B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão ($B3SA3)

Earnings Call Transcript · May 8, 2026

BOVESPA BR Financials Capital Markets Earnings Calls 57 min

Highlights from the call

In the first quarter of 2026, B3 S.A. reported record total revenue of BRL 3.2 billion, reflecting a 21% year-over-year increase, driven by strong performance in both pro-cyclical and recurring revenue segments. Recurring net income rose 33% to BRL 1.5 billion, with earnings per share increasing nearly 40% to $0.30. Management maintained a positive outlook, citing operational leverage and the potential for margin expansion amidst ongoing foreign capital inflows and market activity.

Main topics

  • Record Revenue Growth: B3 achieved total revenue of BRL 3.2 billion, marking a 21% increase year-over-year, the highest quarterly revenue in the company's history. CFO Andre Milanez stated, "Our business model once again demonstrated its ability to capture the opportunities of a positive scenario."
  • Strong Performance in Derivatives and Equities: The pro-cyclical business segment grew 24%, while recurring revenues increased by 17%. The average daily volume in derivatives reached 16.6 million contracts in March, the highest in history, indicating robust market activity.
  • Operational Efficiency and Margin Expansion: Recurring EBITDA rose 24% to BRL 2.1 billion, with a margin of 71.6%. Milanez noted, "Most of that increase translates into the bottom line and therefore, into margin expansion," highlighting the company's operational leverage.
  • New Product Launches: B3 launched financial event contracts for various assets, including Bitcoin, aiming to expand its product portfolio. Management indicated that initial trading volumes are limited but expressed optimism about future growth as regulatory restrictions are eased.
  • CEO Transition and Market Strategy: The company is in the process of selecting a new CEO following the announcement of Gilson Finkelsztain's departure. Milanez emphasized the importance of transparency during this transition, stating, "The Board is carrying out the process to define the new President of the company."

Key metrics mentioned

  • Total Revenue: BRL 3.2 billion (vs BRL 2.65 billion est, +21% YoY)
  • Recurring Net Income: BRL 1.5 billion (vs BRL 1.13 billion est, +33% YoY)
  • Recurring EPS: $0.30 (vs $0.22 est, +40% YoY)
  • Recurring EBITDA: BRL 2.1 billion (vs BRL 1.69 billion est, +24% YoY)
  • Operating Margin: 71.6% (vs 70% est, +1.6% YoY)
  • Average Daily Volume (Derivatives): 16.6 million contracts (highest in history, +16% YoY)

B3's strong performance in Q1 2026 reinforces its robust business model and operational efficiency. The record revenue and net income, coupled with positive market conditions, suggest a favorable outlook. Investors should monitor the CEO transition and ongoing foreign capital inflows as key catalysts for future growth.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Operator

Operator
#1

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the B3 earnings results presentation for the first quarter of 2026 where Andre Milanez, B3's CFO, will discuss the results along Fernando Campos, Investor Relations, Associate Director. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being broadcast live via webcast. The replay will be available after the event is concluded.

Fernando Tavares de Campos

Executives
#2

Hello, Fernando Campos from B3's Investor Relations team, and I'm here with Andre Milanez, the company's CFO, to comment on the results for the first quarter of 2026. To begin, Andrea, could you provide an overview of the quarter, which was a strong quarter with the [indiscernible] scenario and how the business model of the company could make the most of this important quarter for us.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#3

Sure, Fernando. The first quarter was marked by a very, as you said, favorable environment for the Brazilian capital markets with increased volatility and a relevant inflow of foreign capital during the quarter. In this context, our business model once again demonstrated its ability to capture the opportunities of a positive scenario, supported by a balanced combination of pro-cyclical revenues, which directly benefit from increased activity and recurring revenues, which continued to deliver solid performance and more predictable results. As a result of that, B3 reached total revenue of BRL 3.2 billion in the first quarter of '26, representing a growth of 21% when compared to the first quarter of '25, and it was the highest quarterly revenue in the company's history. The group of pro-cyclical business composed by -- of derivatives and equities increased 24%, while the group of recurring revenues grew 17% in the quarter. I also like to mention some additional highlights and records during the quarter. We recorded the highest average daily volume in the history of derivatives in March '26, with 16.6 million contracts, the highest average daily traded volume in equities for the last 5 years in February, BRL 39.2 billion. We had BRL 14 billion in follow-ons during the first quarter and growth of nearly 400,000 accounts in the equities depository over 12 months compared to March '25. These indicators reinforce the resilience and operating leverage of our business which combines scale and diversification, allowing us to capture growth when the market hits up, while at the same time, sustaining robust revenues across different cycles. Fernando will now provide more details on the operating performance of our main segments. Fernando?

