Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
July 24, 2024

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Azure's Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. My name is Zico, and I'll be your operator. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. We will conduct a question and answer session toward the end of the day's conference. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

Operator

Now, I'd like to turn this call over to Mr. Adolfo Castro, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Sitko, and good morning, everyone. Before I begin discussing our results, let me remind you that certain statements made during this call may constitute forward looking statements, which are based on current management's expectations and beliefs and are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including factors that may be beyond our company's control. Additional details about our quarterly results can be found in our press release, which was issued yesterday after market close and is available on our website in the Investor Relations section. Following my presentation, I will be available for Q and A. Before moving on to our performance for the quarter, let me provide an update on recent developments on the sustainability front.

Speaker 1

To begin with, we have complied with Bayer's EAG reporting requirements, including the Mexican Stock Exchange, the United Nations Global Compact and the Mexican Register of Carbon Emissions. We are also implementing a data collection process that will allow us to calculate our Scot Pre carbon emissions. This process is approximately at 90% complete as of the end of the second quarter for the Mexican efforts. We also renewed our social project with Tronatura, which supports local fishing communities and promotes ecotourism in the Yucatan Peninsula. The initial cost of the project will include 40 additional direct beneficiaries and approximately 100 indirect beneficiaries.

Speaker 1

Additionally, we have been in conversation to strengthen Azur Alliance with the UNICEF and extend the activities of this agency to all airports across our group. Latin are also in the final stages of establishing a strategic alliance with Ecbat, a non governmental organization that aims to prevent human trafficking. We look forward to providing more updates as we continue to advance in our sustainability journey. Now, starting with a review of Assur's operational and financial performance for the quarter. As usual, all comparisons discussed will be year on year unless specified otherwise.

Speaker 1

Passenger traffic was up 3% year on year to nearly 18,000,000 passengers, a record high for our 2nd quarter. Traffic growth in Puerto Rico and Colombia more than offset a softer performance in Mexico. By region, Colombia posted the strongest performance with traffic of 21 year on year, driven by the increases in domestic and international in the high teens and in the high 20s. Traffic in Colombia continued to benefit from easier comps following the suspension of 2 operators in February last year, which accounted for the 20% of the traffic. We expect this positive recovery trend to continue during the remaining of the year as Avianca and LATAM Airlines regained some lost routes.

Speaker 1

Puerto Rico delivered 9% increase in traffic driven by growth in high single digits and in domestic traffic and double digit in international traffic. As anticipated, we are seeing a normalization in the traffic of Puerto Rico as last year benefited from the increased operations by Frontier Airlines. Lastly, traffic in Mexico declined close to 5%, reflecting single digit contractions in both international and domestic traffic. In terms of international traffic, we saw declines from all the regions except Canada in the quarter. In turn, domestic traffic remains impacted by the initial effects of Pratt and Whitney engine problem experienced in the past few quarters, as well as the capacity reduction of aircraft movements at Mexico City Airport since early this year.

Speaker 1

As a reminder, Mexico City Airport accounted for 45% of Azul domestic traffic in 2023 And we expect this situation to continue negatively impacting domestic traffic this year, which would pose a small decline in the year. Now moving on to P and L. As a reminder, all references to revenue and costs are excluding construction. Total revenues increased nearly 18% to MXN7 1,000,000,000 in the quarter. Colombia stood out with the top line growth in the 30s, mainly benefiting from the pickup in international traffic.

Speaker 1

Mexico delivered revenue growth in the high teens and Puerto Rico in the middle single digits. Mexico accounted for 74% of the total revenues posted an 18% topic line increase, even as passenger traffic declined 5%. Revenue was driven high 20s growth in our Aeronautical Services, reflecting the adjustment established in the recent master development plan and the impact of the weaker peso taking into account that the international tariffs are based in U. S. Dollars.

Speaker 1

In turn, non avantal revenues increased low single digit. Puerto Rico accounted for 15% of the total revenues and delivered a 5% growth in the top line, reflecting high single digit increase in non aeronautical, while aeronautical regulatory increased by low single digits. In turn, Colombia, which represented 11% of revenues posted a 35% increase in top line, reflecting a good performance in both aeronautical and non aeronautical revenues, which benefited from international traffic growth. As we continue to execute our strategy of expanding our commercial offering, we opened 45 new commercial spaces over the past 12 months. Of these, 17 were opened in Mexico, 4 in Puerto Rico and 33 in Colombia.

Speaker 1

As a result, commercial revenues were up 7%, more than double the growth in passenger traffic, mainly reflecting increases of 4% in Mexico, 9% in Puerto Rico and impressive 40 percentage rise in Colombia. On a propensity basis, commercial revenue increased 5% year on year to nearly MXN 128 in the quarter. This performance was mainly driven by growth of 16% in Colombia, 9% was in Mexico and Puerto Rico was relatively flat. Mexico reported record high commercial revenues per passenger at MXN 154.5 beyond the typical levels achieved during the pandemic benefiting from a strong U. S.

