. Obviously, when that happened, the production lines, not the plants, but the production lines that have a higher cash cost would be gradually discontinued. This anticipates this movement that's going on this year. Yes, there are other fronts that will take place into the first half of next year. There's a lot going on in that, and it takes time. This is not something that happens very quickly because it depends on reallocation of products, new tools, customer approval, and all that. We'll maintain available capacity because we see I think this is an important point of view to understand about this business because this is a mature business.
It had a very high electrification vision, which is now postponed. The need for machines and engines in the world will be present because you need to transport more load. You need to build infrastructure. The population is growing. This is a world trend. There will be a need for more engines operating, more machines operating in the future. The question was whether they will be liquid fuel-driven or electricity-driven. Now we see that it will be driven on liquid fuels. We will continue to capture the growth of this. There was a high supply because it supplied the passenger car industry. This is why we need to reduce those capacities. What we are discontinuing this year that is no longer in operation in Mexico has to do with products that serve the passenger car industry. We changed to aluminum and a bit to electric cars.
The machine and capital goods industry is different. It will grow, and we are maintaining that capacity to capture that growth in future years. We are attracting new customers to the company. We are going regional now. Things that used to be manufactured in Europe and imported into the U.S. will be manufactured in the U.S. This industry is in the United States or North America. We are well-positioned. We announced new projects this week that have to do with products that used to be imported and will be manufactured in Brazil in the future, and products that used to be manufactured in South Africa and Europe in the past and will now be manufactured in the United States or North America as well. This is a long-term industry, stable, with growth rates of 1-2% in the long run.
This is how it works.
Okay. That is very clear, Fernanda. Thank you.
The next question comes Andressa Varotto from UBS BB.
Thank you for the question. I would like to thank Fernando for the partnership in recent years and wish success in his future. Going to the question, I have a question about new contracts. The company had a significant backlog that would start this year, and you announced more contracts. I would like to understand how you see the potential to get even more contracts considering production capacity, investments, and how these new contracts can contribute to margin in the future. Also, a follow-up on the previous question to understand what are the next steps in terms of restructuring and how close we are to an ideal scenario for the company. Thank you.
Hello, Andresa.
I'll start answering, and then Ricardo will talk about new opportunities. Okay. We do have capacity. That's true. That's part of the design of acquisitions. When we go to Teksid, we buy a plant in Minas Gerais that's highly efficient, very well located, a better location than our plant in Joinville in terms of supply of raw materials and with a lot of available capacity. That makes a lot of difference when we compare to other plants of the company and compare the cash cost to be allocated. That is why it makes all that movement in the company.
I'll answer your last question about the future or how far we are. We are starting. We still have all plants in operation, the machines turned on, operating with idle capacity. Throughout 2025, we'll disconnect some equipment.
We do have some expenses to be realized to capture those costs, but this will happen throughout 2025 and in the beginning of 2026. In 2026, we envisage a much higher volume than we have today with a lower number of equipment operating. This will mean a greater efficiency for the company. Now, Ricardo will talk about new businesses.
Thank you, Fernando. Thank you for the question, Andresa. Yes, most of the new businesses we announced and those that are still on radar as opportunities have originated from two factors or drivers: the launch of a new generation of engines to meet the new rules of emissions. The emissions rules, although being the main driver, these new engines arrive at the market with better performance. Our customers are not adopting these new engines only for emissions targets.
They also have a better performance, lower consumption, etc. These engines will enter the market starting in 2024 up until 2026. In addition to this driver of new reduced emissions, there is a movement of regionalization, as mentioned by Fernando. Products located in the United States and in Brazil. Our positioning was key to achieve a lot of these new programs. I'd say that most likely we'll be able to attain all the programs in the regions we're present. The future challenge, still in line with our strategy, will be to add more added value to such products with the offer of services. We have good products in machining and will advance even further.
I would just like to add something to what Ricardo said, something that affects the dynamics of our business. Something is a thesis we've always questioned.
