Boa Safra Sementes SA

BOVESPA:SOJA3

Q3-2025 Earnings Call

[Operator]

[Audio Gap] earnings call for the third quarter of 2025. Today's call is being recorded, and the replay will be available on our Investor Relations website at ri.boasafrasementes.com.br. Presentation is also available for download. [Operator Instructions] Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that any forward-looking statements made during this call are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Boa Safra's management and on information currently available. These statements involve risks and uncertainties as they refer to future events that may or may not occur. Investors, analysts and the media should bear in mind that macroeconomic conditions, industry factors and other variables may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.

Joining us today are Mr. Marino Colpo, our CEO; and Mr. Felipe Marques, our CFO; and our Investor Relations Officer. The IR team will be available as well. I'll now hand the call over to Mr. Felipe Marques. Please go ahead, Mr. Marques.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

Good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be here with you for the Q3 results. Marino is joining me, our CEO.

[Marino Colpo, executive]

All right. Let's get started with the presentation. Good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be here with you.

On Slide 4, I I'll go briefly through the history of the company. I would like to highlight the items in 2025. We started out with the acquisition of SBS and Green Seeds. It's a forage company. So we acquired a stake. We have invested in those companies and that company is also growing. That was back in January. Let me point out the expansion to Southern Brazil. We have leased 2 units in the South. I'll be detailing that transaction shortly. And there were 2 emissions of CRAs, Felipe will go into that operation in further detail. It's now part of the company's cash, but due to some tax changes, that was the right time to make that move. We ended up extending our debt. We issued 2 CRAs amounting to BRL 1 billion.

Let me point out the operational highlights. That's Slide #6. Right here on the corner, you can see our production capacity to 180,000 bags. We contracted 274,000 hectares. And for next year, first time we are communicating that index. We're announcing 302,000 hectares. That's the contracted area for the coming year. But the highlight is at the bottom actually. Let me show you our soybean seeds inventory. In Q3 2025, BRL 625 million. That's the last bar on your right, BRL 625 million when compared to Q3 of '24, it was BRL 466 million. We're almost 30% above that inventory level. We expect to sell that in Q4 of this year and the remaining 2 months.

Moving on to Slide 7 now. This is where we operate. We are present in different regions. And let me point out 3 units here, unit #15 and 16. These are in Southern Brazil. We've leased one in Tamarana, and the other one also in Faxinal, also in the state of Parana, Slides 14 and 15. Let me point out 17, the one in Penápolis, the state of Sao Paulo. That was part of the SBS deal back in January. So we now have a unit in Sao Paulo focused on forage.

But we also leased a unit in Uberlândia, very close to Bestway. There was a business that came up, and that's yet another production unit that will be operational next year. Both 14, 15 and 16 units, those that will be operating next year, expanding our market share on top of the plant in Penápolis. Part of the sales of the forage crop will become in Q3 and Q4 and part of it in Q1 next year.

Let me now address our backlog. This is a record backlog for a third quarter. BRL 862 million now this quarter compared to BRL 730 million in the same period of last year. We have been expanding sales quarter-on-quarter from BRL 600 million to BRL 1 billion this third quarter -- this quarter.

Let me now address portfolio diversification. In our follow-on in '23 into '24, we said then that our focus would be to diversify in crops. We're still growing significantly in soybeans. You can tell by the volume of sales, but we have been able to grow also in new crops.

At the bottom, you can see that in just 9 months, in 2024, we sold BRL 700 million in soybeans -- or BRL 600 million. And this year, a little over BRL 1 billion in soybeans alone. But when you take new crops into account, growth was even more significant from BRL 82 million to BRL 200 million. That's part of our strategy, which is to diversify sales or revenue in our organization.

Let's now address performance. Sales were up. We have been able to sell more. Operating income has been growing at about 56%. Volumes were up a little over 30% growth in soybeans alone. You can -- the same thing applies to other crops. Gross profit is up 50% above.

Now on to EBITDA. we haven't been able to grow that much and I mean both EBITDA and net income, not as much as the top line. EBITDA is at 37% growth. And net income, 26%. Adjusted net income, we have the same results of year-on-year, but we are reducing minority stakes and there are some losses and gains in hedging and inventory operations, but there are many things here from the following year as well included here.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

Let me address the financial highlights. We've seen a couple of things already, strong growth, 58% this year -- or this quarter rather due to the impact of soybean seeds. We started out with stronger numbers this year -- or this quarter. That, of course, brought our revenue up. And there's some seasonality within seasonality the rainy season and just like Marino said, despite the record sales in this quarter, we also have a portfolio to be sold. The rainy season started early, but then it was stopped. So there's still a couple of things we have to collect in the coming quarters.

