Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Empresas Copec's first quarter 2026 results conference call. Today's presentation and the first quarter 2026 earnings release are available on the company's investor relations website, investors.empresascopec.cl. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this presentation may include market outlooks and forward-looking statements, which are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Empresas Copec management and on information currently available to the company. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions because they relate to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions and other operating factors could also affect the future results of Empresas Copec and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.
This presentation contains certain performance measures that have been adjusted with respect to IFRS definitions such as EBITDA. In this opportunity, questions will be received in written form. If you have a question, please write it down in the Q&A section. Please be aware that your company's name should be visible for your question to be taken. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Rodrigo Huidobro, Chief Financial Officer of Empresas Copec. Please go ahead, sir.
All right. Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining this webcast, where we will be taking a look at the results of the first quarter 2026 for Empresas Copec and its related companies. I will start by showing you a presentation with the main numbers and the main developments of the quarters. Then we're going to run a video where we will show you an update of the status of our Sucuriú project. Finally, we're going to open it up for the traditional Q&A session, where I will be joined by Mr. Cristián Palacios and also by people from Arauco in order to address any questions you might have. Once again, thank you for joining this webcast. Let me start by showing you the most important figures of the quarter, which are shown there on screen.
The adjusted EBITDA for the quarter is $880 million, which is up 11% year-on-year and 23% Q-on-Q. We have introduced already, and we are emphasizing this figure of adjusted EBITDA, because we believe that it reflects in a better way our cash generation capacity. This is a traditional operating EBITDA, which is EBIT plus depreciation, plus amortization, plus stumpage in our case. We are also adding up the net income coming from our equity investments. In our case, that is mainly Cumbres Andinas or Mina Justa, which is contributing significantly to our cash generation, and also Metrogas, which also contributes in a very important way to our cash generation.
In both cases, both of those subsidiaries have a policy of distributing 100% of their net income as dividends. Therefore, this metric of adjusted EBITDA represents very well our total cash generation as a holding company. Very strong, as I said before, 11% year-on-year, 23% Q-on-Q. In general, this has to do with a very strong performance of the energy division, both year-on-year and Q-on-Q. We have continued to see what we have seen in the last few quarters in our energy division. Remember that our energy division ended up last year with a total EBITDA of $1.5 billion, which is quite significant compared to the historical averages. Some of those trends have become even more noticeable during this particular quarter.
In the case of Copec, we have seen a positive and very strong inventory revaluation effect, of course, linked to the increase in oil prices. That's an accounting effect that affects our figures quite significantly, together with higher contribution from lubricants and a favorable industrial margin. That's the case in Chile, in Colombia, and in all the countries in which we operate. In the case of Abastible, we have also seen a very significant trend of EBITDAs coming up over time. In this particular case, it's significantly up and having to do with a strong volume growth, basically across all geographies where Abastible operates. In the case of Q- on- Q, we also see a very significant decrease in SG&A at Copec. Good efficiencies there at Copec explaining the increase in EBITDA.
What we see in forestry has to do mainly with, in the case of year-on-year, we see lower pulp prices and increased costs. We see a weak quarter for wood products in general as well, mainly volume-wise, and basically the same thing for Q-on-Q, also a weak quarter for wood. In this case, we see higher prices for pulp, but lower volumes. All in all, an EBITDA that reaches $880 million for the adjusted format, and a very significant increase. In terms of our main developments of the quarter, remember that we are for the time being focused almost exclusively in carrying forward the Sucuriú project, which is a very major project, a very large effort that we are doing there in Brazil.
It shows a very interesting progress of 62%, which implies a civil construction progress of 73% and a railway progress of 16%. We'll show some more detail of that in a while. Some other relevant figures shown on screen there. As I said before, $884 adjusted EBITDA. The energy division going up to $571 million. Forestry, down with respect to the comparable quarters, $261 in this particular case. Mina Justa, and I would like to highlight the performance once again of Mina Justa, of course, a very good copper pricing scenario. Once again, generating an EBITDA of a figure above $200 million for the quarter.
