Ellaktor S.A. (ELLAKTOR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Gelli, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the ELLAKTOR Group conference call to present and discuss the bondholders briefing on the full year 2019 ELLAKTOR's restricted group results. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Anastasios Kallitsantsis, CEO of ELLAKTOR Group; Mr. Manos Christeas, Group CFO; Mr. Antony Hadjioannou, Deputy Group CFO of ELLAKTOR; and Mr. Michail Tsantilas, IR Manager of ELLAKTOR. Mr. Kallitsantsis, you may now proceed.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you all for joining us for ELLAKTOR's 2019 Restricted Group Financial Results Call. Before we begin with our restricted group's fiscal year 2019 performance, I would like to start by recognizing that this is a very challenging moment for all of us, and I hope that you and your families remain healthy and protected from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Greece has managed to keep infection and death rates low as compared to other countries around the world due to the government's early steps to contain the virus ahead of most of other European countries. Also, this is thanks to the heroic efforts of health care professionals at the current time, the leadership of the scientific community as well as civil protection professionals. ELLAKTOR joined the effort to address the coronavirus pandemic in Greece by undertaking pro bono the collection, transport and safe disposal of all clinical waste from the main hospital and epicenter of the site against COVID-19, NIMTS Hospital in Athens. The said disposals of this category of clinical waste is critical for the protection of public health, and our environment subsidiary, ELLAKTOR, has offered its category-leading knowhow and relieved the national health system from the relevant costs, allowing it to divest much needed funds elsewhere. Furthermore, in order to further strengthen the Greek health care system altogether, the group is accelerating delivery of a new hospital in Chalkida, which will add 275 beds and 20 intensive care units to the system. In addition to the health care emergency and heavy toll of life, this pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty about economies and what they will look like in the coming months. Our group has also been affected to different degrees across business units by the pandemic, and we remain concerned and vigilant about how the fallout in the economy will evolve in the coming months. We have been taking hold from the very beginning a series of measures, and we have been constantly upgrading them in order to protect our people and ensure business continuity and minimize the financial impact across our segments. With the exception of concessions and real estate, which have been affected the most by the lockdown, it is important to stress that all of our other segments, namely construction, renewables and environment, are dealing with this -- with the challenge -- extremely challenging and extremely [ dividing ] situation in a satisfactory manner. With regards to concession, I feel it is important to recognize that we have protective measures and safeguards put in place early on and have delivered. And apart from the expected drop in circulation as an inevitable result of the lockdown, we have not experienced any disruption in the operation and maintenance of the amount of waste. Overall, daily traffic volume in concessions has dropped by 70% in the period from March 23 to April 28 versus the same period last year, although overall traffic volume year-to-date at Attiki Odos has increased -- has decreased, sorry, by 25%. Additionally today, which is the first day that lockdown measures have been partially lifted and transportation within the same prefecture is no longer regulated, we have seen an increase in -- of 25,000 vehicles in Attiki Odos compared to March the 23rd when total lockdown was in place and circulation reached its lowest point. More specifically, today, from 6 in the morning until 12 p.m., 55,000 vehicles used Attiki Odos compared to 30,000 vehicles during the same hours on Monday, the 23rd of March. That, of course, are still far from the almost 100,000 vehicles that use Attiki Odos during the same hours of the respective Monday of last year, but we have reached the levels of circulation of the mandate prior to the complete lockdown of stores and commercial properties. In any case, we take every possible and suitable measure for the limitation of the impact of COVID-19 on our business, always with the aim of ensuring the health of the employees and the users of toll roads. I would now like to talk about 2019 performance in our key segments. Regarding concessions, the traffic in our motorway continued to grow in 2019 at rates between 4% and 8%. In addition to our motorway concession assets, AKTOR Concessions who was the preferred investor in 2019 for the Marina Alimos concession, a 40-plus-10-year project, and we expect to sign the concession agreement within the next couple of weeks as the COVID-19 pandemic inevitably delayed the process. Now our concession portfolio comprises of 5 motorways, participation in car parks with over [7,000 parking spaces entering Marina.] In our Renewables segment, the total installed capacity increased by 106 megawatts to 401 megawatts at the end of 2019 or 35% versus the end of 2018. In Q1 2020, an additional 90 megawatts were put into trial operation, increasing the total installed capacity of the renewable segment as of 31st of March of 2020 to 491 megawatts, which is expected to further increase the segment EBITDA in the future. Moreover, the environment segment is a very promising sector at ELLAKTOR, which is the market leader in waste margins and waste-to-energy in Greece, is well established in order to take advantage of the developments of the segment in the country. I will now pass the floor to Manos to guide you through our group financials in detail. Please, Manos.

