Grupo Energía Bogotá S.A. E.S.P. (GEB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. Welcome to the Grupo Energia Bogota Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call. The results reports were published yesterday and are available on GEB's website for your reference. The conference will start with an overview of the quarter's results and the main events in the economic and industry environment, followed by the group's financial milestones. At the end of the presentation a Q&A session will follow. [Operator Instructions] Our conference speakers will be the CEO, Juan Ricardo Ortega; the CFO, Jorge Tabares; and the Financing and Investor Relations Manager, Karen Guzman. Juan Ricardo, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Louis. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our 2025 year-end earnings call. It is a pleasure to present the group's main financial indicators. In 2025, we achieved milestones that reflect the group's strength and resilience in a particularly challenging local and regional environment. We recorded total revenue of COP 8 trillion and our adjusted EBITDA reached historic levels of COP 5.9 trillion, driven mainly by the dividend decrease from our investments in Brazil, Argo and Gebbras amounting to COP 1,313 million, equivalent to about COP 950 billion. Likewise, we closed the year with net income of COP 3.4 trillion, supported by managed nonoperational events and contributed to our results, which Jorge will address later. In Colombia, the year 2025 was marked by a moderate growth environment, persistent inflationary pressures, the devaluation of the Colombian peso against the U.S. dollar and monetary policy adjustments that increased the cost of capital. These factors reinforce the importance of our long-term strategy, focus on capital discipline, financial strength and diversified regional vision. Maintaining a solid financial position has enabled us to honor the trust of our more than 21,000 shareholders. By year-end, we completed payment of the COP 2.2 trillion in declared dividends, reaffirming the tangible value we generate and distribute among those who form part of the company's shareholder base. Dividends, together with the appreciation of the shares in 2026 represent a total shareholder return of 31%. Before the end of the year, Fitch Ratings adjusted our international rating from BBB with a negative outlook to BBB negative with stable outlook, aligned with the sovereign downgrade that also impacted other companies. This change does not alter our vision of our group's structural strength. We continue to have a diversified portfolio, stable cash flow and a solid business position supported by strategic assets and disciplined execution. These fundamentals allow us to maintain investment grade even in an uncertain fiscal environment and remain focused on strengthening our financial and operational capabilities to sustain the group's growth and contribute to the country's energy security. Additionally, the Capital District as the major shareholder began an analysis process to evaluate the potential divestment of 9.4% of stake in the group, in line with the approval granted by the District Council. This exploratory phase will allow the District to determine whether the technical and financial conditions assist to move forward with the transaction corresponding to the sale of the remaining portion authorized since 2016. Now we'll look at the operational milestones. In Colombia, our energy infrastructure progress reflects our commitment to reliability and regional development. In 2025, we commissioned Section III of Alferez-San Marcos of the Southwestern Reinforcement strategic project now at 87% completion that includes 38 kilometers of transmission lines and 93 towers strengthening electricity supply in Valle del Cauca and Capital Cali This project, part of a 423-kilometer 500-kilovolt system continues to advance across its remaining section and has generated positive social impacts for more than 28,000 people in this area of influence through community infrastructure initiatives and quality of life improvements. We also commissioned the Rio Cordoba-Bonda line a 33-kilometer 220-kilowatts infrastructure, including 59 towers and 2 construction segments built under the highest technical, environmental and social standards, reinforcing energy security in Magdalena and transforming the reality of households, industries and energized territories. We further consolidated our growth with the award of the Sopo Substation, a key project to strengthen the electricity connections in Cundinamarca and the Bogota [ line ]. This initiative, part of the 2022, 2036 national expansion plan of the Ministry of Mines and Energy will begin operations in 2029, improving service quality and reliability. With this award and over 2,500 kilometers already in operation, we solidify our position as the country's second largest electricity transmission operator, reaffirming our long-term vision and commitment to regional development. From the electric power generation front, 2025 was a decisive year for Enel Colombia. The hydrological recovery allowed for a greater contribution of self-generation, reducing spot market purchases and lowering thermal generation usage, all while maintaining a controlled cost structure. At the same time, progress advanced on the construction and energization of the Guayepo III solar park, which recently entered into operation, reaching a maximum capacity of 266 megawatts. This milestone consolidates our affiliate as a leader in renewable energy generation and in the development of the country's largest [indiscernible] which is over 1 gigawatt at the moment, fundamental to diversifying Colombia's energy matrix. Likewise, the distribution business strengthened Enel's results due to an increase in the regulated remuneration associated with the commissioning and recognition of new infrastructure, expanding the regulated asset base. Enel Colombia drove the expansion and modernization of the electrical grid in Bogota and Cundinamarca under the Bogota region 2030 expansion plan with investments of approximately COP 1.3 trillion in strategic assets -- this boosts the system reliability and enables large-scale electric mobility projects transforming the region. At the end of January 2026, our subsidiary, TGI and Hocol, a subsidiary of Grupo Ecopetrol, signed an agreement granting TGI a connection point to [ Hocol's ] infrastructure. This is critical for Colombia's gas supply through imports to the [indiscernible] complex that connects to the TGI infrastructure. There is going to need the approval of an [ IPA ] which is a reliability asset for the gas transportation system, and we hope to be able to hit this in operation late in 2028 with over 250 million standard cubic feet per day at that time. Finally, both in Brazil and Peru, we see opportunities that is strengthen our regional vision. In Brazil, technical events, including the nationwide blackout of October 2025, highlighted system vulnerabilities and accelerated a more ambitious regulatory agenda aimed at modernizing networks and enhancing services resilience. This renewed momentum creates a clear space for companies with our experience to contribute to the transformation of Brazil's electricity system and capture investment opportunities in critical infrastructure. In Peru, we operate in a stable regulatory environment that offers significant growth opportunities through an investment commitment of more than $500 million plan, enabling the extension of the Calidda's concession into the Andean regions. We await the government's definition to advance this process, a key step to continue aligning our capabilities with the sustainable regional vision that drives us. We've spoken with most of the current candidates, and they all see with good eyes for this project to be implemented. I now hand the floor over to Jorge Tabares, Chief Financial Officer, to present the financial performance of the quarter. Please go ahead, Jorge. Thank you.