CapEx is up to $790 million for the quarter, almost exclusively focused in forestry, as I said before, and most of that going to, of course, the Sucuriú project. Something else to highlight here is the net financial debt on our adjusted EBITDA, which goes down to 3.1. Adjusted EBITDA goes down, goes up on a 12-month trailing basis, and that implies this metric going down, which is very good news for our credit metrics while we are constructing the Sucuriú project. You can see the figures there in a historical context. $880 for the adjusted EBITDA, $860 for traditional EBITDA, and $272 for net income.
All of them, quite relevant figures in a historical context, as you can see when compared to the last quarters that we are showing there on screen. Relevant figures, good performance in general in this quarter. In terms of our balance sheet and credit metrics, you can see there that we have a good and well-balanced schedule of maturities going forward. Net debt to EBITDA, as I said before, is going down in the last part of the quarter, in this quarter compared to the last quarter. Of course, it has been trending up during the last year because of net debt coming from the Sucuriú project. But given the increasing EBITDA last quarter, we're going down on, standing now at 3.1 when measured on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
Debt is well diversified by companies, by type of debt, and also by currency. Every subsidiary company and every business division has its own debt matched to its functional currency, as it should be. Financial ratios, affected somewhat by the performance of the forestry division in these last few quarters. Now, digging deeper into forestry, what we can see there is basically Arauco going down from $365 EBITDA. This is as reported by Arauco, going down to $261 this quarter, and that has to do with lower pulp prices. In spite of the fact that we have seen pulp prices trending upward during the last few months and weeks. The average for the first quarter is still lower, perhaps 4% lower than the average for the first quarter 2025.
Lower pulp prices, a decrease in the sawn timber volume, the sawn timber division was quite affected in this first quarter. Higher costs in general. All that offset by higher pulp volumes and also good prices in some particular panels products. Going deeper into pulp, you can see some more figures there. The pulp EBITDA, as reported by Arauco, is $194 in this quarter, compared to $252 in the comparable quarter 2025 and $223 in the fourth quarter 2025. This has to do essentially, as I said before, with a price that goes down on average, still goes down 4.2% with respect to the 1st Q 2025, although it goes up with respect to the fourth quarter 2025.
Costs have been trending up, having to do with some elements of costs going up and also some interruptions in productions. All of that yields finally an EBITDA that is down with respect to last quarter and with the first quarter 2025. In terms of the review of the quarter there, you can see that in general, we have seen inventories, some of them trending up, other fibers trending down, but in general, in line with historical average levels. China, in general, experienced a lower demand coming from printing and writing. Also some pressure on production costs. Tissue with some oversupply. In spite of all that, we saw during the quarter hardwood prices increasing and softwood prices decreasing, in line with additional supply coming from Europe.
In Europe, we have seen some more strength or at least some more resilience in demand, especially given some more availability from other producers, and having to do in turn with higher logistics costs. Hardwood prices in Europe have increased through the quarter. In terms of dissolving pulp, textile pulp in general, we have seen solid demand and good prices, a good upward price trend. Regarding prices, you can see on the bottom left-hand corner there that, as I said before, the dissolving pulp has been behaving really well with significant increase in prices over the last few weeks. Standing now at $880 per ton.
Hardwoods is hovering around $600-$610, and has been quite stable during the last few months standing there, or at least the last few weeks. In the case of softwood, you can see it ranging around $680 per ton. Those are the prices that Arauco is facing now in China. Regarding the outlook, we continue to see, of course, a challenging market. The market is very volatile in relation to disruptions having to do with the war, with the world situation in general. That, of course, affects costs and logistics and, those, of course, conditions nobody really knows when they will be over. It will be a challenging market for the time being, at least.