Speaker 1

Dollar. Moving down to the P and L. Cost and expenses increased nearly 30% year on year. On a comparable basis, excluding the $252,000,000 recovery expenses in Puerto Rico under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Applications Act in the Q2 of last year. Total costs were up 16% slightly below revenue growth.

Speaker 1

By geography, costs in Mexico were up 18%, resulting from increases of 80% in the concession fees established by the Mexican government and 20% in minimum wages, mainly in cleaning and security, both effective January 1st. This was partially offset by a 50% reduction in the technical assistance fee. On a comparable basis, Puerto Rico reported a 10% increase in cost, which was below revenue growth, while Colombia were up 19% above revenue growth. Consolidated EBITDA was up 18% year on year to MXN5 1,000,000,000 in the quarter, while adjusted EBITDA margin, which excludes construction, was relatively unchanged at 69%. Note that on a comparable basis, excluding the recovery expenses in Puerto Rico in the Q2 of last year, EBITDA would have increased 26% and the adjusted EBITDA margin will expanded by 4 35 basis points year on year.

Speaker 1

This good performance was driven by a solid profitability across our 3 regions of operation. Puerto Rico presented the strongest performance with comparable EBITDA up over 90%, Colombia, Paraguay 49% increase, while Mexico posted an 18% increase in EBITDA. Turning to the balance sheet, we maintain a healthy financial position with cash and cash equivalents of nearly Ps. 15,000,000,000 after taking into account the dividend payments totaling of MXN6.3 billion during the quarter, equivalent to a cash and cash of billion of MXN10.926 per share and an extraordinary cash dividend of MXN10 per share. Lastly, in terms of CapEx, we made investments of nearly MXN615 1,000,000 during the quarter and close to MXN820 1,000,000 in the first half of the year.

Speaker 1

We are currently in the process of project planning and covering out the drilling process to select contractors. Key projects include at Pericom Airport, the expansion of Terminal 4 and reconstruction and expansion of Terminal 1. And finally, the expansion of the terminal in Oaxaca Airport. Note that all construction works will take place outside the operating area and does not affect the patient of these efforts. Wrapping up, we delivered a solid second quarter with net majority income up 50% year on year to ARS3.7 billion.

Speaker 1

This good performance also benefited from the foreign exchange gain of nearly MXN950 1,000,000 this quarter, resulting from the 10% quarter and depreciation of the Mexican peso against the U. S. Dollar, compared with the $350,000,000 FX loss reported in the same quarter last year. This quarter was not without its challenge, notably the ongoing issues of Pratt and Whitney engines and the reduction of capacity at Mexico City Airport, but we navigated through these and delivered solid results in the quarter. This ends my prepared remarks.

Speaker 1

CECL, please open the floor for questions.

Operator

Thank you. Our first question is from Rodolfo Ramos from Bradesco BBI. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Good morning, Rodolfo. Thanks for taking my question. Just a couple from my side. The first one is on traffic. Wanted to get your sense of where we stand in the recalls on Pratt and Whitney.

Speaker 2

You're one of the least exposed. Just wanted to get your thoughts on where we stand there. And on traffic as well, if you would expect given the rhetoric that we've seen so far from the election campaign, whether we can expect a similar impact from what we saw last time around in terms of the U. S. International down traffic?

Speaker 2

So that's my first one on traffic. And secondly, if you can just give us a sense of pricing of where you currently stand. You had mentioned in the previous call that you increased prices in April. So just wanted to see where do you stand versus your maximum tariffs and what to expect there going forward? Thank you.

Speaker 1

Hi, Rodolfo. Good morning. Well, in case of Bretton Whitney, of course, I do not have the exact and precise data. But what I understand, the most affected is Volaris. They sent 19 airplanes during the Q4 and 26 during the Q1.

Speaker 1

And you know the time of the recall is around 300 days. So, we will see those planes coming back to production, I would say, at the end of September this year. So, from now until this September, the things are not going to improve. And after that, I will I believe they will stabilize up to Q1 next year and then they should improve. In the case of what you have mentioned because of the elections in the U.

Speaker 1

S, yes, I do expect and you can see back very clear that Mexico the Mexican situation will be there in all the candidates. And they will be blaming all the problems we have here and that may affect traffic during the Q4. In terms of pricing, we have adjusted our prices. So, we are working towards to have a maximum tariff compliance of close to 99% for the year.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Guilherme Mendez from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Hi, Adolfo. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering in terms of the commercial revenues, Astra has been surprising to the upside on a per passenger basis. And you mentioned about opening a bunch of new commercial spaces in the 3 regions.