Thank you, Juan Ricardo. Good morning, everyone. In Q4 '25 operating results were influenced by the average 0.5% appreciation of the Colombian peso against the U.S. dollar in addition to other factors that I will explain below. Operating revenues decreased 6% year-over-year, mainly due to foreign exchange conversion effect, which totaled COP 138 negative billion. In the Natural Gas Distribution segment, Calidda recorded solid revenue performance in functional currency, increasing by $15 million, driven by distribution services, higher bill volumes and network relocation services related to new projects with the regional government of Lima and the Metropolitan Investment Fund. These results were offset by a [ COP 129 billion ] FX conversion effect negative. The Natural Gas Transportation business posted an 8% year-over-year contraction, mainly due to the higher demand observed in 2024 associated with [indiscernible] thermal plant during El Nino phenomenon as well as lower contracted capacity from key customers. Additionally, the absence of a tariff ruling for 2025 limited the expected revenue dynamics. In electricity, the transmission business recorded a 2% decline, including a minus COP 5 billion appreciation impact. In Colombia, revenues were also affected by the update of the domestic PPI index and the USD PPI, which reduced the performance of revenues from auction assets. Operating costs decreased 3% year-over-year. In gas transportation, lower maintenance and emergency costs along with reduced replacement gas consumption contributed to the decline. In electricity distribution, the sharp reduction is explained by 2 factors: the FX conversion effect of minus COP 3 billion and normalization of service contract cost at Dunas following reversals of related party transactions in Q4 '24 that did not apply this period. In electricity transmission, cost increased due to higher contributions and depreciation of transmission networks, mainly from the capitalization of Section I of the Southwestern reinforcement project. The total FX conversion effect on operating costs amounted to COP 96 billion. Administrative expenses fell 53%, mainly due to lower expenses in the Electricity Transmission segment, resulting from the reversal of the [ IRE ] provision for 2025 for COP 124 billion. This corresponds to January to September, along with the reversal of WACC-related disputed adjustments at TGI for COP 72 billion. Additionally, the FX conversion effect was COP 14 billion negative. As a result, operating margins increased 15% this quarter versus the previous year with Electricity Transmission segment showing the largest positive impact on operating results, primarily due to the lower Air-e portfolio provision, followed by the reversal of the provision adjustments at TGI in the natural gas transportation business. The next slide, I will present the main factors that explain the evolution from operating income to net income during the quarter. Quarterly operating income reached COP 1.1 trillion, a 67% increase versus Q4 '24, driven by an extraordinary event reflected in other income from the sale of a nonoperating asset totaling COP 231 billion and the provision reversal at TGI for COP 62 billion. The performance of the main line item is as follows: financial expenses increased 4%, reflecting new treasury loans. Foreign exchange differences decreased 49% as foreign currency liabilities benefited from 9.6% quarterly appreciation of the COP against the USD. Regarding the equity method, Enel Colombia, strong performance offset the tariff reductions applied to [ SPE's ] Argo 5, 6 and 7 by the regulatory calculation in 3Q 2025. Income tax increased 51% year-over-year, mainly due to higher current tax the FX impact on debt from the quarterly appreciation of the COP, end-of-period exchange rate up 4% versus USD and the sale of the nonproductive asset mentioned. Controlled net income for the quarter totaled COP 929 billion. Let's move to the next slide, please. The equity method contribution reached COP 419 billion in the quarter, increasing 61% year-over-year, mainly due to Enel Colombia, which reported an annual 35% increase in net income, driven by higher regulated remuneration, lower impairment from the low [ M-Pesa ] sale, reduced debt levels and a stronger operating profitability from its generation and distribution businesses. Vanti, which delivered positive performance with 22% EBITDA growth and 100,000 customer expansion in its user base. The results were partially offset by the 5-year tariff adjustment in Brazil affecting [ SPEs ] Argo 5, 6 and 7, which reduced revenues in these concessions as well as higher financial expenses in 4Q '25 due to dividend payments to GEB. On a 12-month basis, the 14% year-over-year increase in the equity method contribution was led by Enel Colombia recovery. The contribution from controlled companies increased 3% year-over-year, driven by 3 companies, TGI, Calidda and Dunas. In TGI's case, this was due to the reversal of the provision amounting to COP 134 billion. Let's continue to the next slide. In 2025, executed investments totaled $515 million equivalent, a 9% year-over-year increase. Colombia Transmission accounted for 53% of the total investment, up 8% versus '24, mainly due to progress on the Colectora, Chivor II-North, Southwestern Reinforcement and Sogamoso projects. The second largest investment focus was Natural Gas Distribution with Calidda executing 20% of total organic CapEx in network distribution. Natural Gas Transportation investments grew by 57%, driven by progress on EPAC capacity expansion projects on the Mariquita-Gualanday and Ramal-Jamundi sections. The updated 5-year organic CapEx projection is $1.4 billion, driven mainly by energy transmission investments. In Colombia, these resources will support ongoing projects and future investments starting in 2027 for UPME-led auctions. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was COP 1.6 trillion, up 83% year-over-year, mainly due to dividend decrease from Argo, COP 713 billion and Gebbras 84. The chart on the right highlights the contribution of the top 3 companies to EBITDA, TGI with 42%, Calidda with 24% and Colombia Transmission with 12%. The other category shows a relevant 22% contribution driven primarily by Dunas and Gebbras in the quarter. Now I'll hand it over to Karen Guzman, Financing and Investor Relations Manager, to cover the debt section. Please go ahead, Karen.

