Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Vibra's video conference to discuss the third quarter 2026 earnings results. This video conference is being recorded, and the replay can be accessed on the company's website, www.ri.vibraenergia.com.br. The presentation is also available for download. We would like to inform you that all participants will only be watching the video conference during the presentation. Ensuing this, we will start the Q&A session when further instructions will be provided. Translation is available by clicking on the icon "Translation." You can select the language of your choice. For those listening to the conference in English, you can mute the original icon at the bottom of the platform. Before proceeding, please bear in mind that the forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Vibra's management and the current information available to the company.
These forward-looking statements may involve risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors, analysts, and journalists should keep in mind that events related to the macroeconomic environment, the segment, and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. At this conference, we have Mr. Ernesto Pousada, CEO, and Mr. Maurício Teixeira, the CFO, as well as some of the company's executives. I will now turn the floor over to Mr. Pousada, who will begin the presentation. You may proceed, sir.
Good morning. A good morning to all of you. It is a pleasure to be with you today to present our earnings for the third quarter. Vibra's strategy is to remain consistent in terms of long-term growth.
We're taking advantage of the last two years to fight against irregularities and to create a strategy that will bring us sustainable and long-lasting results going forward. In the external landscape, despite the volatility and instability in the Middle East, we were able to maintain the market as well as our clients' full supply. We focus on core businesses and a growing value proposition. We have a relevant number of new stations added to our network, 210, and 99 new B2B contracts in the third quarter. Our volume, we continue to grow. We have begun growing again, a 4% growth vis-à-vis the third quarter 2025. It's important to remind you that this is thanks to the work and our struggle against irregularities, fraud, and the closing down of some of these stations. This comes not only from diesel, but also from gasoline and ethanol.
So we do have significant growth in our other products that are less offered, perhaps due to international lack of stability. This was a quarter with robust cash generation. We had a net debt reduction of BRL 1.7 billion versus the second quarter 2026, and we reached a leverage of 1.0 x EBITDA. Only this year, we have already announced dividends of BRL 1.5 billion since November of 2025 until September of 2026. Now, once again, we will have BRL 1.5 billion announced for this year, and we continue on with our policy of paying out 40% in terms of shareholder dividends. This thanks to the strengthening of our long-term results. Since the beginning, we have been fighting with greater determination against fraud, and with the growth in the retail market, we have a track of consumers, we have greater visibility.
Everything shows very high consumption, which leads us to having 595 new service stations. It is through our relationship with B2B that we have more than 260 long-term contracts signed for the long term, and we have reduced our net debt considerably in the first nine months of this year. The company finds itself in a very positive moment, but we are also building so that this moment will represent a return in the long term to something that is sustainable in the long term. I will give the floor to Augusto now. Sorry, Maurício.
Good morning, everybody. Here we have our main highlights for the quarter. We ended EBITDA with BRL 4.3 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 427 cubic meters of growth of 50%, vis-à-vis the margin presented last year. With this margin growth, we have a growth of volume reaching 9,612,000.
We have also had an increase in our market share, reaching 24.2%. We have new stations, another 210. Operating cash flow, BRL 2.7 billion. Net debt down BRL 1.7 billion. And once again, our leverage reaching 1.0x net debt EBITDA, vis-à-vis last year. This leverage gives us greater calmness to face the macroeconomic turbulence in Brazil and the world, which of course are different. Whichever the landscape in the Middle East and Brazil, we have a much more comfortable leverage. To show you the historic evolution since 2025, we show you the change in the curve. In 2026, we continue with this growing 4% year-on-year and 6% compared to last year. Thanks to this historical work, EBITDA margin has grown structurally in the last seven years and has changed its level in 2026.
