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Sendas Distribudra S/Adr
8/9/2024
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to our earnings call for the second quarter of 24 at Açaí Atacadista. I want to highlight that if you need translation, we have this available on our platform. To access, please select the interpretation button on the globe icon at the bottom part of your screen and choose your language of preference, Portuguese or English. We'd like to let you know that this earnings call is being recorded and will be provided on the IR website in the company at ri.sa.com.br, where you can already find our release as well. During the presentation, all participants will have their mics off. Soon after, we'll begin our Q&A session. To submit a question, please select the Q&A icon on the bottom part of your screen. Write your name, company, and language of preference into the queue. As you're announced, a request to open your mic will appear on the screen. Then you should activate your mic to be able to submit a question. We'd like to instruct you that all questions should be submitted at once. The information presented in this presentation and possible statements that could be made during the earnings call related to business perspectives, forecasts, and operational targets and financial targets at SAE represent beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as information that is currently available. Future statements are not a guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events and thus rely on circumstances that could or not occur. Investors must comprehend that overall general market conditions and economic conditions and other operational factors can affect the future performance at SAE and lead to results that differ materially from those listed in such statements. Now, we'll pass the floor on to Gabrielle Liu, the Investor Relations Director. Hello, good morning, everyone. Once again, I want to thank you all for participating in our earnings call for the second quarter of 24. And I want to present the main executives present here. Our CEO, Bermuda Gomez, our VP of IR and Finances, and Anderson Cachillo, the Operations VP, and Sandra Vicari, Sustainability and HR VP. So in this presentation, before we start the presentation, I'm going to show you a quick video. It's like less than two minutes. because we're experiencing a very special moment, which is our 50th anniversary at SAI. This video that's narrated by Belmedo tells a bit of our story, strengthens our partnerships and also talks about how the company has evolved and the impact in the lives of Brazilians. So let's move on to the movie. This video has subtitles, so we will not be translating.
In Brazil, each corner has its own history, its own unique beauty. And over 50 years, a company has left its mark in all these corners. Bringing prosperity and transforming lives. 50 years of dedication, hard work and commitment to quality and excellence. 50 years of innovation, adapting to changes and always looking to the future. But they are not just numbers, they are people, they are stories of success, of overcoming, of partnerships that strengthen each year. And today we are here to celebrate not only the past, but the present and the future. 50 years of growth, learning, shared achievements. We are grateful for each one who was part of this journey. From our collaborators to our loyal customers. From our partners to our suppliers who trusted us. We look back with pride, but we look forward with even more determination. The commitment to quality, innovation and positive impact in each corner of the country will continue to guide our path. Because, after all, prosperity is more than a goal. It is our mission, our legacy. And we are just starting.
Thank you all so much. Good morning, everyone. First of all, I want to thank you for your presence and welcome you all to our earnings call for the second quarter of 24. This is a quarter where we had opportunities to welcome over 2,000 new employees, which we hired now in the second quarter. And especially another 2 million new monthly customers with an increase in the tickets. As you've seen in our presentation and release, Asahi was able to reach a milestone of 79 million customers, an increase of 7 million compared to what we achieved last year in the second quarter. So 7 million plus represents over 2 million customers, almost 3 million people visiting our stores, whether the new stores or the existing stores in the company. The 50th anniversary campaign we showed a video about and we plan to provide more details about because SAE traditionally has spectacular campaigns not only when it comes to awards and activation but also to keep loyalty active and we're the company that's most present in Brazilian households. We're the company that has physical stores with the biggest amount of traffic and people visiting year over year, we have been overcoming expectations so the company can continue to innovate and be a reference in the market. Before we move on to the numbers, I want to talk about the environment in the market. We still feel consumers and the overall B2B customers quite pressured by debt, interest rates, some changes also in consumer habits that make us have a environment with a level of debt and purchase power that's below expectations for this moment in the year. The inflation in our perspective is in line with what's expected by us and the government with a variation level up or down. which is not maybe that relevant. Not such a big change from an