Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. E.S.P. (ISA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to ISA's 2019 Fourth Quarter Results Presentation. My name is Hilda, and I will be the operator today. [Operator Instructions] Please refresh your screens to see the presentation updated on the webcast. At this time, I will transfer the call to Mrs. Gloria Velasquez. You may begin.

Thank you, Hilda. Welcome to ISA's 2019 Fourth Quarter Results Presentation. We have with us today Mr. Bernardo Vargas Gibsone, ISA's CEO; Carolina Botero Londoño, Chief Financial Officer; Cesár Ramírez Rojas, Chief Energy Transport Officer; Mrs. Olga Patricia Castaño, Chief Strategy Officer, who will present ISA's results prior to addressing any questions you may have. The English and Spanish recordings of this call will be available at www.isa.co, starting tomorrow. Please refer to the disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements before making any investment decisions with regard to ISA. At this point, I will turn the call over to our CEO.

Thank you, Gloria. Good day, everyone, and welcome to ISA's results presentation for the fourth quarter period of 2019. We will be able to speak about the results. It's a real pleasure for me to be here with you all today. Let's begin with Slide 3 by reviewing the highlights of the period. I want to start this conference by highlighting the projects that enter into operation in 2019. This year, we started 9 ISA projects in Energy Transmission, which altogether contributed $57 million per year. These projects which had almost 1,100 circuit kilometers to the existing grid and are located in the countries of Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. And out of those 9, 5 of them are in Colombia. Within those that enter into operation, which were 12, it's the Expansion 18 and 19. In Chile, it's the Pan de Azúcar-Polpaico. In Brazil, there's the operation IEITAPURA. And in Colombia, the 5 that I mentioned: substation Montera and related lines as well as substations in San Antonio and related lines; the third transformer is Sogamoso; connection Electricaribe, Copey; connection Ternium, Sabanalarga of which those are the last 3, I mentioned initiated operations in the fourth quarter and had annual revenues of $3.4 million. Let's go to Slide 4, please. In 2019, besides the projects that enter into operations that were highlighted in the previous slide, Grupo ISA and its companies were awarded 4 projects that they bidded on. In the first quarter, ISA in Colombia was awarded the El Río substation project with an underground transmission line, which will be approximately 15 kilometers long. The company will receive annual revenues of $10.84 million once it enters into operation. Now in the fourth quarter, ISA CTEEP, a subsidiary of ISA in Brazil, won the 3 projects to which it was presented that it bidded on in December, in the public auction by the national agency of electric power of Brazil, ANEEL. These energy transmission projects represent for the ISA Group annual revenues of close to $20 million and would contribute 379 kilometers of new transmission lines once they are finished. Please proceed to Slide 5. As you can see in the slide, right now, there are 28 projects under construction. I want to mention, among them, in light of their size, in Colombia, the project that we call the northwestern project, which includes the transmission lines that connect to Ituango and these are 4 transmission lines. In the same manner, in Brazil, we want to highlight IEAIMORÉS, IEPARAGUAÇU, and IVAÍ; and in Peru, the new connection of Mantaro to Nueva Yanango and Carapongo; and finally, in Chile, the Rutas del Loa concession that were awarded in the previous year in 2018. Total investments for 2019 in these projects that are in process in addition to the ones that enter into operation in 2019 were COP 2.6 trillion and are mainly concentrated about 88% of this investment in the energy sector. Let us now move to Slide 6. In this slide and before Carolina talks about these numbers, I would like to highlight that in this slide, in this year again for the fourth year in a row, we've got the best result in ISA' history. As you can see, there were significant increases compared to the previous in every item reported. The result was -- There was a [ COP 5.3 trillion in EBITDA, ] and then net revenues of COP 1.7 trillion that represent the ROE 13.2%. These results are associated mainly with those projects that enter into operation during the year but also to -- thanks to a greater effort in efficiency in construction, through digital innovative strategies, and obviously, also to the anticipation through the entry for operation of the projects in which ISA CTEEP participated and the companies in Brazil. This is very relevant, and if added to our mind, we intend to have a better management every year. This has to do with the cost and expenses. This grew by 7.5%, which is under operating revenues that grew 11.6% between 2018 and 2019. These numbers, mentioned above, we can conclude from this ROE, with this highest equity in the history, which -- it's also consistent with the previous 3 year in which each year we achieved historical income figures and also in the ROE because this is what guarantees that our shareholders know that their capital, when they invest with us, will be well invested. And now I turn over the call to Carolina to explain these results in greater detail.