Thank you. Good afternoon from me as well. Just to remind everybody, as part of the EUR 600 million offering of the ELLAKTOR Group in 2019, we undertook to publish the combined accounts for the restricted group that supports the [indiscernible]. The restricted group, ELLAKTOR Group, comprised of the Concessions segment, excluding Moreas Motorway, Renewables segment, the Environment segment and the other segment of the ELLAKTOR Group. On December 12, 2019, the restricted group of ELLAKTOR, through its wholly owned subsidiary, ELLAKTOR VALUE PLC, completed the issue placement of senior notes of a nominal amount of EUR 600 million with a 6.375% coupon, maturity in 2024 and issue price of 100%, in order to diversify the sources of financing gain [indiscernible] national debt capital markets. Subsequently on January 30, 2020, ELLAKTOR VALUE PLC issued in place additional senior note of a nominal amount of EUR 70 million with a 6.375% coupon, maturity in 2024, and an issue price of 102.5%. The notes are listed on The International, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart Stock Exchanges. In terms of our revenues, in 2019, the restricted group revenues increased marginally by 0.8% to EUR 358.9 million versus EUR 356.0 million in 2018, mostly as a result of increased revenues in Renewables, EUR 64 million versus EUR 60.2 million in 2018. Concession revenues marginally decreased by 0.9%, EUR 207.1 million versus EUR 208.9 million due to the internal transfer of [indiscernible] to ELLAKTOR that is contributing with 2018 revenues; also, due to lower revenues from [indiscernible] operation by EUR 5 million. The traffic volume of major concession projects continued to increase in 2019. As it was mentioned before, the traffic volume of Odos increased by 4.5%, a percent of operation developments that we're [ looking ] for. Revenues in Environment increased by 1.2% to EUR 87.3 million versus EUR 86.3 million in 2018. Revenues in Europe increased by 6.4%, increased EUR 64 million versus EUR 60.2 million in 2018 due to increased installed capacity. Installed capacity, as it was mentioned, as of December 2019, was 401 megawatts versus 296 megawatt at the end of 2018. This represented an increase of plus 25%. The capacity factor in 2019 was 26.8%, almost identical with 2018 that was 26.9%. As of today, another 90 megawatt are in trial operation, bringing the total installed capacity to 491 megawatts. Furthermore, 88 megawatts are at early construction stage. Even though target completion date was at the end of 2020, time table is extended to 2021 due to COVID-19 attributed to delays. Regarding our EBITDA. The restricted group EBITDA amounts to EUR 196.1 million versus EUR 200.5 million in 2018. The 2.2% decrease is most likely due to the decreased EBITDA environment. The segments results being burdened mainly by the recognition of losses in the Helector Recycling Center Osnabruck GmbH, EUR 4.1 million; and lower feedstock volumes in the Mechanical Recycling Plant, EUR 2.5 million, that offset the increase in EBITDA for year [ of the concession ]. In particular, Concessions reported EBITDA was EUR 148.5 million versus EUR 139.7 million in 2018, an increase of 6.3%. In Environment, the reported EBITDA of EUR 6.6 million compared to EUR 26.4 million in 2018, the segment's results being burdened mainly by the recognition of losses in the Helector Recycling Center Osnabruck and lower feedstock volumes in the Mechanical Recycling Plant by EUR 2.5 million. It's just to be mentioned that the 2018 results were positively affected by EUR 5.8 million nonrecurring revenues and EUR 4.2 million profit from nonprovisional [indiscernible]. EBITDA at Renewables increased by 18.5% and reached EUR 49.7 million versus EUR 41.9 million in 2018. The restricted group net income, excluding the share of losses from the unrestricted group, increased by 11.2% from EUR 72.2 million versus EUR 64.9 million in 2018 as a result of increased profitability in Renewables and Concessions. Balance sheet. When we come to the balance sheet, total assets stood at EUR 1.837 billion versus EUR 1.803 billion as of the end of 2018. Tangible assets increased to EUR 542.2 million versus EUR 431.1 million due to the implementation of the investment plan in the Renewables business, while the intangible assets reduced from EUR 322.6 million to EUR 285.3 million as a result of amortization of concession rights. Financial assets at fair value increased to EUR 59.8 million mainly due to revaluation of the participation in Olympia Odos of EUR 24 million; and financial assets at amortized cost decreased to EUR 43.6 million mainly due to expiration of bonds. The restricted group total debt increased from EUR 810 million at the end of 2018 to EUR 967 million of which EUR 53 million is short-term debt and EUR 914 million is long term. Total cash, including liquid assets, amounted to EUR 342 million versus EUR 400 million as of the end of 2018. Restricted group net debt as of the end of 2019 stood at EUR 625 million versus EUR 409 million at the end of 2018. Operating cash flows reached EUR 81.2 million versus EUR 138.3 million in 2018 and decreased mainly due to increasing in receivables, includes: EUR 22 million advance for heavy maintenance works; increase in interest and related expenses paid, approximately EUR 15 million; and income tax paid, approximately EUR 7 million. Also, 2018 operating cash flows also benefited from the normalization of outstanding receivables, EUR 20 million decrease, related to an Environment JV in Cyprus. Investment cash outflows amounted to EUR 271 million versus minus EUR 211 million in 2018 and include mainly the CapEx in Renewables by EUR 107 million; Environment, EUR 5 million; and Concessions, EUR 2 million. Our loans to related parties are planned for EUR 93.5 million, and the acquisition of subsidiaries and associates and joint ventures and other financial assets of EUR 98 million. Management of time deposits over 3 months of EUR 50 million as well was the last [ backhold ] of our affected investment cash outflows. Net cash inflows from financing activities amounted to EUR 122.3 million and include mainly loan drawdowns, mainly EUR 600 million high-yield offering, offset by repayments, mainly the financing of ELLAKTOR and AKTOR CONCESSIONS through the high-yield offering. Thank you. And now I would like to pass the floor back to our CEO, Mr. Kallitsantsis, and now we'll proceed with the Q&A.

