Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Lidia Marcinkowska-Bartkowiak. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the conference on the financial results of the company and capital group KGHM Polska Miedź for the first quarter of 2021. It is another time that we meet via a video broadcast rather than face-to-face, but it is a great pleasure because we came back to the room at the stock exchange, and we're hoping that our following presentations will be held together with the audience here on-site. The effect of the first quarter's work in the company will be presented by the Management Board, composed of Mr. Marcin Chludziński, President of the Management Board, Mr. Adam Bugajczuk, Vice President of the Management Board, Development, Mr. Paweł Gruza, Vice President of the Management Board, International Assets, and Mr. Andrzej Kensbok, Vice President of the Management Board, Finance.
We shall begin traditionally with the comments of the management board on the last quarter's events, and we will then have a Q&A session. The answers that will not be provided throughout today's broadcast will be then visible on the website together with a transcript of today's Q&A session and a recording of today's conference. Also traditionally, please email your questions to ir@kghm.com. Ladies and gentlemen, we are launching the conference over to Mr. Marcin Chludziński.
Many thanks. Welcome to the newly elected management board. This is a new term of office. Mr. Andrzej Kensbok is here for the first time, as CFO and Mr. Adam Bugajczuk and Paweł Gruza and myself are familiar faces from previous conferences. We're still waiting for our production director to be appointed. We're hoping that our next conference will see the full composition of the board.
For the duration of the time, I'm dealing with production issues as well. It is a lovely May day, and we've got some good news for you, ladies and gentlemen. It's all proving to be a very good combination. At first, a synthesis of the situation after the first quarter. We have been very well supported by copper prices, 51% increase vis-à-vis the similar period in last year, and also the same for silver, 55% increase year-on-year. The financials in terms of revenue have increased by 27%, PLN 6.735 billion, EBITDA 131%, and a significant increase in the net result. We have seen great support in the price increases, which is clear and needs to be said, but other than that, we've also managed to maintain or increase our mining production. I will say a few words more about our production later on.
What I want to be said strategically and explicitly is despite of the good times in terms of prices, we're assuming that we need to really look after our investments very well. We're going full steam ahead. We're going to spend PLN 3 billion to make the deposits available to maintain and increase our production. This is a priority, both in extraction and production. We're planning also to make a move in the foreign assets. We have distributed them into strategic and those that were not matching our portfolio. Right now, the smaller mines are assets that we want to sell. We're looking at mines and projects in the U.S. and Canada. We have also got some good news from the latest dates. We have been granted an exploratory license for Głogów and other license areas, and we're looking at the area on the other bank of the Oder River.
This is the Lubuskie region. We are trying to discover what the deposit is like. If we confirm the commonly available test results, we may even be talking about 20 million tons, we're not sure yet, in terms of copper. This is potentially the largest deposit in Europe, combined with the deposit that we already have available in the production site that has been launched. A fast reconnaissance in confirming all these values means that we shall launch the exploratory phase very soon, but still, we need to do a reconnaissance on the deposit and confirm all the geological conditions. This is very good news for us, and I think it is worth sharing. We're seeing an important increase in our effectiveness in Sierra Gorda. Also, our domestic reservoirs here are being used, so we're quite busy. The macroeconomic picture is something that I've already touched upon.
Very favorable price increase in Q1. looking back at the pandemic and what happened in 2020, neither the first half of the year nor the quarter three or four had such optimistic forecasting, but now we're seeing a nice surprise. Payable copper, the production has been higher by 6.6%. We see 186,000 tons, and again, in Polska Miedź, an increase of almost 4% to 146. In Poland, Sierra Gorda 23,000 tons, and that's a significant increase of 21%. international production has seen a 15% increase up to 16,000 tons. Key financial indicators will be something that Andrzej Kensbok will describe in detail. we will also hear from Adam Bugajczuk. PLN 2.6 billion is the EBITDA of our group, and that's the adjusted value. The revenue, PLN 6.745 billion. The net results, much higher than last year.
