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Operator
My name is Gui Paiva, and I'm the head of investor relations for Embraer. I want to welcome you to our second quarter of 2024 earnings conference call. The numbers in this presentation contain non-GAAP financial information to facilitate investors to reconcile EVE's financial information and GAAP standards to Embraer's IFRS. We remind you that EVE's results were discussed at EVE's conference call last Tuesday, August 6th. It is important to mention that our numbers are presented in US dollars as it is our functional currency. This conference call may include statements about future events based on embryos, expectations, and financial market trends. Such statements are subject to uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in this conference call. Except in accordance with the applicable rules, the company assumes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements. For detailed financial information, the company encourages reviewing publications filed by the company with the Brazilian Comissão de Valores Imobiliários, or CVM. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. We will give instructions later on for participation in the two question-and-answer sessions. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Participants on today's conference calls are Francisco Gomez Neto, President and CEO of Embraer, Antonio Carlos Garcia, Chief Financial Officer, Luis Harrison, Corporate Communications Director, and myself. This conference call will have three parts. In the first part, top management will present the company's Q2 results. In the second part, we will host a Q&A session only for investors. And last, but definitely not least, will host a Q&A session only for the press. It is my pleasure to now turn the conference call to our President and CEO, Francisco Gomes. Please go ahead, Francisco.
Francisco
Thank you, Huguin. Good morning and good afternoon to all. Welcome to Embraer's second quarter 2024 results conference call. Embraer revenues in Q2 increased more than 15% year-over-year, mainly helped by defense and security, up more than 100%, but also by commercial aviation and services support, up around 20%. In the first half of 2024, overall company revenues increased 19% compared the same period in 2023. The highlight was defense and security, with an increase of about 50%, followed by executive aviation with 24%, service and support with 16%, and commercial aviation with 12%. Our efforts to improve efficiency and profitability led to a 1.6% gain. to 9.3% in our operating margin during Q2. The gain in the first half of the year was even bigger and totaled 2.7%. It is important to mention that we reiterate all lines of our 2024 operational and financial guidance after considering the opportunities and risks for the company in the second half of 2024. Our commercial activity in 2024 continues to be strong in all business units and we see solid demand in the company's main markets. Our firm order backlog reached 21.1 billion, which is the highest level over the past seven years and supported by a solid year-to-date book-to-bill ratio in excess of 2.2 to 1. In commercial aviation, Mexicana de Aviación ordered 10 E-192s and 10 E-195 E-2s with deliveries scheduled to start in the second quarter 2025. This is another evidence of the strong ability of our E-2 jet family to operate in several markets. and to provide airlines with a viable option to increase their capacity quickly. Defense, the recent signing of the contract for nine C-390 Millennium aircraft by the Netherlands and Austria at Fimbolo Fair, coupled with the order for six Super Tucano aircraft by Paraguay, underpins our positive perspective for the business unit. In executive aviation, we continue to capitalize on the good sales momentum in both fleet and retail markets, with solid demand across our product portfolio. In service and support, the division continued to be one of the main drivers of growth for the company, with higher revenues and profitability through a combination of operational and financial excellence, customer experience and innovative solutions. We continue to face supply chain challenges. This year, we reinforced our supply chain organization by localizing more people closer to our most critical suppliers. And we introduced digital tools and artificial intelligence to help us further improve the efficiency of our supply chain management. I will now move on to operational results by business units in the next few slides. In commercial aviation, the backlog in the first half of 2024 rose 3.3 billion, or plus 40% year over year, and reached 11.3 billion, with a book-to-bill ratio above 4 to 1 during the period. Deliveries and revenues almost tripled sequentially in Q2 and reached 19 aircraft and 554 million. The year-on-year growth rates were also solid in double-digit territory. Adjusted EBIT margin for commercial in Q2 declined 1% year-on-year from 5.3% to 4.3%. mainly because of product mix. In exact deviation, we recorded the strongest first semester in terms of revenues and deliveries for the division over the past 10 and 8 years, with 575 million and 45 aircraft. The backlog for the division registered an increase of 300 million in Q2 and ended the period at 4.6 billion, or 8% higher year-over-year, supported by a strong 1.5 to 1 book-to-bill ratio in the first half of 2024. The adjusted EBIT margin for executives improved 2.5%, from 8.8% in the second quarter of 2023 to 11.3% in the second quarter of 2024. helped by higher productivity and despite lower production volumes. In defense and security, revenues in Q2 increased 2.3 times year-on-year, for more than 100 million. The adjusted EBIT margin also improved to minus 0.5% in the second quarter of 2024, from minus 4.1% in the same period of 2023. The delivery of the second C-29 Millennium to the Portuguese Air Force was an important highlight for defense and security in the quarter. The first aircraft entered into service at Beija Air Base in October 2023. In service and support, revenue grew 20% in Q2, compared to the same period of last year. with solid immediate to high things profitability and a gain of 1.3% in the adjusted EBIT margin. The business unit maintained its historical 3.1 billion record backlog widget in Q4-23. Another important achievement for our service and support division was the first flight of the E190 freighter, a passenger to full cargo conversion, which received the certification by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil, ANAC, in July 2024. Last but not least, our eVTOL business reached other important milestones in the second quarter of 2024. The company has now already selected and contracted most of the component suppliers, completed its first full-scale EV12 prototype assembly, and celebrated its rollout in our Gavião Peixoto plant last month. EV also completed a new equity financial round of 96 million from multiple investors. The monies will help support the continued development and manufacturing of its EV toll. Embraer remains confident in EV's business outlook as its majority and controlling shareholder with an 83% equity stake. I will now hand it over to Antonio to give you further details about the financial results. And then I will be back with closing remarks.
