Vista Energy S.A.B. de C.V. American Depositary Shares, each representing one series A share, with no par value

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Alejandro Chernyakov, Vista's Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Officer. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good morning, everyone. We are happy to welcome you to Vista's third quarter of 2025 results conference calls. I'm here with Miguel Gallucho, Vista's Chairman and CEO. Pablo Verapinto, VISTA CFO, Juan Garobi, VISTA CTO, and Matias Waisel, VISTA COO. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to our cautionary statements on slide two. Please be advised that our remarks today, including the answer to your questions, may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by these remarks. Our financial figures are stated in US dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS. However, during this conference call, we may discuss certain non-IFRS financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income. Reconciliation of these measures to the closest IFRS measures can be found in the earnings release that we issued yesterday, so please check our website for further information. Our company is A Sociedad Anónima Bustátil de Capital Variable, organized under the laws of Mexico, registered in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and the New York Stock Exchange. Our tickets are Vista in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and BISP in the New York Stock Exchange. I will now turn the call over to Miguel.

Thanks, Ale. Good morning and welcome to this earnings call. During the third quarter of 2025, we recorded a strong performance across key operational and financial metrics. especially on sequential basis, driven by strong productivity in New Gueltaín, Embajada del Palo Oeste, and La Margachita. Total production was 127,000 BOEs per day, an increase of 74% year over year, and 7% quarter on quarter. Oil production was 110,000 barrels per day, an interannual increase of 73% and 7% sequentially. Total revenues during the quarter were $706 million, 53% above the same quarter of last year, and 16% above the previous quarter. Listing cost was $4.4 per DOE, 6% below year over year. Capital expenditure was $351 million, driven by new well activity during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $472 million, an interannual increase of 52% and a sequential increase of 70%. Adjusted net income during the quarter was $155 million. Net income was $315 million, reflecting a non-recurring gain of $288 million from the Petronas Argentina acquisition. Earnings per share was $3 and adjusted earnings per share was $1.5. Free cash flow in this quarter was almost neutral at minus $29 million driven by higher adjusted EBITDA and a decrease in working capital. Finally, our net labor ratio at quarter end was 1.5 times on performance basis. During Q3, we connected 24 wells, 11 in Baja del Paro Oeste, four in Agua Federal, and nine corresponding to our 50% working interest in La Marga Chica. We recorded solid productivity in the latest well times, which boosted Q3 production by 7% compared to the previous quarter. Based on robust well performance, improvement in our oil realization prices, and financial flexibility at work by the $500 million term loan close in July, we have decided to accelerate new well activity in Q4. We are now planning between 12 and 16 tie-ins in the next quarter, leading to between 70 and 74 connections for the year. We are seeing Q4 production about 130,000 DOEs per day, which leaves us on track to over deliver on production guidance for the year and the second semester. Total production in Q3 was 126.8 thousand BOEs per day, an inter-annual increase of 74 percent. Oil production was 109.7 thousand barrels per day, 73 about year over year. On a sequential basis, both oil and total production increased 7 percent, reflecting solid execution of our drilling campaign and robust oil productivity during Q3. especially in Bajada del Palo Oeste and La Amarga Chica. Bajada del Palo Oeste also drawn production in our operating block, which increased 50% compared to a year ago and 6% compared to a previous quarter. Gas production increased 87% on an interannual basis and 9% on a sequential basis. In Q3 2025, total revenues were $706 million, 53% above Q3 2024, driven by a strong increase in oil production, which more than offset lower oil prices. On a sequential basis, total revenues increased 16%, driven by 7% increase in total production, and 4% higher oil prices. Oil export increased 84% year-over-year to 6.3 million barrels for the quarter. Realized oil prices were $64.6 per barrel on average, down 5% on inter-annual basis, and up 4% on a sequential basis, in both cases driven by international prices. We captured higher brand prices and lower discounts which were around $1 per barrel during the quarter. During Q3, 100% of all volumes were sold at export parity prices. In Q3, lifting cost was $4.4 per DOE, 6% lower compared to both the previous quarter and the same quarter of last year. This reflects our continuous focus on efficiency. Selling expenses per DOE were down 24% on an inter-annual basis, driven by the elimination of oil tracking services as of the start of the last quarter. Adjusted EBITDA during the quarter was $472 million, 52% higher on inter-annual basis, mainly driven by production growth, explained by the 15% in our operating production and the consolidation of 50 percent of La Amarga Chica. Compared to the previous quarter, adjusted EVDA increased 70 percent, mainly driven by oil production growth. Adjusted EVDA margin was 67 percent, up 2 percent points compared to the same quarter of last year, as production growth and the elimination of oil tracking offset lower oil prices. $40.5 per VOE, up 8% on a sequential basis. During Q3 2025, cash flow from operating activities was $304 million, reflecting in-contact payments of $179 million, partially offset by a decrease in working capital of $43 million. Cash flow used in investing activities was $333 million, reflecting accrued CAPEX of $351 million, partially offset by a decrease in CAPEX-related working capital of $70 million. Free cash flow during the quarter was minus $29 million, reflecting higher adjusted EBITDA that drawn cash from operations and a decrease of $59 million in working capital. Cash flow for financing activities was $195 million, driven by proceeds from borrowings of $500 million, partially offset by the repayment of borrowing capital of $193 million and the repurchase of shares of $50 million. Finally, cash at period end was $320 million, Our net leverage ratio on a performance basis reflecting the Petronas-Argentina transaction stood at 1.5 times adjusted VDA. To conclude this call, and before we move to Q&A, I will make some closing remarks. During Q3, we recorded the robust world productivity in new world times, reflecting our high-quality asset base and peer-leading operating performance. This led to material increase in adjusted EBITDA both in a sequential and interannual basis, driven by production growth and continued focus on cost control. Q3 production was well within guidance range for the second semester. Production growth in the fourth quarter on the back of solid productivity and more investment in our profitable ready-to-drill inventory leave us on track to potentially over-deliver on our guidance. I remind you that we will be hosting our third investor day on November 12th. During this virtual event, we will present an updated strategic plan, focusing on profitable growth, cost efficiency, and cash generation. Before we move to Q&A, I would like to thank everyone at Vista for delivering a remarkable quarter. we can now move to Q&A.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Rodolfo Angeli from JP Morgan.

