Corporacion America Airports SA (CAAP) 2020 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Corporación América Airports' Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2020 Earnings Conference Call. A slide presentation accompanies today's webcast and is available in the Investors section of the Corporación América Airports Investor Relations website at http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Gimena Albanesi of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Speaking during today's call will be Martin Eurnekian, our Chief Executive Officer; also with us today are Raúl Francos, our Chief Financial Officer; and Jorge Arruda, Head of Finance and M&A. All will be available for the Q&A session.

Before we proceed, I would like to make the following safe harbor statement. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements. And I refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances.

Note that for comparison purposes and for a better understanding of the underlying performance in our presentation today, we will be discussing results excluding hyperinflation accounting in Argentina, which became effective in July 2018. Additional information in connection with the application of rule IAS 29 can be found in our earnings report.

Now let me turn the call over to our CEO, Martin Eurnekian.

Thank you, Gimena. Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's call. I hope you and your loved ones remain safe. 2020 has undoubtedly been the most challenging year ever faced by the travel industry worldwide. I wish to thank our teams for their dedication and commitment to rapidly establishing and executing our strategic plan to protect the company's financial position, all while continuing to ensure the highest health and safety standards for our passengers and employees.

During the year, we made significant strides in new profiling and in strengthening our balance sheet while succeeding in making substantially favorable progress in extending or enhancing our concessions in Argentina and Brazil. Despite experiencing a 70% decline in passenger traffic in 2020, as a result of the severe impact of the pandemic on travel demand, our decisive actions focused on cost containment and economic compensations allowed us to achieve comparable adjusted EBITDA of $78 million in 2020 compared to $447 million posted in 2019, prior to the pandemic. This mainly excludes noncash impairment losses in Brazil in both years and the bad debt charge in Argentina in 2019.

Fourth quarter comparable adjusted EBITDA was $43 million, nearly reversing the losses of $19 million and $33 million posted in the second and third quarters of last year, respectively. Note that the fourth quarter figures benefited from economic compensations of nearly $37 million in Brazil and $12 million in Italy, applicable for the full year.

During 2020, we also successfully refinanced a significant part of our principal and interest payments in key countries, and we remain focused on making further progress on this front in Argentina. We also have been negotiating with regulatory bodies and governments across our concessions to obtain compensation for the impact of this health crisis. The 10-year extension of the AA2000 concession in Argentina obtained in the fourth quarter was a significant milestone for our company, reinforcing the subsidiary's long-term sustainability. I will discuss this in more detail shortly.

In Brazil, another of our key market, during the quarter, we obtained an economic compensation, as I just mentioned.

Finally, cash and equivalents at year-end increased to $281 million from $180 million in the third quarter, supported by a strict focus on cost reductions, and additional financing obtained during the quarter. More details on our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020, results can be found in our earnings report filed yesterday and the exhibit of this presentation, both of which are available on our website.

Please turn to Slide 4. We have been seeing varying levels of travel restrictions as countries adapt to the evolution of the spread of the COVID-19 and the changing health conditions. This includes requirements of negative PCR tests upon arrival, together with some level of quarantine at most of our countries of operations.

In Argentina, passenger traffic posted a significant sequential recovery as certain government restrictions on air travel were relaxed, although still negative year-on-year. Bans on domestic travel were lifted by the end of October, and international travel remained open under a special flights regime.

Starting in November, foreigners from neighboring countries were allowed to enter the country. However, in late December, in light of the new COVID-19 variants, the government reenacted the ban on entry for all foreigners until April 9, 2021.

Given the recent spike in public cases earlier this month, the government added additional travel requirements for our nationals upon arrival and last week flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico were banned.

Passenger traffic in Italy declined sequentially following the end of the summer season. Commercial operations remained open with restrictions for certain travelers coming from or that transited certain countries. Lockdowns and travel bans in several countries in Europe also impacted traffic in the fourth quarter.

In Uruguay, while air travel restarted the first week of July, borders remained closed for nonresident foreigners with certain exemptions and requirements upon entry.

In Brazil, passenger traffic doubled sequentially, continuing the positive trend observed since mid-2020 through January. In February, however, we saw a drop in demand given concerns arising from a spike in the virus spread throughout the country.

In Armenia, traffic has increased sequentially since the elimination of restrictions on air travel last September. And more recently, the opening of Russian borders to foreigners, although some requirements apply upon entry.

Finally, traffic in Ecuador more than doubled sequentially, with commercial operations remaining open, subject to certain requirements.

Page 5 shows preliminary monthly passenger traffic and cargo trends since last April 2020. The gradual monthly recovery trend that started last June continued into early this year. Traffic was down nearly 69% year-on-year in December and improved further to a drop of 64% last January. This was mainly driven by Argentina and Brazil, while traffic in Italy deteriorated sequentially, as I just explained. Passenger demand remained at low levels in Uruguay, Ecuador and Armenia. Traffic deteriorated again in February, impacted by lower activity, mainly driven by Brazil and to a lesser extent, other countries of operations, given the concerns over a spike in COVID-19 cases and new strains of the virus.

