YPF Sociedad Anonima

Again, my name is Savannah and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the YPF first quarter 2022 earnings webcast presentation. Today's call is being recorded. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. And after the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. And I would now like to turn our conference over to Pablo Calderon. Please go ahead.

Pablo Calderon Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is Pablo Calderon, YPF IR Manager. Thank you for joining us today in our first quarter 2022 earnings calls. This presentation will be conducted by our CEO, Sergio Fronte, our CFO, Alejandro Leo, and myself. During the presentation, we will go through the main aspects and events that explain our first quarter results. And finally, we will open up the court for your questions. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to our captionary statement on slide two. Please take into consideration that our remarks today and answer to your question may include forward-looking statements. which are subject to risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by these remarks. Also, know the exchange rate used in calculations to reach our main financial figures in U.S. dollars. Our financial figures are stated in accordance with IFRS, but during the call, we might discuss some no-IFRS measures, such as adjusted EBITDA. I will now turn the call to Sergio. Please, Sergio, go ahead.

Thank you, Pablo. Good morning and thanks everyone for joining us this morning. We are glad to report a robust beginning of the year across our key operational and financial metrics, delivering on our ambitions and guidance for the year. During the quarter, our total hydrocarbon production continued with a positive trend, bringing to market over 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 5% increase from the previous quarter and 16% on a year-over-year basis, on the back of yet another quarter of outstanding growth within our share operations. The production expansion contributed to a positive evolution in adjusted EBITDA, which reached almost $1 billion in the quarter, expanding 17% from the previous quarter and 27% on a year-over-year basis. This increase in adjusted EBITDA was also the result of a higher pricing environment for brand reference products, affecting about 20% of our revenues, as well as higher average prices on our fuels domestic sales. On the latter, during the quarter, we have managed local fuel prices going along the strategy commented during our last earnings call, adjusting prices both at the retail and the wholesale segments, in order to compensate for the devaluation of the currency, while also managing to partially track rallying international reference prices. The overall positive operating results, coupled with lower net interest expenses, permitted our bottom line to come in positive territory once again. Net income for the quarter stood at $248 million, remaining flat versus the previous quarter. In terms of our investment activities, we have made good progress towards our ambitious plan for the year announced in our last earnings call. Total capex amounted $748 million in Q1, representing an increase of 53% on a year-over-year basis. Although this includes a slightly slower-than-expected campaign drill and completion within our site operations, primarily on the back of COVID-related delays early in January and some weather-related restrictions in February, we have already regained speed and shall fully catch up in the second half, thus delivering on our full-year CapEx guidance of $3.7 billion, with some bias to the upside. In addition, We also remain confident in our ability to deliver on our production goals for the year, and even considering the scenario of surpassing them, we shall result in the highest organic growth in the last 25 years. On the financial side, the first quarter of 2022 represented the eighth consecutive quarter delivering positive free cash flow, having $391 million. This has allowed us to continue strengthening our balance sheet by reducing our net debt to $5.9 billion, pushing our net leverage ratio below 1.5 times. Let me close my remarks by saying that although the global environment remains highly volatile and local conditions continue to be challenging, we are very proud of the results achieved during the quarter and reinforce our view of the unique opportunities that lie ahead. In this context, we shall remain focused on delivering on our growth opportunities while maintaining profitability and financial prudency at the forefront of our decisions, and doing so with a steadfast delivery on sustainability progress. I now turn to Alejandro to provide you with some further details of our operating and financial results for the quarter.