Thank you very much for being with us this opportunity. We're going to comment the main aspects of the results in Aguas Andinas to September 2025. We'll have the CFO of the company, Miquel Sans, and Cristián Torres, the Manager of Planning and Management Control . We would like to remind you that you can leave your questions written in the chat box that is dedicated to this. We would like to remind you that later on, we will have a replay available on the web, and there is simultaneous interpretation into English so that you can press the button that will lead you to that. We'll give the floor to Miquel Sans to start off of this presentation. Hello, good morning. Good morning, everyone.
As usual, before going into the details of the results of this first months of the year, I would like to deal with some contextual topics. First of all, we have the hybrid hydrological levels of the first nine months in the city. This was lower compared to last year. It was the second most important since 2017, with the Q3 with the rainfall that was very similar to the rainfall last year. It was distributed in a different manner. Last year in August, we had intense rainfalls, and this year has been better distributed throughout the year. In the mountain range, the water accumulated is lower than compared to 2024, but we still have the dam at 84%, which is very comparable to the levels that we have day by day.
As a part of our optimization from the operation point of view, we have this availability in the basin. In this quarter, we have a great summer transfers that have been helpful to maintain this level at the dams, and also preserving the resources that we have in the aquifers. Now, concerning the different rates, I will review summary of the present situation. The publication of the decree of Aguas Andinas that was published the same day that we have the conference for the results in the Q1 at the end of August this year. Last week, the decree of Aguas Manquehue was published, which will allow to build with the new rates in this company. We have the basic rates that we have also this information available for the next publication.
Regarding the rates related to the standard changes, at the end of October, we have the authorization of the regulator in order to apply the additional rate of 0.65, with retroactive effects to September 15. Concerning the projects that will go forward in the short term. In this case, we have this course as investors to put this facility into operation in the coming weeks. This will mean that the rate will be effective in the Q1 next year. I would like to inform you that in the last Board of directors, we approved the distribution of the provisional dividend of the results of 2024 over CLP 42 million, which is 6.83 pesos per share, and the payment will be effective on December 2. Now, concerning the ratings.
the last quarters we have been ratified as A- by Standard & Poor's in the international rating, and A+ in Feller Rate in the local rating. Finally, I wanted to highlight a fact that happened a month ago. Aguas Andinas was recognized in all the categories of the rating ALAS20 with the best companies in the six participating countries, a leader in sustainability and relationships with investors, which is a reason of pride for us as a company.
I would give the floor now to Cristian, who will give further details what happened in the first nine months of the year. Thank you. Thank you, Miquel. Good morning, everyone. We have the closing of the third quarter that is ratifying once again the positive evolution and the pathway of the operational results in the company.
In terms of the data, we have an increase of 8.1% as compared to the same period of time last year. In June, this was 6%, and in March, 4.1%. This is ratifying what we commented before. That is to say that, we, as a result of, the coming into force of the new rates from the eighth tariff process of Aguas Andinas, Aguas Cordillera, and Aguas Manquehue. This is already reflected positively in the evolution of the company's income. At the closing period, it has an increase of 7.8% as compared to last year. The main effect is what I commented, and it's associated to the new rates, as well as the indexation by IPC polinomio that were reflected last year.
In the case of that year, the last indexation was in September last year with 3.2%, and in March this year with the coming into force of the new rates process with 2.6%. In terms of the volumes and the growth in consumption, we have a variation of 2.1%. In the last quarter, it was increased positively in 2.8%. The first part of the year was rather steady and flat, and the last quarter, it goes up. This is quite linked to a management, a commercial management, a very active that is taking place at the level of the company with different projects that seek to improve the commercial efficiency in terms of measuring and also billing. There are two projects to highlight.
One of them related to the installation of meters, and the second one, the management of the green areas of Santiago. This allowed to recover the measurement and the billing of some sectors of the city that were not recorded. In terms of the non-sanitary income, the variation is positive, and due to the non-regulated branches and also the better income related to the gains for the services to clients. In last year, we had two incomes that were not recurrent. For example, the insurance reimbursement and also the engineering services that are related to the construction of Santiago Metro Line 7.
At the income level, we can say that the sanitary income has an important, significant, growth rate on the other hand, and this also we have the volumes as a result of the new rates that are in force and being applied right now. On the side of the costs, they are going up by 7.5%. It is important to highlight that 66% of the increase of costs are explained as a vegetative or organic nature. What do I mean by this? This is to say the growth rate is related to the variation of the consumer price index, CPI, and also a part is related to the variable cost of production. We have higher costs, and a part of it is related to the costs.