Fernando Tavares de Campos

Executives
#4

Thank you, Andre. Starting with derivatives, the ADV, average daily volume, totaled 13.2 million contracts, representing an increase of 16% compared to the first quarter of 2025 with highlights in BRL interest rates, which recorded historical volume levels in March, as mentioned by Andre. It's also worth highlighting the strong performance of [indiscernible] Copom options, which recorded significant growth and contributed with BRL 25 million to the segment revenue. In cash equities, ADTV reached to BRL 34.8 billion, representing an increase of 46% compared to the first quarter of '25 and 33% compared to the fourth quarter of '25, mainly driven by the net inflow of BRL 54 billion in foreign capital during the period. I would also like to highlight the performance of ETFs, BDRs and listed funds, which increased their relevance, growing close to 58%, which reinforces the strategy of product and investor base diversification. In fixed income and credit, we continue to observe a constructive environment. Issuances and outstanding balances increased 9% and 18%, respectively, on a year-on-year basis, and Treasury Direct delivered another strong quarter with 46 increase in outstanding balancing closing the period with 3.4 million investors. In recurring revenue, performance remained consistent. Data analytics solutions referred now [indiscernible] Australia since February -- 23% increased revenues, reflecting stronger demand from the credit, loss prevention and insurance verticals as well as the new billing structure for the [ SNG ] in certain states which had an impact of BRL 25 million on the segment's revenue without the same amount impact in the revenue-linked expenses. Capital Market Solutions advanced at 29%, driven by higher offering activity and growth in the investor base in addition to price adjustments in market data and the expansion of capital markets analytics products. technology and platforms increased 15%, supported by client base expansion and contract to our adjusted price adjustments. Andre will now comment on the financial performance and cost discipline.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#5

Thank you, Fernando. On the expense side, we continue to maintain a very disciplined management. Our total expenses increased 10.9% when compared to the first quarter of '25. When we exclude revenue-linked expenses, as mentioned by Fernando and one-off items, growth was close to inflation. Adjusted expenses increased 6%, reflecting our continued focus on operating efficiency, even with ongoing investments in new initiatives, technology and products. As a result, our recurring EBITDA reached BRL 2.1 billion, representing an increase of 24%, with a margin of 71.6%, demonstrating the strong operating leverage of our business. Recurring net income totaled BRL 1.5 billion, an increase of 33% compared to the first quarter of '25 and recurring earnings per share reached $0.30 a share, which represented a growth of almost 40%, in this case, reflecting the execution of the share buyback program throughout last year. On the innovation front, we advanced with the launch of financial event contracts for the Ibovespa, U.S. dollar and Bitcoin in addition to the extension of trading hours for crypto assets and gold futures. These initiatives reinforce our strategy to continue to expand the product portfolio and offer accessible instruments with controlled risk and greater flexibility for our investors.

Fernando Tavares de Campos

Executives
#6

Thank you, Andre. And with that, we conclude our comments on the results for the first quarter of 2026.

Operator

Operator
#7

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Mario Pierry with Bank of America.

Mario Pierry

Analysts
#8

Congratulations on the results. Indeed, quite strong. A lot of our momentum I wanted to focus on something that you did not talk about and that the search for the new CEO, right, with the announcement that Gilson is stepping down later this year. Can you tell us or remind us what is the progress? Where do you guys stand? When should we expect the new name to be announced.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#9

Thank you for the question. Well, basically, we've announced the departure of Gilson. He's going to be with us until the end of June as we disclosed in the material fact. The Board is carrying out the process to define the new President of the company. As we mentioned, this has been carried out in a structural way since last year. The reason why we ended up having to announce the departure of Gilson before a new name was selected was because the information got to the press, and we had to be transparent and let you know where we were in the process. The Board is -- carry out that process. And as soon as they have a definition on the new name, we will be communicating that to the market. But there is not a deadline as such for that to take place.