The gross net income or the gross revenue, strong growth, 38%, yet another record for the company in the last 12 months. When you take into account Boa Safra sales with the adjusted EBITDA, we were at BRL 74 million, now we are BRL 114 million this quarter alone. Last 12 months, BRL 194 million, BRL 227 million. So the impact is even greater in the adjusted EBITDA, there are some derivatives, SG&A. We conducted several operations in terms of deliveries to our customers, that would impact commercial expenses.

Those were the drivers behind the profitability numbers within adjusted EBITDA. On to net income, we are up 26% from 64 -- from BRL 54 million to BRL 68 million. And in the last 12 months, a 35% decrease due to seasonality back in 2024. We had greater sales in Q4. This has been more even down in the LTM. We try to address those indicator to mitigate that seasonality, but we cannot remove seasonality completely.

On to realized CapEx, despite profitability is lower or smaller, rather, we are more diligent in immobilizing capital. Ever since the IPO, we have been making investments of BRL 100 million, BRL 200 million. This year, investments amount to only BRL 39 million, and that has to do with cash flow. But again, this is an indication that we're trying to optimize capital immobilization due to the fact we are having more requirements for working capital.

On to the debt profile. We've already talked about the CRA. The liquidity level is very high, 3.6%. This is a strategy not having liquidity in the market, we opted to have more liquidity so that we could have that pocket. That was a very good decision on our part. For those times, in which there's no liquidity in the agri business as a whole. So Boa Safra becomes a very relevant player in that sense, very unusual situation when we are compared to the competition.

On to the gross debt, we had some hedging operations put in place. We are at 76% of our debt in CDIs. This is the highest interest rates will be. There is that downward trend expected for the coming months. So despite having had issued the CRA, we had the hedging operation for post. So we'll be able to capture if CDI prices go down. So 76% of our debt in our swaps are based on the CDI, so that was a good move on our part to perform that swap operations when long rates were higher than what they are now.

Amortization schedule. This is something that makes us proud. 95% of our debt is in the long run, once again, proof of what I said before. The current liquidity level. The company is -- or sits at a unique position in this industry -- both in this industry and both in the seeds industry. So it's very comforting for our customers, for our suppliers, and that is proof of our credibility, especially being a public company. These numbers reiterate how solid and how trustworthy the company is.

On to receivables. The calculation we make, we are based on sales. We use letters of credit. 2%, almost twice as much as what we had last year. But when you look at the company through receivables, this is one of the lowest indices in the agri business. And we were diligent. We had record accounts receivable last year. We had to convert a high rate of conversion into cash.

Looking at next year numbers -- next year's numbers. Our accounts receivable will grow, but it also grew in sales. So the growth we had in our accounts receivable is in line with the growth we had in sales. That's the good side of it. There were some anticipated payments, payment ahead of time. And that went up, something that did not happen last year. We've also grew our accounts receivables percentage-wise, given the numbers in Q3. It only grew in absolute numbers. But in percentage points, it's at 26%. The same thing that we said about CapEx. This is the result here of our diligence in optimizing working capital usage in our company so that we do not increase that need of working capital.

On to our financial health. Adjusted net debt is BRL 70 million. This is a more conservative approach from the point of view of the holding company. Adjusted net debt, again, with a very conservative point of view, we are at BRL 300 million, a very comfortable position.

We have a relevant backlog to be charged in the coming quarters. In other words, this is an indication as to how we are going to close the year of 2025 as far as net debt is concerned. When we talk about the holding company's liquidity, very high liquidity numbers, as you can see, 3.6% in the other one, when we show that the net financial results in 9 months, the net debt from the controlling -- or the holding company was only BRL 30 million.

We are a very seasonal company. The picture you take on a quarter won't give you an idea of what the entire picture or the movie. So only BRL 30 million. But when you see the bigger picture, our net cash with all the impacts for the 9 months of the year of only BRL 30 million. The first half of the year is usually worse in terms of financial expenses, and that improves in the third and fourth quarters. So this is a bigger picture, again, only BRL 30 million.

