Multiplan Empreendimentos Imobiliarios SA

BOVESPA:MULT3

Earnings Call Transcript

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the earnings call regarding the fourth quarter of 2024 of Multiplan. We have here with us the executive directors of the company. We'd like to inform all participants that the presentation of these results is available at the website of Investor Relations of Multiplan.

Before we continue, we'd like to state that any statements that might be done during the call regarding the business perspectives of the company, projections, operational goals, financial goals are based on premises and beliefs of the Board of Directors of Multiplan based on information that is currently available for the company.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and premises. These are regarding the forward-looking statements and therefore, might be related to circumstances that might occur or not. Investors have to take into consideration all other operational factors that might affect the forward-looking statements of the company and might lead to the results that are different from those that are stated in the forward-looking statements.

I'd give the floor to Mr. Eduardo Peres, CEO. He will start the presentation. The floor is yours.

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your participation. I'd like to highlight a few important points on this fourth quarter. It was a quarter that was extremely intense. We launched two expansions, Barigüi and Barra DiamondMall. We launched the expansion of Brasília and another phase of Golden Lake in Porto Alegre.

It's important to highlight that BarraShopping, PátioSavassi, and Morumbi, the works had their first phase starting this quarter. Just so you know the volume of the work, we concluded over 200,000 square meters in area, which had a positive impact in the sales of the fourth quarter. These grew 10.3% in the same period. And we can observe the effect of these expansions.

I'd like to give you a few examples. Just so you know how transformative this is for everyone. DiamondMall grew in the fourth quarter in sales, 33%; Barigüi 13.5%; BarraShopping 10%; and New York, 35%. The growth indicators of the company could not be better. Our revenue got to BRL 1.341 billion in the year, another record that I'd like to share with this wonderful team that works with us. So we can improve the experiences of our clients so that the experiences are ever better.

I would also like to highlight the achievements of Multi. Over the last 12 months, we got 28 million accesses and over 1.5 million of new accesses. It closed the year as the eighth free website -- most downloaded website -- app from the App Store. 2024 was the biggest repurchase of sales in our company history. We bought $2.1 billion in shares that are stemming from our previous business partner. And this repurchase changed the shareholding structure of Multiplan, highlighting the compromise to create value for the shareholders. And to close, I am certain that 2025 will bring more opportunities of growth and innovation.

We have a few expansions ongoing. Golden Shopping and Parque Shopping Maceió. And we're going to start with Brasília in the first quarter of '25. We will continue to invest in the improvement of our portfolio in technologies and new initiatives that will strengthen the presence of Multiplan in the market.

Thank you to our collaborators for their work in 2024, and also the analysts and shareholders that are here present today with us. I hope that this year is filled with achievements for everyone. Thank you.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] First question, André Mazini from Citibank.

[André Mazini, analyst]

My question is regarding CapEx of the works. You've done a lot of things this year, big things, changing the flooring in BarraShopping. So I think that it was works above the average, 20% of the NOI. What can we expect in percentages once we stabilize the CapEx? And on the long term, 5%, 10%, would be that range that we're looking at? And what is maintenance? Because everything that gets into the maintenance is condominium, and the works is -- the entrepreneur, is it Multiplan's work? So what would be the percentage of maintenance that is paid by the condominium itself, by the tenants that pay for the condominium?

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

Well, thank you for the question. This is Eduardo Peres. The works on the malls had their peak last year because of a need. It was needed. We came from the moment of the pandemic, we were closed, and we are correcting what we could not invest in this period. From now on, you're correct in imagining that this will decrease. And this is true. This year will be less investment, and next year, less investment. So it's not our intention to do work in the mall. We're getting to a good level.

And the part that you asked on maintenance, you're right, it comes from the tenant. So we cannot talk about investment on maintenance on the part of Multiplan.

[Armando Neto, executive]

Mazini, this is Armando. Many times we talk about CapEx of the works as if it was an expense. And really, this is an investment. We got several examples all throughout the quarters, BarraShopping. We have several others and we got one that I think that is recent, premature but is good, which is New York City Center. We did the math to see what was the return of this project on its first year. And we brought a case on our report for anyone that wants to see it, saying New York, 12.9% over the invested value discount and the inflation of growing rent in the first year. So this is not just to look good on paper. This is an investment that brings comfort, brings return and it brings a better experience for the consumer, which is our biggest desire and aspiration.

