Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today's Pyxus International Fiscal Year 2023 3rd quarter results conference call. At this time, all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again, press star one. Please note that the webcast is audio only, and to ask a question, participants must be dialed in to the audio portion of the call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Tomas Grigera. Mr. Grigera, you may begin.
Thank you, Brent. With me this evening are Pieter Sikkel, our President and CEO, and Flavia Landsberg, our CFO. Before we begin discussing our financial results, I would like to cover a few points. You may hear statements during the course of this call that express a belief, expectation, or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact. These statements are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events and results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in detail along with other risks and uncertainties in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10-K. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made on this conference call to reflect any change in management's expectations or any change in assumptions or circumstances on which these statements are based.
Included in our call today may be discussion of non-GAAP financial measurements, including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, commonly referred to as EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, that are not measures of results of operations under generally accepted accounting principles of the United States and should not be considered as an alternative to U.S. GAAP measurements. A table including a reconciliation of, and other disclosures regarding these non-GAAP financial measures is available on our website at www.pyxus.com. Any replay, rebroadcast, transcript, or other reproduction of this conference call other than the replay as provided by Pyxus International has not been authorized and is strictly prohibited. Investors should be aware that any unauthorized reproduction of this conference call may not be an accurate reflection of its contents. Now I'll hand the call over to Pieter.
Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us.
We're excited to share our third quarter results with you this evening. Our improved operating profit illustrates the company's strong global performance in spite of a dynamic and complicated crop year that was affected by La Niña and inflationary pressures. Our results emphasize the progress we've made year-over-year in several ways and would not have been possible without the dedication and contributions of our employees around the globe. Their efforts are greatly appreciated. We successfully utilized our global footprint to navigate the current tobacco supply shortage and mostly meet our overall buying targets for fiscal 2023. Combined with continuing normalization of shipping schedules in North and South America and increased volume from Asia, the company delivered an increase more than 50% in sales and other operating revenues year-over-year.
This increase and higher utilization of the company's securitization programs resulted in increased cash flow from operations in the third quarter by more than $100 million year-over-year. Some of these funds were strategically used to fully repay the outstanding indebtedness under our ABL credit facility and provides the company with increased financial flexibility as we approach the next buying cycle. We anticipate the third quarter to be our largest sales quarter of the fiscal year due to more normalized shipping schedules. Based on our expectations for continued improvement year-over-year, we have revised our expected fiscal 2023 sales to be between $1.85 billion and $2 billion, and our Adjusted EBITDA expectations to be between $140 million and $155 million.
Our strengthened financial performance also helps position the company to progress against our environmental, social, and governance or ESG targets. We recently released our fiscal 2022 sustainability report, which provides stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of how our ESG framework and business strategy are intertwined and reaffirms our commitment to transparent reporting as we execute against our measurable ESG goals. As we look beyond fiscal 2023, we continue to position the company for long-term success. In February 2023, we successfully completed an exchange of our existing long-term debt with varying maturity dates for new long-term debt with maturity dates in 2027. Our new capital structure provides the company with increased financial flexibility and relief from certain restrictive covenants.
This revised structure reflects the company's progress over the past two fiscal years, and combined with continued normalization of shipping schedules, the potential for a larger crop cycle next year, and additions to our board of directors, we're excited about the company's future and ability to grow a better world. With that, I'll turn it over to Flavia Landsberg to provide a financial update. Flavia Landsberg?
Thank you, Pieter. As Pieter mentioned, sales for the three months end of December 31st, 2022 were $655.6 million.
A 52.9% increase compared to the prior year. This was primarily due to a 21.9% increase in leaf volume and a 29.8% increase in average price per kilo. The increase in leaf volume was driven by increased volume from Asia, more normalized timing of shipments from South America for the current crop, and the timing of shipments from North America that were delayed from second quarter into third quarter. The increase in average price per kilo was mainly due to higher tobacco prices. The cost of goods sold and services for the three months ended December 31st, 2022 was $567.8 million, a 56.1% increase compared to the prior year. This was mainly due to the increase in sales and other operating revenues.
The average cost per kilo increased primarily due to the higher tobacco prices. Our gross profit increased $22.6 million or 34.7% compared to the prior year. This was mainly due to the increase in sales and operating revenues. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 13.4% for the three months ended December 31, 2022. The average gross profit per kilo for product revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2022 was $0.64 per kilo, an increase of $0.09 per kilo or 16.4%. This increase was primarily due to the customer mix in North and South America and a product mix in Africa and Asia.
Cash provided by operating activities increased $129.8 million- $176.1 million for these three months ended December 31st, 2022, primarily due to the more normalized shipping schedules in North and South America and increased volumes in Asia. The company's liquidity requirements are affected by various factors, including crop seasonality, foreign currency, interest rates, green tobacco prices, customer mix, crop size, and quality. In line with our strategy, the increase in green tobacco prices and processing costs in South America require additional working capital that was primarily sourced from increasing seasonal lines and more efficient cash management. As of December 31st, 2022, the company's available credit lines and cash totaling $539.5 million, including $218.9 million of availability under foreign seasonal lines of credit.
We are really excited about the future of our business. For that... Operator, please open to line for questions.
At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star followed by the one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile a Q&A roster. Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star followed by the one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Bruce Monrad with Northeast Investments. Your line is open.
Oh, hi, guys. Can you hear me okay?
Yeah, we can hear you fine, Bruce.
