Corporacion America Airports SA

Good morning and welcome to the Corporation America Airport's third quarter 2024 conference call. A slide presentation accompanies today's webcast and is available in the investor section of the company's website. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Patricio Enaki Esnaola, Head of Investor Relations. Patricio, please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Speaking during today's call will be Martina Ornequian, our Chief Executive Officer, and Jorge Arruda, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we proceed, I would like to make the following safe harbor statement. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements, and I refer you to the forward-looking statement section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances. Please note that throughout this call, all references to revenues, costs, adjusted EBITDA, and margin will refer to figures excluding IFRIC 12. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Martín Ornequian.

Good day. Thank you for joining us today. Let me start today's presentation by sharing some key highlights from our third quarter results. Following that, Jorge will provide a more in-depth financial review, and afterward, we will open the floor for your questions. Our diverse geographic portfolio once again played a critical role in balancing our results this quarter, as solid performances in other countries partially mitigated a weaker result in Argentina, where the macroeconomic environment and specific dynamics put pressure on year-over-year comparisons. In turn, revenues were down approximately 4% year-over-year, broadly in line with lower passenger volumes, while revenue per passenger held steady at $19, demonstrating our resilience in navigating challenging market conditions. And just to give you that, for the quarter decline in the mid-teens year over year, primarily due to the ongoing market economic challenges in Argentina, which continue to pressure domestic traffic and increase operational costs. Duty-free sales were again lower this quarter, as last year results benefited from the significant disparity between the official and parallel effect rates. Nevertheless, we saw positive contributions from our operations in Uruguay, Brazil, and Italy, highlighting the resilience of our portfolio. Importantly, our strong cash flow and solid balance sheet with net leverage remaining at record lows underscore our commitment to financial stability while providing the flexibility to pursue growth opportunities. Now, let me touch on three recent events. First, a 124% increase in the domestic passenger tariffs in Argentina was approved and effective November 1st, which will support our local operations going forward. Second, our Argentine subsidiary, AA2000, approved an $80 million dividend distribution. And finally, we completed the acquisition of an additional 2.1% economic interest in AA2000 for $30.9 million from affiliated entities, which consolidates CAP's economic interest in AA2000, while the Argentine government remains with its 15% stake in the company. Our performance during the most recent quarter reflects the ongoing successful execution of our long-term strategy, and we will continue to be disciplined and balanced with our deployment of capital as we prioritize investment in the businesses to support long-term growth. Jorge will provide further details on our financials shortly. Turning to page four, for the review of passenger traffic trends. Overall, total passenger traffic declined 4% year-on-year, or by 1.5% when excluding Natal, which we exited in February as part of a friend determination agreement with the Brazilian government. This decline was primarily driven by soft demand for domestic travel in Argentina, reflecting the current challenging market environment in the country. By contrast, international traffic in Argentina remained a bright spot, supported by additional routes and flight frequencies. We also continued to see positive momentum in Uruguay, Italy, and Brazil. Let's take a closer look at some key year-on-year trends by region. In Italy, passenger traffic rose 6%, led by a 7% growth in international traffic, while domestic traffic was up by low single digits. This performance extended into October with passenger traffic growing at 6.1% versus the same month of 2023. Uruguay continued its strong recovery with passenger numbers up 15% fueled by new routes and additional frequencies by JetSmart and Sky introduced in the prior quarter. Looking ahead, Sky and LATAM Airlines announced resumption of routes to Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile for the summer season, while American Airlines will resume its Montevideo-Miami route in November adding further connectivity to Uruguay. In October, passenger traffic rose by 2.6%. In Brazil, traffic saw a recovery this quarter, up 6% when excluding Natal Airport, even while domestic traffic remains affected by aircraft constraints. This performance extended into October, with passenger traffic ex natal growing at a strong 12% versus the same month of 2023. In Argentina, total passenger traffic was down 6%, reflecting an 11% decline in domestic traffic, which remains impacted by the ongoing recession and tough comparisons to last year's previaje government program. which boosted domestic travel, but was not repeated this year. By contrast, we continue to see a positive trend in international traffic, up nearly 10%, driven by the continued return of routes and increased flight frequencies. For example, Aeroneas Argentinas launched new routes to Rio de Janeiro and Punta Cana, while carriers including Gol, Copa and Avianca added frequencies on several routes. We also saw solid performance in key tourist destinations, such as Bariloche, Iguazu, and Mendoza, fighting to offset some of the domestic weakness. In October, international traffic continued to perform well, growing 7% year on year. Traffic in Armenia declined in the low signal digits, following very strong traffic last year on the back of the entrance of new airlines and frequencies. In October, total traffic decreased by 2.4% compared to the same month last year. Ecuador continued to experience a mid-single-digit decline in total traffic led by a 10% contraction in domestic traffic, reflecting the exit of a local airline in October last year and persistently high airfare prices, which have dampened travel demand. This trend continued into October, with traffic declining 1.4% year-on-year. Now moving on to slide five. We saw continued momentum in cargo volumes, which increased 4.4% year-on-year. Argentina, Brazil, and Armenia were particularly strong contributors collectively, accounting for 80% of total cargo volumes. Despite volume growth, cargo revenues declined 12% year-on-year, largely due to lower revenues in Argentina, impacted by a reduction in the number of storage days for imported goods. We continue to monitor these revenue trends closely and remain focused on maintaining efficient operations across our regions. I will now hand off the call to Jorge, who will review our financial results. Please go ahead.