Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call August 13, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Mariano Bosch - CEO
Emilio Gnecco - CFO
Renato Pereira - VP, Sugar, Ethanol and Energy

Conference Call Participants

Isabella Simonato - Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Thiago Duarte - BTG
Julia Rizzo - Morgan Stanley

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for waiting. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to Adecoagro's Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call.

Today with us, we have Mr. Mariano Bosch, CEO; Mr. Emilio Gnecco, CFO; and Mr. Renato Pereira, Sugar, Ethanol and Energy VP; and Mrs. Victoria Cabello, Investor Relations Officer.

We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Adecoagro's management and on 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 factors 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 2024 Second Quarter Results Conference. Before going into the highlights of each business, I would like to make some comments on our shareholders' distribution. As of this date, we have exceeded in $16 million our minimum distribution policy. So far, we invested $51.4 million to repurchase 5.2 million shares, equal to 4.9% of the company's equity and also committed $35 million in cash dividends with the first installment being already paid.

Furthermore, our Board of Directors approved the renewal of our buyback program which enable us to repurchase up to an additional 5% of the company's equity up to year-end.

Consequently, we expect to continue allocating cash in share repurchases during the second half of the year. This clearly shows our commitment towards sharing results with our shareholders, while we continue investing in growth projects with attractive IRRs and maintaining our debt levels.

Now moving on to results. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA during the quarter reached $140 million, 3% higher year-over-year, whereas year-to-date, amounted to $230 million. That is 2% higher than last year.