Compañía de Minas Buenaventura - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Transcript

Speaker 2

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Compañía de Minas Buenaventura Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode, and please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce you to your host for today's call, Mr. Sebastián Valencia, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Valencia, you may begin.

Speaker 4

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our Third Quarter 2025 results. Today's discussion will be led by Mr. Leandro García, Chief Executive Officer. Also joining our call today and available for your questions are Mr. Daniel Dominguez, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Juan Carlos Ortiz, Vice President of Operations; Mr. Aldo Massa, Vice President of Business Development and Commercial; Mr. Alejandro Hermoza, Vice President of Sustainability; Mr. Renzo Macher, Vice President of Projects; Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar, Vice President of Geology and Explorations; Mr. Roger Benavidez, Chairman; and Mr. Raúl Benavidez, Director. Before I hand the call over, let me first touch on a few items. On Buenaventura's website, you will find our press release that was posted yesterday after the market close. Please note that today's remarks include forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions.

While management believes that these assumptions, expectations, and projections are reasonable in view of the current available information, you may caution not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. I encourage you to read the full disclosure concerning forward-looking statements within the earnings results press release issued on October 30, 2025. Let me now turn the call to Mr. Leandro García.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Sebastián. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss the quarterly results of the company. On slide two is our cautionary statement, important information that I encourage you to read. Today, we will discuss our Third Quarter of 2025 performance, highlighting key achievements on our strategic priorities going forward. After the presentation, we will be able for our Q&A session, where our team will be happy to answer your questions. Next slide. I would like to highlight a few key areas that contributed to our strong Third Quarter results. Copper production in the Third Quarter of 2025 reached 12,800 tons, down 24% year-on-year. This is mainly explained because in the Third Quarter of last year, all the ore stockpiled during the El Dorcal's voluntary temporary suspension in the Second Quarter of 2024 was processed.

Silver production reached 4.3 million ounces, 3% lower compared to 4.4 million ounces produced during the same period last year. The decrease was mainly due to lower production at Uchuchaco and Yumpac, in line with expectations, partially offset by increased production at El Dorcal and Julcan. Gold production was 30,894 ounces, down 21% year-on-year, mainly due to lower output at Orcompampa and Tambomayo, consistent with the 2025 planned mining sequence. EBITDA from direct operations in the Third Quarter of 2025 was $202.1 million, which represents a 48% increase compared to the $136.5 million in the same quarter last year. Net income for the quarter was $167.1 million, compared to $236.9 million in the Third Quarter of 2024, which included $157.3 million from the sale of Chaupilón.

The Third Quarter ended with a cash position of $486 million and a total debt of $711 million, resulting in a leverage ratio of 0.41 times. Moving on to San Gabriel, CAPEX for the project in the Third Quarter of 2025 was $92 million, allocated to completing the construction of the processing plant to enable the start of commercial production in the Fourth Quarter of 2025. As of now, San Gabriel has reached 96% overall progress. Construction is 95% complete. On September 5, 2025, Coimolache received a new operating permit, allowing fresh ore placement on a new level of tantawatized leach platform and adjacent surface areas. This milestone enables full capacity production at both the mine and the leach pad. Finally, Buenaventura Board of Directors has approved a dividend payment of $0.1446 per ADS.

Moving on, the cost applicable to sales strength, copper CAS decreased in the third quarter of 2025, mainly due to the positive contribution of byproducts at El Brocal. Silver CAS increased, driven by higher commercial deductions related to tailing sales at Uchuchaco and lower ore grades at Yumpac. Gold CAS has decreased due to higher volume sold. On the next slide, we will present free cash flow generation. The third quarter 2025 cash position decreased during the quarter, mainly driven by the net cash outflows from investing activities and financing activities. In terms of financing activities, Buenaventura redeemed the remaining $149 million of its 2026 notes at par, including aggregate interest. Moving on to slide six, third quarter 2025 CAPEX related to San Gabriel was $92 million, allocated to completing the construction of the processing plant. As of September 2025, San Gabriel's total CAPEX has reached $681 million.

We are moving forward steadily and remain on track to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to timely approval of the necessary permits. As part of this progress, the Ministry of Energy and Mines granted San Gabriel a power transmission concession. Mine development has been completed, and mining preparation activities are underway using Buenaventura's own fleet. The commissioning plan is now being implemented, with the C1 and C2 commissioning already completed. San Gabriel's cumulative progress has reached 96% overall completion by third quarter 2025, primarily driven by finishing the engineering and procurement, as well as the construction at 95% of advance. On the next slide, we are showing the processing plant's progress. The primary crusher mechanical works are at 100%. The SAG and bowl mills mechanical works are at 100%. Finally, the CIL tanks mechanical works are at 100%.