In terms of cargo, we experienced a sustained recovery throughout the year declining year-on-year by only 30% in December compared to 41% in November. Performance in January was weaker mainly due to lower activity in Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay, recovering again in February with a decrease of only 25% from the lows of 59% posted in May. Cargo operations are playing a key role in the vaccination program for Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

Turning to Slide 6. We rapidly adapted our airport network to ensure the maximum health and safety standards for employees and passengers. Montevideo Airport in Uruguay and Arequipa in Peru joined Azeiza Airport in Argentina, along with our airports in Brasilia, Guayaquil and Galapagos obtaining ACI's Airport Health Accreditation. Our airports in Pisa and Florence were the first in Italy to receive independent health protocol certification.

Now moving to Slide 7. We reported positive comparable adjusted EBITDA of $78 million in 2020. We exceeded our cost reduction targets posting 3 consecutive quarters of cash, operating costs and expenses, excluding concession fees declining by 46% or more. For the full year, we achieved savings of over $240 million primarily in maintenance expenses, SG&A, other operating costs and labor costs, including nearly $12 million in government assistance in Argentina to cover a portion of salaries. Currency depreciation in the main markets also contributed to these savings.

In addition, in Brazil and Italy, we obtained government economic compensations to mitigate the impact of the crisis, which benefited 2020 adjusted EBITDA by nearly $47 million. As the year progresses, we will maintain a strict focus on cost control, but we expect to see some increases in labor, maintenance and other operating costs as traffic continues to recover over time and government support declines.

As shown on Slide 8, since the onset of this health crisis, we have made significant strides in the negotiation with the regulators and governments. Since our last earnings call, we continue to make progress on this front in Brazil and Argentina.

In Brazil, last November, we obtained a refinancing of 50% of the annual concession fee payment that was due in December, with payments deferred to the 6 final years of the concession.

In Argentina, last February, we signed an agreement with a local airline to recover $38 million of past due amounts.

Now moving on to the longer-term review of the concession agreement on Slide 9. Most importantly, the 10-year extension for the AA2000 concession in Argentina, along with an increase in international tariffs was a key milestone for the company.

In Brazil, last December, we obtained a significant economic compensation for the impact of COVID-19 in 2020 on our Brasilia and Natal airports, as I discussed earlier. We are also moving ahead in the request for long term compensation.

In Ecuador, we continue in negotiations to obtain economic compensation for the Guayaquil airport concession.

Finally, in Uruguay, we are moving forward in conversations with the authorities to review the Carrasco and Punto del Este concession agreements to compensate for the impact of the pandemic.

Moving on to Page 10. Take a deeper look at the 10-year extension of the AA2000 concession until 2038. Importantly, the agreement preserves the economic equilibrium of 16.45% internal rate of return in real terms, unlevered, until 2038.

We also established a CapEx program of approximately $500 million to be undertaken in 2 phases. The first phase includes investments of around $340 million to take place preferably during 2022 and 2023. The second phase consists of a total CapEx of nearly $165 million broken down into annual investments of $41 million between 2024 and 2027. We believe these additional investments are manageable and will allow us to continue enhancing airport infrastructure and the overall passenger experience in Argentina, as we have been doing during the past 20 years.

Last January, within the framework of this agreement, the Argentine regulator also approved a $6 adjustment in the AA2000 international passenger fee, increasing the fee to $57 effective this month.

Finally, while domestic passenger fees will remain unchanged this year. We are in conversations with ORSNA to obtain adjustment next year.

Turning to Slide 11. Protecting our liquidity and strengthening our financial position has been a key priority since the beginning of this exceptionally challenging crisis. I am very proud of the remarkable achievements we made on this front. First, we successfully refinanced our debt in Argentina and Uruguay, through 2 exchange offers with very high levels of participation from our bondholders. That together with the refinancing of bank debt in Argentina and local bonds in Uruguay allowed us to defer $126 million in principal and interest. We also renegotiated debt maintenance covenants in both countries until November 2021.

In addition, we obtained a 12-month payment deferral of interest and principal from our debt in Brazil for a total of $27 million and in the fourth quarter of 2020, we extended our syndicated facility in Armenia by 18 months from December 2022 to June 2024, deferring $36 million in principal amount.

Covenants in Armenia were waived until December 2021 and renegotiated to 2023. Subsequent to year-end, we renegotiated debt maturing in the first quarter of 2021 in Argentina, deferring a total of $13 million for an average over 1.5 years.

In Italy, we obtained a waiver for the debt leverage ratio covenant in connection with the EUR 60 million notes due 2024 for the periods ending June and December 2020. Second, we secured an additional financing in Argentina, Italy and Ecuador, amounting to nearly $156 million in new credit facilities. Third, thanks to our ongoing negotiations with the regulators, we negotiated the deferral of concession fee and mandatory payments in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Italy for a total amount of $106 million, of which $31 million have already been paid. Fourth, we renegotiated payment terms with our suppliers across all countries of operations to limit additional cash outflows. Finally, we canceled all non-mandatory capital investments and deferred nonpriority projects achieving a 62% year-on-year CapEx reduction in 2020. For 2021, we will limit capital investments, maintenance of security standards and airport safety as well as to comply with regulatory requirements.

