Raízen S.A. (RAIZ4) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to Raizen S.A.'s Fourth Quarter 2025-'26 Crop Year Earnings Presentation. This presentation is being recorded and will be available at the company's IR website at ri.raizen.com.br/en, and Raizen's official YouTube channel. [Operator Instructions] The presentation video will be in Portuguesa simultaneous interpretation into English. [Operator Instructions] Before proceeding, allow me to reiterate that forward-looking statements are based on Raizen's Executive Board's beliefs and assumptions in light of information currently available to the company. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events, and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not materialize. Investors and analysts should bear in mind that events related to the macroeconomic scenario, the industry and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the respective forward-looking statements. joining us today are Mr. Nelson Gomes, CEO; Mr. Lorival Luz, CFO; and Mr. Phillipe Casale, Head of IR. I'll now turn the conference over to Mr. Casale for the presentation. Please go ahead, Mr. Casale.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter earnings conference call, which concludes the 2025-'26 copy. I'll follow the same format of our recent earnings calls and begin by covering the operational and financial highlights for the year. After which, our CEO, Nelson Gomes, will share his opening remarks before we move on to the Q&A session. Before we begin, I'd like to provide a brief update on Raizen's out-of-court restructuring process, which was initiated in March this year with the objective of restructuring approximately BRL 65.1 billion in financial debt. In less than 3 months, we reached an important milestone by securing the support of more than 80% of the claims subject to the restructuring across all creditor classes. This exceeds the statutory threshold required for court confirmation of the plan, and we currently expect the plan to be approved by the court by September 2026. Throughout this process, we have fully preserved our operations and maintained strong relationships with our customers, resellers, suppliers and other business partners. At the same time, we have addressed the company's short- and medium-term liquidity needs, laying the foundation for a more balanced and sustainable capital structure over the long term. Now let's move on to the results. We faced a challenging crop year amid a volatile macroeconomic environment, characterized by commodity price fluctuations, significant weather-related impacts on our agri-industrial operations in addition to tighter credit conditions and continued pressure stemming from the company's capital structure. Despite these headwinds, we delivered meaningful structural improvements in profitability within the Brazilian Fuel Distribution business, while the Sugar, Ethanol and Bioenergy segment and our Argentinian fuels operation, were affected by circumstantial factors. I'll discuss the operating performance in more detail shortly, but first, I'd like to highlight 3 key points regarding our consolidated results. The first is the recognition of BRL 22.5 billion in provisions related to the nonrecoverability of certain assets during the year, which had an impact on net income. These provisions reflect the reassessment of the assumptions used in our impairment tests, taking into account the company's current capital structure, including the pressure arising from our leverage levels, financing costs and the deterioration in credit market conditions. As we discussed on our last earnings call, these are noncash provisions that can be reversed over time as we see improvements in the macroeconomic environment, industry conditions or further progress in strengthening the company's capital structure. The second point relates to efficiency gains driven by a number of cost and expense control initiatives as well as the optimization of our corporate and operating structures. On a consolidated basis, these initiatives generated approximately BRL 1 billion in recurring gains during the crop year. Finally, I'd like to highlight our CapEx for the year, which dropped by 28% compared to the previous crop year and came in below our original plan, reflecting disciplined capital allocation without compromising our investments in fuel expansion projects or operational integrity and safety. Now turning to our operational results, beginning with ethanol, sugar and bioenergy. We experienced another crop year impacted by adverse weather conditions. The dryer weather over the past 2 years, combined with frost events early on the crop, reduced both sugarcane availability and agricultural yields. From a production mix standpoint, we successfully maximized sugar output, capturing attractive prices through our previously established hedging strategy. Sugar sales volumes were broadly in line with the previous year, while realized prices were slightly lower, but remained largely consistent with our hedged prices. For the 2026-'27 crop year, we have