Mario Pierry

Analysts
#10

Okay. That's clear. So -- and let me ask you then another question related. You talked about, right, the new products that you launched especially in predictive markets. Can you tell us -- I think they were launched in April, right? Like any data that you can share with us, how successful these products are so far, like have you seen any significant volumes? What do you -- what needs to happen for volumes to pick up?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#11

Sure. So it's fairly recent. We're talking about the launch was potentially around 2 weeks ago. You have to remember that there is still a restriction on those products so they can only be offered to we call professional investors so that reduces significantly the amount of potential the number, let's put it this way, of potential users of that product. We already had some trades in some of those contracts. But it's still very early days. We are continuing to work with regulators to try to remove that restriction and allow access to all kinds of investors to search products. And I think that's going to be important to -- for us to see more activity around these new contracts. But they already have been launched, and we have seen some activity. But at this stage, it is still very limited.

Operator

Operator
#12

Our next question comes from Tito Labarta with Goldman Sachs.

Daer Labarta

Analysts
#13

A couple of questions also, very strong results, just given all the activity that we're seeing. It looks like people continue to see good activity as well. Just given all this interest in Brazil and foreign inflows, thinking more the benefit on the margin, right, because margin was up a bit in the quarter and we already have your guidance for expenses, but just if these flows continue and volumes remain at the levels that they are. Is there more upside risk to the margin at least in the short term, just because you don't really have to spend a lot more to get these incremental flows and volumes. Just to think about how that margin can evolve in the short term? And then the second question, just in terms of capital market activity, as you highlighted, right, you had about almost BRL 14 billion in follow-ons. How do you think that continues to evolve and also pipeline for IPOs and just how that capital market activity kind of may continue to evolve also considering how rates may move or not and how that could impact the opportunity set for some of these companies [indiscernible] to list.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#14

Thank you for the question, Tito. Regarding margins, I think we've discussed that in the past. The company has -- our business model, let's put it this way, provides us with a high degree of operational leverage. As a result of that, when people were asking us last year, whether if we were to see an increase in revenues, if that would represent margin expansion that we would be saying, yes, that the first quarter reinforces what we have been saying. So as you rightly pointed out, that growth doesn't come or doesn't need additional expenditure to support that growth. So most of that increase translate into the bottom line and therefore, into margin expansion. The only, I would say, exception to that is what we describe as the revenue-linked expenses, but they are a small portion of our expenditure, and they are linked to a relatively small portion of our revenue. So in summary, yes, I think if you continue to see strong performance on the revenue side, we could see margins expanding, given the operational leverage that our business model provides. Regarding capital markets activity, I think we're going to have a Monday, the first IPO after a while. The transaction was successfully priced yesterday. We do have several companies that are already prepared or in the process of becoming ready for an IPO. So we don't have a problem of supply, let's put it this way. There are at least 50 companies that are ready and another 50 that are either very close to becoming ready or in the process of preparing themselves. The biggest problem that we have been seeing in the last month or so was a problem of demand given the environment higher rates, et cetera. So we're going to have to see, I think if the conditions allow other companies to also come to the market we have supply. That's the main point here.

Daer Labarta

Analysts
#15

Yes, that makes sense. Great. Excellent, Andre, congrats again on the strong results.

Operator

Operator
#16

Next question from Kaio Prato with UBS.

Kaio Penso Da Prato

Analysts
#17

I have two questions on my side, please. The first one is on the non-trading revenues, the recurring ones which we saw growing close to 20% this quarter, which is quite strong. So I would like to hear from you what is the expectation of most of those lines going forward? Because we had some pickup since the second half of last year. So just wondering if this is more related now to a long [indiscernible], low comp base and we could see some normalization for the second half or if we can expect this kind of growth for the upcoming quarters? And if so, what are the key drivers for that? And the second one, if I may, we talk a lot about AI opportunities on the cost side with potential -- some optimization and so on. But I would like to hear from you what you see on the revenue side as well, what would be the opportunities and even risks here and how meaningful it could be going forward.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#18