On to cash flow now. Once again, let me point that out. Let's take a look at the whole picture. We remain diligent in capital allocation. So despite that growth level, over 50% growth in sales relevant growth, therefore, the operating cash flow was smaller than the one we had in the 9 months of 2024. Inventory levels were up. It's only natural. It happened that way, advanced payments, suppliers.

The number is BRL 117 million despite less profitability, given the market scenario, we have been able to be even more diligent in capital allocation, a key factor in our management strategy, and that's our focus. We are looking for even more efficiency, that's our model for the coming quarters. We would like to be even more efficient. And efficiency, of course, involves the size of the allocated capital, both immobilized and also in terms of working capital.

Well, thank you. I think we can move ahead to the Q&A session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Pedro Fonseca from XP asks the first question.

[Pedro Fonseca, analyst]

Two questions. Number one, top line. I know it's a very sensitive topic. But please, if you could share any information about volume and prices and their role in those 9 months. What are the market conditions, thinking about prices for Q4? We know that seeds have better prices to the end users, given the supply-demand balance. So what are prices like in Q4, to have an idea of how much of that inventory you could convert into top line growth.

My second question is about margins. We expected a slightly higher operational leverage. Can you give us some color as to why or what were the drivers of that SG&A, nominal growth, revenue -- or compared to revenue too, was this something in Q4 that was booked in Q3? But way more than that. What are the margin dynamics looking ahead, not only in Q4, but in the coming years? Do you believe that this amount, that level can be a good benchmark onwards? These are the 2 questions I had.

[Marino Colpo, executive]

Let me address a couple of -- some of the questions you asked. Well, the way I see it, we have been growing substantially in terms of volume. This has been a very challenging year for agri business in general. As far as prices are concerned, we could not -- or we were not able to operate at the margin level we would like to. We had some losses in quality. It was a very dry season, sales could have been bigger. If we hadn't missed on that quality, despite record sale, the team behind it has done fantastic work. They're doing a great job.

We did not give you detailed data. But in Q4, you see the number of clients. We've expanded. We have a more diversified portfolio. We have reduced the risk in our portfolio because we had more resellers. Boa Safra is almost everywhere, at every dealership, about 1,000 points of sale compared to 690 we had last year. So we are more present in more places.

But margins are squeezed or depressed. I don't think it's going to be forever. Soybeans has its own price dynamics. Commodity prices go down. And farmers are not willing to invest so much in GMOs, for example. But we're selling less of those products that can yield more margins to dealerships and the farmers their shopping for price, there's more demand, and that would contribute to the margin. So despite a challenging scenario, the company was able to grow both in volume and also in sales. This is my interpretation.

Over to Felipe to talk about the top line question.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

The seeds that we sell early, there's less TSI. Again, there is that seasonality component. But our expectations as far as prices are concerned, were low due to the pressures in the agri business, depressed prices, margin composition on the part of farmers. But we should take that into account that the companies in other industries are selling less, incurring losses. We manage to grow and even gain more market share and to be in other areas. We have a diversified presence, that was our intention ever since the IPO. We believe that it should be strategically important, and that's what we did. Less profitability, but we have expanded in other areas.

And there will be a point in time in which we will stand out against the competition because of that same growth I just mentioned. We're not only looking at short-term results, we are actually looking ahead trying to combine all these issues. And back to cash flow, we had to make choices. We had to make a decision. If you allocate more capital, you can improve margins. but we chose that despite the growth of 50%, we used less operating cash, again, of course, we're concerned about margins, but that's part of the strategy. That's the goal we set ever since the follow-on. We're now discussing the budget for next year, and that will be discussed. And then I'll address SG&A. And Marino will be talking about the growth strategy.