In China, we expect the market to continue under pressure. Some additional local production and reduced paper exports are potentially bringing more pressure to the market. Some potential additional softwood availability because European pulp producers are hitting the Chinese market. In the case of Europe, however, we see a healthier market than before. We had been speaking about the weakness of the European market for some time already, and now we are beginning to see signals of an improving market condition, as some customers show healthy demand and are also passing through price increases to their final customers. In the case of wood products, we have seen a significant drop in EBITDA.
EBITDA for this quarter standing at $84 million compared to $118, $122, and roughly $125, which is the average for a normalized year. Now we saw this $84 million figure. That has to do essentially with sales volumes going significantly down for solid wood. Some panels in general with a good situation, with stability in volumes and even some increase in prices, but solid wood is down significantly. The outlook, however, for wood products in general is quite positive. North America is shown on screen there. That's our most important market. We can see that demand has improved for MDF. We see a more balanced market and prices therefore gradually trending upward.
In the case of particleboard, solid demand, aligned with the market capacity and also upward trending prices. In terms of remanufactured products, an improvement in downstream demand. Still prices are volatile and uncertain. In the case of plywood, we continue to see a recovering market. We've had a weak, a weak quarter here in wood products in general, but the outlook is quite positive. Likewise for Latin America. In the case of Brazil, we see stability. We see higher MDF and particleboard prices. In the case of Chile, we also see some signals of potential positive trends, in volumes and prices. Same thing in Argentina. Also some positive trends for panels in the domestic market and also improved conditions for exporting some products.
Overall, a weak quarter, but the outlook is quite reasonable for wood products. The energy division is especially notable during this quarter. As you see there, we recorded an EBITDA of CLP 423 billion, compared with CLP 310 billion in the first quarter 2025. Several things here. There is seasonality for the first quarter always. The first quarter, as you can see there, is always a stronger quarter for Copec, especially for Copec in Chile, given the vacation, the holiday season. Together with that, there is an upward trend that you can see in the long-term graph that we are showing there. There is a clear upward trend in terms of the performance of our energy division.
On top of all that, of course, we had some effects that affected our figures during this particular quarter. In particular, we had an increased inventory revaluation effect in both fuels and lubricants across all geographies. Having to do, of course, with the increase in oil and oil-related product prices. We continue to see, and this is something that has been going on for some time already, a sustained strong performance in lubricants, also across all geographies. This is a division that has been trending upward over time, ever since we acquired, perhaps six years ago or seven years ago, the assets from ExxonMobil in all of Latin America, in all of the Andean corridor. That is an acquisition that has gradually been maturing, and we are, we have progressively seeing the results yielded by that acquisition.
Together with that, we see a favorable industrial margin. When compared with the fourth quarter 2025, we also see some more efficiency in Copec with a significant drop in SG&A. All of those factors have contributed to yield this very strong figure in Copec consolidated for the first quarter 2026. The volumes are stable with respect to the first quarter 2025, and dropping somewhat for the comparison with the fourth quarter 2025, having to do with a drop in some industrial clients, basically. In general, stability in volumes. Very similar behavior for Terpel. As we can see on the screen there, we ended the quarter with an EBITDA figure of COP 529 billion, compared with COP 434 billion.
A net income of $211, compared with $166. A very interesting increase there. Very significant increases in some particular markets there. Dominican Republic, for example, has increased because of a very good performance of the aviation segment that we already have there, essentially, the aviation segment. All in all, finally, we see, with all the ups and downs that we see across the different countries, there's stability in volumes. Some factors, of course, affecting our figures and boosting our EBITDA for this quarter, which are basically, once again, favorable inventory revaluation effect.
Same thing that happened in Chile on fuels and lubricants because of the increase in oil products, in oil-related products, and also, once again, the sustained strong performance in lubricants, which is a division that is yielding a very interesting EBITDA, which also should be quite stable over time. Boosting our figures for the energy division, we have Abastible. Abastible completed the quarter with CLP 76 billion EBITDA compared to CLP 63 billion in the first quarter 2025. This has to do essentially with a very attractive volume growth across all countries, especially in Colombia. As you can see there, 42.8% up in terms of volumes. Once again, a very interesting EBITDA generation by Abastible. Just some more color on the commercial factors affecting this performance.