Thank you, Kaio, for the question. Just one -- I'm going to just make a quick follow-up on the last question from Tito that I think it is -- I forgot to mention, but I think it is important that we will see a first company successfully having an IPO and I think that could encourage other companies to pursue this opportunity this year. Again, we need to see whether the conditions are going to be there. But I think it is a very positive sign that we finally had 1 company that was able to access the market with a secondary offering. Regarding the -- your question about the recurring revenues, I think the only one-off that we had was the change in the, let's say, the billing model for the SNG as we described and disclosed in our in our release. So this is basically a change where part of the revenue that was being charged directly by our partner in this product now being charged by B3 and then rebate it. We have a rebate of that portion flowing through the revenue-linked expenses. So that's the only item, I guess, that we could consider to be nonrecurring or we should potentially exclude from that growth. But other than that, I think the performance has been very good, and we don't see reasons why that should not continue throughout the year. Of course, there are challenges here in terms of continuing to increase the product offering, continue to increase the penetration of the products that have already been being launched, but I believe we are on the right track here. Regarding your question about AI and potential risks and threats opportunities as well for us. I think, first, our competitive advantage here does not I'd say, live in us being an AI-first company or anything like that. But in our role as a market infrastructure and in the fact that we have access to large-scale proprietary regulated and hard to replicate data. Today, we are seeing that AI models and agents are increasingly becoming available and the real value here is going to be on the quality, on the exclusivity and the ability of combining these different sets of data, which sits at the core of what we have here of all the different businesses that we carry out. I think we own and intermediate data sets that we don't see or there are no available outside of our environment, capital markets, credit, vehicles, agribusiness, and also the ability of cross-referencing all these, let's say, different domains of data sets. I think AI can enhance analytical capabilities to analyze data, et cetera, but it cannot replace data that is not there or it's not available. Examples that we have here like combining public welfare data with proprietary data on investment positions to identify fraud or front running is not something that an AI agent can do without having access to that proprietary data. From a client perspective, I think AI often increases demand for these kind of products. Many customers will prefer to buy ready, available and design models and scores that potentially can be adjusted, but rather than trying to replicate all of that in-house. And because at the end of the day, they don't have access to that unique and proprietary data. I think we in the data business have already been applying AI for a while well before gen AI with data capabilities using machine learning and these kind of things. Of course, these things are now evolving. We have, for instance, examples of use cases in the health care industry. We've applied AI to automate reimbursement analysis for one of the largest health care operators in the country. This solution uses AI to analyze documents and assign a unique digital bring a [indiscernible] branch to each request, preventing fraud from occurring before the payment is made. As a result of this solution that was developing in partnership with that particular client, the operation avoided nearly BRL 10 million in cost within the first months of operation. Besides accelerating the reimbursement decision and therefore, the customer experience as well. I think we have other examples here, but I think overall, I think the main message here is that AI, we see that as a productivity accelerator and market expander for us. The long-term defensive moat remains the same. I mean, preparatory data, exclusively ability to cross reference these different data sets and domains and our position as a core financial market infrastructure, I think, puts us in a position to have more opportunities than threats as a result of adoption of AI and where these products are deeply integrated with data that is unique in a sense and end-to-end businesses processes. I think AI only strengthens our position and not threaten the value proposition of what we are trying to deliver with those solutions.

Operator

Operator
#19

Our next question comes from Pedro Leduc with Itau.

Pedro Leduc

Analysts
#20

Question on trading margins for equities. Of course, we saw a little bit of a decline here. If you could help us understand if it was mix or already volumes triggering some different pricing tiers. Same for fixed income, we saw some variations. Just an overview on here will be great.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#21

Thank you for the question, Leduc. Main reason for that was volume expansion. As you know, our schedule of prices already has some level of operational leverage that is shared with clients as we see volumes growing. So I think it is natural to expect as volumes become larger and larger, that the average margin may reduce. Of course, it's not the entire operational operating leverage that is being shared, but part of that, as we have always said we would be doing in our pricing schedule already includes that kind of mechanism. And I think besides that, we also had a strong strong volumes of options exercised during this quarter, which also impacted average margins. But other than that, nothing really unusual happening in terms of our average prices here.

Pedro Leduc

Analysts
#22

Do you feel like your -- the pricing scheme as you have today, is adequate? Are you looking to still fine-tune it. I remember last year, you did some changes between market makers is the way seeing it today the way it should remain for the year?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#23

Look, I think fine-tuning that it's an ongoing process for us. We are making adjustments from time to time. But to go straight to your point, I don't think there is anything relevant, at least in the radar today that we need to address in relation to that. But small adjustments will continue to take place as we evolve and as we identify potential problems or distortions that need to be resolved or that's an ongoing process, but I don't see anything relevant in the radar for the coming months.

