Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE:NEXA) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jose Carlos: Thank you for the question. This is something that we talk about continuously. And as you can imagine, leverage has increased mainly because of the reduced EBITDA because our net debt hasn’t changed that much. Apparently, we are right above 3x and we are doing all our efforts to bring this below 3x towards the end of the year. However, in the medium to long term, definitely, we will feel more comfortable with levels around 2x. We don’t have any leverage covenant in our facilities. But we believe that something around 2x would be more sustainable. So we continue to work on a number of initiatives to bring this down. Our top priority in the next months and years is to reduce our net debt. Obviously, a good part of that will depend on prices, but we are doing all of the — we’re trying to influence all the factors that we can control to try to maximize cash flow generation and reduce net debt and consequently bring leverage to below the level that it currently is.

Rodrigo Cammarosano : Thank you, Jose Carlos. We have another question from Camilla Border from Bradesco BBI. What can we expect in terms of free cash flow impact in Q4 and 1Q ‘24 from Aripuanã?

Ignacio Rosado: Okay. This Ignacio, so far, the impact on cash flow in Aripuanã in the first nine months of this year was $146 million as we put it in the presentation. For the first quarter, we expect a number of cash outflows of around $40 million to $50 million. And depending on the ramp up, how it goes in the summer or in the first quarter of next year, we will assess the impact on cash flow. But the idea is that we start to the breakeven toward the end of the first third quarter and begin on the fourth quarter. We cannot put a number here because this is a process. So we will keep the market posted when we provide guidance in January for the rest of the months.

Rodrigo Cammarosano : Thank you, Ignacio. We have a follow-up question from Camila from Bradesco BBI. And could you provide some color on what you expect in terms of volumes for Zinc and Copper for 2024?

Ignacio Rosado: Yes, this is going to come also in our guidance that is coming in January. I would like you to please wait until we provide that in two or three months.

Rodrigo Cammarosano : Okay, thank you, Ignacio. We have a question from Orlando Barriga from Creditcorp Capital. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is related to costs in Cajamarquilla. Why did costs increase quarter-on-quarter despite lower raw materials and conversion costs?

Ignacio Rosado: Yes, actually the main driver of increasing the conversion cost or cost driving in Cajamarquilla was energy.

Rodrigo Cammarosano : Thank you, Ignacio.

Rodrigo Cammarosano : We have a question from Alexandra Symeonidi from William Blair and Company. There was a big working capital outflow due to higher payables and lower inventory in the quarter. Can you please give more color there and shall we expect this to reverse in Q4?

Jose Carlos: Thank you for the question. Jose Carlos again. Actually, if you go back and you review the result of the first quarter, you will see that we had a very significant investment in working capital, which is actually what we’ve been reversing in the second quarter and the third quarter. So if we compare ourselves with the beginning of the year, we’re pretty much at the same level, marginally lower working capital. These piece, these variations actually are the result of a number of initiatives that we have taken to optimize working capital, have more control over our inventory, as we should always do, but also to change in a way that the terms that we have with our suppliers, for example, are always in industry standards, renegotiating slightly longer payment terms.