Antonio
Thank you, Francisco. Good morning and good afternoon to everyone. I'd like to highlight we had another solid quarter in Q2. Our financial results improved both quarter over quarter and year over year. For instance, revenues for the period were 16% higher than a year ago, and our EBIT margin was 160 basis points higher. Our focus in Q2 continued to be on business and financial efficiencies. We are fully committed to reach our full-year guidance despite all the ongoing supply chain constraints we continue to deal with, which had also negative impact on our year-to-date cash flow. It is important to mention we still see double-digit growth for aircrafts delivered through revenue and EBIT In 2024 and 2025, notwithstanding the operational challenges. Slide 10 delivers. Commercial aviation delivered 19 aircraft in Q2 for an increase of 12% versus a year ago, and almost three times higher than in Q1. Meanwhile, executive aviation delivered 27 jets in Q2, compared to 30 aircrafts in the same quarter of 2023. However, if we look sequentially, the numbers of deliveries grew 50% from Q1 to Q2. In defense, we delivered one C390 Millenium to the Portuguese Air Force in Q2, compared to one KC390 to the Brazilian Air Force one year ago. It is important to mention the aircraft is not included in our delivery guidance for 2024. We continue to work steadfastly to accomplish our production plan and to reach our 2024 guidance of between 125 and 135 executive jets and 72 and 80 commercial aircrafts. We are also on track to deliver for C390 Millennium aircraft's schedule for the year. Slide 11, please. The company registered a seven-year high total backlog of 21.1 billion in Q2, which was marginally higher quarter over quarter and 22% higher than a year ago. The backlog for commercial aviation continued to move higher. It's total more than 380 aircrafts in Q2 and it was valued at 11.3 billion or 200 million higher than last quarter and 3.3 billion above second quarter 23. Meanwhile, the backlog for executive aviation was a solid and resilient 4.6 billion during the period, flat quarter-in-quarter, but up 300 meters year-on-year. Last but not least, the backlog for service and support finished relatively stable at 3.1 billion in Q2, while for defense and security it decreased marginally by 10% to 2.1 billion. Looking forward, our backlog for defense should increase by more than 50% in Q3 with the new contracts, if we factor in the export contracts recently announced for C390 Millennial and Super Tucanos. Moving on to revenues, our top line reached almost 1.5 billion in Q2, or 2%. 200 million higher year over year for 16% growth rate. If you look at the pie chart on the right, we can see a more balanced revenue mix. For instance, commercial aviation represented around 37% of total revenue, followed by service and support, close to 27%, executive aviation with 23%, and defense at around 13%. For the first half of the year, we recorded $2.4 billion in revenue, or almost 40% of the midpoint of the 2024 guidance. Next slide. 12 EBITDA. We generated $190 million in adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2024. with a 12.7% margin compared to 149 million second quarter 2023, driven by strong operating results when compared to the same period last year. One related note, the Brazilian foreign exchange rate has been very volatile in the first half of 2024, and its recent depreciation should provide some tailwind in the second half of the year. We generated 237 million in adjusted EBITDA with 9.9% margin in the first half of 2024 versus 159 million with a 7.9% margin in the prior year period. For a dollar amount, almost 50% higher annually. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA was 139 million with a 9.3% adjusted margin. However, they were one-time items in the quarter which propped up the adjusted EBIT margin by circa 250 basis points. Reported EBIT for the quarter was 128 million with an 8.6% margin. Both figures were materially better than their Second quarter, 23, comps supported by better efficiency, lower SG&A costs, especially in executive aviation and service and support. Look in the right chart. We can see executive aviation and service and support generated more than 75% of the company-wide debit during the quarter, while commercial aviation turned balanced 25%, and defense practically broke even in accordance with the percentage of completion accounting methods. On the slide 13, in Q2, if we exclude EVE, we had an adjusted free cash flow consumption of $215 million due to networking capital needs for higher aircraft delivered in the second half of the year. This cash should be recovered as much deliveries take place over the next couple of quarters. Moving to investments, again, without ETH, we spent $49 million in research and development during the quarter, $47 million in CAPEX, and net $11 million in the pool programs for spare parts, for a total of $107 million, compared to $104 million a year ago. Our capital allocation continues to be focused on segments with higher returns, with projects such as expansion for our production capacity in executive aviation and service and support. To finalize, our adjusted net income was positive $80 million for the quarter, supported by a 5.4% adjusted margin, or $22 million higher than a year ago. Slide 14, going to our liability management plan, in second quarter 24, our gross debt without EIF was relatively stable at $2.6 billion during the period. But we still managed to reduce it by circa $880 million when compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, our net debt declined by $152 million. year-on-year and reached 1.3 billion during the quarter. Our net debt-to-BTDA leverage ratio increased 0.2 turns, sequentially to two times, as shown in the top right corner. This measured increase is explained by the seasonality of the cash consumption in preparation for higher deliveries in the second half of the year. We also announced earlier this week an extension for the next five years of our revolving credit facility, and an increase of each size from 650 million to a billion, which will be reflected in our Q3 liquidity position. With that, I conclude my presentation and hand it back to Francisco for his final remarks. Thanks for your attention.