Speaker 3

How should we think about this segment going forward? Meaning, in addition to the investments that you're going to make in Conoco Airport, should you expect additional openings or ramp ups on the commercial front? And my second question is on traffic, following up on the previous one, but think about Puerto Rico and Colombia. You mentioned on the past conference call about a normalization on the trends of both Colombia and Puerto Rico accelerating and decelerating. Just wanted to double check if that's still your base case expectation.

Speaker 3

Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Well, in the case of commercial revenues, what you saw for the quarter, it was in parking and also car rental. Those were the 2 winners for the quarter. I have to say that of course in the case of Mexico, which has reached a record high of MXN 154 per passenger, we were positively affected by the Mexican peso depreciation. In the case of the traffic to Puerto Rico and Colombia, yes, I do believe that Puerto Rico should normalize during the remaining of the year.

Speaker 1

And in the case of Colombia, what I do expect is the recovery process towards the end of the year of what we have lost last year with the ground of these two airlines that represented 20% of the traffic during 2022.

Speaker 3

Okay. Thank you so much. Have a

Speaker 1

good day.

Operator

You're welcome. Thank you. The next question is from Ian Spies with Morgan Stanley Investment. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Yes. Hello, Adolfo. Thank you for taking the time for the questions. I just want to ask on the realized tariff. I think you reported ARS326.

Speaker 4

And doing some math here, we get that it represents around 95% of your maximum tariff if we rate it by traffic of the individual airports. Does it sound about right? Or are we missing anything? And a follow-up to that, are you worried about the depreciation in the Mexican peso or I think, Bebo said, a further depreciation in the Mexican peso, which could maybe result in a heightened risk of you exceeding the maximum tariff and potentially having to give some discounts towards the end of the year?

Speaker 1

Well, in the case of the maximum tariff, there is a clear paragraph in Mexican section that says what was the weighted average maximum rate obtained well, implicit rate obtained during the quarter. What I was saying last year, yes, we reached 95% and what we are expecting is it's close to 99%. Of course, that will depend on what you just mentioned in terms of the Mexican peso. Mexican peso devaluation will help us to get these objectives as the tariffs for the international flights are based in U. S.

Speaker 1

Dollars. So remember that maximum rate is in pesos. So that will help us to reach the objective.

Speaker 4

Okay, perfect. And if I may, just one follow-up. In terms of traffic, I mean, comparing it to what you forecasted within your tariff review, I think I mean, we're not even close to getting to the 3% cost back, aren't we? Or any color on that?

Speaker 1

Well, in terms of traffic, what I would say is what we were expecting from Pratt and Whitney and the decrease in the international traffic is being higher in comparison with what we were expecting at the end of last year.

Speaker 4

Okay. Higher, but not close to 3%, Clobet?

Speaker 1

Higher in terms of more negative. So today, the current traffic is more negative as we were expecting. Okay.

Speaker 4

That's clear. Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Fernanda Rekha with BTG. Please go ahead. May we ask you to unmute your line and please go ahead with your question. The next question is from Jay Singh with Citibank.

Operator

Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hey, thanks for taking my question. I guess the first thing I want to ask is, you mentioned earlier that Colombia and Puerto Rico traffic strength you see moderating a little bit. I also want to ask, in JetBlue has been raising capacity into Puerto Rico's market. So considering that, do you still see some degree of moderation Or do you just see it sticking around a little bit higher?

Speaker 1

Hello, Jay. I cannot hear you well. Could you speak

Speaker 5

louder? Sure. So you mentioned Colombia's and Puerto Rico's traffic strength potentially moderating in the coming quarters, but a JetBlue has been raising their capacity into Puerto Rico's market. So do you see that sticking around or do you still see it normalizing?

Speaker 1

The most important effect in Puerto Rico last year was the entrance of Frontier and they are expanding and creating a base in Puerto Rico. Of course, when you reach the comparables year over year, then it will not be easier to reach the 18% growth we got last year. So that's why I am saying that it should normalize once we reach the 12 months rollover with the end tons of Frontier.

Speaker 5

All right. Thanks. And to my second question, I want to ask how much CapEx can we expect on a consolidated basis? And what would the split look like between the MDP and the non MDP?

Speaker 1

Again, I cannot hear you.

Speaker 5

Okay. How much CapEx can we expect on a consolidated basis? And what would the split look like between the MDP and the non MDP?

Speaker 1

The MDP for this year is around $3,800,000,000 that of course will be or will have to be adjusted with the construction price index and that's what we have to comply with. I have to say that at the beginning of the 5 year period, once the projects have been approved at the end of last year, we have to wait until we develop the projects, make the deem process and find the contractors and then they can start constructing. So that's why you are seeing a very slow between brackets number for the first half of the year, the 800 and something 1,000,000 comparable with the 3,800,000,000 that we have to spend during the year.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Speaker 1

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from the line of Pablo Montalay with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, Adolfo. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. May I just ask if you can provide some color on your perspective for U. S.