[Marino Colpo, executive]

Well, I echo what Felipe said. We have all the signs in place indicating that we'll have a strong fourth quarter, even better than Q4 of last year. We still have a long way to go. But we work hard to grow using less cash. I think we made the right move in choosing to have more liquidity. We'll have an election year in 2026. There are many variables that can play a part next year. I think we made the right decision to withhold cash. We managed to grow nonetheless, and we expect a strong fourth quarter with a long-term debt profile. That's the scenario. That's the strategy we put in place, and we have been able to pull it off. Margins could have been better. That's what we are aiming for. That's it.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

Well, let me address SG&A. We've had relevant growth. We had the cost of deliveries for country. Commercial sales -- or commercial expenses rather went up. And we had growth in sales of soybean seeds and in other businesses, they amount to 17% of our revenue. And now it's time to scale, so we paid that toll, as we say, Marino asks me, when we buy a company when it's in operating, you don't have that kind of impact in your results. And despite the M&As, most of our growth came from SG&A expenses. So you have to start spending SG&A so that sales will follow. That's the strategy.

Since we are a long run company, we believe that we can bring in more returns, choosing the path of organic growth, especially by expanding other businesses. And now they'll scale up and those other businesses will begin to contribute. Looking back in our previous numbers are the businesses did not contribute in the past in terms of margins given the size and the structures they had. Now these companies can actually be more positive in the contribution effort of our profitability. And our competitors are in a much harder situation, our position still with very high interest rates, everyone is looking back and reviewing their production and sales plans for the coming year.

They will be more cautious because we gained ground in some sense. We've seen some seed companies communicating to the market, indicating they'll be more cautious. The competition this year impacted our top line because they had already produced those seeds and they made bold moves. So I believe that the competition for next year will be different. And now we are at a much better position to compete.

Strategic decisions that were made were not considering or not thinking about this year's results, but further down the road. Our goal is to focus on being disciplined in controlling SG&A expenses to be more efficient. This is our model. And now having scales after all those initiatives that will be able to contribute to results next year -- or in the coming years.

[Operator]

Mr. Henrique Brustolin from Bradesco BBI asks the next question.

[Henrique Brustolin, analyst]

There are 2 things, follow-up of the Q3 revenue indicating that you have a strong Q4. Well, but when you look at the inventory levels, 28% above year-over-year as well as the order backlog. That's an indication that Q4 will be strong. But let me address that, taking Q3 numbers into account. There were some delays in planting in those regions that you've already mentioned, inventory levels and order backlog, taking everything into account, revenue for soybean seeds could be even better in Q4 than Q3. So here's my question. Does that make sense? Is there anything that maybe getting in the way that we maybe overlooking?

My second question is about 2026. When we look at the past 2 years, they were very unusual. 2024, there was a problem in the season. 2025, the pains are growing. 2026 looks like it's going to be a more normal year in both census. When you take into account profitability and margins, employed capital, working capital. Those were the true detractors of your results, right? What's your take for next year under more normal circumstances? You won't grow as much and the company is prepared to absorb their growth after all the investments you've made. So what's your take on margins and working capital for next year?

[Marino Colpo, executive]

Let me address the first part of your question, and then Felipe will chip in. Well, we sold a lot of seeds in Q3. Historically, Q3 sales is usually focused in the state of Mato Grosso, that was the early planting season, and it was fast. Percentage-wise, sales in Mato Grosso with less treated seeds, you have larger farmers and some have their own machines to treat their own seeds. We don't sell as much treated seeds in Mato Grosso. We may even say that this is the first seed we sell has less margin because it has less added value.

We started selling to the Eastern part of the country, Goiás, Minas and Sao Paulo. This is -- has more treatment in Southern Brazil despite being smaller. But again, with a lot of treatments. So those sales will be booked in Q4 with the sale from the north, but it's mixed, some regions, some countries that are similar to Mato Grosso others are even more similar to the consumption in Goiás and Minas as far as treatment is concerned.

Smaller farmers and farmers want to buy treated seed because they cannot treat that on their own. So most of those sales with treatment will be booked in Q4. That's why we believe Q4 will be very positive. Looking ahead into next year, we do believe it's going to be a more normal year. We've been talking about it. Soybeans will have better prices or more stable. And let me point out 2 things. The U.S. hasn't grown in planted area, but the opposite is reducing its planted area. They've just signed an agreement with China. But when you look at the biodiesel production in the U.S., it's growing up -- it's going up. I believe there will be with limited inventory. And when we look at Brazil, farmers are using less technology, considerably lower, both inputs or even our own treatment. We don't see that in GMO.