inflation and deflation perspective. We also see a significant reduction in trade-down that we had in the first two years of the pandemic. But also... We've been seeing that what's impacting the market as a whole is a movement with a reduction of the sizes of the packaging in certain categories of products. Since we came from an inflation period that was really high, where income didn't keep up and a lot of the movements that industries and suppliers had to keep their volumes of sales were really related to changing the size of packages. So within the strategy for the second quarter was really above all to preserve our cash position, keep up with our level of competitiveness, And keep focused on store maturity, promoting a sequential increase of our gross profits and keeping up coherence and consistency, especially in our results. And we'll see this when I show you the slides, the evolution of the gross profit throughout the three years and keeping up coherence and keeping up the deadline periods as well. And so this could, of course, lead to something that maybe is not that healthy for the companies. So, of course, discipline and expense controls, maintaining the level of services in stores. The company continues to expand with over 10 stores now. We had already mentioned previously. Sorry, guys, we had a small technical issue, but we'll be coming back in just a few seconds. OK, we're back now. Could you repeat the last phrase, Belmedo? OK. Can you share the screen of the presentation? Sorry about that. We had a shutdown here for some reason. No, everyone fell off, and we'll be joining back in just a second. Can you share the screen again, please? And the team had already talked about the expansion traditionally, which is the focus in Asahi when it comes to growth. The team has been... Ever since April, Anderson, of course, didn't give you some more info, but we had 80 new services deployed in the existing stores, which includes new services, butchery, bakery, and cold cuts. And this makes the 2 million new customers come from other formats in the food sector, also attracted by not only the location and execution of the stores, but also the new services. So I think that's the main highlight when we look at the second quarter. And same stores was close to 3% with a balance in the growth of the same stores and also the growth of the expansion. So we had a growth of 11% compared to last year, 34% in two years, which represents in the last two years or 24 months, we've been anchoring this growth. Since Viter will talk about the cash generation as well in these 24 months, but we had over $5 billion in additional amounts. So the company is still working on its investments, growing and expansion, and we have important store openings in the second semester as well. Guarujá, which is something we could highlight, the new unit in Guarulhos, San José do Rio Preto, we're trying to open this year, the beginning of next year, and some markets and regions where SAE is not present, with major opportunities, and we should also go over the milestone of 300 stores this year, probably by the end of the campaign, when we're at the end of our anniversary campaign. So the EBITDA and the pre-IFRS vision, as we all know, we have this trend with the purchase of the extra store in the extra stores, which increased the levels of rent in these locations. And we're really highlighting this and the best way to view this pre EBITDA is 965 million and a growth of 18% compared to the previous year. higher than the sales, and that highlights that Acai has 100% of the EBITDA, which is cash. And in the pre-IFRS division, we have a margin that's 7.2, and LAIR Evolution profits before income tax and we also had the impact from the suppression that we had last year we don't have this year and then you see this ratio between the profits and the net income but you can see the sufficiency operation in the company and we have a financial expense that is due to the level of leverage that's pretty high due to the interest rates but the company has been very focused on deleveraging I'm not going to get into too much of the details here because Vita will cover this later on. But we really know the power of the cash generation in this business. So our leverage continues to be reduced. And we have an EBITDA that is more robust when you split this by the 12 months. And our focus is really this leverage projection. And so it's important to highlight that this level does not consider possible growth. discounts on receivables, whether they're discounted or not. And the company has this projection for our net of 3.2 till the end of the year. But anyways, on this second slide, you can see how things have been evolving in stores. And with the extra conversions, now we already have sales of over 25% of the average in the company. And from the 10 main stores, when it comes to customer flows, nine are conversions. The stores that are very well located, we're talking about the project, and you can see the evolution of the Yebida especially. Of course, these stores are not mature, so you can have an idea that maybe the first store reached like two years ever since the opening. So most of the stores are going to continue with their second year full of work. And then after, we'll be completing the 24-month cycle. And we've been working on some initiatives to balance out sales and EBITDA margin maturity. So the sales should reach 26 million. And the EBITDA margin pre-IFRS, without the impact of the leases, Of course, you have the property tax impact, but it's