Yes. All right. Thank you, Manos. Please proceed with the Q&A part.

The first question is from the line of Memisoglu Osman with Ambrosia Capital.

I wanted to ask about the additional capacity in the Renewables business that was added in Q4 '19 versus in the prior period. When do you expect to create EBITDA? Did it start, maybe in Q1? And also for the second batch that was added in Q1, again, when should we expect that, that will come out of the trial operation and start to making EBITDA?

In Q2 2020, this will be [indiscernible]. Certainly, we will see the results effectively as of Q2 2020.

So there's a delay of roughly 2 months?

Yes. Specifically. I would say 1.5, close 2.5 months max.

And during the trial period, I would just like to add, when everything's produced is reinvoiced. So the [indiscernible] operation goes with income creation as well.

It is invoiced a bit later, but it is [indiscernible]?

But it was -- as Manos said, we'll start the moment we get awarded the release trial operations.

So you don't lose what you create in trial operation?

Not really, not really.

Next question is from the line of Fisher Felix with [ McLeod ].

First question is on -- I see that a big part of your cash is at the Attiki Odos concession. I know you also have quite a bit of equity there. Could you potentially upstream this cash to the corporate level? Or are there any restrictions? I know there are some minorities outstanding. Second question. Obviously, the construction activities are a bit challenging at the moment. Have you sort of supported them from the restricted group? And if so, by how much since the end of the fiscal year? And how big is the size of the general basket at the moment that you still could use to support the construction activities? And third and last question is the auditor has issued a qualified opinion. Is there something you intend to rectify? Or is that something that is going to stay for the time being?

Just to start from what we said before. The amounts which have been directed from restricted to unrestricted as of today is EUR 27 million plus EUR 13 million, totaling EUR 40 million.

Okay. How much is the capacity under the -- do you still have capacity under the basket?

Yes. Under the basket, we can go up to the EUR 40 million. The 70% can go up to the EUR 40 million plus the 50% of net income. It's the usual terms of happening in bonds. We don't have any specific [indiscernible]. They are the basic things that we -- usually exist in these kind of bonds. So it's EUR 40 million plus 50% of the net income is what is described in the notes. Regarding the ability of the Attiki Odos to upstream money, of course, providing that there is agreement with our partners there, this can be done. It's not something we're examining for the time being, but technically, you can say that, yes, it can happen. Did I answer all your questions?

No. The last one in regards to the qualified opinion of your auditors.