We do have that structural part of that fight against irregularities, and more temporary things because of the volatility of war, leading us to 427 cubic meters, a slight drop. All of this due to the price of oil and diesel in the international market. We did expect in the third quarter to have more stability in terms of margins, but we have to look at our trajectory. There was a great deal of product in Brazil. That was the moment when the oil prices dropped. The prices were more similar to the national prices. We saw greater pressure in July. In August, it was stable. And once again, as we saw tension increase in the Middle East, we have had this enormous fluctuation, 427. In September, we had an increase beginning at a stronger level. In terms of levels, we have a stable price per cubic meter.
We have greater discipline in terms of cost control, as you can see. Let us go on to the main indicators for the entire year. We have 595 new stations, reaching 576. And these are growing numbers. We have greater capillarity, and most of these stations are consolidated, and they have an average of volume growth of 13% year-on-year. In B2B, we had 261 new conference. Gross profit this year for B2B grew 100% year-on-year. This will guarantee volume for our customers. And the mix of additives has grown 9 percentage points year-on-year, with a huge increase in mining, where they see great value in additive products in lubricants, volume of synthetics 14%, margin growing +64%, EBITDA 39%.
In Comerc, we have grown compared to last year, with all the sub-segments of Comerc in a positive situation, with a growth in distributed generation and a growth of 474 customers in the free market compared to last year. Now, how are we using this [capital margin] and the cash we have generated this quarter. Our CapEx has been made prioritarily in the distribution business. We are improving everything, but the growth has been limited. We have a very healthy mix of our banners, and we have distribution infrastructure for distribution once again. We see the level of renewables in the last quarter quite low. We had several generation projects in 2025. Our CapEx for 2026 is lower. We see our allocated capital reaching 32% in distribution. We went to BRL 8 billion.
The capital used did not grow very much because we are now at a moment where the molecule is more expensive, and it means that we are using more capital, 13%. The second use of our money, besides investing in the core business, is to reduce leveraging, which is one of our great strategies for the year because of the situation in Brazil and worldwide. We reduced leverage of BRL 19 billion and net debt to BRL 14.2 billion, 2.7 x net debt EBITDA. The net debt has increased in terms of average term at an average cost of CDI + 10%, corrected. At the beginning of the year, we had a position where we had maturity until 2025. Presently, this amount is less than BRL 4 billion, so we have sufficient cash to pay off our debts until 2030. We have a lengthened debt at a lower cost.
When speaking about our return for shareholders, we have a shareholder return that is much higher than the Ibovespa index, based on CDI in Brazil. We have stated BRL 1.5 billion up to present, and of course, there is that benefit of paying off the shareholder, giving us a payout of 23%. We do continue with our goal of reaching that reference point of 50% payout per year. I would like to return the floor to Ernesto for the final remarks.
We continue to ensure the full supply of our network as well as our clients, and we import all the necessary products to guarantee the supply of our clients. This, of course, reinforces our value proposition to be present for our clients and our entire network of service stations in Brazil. We truly value our clients and each and every one of these stations.
We had a record of branding conversion. Last year, we had 400 and some stations. This year, we have reached almost 600 new stations in the nine months of 2026, improving not only the figures but also the network quality. The average volume is much higher, and we have long-term results predictability. These are results that were delivering the reduction of debt, record branding conversion that, well, are taking place in 2026, but will strengthen our results as we go forward. Cash generation and liability management, we have reached a 1.0 x leverage. As Maurício mentioned, we have a lengthened debt and at a lower cost. We have increased our ROIC to 32.8%, and we continue with our policy to pay out 40% of net profit. Vibra continues to strengthen structurally, and of course, our focus continues to be the core business.
In coming years, we can see a better delivery in terms of value, and we will ensure that this company will have a growth in market share, delivering results always with discipline and creating long-term value for our shareholders.
Thank you very much. We will now go on to the question and answer session for investors and analysts. Our first question comes from Monique Greco from Itaú BBA. You may proceed, ma'am.