about 5.4, which means an EBITDA margin evolution of one percentage point if you already look at this from December onwards, so six months, December 23 to the end of June 24. The company has been really focused on improving this store network and The maturity ramp up when it comes to sales and margins, trying to balance out both of these points. And with this, we advance about 140 beeps in margin compared to last year and a growth in our revenue in the first semester when we compare with December, which, as we all know, is a very typical month with a growth of revenue of about 5%. We can move on to the next slide now. As the process of conversions, as we all know, as I went through a very intense project for the expansion of the conversions, and in this slide, we brought in an evolution of the gross profits. So when you look at the amount of tickets, you can see the company more than doubled or tripled. during this year and the last periods actually, and the gross profit keeps up with the same proportion. So if we take a look at this from our perspective, the positive results is that even when you go through such a big process with the conversion of the hypermarkets and the closings and during this period, we really evolved in this store format and we had two things that took place concurrently. We had the conversion and opening of the hypermarkets, but also the inclusion of the new services. with Petri and other projects. So the first Petri we opened was in the end of 2019 in Sinop, Mato Grosso. These are different occurrences, but when you look at this due to our commercial dynamic and even with this evolution, we had a gross profit that was very stable, 16.7 to 16.5, now in the second quarter of 24. So 2021, we didn't start the conversions yet, but you can see gradually that the levels of gross profit get back to normality, even with all of these changes as we enter new centers and include new services. We can advance. When we look at the expense perspective, the changes in the dynamics and there was always some skepticism in the market about the shift in formats. And this intends to provide better services to the population with higher income and also provide some possibilities to adapt for B2B and B2C customers with better locations that were very far off and it would be very difficult to be open in a cash and carry operation. So the changes in the assortment And the changes in certain units and other stores, when we look at the level of expenses, you can notice that the expenses in the post-IFRS vision, where you don't consider the lease, is completely stable. So 9.7 we had seen as an SG&A percentage is prior to any conversion projects for extra and prior to the inclusion of any services as well. So it's pretty stable, 9.7 to 9.5. But when we look at the lease, And include the lease in this perspective. Of course, these stores, as we mentioned in the beginning, they have a characteristic with the level of the property that's very different. But the increase in the margins and sales, when we look at those 25% more... And in April, especially in our vision, there's a whole other possibility for growth in the company because when you consider the profile of regions where the cash and carry used to operate, you kind of had the situation where you could maybe not have a higher level of saturation. or the capacity to penetrate in central regions. So I'd say it was a big innovation, which allowed for major movements, even among competition, to follow along behind us in the paths we pioneered. And as we wrap up here, I'm going to pass the phone to Vitor as he talks about the EBIDA and presents here. We still have some questions. time for Q&A as well, but he's going to discuss the operational aspects, the leverage aspects, and after we'll get into the operational aspects. But great, Belmedo. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Belmedo just described a bit of the gross profit dynamic and the SG&A. And we're going to show you here through these two metrics, look at the EBITDA and see an important evolution of the EBITDA when it comes to the quarterly basis. We've seen evolution of 815 million to 965 million in the comparison quarter over quarter. And the growth of 18% that comes from an increase in sales, but also the margin expansions. And when you look at the evolution, in the six months, you see that there's pretty much the same format, 27% growth and an increase in the margins of 0.6 percentage points. And so, once again, as a basis for this success in the maturity of our stores so far, as they've been converted, but also the deployment of services, as Bermuda explained, and no doubt the control over expenses, which allows us to grow having an increase in our profitability when we look at the EBITDA line. So moving ahead and looking at a bit of the financial results, we also see positive evolution in the comparison with the same period last year where we have stability when it comes to the representation or importance of this financial result compared to the revenue and the percentage or the ratio. But when you look at this and you compare the first quarter of this year with this quarter, you see a nominal reduction of the expense, 510 to 468. but especially a dilution of these expenses. So as a percentage of the sales, it goes from 3% of the sales to 2.6% of gross sales. So the abolition of gross profit and expense control generated an increase in EBITDA margin associated with The maintenance, if you look at the annual basis and the reduction, when you look at this in a sequential