Earnings Call Transcript - SID Q3 2025

Operator, Operator

Good morning, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to CSN's conference call to present the results for the third quarter of 2025. Today with us are the company's executive officers. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded. Today's event is also available on CSN's Investor Relations website at ri.csn.com.br, where the presentation can be found. A replay of this call will be available shortly after its conclusion. Before moving on, we would like to clarify that any forward-looking statements made during this conference call are based on the beliefs and assumptions of CSN's management and on information currently available to the company. Such statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Actual events may differ due to factors such as general economic conditions in Brazil and other countries, interest and exchange rate levels, future renegotiations or prepayment of obligations of foreign currency-denominated credits, tariffs in the U.S., Brazil and other countries, changes in laws and regulations and general competitive factors on a global, regional or national level. Now we'll turn the floor to Mr. Marco Rabello, Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer, who will present CSN's operational and financial highlights for the period. Mr. Rabello, you may go on.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us at another conference call of CSN. Today, we are here to talk about the performance of the third quarter '25, a very special quarter, where we can see a better performance of the company in the whole of the year with historical operational records being hit, showing CSN's continued strength in terms of operational efficiency, as well as a commitment to financial strictness and achieving results. In a movement that had credit as the main topic, the company continued with a diversified operation able to extract results from different sectors of the economy, ensuring resilience and showcasing the strength of the group. As reflected in the highlights of Slide #2, CSN expanded sales volume across all its segments and had an effective commercial strategy during the period, combined with strong cost controls that drove results in this quarter. As a result, CSN achieved a growth of 26% in EBITDA, reaching BRL 3.3 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 27%, representing a quarter-on-quarter growth of 330 basis points. Additionally, it was the third consecutive quarter where the company demonstrated a decline in its leverage ratio, lowering it to 3.1x from 3.5x at the end of last year. This reflects the financial discipline and strong capital structure of the group. Moving on to mining, we had another period of historical records, demonstrating our improved efficiency in logistics and production capacity. This quarter marked the first time in history that CSN shipped more than 12 million tons, achieving a sales volume 5% above the previous quarter. Our performance in terms of costs and expenses was equally positive with the dilution of fixed costs and an optimized freight strategy, improving operational results. While we manage everything ourselves, there are factors outside our control, such as price dynamics. The third quarter witnessed an increase in iron ore prices, contributing to a 57% growth in EBITDA during the quarter, resulting in over BRL 1.9 billion generated and a gross margin of 44%. Furthermore, our revised commercial strategy led to a 4.4% expansion in sales during the period. We have been precise in our commercial strategy, despite the pressure from imported materials and local market disputes. In the cement market, we also achieved historical results this quarter. The market has demonstrated resilience, particularly considering the high-interest rates in the country. Cement consumption increased this year, and the company efficiently captured the favorable market dynamics. This quarter marked the second-largest sales volume in CSN's history, with over 3.6 million tons sold and an increasingly efficient operation in terms of costs. These competitive advantages have been driven by verticalization, excellent mineral reserves, logistics networks, low energy consumption, and a solid product portfolio. The operational performance led to the highest EBITDA in cement in CSN's history at BRL 388 million this quarter, with an EBITDA margin of 29%, far exceeding the sector average. Furthermore, we reached another record in the Logistics segment, showing significant contributions to our overall performance. This quarter, we recorded the highest volume of freight and cargo on our railway network with an EBITDA of BRL 550 million and an EBITDA margin exceeding 35%. This development is set to unlock asset value with a new vehicle that concentrates on infrastructure strategy, allowing us to monetize part of this value. In summary, we have witnessed operational excellence with record production and sales in mining, reduced production costs in steel, and the best EBITDA in both cement and logistics in CSN's history. Our operational performance positions CSN at a distinct level in terms of management and efficiency. Moving on to the next slide, we showcase our EBITDA and EBITDA margin for the third quarter '25, which shows the strongest performance for the year at BRL 3.3 billion in EBITDA with a margin of nearly 27%. On the right, you can see the contributions from mining, cement, and logistics that demonstrate the importance of a diverse operation capable of exhibiting more resilience and offsetting one-time pressures in various markets. In terms of investments, the slide shows a growth of 7.8% compared to the previous quarter, reflecting our substantial efforts to maintain a high level of execution in our operations and achieve