already hedged a significant portion of the volume, which should help partially offset the recent decline in market prices and reduced near-term pricing pressure. In ethanol, pricing remained favorable throughout the year, supported by a favorable inventory to consumption ratio. Looking ahead to the '26, '27 crop year, we are seeing a shift in balance with higher supply from both corn and sugarcane as well as improved competitiveness versus sugar, which has already translated into a more challenging pricing environment. Moving to the next slide. The ethanol, sugar and bioenergy EBITDA was primarily impacted by lower production and sales volumes, both sugar and ethanol and also lower sugar prices. Cost pressure driven by lower fixed cost absorption also affected EBITDA given the lower volume produced and given the business' high fixed cost structure. And lastly, bioenergy impact mainly related to energy contract mark-to-market contract adjustments. On the positive side, I'd like to highlight the efficiency gains achieved through continued operational optimization, including fleet, agricultural equipment and other structural management initiatives, both on the cost and SG&A side. Let's now turn to the Brazilian Fuel Distribution business. The fourth quarter of this crop year marked another period of sequential improvement in our operating performance, reflecting both a more favorable competitive environment, and you have monitored continued progress in addressing the informal market and the consistent execution of our commercial and supply strategies. For the full crop year, we delivered a our strongest new volume growth in recent years across both the retail and B2B segments, resulting in market share gains. We continued strengthening customer relationships while expanding the rollout of our value proposition with Shell products and services with particular success in growing lubricants through more profitable channels and resuming growth in premium products led by the V-Power product family. Throughout the year, we continued capturing structural efficiency gains through cost management as well as optimization of our logistics and operating footprint. Higher volumes sold also contributed to improved asset utilization driving profitability this year. As a result, adjusted EBITDA increased both quarter-on-quarter and on a crop year-to-date basis, while we continue to make progress in working capital management, particularly through more efficient inventory management. We'll now move on to the Fuel Distribution in Argentina on the next slide. Before discussing the results in Argentina, I'd like to highlight that in early June, we announced the agreement to divest our Argentinian operations, underpinning our strategy to simplify the company's portfolio. This transaction is expected to close over the coming months, and we will update the market once it has been completed through the company's official channels. Operationally, we ended the fourth quarter with a recovery in profitability in Argentina following the completion of the Buenos Aires refinery efficiency optimization project in December. This recovery was accompanied by a rebound in margins over the last 2 quarters of this crop year, partially offsetting the more pressured results recorded in the first half, so Q1 and 2 of this crop year. As a reminder, EBITDA had been affected by circumstantial factors in the first half of the year, particularly oil price volatility and FX depreciation. Let's now move to our consolidated financial results, beginning with cash flow. Here, I'd like to highlight 2 key aspects of our operating cash flow. First, during the year, we replaced approximately BRL 13.6 billion of working capital facilities, primarily reverse factoring and client advances, which are typically shorter-term operations with debt. Excluding the impact of these initiatives from operating cash flow, we saw a second consecutive year of improvement in a more efficient management of what we consider a proxy for recurring working capital, particularly in accounts receivable and most notably inventories. The suppliers line, however, remained under pressure, particularly during the second half of the year, reflecting tighter credit conditions and the company's current capital structure. It's worth noting that the increase in imported fuel prices in Q4 '25, '26 also had an impact on the accounts payable dynamics. As a reminder, the investment cash flow already includes proceeds from completed divestments while financing cash flow reflects the higher funding levels raised in the year. Finally, turning to the next slide and our debt profile. I'd like to highlight that our leverage at the end of the crop year was driven primarily by the working capital financing dynamics I mentioned earlier as well as the payment and accrual of interest on our debt. It's also important to remember that in addition to the higher debt balance, we operated in an elevated CDI rate environment throughout the period. And with that, I'll now turn it over to our CEO, Nelson Gomes for his remarks. Thank you very much.