Now we can see the production results for metal production throughout the capital group and as distributed into segments, into specific metals. Silver is decreasing. It's a matter of the deposit characteristics. This may happen, as you are quite aware. In silver, we can increase and intensify production sometimes, but it'll sometimes decrease vis-à-vis last year's very good results, which in turn confirmed our leadership ranking in mining and our ranking in terms of silver producer globally. We had a record year last year. It's very difficult to match it this year. Recovery and dry mass, I will not comment on this. I will give over to Paweł to present the Sierra Gorda results, and I'll ask him to comment on that. We're consistently moving ahead in this project. Nothing's changed in our strategy. This is effective both in terms of scaling and financials, but it just needs to be maintained.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. In the life of a mine such as Sierra Gorda, we've only seen such successful conditions a few times, and it is our responsibility to enter this period with stable production on a high level. We have managed to achieve this despite the COVID crisis, which has been a challenge both domestically and globally. Maintaining a high level of production is what will determine our good results, and they are very good. I will not be quoting the figures that have already been mentioned by the chair, but in Sierra Gorda, we're also looking at recovery of a better-grade ore from the point of view of metallurgic parameters. In KGHM International, we're observing a similar situation.
We're seeing stable, good production combined with a better grade of the ore. That triggers an increase of both copper and silver production. As was said just now by the chair, we have looked through our portfolio of mines. We have decided that we cannot see the smaller mines matching our portfolios. It seems to be the optimal time now to review the portfolio. We have launched the process of discussing potential investors in order to sell two of our assets, Franke and Carlota. These are less significant assets from the point of view of the overall KGHM production. I think that after one semester, we will have more details on that. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, financials of the group. Let me begin with the revenues of the Capital Group, as Chair Chludziński has mentioned, we have seen an increase by over PLN 1.5 billion quarter-on-quarter, up to PLN 6.745 billion. We've got a few factors contributing towards this, the favorable pricing and volume in the copper production area, but also the negative volume aspect in the silver and gold production area, KGHM's. The overall impact has been significant. Also, the change in the exchange rate, this has been slightly less favorable for us right now than it was last year, and this is also a negative impact. The last factor is the adjustment of the revenues for derivatives. That's -PLN 398 million. That includes two elements. First is the settlement of some of the derivative instruments that matured in the first quarter of this year, PLN 266 million.
The second, in contrast, is the positive settlement of derivatives for the first quarter of last year, PLN 123 million. The overall sum of the difference between them quarter to quarter is PLN 389 million of a negative impact on our revenues. A second important factor is cost. C1 cost per unit. Here we note an increase of this indicator. Combination for the capital group is $1.61-$1.81. There's a number of factors here that I wanted to outline, the favorable ones being increasing volume and bigger value of silver and TPMs that reduce the C1 cost in the formula, and then increased extraction and increased price of molybdenum in Sierra Gorda. That also is a positive factor. Negative factors include a decreased exchange rate of the dollar to the PLN. The lower the exchange rate, the higher the C1.
Above all, the increased tax on some of the fossils. The mechanism of that is that it progresses depending on the price of the raw material on the exchange. It is per extracted copper. The increase of tax in some of the mines was quite significant from $0.31 per pound to $0.65 per pound. If it weren't for the tax or if it were just for the factors that we can influence and that work towards our favor, which contributed to the decrease of C1, well, it would be different. Unfortunately, it is inevitable to see the tax increase, which triggers the cost increase ultimately. Operational results vis-à-vis the first quarter of 2020, our EBITDA margin increased by almost PLN 1.5 billion. The main contributor was KGHM Polska Miedź SA, PLN 777 million.