[Operator]

Our next question, Fanny Oreng from Santander. Fanny is having an operational issue. We're going to go to the next question. Ygor Altero from XP.

[Ygor Altero, analyst]

I want to understand the recycling of asset scenario. You did the sale of Jundiaí. Is there any other assets that you understand that would make sense for selling because of the change in the taxation of your company?

And the second thing is, well, the market is more difficult for the investment in real estate, would you accept the quotas of FIIs as payment? How do you see this moment?

[Armando Neto, executive]

This is Armando. Thank you for the question. Ygor, I just wanted to change one word, recycling. Recycling seems like this is an asset that you don't want anymore. No, this is absolutely different from what we did. We had an asset that had 100%. We went through 75%. We still work with the manager of the asset. The asset that grew a lot. It's an asset that has opportunities to grow even more with expansion, with development, with pipeline, multi-use. So I don't think that the word is recycling. Recycling is when the company doesn't want that asset. It's not part of the strategy. But we've seen in some cases such as that in the market. What happened was an opportunity for us to monetize.

We purchased the shares, as Eduardo has said, with the initial announcement, 12%. We had the realization of one asset, 7.12%. So it seems like it's a way to generate value for our shareholders. And still taking a step back, 2024, we had purchases of assets and shareholding participation. So there is no specific direction that we're going to sell or purchase. We don't need to do anything. We're going to look at the opportunities and evaluate them at every moment.

And then we have all the circumstances that are involved. The changes in the taxation is secondary. We are going to look at the opportunities for the company. The quotas of investment funds in real estate, it's not the -- FIIs in Brazil, it's not our interest to have transactions. If we're going to do something, it's going to be a liquidation in currency and not quotas.

[Operator]

Next question, Fanny Oreng from Santander.

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

Can you hear me now?

[Unknown Executive]

Yes. Go ahead.

[Fanny Oreng Avino, analyst]

I have two questions, very simple. First is if you can -- I know that you're working, Eduardo, but how do you see the retail feeling in regards to the perspective for this year? And along those lines, I wanted to understand because we saw that 2024 was a year better for sales than what we expected and many expected. So I wanted to verify, do you think that there is space to see revisions for the tenants that are on the third year of rent -- revision of rent rates? And this is not the first time I asked the question. But the growth in sales in Santa Úrsula really brought my attention in '24, and we see that the rent does not correspond to the growth in sales. So can you discuss more about this asset? How do you see the trend of improvement of this asset? That's it.

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

Thanks for the question, Fanny. First, 2024. 2024 is different than 2025. 2025 is certainties. We are selling well. January is selling with strong growth -- starting with strong growth, BarraShopping growing at 15%. For a shopping this size to grow 15% is something good. We've been following the committees for commercialization that this is the best temperature that you can have because this is where you prove yourself in the market. And the numbers speak for themselves. The search for space is still very high. So I believe that 2025 will be a year that is strong for retail. I shouldn't think differently.

You commented on Santa Úrsula. To me, this is a reflection of the investments that we've done. So I'd rather be in an asset that I have 100% there, and I'd rather do the investments to recover the consumer. And then we're going to see the results. Well, people need to go back to the shopping mall, Fanny. That region, specifically in Ribeirão Preto has an intervention that is big from the Mayor's office. So it's much more. As soon as the works are done around the shopping mall, everything is going to improve.

What kind of work are they doing in the city of Ribeirão Preto? It's a work for piping of the sewage. They're redoing all the capture of the rains and they destroyed all the streets adjacent roadways. It's complicated to get there. But the shopping mall, once this is fixed, we're going to have more growth.

But you commented also on the possibility to review rent for the contracts that are in the third year. There's always a possibility. More than review, what really pulls the rent up is sales. You might have a review on your direction positive, and then we have to insist because that is not balanced. I think that we are in a good point. These sales are growing for some time, and they continue to grow. And now we start to feel the effect of the reworks and the expansions, and there is an effect on the whole. And there is a rent because of the GP that is positive. This is going to push as well.

[Operator]

Next question, Ana Júlia, UBS.

[Ana Júlia Zerkowski, analyst]

I have a question regarding tax. We have several factors. Can you give us a bit more detail of the causes? There was an impact of the interest of our capital that was with the change of taxation. Can we think with the -- along those lines?