Oh, great. Thanks as always for hosting the call. Appreciate it. Hey, gentle thing. Is there any way we could get the numbers a little earlier? It's, you know, it's pretty tight to the call. Is that... Would that be a gentle request? Is that okay?
We'll do our best, Bruce, or we'll see if we can delay the call a little bit.
Okay.
a little bit later. We do have to wait for the markets to close before we put the numbers out, so, but, we'll do our best.
Understood. I have to sort of scramble. Probably accounts for the, well, you know, inarticulate question. Your LTM EBITDA is what? If I've got that right, that if I'm looking down at a 160-ish number.
Sixty-one.
In guidance, you're expecting a negative comparison on Q4, have I got that right? Or you're retaining guidance, you know, or guidance is $140 million-$155 million. Is my math wrong on that?
We tightened the guidance from earlier in the year and went to the upper end of the initial guidance. What we're seeing in quarter 4, and really quarter 1, we've got shipments varying between those two quarters. Obviously, quarter 3 was a very strong quarter for the year. Nine months year to date has also been very positive as well. Because we've got some acceleration with shipments from four into three, we're expecting that quarter 3 to be the strongest quarter of the year.
Okay. Okay, great. Then, help me out again, and I apologize for this. So what, working capital, what was sort of the change there? I can sort of... You know, I'm thinking quarter-over-quarter or any qualitative commentary on it. If I got it right that you made some headway there and, you know, that's natural seasonally, but, you know, with, you know, any comment about what happened during that quarter and what might be happening in 4Q?
Yes, I can discuss the quarter. Basically, we have a positive change in working capital. The major change is driven by inventory, right? Is decreasing inventory levels that is aligned with a really good shipping schedule that happened during quarter three. Okay. The other plus and minus are minor, AR and AP is pretty much level up. There we have about $195 million of cash in due to decreasing inventories and going to sales and shipping.
Okay, great. Any, any forward commentary on where, you know, what will happen in 4Q on that note too?
Yeah.
Is it too early to tell?
I cannot make any forward comment, but what I can tell you is we don't provide any kinds of cash flow guidance. That being said, our current TTM of our free cash flow was positive, about $19.8 million for the trailing twelve months. Based on our guidance, you just do a small adjustment based on the difference between the quarters, and you get your number.
Okay, great. Oh, last one. I'm sorry. I'm looking at this again sort of for the first time. Did you pay taxes, any cash taxes? That sometimes I've been surprised at the extent to which you had to pay taxes.
Yeah. Yeah. This year, this quarter, we paid about $3.2 million for cash taxes. We're probably gonna be around $21 million in cash taxes for the year.
$21 million. Okay. That's a big number. Okay. Well, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Welcome.
Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. Your next question is from the line of William Villmer with S.A. Advisory. Your line is open.
Yeah, good afternoon, gentlemen. Couple of points. $10 million market cap, $2 billion potential sales. There's something wrong here. Maybe spend a little less time with the ESG stuff and look toward maybe somehow enhancing shareholder value here or getting the word out. $10 million market cap doing $2 billion in sales. $6 book value. Positive EBITDA. $0.40 stock. Do you guys have any solution or a plan to address this situation?
I think, William, we're well aware of where we sit on the stock. I think we've talked about this in previous calls. Obviously, we have a significant problem with the float of the stock. Even if you wanted to purchase some at $0.40, you wouldn't be able to get any. Yes, you can be clear as we continue to improve our operating results, we've now dealt with the debt maturities, and we'll be focusing on the stock in the future as well. I think we're.
We-
I think we're excited with what we've achieved over the last couple of years, and piece by piece, we'll be putting all of that together.
Well, you know, there are 25 million shares out, and the institutions own 65% of that. There is liquidity there. It's just, you're just not addressing the... I mean, I appreciate the filings, and I appreciate the numbers. $10 million market cap. Maybe you should, maybe some of the insiders might like to buy some cheap stock. That's a maybe do some dog and ponies over here in the United States. Those are kinda simple things to accomplish. There's plenty of brokerage firms that would be motivated to help.
William, I'm motivated as well as a lot of the management team and several others. We have tried. At the moment, it's very inaccessible to buy that stock. As I said, this is something that we will.
Well, why would you say that? I mean, I don't have a problem buying the stock. I've purchased stock in this company. I mean, management could either. You know, it's offered at $0.62. I mean, that's not very much money for you guys. I mean, you're doing $2 billion in sales. You guys have salaries. I would think that if you believe it's really cheap, and I believe it's extremely cheap, based on all the parameters that are presented by this company, you're basically letting me steal the stock. I may have to wait a little while, but I don't think you're going away. You just refinanced your debt, positive EBITDA, growth, increases in prices of tobacco.
We've got a $10 million market cap with a company doing $2 billion. It's pretty remarkable. We'll see, I guess, right?
Well, thank you very much for pointing out all the positives in our, in our results. I appreciate you investing in our stock as well, and, we're looking forward to making sure that you're well rewarded for that.
One last thing. I do write a financial publication, so I'm intending to give you a little free exposure in the next month or so. Probably within the next 30 days, I'll be writing this thing up because, to me, it's pretty cheap, whether it's tobacco or not. you know, I like it. I'm not trying to beat you up. I'm just trying to make a point that, this is like a cheap stock. Thank you very much for taking my call.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Tomas Grigera.
Thank you for joining our call this evening. The call will remain available for playback for any interested person through Sunday, February nineteenth. Again, thank you for participating in our conference call.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.