operational records during the period, particularly through projects aimed at modernizing the company and improving efficiency, such as the P15 project. Moving to the next slide, we discuss our net working capital, which has increased by 13% this quarter compared to the previous quarter, reflecting greater commercial accuracy during the period that impacted accounts receivable. Additionally, we saw a reduction in the supplier line due to settlements in forfeiting operations. As for our adjusted cash flow, the result was negative at BRL 815 million in the third quarter '25, which is an improvement over the BRL 1.4 billion negative from the prior period. However, it still indicates negative cash flow effects from high-interest financial expenses and investment activities, along with working capital consumption. Addressing net debt and leverage, we observe that net debt has been affected by negative cash flow and dividends during the quarter. Importantly, we note that our leverage has decreased during the period, with a negative 10 basis points reduction from 3.4x in the previous quarter to 3.1x currently, indicating our ability to align cash efficiency with record results. Moreover, we see that net debt is impacted by negative cash flow and dividend payouts. In examining the segment data on Slide 8, we can attest that we maintain a comfortable position regarding short- and mid-term obligations with BRL 18.8 billion that remains stable compared to the prior quarter. This underlines our efficiency in addressing our debt over the next three years. Additionally, we continue to actively manage amortization flows and are currently renegotiating bilateral contracts, extending amortization periods until 2030. To conclude, based on our consolidated results, we will now turn to Slide 10 and present the highlights from our steel segment. Here, we summarize the results of our commercial activity, which demonstrates a 4.4% increase in sales during the quarter, reflecting the changes in our commercial strategy with a focus on returning to competitive levels. This strategic shift prioritized results rather than volume, achieving favorable outcomes. However, now capturing sales to match market conditions is essential, especially in steel consumption where domestic competition remains fierce, evidenced by high levels of imported material in the market. The foreign market also saw some recovery, although sales remain below historical performance due to export difficulties connected to tariff disputes and antidumping measures. Regarding steel production, we experienced a quarterly decline year-on-year primarily due to maintenance shutdowns. However, we noted improvements in efficiency, optimizing raw materials and combustion processes, leading to the lowest production costs witnessed in four years. Our financial performance on Slide 12 clearly demonstrates the impact of price reductions on revenues for the period. Despite lower average prices, we face challenging competition due to high imported material prices, underlining the need for protective measures to sustain our economic viability. Importantly, all indicators regulated by the company have improved, exhibited through higher efficiency and operational improvements in comparison to results from 2024. Despite facing adverse market conditions, CSN delivered an EBITDA surpassing 2024, contributing significantly to our growth this year. Turning to mining on Slide 14, we are pleased to report record production and sales volumes for the quarter. This achievement highlights the operational efficiencies we are realizing both in our mines and logistics chain, with record sales volumes surpassing 12 million tons shipped—a remarkable achievement signifying significant operational improvements. In terms of financial performance on Slide 15, revenue growth resulted from consistent sales volumes and favorable pricing trends, alongside positive influences from future quotation periods. We reported a strong EBITDA performance, with a 57% increase in profitability and a 7.8 percentage point profitability gain attributed to rising iron ore prices and effective cost management strategies. Moving on, we present the bridge illustrating the reconciliation of this quarter's EBITDA in comparison to last quarter. The principal factors behind these remarkable results include improved iron ore prices that outpaced increases in freight costs and third-party purchases. Next, we shift our focus on cement on Slide 18, where we analyze sales volume trends. The sector continues to display momentum despite challenges linked to interest rates, with demand from the Minha Casa Minha Vida program and employment in the real estate market driving cement consumption. We effectively leveraged our logistics network to capture new markets, resulting in a 5% sales increase indicative of this ongoing trend. The 3.6 million tons sold this quarter represents our second-best result, paired with a price dynamic that remains favorable, reinforcing the sustainability of our performance. We observe significant increases in revenue and EBITDA, fueled by operational advantages, an effective commercial strategy, and demand in the cement sector. Consequently, we achieved the highest EBITDA in history, with margins returning to a remarkable 30%, significantly surpassing sector averages. Finally, in the logistics segment, we achieved record performance in terms of revenue and EBITDA, driven by growing cargo handling dynamics, resulting in an all-time high EBITDA of BRL 500 million and margins above 45%. These results demonstrate increased efficiency in cargo handling and shipment, showcasing the potential for continued operational growth. With that, I conclude the segment presentations, and I will now pass the floor to Helena Guerra, who will discuss our ESG highlights.