Good morning, everyone. This is Nelson. Let me start with some opening remarks, as Phillipe said. And then Lorival Phillipe and I will be available to answer your questions. About the '25, '26 crop year, this has been perhaps one of the most, if not the most challenging years reason, marked by very unstable geopolitics, adverse weather conditions, volatile commodity prices, high interest rates, a lot of impact, some positive, other negative from the illegal fuel market. And in light of that context, what we have tried to do this year has been to continue with disciplined transformation plan, focusing on what is completely in our control. And the last earning calls as well as through the company's official communications and our announcements to the market as well as material facts, I have been very transparent with you about 2 challenges that we have been facing in Raizen's transformation journey. One is operational and the other challenge has to do with rebalancing our capital structure. So I have a few comments on those 2 challenges. First, on the operating side, I think it's important to reiterate that we are building a simpler company that will be focusing on its core business and much more disciplined when it comes to capital allocation. So focus on our core business, which is fuel and lubricant distribution in Brazil and producing ethanol from sugar and bioenergy will be -- we will be directing all of our capital efforts to businesses and units that provide the highest return rates. We are also simplifying our portfolio. So in the last crop year, we have announced divestments worth BRL 12 billion, out of which close to BRL 5 billion are already in cash and just over BRL 7 billion are coming from the sale of our assets in Argentina and should be coming in by the end of the -- this crop year. So by doing that, we've been able to reduce the number of sugar and ethanol facilities to 24 plants, so we have a more streamlined portfolio, much more concentrated and efficient as well. We also divested our power assets, so all of our efforts looking forward will be focused on our core business. Another important point on the operating side is our operational and financial discipline. We are reinforcing our efficiency culture, creating value through structural initiatives in all of our operations. We've been very successful in reducing our OpEx, both on the cost side and SG&A side, which has meant we have had recurring reductions translating into over BRL 1 billion this crop year, both in sugar, ethanol and bioenergy and fuels. Sugar, ethanol and bioenergies have had considerable productivity gains in CCT as well as a reduction in our operating structure as well as our admin structure. Even with less crushing this year, we were able to clearly show through figures that our operating efficiency is in a whole different level. We have also reduced our corporate structure on the fuel side. We have optimized our expenses and our investments on the commercial side as well as supply management and inventory management. On the CapEx side, we have also made progress in reducing our investment this crop year by just over BRL 3 billion compared to the previous crop year, coming in below the budget, and we are projecting an additional reduction of another BRL 1 billion for this crop year that has just started. And now speaking about our capital structure, our journey and rebalancing the company capital structure. At the end of this crop -- at the end of March, last month of the crop year, we took an important step to objectively address the challenge to restructure our financial liabilities. And at the beginning of March, as I said, we came up with an out-of-court restructuring plan, which has been confirmed by more than 80% creditors being secured in June, which has made this a major milestone towards building a consensus solution with our creditors to allow us to restructure our liabilities. So at the moment, we are awaiting the legal period for the plan to be confirmed. That should happen by September. And we are working internally to address all the conditions precedent that are part of the plan. So to conclude, my opening remarks, I would just like to reiterate that we remain focused on executing our plan with discipline, working very closely, very clearly and very transparently with our suppliers, partners, resellers and clients, employees, shareholders and creditors. Our commitment is to continue to build everything required so that our transformation and restructuring plan can be fully implemented over the next few months. I'm very confident, and I'm convinced that the combination of our operating transformation and the transformation of our capital structure will allow us to navigate the current cycle while at the same time building a more efficient business that is more competitive and ready to capture future opportunities so that we can go back to creating sustainable value over time. So those are my opening remarks, and let's move on to the Q&A session. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from Gabriel Barra, Citi.

