Sacyr, S.A. (SCYR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. I'm Manuel Manrique, Chairman and CEO of Sacyr. Joining me today this presentation as usual is Mr. Carlos Mijangos, the company's CFO. Thank you all, dear analysts, media representatives and investors for attending this annual results presentation of Sacyr for fiscal year 2023. The outstanding results of Sacyr 2023 correspond to the purpose that we served when launching our 2021, 2025 plan 3 years ago. This reflects the -- soundness of our current business model and point to a promising future of growing value and return for our shareholders. The positive evolution of our strategy and results over the period have been increasingly acknowledged by the market. Based on the milestones attained in 2023, we have successfully achieved our 2021-2025 strategic plan ahead of time, and we place ourselves no doubt as a large concessional group in the areas of infrastructure with a robust guaranteed future growth ahead. Through this growth, we have been able to reach a concessional value of EUR 3.254 billion. The distribution from concessional assets reached EUR 220 million with an average life of 26 years of our concessional assets EBITDA accounting for 93% compared to the group's total EBITDA, and we are the third largest transportation infrastructure developer in the world of a P3 profile. So this present or future are represented by 2 iconic or flagship assets. On the one hand, the project in the Louisiana or Calcasieu River that we are going to start developing shortly. Also, the Pedemontana-Veneta highway has been fully opened to traffic in Northern Italy. These 2 contracts together with other relevant awards that we obtained in Italy and Chile consolidate our concessional focus turning us into one of the most dynamic operators in the market. In addition to the I-10 section in the United States, we have been awarded the Via del Mare project in the Eastern Coast of Italy close to Venice and also the concession of the A21 transportation way in Northern Italy, also El Loa Airport in Chile which is the second highest traffic regional airport in the country. As for distribution of our pipeline in the different countries, together with a 33% success rate of awards will gradually bring us close to attaining the goal of balancing our revenue generating portfolio. Besides the rotation of certain assets in Chile and a minority interest in some concessions in Colombia will also contribute to attaining this goal. We are determined to explore all the financial formula in order to address this continuous and profitable growth in the concessional business that we have set for ourselves. In order to keep up with the investing in value creation facing the area of concessions in 2023, we sold our service units with multiples well above the average media. In addition, we continue making steady progress in 2024, rotate immature assets both in Colombia on a minority basis as well as in Chile in order to obtain resources that will enable us to keep on investing in those countries, among others. This growth and these new investments are in line with growing shareholder remuneration policy since the return is nearly 5% after the 2 scrip dividends paid out during the period. The new strategic plan that we are now designing, this element will also be a priority. At the closing of 2023 we reduced the company's recourse net debt. However, this is not what we wanted. Now standing at EUR 269 million. This is mainly due to 2 reasons, one temporary reason and circumstantial reasons. On the one hand, EUR 75 million coming from the Uruguay Railway and hospital and also took the projects that were foreseen in December 2023. Those collections were made in the first week of January this year. Also, the amortization of the convertible bond that had been foreseen for 2024 that took place in 2023, accounting EUR 420 million. And finally, another circumstantial factor that has to do with extraordinary increase of interest rates, both in terms of quantity as well as in terms of the time horizon than in 2023, 2024 accounted for an additional EUR 50 million to EUR 60 million in interest. Nonetheless, the net recourse debt recourse EBITDA ratio plus the distribution of concessions stands below 0.8x showing the soundness of the company's balance sheet. Despite this and within our regular financial discipline approach, we shall keep on working in order to reduce the recourse net debt as far as possible because this continues to be a company's #1 goal. As for our sustainability milestones in 2023, I would like to highlight that we have kept on enhancing our ratings on the key indices, Standard & Poor's, MSCI and CDP among others. I would like to emphasize that our EBITDA figure standing at EUR 1.5 billion to EUR 3 billion, up 7% provided us with a profitability margin of 33%. That accounts for 430 basis points and 15% more compared to 2022. Operating cash flow totals already EUR 848 million. That is to say 20% more, which shows the great capacity of -- or the great cash generating capacity of our concessional assets. Net profit stood at EUR 153 million, up 39% year-on-year. However, revenue was slightly lower due to the sale of service units as well as due to our focus on profitability against the size in the construction activity. As for profit, net profit, it should be highlighted that the divestment of services resulted in an impairment loss of EUR 150 million from tax credits relating to such activities and also in taking a prudent accounting approach, we allotted financial provisions of EUR 100 million. As for Carlos will give you more color on these figures. This table shows the comparative data for 2023 against 2022. EBITDA coming down by 