Thank you very much, Bernardo. Good morning, everyone. I am very pleased to be here with you once again. Please let's go to Slide 7. As always, I would like to recap some of the events of 2018 and 2019 that will facilitate understanding of the results. In 2018, 3 extraordinary events took place, which added COP 203 million to the net income for the year. One was the adjustment in the deferred residual value resulting from the decline in the interest rate per the Financing Law, which contributed COP 83.3 million to the 2018. The recovery for the equity tax in Colombia. And as you can remember the recognition of 6 additional months for the inflation rate update for the June 2018 to May 2019 cycle at ISA CTEEP and its companies as a result of the decision to conduct it on a monthly basis, which contributed COP 66,000 million (sic) [ COP 66 million ] in 2018. Let's go to Slide 8 to review operating revenues that totaled COP 8.1 trillion, 12.5% more than in the previous year. But let's remember that excluding the extraordinary events for 2018, which are the rates inflation adjustment in Brazil and the recovery of the equity tax in Colombia that is moving to the second bar of the graph, the growth would have been 16.4%. If we isolate construction, we obtain the results shown in green, which are the operating revenues, growing by 11.6% compared to 2018. Please remember these results for our discussions. What do these results include? Construction efficiencies achieved in ISA CTEEP and its Brazilian companies; higher revenues from new projects in Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Chile; adjustment in the remuneration in ISA INTERCHILE, lower revenues from the RBSE and the exchange rate effect which increased revenues.

I want to say something here. It's very important to highlight that even adding the extraordinary events in the revenues that Carolina mentioned, in 2019, the -- we were better in 2018 in this amount of 12.5% if we exclude these events of 2019. Because they are like, what we call, onetimers, then the growth from year-to-year would be 16.4%. This is very important to highlight.