In Colombia specifically, we have some scarcity in natural gas, stemming from some long-term factors having to do with a not very well-balanced market, a strong deficit in terms of natural gas supply in Colombia. Therefore, the possibility of an attractive market for natural gas substitutes, and in this case, liquid LPG, liquid petroleum gas is one of the closest substitutes for natural gas in Colombia. Therefore, we see this very strong growth in Colombia. In Ecuador, also substitution of biofuels, in this particular case, especially diesel for industrial clients. Also an attractive growth figure of 6.1%. In Peru, the industrial sector is growing strongly, particularly in poultry and fishing segments, which are two very strong industries in Peru.
Together with that, we saw a scenario of supply disruptions for most of the LPG market, but not for Solgas. Solgas, in that context, was able to position itself as a very reliable supplier, and therefore gained some additional market share and was able to boost its sales further. Chile, very stable with some one single-digit volume growth, very stable over time and some slight increase in margins, also very healthy. Spain and Portugal with also single-digit growth, but anyhow, above what we had initially expected. We expected this to be a flattish market and it's growing. Growing slowly, but growing still. Once again, a very good surprise coming from Disa in Spain and Portugal. Moving on to our Mina Justa copper mine.
This continues to yield very interesting results, as you can see there, through the company of which we own 40%, Cumbres Andinas. Cumbres Andinas has recorded EBITDA of $224 million for the quarter. Once again, above $200 million for the quarter. Very strong performance. That yields a net income of $100 million for 100% of the company. We hold 40% of the shares, so $40 million, which we have recognized as a net income, coming from equity investments in our income statement. This, of course, very strong performance relates to a good pricing scenario. You can see there the evolution of copper prices, very strong. Physical sales that are slightly down with respect to the first quarter 2025, as expected in the mining plan.
This, of course, is related to production dropping because of diminishing grades in general, or grades. In terms of cash cost, we see an increase with respect to the first quarter 2025, also as expected. As a matter of fact, we are expecting levels of 1.7- 1.8 for the year 2026 as a whole. So, we should continue to see if everything goes smoothly, if these pricing scenarios hold, we should continue to see a very strong EBITDA generation and net income generation, and also dividends distribution coming from Cumbres Andinas into Empresas Copec. In terms of other smaller companies that are part of our portfolio.
Sonacol, which is a company which operate pipelines in Chile, which is stable results, always very correlated with the activity in terms of volumes of oil and oil products transported. In the case of Igemar, which is for fishing division, very small, but we have seen an increased net income. So $10 million of net income, stemming basically from an improvement in the prices of fishing products. In the case of Metrogas and Agesa, which are our natural gas companies, natural gas distribution companies, we usually see a lot of stability, as is the case now for Agesa.
However, in the case of Metrogas, we saw a one-time effect, which had a very strong influence in the figures for 1Q 2025, and which had to do with the closing of a judicial contingency of Metrogas, which was closed during the first quarter of 2025. Regarding the main developments of the quarter, as we have said, we are going to be focusing essentially in Sucuriú. Very strong focus, and focusing the excellence in execution for Sucuriú, which is progressing very well. As you can see there, the physical progress of 62.1% as of the end of March, which is above what we had initially expected more than 6% above the initial plan. That is very good.
That has to do with the civil construction activity, which reached 73% progress, which in turn has to do with a very significant progress in the boiler steel structure, the transmission line assembly, and the dryer fiber line mechanical assembly as well. A very important development was the early delivery of the recovery boiler steam drum during the quarter, critical part of the mill. In relation to the railway construction, this is the railway that is going to connect the mill to the main railway line, going all the way to the Santos Port. In terms of the railway construction, the project has reached 15.8% and we have already some locomotives at the mill. The ramp up, as we have said before, is expected for the Q4 2027.