[Operator]

I'm sorry to interrupt, we couldn't hear you at the beginning. If you can repeat?

[Ana Júlia Zerkowski, analyst]

Can you hear me now?

[Operator]

Good.

[Ana Júlia Zerkowski, analyst]

So we want to know in regards to the tax, that is much lower than what we expected. If you can give us some color on what was the cause of that. Was it because of the interest of our capital effect of the advancement of the change? And what can we expect up ahead?

[Unknown Executive]

Ana Júlia, thank you for the question. The reason why we have a lower taxation is because of the interest of our capital. Now we have other reasons for investments that were in the previous taxation regime, for example, the sale and the participation of JundiaíShopping and selling real estate as well as the recurring Golden Lake, for example, that you have a special regime of taxation. So the composition of all this ended up resulting in an aliquot that was very competitive.

And the interest of our capital we had here in the third quarter, the provisioning of the beneficiary of -- but it was the fourth quarter that we had the recurring benefit. So that's why we have a tax that is so low. But in the beginning, we should have the tax benefit with the exception of the shares. Yes, it changed for the third or the fourth. It accumulated for the recurring activity in the fourth quarter. Did we answer, Ana?

[Ana Júlia Zerkowski, analyst]

Yes.

[Operator]

Next question is from Herman, Bradesco BBI.

[Herman J. Lee, analyst]

Two questions on our side. First, about leveraging, that was 2.3x in a year and it's a mechanism that is very healthy thinking about the repurchasing of shares. So I wanted to understand how do you see the evolution of this line in 2025? Secondly, what really brought our attention is the growth in the revenue of allocation of BarraShopping that grew 30%. Can you give us some more color on that?

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

This is Eduardo. Thank you for the question. Well, we are very comfortable with this leverage, this level. There might be an opportunity in regards to what was the asset of Jundiaí, where we have done a sale that -- and an important revenue, and therefore, there is a deleveraging that is higher. But this is not the direction of the company. It's going to deleverage naturally. The company has a generation that is very big of cash flow. So this is not a concern.

[Armando Neto, executive]

Second question is about the growth of BarraShopping because of the renew that grew higher in this quarter because of the natural growth and the innovation that we had in the enterprise and, along with the lines of the question of Fanny, the opportunities that exist. Eduardo talked about this, and we have to do -- we have to be successful in some reviews of the rent, but it has to be sustainable. So there was a renewal of a lot of time.

And then since you are discussing the values of the past, it accumulates in a period and it's a very big volume. So it's important that we continue with the plan that we have for this asset. Barra continues to grow. We seek other opportunities to do more expansions so we can seek new funds to attract the clients that do not go to the mall yet.

[Operator]

Next question is Jorel Guilloty, Goldman Sachs.

[Wilfredo Jorel Guilloty, analyst]

My question is simpler and more strategic. Everything is going well to you in regards to the same-store rent, same-store sales. The cost of occupation is dropping, creating space for growth. But I have a lot of concerns -- well, there are concerns in the market, the macro outlook. What are your concerns? What could be the risks that we are not thinking? Or what is more concerning for you looking up ahead? That would be it.

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

Jorel, this is Eduardo. Thank you for the question. I think the biggest concern that all entrepreneurs go through today is the deceleration and, consequently, the economic activity will decrease as a whole. But since we went through -- this company went through periods of interest that are much higher than these, we are still selling well. So I'd like to think that even though the interest is growing up, we're still going to have a good performance. Because we do not sell just merchandise. We sell the complete experience. Our assets are related to this, to entertainment, gastronomy. So the concern with the experience of the consumer is very important. So this is the biggest concern that goes through our mind.

[Armando Neto, executive]

Well, a good point that Eduardo commented with you is that we have here 17 years of a company being listed. So there is a lot of track records to look. There is a lot of elements. There were periods where the GDP would drop 3%, and still we saw our growth -- our sales growing. So this is a good history that can give you a good vision for the future. Thank you, Jorel.

[Operator]

Next question is from Luiz Capistrano, ItauBBA.

[Luiz Capistrano, analyst]

We were impressed with the performance in sales and occupancy drop, delinquency improving and all the metrics that are important. So there is an improvement. And along those lines, I have two questions. Do you think that the next quarters, we're going to see vacancy improving, delinquency still negative? Is it going to be positive in the first quarter? So what would be the trend? Do you see an improvement? Would we be at a peak of efficiency? Could you comment a bit more on this, looking at this strong wholesale in 2025? That's it. The second question was already addressed. So if you can discuss whatever we have of operational improvement also, it would be great.