Helena Guerra, ESG Manager

Hello, everyone. Before moving into the details for this quarter, I want to emphasize our advancements in the ESG agenda, which are closely tied to sustainable value creation within our company. This quarter we made substantial progress in the three pillars of our strategy, which correlate with financial performance and risk reduction, governance, and social initiatives. When it comes to safety, we maintained our stability in the number of accidents, remaining close to our numbers from 2024, achieving a 30% reduction from 2021 levels, with a 33% decrease in high-potential severe incidents. Safety improvements were key to our strategy, preserving our employee's well-being while minimizing operational, legal, and interruption-related costs. On the environmental front, we have released our report detailing our agenda's targets among other initiatives. At CSN, we have launched our climate adaptation plan, bolstering the resilience of our assets while reducing physical risks associated with climate change. This plan addresses greenhouse gas emissions across our primary operational segments through projects centered on operational efficiency, energy efficiency, clean energy, and process enhancement. These initiatives significantly mitigate climate transition risks, decrease exposure to future regulatory costs, and reinforce our competitive positioning. In terms of diversity and inclusion, we continue to foster an inclusive environment with significant representation increases; specifically, we achieved an 80% increase in female representation across the group. Diversity is an essential factor in minimizing risks since diverse teams yield superior results, enhancing productivity and long-term viability for the company. Thanks to our KPIs and other achievements, we have been recognized as a benchmark by numerous respected ESG agencies worldwide for our credibility, transparency, and consistency in this journey. We are proud to be acknowledged as one of the leading companies based on our ESG scores and receiving a silver medal from EcoVadis, signifying our commitment to building a robust company with real impact while minimizing risks. This focus intertwines deeply with our business framework and risk management strategies, generating value for all stakeholders, including our shareholders.

Benjamin Steinbruch, CEO

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining our conference call. As it was mentioned by Marco and Helena, we had a quarter that we can call exceptional in terms of operational activity. Across all our sectors, we achieved improvements with record production levels and cost reductions. Our team's efforts have been significant as we strive to maximize production combined with favorable results, targeting optimal production levels for each sector while maintaining competitive pricing. In the mining sector, we received excellent news regarding record production and shipments, indicating established price stability in iron ore. This produced an exceptional EBITDA margin of 19%, which is a substantial improvement compared to past forecasts. Moreover, in sales, we focused on optimizing costs, achieving strong operational results. We continue to work diligently to reduce costs while managing our working capital effectively. Our production output has increased, which resulted in a temporary price drop due to shifts in our product mix. However, we have maintained healthy margins. As you know, we face aggressive competition from imported goods, posing significant challenges in mirroring global prices and requiring government intervention for adequate protective measures. Turning to cement, our sector experienced strong performance with BRL 368 million to BRL 378 million reflecting robust demand across civil construction, especially in lower-income and higher-income segments. We anticipate continuing improvements in this sector. Regarding logistics, we saw a commendable performance in terms of volumes transported and vertical integration. Overall, our operational strides signify that we are headed in the right direction, committed to cutting costs, managing working capital, enhancing pricing, diversifying markets, and achieving better margins. The quarter has certainly exceeded our expectations, demonstrating a positive trajectory as we work to sustain improvements quarter-on-quarter. We strive to continually influence our performance metrics to align with our priorities and are committed to reducing the company's leverage levels. This is the essence of my update. Thank you for your attentive participation, and I will now hand it back to Marco.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

Thanks, Benjamin. We are now going to start the Q&A session. We have all the company officers, including our CEO, available to answer your questions.

Gabriel Coelho Barra, Analyst

Perhaps the first point specifically in relation to leverage. While you mentioned costs, how can we manage to bring this leverage down? This seems crucial for the company. I want to approach it from another perspective, as I mentioned in the last call, which is divestment. You have a rich portfolio, and could you elaborate on the priorities of the company today and the steps you are taking regarding portfolio adjustments? Understanding your strategy considering the different business segments of mining, cement, and logistics would be beneficial. Furthermore, I would like to ask about the sales volume gains despite margin levels not being as strong this quarter. I would appreciate insights into your value versus volume approach pertaining to your commercial strategy in steel, especially in regards to your outlook for the more challenging fourth quarter ahead.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

Thank you for your question, Gabriel. Regarding leverage, it's important to remember that we're in a deleveraging process throughout the year. We reduced from 3.5x to 3.1x. Our target was 3 by year-end, aligning with our guidance. Our improved EBITDA and operational results reflect our focus on continuing this deleveraging journey. Furthermore, our strategic projects, mainly the CSN infrastructure initiative, are expected to add substantial liquidity to the group, enabling us to expedite our deleveraging goals.

