Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBAV3) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. I'm Amabile, Investor Relations Manager at CBA. Welcome to the video conference regarding the second quarter of 2026 results, which will be attended by Luciano Alves, the company's CEO; and Camila Abel, the company's CFO and Investor Relations. This is also available on the CBA Investor Relations website, where we will also make the recording available. At the end of this presentation, we will have the Q&A session part. [Operator Instructions] Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that some of the statements contained in this presentation may include statements that substantially depend on the macroeconomic and commercial relations between Brazil and global markets as well as government relationships and other factors. Operational data may affect CBA's future performance and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking considerations. We can now move on to Luciano's presentation.

Thank you, Amabile. Good morning. Thank you for everyone who is participating in another CBA results or earnings call conference. Starting with the main highlights of the second quarter of 2026, adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 705 million. Adjusted EBITDA had a margin of 27%, the highest level in the company's history, reflecting the combination of higher aluminum prices and volume growth, financial, as well as a reduction in costs in the market. We'll go into the details about this throughout the presentation. Financial leverage was reduced to 168 (sic) [ 1.68x ], the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by strong EBITDA expansion and reinforcing the strength of our capital structure. Cost of production of liquid aluminum showed a new sequential improvement in the last few quarters, we've seen this improvement coming about and reached BRL 11,891 per tonne, best results since the first quarter of '25, which shows the company's consistent operational recovery. ESG-wise, we were once again selected to be part of the ISE B3 portfolio and were recognized as one of the best companies in the country's Best ESG awards by EXAME magazine. Next, I'll go into some of the details of the aluminum scenario. In the second quarter of '26, global aluminum market registered a more significant deficit, ending the period with a negative balance of approximately 647,000 tonnes. This shows and reflects mainly the supply constraints in the Middle East, which continue to limit the global availability. So there was a restricted offer coming from the Middle East in this second quarter. But on the demand side, China showed a recovery compared to the previous quarter, mainly thanks to its exports, even though some of the domestic market remains weaker, especially the construction despite that consumption is resilient in the market. Besides China, the demand is relatively stable, still impacted by the high energy costs and the effects of the conflict, which is ongoing in the Middle East, but there has been a gradual improvement in economic expectations. Overall, the imbalance between supply and demand reinforced the positive fundamentals in the market throughout the quarter. And on my next slide, we'll talk a little bit about how this impacts stocks. So global aluminum inventories saw a further reduction in the second quarter of '26. Inventories and consumption fell to 46 days, which equals the lowest level in the recent years, remaining below the level considered a balanced level. In the official inventories, we saw a distinct dynamic between LME and SHFE in China. So there was a reduction in the inventories in LME and an increase in SHFE stocks, which reflects greater availability of these metals in China and continued supply constraints in the international market, especially in the European market. The combination of a global deficit and reduced inventories reinforces the perception of a very tight market in the short term. and that's the impact we've seen in the second quarter. On the next slide, I'll go a little bit into pricing. Pricing, obviously, is a reflection of everything I just told you about. So the average LME price was at $3,571 per tonne in the second quarter, which is the highest level ever recorded for the second quarter. And this has been supported by the supply constraints and also the lower global inventories in general. However, this interim agreement between the United States and Iran, which was recently announced, reduced the geopolitical risk premium, leading to a correction in the prices at the end of the second quarter and throughout the month of June -- July. So we're already seeing lower prices than the average, which have held throughout the second quarter. Regional premiums remained resilient. This is a bit what we saw in the Midwest premium in the United States and Rotterdam in Europe, which also stayed at higher levels during this quarter, which reflects a lower availability of the metals in these markets and some of the constraints from the international market reflecting locally. Overall, despite LME's accommodation at the end of the quarter in the month of July, market fundamentals are still favorable with prices and premiums above the historical levels. Okay. The next slide, I'm going to go a little bit into the Brazilian market. In Brazil, the main consuming sectors had positive performance in the second quarter, but we are being a little more cautious initially. So in the automotive chain, the production of light vehicles grew given the electric vehicles, while motorcycles showed a drop, still maintain a high level of activity. So even with the drop, there's still a high general level of activity in the motorcycle market. In civil construction, cement sales continue to advance, supported by the expansion of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida social housing programs, while the segments which are most dependent on credit were still impacted by high interest rates. The energy sector remains an important factor for the demand for aluminum supported by the continuity of investments in transmission and also the auction program, which is scheduled for this year. So demand in that market are high. Those are the main points that I wanted to share with you, and I will now pass to Camila, and she'll talk a little bit about our numbers for this last quarter. Thank you.

