Pampa Energía S.A. (NYSE:PAM) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call August 8, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Raquel Cardasz - IR
Lida Wang - IR & Sustainability Officer
Nicolas Mindlin - CFO
Horacio Turri - Head, Exploration & Production

Conference Call Participants

Raquel Cardasz

[Starts Abruptly] that this event is being recorded. All participants will be in listen-only mode during the presentation. After the company's remarks, there will be a Q&A session. Questions can only be submitted in writing through Zoom. [Operator Instructions]

Before proceeding, please read the disclaimer in the second page of our presentation. Let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on Pampa Energia's management beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to the company. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, because they are related to future events that may or may not occur. Investors should understand that general economic and industry conditions and other operating factors could also affect the future results of Pampa Energia and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.

Now, I'll turn the video conference over to Lida. Please go ahead.

Lida Wang

Hi. Thank you, Raquel. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining our conference call. I will make a quick summary of the Q2. You may find more details in our earnings release and financial statements. Today, we are having a Q&A with our CFO, Mr. Nicolas Mindlin; Mr. Horacio Turri, our Head of E&P is here; and Adolfo Zuberbuhler, our Head of Finance is also here. Unfortunately, our CEO, Gustavo Mariani can't join us today, because he is in Vaca Muerta hosting our President Milei.

The gas production is what definitely stands out the quarter's figures. Again, we’ve beaten all company records, delivering a 37% increase year-on-year in Q2 and recording a new daily record high of 16.8 million cubic meters per day. The output surge is explained by the latest Plan Gas contract we've been awarded, enabled by the new pipeline built last year. It also helped the early winter freeze, driving retail and thermal power generation. The production increase is backed by shale gas, harvesting the campaign we began last year.

Shale gas now represents almost half of our total output this quarter, a significant increase compared to last year's 23%. Therefore, this quarter, the adjusted EBITDA amounted to $288 million, an increase of 30% compared to last year's figure, mainly because of the gas outperformance and TGS's contribution, which surged by the 675% tariff hike granted in April. Lower gas exports, sales to industries and thermal dispatch partially offset these effects.