Yes, it's -- well, this is something to be expected by the way the financial statements are produced. Don't forget that the proper financial statements of the ELLAKTOR Group is the consolidated result. And you will note that there is no qualification in the financial statement. The results of the restricted group that we're presenting are combined financials. So it's basically we -- you could assume that we're equity accounting for the activity of the unrestricted group, although we have majority control. So theoretically, we should be fully consolidating these activities. Once you fully consolidate, you come to the consolidated results of the ELLAKTOR Group, and that is the comment that the auditors have made, that they -- the financial statements are a true and fair representation of the conditions of the group. But they -- as they note, however, that we have not fully consolidated the unrestricted group as we should have been. We just have accounted for it under the equity method in order to produce this combined financial statement. That is the essence of the qualification.

It's basically necessary to present your restricted group on a stand-alone basis.

Right. Right. That's why they called it combined. That's why they're called combined accounts, yes. So they're not the...

Just to make it clear, this is standard in these kind of combined accounts, cannot be done in a different way.

Your next question comes from the line of Price, Eleanor with Kames Capital.

I got a couple of questions. With regards to the investments for Renewables that you've basically extended into 2021 because of the COVID crisis, can you clarify the cost of that and whether it'll be funded from cash on balance sheet? Can you also clarify whether the delay to that will have any impact [indiscernible] are achieving for the rest of the business because I know the PPAs are dependent on capacity being delivered? And my other question. In terms of the loans to related parties, what capacity do you have to make further loans this year to the construction to the unrestricted group?

Okay. Regarding the Renewables you mentioned, this delay will not create an additional cost. There will be kind of cost of opportunity in the sense that we will not have the revenue earlier as we would like to. However, this doesn't imply additional cost. Regarding the tariffs that you mentioned, the real estate, having recognized the issue of COVID and what it's created in terms of approvals in terms of the whole process and also the supply chain, we have already provided for a 4 months extension for whatever was supposed to be delivered at the end of 2020. So there is already an approval for extension if you like to the April 2021. If for any reason an extension something long is required, we believe that real estate will be in a positive approach to compensate for this to act accordingly. So the extension. Regarding the money that we said that we have between [indiscernible], as I mentioned before, EUR 27 million has been reduced versus the basket of EUR 40 million. So one could say that the [indiscernible] 15 plus the -- what the other baskets as well, for example, [indiscernible] net income. We don't have anything planned for spending. Simply, I answer your question was with the remarks now. And of course, we are committed to abide to the notes. Did I answer your question?

I just wanted the cost of the expansion for the Renewables as well, the 88 megawatts. How much is that going to cost? And how will you fund that?

Actually, it's about EUR 100 million the -- sorry, are you talking about the CapEx?

Yes. Well, the cost for the 88.

Yes. The CapEx is close to EUR 100 million.

Right. And that would just be funded from cash on balance sheet?

No.

There are loans. And also, there's a portion that has been funded from our balance in investments, the issue of the notes that we had in January 2020. So a part of this comes from what we raised in January and another part will come from the funded deal from the banks.

The next question comes from the line of Cantor Adam with Knighthead Capital.

Can you help me understand what the cash burn for the Construction business was in 2019, if we exclude the losses in Australia?

Sorry, the total operating cash flow that was the cash outflow of the operating level in Construction was EUR 206 million. If you want me to share with you the breakdown of this, just give me one minute, please. Yes. It is minus EUR 72 million due to losses recognized in previous years; EUR 58 million due to losses in international [indiscernible]; EUR 33 million from stop-loss related to exiting high-risk projects; and EUR 19 million cash decrease in a JV in Qatar; and EUR 34 million due to tax and interest. So the total is EUR 206 million.

Okay. And do you have anything you can provide us as guidance for 2020 Construction cash needs?

It's true that the operating cash flow to Construction is under pressure in 2020. However, we intend to address this issue by funding from the Greek banks. The Construction has already been in negotiations with Greek banks in order to address this issue.

Okay. Last question for me is can you help me understand what the working capital position looks like today at the Construction business? And maybe you can provide some detail on what the accounts receivables look like there?

I should say that I think the suppliers since then [indiscernible]. To be honest with you, I'm not really sure about the returns rate. But also, as I said [indiscernible] you can contact us to see how we'll cover to you.

The next question is from the line of [indiscernible] with Marathon Asset Management.

My first question is regarding your short-term debts. Has there been any progress in terms of the filing some of this debt becoming due? Any additional bank lines that you can update us on?

Sorry, you said restricted debt?