Next, moving on to our balance sheet and liquidity on Slide 12. We closed the year with $281 million in cash and equivalents and $74 million in treasury bills and time deposits. Total liquidity increased to $355 million at the end of December compared to $253 million at the end of last September, mainly due to additional financing obtained in the quarter as well as our strict cost control. This financial discipline allowed us to achieve operating cash flow breakeven in Argentina and Uruguay since the second quarter of 2020 and in Ecuador and Armenia since the third quarter of 2020. In addition, during the fourth quarter of 2020, CAAP achieved positive operating cash flow across most of our countries of operation.

As a result of new financing obtained in the quarter, total debt increased by 12% sequentially or $148 million to $1.3 billion, while net debt remained relatively stable at $1.1 million. So while net debt levels remain flat, lower profitability since the start of COVID-19 significantly impacted our net debt to last 12 months adjusted EBITDA ratio. As a result, the ratio, which excludes the impact of noncash impairments, increased to 14x from 7.4x in the third quarter. As a reminder, we are not subject to debt covenants at the consolidated level.

Finally, we are working closely with the financial community in Argentina to renegotiate the principal payments of bank loans that mature during the rest of 2021.

Turning to Slide 13. This month, we resumed operations at Aeroparque Airport in Buenos Aires. This included the renovation and expansion of the runway to improve performance for regional flights and enhanced operational safety. We also expanded and modernized the international arrivals and departure halls ahead of the reinstatement of international air traffic at Aeroparque Airport. This resulted in a total investment of approximately $60 million funded by the Argentine government and AA2000 development trusts with no impact on this subsidiary's cash flow.

Now to wrap up, turn to Slide 14. Since the start of the pandemic, we have demonstrated our capacity and flexibility to rapidly respond to the new environment and changing market conditions. We remain fully focused on further executing against the strategic action plan put in place at the start of the crisis, protecting liquidity, keeping a strong focus on cost controls, advancing negotiations to obtain long-term requilibrium of our concessions, while refinancing bank debt in Argentina. Looking at travel demand for the year, during the first quarter, passenger traffic trends have been choppy, reflecting lower demands in Brazil, given concerns over the new strain of the virus and the spike in cases. Travel restrictions in Europe also impacted demand in most countries of operations.

As the northern hemisphere continues to make headway with the vaccination programs, we expect this to lead to some improvements in traffic towards the second half of the year. In the medium term, while visibility in Latin America remains low, higher availability of vaccines and the progressive lifting of government travel restrictions are anticipated to help drive better passenger dynamics.

Before opening the floor for questions, as recently announced, Jorge Arruda, Head of Finance and M&A, will assume the role of CFO effective May 1, succeeding Raúl Francos, who will stay on through that date to ensure an orderly transfer of the role of AA2000. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Raúl Francos for his many contributions in heading the financial role of AA2000 since 2003, and since 2017, leading CAAP's IPO and the development of our strategic financial initiatives during this pandemic.

I also wish to congratulate Jorge for appointment. His 20 years experience in investment banking and capital markets have been essential in the implementation of our strategic initiatives to successfully navigate the pandemic. Jorge has been instrumental in our recent successful debt renegotiations as well as in negotiating concession agreements for equilibrium.

We are now ready to take questions. Operator, please open the line for questions.

(Operator Instructions) And our first question today will come from Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer.

This is Mark on for Ian. So I guess our question is on the $500 million CapEx spending with AA2000. Can you just give us a sense of what type of investments we can expect from the spend? I guess, just specifically with the $36 million over the next 2 years. Is that expansion or investment to add runways or terminals at certain airports? Or how should we think about that?

Mark, this is Martin. Thank you for your question. The CapEx that we are expected to undertake in Argentina, first one to the agreement with the government is still in phases of programming and decision-making. And although we have -- we will put a strong input into the program, the regulator is the one that finally decides where is the CapEx. But it will basically allow us to continue the required CapEx program to expand safety, runways, maintenance and terminals that was started previously in Argentina. So you should expect maintenance CapEx for runways, terminals and the continuing of many of the works that were done -- were started before the pandemic.

Okay. Got it. That's very helpful. And then just a follow-up. Given the volatility you guys are seeing in the first quarter, can you maybe just give a sense of what are -- what trends you're seeing in traffic activity for March? How does that trend compare sequentially with February?

So we have different realities in our different countries of operations. Most of these realities are totally linked with the health conditions and the sanitary conditions and the number of cases and hospitalizations in each country regarding the COVID-19 crisis. So as you saw before we had -- most of the recovery is linked to the easing or the strengthening of the restrictions put by different countries.

So we do not have a unique trend. There has been a downward trend in Brazil due to cases. Europe is expected to have a better summer, because of the vaccination plan. The same as traffic towards the U.S., but we are seeing mixed results and they are totally linked with the restrictions put in place in each of the different countries of operation.

(Operator Instructions) And this will conclude the question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Martin for any closing remarks.

Thank you. I'd like to thank everybody for joining us today. We really appreciate your interest in our company. We look forward to providing updates on our business initiatives as they become available. In the meantime, the team remains available to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. And bye-bye, everyone.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.