Sierra Gorda, PLN 539 million, which is quite an important element of our financials. KGHM International, that is an additional PLN 186 million. The remaining domestic companies are on the level of PLN 21 million lower than the same quarter of last year. Still an insignificant point from this perspective because the Capital Group works throughout the entire year, and the settlement of the results matter in an annual perspective. The quarterly ones are less important here. Very good operational results. Now, when it comes to the financial result, we should predominantly be looking at the first four elements of the slide. The increase from PLN 690 million to PLN 1 billion of PLN 365 net and the operational elements. The favorable changes in the revenues, other costs which are not favorable, but mostly the purchasing of foreign input, which continues together with the market. We have to buy them at market prices. The positive change of production in course, so the stock. That's a change that is positive for two reasons.
Firstly, that follows from the fact that our stock and production in progress is now being revalued by mark-to-market rule, and its value grows as the price of the raw materials, commodities increases. The second factor are technological activities and things related to the stages or phases that we undergo. For example, building up the technological stock of anode copper and the raw material for the production of silver and gold. That results from the technological cycles for renovation, refurbishments in our foundries, and also building up a stock of anode copper as a preparation to prepare for renovation of our refinery capacities that we scheduled for next year. We have also seen an increase in the stock of silver and ready product at the end of the first quarter, and that was linked to the staggering of our sales.
We sell at some periods, and those periods ended in April rather than in March. This is only a shift in time. We also buy scrap as a foreign input for our copper production. Here, we recorded an increase in the stock of scrap in the first quarter. This was our intentional action. We saw there was good availability of copper scrap and besides, the value of scrap material increases over time. In the case of our purchases, it increases a bit later than the price at which we buy. Having a stock of copper scrap before prices get higher is favorable, beneficial to us financially. Of course, we do that moderately without exaggerating. These are the principal operational factors. As for the other elements, that is the result on derivatives, which was negative.
That is the second part of the impact, and it consists of two parts. The first is the valuation of those instruments to fair value, and the second is purchase price. That is change in the result at the realization of derivatives that was negative in the first quarter. The total of those two events is about PLN 100 million negative impact on our net result. Of course, increased profit also resulted in increased corporate income tax, PLN 285 million. That is the level we are talking about. The other costs that had a positive net result at PLN 1.365 billion. As for cash flows, of course, the main element here is the operational part, profit before tax, earnings before tax, an indirect method. We have the average impact of exclusions of some income and costs. The total impact is PLN 325 million.
Income tax reduces our cash flow by PLN 2 million. That was the paid tax and the change in working capital, increasing the stock and increasing the value of the stock has a negative impact on our PLN 1 billion 60 million. We had some capital expenditures, acquisition of fixed assets. We also had some disinvestment in the first quarter. We sold two assets, one real property owned by KGHM Cuprum, and our shares in PGE EJ 1 . Those two transactions were accounted for in the first quarter, but they are also included in this report. We also repaid our loan. We reduced our debt PLN 1.079 billion . Net effect is that we increased our cash by PLN 1.565 billion . The effect on debt of the group is also positive. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio is lower than planned.
It is also lower than it was last year. Our dollar debt servicing capacity improved and our PLN debt servicing capacity also improved. The only element to which you may pay attention is the increase in nominal value of debt denominated in PLN from PLN 4.8 billion- PLN 5 billion is a translation conversion result. Settlement of the USD debt took place on the 31st of March at a time where the exchange rate to U.S. dollar was high while our nominal debt in dollars decreased. I would like to invite Mr. Adam Bugajczuk to tell us about development initiatives and investments.
Ladies and gentlemen, as regards investments and development, we are consistent in implementing our rational and responsible investment program. In the first quarter, we spent more than PLN 400 million. These were mostly recovery projects, 30% were maintenance project and 41% of the total were development projects. The total amount we spent is maybe not impressive, but as you know perfectly well, the first quarter is always characterized by lower dynamics of spending. All investments, all CapEx is on our schedule. As regards industrial Głogów deposit, for the last three years, we've been repeating that the importance of this deposit is going to increase, and the first quarter clearly confirms this point. We do see an increase, very good results in terms of production output, both in terms of content of copper and in terms of content of silver. We have quarter-to-quarter increases by 29% in output dry matter, 39% copper and 37% silver.