Short term.

No, short-term debt.

Our short-term debt is very low. What is -- it basically is either such interim -- what do you call it, the immediate installment of long-term debt for some minor working capital facilities.

Okay. So if we're looking at 2020, what is the short-term debt?

If we're talking about the end of the year, so 31st of December, 2019, the restricted group short-term debt -- give me one second. Total group for the ELLAKTOR Group is EUR 114 million and for the restricted group rate...

EUR 53 million.

EUR 53 million.

Okay. And in terms of the overdraft facilities, have you renewed any of them so far?

Which one, sorry?

The overdraft facilities that you have, what's your overdraft facilities for the group banks?

Look, the restricted group doesn't have -- to the best of my knowledge, there's some overdraft facilities in the waste and Environment, which is small amount and there's a EUR 10 million overdraft facility for wind farms, which basically funds engine -- works as interim financing for long before we secure long-term financing for the wind farm on Construction.

Okay. And within the unrestricted group? What are the overdraft facilities there?

The unrestricted group, again, the -- there is more facilities in Construction, but they are revolving in nature. So it's basically against the -- sorry, [ discounting ] invoices. And then there are some interim facilities in the real estate business funding the development of the second phase -- for the second phase development phase of Smart Park, which we're in the process of refinancing long term, and this will be signed in Q2 2020.

Okay. Can you give us an estimate of the size on the Construction side?

Construction was about EUR 26 million, and for Renewable for the real estate business, it was about EUR 20 million.

Okay. Understood. And the remaining amounts for the EUR 114 million, which you mentioned before, that's coming from the [indiscernible].

There's about EUR 10 million -- there is EUR 10 million for the Environment that we mentioned before. There is EUR 10 million that we mentioned for the Renewables, and there is a portion -- short-term portion of long-term debt in Renewables. So total short-term for renewables is about EUR 28 million, which you can break down to EUR 10 million interest finance -- working capital facility that gets refinanced to long-term debt, plus maturities, short-term maturities of long-term debt.

Okay. I guess specifically on the Construction side, then, just to be clear, there's [ around ] EUR 26 million, you said, there?

That was drawn facility. The drawn facility as of end of December 2019.

Okay. But what's the overall size of that facility?

There is capacity when we want to utilize it. It has increased, for example, in the first quarter.

Okay. How much?

Listen, we can't disclose this figure, not that we don't want to, but this is also information, I think, for the total group, and we can't give numbers and figures that are not in the public domain. So I think we can -- we're disclosing the numbers now for year-end, so I'm happy to discuss year-end figures.

But this is a public call, right? So everything you say is in the public domain.

Yes, it is. But it's -- we're not discussing the first quarter results. I mean in the month, we will be publishing the first quarter results. We'll be happy to disclose this.

Okay. Understood. But just getting back to the issue of the [ revolver one ]. You said at the end of the year, there was EUR 26 million on the Construction side, but there's a capacity for increase, right?

There is some capacity for increasing. But as we mentioned, I think, during the call of the group results, we are in negotiation with the lending bank to secure additional funding for Construction.

Okay. Understood. And you also mentioned interim facility of EUR 20 million. That's also on the Construction side?

Which one, sorry?

You mentioned there was an interim facility of EUR 20 million.

That was in real estate.

That's in real estate, okay.

The next question comes from the line of David Vladimir with Muzinich & Co.

First one, when you calculate the builder basket for restricted payment covenant purposes, does the net income calculation include the share of losses from unrestricted subsidiaries?

No.

Okay. And when you came to the market with the new issue at the end of last year, part of the use of EUR 86 million was to pay down debt at the unrestricted group level. How much of that has been paid so far? And was the EUR 40 million that you mentioned previously during the call part of that EUR 86 million?

The EUR 86 million was injected as equity capital increase in Q4 of 2019. It's reflected also in the cash flows. I think that was actually one of the questions I was asked before that we didn't -- we somehow skipped through the line. The EUR 40 million I mentioned before was additional liquidity provided to the unrestricted group, but that took place in 2020. So it's not recorded in the financial statements of 2019.

Okay. And then on the financing for the Marina construction and renewables, do you -- how much bank financing do you have lined up for those? And then I'll get back in the queue for my other questions.

Total funding requirements for the Marina Alimou to the magnitude of EUR 90 million. So we got EUR 26 million from the proceeds from the tax that materialized -- took place in January. And the remaining financing fund [ to ] expand debt, well that's been agreed with the banks, and it's in the process of being signed as part of the concession agreement as well that is imminent.