manner, we see a profit before income tax that had a very important growth rate, what they call the layer on the slide in Portuguese. And when we look at this in the semester, this profit before income tax more than doubled from $135 million to $347 million. So this was an increase of 157%, which demonstrates we are on the right path when it comes to the strategies that the company has been adopting. What's also important to mention is when we look at the net income tax, It was impacted in the comparison with last year due to the significant reduction in the positive effects of the subvention in investments. But then when we look at the semester view, we have a growth of the... the net profit. So we move on to 258 million reais in this period. Then moving on, here we have a comparison. Bermuda quickly showed this in the presentation. We have a comparison and a number that we think we should share with you, which is the operational cash generation. We brought in this two-year cycle, which really sets the beginning of the deliveries from the stores that were converted for the hypermarkets. And here we presented this comparison and analysis to show you clearly how the operational cash generation was so strong. The company generated $7.6 billion in cash in this period, coming from the EBITDA generation, $6.8 billion in EBITDA generated, but also a positive evolution in our working capital. So it was a major evolution in the number of stores, and 64 of them were conversions and 20 were organics. And this cash generation, if you look at the investments that were required for this expansion, and these investments were very significant, when it comes to the acquisition of hypermarkets, the conversion of hypermarkets, or even the opening of these 20 organic stores. But also when it comes to the refurbishing and implementation of the services, the company was able to generate the necessary cash basically all of the investments. To be more precise, 88% of this investment was funded with operational cash generation in this period. And I want to remind you all that these stores are still maturing. So basically... This is an analysis we consider to be very important to share with you because it demonstrates the strength of the company and how solid it is and that we're really on the right path to continue to grow our results. But of course, we also have the payment of the interest rates in this period, about $3.4 billion. And that's a direct consequence of our debt levels, as Filmedo mentioned, and the interest rates in this period that also reached levels that were a lot higher. So moving on. It's also worth mentioning about a bit of the evolution of our leverage. This is an indicator we've been accompanying closely. This is one of our focuses in the company, as Belmedo has mentioned, and we see ongoing improvements reduction in the leverage. If you look at the leverage by the end of the second quarter, which was at a level of 4.25, you can see a reduction of 0.6 times. And that's if you compare with the end of the second quarter this year. And this was an evolution of 0.10 from the last quarter to now. So this is an indicator we monitor closely, and it's one of the company's focuses. Clearly, we've been looking at this, and we've been seeing the evolution of the EBITDA. The reduction of the leverage is happening, and it will . For 2025, we expect to have even greater contributions coming from the reduction of the net debt. Moving on to the next slide, you can see that there's some additional information that we were presenting, which is the total availability. So we've been working on a new interpretation on this breakdown, and we brought in what's considered cash equivalents and also the receivables that are not discounted. So the first point that I think is worth mentioning is that we had an issuance of debentures that was really well, very successful, which led to a higher cash position in the end of the quarter. And that made us discount less receivables in this period. So that's why we see this significant growth in availability. That's a total, $6.9 billion. It's a control growth of 33% through 34%. But when we look at the breakdown with the non-discounted receivables, which is substantially greater, and that's the fruit of this expansion, which is mainly, it's another step we're taking to improve the profile of our debt. So first, reduce costs. We had the issuance considering CDI plus 125, which is substantially lower, which was CDI plus 149. And the extension of our average term of debt, which was 28 months, but now with this issuance, it becomes 32 months as an average term. And so I'll say we'll continue to search for new opportunities. And so also we want to consider the average cash in the period. So it went over to 600 million. And it was 640 million in the first quarter of 24. And then in the last quarter, it was over 800 million raised. And then here, our practice is that we'll gradually increase this cash position, providing more liquidity and increasing the financial solidness in this period. That's what we wanted to share with you guys about the financial indicators. Now I will pass the phone to Sandra as she talks about sustainability as a strategic pillar for the company. Sandra, the floor is yours. Thank you, Vitor. Good morning, everyone. So within our sustainability strategy, which intends to really lever prosperity for everyone, all of our initiatives are based on three pillars, which are efficient operations, developing people and communities, and the ethical and transparent