Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL (NYSE:ELP) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call August 8, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Daniel Slaviero - Chief Executive Officer
Felipe Gutterres - Chief Financial Officer
Rodolfo Lima - Director, Commercialization
Marcelo Monteiro - Independent Director

Conference Call Participants

Bruno Amorim - Goldman Sachs
Luiza Candiota - Itau BBA
Guilherme Lima - Santander

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL Video Conference Call to discuss the Earnings for the Second Quarter of 2024. This video conference is being recorded and will be available on the company’s website, ri.copel.com. The presentation is also available for download.

Please be advised that all participants will be only watching the video during the presentation, and we will then begin the question-and-answer session when further instructions will be provided.

Before proceeding, I would like to note that the forward-looking statements are based on beliefs and assumptions of Copel's management and on information currently available to the company. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties as they relates to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors, analysts, and journalists should consider that events related to the macroeconomic environment, industry and other factors could lead results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.

This video conference will be presented by Mr. Daniel Slaviero, CEO of Copel, Mr. Felipe Gutterres, CFO of Copel, as well as directors of the subsidiaries who will be available for the Q&A session.

I would like to turn the floor to Copel's CEO, who will start the presentation. Please, Daniel, you may proceed.

Daniel Slaviero

Good morning. Thank you, everyone, for attending our video conference. We are very pleased to present another quarter with solid growth especially at Copel Distribution, which reached 41.6% EBITDA efficiency. In Copel's consolidated results, we had an adjusted EBITDA of BRL1.3 billion and net income of almost BRL0.5 billion, a growth of 54% compared to the same period of last year. Felipe will detail these results later in the call.

We have also concluded the payment of the balance of dividends related to the 2023 results in the amount of BRL632 million. And in line with our practice in recent years, we will forward a discussion on dividends for the 2024 financial year at the September Board of Directors meeting, so next month.

I also highlight news that reinforce our robustness and resilience of our company. Fitch has maintained our credit rating as AAA. In a capital-intensive business such as the electricity sector, it is important to maintain the highest possible rating because it demonstrates the company's sound financial profile and contributes to having a low cost of capital. This is fundamental for our growth plan.