In terms of the financing of this project, as we have said before, we have committed a capital injection of $1.2 billion from Empresas Copec to Arauco, and we have already injected $750 million, and the $450 million to go are going to be injected, contributed in June. $200 million in June and $250 million at the end of the year. We always show some developments in terms of ESG. We continue to have a lot of activity related to ESG. As we have said over time, ESG is totally linked to the business in which we take part. In the case of Arauco, as you know, Arauco is basically self-sufficient in energy, and most of that energy is renewable.
As a matter of fact, most of the energy comes from the biomass generation, which is also a very strong example of circular economy. Sustainable energy generation for Arauco. Copec Flux, the solar panel, power generation division at Copec, which has been doing very well. There's a new milestone here with the signing of an agreement with Parque Arauco, which is a mall, a commercial center operator, to develop a very visible and important photovoltaic project in the sites that Parque Arauco operates. Empresas Copec and Arauco have been acknowledged by the Santiago Stock Exchange for their leadership in sustainable finance. Both Empresas Copec and especially Arauco have been recurring issuers of sustainable financial instruments, especially bonds in the local markets.
This has given way to this recognition, this acknowledgement by nuam, which is the Santiago Stock Exchange. That is what we had prepared for you in terms of information for the quarter. As I said before, I will ask Gianfranco, Cristián, and Marcelo to please join the room and join the conference. In the meantime, while we do that, we are going to run a video which lasts approximately three minutes, which gives a very good view of the current status of Sucuriú. We'll do that, and then we'll come back for the Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now begin the Q&A session. If you have a question, please write it down in the Q&A section. Please remember that your company's name should be visible for your question to be taken. Please hold while we poll for questions.
Okay. Thank you everyone for joining us today for this webinar call. Thank you Gianfranco, which is abroad online. Thank you Marcelo also for joining us here at the room. The first question is from Marcio Farid at Goldman Sachs. This is in fuels. How much of the fuels earnings is attributed to inventory revaluation, and how much do you think can lead to higher margins structurally?
Yeah. Thank you, Marcio, for that, for that question. Well, as I mentioned during the presentation, you can see that EBITDA for energy has been trending up gradually over time. This has to do with several reasons. One of them, of course, being a very good commercial positioning of our CCUS there, together with very good performance with lubricants, which has been performing very well. On top of that, we have the non-fuels businesses, which have gradually been increasing their EBITDA generation. We also have seasonality in this particular quarter. The first quarter is usually stronger than the other quarters because of the holiday season in Chile, essentially. Of course, we have some non-recurring effects during this particular quarter.
They have to do with accounting effects of the increasing oil prices on our oil products and lubricant products inventories. Together with that, we have also a very strong industrial margin for the quarter. In both cases, a portion of that has to do with the increase in oil prices. I would say that in order to have a recurring figure in mind, we should look at the first quarter 2025. That is much closer to our recurring figure for the first quarter for energy. I think it was approximately $400 million, above $400 million. That's closer to our recurring figure for the energy generation for a normal quarter.
We have said that for the year as a whole, we should expect the energy division as a whole, including Abastible, of course, and Sonacol and everything, we should expect it to generate, I would say between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion of EBITDA. That's a recurring figure to have in mind. What is involved with this particular quarter has to do with the exceptional conditions that we faced during the quarter.
Thank you, Rodrigo. From Marcio Farid. Would Copec be willing to support Arauco beyond the $450 million that is committed? What is the limit here and what's needed to support the investment grade at Arauco?
Well, as you know, we have a very strict and disciplined approach to capital allocation within the company. This has an emphasis on reasonable leverage levels. Of course, it's especially relevant given the very large project that the company and Arauco particularly is undergoing. We have a financial policy that expresses an interest in having sticking to metrics which are in line with investment grade and also an interest in our subsidiary companies also sticking to levels that are compatible with an investment grade. We of course will be monitoring that interest in our subsidiaries holding metrics that are in line with investment grade imply that the parent company will be monitoring very closely, especially the strategic relevance that Arauco has for Empresas Copec.