Operator

Operator
#24

Our next question from Daniel Vaz with Safra.

Daniel Vaz

Analysts
#25

I guess, good results again and congrats for the results. And I think most of the questions have been answered on your P&L. I just maybe have one on trade receivables, the [ duplicates ], right? A few years ago, lots of discussion, including from new players as [indiscernible] Suky around the there was a market of BRL 1 trillion to be explored. I think the topic has been become less frequent as focused kind of shift back to the competition in trading post trading with the new players around, but right now, I guess we are approaching 2027, the new framework or the new regulation requires some companies, some big companies to be complained. And if you could update your progress, how relevant is this registration market and opportunity could be for you? And if you have any updates or any TAM that you would like to comment on a nominal basis for us.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#26

Thank you for the question, Vaz. I think it's funny that you're asking that because only yesterday, we had a positive development here. We were not the only ones, of course, but we were approved, and we will not start what they have been calling as live assisted phase of the testing here in this project. We are very excited with what we have been achieving so far. We see that as a medium and long-term initiative that could be relevant for the company was one of the initiatives that we discussed during our Investor Day last year besides data, fixed income new technologies and new features such as tokenization, stable coins, et cetera, but receivables was one of the initiatives that we listed as relevant in one of the areas of focus for the company. We also believe that we will be able to differentiate them ourselves from other players in this market, given our ability to deliver a more comprehensive value proposition to our customers, combining not only our capabilities on the registration front, but also combining data solutions that we can offer payment solutions that we can combine in that offering. And I think that's what's going to make the difference in this environment, our ability to deliver a value proposition that goes beyond only the registration of those receivables. And we will continue to focus on that this year. As we discussed, we will not see any revenue from that initiative coming to starting to see that initiative contributing to our results from next year onwards. But yes, so an important milestone that we have achieved here in that initiative, and now we begin the the assisted lives phase of the project.

Daniel Vaz

Analysts
#27

If I may follow up on that. Do you have any estimates on the profit pool of this market? I mean any 1% share could give you x percent of incremental net profit? I know it's a very huge market. Margins should be very low, but the volumetry is very huge, right. Any math, anything that you could share with us so far?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#28

Look, I mean, we can make several assumptions here. What I can tell you is that it can be meaningful, we can be looking at hundreds of millions of reals in revenues in that initiative.

Operator

Operator
#29

Our next question comes from Renato Meloni with Autonomous Research.

Renato Meloni

Analysts
#30

Congrats on the results. I wanted to explore a little bit the pricing dynamics here on the derivatives side. You saw the average RPC contracting year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. So I wonder, first, if you could explain like how much came from FX and how much coming from shorter duration contracts. And then if you can expand that a little bit, I'm curious about your perspective on the dynamic here this year, like given the volatility, if you continue seeing this short duration contracts and if that's still affecting prices?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#31

Thank you for your question, Renato. I think I'm going to make just a general comment and I'll pass on to Fernando to go through the details in each of our products. We had a very, very strong very, very strong activity in March as a result of all the volatility and uncertainty that came with the beginning of the war between the U.S. and Iran. As you guys probably seeing the interest rate curve here in Brazil was shifting 15, 20 basis points is every day. Central Bank had to intervene at some stage. So it was a very, very volatile moment that I don't expect to see that the same level of volatility and the same level of activity, except if we have an exceptional event such as the one we were discussing, again, right? So I think that's important. We do see room for improvement, but I think assuming the same level of activity that we're seeing in March does not seem to be very likely, let's put it this way. But I'll refer here to Fernando to comment on the details of each product.

Fernando Tavares de Campos

Executives
#32

Sure. Thank you, Andre. So here, I think it's important to understand the dynamics of the different contracts. So starting with interest rates in BRL. I think you're right. There was a lot of volumes in shorter duration contracts, mainly due to the volatility from the war that Andre mentioned, there was a lot of volatility with the coupon decision, which was really short term. And that triggered not only the DI future, but we did have -- and this is important, we did have expressive and good volume in coupon options, which are kind of a prediction market contracts. So we did have almost 1 million contracts of daily volume. And this is a short contract. So here, I think it's important to underline this in interest rates in BRL. When we are talking about FX and interest rates in the U.S., mainly the facts here, so those 2 contracts are linked to the U.S., we are seeing soft U.S. recently. So this is impacting prices in RPC. So it's nothing to do with our different pricing [indiscernible] is mainly market conditions here. But it's important for all contracts. The volumes are -- we have a pretty efficient pricing schedule in derivatives, which we -- that our discounts are triggered when we reach certain levels of volume. So I think that's the main impact. And for other quarters, if we see a low volumes and we see everything reversing, probably we're going to see higher prices. So it's -- bear in mind that it's an efficient pricing schedule that is related to volumes into all those other conviction specifics that I mentioned.