We are now focusing more and more on mining activities as such, and we believe that we will be able to maintain such good result in long-term. As for implementation of our key investments, maintenance and development. First of all, we are now completing the largest investment recently, that is development of Żelazny Most disposal station, and we believe that at the next conference, when we present the results for the second quarter, we will be able to say that we have completed this investment. We're actually very proud of it because the last year and a half of work in COVID conditions and maintaining our investments with such a big budget was a major challenge. We managed to cope with it quite well, and we are very proud of it. As for development project, here, the program of making the deposit available has the largest share.
We are gradually increasing the share of this deposit extraction. More and more fields are being put into operation. In the first quarter, we finalized purchases of all plots of land for the construction of the second shaft, GG-2, and in August, we plan to put into operation the first smelters of the overground conditioning station, which is now being built next to GG-1 shaft. That is also a very complex and major investment in which all work is progressing on schedule. We also plan to have some more activities related to BAT conclusions adjustment. We have completed already two and eight are still ahead of us. We intend to complete all our investments related to BAT conclusions. As for long-term projects, we are now working on a program of modernization in copper plant Głogów I. Here, we also are on schedule and on budget.
To sum up, it is worth mentioning something that is always of interest at conferences where we present our results, and namely dividends. We as the management board recommended to the supervisory board and the supervisory board issued a positive opinion of paying PLN 300 million dividend to our shareholders. We decided that the situation of the company after the COVID year, a difficult year, was quite good in terms of our results, and this is the ground for us to pay out dividends. Now we are waiting for the decision of the general meeting which will vote on this point. I start my recap with this because previously there was no discussion of the dividend. Financial results that we see are the best since 2012, which is also excellent news. Acquisition was something that kept us on our toes in the company.
Maybe now, thanks to the hard work of many people, now our situation is getting better and better, as can be seen on the basis of the results. We also are consistent in reducing our debt. This has already been mentioned here, the net debt to EBITDA ratio makes a very strong statement on this. Apart from the ratio itself, which is to some extent affected by the exchange rate, we repaid over PLN 1 billion in the first quarter 2021. For us, it is also very important to have great capacity and flexibility on this and maybe to have a lesser burden of debt. CapEx, making the deposit available are our priorities to have the production capacity, to have the deposit available. This basically means preparing underground work, but also air conditioning, infrastructure, water removal installations.
This is time-consuming, but this is necessary so that in the following years we can continue our work and use the opportunities offered by the market. The development opportunity, a strategic chance for the company, that we see is opening up a completely new area, but with a proviso that this is based on an exploratory license. We are exploring the deposit, we are looking for minerals, and only then will we consider any actual extraction. For three years, we operated in conditions where copper prices were unfavorable to us, and now the prices support us, so we enjoy this. We have to bear in mind that we live in very turbulent times. The economic environment is variable. The sun might shine, but in spite of all the hope around us, we still are grappling with COVID. We have to make sure that work is safe.
We encourage our employees to get vaccinated so that we do not face similar problems in the autumn. We also implement a number of programs to support people to recover after this prolonged stress, also in terms of psychological assistance. We would like to allow people to return to full activity and to work. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for the comments from the management board on our record-high results. Record high in almost a decade. As the CEO mentioned, we would very much like to return to normality. Today, we are probably the first company from WIG20 which is able to hold its conference in the trading room. Hopefully, the next conferences will be held with the audience here as well. Now, Q&A session. Mr. Janusz Krystosiak, who is the head of our Investor Relations Department, will chair this part of the meeting.
Thank you very much. Give me just a moment. I am trying to find my way in all those questions. They keep flowing in, so I have all those props around me. I would like to start in a non-standard way. This is from Erste Group. What was the cost of restructuring of hedging in the second quarter? I can give you the answer immediately, because we are also discussing the first quarter. We still have to wait for the discussion of the second quarter and trends in the second quarter. That will be the right time to address this in detail. A question from mBank, Jakub Szkopek. Sierra Gorda, excellent results in the first quarter 2021. Wouldn't it be worth taking a step forward and consider the second stage of the mine, Phase II of the project?