We also have the costs related to income by the non-sanitary side and also as a result of costs related to the new additional rates that are already in force. First of all, we have one of them that is related to the transfers of water that are offset partially. As Miquel said before, we already were authorized for the plan of alternative supply. This is all the logistics that the company is putting in place as the cases of force majeure or acts of God. We were explaining also the 66% of this increase in costs. Another relevant information that we can highlight, first of all, is the cost of staff. There were some regulatory changes that are already in place. One- third of this increase of the cost is explained by this.
We try to highlight something that is related to the working hours, 40 hours a week, so that the shifts have to be accommodated consequently. As of August, we have also the new labor reform. This goes as a charge for the employers. Thirdly, we have to consider the increase of the minimum salary, and this is also reflected in the compensation that is paid to all the payroll. One- third of this is explained by this, and another third is explained as an accounting element associated to the evaluation of the actuarial value that is related to the reserve at the number of services that is part of the collective bargaining that the company has with the workers.
Another third is explained by greater costs associated to personnel, necessary personnel in order to maintain a service continuity, increases standards, and also to develop new projects, new initiatives within the framework of the transformation project, which also implies efficiencies that the company has been capturing. Another cost concept that has been relevant during this fiscal year is electric energy. As you know, it has been an issue in the country, and this is reflected in an increase of the regulated tariffs of the operational entities of the company. This is an increase, and also at the level of consumption, the company has developed initiatives that have allowed to optimize and reduce energy consumption.
During the period, the consumption has reduced by 7.5% regarding the production of water using less wells, as well as the Valle factory with great generation. This 7.5% represents a savings of around CLP 2.5 million. Without these actions, the impact because of the electric rates would have been even better or even greater. The other operational cost, as we have been saying, is the development of certain activities that are relevant and strategic for the company. For example, the implementation of some new applications for business support that entered into force in the past quarter of last year. With this, we already have been applying it for one year, and it is part now of the structural cost of the company.
Also, we have continued working actively in our networks, regarding the disobstruction of collectors, as well as the detection of leaks associated to our water efficiency plans. Among other commercial management, it is important to state that there is an active management due to the cut because of clients that have debt. This is part of the collection actions that the company is carrying out. This elimination of the service, the model says that when we visit the client, we offer the possibility of paying right there their debt before the service is cut. This, plus other measures that the company has carried out, has allowed the debt level and the bad debt to be stabilized. In terms of percentages of the income by the end of this period is at 1.3%.
If we compare this with last year, it was 1.4%. For us, this is good news because the evolution of the debt has become stable consistently after the pandemic period. Finally, it is important to state that amongst the plans that the company is developing, we have the transformation program, which is the umbrella that generates most of the initiatives in order to look for economic efficiency and operational performance for the company. At the end of this period, we have captured efficiencies for more than CLP 2.6 million, and one part of that come from this project, as well as the purchasing management of the company. In summary, the income has increased by 7.8% compared to 7.5%.
This explains the positive evolution of our EBITDA and operational results, which we closed at CLP 254 billion. Under the EBITDA, we need to highlight, one, the financial results. Here, there are three components that explain the financial results of the company. The first is the financial cost associated to the debt of the company. By the end of this period, we have a greater debt compared to last year, and also the composition of the debt change. In the first part of the year, we paid for bank loans and credits that had been obtained at very low rates. Now we have a debt composition that is at the market rate. The other relevant issue is the monetary correction of our financial debt, because this represents a variation of almost CLP 3.8 billion.
Finally, this is compensated because at the level of financial income, we had an improvement compared to the surplus management that the company has. At the level of our results, the variation is negative, basically because last year we had the effect, a non-recurrent effect or a one-off effect, that was the sale of our La Farfana for amount equivalent to CLP 4 billion. This explains the variation this line of other results. At the level of income tax, the effective rate for income tax includes the monetary correction of the assets or the capital, and therefore this generates a positive variation of CLP 720 million.
The last line, the net profit, we close this period with a profit of around CLP 97 billion, and this represents an improvement of growth of 6.5% compared to the same period in the past year. In terms of cash generation, this is still positive and robust for the company. In terms of the operational cash flows, the collection has been stable and positive, and this allows us to compensate the working capital with the payment to our suppliers. A significant effect that we have commented has been at the level of taxation, because starting from this year, we applied the accelerated depreciation of our taxable fixed assets, and we had a recovery of almost CLP 26 billion , which are incorporated in the cash of the company.
