Earnings Labs

Central Puerto S.A. (CEPU)

Q4 2019 Earnings Call· Wed, Mar 11, 2020

$14.31

-1.85%

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Same-Day

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1 Month

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Central Puerto Conference Call following the results announcement of the quarter ended on December 31, 2019. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. If you do not have a copy of the press release, please refer to the Investor Support section on the Company's corporate website at www.centralpuerto.com. A replay of today's call will be accessed by accessing the webcast of the Investor Support section of the Central Puerto corporate website. Before we proceed, please note that certain statements may be made by the Company during this conference call are forward-looking statements. And we refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. Central Puerto assumes no obligation to update forward looking statements, except as required under applicable security laws. In addition, all financial figures were prepared in accordance with the IFRS and are stated in the Argentinian pesos, unless otherwise noted. For following the discussion better, please download the webcast presentation available on the Company's website. Please be aware that some of the numbers mentioned during the call may be rounded in order to simplify the discussion. On the call today for Central Puerto is Jorge Rauber, Chief Executive Officer; Fernando Bonnet, Chief Financial Officer; Milagros Grande, Financial Manager; and Tomas Daghlian, Investor Relations Officer. And now, I will turn the conference over to Jorge Rauber. Mr. Rauber, you may begin.

Jorge Rauber

Chief Executive Officer

Thank you. We are joining you today with our management team from Buenos Aires, Argentina to report on the results of the fourth quarter 2019 and to answer any questions you may have. Our agenda for today's call, as you see on page 2. We'll begin with the update of the expansion project developed during the fourth quarter 2019 and full year 2019; and then, continue with the operating figures of the quarter. Finally, Fernando will analyze the financial results of the quarter and full year and explain recent changes in the tariffs for Energía Base effective as from February 1, 2020. As you can see on page 3 of the presentation, during 2019 we have managed to expand our installed capacity 12%, including 367 megawatts of thermal units and 94 megawatts from renewable wind farms. As you may remember from our prior calls, during the second quarter 2019, we purchased the Brigadier López Plant and in the third quarter 2019 the wind farms La Castellana II and La Genoveva II commenced their commercial operations. During the fourth quarter 2019, we also have good advances. For example, as you can see on page 4, the new Luján de Cuyo cogeneration unit started operations on February 5, seven weeks before the schedule agreed with CAMMESA adding 95 megawatt to our installed capacity. Early initiation of its operation represented around $7 million in additional income. Because of that asset cogeneration unit, this machine is among the most efficient of the system with almost full dispatch during the whole year. As a matter of fact and part of this new unit, generation is around 180 gigawatt hours. We also continue with the development of the Terminal 6 and Lorenzo Project II, as you can see on page 5 of the presentation. This would…

Fernando Bonnet

Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Jorge. Before starting, it's worth noting that the financial statements for the year-ended on December 31, 2019 include the effects of inflation adjustments, applying International Accounting Standard number 29. Accordingly, the financial figure that I will mention have been stated in terms of Argentine pesos of the end of the reporting period, including the data from previous periods and the growth comparisons here mentioned. Consequently, the comparative information included in the financial statements for the quarter ended on December 31, 2019, is not comparable to the financial statement previously published by us. I will refer to the results of fourth quarter 2019 as compared to the fourth quarter 2018. The results from our operation during the fourth quarter of 2019 were in line with our expectations. As you can see on page 10, our revenues increased 52% to Ps. 11.4 billion in the fourth quarter compared to Ps. 7.5 billion during the fourth quarter of 2018, mainly driven by an increase in sales under contracts, which amounted to Ps. 3.1 billion during the fourth quarter of 2019 as compared to Ps. 800 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, mainly due to the revenues related to Brigadier López plant acquired in June 2019, the energy generation from wind farms La Castellana II and Genoveva II and Manque, which started operation during June, September and December 2019, respectively; and the new Luján de Cuyo cogeneration unit, which is start operation in October 2019; and an increase in revenues for Energía Base the Ps. 7.8 billion as compared to Ps. 6.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, mainly due to higher generation from units under this regulatory framework and the income related to self-supplied fuel, which amounts to Ps. 3.6 billion during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to…

Operator

Operator

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] At this time, there is no question. So, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Rauber for any closing remarks. Go ahead.

Jorge Rauber

Chief Executive Officer

Sorry. I see that there is a question from Frank McGann waiting for opportunity to ask a question.

Operator

Operator

Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't see him. Okay. The next question is from Frank McGann from Bank of America. Go ahead.

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Go ahead

Just one quick question. You -- the presentation was very clear and complete. At the end, you mentioned something would be down 40%, 50%. I just wanted to check what that referred to.

Jorge Rauber

Chief Executive Officer

Yes. It is the impact that we are seeing in our Energía Base EBITDA.

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Go ahead

Okay.

Jorge Rauber

Chief Executive Officer

We have seen an impact of around $38 million in our EBITDA for this new resolution.

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Go ahead

Okay, perfect. Okay. Thank you very much. That's it.

Operator

Operator

Go ahead, Mr. Frank.

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Go ahead

No, no. I'm finished. Thank you very much. That was very helpful.

Operator

Operator

Okay. [Operator Instructions] Okay. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Rauber for closing remarks.

Jorge Rauber

Chief Executive Officer

Hey. Thank you to everyone for your interest in Central Puerto. We encourage you to call us at anytime for any information that you may need. Thank you. And have a good afternoon.

Operator

Operator

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.