Francisco
Thank you, António. The progress recorded in the Q2-24 demonstrates we are on track to achieve all the results embedded in our 2024 guidance. More importantly, we will continue to work hard to deliver even better results in the coming quarters of the year, especially in Q3. Our company remains very well positioned for the future. with a seven-year high backlog of 21.1 billion, a strong 2.221 book to build in the first half of the year, a steady progress in our operational and financial indicators, as well as a solid strategic plan. It's important to mention that we will include in our Q3 backlog for the chance the contracts for nine C319 Millennium signed with the Netherlands and Austria, and six Super Tucanos ordered by Paraguay during the recent Farnborough air show in England. I would also like to give a special welcome to Mexicana de Aviación as a new operator of our E-2 family. Expanding the E2 presence in North America, we believe our recognized global judge family will help the airline generate great operational and financial results with a strong commitment to sustainability and aviation efficiency. And to finish, I'd like to thank you all again for your interest and confidence in our company. we see bright and clear skies ahead for our company. And we will continue to work hard and embrace the foundation of our culture that is safety first and quality always. Let's now move to the Q&A session of the call.
António
We'll now start the question and answer session. The first part of the Q&A session will be exclusively for equity research analysts and investors. The second part of the Q&A will be only for the press. We highlight again this conference call is being conducted in English with translation to Portuguese. Please, let me say a short announcement for Portuguese speakers. Essa conferência está sendo realizada originalmente em inglês. Para ouvir a tradução em português,
Victor
This conference is being conducted in Portuguese in English. To listen to the translation, please select the language of your choice.
António
We request participants interested in asking questions to press star then nine in the phone at any time or press the raise a hand button on the platform. When your name is announced, please press star then six on the phone or make sure your microphone is on and start your question. We will also answer questions sent via the platform chat. If you need assistance, please use the Q&A button on the platform. To give everyone a chance to participate, we request to ask just one question per call. Please hold while we collect questions. The first question comes from Christine Liwag with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Christine Liwag
Hi, good morning, Francisco, Antonio, and Guy. And thank you for the results for today. I guess my question is on the supply chain. You know, you maintained your 2024 full-year delivery guide for commercial aerospace. We're seeing some of the other manufacturers like Airbus lower their outlook for the year because of supply chain. Can you give more color regarding your confidence that you're able to meet these deliveries? what you're seeing in the supply chain, and maybe a little more color also on your approach in providing guidance, like how conservative is the range that you gave for delivery for 2024? Thank you.
Francisco
Your question? Well, as I mentioned in the opening, we are this year reinforcing our supply chain team. We are... locating more people closer to the most critical suppliers to support them. We are having more senior management meetings with our suppliers, the critical ones, to make sure that we follow up the delivery of the parts we need for a year. We are implementing new digital tools and also artificial intelligence to help us to be ahead of the problems. We have been, Cristine, very proactive with our suppliers in trying to be even closer to them, to help them, always in a very positive approach as is the Embraer style. So again, we see challenges, but at this point of time, we are confident that we will be able to deliver
António
guidance for the year great thank you christine the next question comes from victor mitsuzaki with bradesco bbi please go ahead hi uh congrats for for the quarter uh we have two questions here uh the first one
spk06
Why don't we take a look at the margin of like 20% in the second quarter? I mean, this was something that these run club margins was something that we were actually expecting for the second half. So my first question here is, is there any chance that maybe Embraer will revise guidance upward in the second half? Or maybe we'll talk about the high end of your guidance? And the second one, we have seen a lot of news flow in Brazil about maybe Latam and the Gulf potentially place orders for the jets. So my question is, if you can give any follow-up on these negotiations and what's your view for the regional aviation market?