Good morning, Ernesto, Maurício. Thank you for taking our questions. In the midst of all of this volatility, it's almost inevitable to focus on the short term. Could you speak about the level of margins at the beginning of the fourth quarter. When we look at the data of the sector, we see that there was a compression at the end of October. What happened with you in October. Which is your outlook for November.
The second question, Ernesto said you continue to act with imports to maintain your network supplied. How are you positioning yourself in terms of the subsidy for these imports, and which will be your imports for November, with a perspective to have an idea of your volumes for the month.
Very well. I will answer the first question, Maurício, the second question. Thank you for the question, Monique. To speak about the margins for the fourth question, well, we had a great deal of oil available in the market in July. There was an increase in imports, and we were overstocked in the month of July. Now, we sold off this product in July and August, and once again, we see a reduction in spot imports, less amounts of products, of course, and an increase in margins. October follows the trend of September.
We're still at the level of September. We have no visibility for November, but in October, well, the month is closed, and we are still at the levels of September. Simply to complement here, we have created a curve for the semester. Despite the compressions in July and August, our margins continued to be quite healthy and ended up with a rise, and in October, this was maintained. It should have a positive impact on the average of the fourth quarter.
Regarding imports, yes, we continue to import, using the subsidies. Vibra was the first company to decide to use the subsidy, and this is a decision that is taken structurally because it has to be a long-term solution. We have decided to work with this, and we make decisions week after week, month after month. We should have perhaps already worked with subsidies.
We can stop using them and then resume their use. This is something that we carefully analyze as a company, analyzing all the possibilities of these subsidies. We were the first company to use these subsidies, and we can go back to using them at any point in time.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Mr. Gabriel Barra from Citi. You may proceed, sir.
Ernesto, Maurício, thank you for taking my questions. We have two here. Congratulations for your strong results. The market, of course, was not the best for this. Now, given the present-day scenario of Brazil, we see that the interest rates are at a very high level, depreciation in the exchange rate, and your stance is more focused on deleveraging and working with your core business and reducing your debt. What will change going forward in terms of capital allocation.
Will there be a relevant change in Brazil for you? The second point refers to this new landscape. We have been speaking about this for some time, and there's the possibility now that the government, working with Petrobras, will alter things. What will happen with the brand strategy going forward? Are you going to consider this discussion at present, now that you know which will be the government? What will happen in terms of the brand name and your negotiations with Petrobras? Thank you.
Regarding capital allocation, I will begin. Maurício can complement this. Well, for capital allocation, our strategy is that the company was very lucky, perhaps. We were prepared without knowing this. We were prepared for moments of volatility, as we see in Brazil at this point in time and in the coming quarters.
This was excellent work carried out by Maurício and our financial team, not only to reduce the debt, but also the cost of the debt, a lengthening of our terms. We worked with a short term throughout the year 2026, and everything we did in terms of liability management was important and repositioned the company. Obviously, this reduces our expenses relevantly. A reduction of the debt with lower cost means the amounts will reduce structurally. It is our understanding that in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, we will see more of the same, a reduction of debt. That's what we expect. We hope to continue on in this trajectory that has begun and will continue on. We continue with a policy of distributing or paying out 40% of net profit of the company.
If there are no other opportunities for capital allocation, we always say this, we're not ashamed to say this, we will do more of the same. We're not going to have zero debt, of course. Well, perhaps this will happen and this will be communicated to you.
We had a very assertive decision during the year to reduce leverage. Now, you can't count on a drop of interest rate in Brazil or count on anything else. We're now counting on this additional equity because of the volatility to pay off our debt, and we're ready for whatever is ahead of us. We will continue with this stance in the fourth quarter, but we also have the payment of BRL 800 million for the coming year. This is a debt that will not be reduced that quickly.
Cash generation in the fourth quarter will be strong because of the margins that began in July. We also have the accumulation of interest, but we do have those BRL 800 million in debt as we announced last year.
