Earnings Call Transcript - CEPU Q1 2022

Operator, Operator

Good morning and welcome to the Central Puerto Conference Call following the Results Announcement for the First Quarter Ended on March 31st 2022. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Please note this event is being recorded. If you do not have a copy of the press release, please refer to the Investor Support section on the company's corporate website. A replay of today's call may be accessed by accessing the webcast in the Investor Support section of the Central Puerto corporate website. Before we proceed, please be aware that all financial figures were prepared in accordance with the IFRS and are stated in Argentinian pesos unless otherwise noted. It's worth noting that the financial statements for the first quarter ended on March 31st, 2022 include the effects of the inflation adjustments. Accordingly, the financial figures mentioned during the call, including the data from previous periods and the growth comparisons, have been stated in terms of Argentine pesos at the end of the reporting period. Also please note that certain statements made by the company during the conference call are forward-looking statements and we refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. Central Puerto assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities law. To follow the discussion better, please download the webcast presentation available on the company's website. Please be aware that some of the numbers mentioned during the call may be rounded to simplify the discussion. On the call today from Central Puerto is Fernando Bonnet, Chief Executive Officer; Enrique Terraneo, Chief Financial Officer; and Milagros Grande, Financial Manager. And now I will turn the call over to Fernando Bonnet. Mr. Bonnet, you may begin.

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Thank you very much. Good morning and welcome. We are joining you today with our management team from Buenos Aires, Argentina to report results for the first quarter 2022. After the presentation, we will answer any questions you may have. I would like to begin today's call by analyzing the recent events, the industry in general, and finally, the operating figures of the first quarter 2022. Milagros will present the most recent financial news and results. First, I would like to comment on the latest regulatory news in the industry. On April 21, the Secretary of Energy issued a resolution 238/2022 which updates remuneration prices for energy and capacity of units under the Energia Base Regulatory Framework. Remuneration values increased by 30% retroactively to February 2022 and an additional 10% increase will become effective in June 2022. The resolution also eliminates the use factor adjustment that reduced the capacity payment calculation for the units with lower dispatch. In our steam turbines with low dispatch, this change implies an improvement of approximately 30% in their capacity payments. Now, I would like to comment on the main metrics of the industry as you can see on page four. In terms of its own capacity, the system reached 42,871 megawatts in the first quarter 2022, resulting in a 1.4% increase compared to the first quarter of 2021, mainly based on a new renewable project developed. As of March 31, 2022, the installed capacity continued to be 59% thermal, 25% hydro, 12% renewables, and 4% nuclear. In the first quarter of 2022, energy generation increased 1% to 35,719 gigawatt-hours compared to 35,332 gigawatt-hours in the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to a 37% increase in nuclear, a 24% increase in renewables, and a 2% increase on thermal, partially offset by a decrease of 25% in hydro. The rise in renewables was due to new installed capacity, and nuclear is due to higher Atucha I and Atucha II availability. For thermal units, there was an overall lower availability of 76% for the first quarter 2022 as compared to 81% in the first quarter of 2021. During the first quarter of 2022, the main sources of energy generation continued to be thermal with a 65% share and hydro and renewables represented 13.9% and 13.6% respectively, while nuclear was 7.3%. Finally, as you can see on page five, energy demand increased 4.3% to 34,520 gigawatt-hours compared to 33,087 gigawatt-hours in the first quarter of 2021, where commercial users grew 7%, residential grew 5%, rate users grew 4%, and the industry kept the same level as the first quarter of 2021. Rises in different demand segments in the first quarter of 2022 were related to the recovery of economic activity and lower COVID-related restrictions. As of the first quarter of 2022, the demand structure is 45% represented by residential users, 29% by commercial activity, and the remaining 26% is related to industrial and commercial-grade demand. Moving now to our key performance indicators for the quarter. As you can see on page five, energy generation during the first quarter of 2022 was 4,585 gigawatt-hours of electricity, 32% higher than the same period of 2021. The increase was mainly caused by a 36% increase in energy generation from thermal sources, specifically Terminal 6 San Lorenzo Power Plant fully operational as a combined cycle and higher dispatch of Central Puerto steam turbines due to a higher demand, partially offset by lower availability of Luján de Cuyo generation and a 26% increase in Piedra del Águila due to CAMMESA's decision to increase dispatch regardless of the low water inflows reducing the dam level. Steam production during the first quarter of 2021 increased 76%, totaling 461,000 tonnes produced due to Terminal 6 San Lorenzo Power Plant full operation and good performance of Luján de Cuyo generation plant. Regarding the availability of our thermal units during the first quarter of 2022, we have recorded 84%, in line with the strong availability history of Central Puerto's equipment. As a reference, the market average availability for thermal units for the first quarter 2022 was 76% according to data from CAMMESA. And now I will turn the call over to Milagros, who will comment on the financial highlights.