Thank you, Jorge. Good morning, everyone. During the last quarter of 2025, the group's consolidated debt reached $5.5 billion equivalent with a 53%, 47% distribution between Grupo Energia Bogota and its subsidiaries. 40% of total debt is fixed rate, while 60% is indexed to SOFR, IBR and CPI. 67% is denominated in U.S. dollars, followed by 30% in Colombian pesos and the remaining in Peruvian sol. The group's leverage ratio, net debt over EBITDA improved from 3.8x in the fourth quarter 2024 to 3x in the fourth quarter 2025, driven by 16% growth in adjusted EBITDA, which outpaced the 8% year-over-year reduction in net debt. Similarly, the interest cover ratio EBITDA or financial expenses improved from 4.5x at year-end 2024 to 5.7x at year-end 2025, reflecting a stronger cash generation and more efficient financial cost management. This was supported by reductions in the average cost of debt, 38 basis points in U.S. dollars and 24 basis points in Colombian pesos. Next, key quarterly highlights by company. [ GEB ] issued a $500 million bond in the international market on October 2025 under Rule 144A with a 10-year maturity and a 5.75% coupon to partially finance its investment plan. TGI closed a COP 740 billion club deal loan with Bancolombia and Davivienda on December 2025 with a 7-year tenure bullet maturity and an interest rate of IBR 3 months plus 1.81%. Proceeds were used to refinance an existing club deal, optimizing the margin by 99 basis points. Calidda disbursed an additional $15 million from its A/B loan facility with GEB, reaching a total of $445 million with a 5-year tenor, bullet amortization and SOFR 6 months plus 1.65% rate. ElectroDunas secured a PEN 100 million loan with BCI with an 18-month tenure and a 4.86% fixed rate to refinance existing debt and fund CapEx and working capital. Now I'll hand it back to Jorge to continue with ESG topics.

