Ricardo Dourado
Analyst · factors, which are discussed in detail in our SEC filings. And if there are any members of the press on the call, please note that for the media, this is a listen-only call. I will now hand the conference over to Ricardo Bottas, CFO. Mr. Bottas, please go ahead
Thank you, Roberto. Please join me on the Slide 4 to have a look at our overall results. As Roberto just explained, the second quarter was defined by an unprecedented increase in jet fuel prices. During the quarter, the all-in average fuel price, including hedge, increased by more than 80% year-over-year, resulting in a 93% increase in total fuel costs and creating one of the most significant cost headwinds the industry has faced in recent years. In response, LATAM rapidly implemented revenue management actions and target capacity adjustments. With these, total revenues increased almost 28% year-over-year, reaching nearly $4.2 billion. This was propelled by passenger revenues, which grew 28%, reflecting the consistent capacity growth together with the successful implementation of continued fare adjustments while preserving resilient demand across the network. Cargo revenues increased almost 22%, benefiting from both higher yields and continued growth in transport which demonstrates the flexibility of this business to adjust pricing given its significantly shorter booking cycle. On the cost side, adjusted costs, excluding fuel, increased by 14%, broadly in line with the continued growth of the operation. It's worth noting that part of this increase reflects costs that are directly linked to higher passenger fares, together with the depreciation of local currencies, particularly the Brazilian real, which pressures the dollar-denominated cost base. Just as a reference, the Brazilian reference in Q2 2025 was BRL 5.66 and now was BRL 5.05. That said, passenger CASK ex fuel remained sequentially in line at $0.045. Despite this unprecedented fuel environment and while growing capacity by 8.9% at a healthy 82% consolidated load factor level, LATAM remained profitable and delivered an adjusted operating margin, as Roberto mentioned, at 5.4% during what is seasonally the weakest quarter of the year. This translated all the way to the bottom line with the group generating a positive net income of $125 million. These results demonstrate that while the fuel shock had a significant impact on CASK and costs, the combination of effective execution, commercial flexibility and the resilience of LATAM's diversified business model allowed the group to increase unit revenues this quarter, successfully mitigating a substantial portion of that impact. Let's now take a closer look at the commercial execution behind these results on the next slide, Slide #5. During the quarter, LATAM Group continued executing its profitable growth strategy, increasing consolidated capacity by 8.9% year-over-year alongside some targeted capacity adjustments to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices. These actions were selective, allowing LATAM to preserve profitability without compromising the strength, connectivity or integrity of its overall network. Importantly, demand for LATAM Group remained resilient across all markets, even under a high fare environment. Consolidated load factors declined modestly from 83.5% to 81.8%, remaining at healthy levels across all markets where the group's affiliates operate during the quarter. It's worth mentioning that particularly in June, there was a higher impact on demand, reflecting the temporary impact of the FIFA World Cup on travel patterns across South America. This combination of effective capacity management, a differentiated value proposition, revenue actions and resilient demand translated into a 17.5% increase in consolidated passenger RASK during the quarter, which allowed LATAM Group affiliates to successfully pass through a significant portion of the increase in fuel costs. Looking at the different markets, LATAM's affiliates in the Spanish-speaking countries, domestic markets delivered a particularly strong performance, increasing passenger RASK by 15% in local currency or 20% in U.S. dollars. For its part, LATAM Airlines Brazil and its domestic market also successfully increased its unit revenues with passenger RASK growing 12% in local currency and almost 24% in U.S. dollars, demonstrating its ability to implement fare adjustments while preserving healthy demand. Lastly, the International segment increased passenger RASK by almost 13%, even while expanding capacity by 12%. The quality of LATAM's revenues also play an important role. Premium demand continued to demonstrate greater resilience than the broader market, allowing the group to implement fare adjustments while preserving passenger preference across the network. Let's jump now to Slide 6 to take a better view at this. LATAM's resilient revenue quality was particularly evident in 2 areas that continue to deliver exceptional results for the group, Premium traffic and the LATAM Pass ecosystem. In a quarter as challenged as this one, these 2 elements once again proved to be especially valuable because they make up a part of the LATAM customer base that is structurally less elastic and more resilient. On the Premium side, demand remained strong and continue to enhance the quality of the group's revenue mix with Premium revenues now representing 29% of the passenger revenues and growing at a rate faster than main cabin revenues. More importantly, this segment continued to respond positively to the differentiated value proposition LATAM has built over time and reflected in Net Promoter Score that remained 3 points above the overall passenger average in line with historically