To this, we need to add that starting in May, we are already paying a rate of a PPM, which is a Provisional Payment and Income Tax Monthly that is done periodically. Therefore, this contributes to an improvement in terms of this concept for CLP 30 billion. Another important matter is the CapEx paid, the payment of investments, and this is associated to the seasonality of the execution of the projects. This is not linear, so this depends on the type of projects and when they are executed. Therefore, this explains the positive variation in this period. As a result of the free cash flow, we have CLP 51 billion positive compared to the previous period. Then we have the asset sales that last year we had. At the level of taxes, there is a variation, a positive variation.
We need to consider that the payment of the minimum dividend was done, the provisional dividend was done in January of this year, and not in December as it is usually done every year. With this, at the level of cash flow generation, we have a positive variation of CLP 21.7 billion. When we see the variation of our cash position, this is reflected just as the variation of the net financial debt. The variation of the debt increased due to the monetary correction, particularly the debt monetary correction, more than CLP 59 billion. It is compensated by this positive generation of cash flow during the period. At the level of debt structure, there have not been any variations in the past quarter.
Just to remember that during this fiscal year, the company went out to the local market with a placement with a bond of $4 million. Right now 33% of our debt has the category of green and social. 81.1% of the debt is based on the USD, which explains the variation at the level of financial results. With the composition of variable fixed rate of 96.4%, this provides a lot of stability and risk mitigation given the volatility in the market. In terms of investments, the company maintains its investment strength in order to ensure the secure supply in this context of climate change.
This is leveraged in our pillar of Biofactoría, which are those strategic projects in the short and midterm, which have the purpose of providing this safety in the supplies. This has been reflected in the last result of the rating period. Our investments are based fundamentally in the renewal of networks, both drinking water as well as wastewater, that are part of this category of development plans. Also the management of renewal of meters in terms of the residential part. As part of the projects that will have future rates, we are developing, and we're at an advanced stage, the deodorization in the La Farfana biofactory. In September, it has been with a very good percentage of progress. Other projects associated to capacity of the water treatment plant, as well as the wastewater treatment plant.
This concentrates the execution of the projects that we have executed to date. This is with the focus of ensuring the sustainability, economic and operational sustainability of our business. Finally, all of this translate in the fact that we have economic ratios that are solid and stable. As Miquel said, these were ratified by the risk classifications, both local and also we need to highlight the international Standard & Poor's, with this A- category, which leaves Aguas Andinas in a good position as a private company internationally and also domestically. In the case of the EBITDA, we are maintaining a stable indicator by the end of the period at 3.64x. Also the leverage is below 1.4x. With this, we have a greater stability, and this has been also observed by the risk classificators.
In terms of the EBITDA, we have the update on November the twelfth, and we are over 10.0x . This ratifies the positive performance, both economic as well as financial, that the company has been showing in the past accounting period. This is what I wanted to say, and it was a pleasure to be here with you again. Thank you all for being present in this video conference. We have a couple of questions that have arrived. The first question is related to the volumes and the sales, and it says: The growth of our volumes in the Q3 has to do more with a better metering due to the renewal of meters. The company has been reinvesting in this item. Or is it because of greater demand? This question is for Miquel.
Thank you, Denise. Well, since 2022, approximately, we have renewed almost 40% of the meters. It is important that the company has been going for a while. Although it is true that this year we have carried out some more intensive initiatives, so the weight of the metering improvements could be greater.
In previous years, it has been significant in terms of the change of metering. Maybe the results have been more this year, 2025, but we see a base growth. We have to take into account an additional topic, that is to say that we have one less day this year, and we get away already from February, but it means some additional decimal points if we standardize that information. Therefore, the growth rate that we'd have would be higher compared to the exhibited in the closing period of September.
Thank you, Miquel. We have another question concerning the CapEx and the investments. The execution or implementation of this investment by CLP 117 billion in 9M 2025 shows a lower path compared to the investment pattern that there was a higher value indicated in the past. Do you think that the execution of the works agreed by the Superintendency will be higher than expected? We did this question to Jaime Torres. Concerning the investments, there is a plan that is linked to the execution of such projects. We can say for certain that in 2025, where we have the lower investment rate in the period of time with a curve low performance and execution of the projects. Therefore, what we are seeing that is for the present year, it will be lower than expected.
In the next coming years, this will be maintained, and this guidance will not change because these are projects that are already committed and associated to the rates. Perfect.
