Good morning. Welcome to the Q2 earnings release and investor call for Corporación América Airports. Our participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance? Please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Gimena Albanesi, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Speaking during today's call will be Martín Eurnekian, our Chief Executive Officer. Also with us today are Raúl Francos, our Chief Financial Officer, and Jorge Arruda, Head of Finance and M&A. All will be available for the Q&A session. Before we proceed, I would like to make the following safe harbor statement. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements, and I refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances. Note that for comparison purposes and for a better understanding of the underlying performance in our presentation today, we will be discussing results excluding hyperinflation accounting in Argentina, which became effective in July 2018.
Additional information in connection with application of rule IAS 29 can be found in our earnings report. Let me turn the call over to our CEO, Martín Eurnekian.
Thank you, Gimena. Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's call. I hope you and your families are healthy and safe. This has been the toughest quarter in our history and in the travel industry worldwide. Passenger traffic declined to unprecedented low levels impacted by travel restrictions to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, together with a sharp drop in overall demand. We have been rapidly executing on the strategic plan established to mitigate the impact of this health crisis and made significant progress on our four key objectives. First, we established measures to secure the health and well-being of our employees and passengers and implemented safety protocols across our airport network. Second, we exceeded our cost reduction goals and lowered our cash operating costs by 50% year-over-year. Importantly, these efforts allowed us to significantly reduce our operating cash burn, reaching breakeven levels in Argentina and Uruguay.
Third, we refinanced a significant portion of our principal and interest payments and we remain focused on further strengthening our financial position. I will discuss that in more detail shortly. Finally, we obtained the deferral of the concession fee payments in Brazil and Italy, and certain government support in Argentina and Italy to cover a portion of our operating expenses. We continue working with regulatory bodies and governments across our concessions to obtain compensation for the impact of this crisis. Now, turning to a brief overview of our Q2 results, passenger traffic plummeted 98% year-on-year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This had a significant impact on our top line, with revenues ex IFRIC 12 down 83% year-on-year in the quarter.
Despite our cost reduction initiatives, we reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $33 million, which compares to adjusted EBITDA of $113 million in the same quarter last year. We made capital investments of $33 million in the Q2 , which included a carryover from the Q1 and certain mandatory CapEx. Note that since April, we have suspended non-essential CapEx to preserve cash. We closed the quarter with cash and equivalents of $180 million and $50 million in T-bills and time deposits for a total liquidity position of $230 million, and we continue to work on protecting and enhancing our liquidity. More details in terms of our Q2 2020 results can be found in our earnings report and the exhibits of this presentation.
On slide four, you can see the status of each of our operations following the travel restrictions that were established by governments across our countries of operations to contain the spread of the virus. The situation is volatile as governments worldwide adjust travel bans based on the evolution of the sanitary situation. In Argentina, borders remain closed and commercial operations have not yet resumed, with our airports only operating cargo, repatriation, and some special flights. In Italy, commercial operations restarted the first week of June with restrictions for travelers coming from certain countries. Currently, 23 airlines are operating, serving 12 domestic and 49 international destinations. Uruguay restarted air travel the first week of July, with three airlines serving two international destinations as well as some special flights, although borders remain closed to non-resident foreigners with certain exemptions.
In Brazil, all incoming foreigner travelers were banned from entering the country from March 30. However, since the end of July, this restriction was removed. Commercial operations never stopped, although operating at significant lower levels than 2019. We have observed an improvement in passenger traffic since June. Currently, four airlines are operating at Brasília Airport, serving 34 domestic destinations, while international travel is scheduled to start in September. In Armenia, restrictions on the entry of foreigners were lifted last week, although air travel is still banned, with the exception of repatriation and special flights. Finally, commercial operations in Ecuador restarted during the first week of June, although certain requirements apply and activity remains subdued. Overall, travel remains very weak across the board, with traffic showing very slight increases, as we show on the following slide.
On the left side of page five, we show preliminary passenger traffic between April and July. Total traffic hit a low in April, showing a very tepid recovery in June, and July improving slightly over prior months. While commercial operations have reopened in Italy, Ecuador, and Uruguay, Argentina is still operating under a regime of repatriation and special flights. In Brazil, although travel remains weak, we have seen a slight sequential improvement over the past two months. On the right side of the slide, you can see the most recent monthly cargo trends. June and July showed a very slight improvement, declining 53% year-on-year compared with the 56% drop experienced in April. Please turn to slide six. We continue to make significant progress on the action plan established at the start of the crisis.