Hi. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for the time to discuss the numbers presented yesterday. I'm sure we are looking forward to the investor event. We're going to revise the strategic numbers. But for the time being, I think my question to you is, On price realization, the numbers were pretty good. And compared to our expectations here, one of the positive surprises came from a realization of prices pretty solid versus Brent. So can you expand a little bit on what drove this and what should we expect for the coming quarters? That's it for me. Thank you very much.

Rodolfo, thank you very much for your question. It's a good one. There are basically two factors within these good-realization prices. With our export via the Atlantic, we have some flexibility regarding when we trigger the brand price. This can potentially usually help us to capture some price slightly above what you can see as a quarterly average. In Q3, the BREN averaged around 16.8.1, but the trigger BREN that we used to price the cargo was on average $1 higher. Also, the average discount of BREN was around $1 per barrel during Q3. So this is explained by three main factors. The first one is the high oil demand that we saw from West Coast U.S. due to seasonal factors. The other one was the very good demand that we have for Medanito. And the last factor was the lower availability of other types of crude oil that usually compete with us, like ANS and the Cilia crude. So that mainly explains why we have some good realization pricing during the Q3.

Thank you very much. You're very welcome.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Leonardo Marcondes from Bank of America.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for picking my question. So my question is regarding the drilling, completion, and tying of the wells. since September figures beat the market expectations, right? So I would like to know if you could provide some color on the rationale of this significant increasing in well-tie-ins now, right? And also some color on what can we expect on this theme for the remainder of the year? I mean, should you keep the rhythm on October, November, and December. Thank you very much.