Antonio
Thank you. Good morning, Victor.
Victor
This is Antonio. Thank you for your comments and questions. I will address... The first question, and Francisco will take the second one. With regards to margins.
Antonio
Sorry for speaking Portuguese. About the BTDA margin, for sure, the Q2, we have some tailwind at one-time effects. We are confident in our guidance. If it's in the mid or the high end of the guidance, we need more one. One quarter to be more precise, but everything that we are seeing right now shows that today we are more closer to the high end of the guidance than the lower end. That's from the BTDA side. And you hand over to Francisco for Latin issues.
Francisco
Thank you, Vitor, for the questions. At this point, we are talking to a lot of customers about E2 opportunities. I don't have anything concrete about Brazilian customers to share with you. But what I can say is that we see a great opportunity to increase the A2 presence in Brazil, as we are very confident that A jets are a perfect fit for the Brazilian market and can help the airlines, not only Brazil, but everywhere, to add the capacity quickly to their fleets.
Chispe Investimentos
Thank you.
António
The next question comes from Marcelo Mota with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Morgan
Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking the question. I'll keep to just one question. I mean, can you comment a little bit about the The defense revenues outlook for second half, you know, I know it is percentage of completion. You still have, if I'm not mistaken, another three cases to be delivered this year. And the revenues have a very good increase, both on a quarter over quarter and year over year basis. So can we expect the defense revenues to continue to accelerate throughout the second half? And I mean, could the driver be also affected? the Super Tucano's order, which, you know, probably could be delivered in the short term since the production is a little bit more simple. And what are the other components of the defense revenues that could, you know, also increase and accelerate so the full year revenues for defense, you know, could be, you know, maybe closer to $600, $700 million. Thank you.
Antonio
Thanks, Marcelo. This is Antonio speaking. And thanks for answering already your question. We do see defense around, 600 million this year. With the delivers for the C390, we are confident to deliver for this year. I would say next week we are going to deliver the second one. I would say we are confident in that. And the order for the Super Tucano has come to the right time and the right point because a big portion of the aircraft, they are ready. No inventory means it's going to go on top. For the second quarter, the Super Tucanas for Paraguay. That's if put all together, we do see defense here around 600 million for this year.
Morgan
Perfect. Thank you very much. Welcome.
António
The next question comes from Lucas Barbosa with Santander. Please go ahead.
Lucas Barbosa
Hi, good morning. Francisco Antonio Gui. Thank you very much for taking my question and congratulations for the results. I just wanted to know if you can provide more color on the one-time items that affected EBIT margin by around 250 basis points. So if you can provide just some details, if it's just one item, if it's more than one item, what's the nature of it, that would be very helpful. Thank you very much.
Francisco Antonio Gui
Hi, Lucas. Good morning. Thanks for the question. There are a few items that impacted the quarter, but I would say by far the biggest one were tax credits that helped us improve the margins by about 250 basis points. So if you school that, the margin will be closer to 7% or slightly under than that.
Lucas Barbosa
Perfect. Thank you very much. Have a great day.
António
The next question comes from Ron Epstein with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Ron Epstein
Hey, good morning, guys. Maybe if you could circle back on, we had a question about interest from airlines in Brazil, but maybe more broadly, after Farnborough, stepping away from that, can you maybe give more characterization, a little color around what you're hearing from customers how sales campaigns are going. To be honest, I was expecting to hear a little bit more in terms of orders for commercial airplanes at Farnborough. Where do we stand on that, and what's the outlook for maybe the rest of the year into next year?
Francisco
Thank you, Rom. Francisco speaking. Thanks for the question. I mean, we had a good start this year. If you look at the glass, we had full. We had a good start this year with orders in commercial aviation with American Airlines and Mexicana. And we are working, you know, in a lot of sales campaigns. I mean, you know, basically all the regions in the world. So we expect, we are confident that we will bring good news soon about new orders. and we have a good expectation for Q3 and the rest of the year as well. So again, we believe we have a very good chance to feel our production slots for the years ahead in line with our strategic plan.
Ron Epstein
Great, thank you.