[Armando Neto, executive]

Luiz, we fight every day to do things better than what we did the day before. This is the [ war ] and the motto of our company. We got to one of the lowest levels of vacancy. We have 200, which is a low number. We are not satisfied and we're still going to seek the improvement. What I can guarantee you -- well, I cannot guarantee you the future. But I can guarantee you that we are going to continue to work to try and improve in all the directions as we've seen in this fourth quarter.

The challenge is to deliver results that are better. Thanks to the efforts of everyone, we managed to do this over the last 2 years. And I believe that we're going to do this in 2025. I think that this effort of ours, you commented on the margin of NOI, but if you look at the expenses, it dropped to 1.7% in inflation that is -- well, the decrease shows what Eduardo commented, a daily effort of generating efficiency in the company. And that doesn't change.

Well, there is going to be -- the company will continue to be dedicated to growing. And all of this happened in a year that was an extreme activity. So we would assume that our expenses would increase because we invested, we launched. So we seek efficiency in all the areas, and we want to continue with that.

And Eduardo, another important point, it's a broad question. Investment in Multi, you see the success that Multi brings in terms of utilization, 60% over 2023, 28 million utilization. The investment, all of that has a return and it brings more operations and it improves the results. Over 1,200 events done this last year. Well, if something changes, it's to improve. So we see that the fundamentals are there.

And the question on the perspective of sales, you join all that. Well, we have to talk about what we are ready to do to go ahead. And we have two cases with the same consequence. We have a good margin that was benefited with the vacancy that is going up at an expense that is negative. The vacancy closes above what was last year, and this gives you a base so you can have more efficiency in 2025. So this is a good news and positive news in terms of margin.

In regards to delinquency, we cannot have it forever. We -- I believe that we have something that we have to go back to the historical records of the future. But for now, the margin was benefited with low delinquency, and the vacancy -- low vacancy is something that we have to maybe work more in 2025. Thank you, Luiz.

[Operator]

Next question, Marcelo Motta, JPMorgan.

[Marcelo Motta, analyst]

Two questions. If you can give us an update on the shares of treasury? Is there any plan that you cancel the first 2 tranches? There is just a third, what is in your mind? And then secondly, is the expenses in allocation? And in Multiplan, it went to BRL 8 million. So I just wanted to understand if there is some nonrecurrent. Is there any details on that line that we are not seeing?

[Unknown Executive]

Well, Motta, I think that we're going to start with the second. The allocation, it's going to vary according to the maturity of the project. So you're going to launch a project and you have investments in marketing events. You have a cost. You're going to open the project. In the style of Multiplan, we like to celebrate. We like to have an event in BarraShopping, in Barigüi as well and then ended up -- well, the DiamondMall and Barigüi, and that had an expense. It's part of the game.

For 2025, we have Morumbi, so it depends on what we're going to launch -- Morumbi and Brasília. So at the end of '26, we're going to have Brasília as well. So this is going to impact. Obviously, you have other small tax, that doesn't change anything. But treasury is there. It doesn't participate in political rights. It doesn't -- it's their part in treasury so we can evaluate what we want to do. Cancel anything doesn't change anything, and not canceling doesn't change anything. It will continue there and it doesn't take any benefit from our shareholders because it doesn't participate in none of the economic political rights. So we leave it there and we can evaluate it if there is a better use or not. If not, we can cancel it, as we canceled a lot of shares last year. Okay?

[Operator]

Thank you for all the questions. We're going to close now the Q&A session, and we invite all participants that still have questions to get in contact with the Investor Relations department.

And now I'd like to give the floor to Mr. Eduardo Peres for the closing arguments.

[Eduardo Peres, executive]

Well, I wanted to thank you, everyone that has joined the call. Thank you for the opportunity to explain what we do here. And the message is of optimism. We're going to continue down the path that we planned. And this year, in the next months until March, we're going to start to build the expansion of Brasília as well as Morumbi. We're going to launch next year in Maceió at the end of this year. We're going to follow with the path of growing and the improvement of the experience of the consumers in all the assets. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. The earnings call of the results of the fourth quarter of 2024 of Multiplan is closed.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]