Thank you, Karen. In 2025, the group achieved outstanding sustainability performance reflected in the inclusion of GEB, TGI and Calidda in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2026, following the assessment of over 9,200 companies worldwide. This is our fifth consecutive year of recognition, reaffirming the strength of our ESG strategy with a score of 84 out of 100, positioning us as leaders in the Americas within the gas utility sector. TGI ranked in the global top 1% of oil and gas storage and transportation sector for the third consecutive year, while Calidda entered the year book for the first time with a 77 out of 100 score. These results demonstrate discipline, transparency and rigor in management and strengthening our long-term sustainable value creation outlook. Regarding climate strategy, after assessing global and regional context, local energy realities and operational constraints and opportunities, we updated our climate commitments to a 20% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and 30% reduction by 2035. To ensure financial discipline, we adopted an internal carbon price of $15 per ton, a strategic tool for evaluating financial risk and opportunities, guiding investment decisions and enhancing long-term portfolio resilience. We expanded Scope 3 emission measurements to 10 of 15 categories, enabling a more robust value chain assessment. In climate adaptation, TGI and ElectroDunas completed 100% of plan actions in [indiscernible] advanced 6 out of 32 design plants and Calidda will begin critical infrastructure vulnerability assessments in 2026. In 2025, the group strengthened its social impact through COP 70 billion in investments benefiting more than 400,000 people. Through war for taxes, COP 62 billion were approved for energy communities initiatives, connectivity, environmental conservation and cultural preservation. TGI also connected over 4,300 people through rural gasification efforts. Environmental investments exceeded COP 45 billion and GEB advanced in identifying natural related risk impacts and dependencies aligned with the international frameworks such as TNFD. We achieved a 77% reduction in high-impact gaps identified between '24 and '25, demonstrating maturity in human rights due diligence. In 2025, we updated corporate level due diligence and completed the first evaluation at Cantaoc, reaching 100% of controlled subsidiaries with active plans to prevent manage and remediate human right impacts, strengthening governance and alignment with global standards, including UNGPS, ILO guidelines and OECD principles. In summary, quarterly results demonstrate, first, a solid performance in 2025, showcasing the group's structural strength amid challenging environment. We achieved COP 8 trillion in revenues and a record adjusted EBITDA of COP 5.9 trillion, supported by dividends from our transmission investments in Brazil. Alongside COP 3.4 trillion in net income, these results confirm the resiliency of our portfolio and our disciplined regionally oriented financial strategy and been a 70% payout ratio totaling COP 2.2 trillion in dividends. We reinforced market and shareholder confidence despite macroeconomic pressures and regulatory uncertainty. In a year of moderate growth, persistent inflation on peso revaluation, we distributed COP 2.2 trillion in dividends. Combined with share appreciation, this delivered a 31% total return to more than 21,000 shareholders. We consolidated our ESG leadership regionally and globally in 2025, supported by strong S&P Global evaluations recognizing GEB, TGI and Calidda's top performers in their respective sectors. Thank you again for your interest, and we now open the floor for...

We'll now move on to the Q&A part of the call. [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Juan Jose Munoz from BTG. Hello. Juan, please go ahead. We cannot hear you.

You can type it, in case you cannot speak out.

[Operator Instructions] We have a question from Sebastian Gallego from Ashmore. Could you please dig deeper on the company's expectations for the district divestment, time line structure of the offering, thoughts on valuation, et cetera. Can you please share your expectations related to dividends to be received by your main investments compared to 2025?

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you, Sebastian. So as announced, GEB is exploring all possible lines of action to concrete the desired sale of the city. So far, we are just have been speaking with potential investors everywhere locally and internationally and are preparing all the information required in case the district decides to move forward with the transaction. The decision point should be something along the May, June time frame. And of course, at this point, valuation or potential investors is not decided and that is going to be driven by market conditions and investors' appetite at the time. So that's what we can say at this point about this transaction. We're talking to a lot of potential investors and our position in the company's strategy to new investors to see if we can gather enough support for the potential sale of the district shares.