Our absolute priority, of course, is to renew the Petrobras brand. We remind you that our contract extends to 2029. We still have several years of this agreement with Petrobras to work with rebranding or work with an agreement. This is a brand we're very proud to distribute throughout all of Brazil to all Brazilians. It's a brand we're quite fond of. We're very careful with this brand to ensure that the Petrobras brand will always have a very high standard. Our absolute priority, of course, is to renew our contract.
As the date comes closer, we haven't had any conversations on this topic, but as the date comes closer in 2029, we will obviously hold conversations. We continue to create plans, not a B plan. The plan, of course, is to renew our contract, and we're working with our B plans in terms of possible other possibilities. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ernesto and Maurício. Our third question comes from Milene Carvalho from JP Morgan. You may proceed, ma'am.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I would like to further explore the market strategy with you. We saw several initiatives that enhance the part of regular markets and allowing for a better availability of product, also helping you with your market share. As you mentioned, Vibra has adopted a very strong strategy in terms of branding with an improvement of volume.
What is happening with the competition, which is a dynamic, which is a space for branding and an increase in volume, and which are the margins that you can still attain in 2026 that will make you more optimistic for 2027 and going forward?
Thank you for the questions, Milene. From the viewpoint of our strategy, it is important to underscore, because I think this is hidden because of the volatility of the war. We had structural movements that we have been able to achieve in the last 24 months to fight against irregularities and fraud. There are winds blowing that we are not able to see. When we look at our figures for gasoline and ethanol, we have been growing our share. Margins are under evolution, and the impact of the war on these products is limited, very limited indeed.
We foresee that there are favorable winds blowing in favor of the work that we have done to fight the irregularities and fraud. There's still that wind blowing, and obviously, the volatility in 2026 has also contributed to our value proposition. So we have a combination of both factors creating a very positive situation for the long term. For those who are with us, they say, "Thank goodness I'm working with Vibra. They have products. They have products available at competitive prices. I can attract clients to my service station and sell these products." This is a structural positioning, and our value proposition is truly generating value for our clients, and they're very satisfied with this. That won't disappear in 2027 or 2028. It's not only a contract we have signed. We're showing them the value of working with Vibra, and there is that part of the memory.
There is the reality that will always remain. From the viewpoint of competition, we have almost 8,000 service stations. Brazil has 40,000 service stations. There's still relevant space to continue branding new service stations. We look at a very positive 2026 where we will continue to grow our agenda, and we have been saying this since 2024. In 2025, we began to grow actively. In 2026, we grew even further. We do have limitations in terms of a more aggressive growth, but 2027 is for the growth of volume, the growth of market share, and a margin expansion vis-à-vis the historic margins we have always had. We will see margins perhaps not at the level where we are at present, but very remote for what we saw in 2025. At the end of 2025, we had margins close to BRL 200.
Certainly, we will be able to surpass this figure in coming years. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Mr. Vicente Falanga from Bradesco BBI. You may proceed.
Good morning, Ernesto, Maurício. We have two questions as well. By looking forward and working with the calculations, with the deleveraging that you have done, you can have a structural net debt EBITDA that is quite low with margins of BRL 250. Are you thinking of working with a buyback? Because of our macroeconomic scenario and political scenario, I think the position is sound. Are you considering this possibility? The second question, how do you foresee the flow of diesel in the coming months as the Russian sources have been removed from the market? Is your company trying to source diesel from other places?
If you will temporarily have an oversupply because of this new window or door that has been opened?
Thank you. Maurício will answer the first question.
Thank you for the question. Our projections show us that our cash for the fourth quarter should be quite high, and this will extend to the coming year. All of this is structural. We are at a level that was higher than last year in terms of cash generation. Now, EBITDA, if we normalize it, we will have a leverage around 1x- 1.5x , which allows us to be very comfortable. We do not need to grow more than that, so we will comply with our intention of paying out 50% of dividends and any cash surplus. Yes, it is on the table for recommendations. We have no program at present.