Ladies and gentlemen, so far we have conducted the process of low-cost optimization in Sierra Gorda. This brought the effects which we could see, that was under the constraint of macroeconomic environment in which we operated. We have knowledge of the options available for Sierra Gorda, at this point in time, such major capital expenditures are not planned. However, this does not mean that we do not have ready at hand a set of improvements that allow us to increase our daily throughput, which is basically the key issue at Sierra Gorda.
Also, another question from Jakub to Paweł Gruza. Change in taxes on extraction in Chile. Do you have any estimates how this change can affect your Sierra Gorda operations?
This question will actually cover also some other points that were raised, but they all fall into the broader topic of changes in taxation in Chile. We are following this process very closely. We participate in numerous expert panels, expert groups, and our people are monitoring the developments very closely. We have estimates for various scenarios. However, the legal situation of it is highly uncertain. A certain legislative process has come to an end. A new stage in the Senate is opening. It seems there is a major legal defect of the project bordering on the whole project being unconstitutional. Giving any quotations at the moment is pointless now. There is also another factor that I could mention, namely Sierra Gorda has certain regulations which mitigate the moment of this additional potential burden on our results being introduced.
Now there are no reasons to be concerned about that or to make any statements on that. It seems there are major legal defects of the whole process. The current proposal leads to unprofitability of numerous mines in Chile. It seems that the whole project, the whole draft law will be seriously modified and then when we have a clearer vision of the solution, will we communicate our position on it.
Thank you very much. To build on the question asked by Jakub Szkopek from mBank, regarding the new license for Bytom Odrzański and Luboszyce, can you say already now what CapEx should be dedicated, what CapEx should be spent in order to make [Golab,] Odrzański and Luboszyce, make them available for operation? Is it possible to use the existing infrastructure to make those deposits available?
Another question linked to this topic asked from Portal Miedziowy. Do you have any specific deadlines, dates where work can start? Possibility of using the existing infrastructure dates and CapEx, in a nutshell.
Ladies and gentlemen, as for the CapEx of this activity, as Marcin has mentioned, that will only be possible when we have completed our work under the exploratory license, then will we be able to talk about CapEx. This is actually very much in line with the licenses that we already have. We do not really need to build a new mine. We will simply extend the existing infrastructure. The spending will not be as significant as if we had to build a whole technological line from scratch. The license have 10 years, 8 months. Kulów-Luboszyce, 7 years, 8 months. As of now, we will be launching the works as soon as we can. We will not be delaying the launch of the work. I think after the first drilling and the first results, we will be able to then say something more about the further future of this project.
Another question to Mr. Adam Bugajczuk from the Portal Miedziowy website. What is the current situation in the area of the material shaft GG-2 in Żukowice?
Like I said in my presentation, we have already completed the purchase of land for this investment, so in the nearest period of time, we will be going ahead with the design work.
Thank you. Mr. Puchalski from Santander is asking, KGHM was planning to develop its own renewable resources. Are you sustaining this plan? What are the plans that the company has for sustainable energy up to 2025, 2030, if there are any?
We are sustaining our planning. These are our strategic assumptions that we have communicated before. We are currently rolling them out and performing investment processes. We're looking at 50% of our own renewable resources up to 2020. This is all contingent on the attitude towards gas fuels. Right now, we're not actually assuming it to be the target fuel for long-term investment in our strategy. That also links to the regulatory policy of the EU, which remains skeptical to gas as a fuel that can be neutral to the environment. We are currently holding talks with bidders. There are various pathways to achieve our goal.