Hi, Leonardo. Thank you very much for the question. I will explain and give you a bit of context on the rationale on the increase of Vuelta IN. So, I mean, as a recap, in April, we took on a bridge loan to finance the Petronas Argentina acquisition, as you know. In May, we successfully tapped to the international market and issued a bond of $500 million to take out the bridge loan. And also in July, a $500 million term loan to refinance all our short-term maturities, and that basically gave us or regained full financial flexibility. We also consolidated the new asset. We saw very good productivity and production growth. even, I would say, better than our original expectation. And on the top of this, now there is less varied consensus regarding the oil price. So, in summary, due to all these factors, we decided, we saw that we were in a position that we were more comfortable to basically accelerate CAPEX. Regarding Q4, The short answer to your question is yes. You will see pretty much, as we said, 11 to 14 wells. And regarding 26, you have to bear with me. I mean, we have in a few weeks our investor day in November 12, and I will probably wait to give you a full view of what we're going to do in 2022 and onwards.

That's very clear. Thank you. You're welcome.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Bruno Amorim from Goldman Sachs.

Hi, good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my question. I have a follow-up question. On the production outlook, it seems that you ended third quarter on a strong tone. So, you know, what does it mean for the fourth quarter given you just mentioned you're going to continue to drill and tie in a significant number of wells into the fourth quarter? Can you elaborate on, you know, where do your current expectations tend versus your guidance for the remainder of the year? Thank you very much.

Hi, Bruno. Good to have you on the call. Yes, you can expect that the production for Q4 to be about the 130,000 barrels per day that we guide. As always, you will see the typical up and downs that we see month over month. As you know, the natural rhythm of how we tie in the wells Sometimes it's not quarterly, but it's changing month by month. But on average Q4 will be similar to September. So this implies that we will likely be about guidance for the year. The guidance was between 112 and 114 per day. And also who will be about the guidance for the second semester. which was between 125 and 128,000 barrels per day. So yes, you can probably look at Q4 about 130.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Alejandro de Michelis from Jefferies.

Yes, good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my question, and congratulations on the quarter. I have one quick question. Could you please indicate how you're seeing the evolution of drilling and completion costs over the next few quarters? We have seen a bit of volatility on the effects. We have seen kind of inflation kind of going up a little bit. So just some kind of direction on how you see those costs going, please.

Pardon me, speakers, please check your mute button.

Yes, hello? Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hey, yes, sorry. Thank you very much for taking my questions, and congratulations on the quarter. Miguel, one quick question. Could you please indicate how you're seeing the evolution of costs, of turning on completion costs over the next few quarters, given the volatility on the effects, inflation, and so on?

Yes, Ale, here again. I mean, we listened to the first one, but thanks for the question. So we announced, I was saying in Q2, that our cost of the well was around $12.8 million. This is drilling and completion cost for well with a lateral length of approximately 2,847 stages. Today, we are slightly below this number. We are seeing very good results from the initiative that also we announced last quarter that we will implement it. We are currently working on further initiative on the same two verticals that were contracts and technology. So, which basically we believe and we feel very strongly that we live to further savings. So the idea is to comment and to give a lot of color and more color because we have very good news coming on that front on investor day. So, I hope you take that answer now, and we will give you more detail when we see you in the field in November 12th.

That's fantastic. Thank you.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Tiago Casquero from Morgan Stanley.

Hey, good morning. Thank you, Miguel, and thank you, Ale. And congratulations on the results. My question here is regarding La Marga Chica. It's been about six months since you acquired the stake in the assets. So looking back on this initial learning period, what would you say are the key challenges and opportunities you have identified in the assets so far? Thank you.