Speaker 6

Traffic to Cancun? We have seen some weakness and U. S. Carriers are saying that they are picking up capacity. But what are your thoughts on this?

Speaker 6

And especially how deep or how prolonged can this be? That's number 1. And number 2, I would like to have more detail on your commercial revenues plans for Colombia and Puerto Rico going forward? Thank you.

Speaker 1

Well, in the case of traffic of Cancun, as you have seen in the first half of the year, it has not been live basically affected by the domestic situation of Trupan Whitney and the reduction of the air traffic movements at Mexico City Airport from 52 to 43. I don't think that these two things will change. So that those two things will continue affecting the traffic during the second half of the year. And also the new negative effect is reduction in the traffic from the U. S.

Speaker 1

As I have mentioned in my initial remarks. As it was mentioned during the call, during 2018, at the end of 2018 because of the elections of the U. S, where there was someone saying every single day that Mexico was a bad place to be. Probably, we will be affected from this traffic from the U. S.

Speaker 1

So, not very high hopes on the traffic for Cancun over the year. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Andressa Varotto with UBS. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi, good morning. Actually, it's Roberto Valera here from UBS team. Adolfo, I would like to know about the new airline in Mexico, Mexicana De La Cision. What we should expect from them if you have talked to them for some new routes to your airport? And also, what should we expect from the industry of airlines in Mexico, which you see any additional capacity.

Speaker 7

We know that both Viva and Volaris, they are with the pressing with initial issue. But for next year in 2026, what should we expect from the domestic industry? Thank you very much.

Speaker 1

Well, in the case of Mexichemal, there is some what I have heard or what I have read in the news and the numbers that have been provided by the Mexican government is they have transported around 100,000 passengers during the 1st 5 months of the year. So if we compare that with the $8,000,000 from Volaris, dollars 9,000,000 from Viva and probably another $8,000,000 from Hermelgico doesn't mean too much. As we have seen Viva, Volaris and Hermejico have been adding some additional planes to their fleets. This is also in the case of Volaris and Viva mitigating the partially mitigating the effect of Pratt and Whitney. And remember that this Pratt and Whitney situation is a temporary situation.

Speaker 1

So, we should see a strong recovery from these 3 next year.

Operator

The next question comes from Isabella Salazar with GBM. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Hello, Dolfo. Thank you for taking my question. I was wondering if you could give us any update on Punta Cana?

Speaker 1

We don't have any update. The legal process has been established and that will take time as I have said during my previous earnings conference call. The project is put it on hold for 1 year at least.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question comes from Andres Aguirre with GBM. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Hi, Abulfo. Thanks for the question. I was wondering if you could provide an overview of expected traffic mix. I think you're not seeing domestic passengers for the remainder of the year. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Well, as I have mentioned, traffic domestic traffic for remainder of the year is going to be affected by these two things, starting with Mexico City. So, we should expect these to be negative in the whole system, not just in the case of

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question comes from Anton Martinkotter with GBM. Please go ahead.

Speaker 9

Hi, Adolfo. Congrats on the results and thank you for taking my question. I have two quick questions. One is related on your cash balance. I was wondering if you could tell us how much of that is dollarized?

Speaker 9

And the second one is, considering the cash flow generation that you have right now and with the CapEx commitments, even though they are really high for the next coming the next 5 years, seems like you will end up with a significant cash balance of around MXN 20,000,000,000. I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the possible use of that cash?

Speaker 1

Hello, Anton. Well, basically, all of you can see the numbers, Puerto Rico is U. S, Colombia is Colombian pesos and in the case of Mexico, some of these is U. S. Dollars.

Speaker 1

Roughly speaking, in Mexico, we should be around $400,000,000 something in dollars and the rest in pesos. In terms of the cash flow generation, yes, of course, we have a lot of CapEx in France, very high numbers in the coming years. But as always, we will review these at the end of every year in terms of the tax situation, the cash balance, the CapEx commitments and we will propose the dividends to the Board of Directors and then to the shareholders of Sandy. As I have mentioned, during May June, we paid $6,300,000,000 in dividends and it was an ordinary dividend of 10.926 and extraordinary dividend of 10 as it was done last year.

Operator

Thank you, Elton. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the question and answer portion for today's conference call. I would like to turn it back over to Mr. Krastu for closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Zico, and thank you all of you again for joining us today for this Q2 2024 Conference Call. We wish you a good day and goodbye. Now you may disconnect.

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Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Q2 2024
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