António
The next question comes from the Vue Q&A chat, and it's from Stephen Trent with Citibank. Many thanks, gentlemen. Can you provide some color on what you're seeing in the competitive environment for business jets? Is it possible that lower interest rates could support small and mid-cabin sales? Thank you.
spk16
Thank you, Steve, for the question.
Francisco
Actually, we still see strong interest rates in our business jet product portfolio. So we are selling all the four models very well, in line with our expectations. And we are now, our challenge, to be honest with you, in the business jet is more to ramp up production levels and deliveries than the sales. I think the sales continue to be strong, as I said. We are very optimistic about the not only sales, but the deliveries and growth of our business jet business in the next years.
António
Thank you. The next question comes from Noah Poponek with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Noah Poponek
Hey, good morning, everyone. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, great. On the margins, the reiteration of the 6.5% to 7.5% for the full year adjusted operating margin, just want to clarify if that's including or excluding the items you listed as kind of one time for 2Q. And, you know, maybe put a different way, I guess, you know, to be at the midpoint or the high end of that for the full year, the margins would have to be down year over year in the back half. Do you expect margins down year over year in the back half?
Antonio
Thanks, Noah, for the nice questions. Anthony speaking here for sure. If you take the one time and add it on top of the guidance, for sure we could be even higher, but assuming that we are in this volatile situation of supply chain, we prefer to not raise the guidance today, but today we are at the high end and We are not planning to reduce margins for the coming quarters and the opposite, but what we try to avoid with the math we did is that you take the 9% margin from Q3, Q2, and move forward for the next quarter. It's going to be a little bit higher, lower, but not in the magnitude that we are going to be even below previous year means in a nutshell. Yes, we are closer to the high end. And if you are able to get all aircrafts out of the door, probably have a chance for upside. Then we want to do this. Probably are going to review the guidance already in Q3 when you announce the closing for Q3. Let's see. Depends on several facts.
Noah Poponek
Okay, that makes sense. That's helpful. And Antonio, I guess, you know, I feel like I have a sense for what the progression of the commercial margin could be from here. You know, executive has been kind of just solid for a while now. Service is reasonably straightforward. I guess the defense margin, you know, has been pretty volatile through the quarters. Used to be kind of high single digits on an annual basis. It's now mid-single digits. I guess as you ramp KC390 with, you know, different customers and the mix is changing, I guess – How should we be, well, what should we be expecting for the kind of medium-term progression in that defense margin?
Antonio
Thanks for the question. We are, I would say, in an inflection point right now, and the defense margin means the magnitude of the local contracts is being, I would say, well-filled right now with new contracts for export, and we do see this year something like mid- mid-digit margin for this year but moving i would say very fast for higher or even lower things for the next year that's more or less the projection you see based on the new contract that we are just signing right now today if you see here today it has been very highly impacted by still the brazilian contract here with this move from local uh counters to export we do see this projection from mid-single digital, higher single digital or lower teams. That's more or less how do we see defense right now with, on top of it, with revenue growth, both together.
Noah Poponek
Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you.
António
The next question comes from Gabriel Rezende with Itaú BBA. Please go ahead.
Gabriel Rezende
Hi, good morning, Francisco, Antonio, and Guy, and congrats on the results. I would like to touch on one point regarding the commercial division and whether do you think that would be fair for us to assume that given the ongoing supply chain crisis across the globe in the industry, prices in this industry could benefit the commercial division? What should maybe translate into even higher margins for the commercial division in the future? Thanks.
Francisco
Gabriel, thank you. Francisco speaking. Thanks for the question. I mean, our commercial division has been, despite the low volumes in the past year, has been profitable. And you see that even the results of this Q2 was very positive for the commercial division. And we see opportunities to improve even further with the volumes growing. And we are also working internally in the other P&L drivers, like the prices and especially in cost reduction programs. So again, we do believe that the margins of the commercial division will continue to be positive, right? And let's say middle single digits for this year and the next years as well.
Gabriel Rezende
That's very clear. Thank you. Thank you.
António
The next question comes from Lucas Laghi with Chispe Investimentos. Please go ahead. The next question comes from Lucas Laghi with Chispe Investimentos. Please go ahead.
Chispe Investimentos
Hi, everyone. Can you hear me now?
spk16
Yes. Yes, we can.
spk15
Thank you. Good morning. Francisco Antonio Gui. My question is a follow-up on the commercial division profitability standpoint. But, I mean, we noted this slight decline over year-on-margins due to the higher mix of H2s. I mean, my question is, I mean, aside from the effects of operating leverage as deliveries should accelerate in these upcoming years, I mean, are we already seeing the orders that you added to your backlog in the past year implying room for gross margins to improve or a further contribution margin improvement should come as a result from incremental new orders in this next year? So basically a matter of mix and how should we think of the E2's margins going forward, taking into consideration what you already had added to your backlog. and what you expect to add in these upcoming years. Thank you very much.