Hi, Tiago. Thanks for the question. Look, I mean, we have a very open and constructive relationship with YPF, I would say, at all levels. On my level, with Horacio, and at the level of Matias in the field, and everybody. I imagine they have been for many years co-workers of us. So very good relationship, very good collaboration. We are collaborating on many fronts. First, I would say sharing technical learnings. We regard ourselves as lead operator. We have learned a lot. YPA has very extensive experience in unconventional, so the sharing of practices has been very rich. Second, in opportunities on services, and also in infrastructure. Very collaborative and very open discussion also in those both fronts. The performance of the production and the cost efficiency this quarter was very good, I have to say, very good. So we are now focusing and discussing the 2026 core plan and the budget for that. But overall, it's going very well. Thank you, Miguel. You're very welcome.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Mateus Tosti from Citi.

Hi.

Good morning to all, and thanks for taking my question, and congratulations on the result as well. I was wondering what you may comment on M&A. I mean, I remember last quarter You said maybe there was still appetite for M&A. Has this appetite continued? It's something that has maybe weighed down a bit. What can you comment on this?

Thank you. The short answer is the appetite is intact. We have a proven track record, as I said before, creating value through M&A. So we are not only good operators, we have been very good M&A-wise all the way up to here. And the best example of that probably is the Petronas acquisition earlier this year. So that is part of our strategic approach as VISTA. So given also that we are increasing our scale and our cash profile, going forward, we will continue assessing opportunities. The only thing I will say that you have to take into consideration that we have a very high value in terms of value accretion and also in terms of strategic fit. But yes, the short answer is the appetite to M&A is intact for us and we will continue looking to opportunities as they come. Thank you.

If I may add a quick follow-up, are there any open processes today? Maybe the opportunities to engage with other companies, are there any open processes, any assets available that you're looking into, or has the temperature cooled on that front too?

No, I don't think. I mean, I would say in a formal process, I don't see any formal process that we are participating. We are having, yes, several discussions as we have. As you know, the interest in Argentina has renewed a lot during the last year. And also we see new players coming into the country, as we said, exploring opportunities. So yes, we are maintaining discussion with all of them, but I will not say that we are participating in any formal process at the moment.

Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Tasso Vasconcelos from UBS.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my question here.

Pardon me, Tasso. Please check your mute button. We cannot hear you. Pardon me, Tasso. Your line is now open.

Great. Thanks for taking my question. Miguel, maybe a follow-up question on this discussion on CAPEX and production levels. If Vista were to only maintain current level of production stable without much growth, what would be the level of capex required? And in this same sense here, what would be the maintenance capex to maintain production stable closer to 150,000 bears a day? That's my question. Thank you.

Thank you, Tasso, for the question. These are numbers that usually when we simulate our plans we look into. As we said, using 100,000 barrels per day of production as a reference, we will need around $700 million of CAPEX to keep the production flat going forward. And that will imply probably between 50 and 55 wells. If in terms of 130,000 with 150,000 barrels per day, then I think that we should have around 800 million. And then the number of wells would be between 55 and 60 wells. So that would be around numbers. Of course, that could change also depending on the context now.

Okay, very clear. Thank you.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Furrow from Pickering Energy Partners.

Hello, and good morning. Thanks for taking my question. So there's been a lot of attention on the upcoming midterm election, and for good reason, as the outcome could have meaningful implications to the country. Now, that said, the VACA March is an extremely valuable natural resource, and it seems to us that regardless of the outcome, this resource will continue to be developed. So I was hoping that you could maybe take some time to discuss your thoughts on the matter and if you see any outcomes from this weekend's election that would have a material impact on VISTA's operations.

Thank you. Thank you, Michael, for the question. It's a recurring question and a good question. In short, the election, do not change our plan. We've been growing Vista from scratch to where we are today, participating in four different administrations. And even before that, most of us came back to the country in 2012. And we said we were part of making Argentina a structural net exporter today. and being part of the solution of the country. So the fact that we are holding an investor day two weeks after the election is a full reflection of what we feel about the business. Our business model is solid, is dollarized, and we are increasing as we grow. the amount of sales to the export market. So, also, we said that we have secured the funding to continue growing, and we will discuss that in November 12th. And we don't have any large financial debt maturity in the coming years. We also have secured the services, the rigs, the completions, the , with flexible contracts going forward. No, Michael, I don't think, I mean, the election will affect multiples and other things or the perception of Argentina, but will not affect Baca Morta. It doesn't affect our ability to continue growing and to execute our plan.