When the right time comes, we want to have greater visibility, and we can open up a program. It is a way of adding value to the shareholders by investing in the business itself.
Now, Vicente, when it comes to buybacks or any action in terms of shares means that we are looking at the long term. Maurício mentioned that if we begin a buyback program, we want it to be long-term and structural, not something that we open up and then have to close. We want to have sustainable shares. This is taking more time than we thought, but we want to have good generation and ensure that the program is sustainable in the long term, not something that will change whenever the market changes.
In everything we have done in the company, we have long-term shares that have been structured this way to ensure that we are putting Vibra at another level, not through shortcuts, at another level, and for the long term. About the diesel flow, we look upon the diesel market as being stable in the fourth quarter. We will have the entry of volumes thanks to the subsidies. We are back to normalized values. In September, October, we had less diesel coming into the country. Vibra has always imported the necessary volume to service its clients, but the market seems to be more normalized. We do not see a huge inflow of diesel.
Vibra, regarding Russian diesel, we are going to always follow that recommendation for the long term, price cap, what is stationary, and of course, we look at more competitive factors that also fulfill the compliance requirements at our company that are quite stringent. For each of our shipments, we carry out an assessment. We are quite stringent in terms of this. In Brazil, we had a moment where there was a great deal of inflow of Russian diesel coming into Brazil, then it stopped. It was above the price cap, below the price cap, but Vibra, quarter after quarter, continued to evolve. What we are building in this company is a culture of results, a management of volatility, and the ability to deliver results regardless of the market variables. Of course, switching on the levers that we have at hand.
This is the work that we have been doing, and we are going to continue our supply trading in a competitive way because of the molecule, and we will do this in a very stringent fashion. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Mr. Leonardo Marcondes from Bank of America. You may proceed, sir.
Good morning, everybody, Ernesto, Maurício, and the IR team. Thank you for taking our questions. I think I will only pose one question, which is somewhat longer. It refers to the branding CapEx. I would like to know the post-anticipated branding, and which has been the evolution of the return on invested capital in the contracts that you have closed this year in a scenario where you have gained competitiveness in a war scenario. If you could also speak about how we can imagine this competitiveness after the war?
Will you continue on with your pace of branding? Will you have a potentially better return on invested capital after the war ends?
Several questions indeed. Our mix in the last few years, we have been migrating more to post-anticipated. It varies, of course. We are at a 60/40 ratio in terms of post and anticipated. This mix was 80/20 or otherwise, and that is a reason why we grow our pace of branding and why our CapEx does not increase proportionally. Of course, this has a positive impact on our profit. This, we pay after the performance, the post-anticipated, and that is in our EBITDA. We withdraw it from our EBITDA, of course.
Volatility, the Middle East war, once all of this is over, what we foresee is that there is a structural level that is much higher than we had in the past because of our combat of irregularities and fraud, because we had Vibra with us and because we were present there. We observe our capacity to continue on with this pace of branding. It will continue in 2027, 2028, operating with higher margin levels, operating with a value proposition that will generate value for our network of stations. We will enhance our level of performance vis-à-vis the year 2025. As I said, all of this is very hidden, but we have a much healthier market because of the exit of several operators that were working with irregularities. Leonardo, we are looking very closely at this topic.
We have a commercial team, a team working with stations and with branding, and we continue to see how to expand our network throughout Brazil. We are following up on metrics. We receive approval for these metrics. What I can say is that the incremental ROIC of the new branding is higher than the ROIC of the company, and that is why we have the capacity to expand the number of stations. Allow me a follow-up regarding a question that was posed formerly. You spoke about market share, that you have seen a significant evolution in gasoline and ethanol. I would like to gain an understanding and see if you can speak more about this dynamic in diesel and how we have to think as we move forward. It is the same dynamic.