Luis Martinez, Executive Director

To add to the previous discussion about our commercial strategy, we prioritize value over volume which influenced our decision-making going forward. While we had to shift to a more competitive strategy due to the pressure from imported products, we effectively adjusted in the domestic market where we regained targeted volumes. Overall, domestic sales are robust and we recognize our ability to navigate the competitive environment successfully.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

The core message around deleveraging remains key to our operational strategy. We've witnessed ongoing improvements leading to results, even in these challenging times. We're dedicated to efficiently managing our CapEx and maintaining our goals in the mining, steel, and cement segments.

Rafael Barcellos, Analyst

My immediate concern is regarding cash burn in recent quarters. Could you elaborate on what a normalized figure looks like for the company and what initiatives we could take to reverse this situation? Further, I want to delve back into the antidumping discussion Martinez initiated. You mentioned a G7 meeting on November 27. Do you have updates on that and any other relevant timelines?

Benjamin Steinbruch, CEO

Thanks for your question, Rafael. Our efforts have indeed resulted in a notable reduction in cash burn, dropping from BRL 4 billion to BRL 800 million this last quarter. Our initiatives to achieve positive cash flows focus on enhancing operational outcomes, driving efficiencies, and managing financial expenses effectively. This quarter has shown improved cash flow dynamics based on our operational achievements. This is our sustainable approach toward better cash management.

Luis Martinez, Executive Director

I want to reiterate the situation concerning antidumping measures. Our industry has ignited interest, with significant imports still impacting our performance. I believe that when we undertake measures like antidumping, they should provide opportunities to optimize the domestic market conditions. I anticipate we can make significant strides during upcoming discussions, which will ensure a robust competitive stance.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

Regarding working capital, expect stability barring any unexpected fluctuations. Our current focus is on optimizing inventory levels and maintaining our operational pace.

Daniel Sasson, Analyst

Could you provide us with insights on your CapEx flexibility for next year and what's already been contracted? Are there opportunities for postponement if necessary? Furthermore, could you share any updates on your refinance plans concerning bank debt due from this year through 2027?

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

To address your inquiry about CapEx, we maintain flexible management. Our primary focus remains the P15 project, which we aim to deliver on time as a priority. In terms of debt maturity, we are well on our way to renegotiating select maturities for 2026, indicating a smooth process so far, and we feel well-prepared to roll out debt along the way. On the C3E infrastructure initiative that you're referring to, I would say that while we've faced some delays, we believe we are on track to attract interest. Our focus remains to engage with partners while addressing the market's capital restructuring intricacies.

Guilherme Nippes, Analyst

My question pertains to the discussions surrounding antidumping measures in steel. The market sentiment seems to be positive surrounding the resolution of issues. Can you provide insights into the potential effects on pricing? Further, what’s the context around the recent 5% price increase in relation to improving domestic conditions?

Luis Martinez, Executive Director

We see a lot of excitement around the antidumping process because if properly implemented, changes could substantially improve the domestic market’s pricing environment. Increased consumer demand, along with the potential for positive regulatory actions, offers visible opportunities for recovery in margins, particularly in coated materials. I anticipate we can see price adjustments that could positively impact our competitiveness and profitability.

Benjamin Steinbruch, CEO

To summarize, we are very optimistic moving forward. Our efforts to balance our production capabilities with growing demand positions us favorably in the market. We appreciate the support we receive from both our teams and stakeholders as we navigate this challenging landscape together.

Antonio Marco Rabello, CFO

Thank you everyone for your questions and for being a part of CSN's accomplishments this quarter. We appreciate your attendance and engagement. That concludes our conference call for the results of the 3Q '25, and we wish you all a great week ahead.

Operator, Operator

CSN's conference call is now closed. Have a very good day.