Thank you, Bernardo. Let's go to Slide 9. We're going to discuss the AOM. In 2019, AOM grew by 17.8%. If we isolate construction costs, AOM expenses grew by 7.5%, which if we compare it to the 11.6% growth of operating revenues for the figures I just mentioned that were important to retain in memory, it shows a very important control of the AOM. Let's go to Slide 10. Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard us repeat that in the main results, we have excluded construction effect. This was the result of 2 main reasons: first was the construction activity in the concession which varies greatly year-to-year; and secondly was the magnitude, which is very small when compared to the operating activity, revenues and expenses. Then, when these are combined, growth in operating activity is distorted. For example, EBITDA for 2019 grew by 9.8%, mainly as a result of the entry into operation of new project and the recognition of construction efficiencies at ISA CTEEP and its Brazilian companies. If we discount the construction effect and the extraordinary events of COP 240 billion in 2018, EBITDA grew by 13.2%, that's what we're talking about. The 2019 EBITDA margin was 64.9%. Let's continue with Slide 11. Net income grew by COP 1.6 trillion, a net margin of 20.1%, which, as Bernardo said, is a very positive result when we take into account the onetimers that happened in 2018. For the fourth time in a row, ISA surpassed the annual income of the prior year, reflecting the growth trajectory very sustainable and profitable. As we mentioned previously, the variation was mainly due to higher results from the entry into operations of new projects in Peru, Colombia and Chile, construction efficiencies at ISA CTEEP and its companies. The residual value adjustment of the Peruvian concession and higher revenues from the road concessions. Growth in net income also incorporates higher financial costs, which are product of the debt increases that were needed to support growth as well as higher taxes due to the stronger results. Net income growth of 7.5% is very positive, as I said previously, and inclusively nonrecurring events for COP 203 billion in 2018. If we exclude these, net income growth would have been 22.4%. I would like to highlight net income for the fourth quarter, which declined by 24.2% versus the same period last year due to the extraordinary events that we mentioned, without which the decrease would have been 8.9%. The main reason is lower construction efficiencies at ISA CTEEP and its companies in the fourth quarter of 2019 with respect to efficiencies in the same period in 2018. Net margin in December was 20.1% for the quarter and the margin was 19.6%. Greater income comes from Brazil with 34.7%, Colombia with 28%, and Chile with 19.1% and Peru with 17.4%. Let's look at the balance sheet on Slide 12. The assets of ISA and its companies concluded the year at COP 48.8 trillion, 8.5% more than in 2018. This is a result of the company's growth through new projects in Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil. Compared to December 2018, liabilities increased by 6.4%, basically due to the debt incurred to support projects under construction as well as the group's investments. This equity variation of 11.4% was due to higher income, the distribution of dividends, the revaluation of the Colombian peso with respect to the Brazilian real, and the Chilean peso and its devaluation with respect to the U.S. dollar. In Slide 13, we see the evolution of the ROE, which reaches 13.2%, as Bernardo mentioned earlier. The rising behavior of the ROE, during the last 5 years, is primarily based on the efficient operation of the company as seen in the gray bar on the presentation, where the operating ROE increased by 280 basis points, going from 8.9% in 2015 to 11.7% in 2019. Let's go to Slide 14, where we can see the debt behavior. At the end of 2019, consolidated financial debt closed at COP 18 trillion, about 2.7% higher than in 2018, thereby leveraging ISA's growth. The net debt EBITDA indicator demonstrates the financial solidity of the company and the space to absorb the business opportunities we are always analyzing. This indicator went from 3.03x in December 2018 to 2.45x in 2019, which is below our agreements with the rating agencies. Interest coverage reached 5.96x underscoring the strength of ISA. Let's go to Slide 15. The investment plan for 2020 to 2024 consolidates the obligations already acquired and the payment of the Cartagena Barranquilla Coastal Concession. The total investment for this period was $3,657 million (sic) [ $3.657 million ]. By country, CapEx is distributed in Brazil with 31.4%, Chile with 24.1%, Colombia with 22.4% and Peru with 22%. By business line, investments went into energy with 72.9% and toll roads with 23.4%. This is the end of the presentation. Now we invite you to the Q&A session. Operator, please proceed.

[Operator Instructions] We have Camilo Roldan from Davivienda with a question.

I have 3 questions. One, considering that there will be major investments in 2020, we estimate that the leveraging limit will be affected, it will keep in line or what will be the limit that you would consider tolerable so that these indicators work? The second is the CapEx for Colombia. Does this include the investments that will happen with the alliance with Cóndor? And my last question refers to the recent projects that were earned in transmission in line, where we had a discount of 62% in the RAP. We want to know if this will be taken into account into the CTEEP. And whether the competition is very high? Is that why these discounts are happening in the RAP?

Thank you, Camilo. I will respond to your first and second questions. And my colleagues will respond to your third question. The investments we have contemplated for 2020 will be within the limits of 3.5 that we were negotiated with the rating agencies. At no time do we risk the financial health and the debt policies of the group, and we pay attention to the investment grade. Second, when you ask whether the CapEx that we show includes the investments with Cóndor. No, sir, CapEx only include investments committed, that's why we included Costera. And to the extent we complete investments with Cóndor, we'll be including them in our committed CapEx. And for the third question.

