Santos Brasil´s handling volume increases at Vila do Conde, Imbituba, TEV and Logistics in Q217

Santos Brasil closed the second quarter of the year showing operational growth in most of its units in the Country: Tecon Vila do Conde (Pará State), Tecon Imbituba (Santa Catarina State), Vehicle Terminal (TEV) and Logistics. Only Tecon Santos (São Paulo State) recorded a decrease compared to the same period last year due to the termination in April of a contract with a shipping service that operates on the route to Asia, as already announced by the company.

The container terminal in Santa Catarina recorded a 38.0% increase in the total volume handled: 623.8% in long haul and 21.6% in coastal shipping. It noteworthy that, from September 1st, Imbituba will receive a new long-haul service to Asia, which has the potential to add around 75 thousand TEU (a unit equivalent to a 20-foot container) per year to the terminal´s volume.

Performance continued to rise at Vila do Conde in recent quarters, with a 5.1% increase in the volume of containers handled, totaling 17,204 units, and 5.0% and 5.1% growth in long-haul and coastal navigation operations, respectively. In June, ANTAQ (the Brazilian National Agency for Waterway Transportation) approved the Technical, Economic and Environmental Feasibility Study, recognizing the feasibility of an early extension of the lease on the facility. The document is now under review by the Ministry of Transport, Ports and Civil Aviation for a later signing of the additive term to the contract.

The TEV continued to reflect the good performance of vehicle exports in Q217, and showed a 46.3% increase in shipment operations compared to Q216. In all, exports accounted for 94.2% of the units handled (89.8% in Q216), and light vehicles accounted for 91.2% of the volume.

The Company also recorded a 16.5% increase in the volume of containers stored at Santos Brasil Logística in comparison with Q216, totaling 10,247 units. This scenario was due to a higher retention of import containers, which went from 49.2% in Q216 to 53.8% in Q217, and of new contracts signed with cargo agents and NVOCC (acronym in English for Non Vessel Owning Common Carrier).

Due to the termination of the service to Asia, Tecon Santos handled a total of 204,573 containers in Q217, down 8.1% over the same quarter of last year. This result influenced the Company´s market share at the Port of Santos, which declined from 39.1% in Q216 to 32.9% in Q217. The termination of the service also impacted the total consolidated volume of containers handled at the docks of the three terminals, which closed Q217 with 229,425 units, 6.2% less than in Q216.

In Santos Brasil´s services mix, coastal shipping operations increased their share in the total volume handled, which was 19.9% in Q217, as well as transshipment, which represented 37.3% in the period. Customs warehousing increased by 6.7% in the container port terminal segment.


Financial indicators
The Company closed Q217 with an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of R$ 4.3 million, and a 2.3% margin. Recurring EBITDA totaled R$ 37.1 million in the half-year, 14.9% higher than in the same period last year. Consolidated net revenue totaled R$ 191.1 million in Q217, in a 5.5% decrease over Q216.

The second quarter of the year recorded a net loss of R$ 20.7 million, adversely impacted by the decrease in volume of containers handled and by non-recurring costs and expenses arising from the ongoing organizational restructuring. The non-recurring impact of these expenses is due to labor terminations and indemnifications, as a result of the Company´s reorganization.

With low leverage, Santos Brasil closed the period with a cash balance of R$ 270.8 million and a net debt of R$ 5.8 million, equivalent to 0.1 times the EBITDA of the last 12 months; R$ 55.3 million (principal + interest) were amortized in thhe quarter.