New solutions have come along. We're selling more treatment, but a basic treatment. The same thing applies to fertilizers. They are looking for cheaper products, selling generic chemicals. You've seen what happened with chemical companies and the competition that search for generic products they want -- farmers want to reduce production costs. Production numbers will come down. So inventory levels will be under pressure. The same thing in the U.S. with the biodiesel and the same thing in technology and the credit crunch, we have less inventory. So soybean prices will be better. There won't be a boom in prices, that's going to be better than what we've had this year. Exchange rate, there are many variables there. But again, next year should be a more normalized year.

I've been talking with people in our industry. We had an excess of seed in the market, not only Boa Safra, but the whole industry, we're growing 50% in revenue over 30% in sales. but there is an excess of seeds or surplus of seeds in the industry. When we consider the area, seed companies want to reduce their volume so that excess inventory should come down. That's not our intention. We're not talking about volumes at this point in time. But the way we feel it the market and the competition might reduce those volumes slightly. That's why we believe the market will be healthier in that sense.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

Yes, that's right. Looking back, we usually sell above our backlog when you take into account Q3 a couple of things -- or many things will be going on from now to year's end. There are many areas yet to be planted over 30%. So there's still a lot of money on the table. We are still playing that game, if I may. Let's see if we can have a better Q4 than Q3.

And Marino put it, soybean prices are at their lowest, so they did not -- farmers did not forward sell all that much, and then they can generate more resources. And the competition in agri business and more specifically in seeds, competition will come down. It doesn't matter whether you know math. At the end of the day, you have to pay that, you have to pay the bill. You see that you're using a lot of cash, you have to pay high interest rates. Now it's time for everyone to pay the bill.

Seed companies filing for Chapter 11. And that's again, a reflection of the market scenario. With the conditions we have now in our company, we are positioned at a unique scenario for next year. We're still discussing the budget for 2026. But when we look at the market and the competition, we have a very positive outlook, a very favorable position.

Because you cannot grow at any cost, everyone is more cautious. So it's only natural who's going to survive in that game, you have to have that soundness to be able to deliver with quality and actually be a long-term player.

Well, it's kind of a glass half full that won't impact margins directly. But there are many complaints, Chapter 11s occurring in our industry. We are part of associations. We see those complaints that intention of reducing volumes. Many competitors brought volumes down. They want to lease areas. We have 3 leased areas competitors coming to us so that we can provide some services to them because they haven't been able to sell their operations in the marketplace.

The numbers show that we are very efficient as far as production costs are, and we still are with depressed margins. You can imagine what's going on in other companies -- another seed companies. Look at the liquidity levels we have vis-a-vis the competition. We may even get some bps in market share. We're not announcing it, but it's only clear. We believe we're going to grow exponentially and gain market share. Down the road, this is going to be very positive for our company.

[Operator]

Mr. Pedro Gama from Citi asks the next questions.

[Pedro Gama, analyst]

I have 2 questions. Can you elaborate the competition for prices. What's your take on the results of Avra? Is it according to plan when you introduced the brand last year? My second question is about capital allocation. You've received some leasing proposals, and you haven't announced any major capacity increase. What's your take on next year? Are you considering good opportunities for next year? Or do you intend to maintain production levels as is?

[Unknown Executive]

Well, there are things I cannot announce now. But on to capacity growth, we'll be giving you further details in Q4. What I can say now is that our planted area is bigger now. Well, it's a very dynamic industry. There are many opportunities out there. There are many avenues available, but we'll be discussing that in Q4. Let me address the question about Avra and other crops as well, let me address that.

Most of those initiatives are hurtful. Well, it's a J-curve business. You spend money for a year, 2 years, and then it goes up. Most of our crops and our businesses -- we have an income statement for every one of those businesses. All of them are losing some EBITDA, a little bit of gross margins and EBITDA margins. All companies are negative, BRL 1 million, BRL 2 million, BRL 3 million, there's nothing huge, but we're losing some money in every one of them. But when you look at for next year and for the forecast, all of them won't be contributing with a lot, but they are getting to the positive side.

We'll move from losing a little bit to making a little bit in many of these crops. When we look at the 5-year plan, most of those businesses, there are 5 crops actually, forge plants, corn, pinto beans, wheat, sorghum, most of them may contribute with maybe BRL 30 million, BRL 40 million, BRL 50 million in EBITDA, others maybe BRL 10 million, BRL 15 million, 20 million, small businesses. But when you put them together, we believe they can amount to something. They will be relevant to Boa Safra in 3, 4, 5 years. But now, most of them were giving a little bit of losses.