And on the renewables?

The renewables, again, we have agreed terms with lending banks. The documentation is still pending. Prioritization of documentation is pending.

The next question comes from the line of Aristidou, Chrysis with Sefton Place Advisors.

On Slide 4, you've got that loans to the unrestricted group of EUR 189 million. What is the total capacity of the loans to unrestricted group? And yes.

Okay. First, I said that we have covered the EUR 27 million out of the EUR 40 million described in the basket. And there is also the basket for the 50% of the net income of restricted that has not been utilized at all. So these are the 2 items that we can think.

The next question comes from the line of Sequera, Raul with Chenavari Investment Managers.

I just wanted -- can you actually do a little bit of a walk-through at the restricted group level, excluding the Construction and basically of, what I would call, the operating cash flow renewables? So I remember you were taking basically the estimated operating cash flow per megawatt capacity of EUR 114,000, I think which is 2016 and 2018 average. Can we basically try to lay that down into the restricted group and have an idea of how much are you expecting your levered operating free cash flow this year for 2020 knowing that we've got 401 megs, I think, of capacity? And then the expected amortization, I think it was EUR 15 million for 2020 on the Renewables side and the -- basically, the equity CapEx for expansion on the Renewables business in 2020 and '21, just to have an idea basically on that? And the equity CapEx for Marina, I think you said it was EUR 27 million, but it's split across 4 years. Just to have a walk-through of the inflows or the net cash flows stemming out of Renewables and Concessions. For example, I know that Attiki Odos paid a EUR 56 million dividend as well in 2020. Just to have an idea there.

The -- from the operating cash flows, cash flows of the Renewables business is of the tune of EUR 30 million for full year 2019. And the metric I think we have indicated during the note offering was that on average, for each megawatt, the average cash flow -- or the operating cash flow was of EUR 114,000. So you will see that over the last 3 years, this average has gone slightly down. So it can be standing at EUR 112,000 per installed megawatt. So it's still more or less in line with the guidance that we had indicated. For the next -- so we expect that this will continue going forward as well, that guidance with regards to operating cash flows from the Renewables business. With regards to the operating cash flows from a year ago, you should be expecting that there will be a deterioration in 2020, and I think the reason is obvious. It's because of the COVID-19 impact. We said in our calls that traffic volume at Attiki Odos for the 4-month period up to end of April is of the tune of 25% drop. So you can calculate, let's say, that based on an annual turnover of Attiki Odos of roughly EUR 190 million, you can see that this drop in the first 4 months is to the tune of about EUR 16 million drop in revenue. So clearly, to estimate what the impact would be on a full year scale for 2020, one would need to make certain assumptions on how quickly or how long the virus, let's say, impacts operations of Attiki Odos, which we -- it's something we cannot estimate right now. So I think this gives you a bit of a hint about the operating cash flows of the 2 main segments.

And to reclarify, because you've indicated that before, obviously, the national lockdown is now progressively being curtailed in Greece as of today. So you highlighted some stats, and you were indicating that the traffic that you've got is, what, 25% higher than the Monday preceding the March 23. Is that correct?

No. We said 25,000 vehicles more versus what we used to experience the Monday before the restriction measures. So practically, if you want -- we have to be fair that we -- as we talk about the data of 6 hours from 6:00 in the morning to midday. Now if we calculate this data, it's true that we saw a reduction of 44% versus the 70% that happened after the March 23 day until the end of April. So the -- we have a very sharp increase from the 70% -- 60% to 70% that was the ground rate for the days of the restriction, and returning to the period between March 23 to the end of April, the average was 60% to 70%. And you see that in a few hours, it went back to minus 44%. We'll have to wait a bit more to see the data. Now to judge from the 6 hours data, one can see that [ calculation ]. So please let's leave it more there at the moment.

It's a hint, let's say, that there may be a quicker recovery than potentially [ seen ]. It's a hint from the first 6 hours, let's say, of removing the complete lockdown. So it's very early data, yes.

So basically, we had 70% decline in traffic from the 23rd of March until the end of April. And right now, today, with 6 hours data, given that the lockdown is basically being curtailed now in Greece, we have a decline on a year-over-year basis -- a decline of 44%. So the minus 70% became minus 40% just with 6 hours of data as of today.