Beginning with expenses, the execution of our cost reduction plan allowed us to achieve a 51% year-on-year reduction in cash operating costs and expenses, beating our goal of achieving a 43% reduction this quarter. Note, this excludes concession fees and construction costs. While we expect to continue benefiting from these efficiencies in the coming quarters, we also expect to see some increases in certain cost lines, such as maintenance and payroll, as we start reopening our airports and government support programs gradually decline. As you can see on slide seven, we are advancing on the renegotiation of concession fees with regulatory bodies and to obtain government support in the context of this unprecedented crisis. During the quarter, we obtained the deferral of the semi-annual fee payment in Brazil and Italy, as disclosed on our previous earning call. Conversations with the regulators in Uruguay and Ecuador remain ongoing.
Since our last call, we also obtained a government grant in Italy for a total of EUR 20 million to be spread over a two-year period. In Argentina, the government granted the extension of its assistance to cover a portion of May, June, and July salaries, representing a monthly relief of approximately EUR 1 million. The government could eventually further extend this assistance. Keeping a long-term view, we also made progress in connection with the review of the re-equilibrium of the concession agreements across our operations. Remember, we have different types of concession frameworks. Starting with concessions with guaranteed returns, which include Argentina, Italy, and Armenia. In Italy, we operate a dual-till concession. Subsequent to quarter- end, the regulator granted a two-year extension to all airport concessions in the country. In Argentina and Armenia, we operate under single-till schemes, where a certain return shall be achieved over the life of the concession.
Terms of our concession contracts in Brasília and Ecuador contemplate force majeure clauses. In early July, we filed a formal request with the Brazilian regulator in connection with the economic re-equilibrium for the Brasília and Natal concessions. In Ecuador, we had already filed a request to obtain an economic compensation under the Guayaquil concession. Finally, in Uruguay, we started the process to request the compensation to mitigate the severe impact of COVID-19. As I've mentioned in the past, we are in the initial stages of these processes, which require going through administrative regulatory channels. We will continue to provide updates as they become available. Turning to slide eight. During the quarter, we also executed on our strategy of strengthening our debt profile.
As discussed in the prior call, during the Q2 of 2020, we successfully deferred a total of $126 million of principal and interest payments in connections with our notes and loan facilities in Argentina and Uruguay. Importantly, this refinancing was achieved with very high levels of participations from our bondholders, ranging between 86% and 93%. Subsequent to quarter- end, we also secured additional financing in Argentina. We advanced on the negotiation of a new facility in Italy. Starting with Argentina, on August 20th, we successfully closed a $40 million linked local bond at a 0% interest rate with a two-year maturity. Next, in Italy, a pool of financial institutions approved an EUR 85 million loan transaction guaranteed by the Italian Public Export Trade Insurance agency, with a six-year term and a two-year grace period. More detail on these transactions is shown on this slide in our earnings report.
Now, moving on to our balance sheet and liquidity on slide nine. We ended the Q2 with $180 million in cash and equivalents and $50 million in treasury bills and time deposits, resulting in a total liquidity position of $230 million compared to $271 million as of the end of the Q1 of 2020. Additionally, total debt declined by $20 million sequentially to $1.1 billion at the end of the quarter. As a reminder, all of our debt is held at the subsidiary level. Net debt to last 12 months adjusted EBITDA ratio increased to 5.3x from 2.9x in the Q1 , reflecting the negative impact of COVID-19 on profitability. As mentioned in our previous earnings call, we successfully renegotiated our debt maintenance covenants under our debt held in our subsidiaries in Argentina and Uruguay, both until November 2021.
In addition, last July, we also obtained a waiver of our debt maintenance covenants in Armenia. Finally, our subsidiary in Italy is in advanced negotiations with bondholders to obtain a waiver for its debt leverage ratio covenant in connection with its EUR 60 million note due 2024. As a result of our strong cost reduction and cash preservation initiatives, we significantly reduced our operating cash burn, reaching cash breakeven levels in Argentina and Uruguay. Please turn to slide 10. As I noted earlier, ensuring the maximum health and safety of our passengers and employees is of the utmost importance for us. With this in mind, over the past months, we have been working with the aviation industry, regulators, and infectious disease experts to develop and establish customized protocols to ensure the maximum health standards across our company.
This includes sanitization and social distance measures, screening, and biocontrol procedures for all passengers traveling through our airports, as well as leveraging digital solutions. We believe this is crucial in moving towards reactivating the travel industry, sustaining the continuity of operations, and regaining consumer confidence to travel by air. Today, all of our airports have been adapted to meet these new requirements and limit the risk of infection. In airports where we are already operating commercial flights, these protocols have been approved by their respective regulatory agencies and health authorities. Turning to slide 11. During these challenging times, we have also been working diligently to supporting the communities we serve in the fight against COVID-19.