Milagros Grande, Financial Manager

Thank you, Fernando. First, I would like to comment on certain key financial information related to the allotted financial track. On April 5, 2022, the existing financial debt under the Brigadier Lopez Financial Trust that was acquired together with the power plant was cancelled. As of December 2021, the amounts due under this Trust were US$32 million. This financial debt accrued interest at an annual rate equal to the greater of LIBOR plus 5% or 6.25%. The scheduled final maturity of this indebtedness was August 2022, but it was cancelled in April as a policy of liability management, reducing financial costs. I now will comment on the results for the third quarter of 2022. Going now to the results for this quarter, as you can see on Page 7, our revenues were ARS17.2 million as compared to ARS15.8 million during the first quarter of 2021. This 8.8% increase was mainly due to an 8% increase in energy sales, which totaled ARS7 million compared to ARS6.5 million in the first quarter of 2021 because of a 19% increase in generation and a rise of 30% in tariffs under the new resolution 238 of 2022, which is lower than the inflation that reached 55.1% in the last 12 months. There was also a 7% increase in sales under contracts, totaling ARS9 million in the first quarter of 2022, as compared to ARS8.4 million in the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to the full operation of Terminal 6 San Lorenzo Power Plant, which represented an increase in generation of 523 gigawatts-hour as compared to 35 gigawatts-hour in the first quarter of 2021. Finally, there was a 93% increase in steam sales, which totaled ARS0.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, representing a 76% increase in production compared to ARS0.4 million from the same period of 2021. Moving now to Page 8, we can see the changes in our EBITDA, excluding impairment, FX differences, and interest, which was ARS12.9 billion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS10.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021. This 27% increase was driven by several changes; a 9% increase in revenue, a 6% decrease in cost of sales that totaled ARS7.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS7.99 billion in the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to lower operational costs; a 19% decrease in administrative and selling expenses that totaled ARS1 billion during the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021; and finally, a 22% decrease in other operating results that totaled ARS4.4 billion during the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS5.6 billion, mainly due to the insurance recoverable. On Page 9, we can see the consolidated net income that was ARS4.8 billion compared to a consolidated net income of ARS1 billion in the same period of 2021. In addition to the factors mentioned before, the net income was positively affected by less financial expenses amounting to ARS4.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS10.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to a reduction of indebtedness and the corresponding interest yield. It was negatively affected by higher income tax for the period which grew from ARS0.7 million in the first quarter of 2021 to ARS1.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, and a loss related to exposure to currency purchasing power which totaled ARS3.1 billion compared to ARS0.3 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Collection related to the Vuelta de Obligado Plant totaled ARS2 billion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to ARS1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021. The amounts are being collected on time according to a signed contract. Moving to page 10, you can see our cash flow for the first quarter of 2022. Net cash provided by operating activities was ARS8.1 billion, including ARS2 billion in collection from Vuelta de Obligado instalments. Net cash used by investing activities was ARS6 billion, mainly due to the acquisition of short-term financial assets. Thank you. And now we're going to answer any questions you may have.

Operator, Operator

The first question is coming from Martín Arancet from Balanz Capital. Martin, your line is live.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

Thanks. Martín Arancet here from Balanz Capital. First of all, congratulations on the results. I have four questions I would like to run them one by one. My first question is, we saw a great quarter in terms of revenue probably due to site thermal dispatch. We would expect that OpEx will have risen as well with the section production although OpEx was flat quarter-over-quarter. If you can comment on this equation, please?