The first question, I want to say that in conversations that we permanently hold with the rating agencies because the predictable revenues are long term and these are not constant in the space we have if we wanted to. This is leveraging, et cetera, as Carolina said, we have a 3.5 level, but we have spoken with the rating agencies, and they take into account acquisition and more so they have a broader tolerance, if it was necessary for those leveraging indices as long as those indices that are a result of acquisitions have a time to be reduced within a time frame. So if you put into account about the CapEx in Cóndor, we are permanently in discussions with Cóndor, and we are trying to see everything that's in motion. And we are very interested in being able to participate both in green options in the Colombian/Peruvian or acquisitions. But we cannot include in the CapEx things that we don't know. About the discounts, yes, we can say that they were high due to higher competition, but also we are managing the expectations of the Brazilian economy are very positive expectations. As you know, everything is improvised. So I think it's the only economy in the world that has negotiated a pension reform, effective last year. And this, obviously, made that the future figures in Brazil are more optimistic. And the investment in Brazil will achieve better results last year than this one than ever before. Having said this, in the 3 projects that we won, 2 of them, we were very close to the competition. And the other one, we can say, we were more aggressive than we should have been. But in this particular project, which was the smallest of all, the difference that we left on the table, given the magnitude of this project was really very low. Now all of this, if we do it with a very concentrated work in the technical aspects of it, and we have to be sure that we are not going to break our fundamental premise that we need to grow with profitability. So at no point in these negotiations with Brazil, I will be breaking this commitment.

We have Carlos Rodríguez from Ultraserfinco on the line.

I have 3 questions. The first has to do -- is there any fiscal impact, a tax impact, for the ISA do Brazil? And what can we expect in 2020 with the overseas affiliates? The second has to do with the margin in construction in 2019. And can you tell us why are those better efficiencies in Brazil? And what can we expect in 2020? And the third question has to do with management costs. And I want to separate the why in the quarter within 40% and for the year only 23%?

Thank you, Carlos, for your questions. The first question, the answer is yes. It has a tax impact of 15%, which is the withholding applied to us in Brazil. The second about the construction margin for the year 2019. Well, simply, as you know, we have this in place, I'm going to let Cesár to elaborate on this. We have this project in Brazil in CTEEP and its companies where what we want to highlight is the margin that we obtained in the efficiencies in construction for 2018 that were way above that which was in 2019. But it's worth highlighting -- this doesn't mean that we would not have had those efficiencies in the fourth quarter of 2019. What happened is when we compare one quarter with the other one, in 2018, the efficiencies were higher. Cesár, I don't know if you want to elaborate on what was to do?

Well, yes, this has to do with the volume. So the biggest impact for a project, basically in Brazil, what happened in 2018 and then in 2019 was the project, the growth of the project, which was reflected in the accounting project. There was a contractual agreement that reflected the structure of the project. So the impact was far greater, so its volume as well. So if 1 year and a quarter, it grows and then the next year is different, it's due to the difference in the volumes of this project. So what does this mean that neither the practices or methodologies or participations in one project are not -- it's not that these are different per se, it's due to the volume of the -- and the magnitude of the project. And the last about the administrative costs. Let's remember that we included every -- all these studies that are performed, for example, Costera. When we were preparing for Costera, we have to hire investment bankers, lawyers, consultants, et cetera. So all these studies that are performed to support the project, we started to base that part to achieve those objectives that we want to achieve by 2030 and these have no revenues associated yet. But the good news is that we want Costera, and very rapidly, we expect by May of this year, we can start seeing the revenues associated in our financial statements. This is the -- in May -- the value will be higher in May.

We have [ Nicolas Bravo ] from Credicorp.

I just have one question about the lines in Chile and the political -- what has been the evolution in traffic this year? What do you think will be the collection and recognizing the infrastructure assets? Can we expect the delivery of the projects that we already negotiated?