Thank you very much, Cristian. We have another question. Maybe you can answer this question, too. This is in connection with the labor costs. We are assessing as a company some measures to mitigate the effects of the labor cost. How do we expect it to have evolution of these impacts as a result of the last measures that were adopted by the law? How much is still to be reflected in the figures for the next coming years? Well, these regulatory changes have two aspects to be analyzed. First of all, the in-house staff and also with the service that are outsourced.
In a company as ours, we have a high rate of services that are outsourced. Why do I say this? Because we'll have some effects that will be direct, and we are going to manage them as a company. As I said before, with this law of 40 hours a week and all the provisional reserve, and therefore we think that this will have an impact in the new bidding processes and the new contracts of services that are outsourced. Based on this, we'll see this gradually. It is important to notice, however, that the pension fund reform also has staggered the process for implementation, where there is an increase of 7% in the rate, and this is applied gradually for a period of time of nine years. What are we doing now concerning the outsourcing?
We are redesigning all of our processes of bidding in order to absorb as soon as possible this impact, the regulatory impact, I mean, so that we can stabilize all these costs related to the contractors as compared to the preceding years. Perfect. Thank you very much, Cristian. We have another question related to a bunch of projects and in our investment planning. In which status is the plan for the alternative supply and when it will come into operation, which is the CapEx associated and also the additional rate connected to this project? Miquel, if you can answer that question, please. Maybe I went too quickly through this initial point. This alternative supply scheme with the application of the rate was approved by the superintendency the third or fourth week of October, with a retroactive effect to September 15.
That is to say that we already have everything available to use this when the case arises. By the end of June, we'll have all these elements to mobilize the trucks and reservoirs in case of some cutting of the service, and it will be done as necessary. The CapEx is very significant because this is a project that has been submitted to a bidding process for the trucks, and there is additional CapEx that is quite minor. Concerning now the increase of the rates related to this project is 0.55%. As I said before, it is applied retroactively to September 15. Thank you very much. I have another question here, Miquel, if you can help us with this question, too, and it's related to costs. Where do you see opportunities to reduce costs?
Beyond the electrical cost, the cost of maintenance is going up at a lower rate in the last quarter. Could this start to be reused in 2026? Two things to point out. First of all, we are seeing what are the optimizations that could take place in all the line of costs. We don't think that there is just one place to improve costs, but we review all the costs that we can have. Even though, if we can just mitigate that cost a little bit, if we just see the maintenance of networks, that is, those are services that have a very important labor of components. In the recent years, this is also increasing in cost for the services as a result of all the reforms that are occurring in the last two or three years.
In the last quarter, we have succeeded to maintain this cost very stable. Some quarters ago, I don't remember exactly on which one we were commenting this, the increase of maintenance was seen with this trend towards stability, with the objective to maintain as minimum this rating, and even reducing that. I think that in Investor Day, we commented that we are working very hard in really finding how to work vis-à-vis the networks, including the maintenance of networks, and we are coming to the end of this project or initiative, and we expect that it will be good, having good results for the next year. The stabilization of the increase is the first good news, and I hope this is the first one of other good news in the future. Thank you, Miquel.
We have another question in the line of operations, and I would like to ask this question to Cristián Torres, if you can help us with this question. Concerning technology and artificial intelligence, have you included tools of automation or AI in these processes that have an impact in the efficiency? Yes. The company is not lagging behind and cannot be in the past regarding automation or AI. As a matter of fact, we have a whole axis seeking to encourage this initiative, and particularly from the workers themselves, coming from the workers themselves. I could highlight an initiative that comes to mind right now and is related to the optimization in a predictive manner, everything related to the burden of air injection in the processes of the wastewater processing. What does this allow?
To have in line and or this is the behavior to make more efficient the electricity consumption of the company. The technology allows to determine in a continuous manner the exact accurate level of air that should be injected into the process. This is done in situ in a more sequential manner. Now it can be handled online 24/7, and this favors also the reductions in the costs related to aeration in the Biofactoría and the treatment of wastewater. We can estimate some reduction of 30%-40% of power consumption. This is an example of how the artificial intelligence can be applied, and we already have some precise aspects in the processes of the company. This is very interesting, this line of development that we are now including.
Thank you very much, Christian. We see that there are no further questions in the chat box. Obviously, if you have any doubts or if you require further information after the event, please do not hesitate to contact the group of investors relations. We would like to remind you that this event will be available in the website in both English and Spanish. We thank you once again for participating in this video conference of the 9M 2025 Results Conference. Thank you very much to our panelists. Thank you.