Moving on, we can see the progress of the main components of the plant. Moving on to slide nine, we are showing the progress at the filtered tailings plant that currently is at 96% overall progress. To conclude this presentation, I would like to share a few final thoughts. First, stable and continuous production at our flagships. We are making progress in our efforts to increase throughput while prioritizing cost efficiency. Second, solid performance from our affiliate companies. Coimolache's new operating permit will enable production at full capacity. We are expecting to produce over 8,000 ounces of gold next year, which will lead to higher cash flow in the coming quarters. Third, strong cash flow generation and a solid balance sheet driven by the outstanding performance of Buenaventura's flagship operations enable us to return value to shareholders and resume our dividend policy.

Finally, the San Gabriel project has achieved 96% overall progress. The new power line concession will allow us to complete commissioning in the coming weeks, on track as we aim for our first gold bar by fourth quarter of 2025. Thank you for your attention. I will hand the call back to the operator to open the line for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, dial in by phone and press star, then one on your telephone keypad. Make sure your mute function is turned off, and if you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Our first question comes from Carlos De Alba from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 0

Yeah, hello. Thank you and good morning, everyone. I wanted to maybe go back a little bit and make sure that we get a little bit maybe more call, Leandro, on what is still pending for San Gabriel. When do you expect to get maybe those permits that are pending? If there is anything else from a government approval perspective, how confident are you that with the recent changes in government that we have seen in the country, you are going to get them relatively on time? To the extent that they might not be on time, if that possible delay will be days, weeks, or months? Related to that, you did mention you spoke to the total production for the year in San Gabriel, but what is the sequence that we should be contemplating in the model?

Given the benefit that you have in ramping up this project and meet very high gold prices, when can we see, or when do you expect San Gabriel to be EBITDA neutral or at least start to break even? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Carlos. We are coordinating previously since weeks ago the final permits for San Gabriel. We are confident that we will be granted all, and we will end this year with the production of two bars. Maybe Renzo can give us more detail, and then Juan Carlos Ortiz can help us for the sequence of the production. Please, Renzo, thank you.

Speaker 1

Sure. Hi. Yeah, all the permits are aligned to be able to produce the first gold bar towards the end of the year. It is a matter of when the authorities go up. We don't foresee any problems on that. Regarding what is pending in San Gabriel, the power should be arriving this Sunday, and then it's about testing the C3 and C4. That is going to take us a couple of months to complete.

Speaker 3

For the production sequence, Juan Carlos can help us, Carlos.

Speaker 0

Yeah, maybe before Juan Carlos.

Speaker 3

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 0

Sorry, I might have lost my connection for a second there. Can you repeat what is happening with power? You're getting access to power this week, or today or tomorrow, is that what you said? What will take two months to ramp up?

Speaker 1

Okay. Sure. Power line construction is complete. All the arrangements with the other users is complete. The permit from the authority is complete. The energy station will happen on Sunday, and then we can start the commissioning process. The commissioning process will take around a couple of months because we need to stabilize power first. We're going to start feeding the mills, filling all the plant with water, and as soon as we can start crushing and milling, we're going to be filling all the circuits up to the tailing storage facility. We're going to start adding ore to that to start the crop of gold, and we expect that to be finishing towards mid-December.

Speaker 0

Perfect. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Okay, Carlos. Regarding your question about production, as Renzo Macher mentioned, this year is going to be just the initial gold bars by the end of the year. In January, we will start doing the operational ramp-up. We started operational ramp-up since January. As we mentioned before, we need to pay attention to the construction process, not construction, but the filtration, desiccation, and compaction of the tailings in the tailing dam. Because the shape of the tailing reservoir is a V-shaped valley, we need to start from the bottom where the area is limited. As long as we are compacting the tailings and gaining elevation, we will extend and gain more available area for compaction. Due to that, the production this year on a gold basis is going to be in the order of 70,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold next year.

We are working along with the project team with the commissioning and monitoring all the process, trying to do our best to be on the upper range of this guidance.

Speaker 0

Thank you, Juan Carlos. Maybe just, I don't know, Daniel, when do you expect to start breaking even at current gold prices?

Speaker 3

We will start with a high grade at the beginning. It's going to be pretty soon. I would say the first or the second quarter we will probably be reaching break-even. Even if we are not working at full capacity, we will be over break-even, I would say, by the second quarter next year.

Speaker 0

Thank you very much. Good luck.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Carlos.

Speaker 2

Again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. Ladies and gentlemen, with that, we will be concluding today's audio question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Sebastián Valencia, Head of Investor Relations, for any webcast questions.

Speaker 3

Thank you, operator. At this time, there are no further questions. I would like to turn the call over to Leandro García.

Thank you, Sebastián. I would like to thank you for the time and effort to dedicate to joining us today. Your participation and input are very appreciated. Thank you again and have a wonderful day. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes Buenaventura's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Results Conference Call. We would like to thank you again for your participation. You may now.