This includes working together with airlines and regulatory authorities across our operations, subsidizing cargo charges for sanitary supplies and donations of sanitary material, providing assistance in repatriation flights, as well as supporting charitable organizations in the supply of food for vulnerable communities. Now to wrap up, turn to slide 12. We have taken immediate actions since the start of this crisis and are consistently executing against the extensive action plan, as I just discussed. I want to thank the whole company for the effort they are making to navigate this challenging environment and contribute to achieve the goals we have established in the Q1 . Looking ahead, we maintain our conservative outlook for the near term. Visibility today remains low, with recovery subject to the widespread availability of medical treatments or vaccines, progressive lifting of government restrictions, sustained government assistance, regained consumer confidence to travel, and overall improved economic conditions.
We are now ready to take questions. Operator, please open the line for questions.
We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star and two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question is from Ian Zaffino from Oppenheimer. Go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, guys. This is Mark on for Ian. Thanks for taking our questions. It looks like you guys did a great job on the OpEx front, achieving 51% cost reduction year-over-year. Just wanted to get a sense of, are there any additional room to move costs from here and mitigate the cash burn? How much of the cost reduction would you think is permanent going forward? Thank you.
Hello, Ian. Thank you for your question. This is Martín Eurnekian. Well, we have worked very hard on cost reductions, but this is a permanent goal of all subsidiaries, and they are constantly working to improve the situation. Many of them are implementing new schemes and methodologies to go through next year budgets to be able to go deeper into the cost cutting and also to make those cuts permanent, as you said. Everything will depend on the situation going forward. Once we open, we will probably have some more costs related to the reopening, and at the same time, if the reopening does not come with a very fast increase in passengers, there might be some cost associated to that as well. Also, we will have to monitor the government assistance that we are receiving, and if that changes, we will have to adjust accordingly.
Thank you for your question.
Okay, great. That's very helpful. Then just a quick follow-up. Are there any updates on the negotiations for the Argentinian concession? Any insights on progress there with the government would be very helpful. Thank you.
As you know, the concession framework in Argentina provides for an economic review of the concession. Of course, we are in discussions with the government on how to move ahead according to everything that's going on. The conversations are progressing, but we will have to see until we have any clear news on how this will develop, and most probably will be when there is a certain clarity on the reopening of flights in Argentina as well.
Okay, that's fair. Thank you guys very much.
Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. Our next question is from Chris Dechiario from Marathon Asset Management. Go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for the call, and thanks for taking the questions. My only question, I guess really for now is just on the debt maturity profile. You obviously have done a great job in pushing out maturities and amortizations and getting waivers, and it's been difficult, I'm sure, and you made excellent progress on that. I'm still just curious, you still have this sort of EUR 73 million in 2020, EUR 280 million in 2021, EUR 252 million in 2022. How are you looking at these sort of nearer term, let's say in 2021, these nearer term maturities that you still have existing and sort of what's the plan for getting through those maturities?
Hi, this is Jorge. Thank you very much for your question. As you pointed out, we have done, in my view, a very good job in extending the debt profile. We did the exchange offers in Argentina, in Uruguay. We are in the final process of extending the debt profile in Armenia. In Italy, we also extended short-term debt. We obtained the approval to obtain a new loan of EUR 85 million as we reported, with a guarantee from SACE, which is the export agency in export and insurance agency in Italy. We obtained the extensions in Brazil from primarily BNDES, which holds the lion share of our indebtedness, and we expect to further extend it. With that, and based on our current forecast, we are in a comfortable position.
As you pointed out, this debt will have to start being amortized and paid late in the H1 of the year. Again, with the current forecast, we are in a comfortable position. We have a cash balance, as we reported, and we think that that again, gives us or put us in a position that we are in a comfortable position. Part of our debt in Argentina and in Uruguay are held by local investors, in instruments that are much simpler and in case needed. The combination of the extension, the current forecast, the cash balance, and the close relationship we have with the local lenders put us in a comfortable position.
Great. Thank you.
This concludes our question- and- answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Martín Eurnekian for closing remarks.
I'd like to thank everybody for joining us today. We really appreciate your interest in our company. We look forward to providing updates on our business initiatives as they become available. In the meantime, the team remains available to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you, everybody, and bye-bye.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.