Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima
Q2 2018 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 14 Aug 2018

[Operator:]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for waiting. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to Edenor's 2Q '18 Results Conference Call. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded, and all participants will be in listen only mode during the presentation. After the remarks are completed there will be a question and answer section, and that time further instructions will be given. [Operator Instructions] Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Edenor's management and on information currently available. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions because they relate to future events, and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions and other operating factors could also affect the future results of Edenor and could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Now I will turn the conference over to Mr. Leandro Montero, CFO of Edenor. Mr. Montero, you may begin your conference.

[Leandro Montero:]

Thank you very much. Good morning everyone and thanks for joining our second quarter 2018 earnings conference call. First, we will focus on the main events that recently took place and then briefly review the results of the quarter. As you know, you can always call any member of our team for more details on the results of the period or any doubts you might have. In first place, on July 31 this year, the regulator issued Resolution 208 approving the new tariff scheme. This increase includes the new generation seasonal prices set by the Secretariat of Electric Energy as well as the all distribution costs update corresponding to the first semester of 2018. This update amounted to 15.89% applicable from August 1, 2018 and to be implemented in two stages. First, 50% as from that day and the remaining balance from February 1, 2019. Furthermore, the difference in revenues generating during the August 2018, January 2019 period will be recoverable in six adjusted installments as from February 1, next year. Moreover, as part of the agreement to defer half of the VAD increase, the Ministry of Energy agreed to carry out the necessary administrative actions to work the regularization of pending obligations from the transition period. It also agreed to promote the processing of issues pending resolution related to the new framework agreement in regards to energy consumption in shantytowns. Moving to other matters. This year, the regulator issued two complementary penalties applicable to the company

[Operator:]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Frank McGann with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

[Frank McGann:]

Two questions, if I could. One, just in terms of demand trends that you're seeing so far in the third quarter. I know we're not even halfway through the quarter yet, but if you have any indications of the types of trends you're seeing on the different customer segments? And then secondly, the negotiations with CAMMESA, the government to resolve the CAMMESA liability. I was just wondering what is the actual status of that and what sort of timetable should we assume in terms of negotiations and a final resolution.

[Leandro Montero:]

Frank, regarding your first question, demand on July, which is the month we have closed recently, shows a significant increase in demand, approximately 8.8% increase, overall. The channel increase in the whole month in comparison to the previous -- or the same month in 2017. You should take into account, in this case, the same that is applicable for [Indiscernible] that the comparatives in 2017 were much higher than this year. In average, this year has been colder winter, and that's why the demand, despite the tariff increase, has grown significantly in comparison to the previous month. This is regarding the residential customers. When you take industrial end customers, we have seen a decrease in the demand for this month in comparison to the previous month. And in connection with the second question you made, well, in the agreement we signed with the government, they set a limited period in order to start working to address solution. They defined a 60-day period, but it's a guideline. We cannot say that all the issues were resolved at that time. But we expect the -- now with agreement -- or with commitment of the Ministry of Energy, we can get to a solution during this year.

[Operator:]

Our next question comes from Gustavo Fingeret with Bradesco BBI.

[Gustavo Fingeret:]

I have one question or probably two, which one relates to the other, regarding losses in CapEx. At the beginning of the year, you were mentioning that losses were going -- were expecting to go down year-over-year to levels below 17% and also CapEx to go up to levels close to $300 million for 2018. When you see to the first half of year results, you will see that losses, they are going up and CapEx is well below what we were expecting, basically $100 million of the $300 million. Can you give us some guidance on what we should expect for the second half of the year? And if CapEx will pick up also in the second half of 2018?

[Leandro Montero:]

Gustavo, well, yes, they are connected, but not necessarily the same. In terms of losses, yes, as you mentioned, we were expecting -- we should say that the -- during 2017, we were expecting that energy losses should have increased because of the increase in tariffs. But because of the weather, as we mentioned during the conference call, it remained stable during the whole 2017. This year, we see an increase because the weather was colder despite the increase in actions we have been making in order to reach the level we want to have in order to reduce financial losses. For sure, we are a bit underperformance because the main problem we have is to get the contractors to make the job. And because of the tariff increase, the -- certain customers have been making fraud even after they are cut by the company. So we are working hard in order to reach the levels of financial losses we were expecting. And we think that during the second half of the quarter, we want to increase activities, but we depend on the contractors' offers in order to reach that level. And maybe a similar situation happens with the CapEx. During this first half, we have had an increase in CapEx higher than inflation -- slightly higher than inflation in comparison to the previous year. We expect to increase the CapEx during the second half of the year in order to reach the annual CapEx we have estimated. For sure, the dollar -- the peso devaluation is impacting the final figure that we will reach in terms of U.S. dollars. So we -- now we are expecting to reach $250 million for the full year. So for that, we should increase our capacity and our performance during the second half of this year.

[Gustavo Fingeret:]

Can you give us some guidance on losses? What are you expecting now for 2018?

[Leandro Montero:]

For the full year? Well, we have as a goal to reach 16.7% for the full year, the annualized rates, okay, at the end of the year. But that's our goal and -- but we need to increase the activity during the second half in order to reach that goal.

[Operator:]

This concludes the question-and-answer section. At this time, I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Montero for any closing remarks.

[Leandro Montero:]

Well, thank you very much for attending this conference call. Have a nice day. Bye-bye.

[Operator:]

This concludes today's presentation. You may now disconnect your line at this time, and have a nice day.