As we have seen [ Nicolas ], this has been -- as we have not seen anything in the traffic or great expenses for us associated through those projects in 2019. From the point of view of year-to-year, we only had some damages. From the point of view of the revenues, we have a lower impact and a good part of them were covered by insurance policies. So it's not that we had a harm, neither by the protest or in traffic. Now there is uncertainty, as you point out, about the contractual fee adjustments going forward. But up to now, there is no signal that allows us to make us think that there will be contractual change. Everything has been agreed to with the public works, in that regard. And obviously, I think that in Chile, they are very conscious that a part of the infrastructure, technical, I hope they have a will that this will be consistent with any political changes going up. And they -- we hear that there will be constitutional changes as well that will continue to protect investment, and this should be the best in the region. So we don't see anything to worry about over there. We see the advancements, particularly the constitutional reforms and tax topics that come up in those projects. As you know, a tax reform was announced as well, so we cannot land in a very concrete way, yet. Hilda, let Diego Buitrago ask a question.

I have a question, and it has to do with pending regulatory topics and some other things that ISA is involved in, like the [ Kai ] in Brazil, the tariff revision in Colombia, and the possible fines in Chile for the delay in the entry into operation of the transmission project last year.

Diego, I don't know, were you able to hear anything?

No, Bernardo. Unfortunately, we didn't hear anything. Total silence after my question.

Okay. Let me repeat. But the first 2 issues, there is not much to add. As far as the discussions we have and the statements that we are doing with the Ministry about the [ Kai ]. But we feel there is a favorable climate. We're talking to the parliament, so they recognize a compensation to what we are discussing. We don't know about the [ Kai ], but we're sure it's going to be contributed in a way that does not harm what we have in mind, and it will not impact the RBSE asset. About the tariff revisions in Colombia, we can say we were satisfied in the CREG. There's been a great opening, as we like to say. And the relative discussions about the tariff revision, it's -- it goes with what's convenient to the country and with a sensible conversation between regulators and agents, but there is nothing really to inform yet about Chile. Well, this was a public. It was in the press. The fines due to the delay in the telco line were already paid by us in this quarter. We continue with discussions with the Chilean Ministry because we were very clear to the -- which we alleged. It's an act of God. We're saying that we had nothing to do with that delay, and they imposed that fine. But we know we can base this with our legal counsel in Chile but also supported by other companies. And we confirmly state that what the ministry is alleging, it does not conform to international practices or what really happens. So we will continue to fight for what we believe are the right, that need to be respected, for us as investors, but those fines for the time being have been paid by us.

Now what was the amount of the fine?

Diego, the amount with warranty ticket, it was $68 million -- I'm sorry, $87 million.

We have a question. Mr. Velázquez, can you read the question?

Yes, Hilda. Yes. First -- Rodrigo Torres from Valora Analitik. Could you give us some sense of how are you going to finance the investment plans through 2024?

Yes, of course. Thank you for the question. We are studying innovative instruments more and more. But what we can tell you, right now, is that we will continue respecting our coverage policy. It means we're going to finance in the currency where the projects are carried out. And second -- well, let's say, we intend to distribute between capital markets and bank. That's what we've been doing traditionally, obviously, seeking opportunities. If the capital market offers better opportunities for us, we will be sorry for that. So we will evaluate on a case-by-case basis to see which alternative is more convenient to us and also how do we generate a very good cash flow. So this should support the growth of the company to finance the investment plan.

Second question, Mónica Aparicio from Itau CorpBanca. She has several questions. I'm going to ask them one-by-one. First, can you give us some idea about the changes that you see from the WACC revision in Colombia, and the updating of the regulatory base of assets?

Well, it was announced by Bernardo when we talk about the revenue, both the regulatory VAS and the WACC are topics that are being under discussion and they are within the timeframe of the revision under the new resolution that we think will clear in this first quarter of the year and if not next year. But right now, we can comment about the results of these discussions because the CREG has not established a definitive position about what's going to be the methodology. So we are in discussions, which will be probably a public hearing within the timeframe that I mentioned. Diego, go back to the amount of the fine. I want to give you specifically the values. The total is $78.4 million, of which $72.8 million correspond to the days not recognized as an act of God and $5.8 million to the guarantee ticket.