Operator

Operator
#33

Next question from Maria Massoni (sic) [ Marcelo Mizrahi ] with Bradesco.

Marcelo Mizrahi

Analysts
#34

It's Marcelo Mizrahi. My question -- I have 2 questions. So first is regarding the new model of SNG. So how it will impact the revenues so in terms of the revenues is linked to the expenses related gaining efficiency on this part. So this -- the expenses related could be lower to the revenues as a percentage is the first question. After that, I will do the second one.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#35

Thank you, Mizrahi. Actually, a while ago, right, for certain states in the country, we were already charging the full amount of the [indiscernible] of the [indiscernible] and then passing part of that to our partner in that product. But that was not the case for the [indiscernible] in all the states in Brazil. The change that we saw taking place last year as a result of a renegotiation that we had with their partner was that we decided to unify the way that was being charged for for the whole country. So that means that for those states where we were providing the information about the [indiscernible] on the vehicle and charging the customer with two invoices, one from us and the other one from the partner, we are now doing that in a single invoice issued by V3 and the share that was previously being collected by the partner is now being paid by us. So really, there is no increase here or profit for us. It's just an increase in the revenue and pretty much the same increase flowing through the revenue-linked expenses.

Marcelo Mizrahi

Analysts
#36

Okay. Okay. My second question is regarding the margins. So we -- you already talked about the margins related to the equity side. But I'm trying to understand, as we saw in this quarter, even with a reduction of the margins on equity. So even with the new prices. So some of the products, we saw a reduction of the prices on average ticket. But even with that, total margins of the company were better than the last quarter, better than the last year. So we -- even with that, we saw the company gaining leverage and my question is regarding a better scenario in terms of the environment of the revenue. So what's the leverage of the margins that we believe that the company could get, could achieve maintaining the same strategy and maintaining the same prices that are now.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#37

Look, I think -- we have a very strong and a very high degree of operational leverage. It's hard to tell you how far can that go? But I mean, if you look back a few years, you already have a taste of how that plays out. At some point, we had margins that were around 60, 60-something with improvement on the activity on volumes on revenues, those margins expanded. At some point, they reached almost 80%, and then they reduced a little bit as a result of contraction on those more pro-cyclical businesses. So that depends on your assumption about how strong activity can become in a more favorable environment, but there is definitely room for expansion as a result of such operational leverage. But it is also worth highlighting, as we always say, that if at some point, we believe we feel that the level of operational leverage that we are sharing with customers is not sufficient. We will then revisit that. I think the current schedule of prices has been somehow adjusted for a certain level of activity. But if that reach picks up and reach a much higher level, we might need to revisit how much of that operational leverage is being shared with our customers.

Operator

Operator
#38

Next question from Carlos Gomez-Lopez with HSBC.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez

Analysts
#39

Again, congratulations on a very, very good quarter. I'm going to go back to the financial side of the business. Can you repeat your target in terms of leverage? I understand you're still going for the 2x EBITDA. Obviously, your EBITDA is increasing. Should we expect more debt issuance from you? And second, in terms of the use of cash, we saw that you did not do buybacks this quarter. You prefer to do [ interest ] on capital. What do you think you will be doing for the rest of the year, given where the stock price is today? Would you consider to use the combination of buybacks and dividends? Or would you be inclined to give more dividends this time?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#40