Yes, you're right. And just to have the full picture, we said from the January 1 till the end of April, the reduction was at the range of 25%. 70% was just when we computed...

Yes, yes, yes. And what you haven't talked about is basically [ the parading ] the OpEx savings because obviously, you're operating with a very high EBITDA margin of around 74% then for Attiki Odos or something like that. What kind of operating leverage shall we actually consider in terms of -- if I'm assuming an X percentage decline in revenues on toll roads, I should assume a Y percentage decline in EBITDA. What kind of -- how should we think about that? Because you must be having some measures to contain the erosion in revenues. So how should we look at that for our models?

It's true that we have taken some measures that should be provided by the state as well, the right to reduce a bit your personnel. I don't have the exact figure, to be honest with you, in front of me, the kind of support from the state as well. I would not say that we should not consider it is very much because this lasts only for 1.5 months. If you -- if we had the view that this would last much longer, yes, we want to do a bit more dramatical, drastic cuts. But for the time being and for the period that we are discussing, it's not something, really, that it's very, very significant.

Okay. And just the -- because I had a question on the amortization of project finance. If I remember, you indicated here during the road show that it was going to be EUR 15 million this year. Around 40...

Maybe you heard about the question about the short-term debt before. The EUR 15 million in this short-term debt has to do with the last and final payment of this deposit financing that will take place in June. So we did the last remaining part of the deposit financing.

Okay. And then the equity CapEx would be EUR 20 million, is that correct, remaining actually for the expansion in April of 2020 and the one that is coming due in the first quarter of 2021? The equity CapEx I'm talking here.

The equity CapEx that you said has to do with the EUR 26 million of Marina, plus the EUR 20 million [indiscernible]. However, this will not be drawn within the 2020. It will be a very small portion of it. The Marina project is a [indiscernible] project. So the EUR 26 million will be spread. That won't be -- you can take the 1/4 of it, but...

Yes. I remember that EUR 26 million divided by 1/4. And the -- for the Renewables, it's EUR 20 million less of equity CapEx in 2020 and '21?

At this point, it's a bit more [ than years ago ]. I would say that 60% of this will take place this year.

Okay. All right. So '20, basically. Okay. Just to come back and finalize -- sort of basically just reclarify. In terms of the potential transfer of cash between the restricted group to the unrestricted group, so we -- the terms of conditions are to not allow for 2 carve-outs, which are the general basket, EUR 40 million. So you've utilized EUR 27 million out of the EUR 40 million, from what I understand. And then you have the buildup basket, which is 60% of restricted group net income, excluding the unrestricted group losses. How much was that net income, for example, on the restricted group for the fourth quarter 2019?

It's in the range of EUR 21 million.

So you would have EUR 10 million basically that you could use in the buildup basket, assuming you're doing the same in Q1 '20, but if you're not doing the same amount of net income, obviously, then that wouldn't be the case. Is that how we should look at it?

[ It's estimated, if decided ], yes, it can be as we said.

Okay. So it's basically we take EUR 50 million of every single quarter consolidated -- sorry, your restricted group net income moving forward. And what are you trying to get from the Greek banks actually for the Construction business? Is that going to be some sort of a syndicated RCF committed?

The target is not to move the money from restricted to unrestricted. What we described before is what we described in the notes. Construction is currently in negotiations with the Greek banks to get funding directly from these banks. So this will be the main target for us for funding the construction.

And that would be some sort of revolving credit facility from the [ remaining interest ] of syndicated banks that's provided by the Greek banks I assume, right?

So to be honest with you, I lost the first part of -- the first part of your sentence. Can you repeat, please?

No. Because I'm assuming that the Greek banks also provide bonding lines as well, performance bond guarantees in advancing the guarantees. Is that correct?

Yes. They provide bond lines for the guarantees to Greek banks. Already, they have provided lines in the range of EUR 1 billion.

That's right, EUR 1 billion. So that's secure. But then we're trying to secure a loss [indiscernible] or some form of funded revolving credit facility that would basically provide any funding for any working [ capital requirement ].

We're talking about funding facilities. The -- sorry, I cannot hear you very well, but when the bank line is provided, we have not yet to buy anything from us.

Okay. Okay. And Australia is -- you've completed all the works on the PV solar side in Australia?

Yes. There is no more execution they have in the commissioning stage, and they are almost done.

So which means that whatever amount we had in terms of remaining performance guarantees that were provided by the parent company into the Construction business, which was around EUR 35 million as of, I think, the offering memorandum, we should eliminate anything that we see in Australia there, is that correct, to reduce that amount.

