Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call March 10, 2023 9:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Mariano Bosch - Chief Executive Officer
Emilio Gnecco - Chief Financial Officer
Renato Junqueira Pereira - Sugar, Ethanol & Energy VP
Victoria Cabello - Investor Relations Officer.
Conference Call Participants
Henrique Brustolin - BTG Pactual
Santhosh Seshadri - HSBC Securities
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for waiting. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to Adecoagro's Fourth Quarter 2022 Results Conference Call.
Today with us, we have Mr. Mariano Bosch, CEO; Mr. Emilio Gnecco, CFO; and Mr. Renato Junqueira Pereira, Sugar, Ethanol & Energy VP; and Victoria Cabello, Investor Relations Officer.
We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded and all participants will be in listen-only mode during the company's presentation. After the company's remarks are completed, there will be a question-and-answer section. At this time, further instructions will be given.
Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on beliefs and assumptions of Adecoagro's management and all information currently available to the company. 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 Adecoagro, and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.
Now, I'll turn the conference over to Mr. Mariano Bosch, CEO. Mr. Bosch, you may begin your conference.
Mariano Bosch
Good morning, and thank you for joining Adecoagro's 2022 fourth quarter results conference.
2022 was a challenging year for the company. We faced cost pressure in all our segments, and weather challenges in Argentina and Uruguay, where our farming operation is based. However, despite such unfavorable conditions, we delivered strong financial results and generated adjusted EBITDA in line with 2021. This was possibly thanks to our focus on efficiency, our operational flexibility and our very well-executed commercial strategy that allowed us to profit from opportunities in the domestic and export markets. A clear example of this is that we captured record prices of over $0.26 per pound in sugar equivalent in more than 20% of our ethanol sales.
Since we started our growth plan, our goal was to generate positive cash flows and share results with our shareholders. I'm happy that we achieved what we proposed and are now in that situation. 2022 was the first year of our formal distribution policy, but the second consecutive year where we distributed more than 40% of the cash generated, while keeping our debt levels below 2x EBITDA.