That means governance as well. At this point in time, we have already set the dates for contributing the remaining e-equity contribution to Arauco. We are going to go with $200 million in June this year and $250 million by the end of the year. Arauco on the other hand, is at this time analyzing different lines of action that would help it to improve its metrics substantially. We'll go ahead with all of that and any further decisions on top of those actions will be assessed as the scenarios and the circumstances evolve.
Next question, from [Juraj Domic from LarrainVial . Considering the recent fuel price hike late in March, how has the fuel demand continued so far in the second quarter this year?
That's a good question, and we probably will see some effects of the pricing scenario on the demand for fuels. It's probably too early to say, essentially, because the figures for March and April are somehow distorted because of we had a rush to fuel up when the increase in prices was announced. We had also logistical difficulties associated to coping with that additional demand. It's probably too soon to tell. Probably within the next few weeks, we will see if this new pricing context will yield any longer term effect in customer behavior and therefore in fuel volumes. It's probably reasonable to expect a drop if this situation goes on.
Thank you, Rodrigo. I have a question for Gianfranco here, Cristóbal Medina. Could you please comment on pricing trends for dissolving pulp? Prices moved to 180%. If that has to do with the Middle East conflict, you know, please if you can provide some color on that, Gianfranco?
Yes. Well, yes, that's the main reason. I mean, the increase in oil price has affected competitors in the textile industry that produce textile using polyester that has some component of oil in there. Their cost has gone up. That has gave some room for increasing in pricing in textile dissolving pulp, which is a very good alternative to those kind of pulp made by competitors. That's one of the main reasons that we have observed increasing price in dissolving pulp. Of course, I mean, you have to remember that we had prices of about $1,000 about some years ago. The prices that we are now are more close to average about $900-$950.
That's true that one of the main reasons for the increases is related to oil price increases for competitors.
Thank you, Gianfranco. I have Alfonso Salazar at Scotiabank. First, impressive progress at Sucuriú. Congratulations. Given the changes in the outlook for global pulp markets since you started the project, what are the main concerns that you are following closely? In particular, do you anticipate risks of CapEx overruns and higher production costs, given the high energy prices that could extend for longer and the strength of the Brazilian real?
Well, yes, we have a very good advance in the project. We have some savings accounts there in about almost 7% in advance of the project that will be very useful if anything happens. We haven't seen any overruns, Meaningful overruns up to now. We are below the budget, and especially because we have a derivative position over the real portion of the CapEx, which is about 80%. We took a position forward in real, in Brazilian Reais, at a very good average, above the exchange rate that we use to evaluate the project. That is giving us a lot of comfort that we are saving money for the project.
The average exchange rate that we got for the whole project was about BRL 6.5 per dollar, and the project was evaluated at BRL 5.5 per dollar, and currently the exchange rate is BRL 4.9 per dollar. We have a very good position mark to market in our derivatives. We are collecting every, like, month and a half. We are compensating with a group of banks, and we're getting good cash flow. We have received about $350 million already in compensations. The mark to market of the position as of the end of March was about $450 million. That was at an exchange rate of BRL 5.2 per dollar.
Now that the exchange rate is BRL 4.9 per dollar, that mark to market has grown a lot more. We are covering the exchange rate, we are good in the cost of the project, and we are advanced in the physical progress of the project. Up to now, we're doing very well. Of course, it's more challenging every time we advance more in the project. The management of the human resources involved in the project. We currently are more than 1,200 people. It's very challenging. Of course, we need to be very focused on managing all the risks until the completion of the project.
Thank you, Gianfranco. At this point, we don't have more questions. Rodrigo, if you want to say some final remarks.
Okay. Thank you all for joining in today. We expect to be back, probably around early August with the results of the first half 2026. In the meantime, please feel free to contact our team with any questions you might have. Thank you all. Bye.
Thank you. This does conclude today's presentation. You may disconnect now, and have a nice day.