Call Start: 10:00 January 1, 0000 10:40 AM ET

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (NYSE:ASR)

Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call

February 24, 2023 10:00 ET

Company Participants

Adolfo Castro - Chief Executive Officer

Conference Call Participants

Alan Macias - Bank of America

Filipe Nielsen - Citigroup

Javier Gayol - Santander Asset Management

Gabriel Himelfarb - Scotiabank

Pablo Monsivais - Barclays

Julia Orsi - JPMorgan

Lucia Gomez - Compass Group

Regis Cardoso - Credit Suisse

Francisco Suarez - Scotiabank

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to ASUR's Fourth Quarter 2022 Results Conference Call. My name is Colin, and I'll be your conference operator. At this time, I'd like to welcome all participants. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode, and we'll conduct a question-and-answer session towards the end of today's conference. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Adolfo Castro and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Adolfo Castro

Thank you, Colin, and good morning, everyone. Before I begin discussing our results, let me remind you that certain statements made during this call may constitute forward-looking statements, which are based on current management's expectations and beliefs and are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including factors that may be beyond our company's control. As usual, additional details about our quarterly results can be found in our press release, which was issued yesterday after market close and is available on our website in the Investor Relations section. Following my presentation, I will be available for Q&A.

Now on to the results. We closed the year with another strong quarter, reporting record high passenger traffic revenues and EBITDA. We are pleased to continue seeking an uptick in passenger flying. Travel demand remained strong with a record of 17.6 million passengers taking the skis and passing through our airports, an 8% year-on-year increase and nearly 26% higher when we compare with fourth quarter 2019. For the full year, a total 66.3 million passengers travel through our airports. Our 3 geographies contributed to this solid performance.

Now, taking a look at performance by country of operations compared against fourth quarter 2019. Colombia again posted the strongest recovery, maintaining a steady 37% increase in traffic with domestic travel expanding in the low 30s and international travel in the high 60s. On the cautious side, we do not expect this strong level to continue over the coming months as BAT in Colombia was raised to 19% from 5% effective this year and may have an impact on traffic trends. Traffic in Mexico rose 26% during the quarter, driven by growth across all airports. International traffic increased in the high 20s, while growth in domestic ag is slightly increasing in the mid-20s. This overall robust performance was driven by travel demand above 2019 across all the regions, with the exception of Canada, which remains at 77% of 2019 levels.