7%, revenue standing at EUR 4.9 billion, EBITDA EUR 1.523 billion. Our concessions already stand at 93% to -- up 200 basis points, and the EBITDA margin stands at 33%, therefore, growing very significantly. Net profit totaled EUR 153 million, that is to say, up 39% year-on-year. And as for operating cash flow, we are reaching more than 20% year after year. And in 2023, we totaled EUR 848 million. As I have said before, we are a unique company in the world in terms of our capacity to start-up greenfield projects across the countries where we operate. And also when it comes to creating value through new contracts in our core markets. This is the basis of our concessional business model that we will be presenting at the next Capital Markets Day this coming spring within the framework of our new 2024, 2027 strategic plan. Let me anticipate some of the measures under this plan. Recently, we have simplified our structure by centralizing support activities in order to achieve increased efficiency and competitiveness. Furthermore, in addition to the concession and construction business lines, we have added a third line devoted to the water business in order to grow in this sector while keeping our regular and continued rotation policy for executive positions. Next, Carlos Mijangos will provide you with more details and specific information about Sacyr's results and edge of its business lines.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let us now analyze the operating performance of the company. As we have heard out of EUR 1.5 billion of construction EBITDA, EUR 1.411 billion comes from concessional assets accounting for 93%. You can see on the chart how the commissioning of concessional assets has increased cash generation across our activities growing by more than 20% over the period. Another consequence has to do with recurring predictable and growing cash generation from concessional assets. In 2019, we reached 52%, in 2023, we grew all the way up to EUR 220 million. Therefore, the CAGR stands at 43%, which is quite a significant increase. As for the company's financial position, several transactions were carried out over the period. Right now, we have increased our syndicated loan of EUR 500 million. Now we have 2 tranches, that is, one of EUR 300 million and then an increase of the liquidity line to EUR 200 million or more for liquidity for our daily transactions. We have also extended the average life maturity term by 5 years to the current date. As for the convertible bond the company had in November last year, we announced that we had an offer in order to repurchase the convertible bond with an acceptance of 99.7%, eliminating short positions and reducing volatility. In January, we are going to amortize 100% of this financial facility. On the other hand, in January, a new forward contract was launched amounting to 10 million shares. Once again, we are strongly committed to the share revaluation. Regarding net debt evolution over the period and under consolidation, we were able to go down by EUR 1.082, as for the net recourse EUR 277 million. If we now analyze the different components affecting the evolution of net, we can see that EUR 148 million were generated once again. There was a significant increase as a result of concessions that become operational with financial results being EUR 719 million. We have divested services and concessional assets in the amount of EUR 446 million investments, standing at EUR 939 million. As for financing flow and others, there was a reduction of EUR 1,446 billion. And let me now clarify these 2 line items because from a divestment perspective, EUR 446 million, we should take into account that regarding the cash and from the sale of service units we have to deduct EUR 10 million on consultancy services and then there were also funds that were left out of the scope of the company. Therefore, we are talking about funds from operations standing at minus EUR 148 million. Assets in Chile are going to be sold with a reduction than the debt figure that also comes out of the company's perimeter, they are EUR 100 million from different accounts in the toll services in Colombia that are now being collected and are being left on a non-available account. And here, these assets are commissioned and after reversal, therefore, reducing the debt. Accordingly, we're talking about EUR 200 million in terms of Forex and that's how we have reduced the full amount by EUR 6.4 billion or EUR 8 billion. The recourse net debt evolution in 2023 came down by EUR 277 million from the standpoint of funds from operations. That is to say the cash flows from the engineer and distribution of concessions, we are talking about minus EUR 163 million as for financial expenses, spend EUR 85 million. This has an impact as a result of interest rate hikes, EUR 173 million were allocated to investments, mainly to concessions. The scrip dividend expenses as we mentioned before, more than 90% of shareholders choose to get shares. So this is not a significant amount. The divestments on financing flow and Forex as well as other several extraordinary payments were made, such as the settlement of the R4 in the amount of EUR 12 million, the purchase of treasury shares or leasing contracts on machinery. It should be highlighted as the Chairman said that EUR 75 million should have been received before year-end last year that were postponed until the first week of January. The proforma debt would have reached EUR 194 million that was more in line with our guidance. As for the financial discipline, you can see that in 2019, our recourse net debt stood at EUR 848 million with a ratio of 4.4x, taking into account the recourse EBITDA or the net recourse debt and the recourse