We always talked about feasible decarbonization. There is a resistance in accepting that the decarbonization thesis could work based on subsidies, which is very hard for states to maintain subsidies if technologies cannot be able to lower economic costs for society. We believe there is a path of opportunities that go through biofuels, either by using diesel, ethanol, biomethane that we talk so much about. Brazil has such a richness of biomethane that's wasted. It could offset all the diesel that we use. In addition to decarbonizing, it reduces the economic cost of customers' operations. We believe that the world is becoming more sensitive. I'm not talking about extremes of canceling the climate change or denying it. No, we do believe in climate change, but we believe that the world will decarbonize in the opportunities that also bring economic and efficiency gains with them.
Then we allocated the development of new businesses because when we talk about having an ethanol engine in a machine that operates in a sugarcane farm, it makes sense. In the northeast of Brazil, there is a belt of sugarcane that many plants that produce sugarcane, ethanol, could be using ethanol in their machines because it makes sense in the north. It does not make sense to transport fossil fuel up there. You can produce ethanol from corn, from sugarcane, and biodiesel from soybeans. The machines that operate in those places, barges, agricultural machines, and so on, it makes a lot more sense for them to operate with the fuels that are produced locally. That is where we are betting our growth on.
This is what we see, and we will have lots of news this year on the success of these projects with large agribusiness companies in Brazil. Thank you.
Perfect. Thank you for your answer.
Our next question comes from Letícia Pinaffe from Itaú. Go ahead, Letícia. Letícia, your microphone is open. You may ask your question. Ms. Pinaffe has sent a question in writing. First, thank you very much. Good morning, and thank you for the question. You've commented that they had a first semester with a lower sales volume and resumption in the second half. Could you comment a bit on the rationale? Going back to the tariff issue in the U.S., are the contracts protected with the transfer clauses, but there could not be a reduction in the volume demanded? Thank you, Letícia.
Starting with the volumes of demand, our expectation for a better second half of the year is basically related to clarity about the economic policies in the United States because we understand that this is the main factor that has caused a decrease right now. In addition, as I have mentioned in my presentation, there's a possibility of a beginning of a pre-buy in the U.S. still this year. Europe, after a very weak 2024, shows signs of recovery in heavy vehicles segment, with all our customers reviewing their projections upward. Based on customer data, we believe that as soon as our customers mobilize their chains in order to meet the higher demand, we'll see the results in our portfolio or in our sales. About tariffs, in addition to the fact that contracts have protection clauses, another important factor is the fact that we don't have local competitors.
That's very favorable for us. About drop in the demand, this is something to be observed to understand better how all that impacts the U.S. economy. We don't believe that the drop in demand will be a direct effect of tariffs for us, but depending on the impact that it may have in the growth volumes in the United States, there may be some indirect impact. This is something we have still to wait a bit and see in the next months.
I remind you that in order to ask a question, please click on raise hand. The Q&A session has now ended. I would like to turn the floor over to Mr. Rizzo for the final remarks.
More than the end of the year, I'm closing an important cycle. I would like to thank you for the immense honor of serving this outstanding team.
In recent years, we have achieved many milestones and surpassed many of our competitors in various industries. Serving as CEO of Tupy has been the honor of a lifetime, and working with such a fantastic team to accomplish everything we have done has been a great experience. I say goodbye with pride and accomplishment. There were years of many challenges, important decisions, and achievements, and we had the trust of you, investors. Above all, we counted on the skills and talent of our entire team. We've always believed that with technological competence, quality, and competitiveness, we could go very far. The fundamentals of Tupy are solid, the vision of the future is clear, and our strategic plan has always been very clear. It's the result of a vision of growth in the world, expansion of competencies, and with that, we create important avenues of growth.
In these 33 years at the company, starting as a trainee until becoming a CEO, I participated in many moments that brought us here, together with Tarquinio, my predecessor, who led the financial restructuring of the company in 2003 and the possible turnaround of the business. At a time when everyone abandoned the company, we had the immense support from shareholders PREVI and BNDES, who supported and believed in us with a lot of new money allocated because nothing we are experiencing now would be possible without their support. They invested and believed in the company's success, approved growth strategies that were proposed by management, and also supported organic growth, internationalization, acquisitions, and have always allowed the executive board of the company to work independently. I don't believe there is any intent to change that guideline.