Second question from Monica. Can you tell us the advancements of the projects in Peru?

Well, in Peru, the project of greater impact will be the project that we can tell -- we can -- we foresee it enter into operation this year. We have had some difficulties with this project, some environmental issues. And then other projects, Quellaveco, we expect it to go into operation in June. And then the connection the Peru, which is also expected for this year?

Okay. Question three. What would be the purchase of the Costera Concesión?

Well, this concession, as you know, including Chile -- within our vehicle in Chile. Why? Because it's the -- so far we have in operation in the concession. You know we've been operating concessions in Chile for more than 10 years. So we have a credit already with Scotiabank to fund this purchase of this operation. And what we'll do very quickly is to evaluate the manner, the way this concession has been evaluated so we can capture much more efficiencies and go ahead with a refinancing.

The last question is, how do you see the renovation of the portfolio, the investment alternatives with the upcoming projects in Chile?

Well, first, we're bidding very strongly to restore [ Antartica ], and hopefully, we can win this new bidding so we can continue being the operators of that concession. But evidently, we have come to an agreement in Chile, not only about the bidding plan of the month but we also have initiatives, private initiatives, that are very advanced, that will allow us, that in worst of cases, in case we lose that new bidding, we want to have replacement assets, and obviously because we don't see the business only from the point of view of Chile. But right now we're seeing the road construction, not only in Chile but in other countries. We are going to have these transmission lines, so we are diversified by geographies. In case something happens and we lose a bid in one country, we can replace that into revenues with other assets in other countries, as it's happening with the acquisition of Costera, since we are very optimist. I repeat, not only we have to have success but also what's happening in Chile, as it was announced by the month, we expect to be growing within that business line.

Now we have some questions by Roberto Paniagua from Corficolombiana.

The first question, what is the accounting method about the Cartagena Barranquilla connection? And why did this call your attention to acquire it?

Well, the attractive -- I'm going to answer part of the question and then I will let Carolina say more. Well, this is a concession that for those of us who are concession operators and not constructors, it's very attractive. First, the plan; second, it has a 97% completion; and third is one of the ways of traffic horizon more -- one of the stronger, and it has to do with not only the ports, per se, but the tourism point of view. So when we acquired it, we thought it was a very priced acquisition in Colombia, and we were very happy to be able to acquire it. Plus, as a concession, it has very special advantages. But we have no time to elaborate on all of them. But strategically, this was the one we wanted the most, and we were very happy that we were able to buy it. By the accounting methodology, we need to have a financial asset, such as the concession in Chile, where we have an account receivable. And that's how we answer that in the accounting.

Maybe you already responded this question, but I want to read it again. In case there is anything new you want to add. What are the advancements in opportunities for new businesses that are developing in the alliance with the Cóndor constructions? What are the opportunities in the alliance with Construcciones El Cóndor?

Well, I already mentioned this. We are trying to see everything that is in motion from the point of view of acquisitions. We are also very interested in new projects from the government, and this is why the alliance makes a lot of sense. We feel that we are concession operators. We are not builders. So we feel that the -- they are one of the stronger builders in this country, and that's why the alliance has been very good for Greenfield. We have that constructing arm that allows us to evaluate everything from a technical point of view, from an expert in this field. So this opportunity from Greenfield can use it going forward so we can grow in greenfield.

And the last question from this analyst is, what are the advancements and the timeframes for the transmission line in La Guajira por tierra?

Well, the transmission line is about 50% concluded. We are estimating that this line what will enter into operation in 2021 because it's very well advanced.

The next question is from [ Castro ] from Credicorp Capital.

Are you interested in the Electricaribe assets? Do you have any restriction that does not allow you to participate in the bidding?

Yes, many because these are distribution assets. As you well know, the regulations in Colombia don't allow us in ISA to have any vertical integration with those transmission projects. So we are -- we cannot participate in this Electricaribe.