EBITDA ratio every year, we have been able to reduce the absolute figures while generating additional dividends and dividend distribution. So this year, we spent EUR 194 million but if we take into account the collection of working capital, we should have reached the same level as other peers with a robust balance sheet. As for the performance by area, this is the concessions area, there was an increase of 10% EBITDA growing by 7%, mainly due to the contribution of certain projects, such as the Roadway 78, that continues to move forward. While other operational assets are performing well, we continue to link our revenues to inflation, in the case of concessional businesses. The water business contributed 3% growth and 15% to EBITDA with a clear activity taking place in Australia, Chile and Spain, respectively. Now the completion of the major construction projects have an impact on some of the results with a drop of 7% as a result of the completion of such -- some projects such as the Central Railway in Uruguay that is about to be commissioned. We have more than EUR 1.6 billion invested in concessions of the total equity invested and we are talking about a final figure of EUR 150 million. If we take into down 2022, 2023, we were able to commission 2 concession assets in Colombia and another one, Pamplona-Cucuta that is about to be finalized in Chile, the -- while airport was commissioned also another project in Chile, the Motorway 78, in Paraguay, the Ruta del Este running from East to West, in Italy, the Pedemontana Highway has also been commissioned. And then Ferrocarril Central has been completed by 99%. We are now about to finalize the test, and this project will be completed fully by April. This is the breakdown by country. You can see that from a perspective, the countries with the largest contribution to EBITDA in the area of concessions are Italy, Chile, Colombia, Spain and Uruguay. With those 5 countries, we reached 85% in terms of relevance. We are also incorporating other projects to our pipeline in Anglo-Saxon countries where their weight is becoming increasingly more important. As for the Engineering & Infrastructure division, there was a drop of 14%. We continue to focus more on profitability rather than volume. However, profitability has grown at 4.6%, which is quite noticeable from the portfolio standpoint. 50% corresponds to the concessions division and then for external customers we are entering into collaboratory agreements therefore, we mitigate the risk coming from this activity. Several contracts have been awarded in Italy and we have finalized the last section of the Pedemontana highway project, and we have also finalized another project in Asturias, linking the plateau with Asturias, we're talking about the high-speed railway line. And we successfully completed the 12 de Octubre Hospital project in record time. Infrastructure portfolio reaches EUR 7.456 billion. As for the key awards or the main awards over the period, we could highlight Canal del Dique, this is an award in Colombia. Also the Catania and Sicily project, the Line 8 in Barcelona, the development of different construction projects in Spain, also the high-speed project in Almeria. We also have the project -- the airport project in Chile, several PV plants in Badajoz, just to mention a few. And in closing, I would like to refer to the valuation of our projects, and this is Slide #24. We mentioned this in November but we should now record which the starting point is. In October 2021, the concessional portfolio stated EUR 2.811 billion. Then there was an increase in the value of assets by nearly EUR 300 million. Inflation also enabled us to improve the valuation by increasing revenue by EUR 260 million. And as for the exchange rate, in most of our assets they are denominated either in U.S. dollars or in euros. Therefore, the negative impact was only EUR 41 million, then there was some refinancing and asset rotations, totaling EUR 302 million and then interest rates. Most of -- there was an impact of only EUR 34 million in terms of interest rate regarding our projects. Now if we take into account higher growth coming from new projects and with an increase of 120 basis points in discount rate due to interest rate situations, there was a valuation of EUR 3.254 billion at year-end. So during these years we have been creating even more value. And finally, I would like to mention something that is quite peculiar to our P&L account for this year, and this information is contained on Slide #28. I would like to refer to 2 key effects; on the one hand the provisions of EUR 104 million in this case, provisions -- the debt that can -- the Panama Canal has that represents EUR 100 million with these provisions, we are covering that amount. All provisions have been allocated with regard to that project. And on the other hand, I would also like to refer to the income tax this year, which is quite a significant amount. The consolidated profit before tax, that is to say EUR 470 million, when you do a tax adjustment, the final amount is EUR 940 million. This is due to the fact that the provisions are not deductible and the finance costs are limited to 30% of EBITDA. That's the reason. Therefore, if we take into account an average rate of 28.5%, the tax expense totals EUR 260 million. Therefore, if we take into account the impairment losses of tax credits due to the sale of services of EUR 135 million, we come to EUR 35 million, and this is the income tax. Therefore, the final amount being EUR 430 million. However, I insist the accounting tax profit of the company taking into account the real cash outflow was EUR 66 million. And with that, any faster do and I'll give the floor back to the Chairman.

