Adecoagro recorded Adjusted EBITDA of $89.8 million in 3Q16 and $184.2 million in 9M16, 32.0% and 35.6% higher year-over-year, respectively

News provided by

Nov 14, 2016, 05:10 ET

LUXEMBOURG, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE: AGRO, Bloomberg: AGRO US, Reuters: AGRO.K), one of the leading agricultural companies in South America, announced today its results for the third quarter of 2016.

Main highlights for the period:

Gross sales in 3Q16 reached $246.4 million, a 44.5% increase year-over year.
Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾in 3Q16 was $89.8 million, a 32.0% increase compared to 3Q15.
Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ year-to-date was $184.2 million, a 35.6% higher year-over-year.

Financial & Operational Highlights

In 3Q16, our Sugar, Ethanol & Energy business delivered outstanding operational and financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA for 3Q16 reached $80.2 million, 22.7% or $14.8 million higher than 3Q15. The main drivers of our performance were: (i) higher agricultural productivity and efficiency gains in our industrial and cane logistics operations, which coupled with favorable weather resulted in a 20.2% increase in sugarcane crushing compared to 3Q15; (ii) our ability to maximize sugar production, which enabled us to divert 54% of total TRS to sugar production to benefit from higher margins and resulted in increases of 44.8% and 37.9% in sugar production and sales volumes; respectively and (iii) year-over-year increases of 36.3% and 45.3% in sugar and ethanol prices, respectively. These positive effects were partially offset by (iv) a $10.3 million unrealized loss from the mark-to-market effect of our sugar hedge position compared to a $3.1 million gain in 3Q15; and (v) higher unit production costs as a result of the appreciation of the Brazilian Real.

Adjusted EBITDA for 9M16 reached $152.9 million, or 30.9% higher than 9M15. This increase is primarily explained by (i) a 22.2% increase in sugarcane crushing as a result of the "continuous harvest" model, which coupled with a higher sugar mix resulted in a 27.3% growth in sugar production and a 46.5% increase in sugar sales volumes; (ii) higher sugar and ethanol average realized prices, 16.6% and 16.4% respectively; (iii) enhanced agricultural productivity and the devaluation of the Brazilian Real, which resulted in a 6.0% dilution of unitary costs year-over-year; and (iv) a $35.1 million increase in changes in fair value of our sugarcane plantation, mainly as a result of higher sugar prices. These results were partially offset by a $24.2 million loss from the mark-to-market effect of our sugar hedge position, compared to a $17.0 million gain in 9M15.
Adjusted EBITDA for our Farming and Land Transformation businesses in 3Q16 was $16.1 million, 76.0% higher than in 3Q15. The increase is primarily explained by: (i) higher margins in the Rice business driven by strong export volumes and lower production costs; (ii) a 47.1% margin increase in our Dairy business, mainly explained by higher productivity, an 8.7% reduction in unit costs as a result of efficiency gains coupled with the devaluation of the Argentine peso; and (iii) and an $8.1 million gain in our Cattle business resulting from the settlement of an arbitration dispute in connection with the early termination of long term lease agreements covering our cattle farms. These results were partially offset by lower soybean and corn prices.

Adjusted EBITDA for 9M16 reached $47.3 million, 35.2% higher than the same period of 2015. The increase is explained by (i) higher margins in our Crops business, as a result of higher realized soybean and corn prices driven by the elimination/reduction of export taxes and quotas coupled with lower production costs in US dollars resulting from the devaluation of the Argentine peso and lower input prices for seeds, fertilizers and agrochemicals; (ii) higher margins in our Rice business driven by a 15.1% increase in rice yields coupled with lower production costs as a result of efficiency gains and the devaluation of the Argentine peso. These results were partially offset by an $8.8 million loss from the mark-to-market effect of our soybean and corn hedges compared to a $13.2 million gain in 9M15.
Net Income for 3Q16 was $6.6 million, compared to $16.1 million in 3Q15. Despite higher Adjusted EBITDA, net income year-over-year was $9.3 million lower as a result of: (i) a $26.1 million foreign exchange loss primarily related to our dollar denominated debt; and (ii) an $8.6 million increase in depreciation and amortization. This result was partially offset by a $3.7 million decrease in income taxes as a result of lower profit before taxes.
Free Cash Flow: Free cash flow net of changes in borrowings (operating cash flow minus investment cash flow less interest) was a negative $12.8 million for 3Q16 and a negative $79.0 million for 9M16. Year-to-date, we have invested $146.2 million in working capital build-up, mostly related to increase in product inventory and account receivables.