Another question from me. Do you have an agreement, in case that you have to sell your participation in the ISA? Can you give us some details?

Well, we obviously have fewer partners there. So we have some preferences about our shares and the purchase of shares, and those preferences are very well known by ISA. We don't know exactly what are the rules there, but we have openly said that if those assets become available, we will buy them.

Now we have Diego Buitrago with another question.

And let me take this opportunity to deepen in this topic. I would like to know, in your accounting, the estimated date of the timeframe for the concession and this bidding process, I would like to understand particular things about the -- this -- what is ISA participating the MOU? Any details as we approach the end of this concession?

Well, those questions, we even -- we ourselves have those questions. Because that bidding, we knew we're expecting it in the middle of 2020, and now we can see that the MOU will not be able to have everything ready -- any other requirements. So this will allow us to continue operating this concession. So we think that it -- now this may be delayed until the first or second quarters in 2021. So this is what we foresee right now. This is out of our control, and it all depends on the MOU movement in Chile. So whatever they do in that country allows us to assume that, that will be the case, not until 2021.

Right now, there are no more questions. Dr. Vargas, would you like to make another closing statement?

Yes. Well, in the presentation that you saw, I think worth looking at Slide 18. We have ISA2030 strategy. We recall this growth with sustainable value, which is a strategy that we expect to achieve very challenging goals that take into account the shareholder and it takes into account the environment. And I want to highlight in this communication with you that we are working very hard so we can face the increased competition in those markets and countries where we have a presence. So we intend to continue growing in this higher competition environment with our fundamental premise, growth sustainable with profitability. We know that in order to be able to be efficient and maintaining those margins, we're not going to achieve this by lowering rates only to win. We're going to have to be very careful. We need to be innovators so we can have more aggressive postures, not only from the point of view of revenues but also in costs. So we have a clear commitment to seek understanding that we are not visualizing right now; in some cases, we are, those that allows us to be more competitive and to maintain that profitability. We are clearly and constantly looking for a growth downfield and with our efficiency in every country where we have a presence, and we will continue doing this. And we expect that some of this materialize in this year 2020. And we're also very, very enthusiast about this -- in this year 2020, our first enter into operation of this we expect to have make progress in Colombia and in Brazil. And we are working hard to better understand how we're going to implement our idea of connection flows in order to achieve solutions for the distribution in the market. And lastly, we're totally committed to the purpose to reduce as much as possible CO2. So we have a very negative footprint, but also so are other companies. And people can use our strategy to achieve a reduction in their own footprint. So we have already -- we already achieved $1.4 million in savings in this year. We will also continue working very hard in the projects. And we're going to try to involve all the capacities of our companies within ISA, everything within this year, around our central commitment related with ethics, transparency and corporate governance. Finally, I want you to see Slide 19, where all of it that I'd mentioned, your better perception of everyone on the value of our shares. As I already reported the results of 2019, we've been having this year-to-year. We also want you to see that this is a company that going forward has a very interesting potential to continue growing with stable flows and to keep growing in every market that offers opportunities. Obviously, we are committed to approach, get closer to you to the market, to facilitate understanding -- your understanding about ISA. And we can have a much better valuation of our shares and the growth potential which is very high. To that end, we highlight again that in 2019, we achieved a historical value in our shares. Our shares was over 40% and it even exceeded the average in the market, almost 60%, and this was also complemented by volumes in the stock market which grew 60% to 70% in the month of May. So the -- what happened in previous years, ISA is close to 40% compared to the 1.35 that it had. I don't know if CPM will continue with selling shares as they intended, but achieving this percentage is very important. And to finish, remember that our shareholder meeting will happen on March 27, 9:00 a.m., and you will have every opportunity to connect by streaming the call. Thank you all for your participation, and have a very happy day.

Thank you, everyone. This concludes the conference today. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at this time.