Thank you very much, Carlos. We are now available to answer any questions that the analysts may have.

[Operator Instructions] Prieto from Kepler.

[indiscernible]

Luis, we are going to answer your question in just a minute. Thank you. Good morning, Luis. According to our strategic plan which will be announced in Spring we will see when the sale will be formalized. It will depend on the offers we get under the circumstances. Next, our cash position is active with both invest and divest, that is to say, we act in a dynamic manner. Therefore, we are going to stand at a positive debt situation for a long time or we will be debt free. And as for changes, we have already explained what is going to happen. We mentioned that during the presentation, on the one hand, we have centralized our support activities in order to be more efficient and in order to increase competitiveness. This is sometimes penalized by several companies in the sector but we are absolutely convinced that this is going to be so, we are totally convinced. As for people rotation, and we have mentioned that because senior executives are important, there is a policy that we consider to be of the utmost importance in any company, whether we are talking about the steering committee or middle management. We believe that this policy is critical, it has been critical to report outstanding results, and I'm certain that this is going to be so next time as well. Thank you very much.

Fernando Lafuente from Alantra.

I have a quick question about recourse net debt. Taking into account the sale of assets on a recurring basis, what do you expect for 2024 regarding this recourse net debt? And as for the projects that you aim this year in terms of tenders, for example, in your pipeline, how many projects do you estimate or where are you going to be betting and on which type of assets? I would like to know how active the company is going to be in the tendering arena this year.

Fernando, please, if you could allow us a few minutes, and we will get back to you. Thank you. Fernando, regarding the recourse debt, this company on an organic basis and without considering extraordinary sales, we should be able to reduce the figure by EUR 40 million to EUR 50 million per year, taking into account dividends from assets and of course, bearing the group's expenses and the recourse debt. Therefore, that would be the approach. As for the pipeline we have some estimates, of course, but this is dynamic. This year, in our presentation, we have included our estimates for the next 4 years ahead. This year, we are operating -- or we are going to operate in hospitals in Canada, infrastructure, in the transportation sector in the United States and in water projects in Australia, and we will continue to operate in Colombia and Chile, where we are going to have more projects in the pipeline. Let us not forget Italy. Italy, however, follows a different dynamic. In 2023, we have carried out a couple of projects but the timing in Italy is more difficult to foresee as for lead times.

I don't know whether I could ask about the evolution of debt. How many concession dividends do you expect from 2023, 2024? I believe that it's been quite a positive surprise to see the figures that you have reported, which are your expectations for 2024?

We're going to talk about that on our Capital Markets Day, but the figures will be similar or even better.

The next question is by Joao Safara from Banco Santander.

I have 2 questions. The first question is a follow in. I would like to understand EBITDA in the fourth quarter on a like-for-like basis. Last year there was an impact on financial assets as a result of inflation. So -- which was the impact in Q4 2020 compared to Q4 2023. In order to understand the EBITDA that you have now presented? And the second question is concerned with consolidated debt. Carlos, you explained this well, but that's something that I would like to clarify. The assets in Chile are contributing to the company's EBITDA and in that case, what is the percentage of such contribution?

Regarding the first question regarding concessional assets, you have to have there the effect of the inflation rate whenever there is a significant movement over the year on when you go from construction to operation. In this case, a movement in the amount of EUR 250 million, as shown in our financial statements, that amount is similar to that of 2022 but it was concentrated by Pedemontana because that's when inflation rate was updated for the full construction years as for the effect of consolidated debt. Regarding the 7 trillion assets, that is not activity sector but rather they are assets. So EBITDA accounted for net is recognized under liability scale for sale. But for the purposes of our P&L accounts, those assets continue to be recognized until final disposal off, the total amount in this case being EUR 110 million.

EUR 210 million, that's the EBITDA of those 7assets? Okay.

There are no further questions over the telephone line, we are not going to tackle the questions coming through the webcast. Alvaro Navarro has 3 questions.

The first question is the following, EBITDA has grown by 7% year-on-year, whereas operating cash flow grew by 20%. I understand that this is due to the fact that concessional assets have been recognized, which growth should we expect going forward if we believe the cash flow will be greater than EBITDA? That's the first question. Regarding the dividend payout policy, do you think that you will be able to pay in cash, and therefore, avoid script dividends after the company's deleveraging process with a buyback initiative? Now after the interest show in the sale of assets in Colombia, has there been any interest shown for the sale of assets in Colombia and Chile?