operations. And so here we're really focused on reestablishing, reusing waste and that these would be intended to landfills. And this is all related to our program benefiting many organizations. And we continue to develop these initiatives so that we can create a more diverse work environment based on valuing differences and differences and also 40% of black leaders in the company. And in this context, we were recognized among the companies in the Ipovespa, the Brazilian Stock Exchange, as one of the companies with the highest rates of black leadership. And we also received some indications as the best companies for LGBTQ communities to work in, partnering with Instituto Mais Diversidade. And through Instituto Açaí, we are promoting the donation of food and beds and different other materials to Rio Grande do Sul. so that we can also send this throughout all of Brazil. And I would also like to mention that we are highlighting some awards and recognition that we received in this quarter because it really values our performance and the relationship with our customers, which is really essential. For the fourth time, ASE was recognized in the first place in the retail category for modern consumers. And we were elected for the ninth time as the best cash and carry operation in the city of Sao Paulo, which is based on the perception from people that live in Sao Paulo. And we're third place among the best companies in the investor category. And we were the only ones in the food retail on the podium. And Açaí was considered the Brazilian brand that's most valuable in the food retail sector. So these are acknowledgments that really make us happy and confident so that we can continue to work to achieve a company that's more sustainable, more solid, and with greater prosperity for all of our stakeholders. So thank you all. That's it. And I'll pass the phone to Pomidou. Okay, can you guys hear me? Well, thanks, Sandra. Thanks, Peter, for the presentation. We brought in a bit more of the campaign details for the 50th anniversary at Açaí. And Açaí, with the amount of 77 million tickets in a quarter, really represents a huge flow of people. It's about 38 million. and of people passing by our stores. And it's the company that's most present in Brazilian households with the biggest flow of customers in retail stores in Brazil. And the company operates in a continent really, in the national territory. So traditionally every year we have very strong campaigns and this is one of the decisive initiatives for this kind of expansion to make the brand really well-known and famous in the national territory and generate loyalty among customers. So the 2 million customers per month we conquered in the second quarter partially come from the promotion and mouth-to-mouth referrals, but also... services based on the quality of our culture. And so this year we have a campaign that's probably the strongest campaign in Brazilian retail, the strongest one we've ever had. In all years, we decided to hire a full ship from MSC Cruise, and it's going to be in the to win 1,500 trips. It's going to be a raffle. So as customers buy, the more they buy, they can expand the chances of winning and being awarded. And also the more they buy from the participating brands, we had over 50 suppliers that are the sponsors of the campaign. And besides that, being highlights because if the customers buy their products they can expand their chances to achieve this and they have a bunch of benefits with the expansion of the product so it's a campaign that really will affect our customers a lot and also will allow us to continue to move towards conquering new customers so the first award is 5 million reais and then you have over 50,000 awards that they can use instantly of about 100 reais so It's going to last for four months, and we're going to have strong promotion in different media sources and outlets. We also shifted our registration process so that we can capture as much data as possible, enriching the basis of our CRM process. in our digital strategy. And SAE has been working with future projects as well that we have, and especially want to keep our customer loyalty and conquer new customers. So an interesting data is that the company is made up of people. Above all, the main differential in a company is its culture, right? So within this, we're going to be sharing information This with all of the employees that have over 20 years of experience, they're all going to go regardless of the position they occupy in the company. So in this way, we'll also demonstrate to who is in the operation, working with the 38 million people that being an SAE will lead to special awards and they'll be recognized. So, well, I'm getting too excited here, so I don't want to... go over too much, but I want to thank everyone working on the campaign. It was fantastic. It was a joint effort, not only in the marketing, but also the commercial and operations area. We have a challenging period up ahead, but we have a beautiful campaign and we believe it's going to be really good acceptance. So to anchor this, we brought five personalities. Each of these represent a different region in Brazil. They're very popular. We have Shanji Pilaris, Michelle Tala, Gabby Amarantos, and all of them represent a specific region in our country due to the diversity. They're very popular singers and artists, and we brought them on board for this campaign. Now we're going to show you the campaign video. It's very quick, and then we'll get into Q&A.
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