What I said is to take away the focus from what we are doing now, regardless of the conflict in the Middle East, gasoline and ethanol that are less impacted, significantly less impacted, means that we are still growing our market share. Simply to stress the point, to show you that the fight against irregularities is bringing good results. The dynamic is the same. We are going to increase our market share. Nowadays, we have limitations in terms of growth. We depend on our clients and their demand, but limitations to grow at a faster pace because of the imports of diesel. We do not have that capacity, but diesel will follow the same dynamic, and we will increase our market share. We have the same dynamic for 2026, 2027, 2028, a growth of market share in diesel, ethanol, and gasoline.
We are going to continue to move forward in this new structural level of margins that we are observing. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Mr. Rodrigo Almeida from BTG Pactual. You may proceed, sir.
A follow-up on the discussion of the brand and to explore if this is an issue that you are dealing with actively in resellers. We saw several new contracts recently. Now, are you commenting on this reselling, and how do you approach this presently for the new contracts that are entering your base? Is this under discussion? Another topic I would like to touch upon very quickly, to understand the margin dynamic in the B2B segment, because it is somewhat different. It seems to have more stability, brand, but in B2B, you seem to have a more accentuated drop.
If you could help us understand that difference in margin between these two different segments so that we can plan our results going forward. Thank you.
Well, about brand and your question about resellers, we are quite calm, and the resale is also in a good position. Simply look at our figures, and our pace in the fourth quarter will continue strong in terms of branding. Any contract that we sign, and we sign nine-year contracts, they extend to 2035, and they will be respected. Our average term per contract is of four years. Evidently, I am not going to say that it is a non-deal. We do speak about it, but we are in a very comfortable position. We speak about it with confidence at Vibra, the relationship that they have with Vibra, and because we have strengthened the reselling in our network of stations.
There's that confidence in the Petrobras brand, but also confidence in the Vibra brand, and the relationship of Vibra with its resellers is very strong. They understand what Vibra can offer, and Vibra has the Petrobras brand, and this is our absolute priority. We're quite confident that we will continue to move forward, and we don't hold this discussion with our resellers at present.
Regarding your second question, the margins, can I begin, Maurício? B2B has a dynamic. The retail market tends to be more stable, and it responds to movements with a certain lag. For example, the increase of prices, the drop in prices. B2B has more volatility, more spot clients, and it has a different dynamic in its response. If the prices increase, they respond very quickly.
If they drop, the response is also quick, but they're in another level compared to what we saw in the past. When I say that the structural margin of Vibra that was at BRL 200 before the Middle East conflict, and will certainly go beyond that, B2B and the retail market will work with different movements, given the dynamic of these businesses. B2B is a more volatile business and responds more to price variations. I think that's it about B2B. We see more spot sales where there is no product in the market. The margins increase faster. So that's a natural ability of B2B. Our network carries out more recurrent purchases, and it has the branding, which means it is more natural, more stable. This is something that pertains to the business. In your release, you spoke about margin. We continue with expressive growth.
Lubricants, of course, lubricants ever more have a relevant impact on the general results of Vibra. We come from a very good year in terms of margins, lubricants, and the results of lubricants. Lubricants at the end of the third quarter began to show a certain compression, a reduction in demand, probably because we had overstocking at the beginning of the year because of the war, and we observed somewhat lower volumes. But the general results for lubricants this year will also be highly positive results. And of course, they have a ever more relevant impact on the company business. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The question and answer session ends here. I would like to return the floor to Mr. Ernesto Pousada, the CEO, for the company's closing remarks.
Thank you all so much for your attendance. The company continues to focus strongly on its growth agenda.
We're looking at market share, looking for higher structural margin, even after the end of the war. Our goal at this point is to guarantee full supply for our clients, for our network of stations, so that they have the product whenever they need it to service the Brazilian consumer. We're resilient. We continue to be strong at a moment of great instability in Brazil, and we're strengthening our balance to grow through this process of instability and come out ever stronger.
The Vibra video conference ends here. We would like to thank all of you for your attendance. Have a very good day.