As a segue to what Nelson said about managing cash and CapEx, I think that's the most frequently asked question by investors. So a couple of quick points, Nelson and Lorival. First, I'd like to hear more about this quarter, at the end of the crop year, your cash position was slightly lower than usual. Obviously, considering the current context, we could imagine that, but it's slightly worse for the company, and I don't think it was caused by inventory. So how have you been discussing it with suppliers, the company's cash level? Is that worrying for you? If you could talk a bit more about the current cash that would help us understand what will happen. The 180 days that you're not paying an interest is a bit of a relief, but could you talk about the company's cash cycle, And this crop year is going to be a bit tougher. Ethanol is below what we had imagined, so sugar at a very low level. So I'd like to hear about that, please. As for CapEx, you've been decreasing CapEx as expected and as you had mentioned, but not only growth, but also maintenance CapEx and in the company's history, especially after the IPO, the company has been focusing on maintenance, trying to improve it and the sugar crop -- the sugarcane crop. There was also a change and the size of the company's sugar and ethanol. Are you delaying any CapEx because of the current circumstances? Or is that an effect of your optimization, smaller size so we can understand the current CapEx dynamics, especially when it comes to maintenance?

Gabriel, this is Lorival. As for cash, what I can say is that the last quarter of the crop year, as you said, we were affected, and a lot of that impact came because of the negotiations, all the downgrades that we had, and we were talking about what was going to happen, the restructuring plan. Obviously, our discussion with suppliers affected our payment deadlines. That's why there was a reduction in cash at that time. What I can say to you is that right now, cash does not worry us because since 80% of creditors are secured, and we have the current out-of-court restructuring plan, we're talking to suppliers. And as we drive away any judicial restructuring plan, those things will go back to normal. So the company's current cash position is well above what would be considered minimum cash for everyday management and everyday operation. And this first quarter of the crop year, things are looking better because the most acute cash requirement period is over, and it was the quarter we've just reported on. And even so, our cash position was still at BRL 13 billion, close to BRL 14 billion, which is close to 50% above the company's minimum cash level. So I would say that looking forward, considering what we're going through and considering the projection blowout to subsidize all the negotiations, we have a plan that already considered a difficult year, as you said, in terms of commodities so that we could have sustainable cash for that to navigate this period until the end of the out-of-court restructuring process. So you can rest easy when it comes to the company's cash. Barra, on CapEx, we talked about that reduction and there are 2 sides to it. We've decreased about BRL 3.3 billion this year. Nelson mentioned that we'll have at least BRL 1 billion more next year. Obviously, part of that comes because we have reduced our portfolio. So we have lower capital demand and the other part comes from the initiatives that are being implemented. In Fuel Distribution, we have kept and speeded up the growth pace, but that includes CapEx and bonuses, so we're still growing. This year was the biggest new volumes growth in retail and B2B in distribution. So we are maintaining our Fuel Distribution growth. In sugar, ethanol and bioenergy, we are implementing a number of initiatives. We are just quantifying that and seeing more efficiencies in planting and the crop. They still need to mature so we can have more reductions. So looking at sugarcane planting, there's been a 3% reduction, unit and in the crop itself, we have about 5%, and we haven't reduced any inputs, that was just by optimizing and new processes being implemented to make the operation more efficient. So those are the efficiencies we're seeking right now, both in OpEx and CapEx and agroindustrial processes.

The next question is from Matheus Enfeldt from UBS.

just as a follow-up about additional efficiency gains, could you give us a number in terms of what we can expect for '26, '27, maybe '27, '28 coming from these new initiatives you're implementing now, just so that we have some order of magnitude? That's my first question. Second question about efficiency gains and cash generation. We spent some time looking at the blowout estimates. And it seems to me that Raizen Energia is depending on many optimistic external factors to generate cash, especially like ethanol prices BRL 3 per liter and BRL 225 for sugar. So my question would be, how can we consider a potential spin-off into Raizen Energia and Raizen Fuel because Raizen doesn't seem very resilient when it comes to the commodity cycle, and combining that with efficiency, what are the most -- more extreme measures you can implement if it doesn't happen, maybe shut down additional plants, selling part of the portfolio more aggressively? How should we see Raizen's financial and cash generation resilience? So those are my 2 questions.