As we have explained previously in 2Q16, our business is highly seasonal with high working capital requirements during the first three quarters of the year. The majority of cash flow is generated in the fourth quarter, when the bulk of our production is sold. We expect strong cash flow generation in the fourth quarter as we sell our inventory and collect receivables, generating positive cash flow for the full year 2016.

Strategy Highlights

Share Repurchase Program: On August 9, 2016, the Board of Directors approved the extension of the Company's share repurchase program for an additional twelve-month period, ending on September 23, 2017. Under the buyback program, the Company can continue acquiring common shares up to 5% of its outstanding shares. Mariano Bosch, CEO said: "The extension of the repurchase program reflects the Board of Directors' and Management's commitment towards delivering long term shareholder value. Repurchasing our shares is one of many capital allocations tools we can use to enhance returns for our shareholders".
Independent Farmland Appraisal Report⁽²⁾: As of September 30, 2016, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) updated its independent appraisal of Adecoagro's farmland. Adecoagro's subsidiaries held 266,532 hectares valued by C&W at $936.1 million. Net of minority interests, Adecoagro's land portfolio consists of 246,139 hectares was valued at $871.4 million. Year-over-year, our farmland value net of farm sales in the last 12-months increased by $8.8 million.

We believe the increase in the value of our farmland is mainly explained by: (i) the transformation of undermanaged and underdeveloped land into croppable land; and (ii) the ongoing transformation or continuous productivity enhancements for all our croppable land.

These gains are not reflected in Adecoagro's financial statements since the Company does not mark-to-market the value of farmland assets on its balance sheet. However, land transformation and appreciation are an important part of Adecoagro's business strategy and a component of total return on invested capital.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as consolidated profit from operations before financing and taxation, depreciation, amortization plus the gains or losses from disposals of non-controlling interests in subsidiaries. Adjusted EBIT is defined as consolidated profit from operations before financing and taxation, plus the gains or losses from disposals of non-controlling interests in subsidiaries. Adjusted EBITDA margin and Adjusted EBIT margin are calculated as a percentage of net sales.
Please visit www.ir.adecoagro.com for the Cushman & Wakefield 2016 Appraisal Report. Please also refer to page 66 of our Annual Report on Form 20-F employed in the appraisals of our farmland by Cushman & Wakefield. The appraisals of our farmland are only intended to provide an indicative approximation of the market value of our farmland property as of the date of such appraisal based on current market conditions. Accordingly, these appraisals are subject to change based on a host of variables and market conditions.

To read the full 3Q16 earnings release, please access ir.adecoagro.com. A conference call to discuss 3Q16 results will be held on November 16, 2016 with a live webcast through the internet:

English Conference Call

November 16, 2016
9 a.m. (US EST)
11 a.m. Buenos Aires
12 p.m. Sao Paulo
3 p.m. Luxembourg

Tel: +1 (844) 836-8746
Participants calling from the US
Tel: +1 (412) 317-2501
Participants calling from other countries
Access Code: Adecoagro

Investor Relations Department
Charlie Boero Hughes
CFO

Hernan Walker
IR Manager
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +54 (11) 4836-8651

About Adecoagro:

Adecoagro is a leading agricultural company in South America. Adecoagro owns over 247 thousand hectares of farmland and several industrial facilities spread across the most productive regions of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, where it produces over 1.7 million tons of agricultural products including sugar, ethanol, bio-electricity, milled rice, corn, wheat, soybean and dairy products, among others.

SOURCE Adecoagro S.A.