I'm going to answer the first question to begin with. In fact, the financial assets reached -- big after the operation period of the asset. So as you move forward at EBITDA is deducted or all the amount that you collect every year is deducted from that figure. Therefore, EBITDA growth will be moderate in the coming years however, cash flow growth will be very strong. Every time we commission an asset all the cash flow is incorporated into the consolidation scope and this difference is also posted to working capital. So the group has significant working capital inflows and there's a difference between accounting EBITDA and the real cash position. Regarding the dividend-related question, this is going to be announced in our new strategic plan. We are analyzing this approach, the announcement is close to come. We're talking just about a few more months down the road. Of course, there is some interest in both processes but we are amiss with the process and therefore, we cannot actually provide you with any figures at this point in time.

The next question is by Miguel González from JB Capital. He has 3 questions.

[indiscernible]

Some of these questions, Miguel have already been answered. For example, could you please explain the where provisions come from in Q3? The CFO has already explained that.

What about the valuation of equity of [ Bie la Santina ]?

We cannot provide you with this data at this point in time because we had missed the process that is ongoing.

And thirdly, could you please explain the reasons why you have opted for forward on treasury shares rather than a buyback program?

Miguel, let me answer the third question. As for the use of our forward contracts, it has always resulted in positive outcomes. This is a bet on our shares with a timeline of 12 months. So we believe that these forward contracts will have a positive impact and therefore, this is a bet on our share price.

The next question comes from Filipe Leite from CaixaBank.

The evolution of recourse net debt. What about the net effect as a result of the repurchase of the convertible bond? And as for Pedemontana, why is it that the concession reported more EBITDA in Q4 rather than after 9 months in 2023?

I think the reason is inflation.

And what about dividends in 2024?

I believe that Carlos has already addressed that question. I believe that the first question has also been answered by the Chairman before.

Marco Limite from Barclays.

Asking whether the 3 topics that the Chairman mentioned, EUR 75 million from [indiscernible] Octubre, EUR 50 million to EUR 60 million of increased finance costs. And Marco Limite also asked about the amortization or redemption of the convertible bond that the Chairman said it was going to be EUR 20 million. So they had EUR 58 million in operating cash flow could include this EUR 75 million, in which case it would total EUR 925 million?

The answer is yes.

What about 2020, in terms of distribution for concessions?

We have already mentioned and this is going to be announced at the next Capital Markets Day. Right now, we have EUR 600 million of equity that has already been committed. That's correct, governing EUR 150 million for the next 4 years and we are supporting some more growth opportunities. I believe that the pipeline shows that apart from those EUR 600 million already committed in equity, we are very active in terms of new tenders and awards.

There are no further questions coming through the webcast. I believe that Joao Safara you would like to ask yet another question, please go ahead.

Thank you, Alberto. Just one question for the sake of clarification. Carlos, talked about the financial inflow from Colombia. I couldn't hear the figure of those EUR 1.446 billion. Carlos, could he please clarify what is going to happen in this respect? This was considered to be debt in the past, but now it will be reclassified to a payable. Could you please clarify that so that I can better understand this concept?

Yes, Carlos. Now it's a lot simpler than that. When you build a concession project in Colombia, you charge a toll fees, and that is deposited in an escrow account. When you complete each section, whatever there is a toll infrastructure that amount comes into the company's perimeter. That is considered to be part of the funds that you will use in order to finance the project during construction. We have already collected those funds and have already been released from the escrow accounts. So we're talking about the source of funds for these kind of projects, for these kind of contracts. But these cash flows are already within the company's perimeter. The impact totaled EUR 100 million -- is EUR 100 million. So after all functional units are completed as well as all 3 projects in Colombia in -- they have been releasing all these accounts and therefore, these cash flows come into the account of the concessional company.

There are no additional questions. I now give the floor back to the Chairman.

If there are no further questions, I would like to conclude by underscoring once again that behind the success of these economic results and the company's sustainable balance sheet are all the people who were with professionalism devoting their efforts and full commitment to us to make us better every day. Finally, thank you very much for attending this conference and for your interest, and we now wish you fair well until our next results presentation for Q1 2024. Thank you very much, and have a very nice day. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]