The 7.2 has been exercised by the client. So this agreement has been [indiscernible]. The other one, yes, it's, too, extending, and most of that will return without any surprise.

Okay. Okay. Perfect.

Just to clarify one point. The EUR 30 million that you mentioned, though, is an estimate in the info memo because these are set performance guarantees, and there were 2 metrics. There was the nominal amount of the contract and the backlog as of the 30th of September. Just to clarify, there is -- the EUR 30 million that you referred to was basically the backlog as of the 30th of September, yes.

That's right. That's right. But because you -- what I want to understand is whether you went through that backlog as of today and whether we should assume that there's no more performance guarantees or advanced payment guarantees that are provided from the parent to some degree.

We've undertaken as part of the notes not to provide any further performance guarantees other than the ones that existed at the time of the offering. There's only one exception. There's one exception in the note. It's basically for concession projects that the restricted group will benefit.

Yes. Yes. But that's very different. I'm talking about the list that we saw. On that list, basically, there's almost nothing -- there's nothing left on that list.

There is no new guarantees. The guarantees are still in place because you need to formally, let's say, be released from the guarantees once there is the final completion of the projects, yes.

The next question comes from the line of Danechi, Michel with Vedra Partners.

I had a question with regards to basically government compensation with regards to the loss of the revenues in the Concessions. A lot of companies have been compensated by the government because of the -- they're just following the government rules. So are you in negotiations with the government for some kind of compensation? And if yes, in what kind of form is that going to come in?

It's too early. Yes, it's early to say anything about this. The only thing we've done so far is to inform the state about the conditions that we are facing in the Concessions. And unless the picture is [indiscernible], we cannot even start any kind of negotiation. So we have to know what the repercussions of recoveries are going to be, and then we would talk about possible payments by the government or extension or whatever will be acceptable by both parties, following the details of our contract with the government. At the moment, we just inform the client about the change of the general conditions. It's not -- I mean nothing is clear as to what extent this is considered force majeure or not, et cetera, et cetera. There are legal issues and other issues to be clarified along the way. A lot depends how long this will continue and what the decline in the total income is going to be.

[Operator Instructions] We have a follow-up question from Mr. Memisoglu, Osman with Ambrosia Capital.

Just 2 follow-ups. One on the Renewables side. There are offtake guarantees. Can you give us a bit more detail on that? For example, if we were to see a very sharp decrease, are these offtake guarantees decided on an annual basis? Or is it for all of this 20 years? That's the first question. And the second part is maybe you mentioned it. Maybe I missed it. With all these moving parts, can you comment very roughly on the overall liquidity position of the restricted group currently?

Regarding very quickly the restricted group, we showed in the presentation the balances. We have to make it clear that the restricted group is very well supported. We have launched very close to signing for all the items that we discussed before for the CapEx. So in short, there's nothing that really worries us. Everything is properly funded because of this...

The offtake.

So you said about the guaranteed offtake.

Yes. So if electricity demand really collapses, would the offtake come down as well? That's what I'm wondering.

Sorry, if what collapses?

Theoretically, if the electricity demand really collapses, then do -- everyone who has gotten an offtake, including [indiscernible] for you, would they be able to see a proportionately less offtake because the total demand in the country has come down materially?

Osman, the electricity, even -- it's top priority. Renewable is top priority. So the -- you would start, let's say, from some of our stations going down, let's say, too, before you get the renewables.

So practically, there should be no electricity sold for the capacity that will never exist because they have a priority. We don't have that kind of guarantee, but it is a priority in the system.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to management for any closing comments.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for today's presence in this conference call. We know very well that 2020 will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But nonetheless, we remain hopeful and optimistic. The group's transformation is progressing. ELLAKTOR is further diversifying its Concessions portfolio with Alimos Marina, the only major concession product tendered recently. Renewables are proceeding with its ambitious expansion plan program, yes. And although the completion of the 88-megawatt may be delayed due to the pandemic, we expect to reach our goal of over 579-megawatt installed capacity in 2021. In Environment, we remain in a great position to capitalize on upcoming growth opportunities while, in parallel, we complete the restructuring of Construction. We, therefore, expect 2020 to be challenging, but performance will ultimately depend on how the economy reacts as coronavirus-related measures are being lifted. Thank you all for your attendance. We will came to a close.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and you have a pleasant evening.