So instead of spending some million to purchase the business -- for some of them, we're developing in-house. That's why you have 2 years of investments before it can gain traction. They will come. We've hired a Director of new businesses, taking care of these new companies. Mauricio, we hired him 30 days ago -- a month ago, and he will be focused on our new businesses, as I said.

Let me address Avra. The company has been doing well, but it won't yield results this year. Avra is our own brand. We have our own genetics. So all the cultivars we have are exclusive to us. You cannot get them anywhere else. It's a partnership with the genetics bank. We started that with GDM. But Avra can give way more margins, has a great potential. Prices are higher than our own Boa Safra product.

But when you look at the size of that team, this year, we distributed 1,000 bags many, many bonuses so that the customers could get to know the product, but we are very excited. We believe that next year, based on their income segment, it's no longer be a company operating at a loss, but it's now be -- it will be operating in the black. 5,000 bags, the goal is 10,000 bags and actually between 10,000 and 12,000 and then it will be growing, a business that will achieve 20,000, 25,000 bags very soon, and then the company will be able to contribute significantly to our EBITDA. But it's only natural because it's a new business.

All the initiatives we wanted to open have already been opened. So we are at a stage in which we are coming to a second phase of that journey, if I may. That's why we'll see that reversal of that curve. We'll have the Board meeting tomorrow discussing the budget for next year. But this is what I can say to you. Well, profitability levels are at their limit at the end of the day.

Well, the first thing we have to look at is capital allocation. The cost of money remains high. our consolidated debt is even below that of CDI. It's about 14% a year. That's the growth that -- of the company. So I have to be careful in allocating capital. They will require much better profitability than that 14%. So that makes sense.

So looking at 2026, we have to take a look at efficiency first and investments would come next. In the past, we were focused on being present in some areas. We had to grow and efficient was not the top priority, but now that has been revert -- or inverted, efficiency first; growth, second because we had to have that size, which we believe we have now. The size of the company now will enable us to have the potential gains of scale, access. This has been consolidated.

So Boa Safra is playing a new game, a different game. We have had intense conversations in-house, because now we can choose many alternatives. When the price of money is high, you have to look for efficiency. There are no 2 ways about it.

[Operator]

Mr. Thiago Duarte from BTG Pactual asks the next question.

[Thiago Duarte, analyst]

It's great to be here. Let me go back to the top line discussion you had earlier, taking into account price and volume based on the limitations you referred to in the quarter. Well, Marino said that we are actually gaining market share. We may connect that statement with that volume discussion. But let me address that question differently. What considered the capacity for the bags of the year? That was the only year you had way below -- you were way below your production capacity. Taking into account what you see in Q4, which is significant, we are in mid-November, are there any reasons to believe that you will not reach the same capacity usage that you did in 2023? I think this is the best approach to discuss volumes.

And now back to the price. You said that prices were the detractors of profitability, oversupply of seeds and a more fragile financial situation. So here's my question about prices. How much -- based on everything that happened in retail and inputs, how much can the channel be getting the way in your capacity to set prices because of those shifts of market share amongst large and midsized retail dealerships?

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you, Thiago. We had a somewhat bigger surprise because -- let me say this, we have the production capacity. We produced it, but this was a drier year. When you have a drier year we miss out on the quality. It didn't mean we could not produce, which was what happened last year. We produced but quality impacted more or the less or the lack of quality impacted more than our average, let's say, 10% because of lack of quality. This year was, what, 15% losses. So we lost more on quality, more than the average, I mean.

Anyway, let's not catastrophic just like the problem we had in 2024. We had a capacity of 240,000, we produced 200,000 only. So we ended up losing more, I mean, a little more than average, maybe 10,000, 15,000 bags, you can reduce that from our capacity if you were to calculate that in simple terms. Anyway, this is something that you have to take into account. Is there anything else you would like to add?

[Unknown Executive]

Well, it's worse in terms of margin. But given our production capacity, you can take into account several scenarios that will depend on how sales will play out and the numbers for Q4. Quality is nonnegotiable at Boa Safra. If it's not up to our standards, it will be discarded. We have the 94% germination rate. Since it's nonnegotiable, we want to sell seeds forever, not just for 1 year. However, we can play that game of having that 5% loss when compared to our historical average.