Matheus, I'll take the first part of your question. This is Phillipe. Everything we've been doing on this transformation journey is aimed at making this a more efficient company. And that's what's in our control. Those are the initiatives that are in our control. Everything we've been doing in OpEx and sugar and ethanol by reducing not only our structure, but optimizing our portfolio. So portfolio is more streamlined, but it's also more efficient. All of that aims to make this business more sustainable in any pricing scenario. So the focus of the transformation plan aims to address OpEx, CapEx, bring in more agroindustrial operating efficiency that will make this company sustainable in the long term in addition to all the initiatives we'll be implementing to address the capital structure. So that is the company's current focus and our internal business transformation plan to make it more efficient and sustainable in the long term. So those are the initiatives we are implementing to bring in more financial resilience in the future.

This is Lorival, Matheus. With regards to the sugar, ethanol and bioenergy projection, once the businesses are separated, everything we've built into the plan. The plan includes, if you look at it, it's an asset plan for the first 2 years. So it's asset when it comes to cash and commodity prices. But based on that, that's how we converted the debt. If you look at the cash in Argentina, it will remain in the sugar, ethanol and bioenergy business so that we can go through those first 3 years. And the new indebtedness flow is longer. The maturities will only start as of the 6th year. So depending on the conditions, we'll be able to do everything within that time line. So flow considered a commodity scenario that is not under our control. As you know, we can only control what we do internally, which is to increase efficiency gains through the initiatives we're implementing and that's been considered in that plan. And it also considers that we will navigate this spirit and turn the page. That notwithstanding. We have already announced a divestment plan that has not been considered in that cash flow. So that's also taking place. And we will not do it in a rush or in any way that will affect company assets. So as that happens, it will also make a positive contribution. Now if you add it all up, and that's what the cash flow shows you, we'll navigate this period and then naturally we'll be able to deleverage the company. It will start off with low leverage so that we can overcome this point in time. And commodities are commodities. You have to run a commodities business at very low leverage levels, long debt profile because you have to be ready for 1, 2, maybe even 3 tough years, and that's what we're doing with a great deal of responsibility and cautiousness in managing and taking care of cash, not only CapEx, there won't be investment caps. We'll have the suitable CapEx, but also in our everyday use of that CapEx. We're also implementing tools and procedures that will help us manage our cash. And you will see that being announced over the next earnings release calls. Still on efficiency, Matheus, let's not forget that we're coming from 2 very tough crops on yield, less sugarcane availability, and that has a huge impact on efficiency gains because of the dilution of fixed costs. So as yield improves, because of better climate conditions or because of planting and treatment improvements, that will also dilute things more and improve business margin and profitability. So that challenge isn't so much in our control because of the weather, but it could mean an upside when it comes to profitability if we decrease or dilute fixed costs.

Next question is from Isabella Simonato from Bank of America.

I have a couple of questions. The first one is about Raizen Energia and potential divestitures, the blowout material mentioned 10 million to 15 million tonnes. But in the out-of-court restructuring document, you mentioned, I think, up to 40 million. Could you talk a bit about those orders of magnitude? What do you think is feasible and liquid in terms of assets? I understand, Lorival, that you mentioned you're not doing it in a rush without burning those assets. But what is the sense of urgency in those divestments given this cash generation, which will be more under pressure Raizen Energia after the spinoff? Now Fuel distribution contrary to sugar ethanol and bioenergy has been through a much more favorable time. And beginning this first quarter '27 crop year, the spread has been better than Q1 and the average of the '26 fiscal year. Could you comment on the profitability of that business in the last 3 months? And on that side, prospects and what we see in the blowout material seems to be very conservative. That's it for me.