Such shareholders always trusted us and had a long-term view, and they supported the company in their most difficult times. In 2025, it will be the anniversary of 30 years of the biggest shareholders of the company. I'm very grateful to those entities and their representatives, especially technicians, who are very qualified and from whom I learned a lot. From a local company that was admired but with little global presence, we built a solid strategy, and we became the largest company in our segment in the world. For many years, we are the largest contributor to the Brazilian auto parts trade balance. We did a follow-on in 2013 and joined the Novo Mercado. We accessed the international debt market to support a strategic plan that would come next with lots of organic growth, acquisition of Teksid, and expansion of machining operations.
Nothing of that decreased our commitment, and we understand that there are huge opportunities to add value. The acquisition of MWM, a combination of skills, opened very powerful opportunities. It was not easy to convince on the acquisition of an engine plant shortly after two foundries of blocks in so little time, while the topic of the day was electrification. Part of what we have built is already seen in our results. Since 2018, we have gone from a revenue from BRL 4 billion to BRL 11 billion, while EBITDA was from BRL 480 million to BRL 1.3 billion. Now we introduce the higher EBITDA and highest operating cash generation in our 87 years of history. We built value from long-term with responsibility and coherence. More than numbers, I would like to take the opportunity to reinforce the organizational culture on which all that is built.
What supports this wealth generation and the engagement of people is the impact we create by transforming the lives of many people who seem to be the chance to study, build their career, and provide a more dignified life to their families. In 2024, we reached the lowest accident rate in Tupy's history, and I won't say that I'm proud because in safety, our goal has always been zero accidents. This may seem to have no direct relation with the earnings call, but only with a committed team who works in a safe environment with respect and who are valued, it's possible to carry out the transformation that we're doing at Tupy. To conclude, I'm grateful to our founders.
Although I have arrived long after them, we are guided by the history of devotion to technical knowledge, innovation, and research, and the concern with the company in a dimension that goes beyond businesses, thinking about its impact on society. It is amazing how the genius of a group of technicians can create a company that is competitive worldwide, but with technical knowledge and research, develops very competitive processes that have outselled many worldwide competitors.
The counselors, the board members, and my team, with whom I share the mission of taking care of the business in the last 21 years, you have been so important to me. I am speechless. Together, we have designed a strategy that has been so successful. I respect and I am so inspired by the dedication and energy that you put into achieving our purpose. You are the life force of this company. I am talking about the 19,000 employees.
Many of them came to me, and it's always good to see the shine in their eyes when I talk about Tupy and MWM. I believe with the certainty that all that we plan is fertile and to bear fruit, mainly because we work with a team of brilliant people that have always helped me to talk, to advances, to announce to investors. This team will remain with you. We're just in the beginning of this new Tupy legacy. As Gueitiro and Ricardo presented, we have new contracts in traditional business and many advanced projects with a great chance of increasing. Dedication to research and development, innovation as a method, and the deep knowledge of our customers and markets. Respect for complexity of our operations. All these are fortresses built over these 87 years and strengths in the brands of our traditional business.
All that forms our vision of new businesses. I wish success to Uncertain's administration or management period, and I will collaborate so that this transition is smooth, building the necessary bridges so we can continue to count on the trust of our customers with whom we cultivate relationships of long term, which is central to the company's advancement. I will be a senior advisor to the company for a certain period of time to continue to ensure a smooth transition and continuation of ongoing projects. There will be no change in the strategy of Tupy that is supported by everyone in the company. What's important is the discipline of our team and its execution. These are the purposes of a team that I'm so grateful of having been part of, a team with many years of experience and dedication to Tupy.
Once again, I thank you all, investors, and I reinforce that all the strategy we have discussed in recent years is still present. This legacy is not just mine. It's the team's legacy. This team is working, engaged in strategy, and needs an environment that is favorable to work and develop. I've been blessed with an amazing career. I'm young and have energy to continue work. I learned a lot in my career, and I know that this knowledge is very useful to society. To be honest, there were times in which I wish I had more time to spend with my wife and my daughter. I believe that you share this feeling as well. I would like to thank them, my wife and my family, because they support me every day.
Tupy continues to count on your trust and attention to continue executing our strategy and generating value. Good afternoon and a brilliant future to glorious Tupy.
Tupy conference call has now ended. We thank you all for your presence and have a good afternoon.