So we'll open the line of Juan Jose from BTG. Juan, we're not hearing you. Perhaps you can send a text question. Okay. Juan sent his question. Can you give more color on Argos' dividends? When can we expect -- when we can expect going forward the same level of dividends?

Sure, Juan Munoz. So the dividend was an extraordinary dividend. The company reacted to the enactment of the tax law that would -- that established a withholding tax on the dividends. So we quickly reacted and agreed with REA that it was the most cost-efficient way to receive dividends from the company, given the fact that the Argo had access to the local markets in a long-term possibility. They raised debentures locally at 5, 7 and 10 years, so long term. So this is an extraordinary dividend. Moving forward, we think the framework will be between 50% and 70% dividend payout from Argo, and that is what we will be receiving on an ongoing basis. On 2026, that number is along the lines of COP 100,000 million from Argo itself. So it was extraordinary a reaction to the tax. And the fact that the company had moderate leverage and access to a very competitive local money, that's what drove the dividend this year. I can read here the [ Juan Stefan Ortega]. Can you give us more color on the gas situation in Peru and the exposure of the group? So unfortunately, this is a short time major crisis. But from the beginning, TGP and the government announced that it was going to take like 14 days to repair. And effectively, they are going to do that as of last night, they keep maintaining that it could take 13 days. Now they are moving in the range of hours basically instead of days, not clearly not weeks. They are about 50% complete in their repairs is what they announced yesterday. So we think that's going to be resolved relatively quickly. The exposure is moderate. The bigger exposure for us is in Calidda, in the regulated market. And this could mean if it takes 14 days, it could be in the range of $2 million to $2.5 million of lost revenue by Calidda because of the event. In the nonregulated business, the Calidda clients have take-or-pay, and that's then not affected. This condition is not considered a potential exclusion for the payments from the clients. And this -- the quality and the nature of the take-or-pay contract was already tested during the COVID period and the company read of the take-or-pay contracts prevailed and all the clients have to pay at the time. So it's a moderate exposure. And then we have a minor exposure on the ElectroDunas side. Because of the constraint of gas, they had to turn off the thermal plants in total 60 megawatts for a few days, but that's not in the $0.5 million range, even lower than that. Moderate exposure and the situation is going to be short-lived. We do think that this actually can create an interesting opportunity. We have in the past spoken to the authorities many years ago, and we once in a while put that conversation on the table is either the need for regasification facilities in order to support the system in this type of situations because relying on just one pipeline for the whole economy is a risky proposition despite this having -- or this situation occurring very rarely or increasing the capacity for storage. Of course, storage is not going to fix months, but it could fix a few days also. Clearly, the quick reaction by TGP and the good work of ensuring that the situation is fixed quickly is a positive. And that can be -- or when assessing risk in the future, this is a positive to assess this type of risk.

We have a follow-up from Sebastian Gallego from Ashmore. Can you talk about the M&A progress in Brazil or any other country that you may be looking?

Sure. So Brazil transmission keeps being a key target for us. And last year, we spent a lot of energy and effort to try to win an asset that was for sale that we were very familiar with. But we maintain financial discipline and the winner was a Chinese company, and they measure returns different from us. So we just need to let go those opportunities in order to ensure value creation. It's a very dynamic market and our size now with the transactions we have made since 2015, give us a very good position to entertain conversations with different players. I'm optimistic that we can close something in Brazil in the next 3 or 4 months. A lot of conversations going on. And we are respected in the sense of a potential partner or a potential acquirer for assets that could be up for sale. So Brazil, something could materialize relatively soon is what I would say. In terms of dividends, when we add up all the net income of the companies, or the dividends to be received during 2026 is COP 2.4 billion -- trillion in the U.S., I guess.

[Operator Instructions] Okay. It looks like we have no further questions. I'll now hand it to Jorge for the concluding remarks.

Thank you for your interest and participating in the call, and we remain open for further questions. The IR team is available, and please do not hesitate to come back to us. I'll just emphasize, it was a positive year. The diversification of the portfolio benefits us if some business are being challenged, others are delivering more results and that compensates -- and we enter 2026 with many opportunities that have been in the -- maturing for the last many months. So fully, we can close one of those and continue executing our strategy. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We'll now be closing all the lines. Have a nice day.