We still have good quality seeds available. We all depend on our execution capacity because we end up selling more than our order backlog, and we have the inventory, and we have to execute well and wait for the planting season now in Q4. And on to the channel, we have implemented several initiatives maybe to change the channel to a certain extent.

When we look at Boa Safra as a brand, that's our #1 brand, the name of the company, the leading brand in the country. So we are focused on selling to dealerships and at Boa Safra, we have been reducing our exposure to large groups. We've been doing this for the past 3 to 4 years. Back then, we were way more dependent on those large ones.

Channel, let's say, top 10 dealerships, it's about 12% of our volume. So we have been bringing that down. Sales are more diversified in a nutshell. But we have adopted other strategies as well. And those strategies involve using other brands. Other brands that are bringing even more margin than that of Boa Safra. You have to sell to the dealership to put their markup on when you sell to end users, you have more costs, but you have better margins when you sell directly to midsize to large farmers, very large. We'll buy head of price that is similar to that of the dealership, I mean giant farmers.

We've created Avra with an exclusive portfolio. We had the elite brand focused in Mato Grosso to sell directly to farmers, large and very large farmers. It's a direct sale brand. So we had good results this year. We have quality seeds, again, a brand that is growing in selling directly working with crops in Southern Brazil as well as in the Brazilian Midwest. We have a stake at DaSoja, a company focused in the northeastern part of Brazil. Again, we are now creating new brands with more niche sale, if I may, again, we are diversifying that sense, I think we were led by the market actually in adopting that strategy.

So SG&A was up because we had to serve end users and stores and dealerships. We had to be more present because our main business is focused in selling directly to dealerships, not through the end user. But that strategy has proven to be efficient. We were not certain, Thiago. Those customers that were reducing in size, we were afraid we would be losing on sales. Of course, we've been able to grow, but the cost to serve is higher. But up until now, it seems we have made the right decision. And it's up to us to capture that for the coming years.

We have many channels of direct sales with the brand Elite. It's just the first year, the first time customers pay or buy and you have to make some concessions to make that first sale happen. But the numbers are positive. And Q4, when you see the number of customers, the diversification of our portfolio, we're gaining share and growing in many different regions. All these brands are growing. Most of them will double next year. due to these new initiatives. Again, we are diversifying the channel, the crops and the customer base. Credit risk is coming down. I think we're heading in the right direction.

[Operator]

This concludes the Q&A session. I hand it over to Mr. Marino Colpo for his closing remarks.

[Marino Colpo, executive]

First off, thank you. It's great to be with you here today. Just like we've said during the call, we are faced with some challenges. The pros is that we delivered in volumes. We expanded our customer base. We're gaining market share. The cons are, we still feel that pressure in the agri business, a lot of competition, smaller margins. We grew 50% of our sales in the quarter, only 25% in results. So that's an indication that we've been having a hard time in capturing margins. But again, Q4 will be very strong. Sales remain strong. The order backlog is on the rise, the record high for Q4. New crops, they're all in that ramp-up phase, but they've been growing steadily.

Let me address this long-term point of view. Maybe we're faced with the most challenging scenarios in agri business in the past 10, 15 years. Of course, this is a glass half full. But when we look at other companies in the industry, they've been having hard time in performing. We look at the competition, they are all complaining. I have received a lot of congratulations for our results. That's not the results we're aiming for and many competitors came me to congratulate me, how did you manage to pull that off again, and these troubled times.

Despite being tough, we've been able to operate better than the average. We have good liquidity. Interest rates might be coming down slightly. Commodity prices will be slightly better. So the scenario can be more positive. And being able to grow despite all the headwinds, this is a good indication for the long run. When soybean prices rise and farmers buy more technology, more biologicals, better treatments just like we did 2, 3 years ago. So sales will be substantially bigger from 10% market share, even better numbers, a much greater customer base, several brands, several channels, many access points. Investors that have the long run in mind, we have a very solid avenue for growth in the future. That's it.

[Felipe Marques, executive]

Seeds have been planted, if you allow me, and we remain confident in the seeds we planted. We'd like to thank investors, employees, customers and our farmers that are partners and believe in us. And again, we don't want to do business for a year. We are here for many years to come, and we are going to expect a very good season for the year.

[Operator]

This concludes Boa Safra earnings call. Thank you for attending. Have a great day.

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