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Okay. Thank you, Martín for your question. Regarding the dispatch of our thermal units, we are seeing a draw in the Comahue area. For the hydros, we are seeing much more dispatch of our steam turbines than in the past years. So we are – and additionally, the more fuel that we are using because of the lack of gas, we are seeing much more dispatch of our steam turbines, not because they have a better cost but due to necessity in the region, especially in the AMBA region. So since we maintain the draw in Comahue, we will see more or less the same dispatch of our steam turbines. Additionally, the other important factor is the natural gas quantity. If we start seeing more LNG coming from Escobar, perhaps the units will receive less dispatch, but that will depend on the hydro situation in Comahue and the natural gas availability in the Santa Fe region, especially. On the other hand, regarding OpEx, we would expect a little bit more OpEx, but nothing significant talking about the steam turbines. We may see some increase, especially in testing turbine number 8 and number 7, but nothing that would be alarming. On another note, we will face not this year, but the next one, for the years 2024 and 2025 the combined cycle lifetime extension, but not for 2022.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

Okay. Right. Well, my second question is about the viability; there were certain issues affecting thermal plants in January. Are you seeing this situation as fully resolved, or are you still working on extra plant fixes?

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

No. This – yes, as you mentioned we had extraordinary maintenance in our cogeneration plant in Luján de Cuyo. Luján de Cuyo came online in 2019. It's a new plant, so we didn't expect that failure. We are working with the manufacturer to analyze what happened with that specific failure in the gearbox. This has already been resolved; that was taken care of in January, but we are investigating the cause of the gearbox failure. The gearbox was replaced, so we have a new one now, but we are looking to understand the cost of that failure. However, we do not expect any additional failures there.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

Okay. Right. Thanks. My third question is regarding capacity. We are getting near the maturity base according to the relations on scale rate. Will it be up to this core and to site reduction or extended concessions? Or should it be up to the next 12 months after 2022?

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

We do not have a contractual option to extend, so we need to negotiate with the government since they provide the concession. The contract does not include an automatic extension clause, which means we have to engage in discussions with them. We areStarting talks, but the issues within the federal administration have delayed these discussions. The end of the concession for Piedra del Águila is set for after the 2023 election and also after the government change on December 10th. While we are in talks with the current government, there have been no significant advancements towards a new concession. We are also discussing the technical requirements for extending the concession, such as necessary capital expenditures, but we haven’t made specific progress on establishing a new concession period.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

Okay. So it would be left to next, and I have one last question. Do you have any updates on capacity expansions or any significant initiatives?

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Yes, it appears that the COVID situation is not entirely under control, but it has become less of a concern compared to the past. We are currently assessing the closure of the Brigadier López combined cycle facility. We're in the initial phases of this process as we need to consult with the EPC contractors and begin discussions. We have more information now that the unit is in operation, so we need to revisit the EPC contractor and work on evaluating the necessary capital expenditures and the process itself. Most of the capital expenditure aspects are already addressed, so our focus will be on civil work and labor. We are re-evaluating our options, and while we do not anticipate anything this year, it may occur next year.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

So it could be something that you tackle in the next quarters maybe?

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Yes, yes. But we are in very early stages right now.

Martín Arancet, Analyst

Okay. Great. Thanks much for your update. Thank you very much.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. We have another question from John Barnett from Barnett & Associates. John, your line is open.

John Barnett, Analyst

Thank you. I was wondering if you can provide some commentary regarding your capital expenditure requirements. Is there any deferred capital expenditures that you guys have been holding off on? And is there any kind of forward-looking plan for expansion capital expenditures? Thank you.

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Okay. Thank you for your question. In terms of regular capital expenditures or maintenance CapEx of our units, you need to separate the combined cycles, for which we have a contract with the manufacturer regarding how much we expand CapEx based on how many hours we operate. So there, we don't have any CapEx to stay for now. As I mentioned previously, for the years 2024 and 2025 we will need to incur in extraordinary CapEx, which is the lifecycle extension of this combined cycle – the Buenos Aires combined cycle and the Mendoza combined cycle. However, we are not postponing any CapEx regarding the combined cycles. In terms of the steam turbines, as you know, these units are more than 50 years old. We are performing all necessary CapEx to keep them operational. However, if you want to extend the lifetime of those units, we need to consider something completely different, with amounts that are not covered by the current regulations. So regarding day-to-day operations in the inter banks, we are doing what we can to keep them operating well, but we cannot assume this will keep them running for five or ten years without major investments. If the government wants to extend viability, we need to discuss different remuneration models. Moreover, we are analyzing additional renewable projects, but we do not have any concrete projects in place. We only have development initiatives, but nothing specific for this quarter or the next.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Bonnet for any closing remarks.

Fernando Bonnet, CEO

Thank you, everyone for your interest in Central Puerto. We encourage you to call us for any information that you may need. Have a great day. Thank you.

Operator, Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.