We can either purchase projects that are already existing or that are in the pipeline, that have been prepared from a legal point of view. We can, together with other partners, proceed with the investment or we can build our own projects. We're active in all the pathways, exploring all of them. Together with the last one, we are going to launch more investments this year to mark the symbolic launch of these projects. These are not long-term projects, especially in photovoltaic. Some of them will be initiated and completed this year. The investment phase is ongoing other than potential land acquisition as well. It's in progress. Thank you
Also from the point of view of our impact on the environment and the changes in the energy mix, we will have another question. Mr. Patryk Oszczanowski from Nationale-Nederlanden asks, "Are you planning to announce climate neutrality anytime soon, as an increasing number in the extraction business are doing, a number of companies?"
Climate neutrality and a mining sector, it's very difficult to believe that they will be climate neutral. They might announce trying to minimize their footprint and impact on the environment, which is something we also strive to do and continue. Going back to the BAT, we spend dozens of millions to purchase the best state-of-the-art technology, we are following what is being required from us regarding EU and domestic law, which actually results from EU.
Here as well, we act in compliance with the regulations and the standards that are operational in Europe, which is what makes it possible for us to operate at all. Since there are a lot more requirements in our sector, we have put in place our strategy in the area of energy, renewable resources, and the acquisition of renewable resources, as well as all the technologies that may reduce our impact on the environment. In the production, we are using filters, installations, and other equipment that may limit emissions, but also underground extraction sees electrical solutions, powering machines. That's a far-reaching program of various measures that aim at not just providing compliance with existing regulations, but also going ahead of the existing reality whenever it is possible to act. We want to make such investments that will make it possible for us to comply with what's going to be required in the future regulations.
Another question is from Łukasz Rodzik from Trigon. "Will we be seeing flows from Sierra Gorda to owners, repayment of loans this year?"
I don't think we should look at this as an opportunity to determine what decisions will be taken. In principle, the Sierra Gorda financial space is enlarging, and a decision will be necessary as to where the cash flow should be earmarked. It is also possible to see various liabilities of Sierra Gorda satisfied.
Another question by Łukasz. "Are you considering diversification in metals, platinum, palladium, nickel? The acquisition of mines that extract [Aries'] green transformation metals?"
It is a good question. We need to act in areas that are not just natural for us, but areas where we have deposits here in Poland. It is difficult to encounter the metals that were just listed. Is it the right point to make acquisitions when we're at a peak? We're seeing the highest prices of metals. Is it the best time to purchase projects? Probably not, because the prices are higher than ever. Perhaps we should wait for other times with such strategic decisions.
Victoria project, when can we expect milestones in this project? Mr. Paweł Gruza, please.
We are preparing this project in such a way so that also accounting measures can be put in place, reversing write-offs that were made originally. There's also the issue of negotiating contracts, which require some amendments in order to enable a realistic management of that project.
Thank you. There is a question to Mr. Andrzej Kensbok about cost drivers in inflation in the cost by type category, how we see the inflation dynamics in this category. What are the factors that influence the performance?
We're not free from cost pressure that is present throughout the economy. We all know in our everyday experience that prices are growing, both in terms of energy transmission and sources. We see that also the CO2 emission rights are increasing in price. We are putting in place some mitigating measures to neutralize or extend this impact over time. Unfortunately, we are all aware that you cannot avoid them at all. You may just reduce the consumption of those materials that trigger costs. We're looking at trying to limit the use of fuels and electricity. We're looking at trying to change the structure of electricity acquisition.
Obviously, these costs have had a negative impact on our results in KGHM SA predominantly, but also in other countries, because the inflation pressure is present everywhere. We're offsetting that by increased production effectiveness and a reduced use of the costly elements. Now, regarding figures, obviously, I can communicate them after the conference.
Yes. Yes. You were asked to present a general outlook on these cost categories. Thank you. I can see that having distributed my questions into various themes, I see another question to Mr. Paweł Gruza. Is there any progress on the Sierra Gorda sales? You can address that question to Sumitomo.
As far as we know, the process is advancing. It is not our role to comment on it.
Thank you. Like I said, this concludes the list of questions that have been sent through our investor relations mailbox. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will be responding also to the questions that are going to be asked after the conference. If you would like to receive some detailed figures, we're available also after the conference. Thank you very much. See you in a quarter.