Earnings Labs

Central Puerto S.A. (CEPU)

Q4 2024 Earnings Call· Wed, Mar 12, 2025

$14.74

+3.00%

Key Takeaways · AI generated
AI summary not yet generated for this transcript. Generation in progress for older transcripts; check back soon, or browse the full transcript below.

Same-Day

-3.14%

1 Week

-1.85%

1 Month

-13.99%

vs S&P

-9.53%

Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Central Puerto's Fourth Quarter of 2024 and Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. A slide presentation is accompanying today's webcast and is also available on the Investors section of the company's website, www.centralpuerto.com/en/investors. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. If you do not have a copy of the press release, please refer to the Investor Relations Support section on the company's corporate website at www.centralpuerto.com. In addition, a replay of today's call may be accessed by accessing the webcast link at the same section of the Central Puerto's website. Before we proceed, please be aware that all financial figures were prepared in accordance with IFRS and were converted from Argentine pesos to U.S. dollars for comparison purposes only. The exchange rate used to convert Argentine pesos to U.S. dollars was the reference exchange rate reported by the Central Bank for dollars for the end of each period. The information presented in U.S. dollars is for the convenience of the reader only, and you should not consider these translations to be representations that the Argentine peso amount actually represents this U.S. dollars amount or could be converted into U.S. dollars at the rate indicated. Finally, it is worth noting that the financial statements for the fourth quarter ended on December 31, 2024 include the effects of the inflation adjustment. Also, please take into consideration that certain statements made by the company during this conference call and answers to your questions may include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by industry remarks. Thus, 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 securities laws. To follow 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 to simplify the discussion. On the call today from Central Puerto is Fernando Bonnet; Chief Financial Officer, Enrique Terraneo; and Alejandro Diaz Lopez, Head of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations Officer. And now, I will turn the call over to Alejandro Diaz Lopez. Please, Alejandro, you may begin.

Alejandro Diaz Lopez

Analyst

Thank you very much, and good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us today on a new session of earnings presentation where we are going to discuss our financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the fiscal year of 2024. As usually, I will begin the presentation by addressing in shortly the main figures of the quarter and the whole fiscal year, followed by a quick update of the regulatory framework and relevant news. Then, I will show an overview of the Argentine electricity industry, moving afterwards to our operational and financial results. Finally, at the end of the presentation, we will be happy to address any question you may have. Before going into a more excessive analysis of our financial and operational results, let me briefly review Central Puerto's main figures for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the whole fiscal year. The group's installed capacity remains at 6,703 megawatts and energy generation amounted to 5.4 terawatt hour during the fourth quarter of 2024, increasing 5% year-over-year. Annual generation rose 4% to 21.6 terawatt hour. Regarding our financial results, it should be noted that due to Central Puerto's accounting methodology of items in pesos must be inflation-adjusted to the end of the quarter local currency, while the company reports its results in dollars by converting them at the end of the period official exchange rate, the so-called Central Bank A 3500 exchange rate. This causes a non-cash impact that affects positively or negatively as appropriate our financial metrics. Also, the sharp devaluation of December of 2023 created a distorted base for comparison. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024 amounted to $168 million, increasing 71% year-over-year compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. While annual figure reached to $671 million, rising 25%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 44% year-over-year…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from [Tomas Francisco] (ph) with Balanz.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Hello? You can hear me correctly?

Fernando Bonnet

Analyst

Yes, Tomas.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Okay. Good morning to all. I'm Tomas from Balanz Capital. I want to ask three questions. So, the first one is what impact do you expect from Central Puerto from the new regulations that aim to legalize the power sector? What is your view on this topic and future interest of generators to invest?

Fernando Bonnet

Analyst

Okay. Thank you for the question, Tomas. We are seeing different phases of the deregulation that the government are trying to establish, and we are talking with them. The first one was the Resolution 21 that we explained in the script, this is a minimum deregulation that allowed us to start buying some fuels and gas, which is very important for us because, as you know, right now, all the fuel and gas is provided by CAMMESA and in the past, we do that, and we can have some efficiency because, as you know, we are the biggest one, and we have a very power purchase quantity of gas and fuel. So, we are expecting to start buying our own fuel since March, since this month, minimal amount because, as you know, it's -- CAMMESA have already set contract with the gas providers, the plant gas. So, the volumes out of that are right now small volumes, but we are start doing that. So, it's the first phase of the regulation, start buying fuel and gas for us. I mean, this is very, very good, because as I mentioned, we can do -- we can have advantages there. In terms of new capacity, the Resolution 21 established that we can -- with new capacity, we're going to start selling power through private PPAs. So, this is a good start. Of course, it's not easy because right now, the demand or you have -- the demand are covered by renewables. So, we are not expecting perhaps too much new power plants building in the Resolution 21. And the other change that the government are talking about is the possibility of having certain conditions of marginality, prices in the future. We are talking about in October, we have a new regulation in…

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Great. Thank you. The second one is you may have some small investment in mining and you also have the transmission project with YPF Luz, probably some generation products in the portfolio. Will we see more aggressive investment this year?

Fernando Bonnet

Analyst

Well, we -- first, we have the -- we mentioned it, but we have an option for battery supply from CAMMESA we are looking first, we are looking there. Actively, we are looking to participate. Of course, it's a technology that we are entering. It's not a technology that we know, but we are looking forward to participate in that auction first, it's in May. Then, of course, we are working heavily with YPF to develop the transmission line in the Puna, so this is another important project for us. And the cogeneration depends on not only the regulation. The regulation, as I mentioned, established the possibility to establish a private contract with the demand for new capacity. The thing about that is we need to have the demand when you think about the cogeneration, the most important thing for the [outtaker] (ph) is the steam, but we also need to have the demand for the electricity to cover that -- or the complete business. So, we are looking for that. We have one or two projects on -- we are looking at, but it's not easy to set the whole package to set the steam contract and to set the electricity contract. So, it perhaps take more time than the other assets that we are looking, the other project that we are looking. And in the mining case, we already invest in developing projects, and they are fully funded for this phase of developing, and we are not seeing additional CapEx in this year for those projects.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Okay. Thank you. And last one is any news on the hydro auctions?

Fernando Bonnet

Analyst

Well, we are talking with the government, and they are moving forward, not as fast as they plan at the beginning. They think that they could have the auction in place on February, but I think they are taking, I think, a little bit more, but they are confident that they're going to have the auction in place between April, May, and then they can move forward with that. So -- but we are not having a specific input about how they are planning to do it and if they are thinking in a PPA with CAMMESA, with the Secretary of Energy or they are thinking more in contracts with the demand or distribution companies. We are not ready there, we don't have that information yet. But we know that they're willing to move forward April, May this year.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] This concludes our Q&A session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Fernando Bonnet for any closing remarks.

Fernando Bonnet

Analyst

Thank you, everyone, for your interest in Central Puerto. We encourage you to call us for any information that you may need. Have a great day.

Operator

Operator

This does conclude today's presentation. We wish you a good day.