Antonio
Thanks, Lucas, for the nice question. The margin that we are generating today is based on the backlog that the first sales campaign for D2, if you take Porter or Azure, is more or less the margin that we are delivering today. For sure, the future backlog is accurate for a mid-single-digit, at least today. And please do not forget to have also a boost in D1 for the future. But we needed to exercise the new contracts. If you take the mix today, they are more or less the first contracts for D2. That's why the market is more tough, more tight. But if you take Mexican, it's much better market than we are exercising with the customer this year. But we needed to wait the coming years in order to I would say, regain traction. Nevertheless, you follow our numbers. We are able to report positive margin even with not the full capacity occupied. That's why we see between operational levers and new counters a good way to improve the margin, but not this year. This year is highly dependent on D2 with the main customer that has at least a lower margin. We are confident for the future.
Chispe Investimentos
Perfect. That's clear. Thank you, Antonio. Thank you.
António
The next question comes from Alberto Valerio with UBS. Please go ahead.
Antonio
Hi, good morning Antonio and Francisco. Thank you for taking my questions. I have two here on our side. First one about pricing in the commercial aviation. We heard from competitors that there is some low price aircraft going out of the inventory and sooner we should have a higher price aircraft going out from the inventory. I would like to see if in Embraer we have the same situation. And secondly, on the executive aviation, that margin come great year over year, despite what we see a worse mix with less predators on the delivery side. If you could provide more follow on this one also would be very helpful and congrats on the results.
Antonio
So, Humberto, Antonio speaking here. Good morning. First, I hope you will revise your numbers because you do believe that they're not growing too much this year, but I'm sure you are going to do it. In regards to the margin side, again, it's a combination of facts for commercial aviation. I'd say on the mix for executive aviation, growing Praetor brings a lot of dollars, I'd say incremental margin should lead this unit to be above to BAT margin this year. We are already more or less close to that. I'd say the Praetor brings much more dollars. That's why incremental margin should help. Sometimes the percentage-wise is a little bit different when you see females against Praetors, but dollar-wise, we do see a nice boost. for the margin for this year, for the years to come.
Antonio
Okay. I will revise for sure all the numbers, Antônio. Thank you very much.
Antonio
Thank you. We love to listen to that, Alberto.
António
Thank you. The next question comes from the phone number ending 5135. Please go ahead.
Antonio
Okay.
Tony
Hey, good morning, guys. I have Lourifetto from Wolf Research.
Gabriel Rezende
Hello. Hello.
Tony
Maybe just on services, you had a good quarter on the top line, good quarter on margins. Just how should we think about that business service for the remainder of the year? Growth stepped up pretty nicely in the quarter. Are we at sort of a sustainable level here, around $400 million? And same on the margins, 17%. Should we think about that as sort of a run rate, or did any one-time benefits help the quarter there?
Antonio
Thanks for the nice question. Tony speaking here. I would say we are already in the range of mid-teens margin for the service and support. With expansion activities right now, I would say I would continue to see for this year in the mid-teens because we are putting more revenue and margin for the engineering role we have in Portugal. That's why the ramp-up of this production does not help or contribute too much for the margin. That's why I would say we are confident in the meetings and on time effect to us for service, not a big contributor, to be honest.
Tony
Great, thank you very much. Thank you.
António
The next question comes from Noah Popanek with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Noah Poponek
Antonio, can you just spend another minute on the cash flow? You know, I know that your cash flow is always seasonally weighted to the back half, and you've had a working capital build in the first half before. It looks pretty sizable in the first half of 24, even though the deliveries are up a little bit year over year, revenues up year over year. So maybe if you could just walk us through that. How confident are you in hitting the 220 for the year? And can you grow free cash flow next year versus this year?
Antonio
Thanks, Noah, for the nice question. By the way, cash is one thing that we discuss every single day in this company here. That's why we launched the production leveling in order to be more, I would say, not suffer too much from Q1 to Q3 during the year. It's going to, I would say, help more next year than this year. I'd say the trend for the cash flow, we are today confident in a 220 or better, but unfortunately, it's going to happen just in Q4. The discerning between negative to positive for several reasons. More or less 20% growth on top line this year, and also for next year, it's more or less also double-digit growth that we are foreseeing. And if you go to our factories today, you see new people and parts for 2025 already. We already produced 25 parties, several parts of our company. It's pushing, putting a lot of pressure on the cash flow and also the progress payment for the new contracts is going to happen, especially in the second half of the year. I would say combine those effects, lead us for the stock situation, Q1, Q2, and Q3. and hopefully to become positive as we did last year in Q4. However, we are not happy with this situation, and we do have, and we are discussing this week very, very strong how to, I would say, harmonize our cash generation, and in regards to generate more cash next year, you know our times here, minimum turn a bit today, 50% into cash. I would say we are a little bit behind this year because of the higher growth that you continue to face for the company, which is nice, but puts a lot of pressure on the cash flow. I'd say in a nutshell, we are still confident with the cash this year and for sure a lot of chances to improve cash flow next year. If you are able to level in the production, then it's going to be even better. And you guys, you're not getting, getting scared to see negative cash consumption. Three quarters and a very strong positive in Q4. I will. That's more or less what we are looking for.