This is Nelson. Let me answer the question about Raizen Energia and then Phillipe and Lorival can jump in. The best way to look at Raizen Energia is to find the ideal size for that company so that it can be the most efficient competitor in the market as we have been in the past. That's what we are pursuing. And on this journey, what we've done so far -- in the last crop, we have sold close to 20 million tonnes crushing capacity. That reduction aims to optimize and increase efficiency in the company management. And we'll continue on that journey. As you've said yourself, and as Lorival has said before, we'll do it in an orderly fashion. We won't do it in a rush. We will make use of the opportunities that are available close to these close to 20 million worth of capacity that we have divested. We'll continue on that journey. So regardless of the journey and its speed because there will be market opportunities throughout, the main thing is to understand where we want to get to. And we want to have the ideal sized company that will certainly be smaller in terms of crushing capacity than it is right now, but it will seek to be the most efficient competitors in terms of cost and efficiency in the market. I think Nelson was very clear, so is Lorival. What we are pursuing is very clear. And to do that, Isa, if you look at the energy business flow, it doesn't consider selling other assets. So what do we mean? What are we trying to show? We're not depending on selling assets to deliver those results and deleverage and to deliver that capital structure. In other words, we will pursue what Nelson has just said. We'll be the ideal, most efficient player in the market with the best results. We will pursue that cautiously over time and in the best way to materialize those divestments. We won't do it in a rush. So the divestment plan will help us find the ideal portfolio for the company, where we'll be able to have the best synergies in which cluster we'll have the best knowledge, which cluster will work the best and what will be the best portfolio mix. So we'll do that in time based on what we have already proven that we can do and we have done recently.

Isabella, this is Phillipe. On Fuel Distribution, this has been the fourth quarter that we've delivered better profits. We've been talking a lot about initiatives. In his opening remarks, Nelson mentioned our management initiatives, not only on the admin and commercial side, but also on the supply side. But the second consecutive year, we've also delivered more efficient inventory management, which underpins our fuel distribution strategy, focusing on profitability, and we continue to grow volumes sold as well. So the first point is the efficiency we've been capturing in the business and working more closely with clients, focusing on increasing not only volumes, but also profitability. And the second point comes from a healthier market given all the key initiatives that have been taking place to fight the illegal markets, especially in ethanol. So those are the elements that have led to this gradual improvement in the year and the last 3 months have been no different. We're still capturing efficiencies. And there's been -- and there will be an improvement in competitiveness.

The next question is from Thiago Duarte from BTG Pactual.

I have a couple of questions. The first one, if possible, if we could do an exercise in line with the last few questions about the quality of the assets that will remain in Raizen Energia with all the optimization and divestments. You mentioned the effect of that pro forma. So excluding assets that don't make any sense when it comes to crushing -- that's very clear. If possible, could you talk about the effect on productivity, not only sugarcane crop yield, but also cost, the efficiency of the operation as a whole? So what I'm trying to understand is how much better are the remaining assets in terms of unit cost efficiency compared to those that have left the portfolio already? And the second question, going back to the cash conversation and trying to separate cash consumption this quarter, especially in the working capital line, how much was consumption in the fuel distribution downstream because of the increase in byproduct we saw in March because of the war? I'm just trying to separate market effects from the worsening of the terms because of the circumstances the company are going through.

I'll take your first question, Thiago on the productivity of the portfolio that is currently being optimized. Let me give you a number. We showed a crushing reduction year-on-year. But if we compare the 24 million portfolio year-on-year, the drop is almost 50% than the crushing drop. So it's only 2% crushing reduction considering only the 24 million. So we are improving the portfolio as we optimize a smaller, but more efficient portfolio through divestments. Added to that, with a more streamlined and concentrated portfolio, we want to leverage efficiency. So that improves fleet management, planting and treatment processes, agricultural equipment utilization, which leads to greater efficiency. So that should go hand in hand with portfolio optimization so that we can have a more profitable and sustainable operation in the long term. And on Fuel Distribution, we had the effect of some imports that were not relevant, and they were offset by management on all other fronts. If you look at inventories and accounts receivable alone, there has been an improvement for the second consecutive year. We still have some pressure from suppliers because of the company's current credit level. But part of that came from those imports, but that's been more than offset by other initiatives.

This concludes the Q&A session. Questions in writing that have not been addressed during the earnings calls will be answered by the Investor Relations team. We will now hand the floor back to the company for closing remarks.

This is Nelson again. Thank you once again for joining us on this earnings call for the end of the crop year, and I'll see you again in August. Thank you.

Raizen S.A.'s Fourth Quarter and the 2025-'26 Cape conference call is now concluded. The Investor Relations department is available to answer any further questions. Thank you, and have a great day.