Thanks, Luciano. Good morning. In the second quarter of '26, we sold 131,000 tonnes of aluminum, a growth of 10% when compared to the same period last year. The main highlight was the primary segment where we sold 73,000 tonnes with a record of sales in the higher added value products. So 82% of primary sales was through this. Liquid aluminum production reached 94,000 tonnes this quarter, which shows the high performance levels we have been celebrating. Regarding the sales, we saw an increase in exports, so from 9% last year to 13% this quarter. And this shows and reflects commercial opportunities that we were able to cash in on as well as a good optimizing strategy for the way we allocate volumes in different markets. Energy balance-wise, everything is normal, let's say, no big novelties. Contracts totaled 146 average megawatts in that quarter with 3% reduction in average cost when compared to the first quarter last year. Our generation was 5% above the second quarter of 2025, which also underscores the fact that the competitiveness of our energy matrix has contributed positively to the company's cost structure. The cost of production of liquid aluminum ended the quarter at BRL 11,891 price per tonne, which shows an improvement when compared to the already improved situation of the first quarter of this year. This evolution was mainly because of a reduction in alumina costs, the improvement of energy costs and the efficiency gains in general. So very good efficiency and production. The increase in the cost of goods is basically a reflection of the higher volumes sold throughout this quarter. Obviously, the consolidated net revenue was impacted, reaching BRL 2.6 billion in this quarter, an increase of 28% when compared to second quarter '25. This performance mainly reflects the strong appreciation of LME aluminum prices, which averaged $3,571 per ton in price besides the higher sales volume and a great mix of sales. As a result, adjusted EBITDA reached the company's record of BRL 705 million with a great margin of 27% -- going on to CapEx. Going on to CapEx, investments totaled BRL 136 million throughout the quarter. Also no novelties here. There was a strategic focus on extending the assets, the life of assets, approximately 70% of CapEx directed to maintenance and another 20% allocated to furnace maintenance, also preserving our installed capacity, while 10% is focused on specific expansion and modernization projects. The lower volume of disbursements in the period reflected -- well, this is what was demonstrated of this BRL 136 million in this quarter is thanks to a reprioritization of portfolio. So it's basically a temporal effect and nothing changes for the year plan. Strong operating cash of BRL 511 million, mainly reflecting this operating performance. In our working capital, we observed a neutral impact. So some up and down factors, for example, PLR payments, more use of the risk program, and also recomposition of inventories. But within the plan, we have seen a higher monetization of stock at a great expectation of capital. After the investments -- so after these investments of BRL 136 million, free cash flow totaled BRL 334 million. And then if we add the financial disbursements, dividends, net loan amortizations, we end the quarter with positive cash of BRL 323 million. As a consequence, the net debt dropped, and we closed the quarter at BRL 2.8 billion. And also because of this leverage -- the financial leverage reduction, our adjusted debt closed at 1.68% (sic) [ 1.68x ]. This is the lowest we have seen ever since the fourth quarter of 2022, showing and demonstrating the strong coherence in implementing the actions that we have shared with you throughout the years with our leverage target being reached and corrected in the last quarters. We continue to maintain an extended debt structure with a great profile with an average maturity more than 5 years and an adequate level of liquidity. A great average cost for a big part of the debt. So 90% of the debt in dollar and 10% in reais and a schedule, which, as you'll see, amortization grows gradually, but there's nothing relevant for the next few years. Those are my main messages. And with that, I'll pass the floor back to Luciano, who will give us some closing remarks, and we'll go to Q&A. Thanks.

Thank you, Camila. So just to close, I would like to say these are our 4 key messages for this quarter. First, the fundamentals of the market are favorable. They continue to be favorable. Even though there has been a drop in prices recently, we're still talking about $3,000, $3,100 per tonne. Second, we continue to advance -- yes, so also because, as we mentioned, the Middle East, the low stocks and prices are on the high in the general market. Secondly, we continue to move forward in our operational competitiveness with further improvement in our cost structure and greater energy efficiency. As we said, we have worked on this a lot. So we could achieve the competitive nature of the company. Third place, we achieved a record level of EBITDA, demonstrating CBA's competence in capturing value in favorable markets, as we've also been mentioning to you throughout the presentation. And I think to close, just to underscore the fact that our capital structure has been efficient. We were able to significantly reduce leverage, increasing financial flexibility. I think those are the main takeaways for this presentation. Thank you for coming, participating and listening. And I'll pass the word to Amabile, and she'll carry us through Q&A. Thanks.

Thanks, Luciano. Since we don't have any questions in the chat box, and it seems like there's no one who raised their hand, we can close our update for the second quarter 2026 and our earnings call. We remain available to answer your questions through e-mails and to communicate with you through our Investor Relations team. Thank you, and have a great day. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]