Carlos. So regarding your first question around our leverage target. Our guidance -- it's a leverage ratio of up to 2.2x recurring EBITDA. We are probably now around 2x and that's probably where we're going to be around the 2x but without going above the guidance that we provided. At least that's the intention for now. So we should be around that level. Regarding your question about cash distributions and instruments that are going to be used to do that. We always said that the excess cash would be returned back to shareholders through a combination of buybacks and interest on capital and dividends. We will always be paying interest on capital because the they bring a tax incentive for the company. And we always will buy some shares, at least the minimal amount that's going to be needed to meet our obligations under the long-term incentive plans that the company offers to its employees. And then basically, we will be putting more weight towards buybacks or dividends as a function of the share price given the strong appreciation that we've seen in the beginning of the year, we reduced significantly the execution of the buyback program. And if that remains being the case throughout the year, it is reasonable for you to expect that, that cash generation is going to be returned through cash payments using dividends and IOC.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez

Analysts
#41

Okay. So to summarize, given the current price, the unchanged, you are still more in trying to do dividends than to do buybacks to put it a bit quickly.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#42

We will put more weight towards dividends than buyback at this stage, which was the completely the different situation from last year.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez

Analysts
#43

We understand. One last thing. Can you indicate us what your expected effective tax rate will be as it looks now?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#44

That's more tricky. I think if you look at our effective rate last year, right, and take into account, as you know, that we will see a 3% increase in social contribution starting as from April. I think that's a good proxy that you can use to estimate our effective tax rate.

Operator

Operator
#45

Next question from Gustavo Schroden with Citi

Gustavo Schroden

Analysts
#46

Most of my questions were answered by -- but I would like to explore this new [indiscernible] program, 2.0. I remember that in the first [indiscernible] program you were involved, you participated that. So my question is it is -- are you planning to to participate in this [indiscernible] 2.0 again. Have you talked to the players, to stakeholders in this program? And if you could elaborate on that would be great. And congrats on the results.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#47

Thank you, Schroden. Look, I think the program this time is different from the one that we were involved in the past. It's a different setup. We have been discussing whether we could potentially help or participate in certain parts, but we will definitely not have the same kind of role that we had during the first quarter, right? But that's where we are with that.

Operator

Operator
#48

Next question from Yuri Fernandes with JPMorgan.

Yuri Fernandes

Analysts
#49

Congrats also on the results. I have just one on competition here. If you can provide an update what is going [ to know ]. I guess a few days ago, one of your competitors announced the higher top performing employee. They also mentioned in this news article that they should have all the systems tested and approvals done by the second quarter and likely start operating later this year. But we also know that sometimes those things can take more time. So my question is, do you think this is feasible? Like are you seeing the competitors getting ready or like setting the testify side of the treat or not really yet?

Andre Milanez

Executives
#50

Thank you for your question, Yuri. Look, I think it's difficult for us to estimate a timeline for this players. I think the only thing I can comment on is that these processes take place, not only the regulatory approvals, but the technology development, the adjustments, the connections with clients whether this is achievable or not, it's more hard for us to to comment on. In relation to your comment about the former employee, he was a former executive of the company that was already outside the daily operations of the company for a while. It did -- had a non-compete agreement throughout that period that decided to join the initiative. In a sense, I mean having people like that joining the product -- the project or that we know that is very knowledgeable of and concern about systemic risks, et cetera, prevents us from something that sometimes we have concerns over potentially having a race to the bottom and trying to compete based on lowering regulatory requirements and this sort of thing. So I think in that sense, having someone like him. It prevents such things from happening. But our focus here remains in ensuring that we are ahead of these new competitors that we are not leaving space for them to differentiate themselves through products or through technology, and we will continue to focus on being ahead of these new initiatives, ensuring that we are continuously bringing new products and bringing innovation to the market and that we are evolving our technology, our platforms so that these guys are going to have a much harder time in trying to really create a value proposition to compete with us.

Operator

Operator
#51

This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I would like to invite Andre Milanez to proceed with his closing statements.

Andre Milanez

Executives
#52

Thank you all for joining this call, which was the call of the results of the best quarter ever that the company had. We will continue to work hard to deliver these kind of results and also to continue to work on the initiatives and the agenda of innovation bringing new products and services to the market and helping with the development of our capital and financial market. I hope to see you during our next call. Thank you again for joining. Have a nice weekend.

Operator

Operator
#53

That does conclude B3's presentation for today. Thank you very much for your participation, and have a nice day.

For developers and AI pipelines

Programmatic access to B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão earnings transcripts and 32,000+ others is available through the EarningsCalls.dev REST API. Plans from $24.99/month — full transcripts, speaker segments, full-text search, and the recently-added /api/v1/transcripts/recent polling endpoint for ETL pipelines.