Noah Poponek
Okay. That's helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you.
António
Thank you all very much. This concludes the question and answer session for equity research analysts and investors. Now, we will start the Q&A session dedicated to the press. First, We will answer questions in English and then we'll answer questions in Portuguese. We will also answer questions sent via the platform chat. Please let me say a short announcement for Portuguese speakers. Essa conferência está sendo realizada originalmente em inglês. Para ouvir a tradução em português, Press the button on the platform. When your name is announced, please make sure your microphone is on and start your question.
Para
If you need assistance, please use the Q&A button on the platform. To give everyone a chance to participate, we request to ask just one question.
António
Please hold while we collect the questions. The first question is from the Q&A chat and is from Joanna Bailey. Do you expect the CIP 390 program to be profitable by the end of 2024? And how have you managed to increase the EBITDA so much on executives?
Francisco
Well, Johanna, thanks for the question. I think, you know, the plan is, yes, for our defense and security to be profitable this year already, including the C390 and all the products. And the executive, I mean, we are seeing a very good performance in terms of margin and results, and this should continue with the sales, production, deliveries growing in the next years.
Antonio
And for executive aviation, we do have a nice mix of products, I'd say Fino and Praetors, where we were able to keep the price disciplined, which is showing also in the financial results. That's more or less. Without services, by the way, that's the combination of facts we do see in executive aviation.
António
Thank you. The next question is written as well from the view Q&A chat and is from Richard Sherman. Hello, I have already asked many questions in Farnborough, but I have one follow-up from that. You announced the E2FT or E2 feet enhanced takeoff system. It isn't clear if this system has already been certified. If not, When do you expect this to be available? Obrigado.
Francisco
Richard, this is a very good question, and thank you for your interest. And about this feature, the certification is expected to happen by the Q4 next year, 2025.
António
Thank you. Please hold while we collect questions. The next question is written as well from Woodrow Bellamy. One of the technologies that Airbus, Boeing and other OEMs highlighted at Farnborough was their use of new digital design tools to improve time to market for new aircraft technologies and components. Is Embraer using any new digital design tools to improve its manufacturing and production efficiency? And could you give some examples?
Francisco
We have been using the one example I can give it to you is the MES, the Manufacturing Excellence System that we use in our manufacturing process that is a digital 3D tool and that help us a lot, you know, I mean, to improve our efficiency, productivity, and quality in our manufacturing process. And we are developing other systems as well. that we expect to be implemented in the next years.
António
Thank you very much. Please hold while we collect questions. Thank you all very much. This concludes the question and answer session in English for the press. This Q&A section is now being conducted in Portuguese. To switch to English, please press the interpretation button on the platform and then select English. Agora, nós vamos iniciar a sessão de perguntas e respostas em português.
Para
Start with the Q&A session in Portuguese. We ask the journalists to please press the raise hand button and whenever your name is announced, just open your mic and ask a question. We will also answer written questions that are sent through the chat box of the platform. If you need assistance, please please ask through the Q&A button on the platform. In order for everyone to have the chance to participate, please prostrate to one question at a time. The first question is from Christian Favreau, Valor Econômico. Please, Christian.
Operator
Hello, everyone.
Para
Can you hear me? Yes, Christian.
Operator
Very well, then.
Para
Yes, guys, thank you. Congratulations for the results. I do have a question, but let me give you a follow-up here, Antonio, and let me see if I got it right. You said that the perspective is to have a 15% backlog on the Q3, just to make sure what I got the percentage right, 15%. And I wanted to ask about Latinas. Yesterday, Jehan Cartier has confirmed at the Latin conference call that they are, you know, considering lower size aircraft. And they said that Embraer is competing with the A2020. So they are probably, you know, considering the, you know, middle cabin. So I'd like to know about what your perspective with the A2020 are you with a good competitive edge. And how is this conversation evolving? Because there is some time that you mentioned that Francisco, that Lata, that Gol has been engaged in conversations to procure with you. But do you have any good perspectives with regards to that? I can take the first question.