Thank you. That's great. Appreciate such a comprehensive answer.

You're welcome.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of George Gashtout from Latin Securities.

Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my question.

Brent has remained pretty volatile again this quarter, and I was wondering what your EBITDA sensitivity to oil prices was now in 4Q.

Thanks, George, for the question. Yes, there is a sensitivity. Using 130,000 barrels per day production as a reference, you should think that for every dollar per barrel of changing in realized oil prices, the adjusted EBITDA in the full quarter will change approximately between $8 million and $9 million. That more or less will be the impact.

Great. Thank you. That's very good. And congratulations on the quota.

Thank you, Jorge.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Juan Jose Munez from BTG.

Hi, Tina, and thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Regarding La Marga Chica, could you provide more color about the production of the 3Q? I understand that you finish on a strong note. And also regarding the outlook that you have for La Marga Chica in the last quarter of the year. Thank you.

Thank you, Juan Jose, for the question. In La Marga Chica, let me do a bit of a recap for La Marga Chica. In La Marga Chica, we connect around 18 wells, and we have 50% of that work in the interest, so YPF connect 18. This well corresponds to four paths, path 120 and path 67. This path, if I'm not mistaken, is on the south triangle of the block. and also the pad 105 and the pad 83 that are in the center of the block. All the four pads are producing about budget. The well-performance of La Marga Chica was boot, and the production was for Q2 38.7, and they took it from 38.7 to 43.5 in Q3. So very good performance for Q3. And we are expecting, I cannot give you a number, but we are expecting a very strong performance also in Q4. So hope that gives you a feeling of how we are looking at La Marga Chica.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Francisco Cascaro from Dawn Capital.

Hi, thank you for taking my question. My question is, what caused the decline in operating production during the first two months of the quarter? And if you are looking to accelerate that production going forward, like we saw in September.

Thank you, Francisco. So, yes, we saw a very good productivity in the wells that we connect during the quarter, specifically Baja del Palo Este, where we connect 11 wells that correspond to three different paths. Baja del Palo 35 was connected in July, has five wells of around 3,400 meters lateral length and 57 completion stages on average. Then we connect Baja del Palo Este 36, that have four wells, lateral of 3,300 meters, and average, I think, around 50 stages. And then that last one was connected in Ogos. And then we connect Baja del Palo Oeste 37, that has only two wells, 2,800 meters length, and 48 stages on average. That was connected in September. What you're seeing is the solid productivity of this 11 well is the result of the boost production that you saw from Baja del Palo Oeste that went from 56.4 barrels of oil per day in Q2 to 60.2 thousand barrels per day in Q3. So that are the paths that somehow result in the boosted production. you will see that also continuing in Q4.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Mateos Catarrusi from AdCap Securities.

Thank you, Miguel and Alejandro. My question goes on the regard of CapEx Guidance. Given the current activity levels and the pace of world tie-ins, do you see a possibility of this year's CAPEX ending above the 1.2 billion guidance, closer to 1.3 or over that number, as recent trends in activity suggest?

Hi, Matias. Thanks for the question. Yes, I mean, we guide 59 wells, and we will end up drilling between 70 and 74 wells. So you should add 11 to 15 wells to our original guidance. Of course, that will involve more capex, or some additional capex. So you should think that with 1.2, So you should think that we will end up between $1.2 and $1.3 billion for total capex for the year, and Q4, a little over $300 million. So that is how you should look to the actual capex numbers.

Okay, thank you so much. You're very welcome.

Thank you. At this time, I would now like to turn the conference back over to Miguel Gallucho for closing remarks.

Well, thank you very much, everybody, for the participation. Of course, we are super happy with the quarter, a fantastic quarter for us. And I'm looking forward to see you all in November 12 in Argentina. Thank you very much and have a good day.

this concludes today's conference call thank you for participating you may now disconnect