Victor
It's actually a 50% increase in Q3. That's for the defense backlog. You will see agreements from the Netherlands, Austria from C390, and then Paraguay with Super Tucano aircraft. That accounts for more than 50% increase in the defense backlog. And for the time, I'll hand it over to Francisco to answer that. Thank you, Christian, for your question. Like I said before, we've been in conversation with different customers about business opportunities for E2. And of course, there's competition. There's competition in the market with A2020, but for us, we think E2 is more of an efficient aircraft with lower operational costs and lower maintenance costs. E2 is a perfect fit. It's tailor-made to markets such as the Brazilian market. If you look at the operations of Azul Airlines or Scoot, KLM in Europe. So we do think E2 is quite a competitive product, and again, it is tailor-made to better connect cities, medium to small-sized cities, which is what Brazil needs, and other countries also do, but more specifically Brazil. So we're excited about these opportunities. We've got no concrete news to share with you, but Let's wait and see how these processes evolve. Thank you very much.
António
Please hold while we collect questions.
Victor
Next question from Jesse Nascimento from Portal Valley 360 News. Sorry. Please continue. You may now proceed.
Francisco Antonio Gui
Hello.
Victor
Can you hear me okay? We can, yes. Good morning. Hi, Francisco. Congratulations on the results. We are located at the Vale do Paraíba region, and we're following up closely on Embraer's numbers. The question goes to Antonio, and then another question to you, Mr. Francisco. Antonio, as we looked at the numbers yesterday, we saw that Embraer stocks reached 38.13. But numbers were different in late July and in October.
Francisco Antonio Gui
On October 30, 2020, stocks were worth 6.03 BRL. Considering the results that are now sharing with us, How much can we expect stocks to go up?
Victor
Or the market value since the pandemic, how much will that increase? And then the question to Francisco is the following. According to news portals specialized in aviation, in the UK trade show they mentioned that Embraer is negotiating to sell 300 commercial aircrafts.
Francisco Antonio Gui
How is that going?
Victor
Can that happen by the end of this year? Thank you very much.
Antonio
Thank you for your question.
Victor
You know, I remember in 2020, Embraer stocks, well, Embraer as a company was worth 3 billion VRL and it's worth now 30 billion roughly. So we're talking about a 10 times... increase on friday and on monday people's temper was quite hard but you know we were in touch with many banks already there were many investors who were feeling uncertain about it we think these numbers should get back on track in the following weeks or so so what's been going on with the company's valuation is reflected Again, in the gain in trust in our sustainable growth as a company, I still believe there is a lot of room for growth.
Antonio
I think we grew by 10 times since early 2023 to date. Our stocks have grown more than 60%, which makes us really happy.
Victor
But I think we've got a long way to go and grow based on what we're doing. in terms of trust, foreseeability, and in terms of delivering what we promise, always, of course, focusing on safety and security. So we're very excited about growth, but if we consider how ambitious we are, there's a lot that will still happen. I can add to that. If you think of the company's valuation during the pandemic, you know, that's a very low bar, but What makes us excited is that even if we consider stock prices before the pandemic, you know, in mid-2019, and compare that to now, we can safely say that we are 100% above that. So that's a good way to compare stock prices. And then, about the second question, it's true, we've got 300 aircraft to be sold. This is a round number, but we expect these campaigns... provide results in the short term, meaning 2024 and 2025. Thank you. Next question by Leda Alvin from Bloomberg News. You may now proceed. Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you and congratulations on the results. I wanted to ask you about a specific point that you mentioned during the media day a few months ago about the defense sector. It was mentioned that Embraer is working to penetrate the US market with their defense aircraft, exploring even opportunities of mergers and acquisitions. I wanted to learn from you. Has there been any update on that note, any initiative for the US market, especially in the defense sector? How do you see these opportunities for merge and acquisitions? Hi, Leda. This is Francisco. It's great to hear from you again. Thank you for your question. C390 is doing well in different regions of the world. We talked about new agreements with the Netherlands and Austria. We are now at an advanced stage in negotiations with Czech Republic. and we expect this to come to fruition by the end of this year. We're also in touch with South Korea. In Asia, we're also making great strides with our program, and of course, the American market is the largest defense market in the globe, so they are a target market for us. And we believe that our aircraft, C-390, would be a suitable product and important to help the U.S. Air Force increase their productivity in this multi-mission military aircraft sector. So at this point, we're just doing our research in the US, we're strengthening our team in the market so that we can define what the next steps will be, hoping to fast-track our penetration in the market. That's where we stand as of now.
António
Thank you.
Victor
Thank you very much. This concludes our Q&A session. This concludes Embraer's earnings call. Thank you very much for attending the session and have a great day.
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