high levels. This confirms that the investments made in product and services continue to strengthen customer preference. LATAM Pass also remained a key lever during the quarter. The program continued to deepen customer engagement and strengthen loyalty across the network while supporting a more resilient and higher-quality revenue base. Over time, LATAM Pass has evolved well beyond the traditional frequent flyer program into a broader engagement ecosystem, allowing the group affiliates to strengthen their customers' relationship both in and beyond the travel experience. Today, more than 67% of passenger revenues are generated by LATAM Pass members, up from 60% previously, reinforcing the group -- reinforcing the growing importance of the program within the commercial ecosystem. The engagement of Elite members also continues to deepen. While the numbers of Elite members increased by 26% year-over-year, third-party sales generated by this segment grew 48% compared to the same period of 2025, highlighting the increasing relevance of these customers across the board, the broader LATAM Pass ecosystem and their growing engagement with the partner network. Altogether, the trust in the LATAM brand by customers, the alignment with the Premium customers and the LATAM Pass ecosystem help explain why LATAM affiliates were able to preserve revenue quality and successfully pass through a significant portion of higher fuel costs during the quarter. More importantly, they represent the strategic pillars that create value across the cycle, not only strengthening the group's resilience during the periods of heightened volatility, but also structural growth, drives that, will continue to support LATAM's Group commercial performance as the operating environment improves over time. Let's move to the Slide 7. The differentiated value proposition we just discussed is not only reflected in Premium and LATAM Pass, it is the result of several complementary elements working together with the network playing a central role. The incorporation of the Embraer E2 split is a key enabler of this strategy, allowing LATAM Group to further strengthen its Premium offer, expanding connectivity and open new sources of profitable growth. The entry into service initiatives are advancing positively and are on track. The first aircraft have already been manufactured, cabin certification is currently underway, and the seventh aircraft is already in production. LATAM Airlines Brazil expects to receive the first 12 aircraft between October and December on this year with commercial operations confirmed to begin on November 3, 2026. The network will increase capillarity while further strengthening LATAM Airlines Brazil connectivity. The initial deployment will cover a total of 42 domestic routes within the Brazilian market, which includes 8 new routes, 4 connecting Guarulhos with the new destinations of Cabo Frio, Ji-Parana, Rondonopolis and Macae, enabling LATAM Airlines Brazil to expand into markets that were previously not part of its network and 4 additional routes linking existing bases. These aircraft provide the flexibility to expand the group's connectivity across Brazil, increasing capillarity and broadening access to regions with attractive corporate and leisure demand profiles while creating new opportunities. Altogether, LATAM Airlines Brazil will reach a total of 67 domestic destinations, the largest network in its history compared to 44 in 2019. Looking ahead, the airline is also evaluating up to 18 potential new bases for the next phase of its Embraer E2 expansion as an additional aircraft are delivered beginning early 2027. Beyond the domestic market, while this network expansion significantly enhanced connectivity within Brazil, the strategic value goes well beyond domestic travel. By connecting smaller regional markets into the main focus cities, the Embraer E2 will provide customers with access to LATAM's Group extensive network across South America and the 4 continents served by the group. That increases the connectivity of overall network, broaden LATAM Group's addressable market and further enhance the group's value proposition. From a product perspective, the Embraer E2 will feature both the economy and premium economy cabin, reinforcing consistency across the fleet and preserving the differentiated experience that LATAM Group customers expect. Even with a differentiated aircraft configuration, the group will continue delivering a consistent product standard so that a new aircraft type does not mean a different customer experience. Overall, the incorporation of the Embraer E2 is not only about adding aircraft, it's about reinforcing the network, improving connectivity through a more efficient and versatile aircraft and continue to build on the differentiated value proposition that LATAM Group has developed across the region. Moving on to Slide 8. Let's get back into the quarter's performance and take a look on the cash generation. The group's strong operating performance continued to translate into solid cash generation during this quarter. LATAM generated $476 million in adjusted operating cash flow, even considering the impact of high jet fuel prices, once again, demonstrating the business ability to consistently convert earnings into cash. As a result, the group generated a positive cash -- change in cash, close to $150 million before dividend payments and ended the quarter with a positive net cash variation of $110 million. It's worth noting that the dividend payments correspond only with the remaining balance required to complete the mandatory 30% dividend distributed based on 2025 net income. As you may recall, LATAM had already distributed $400 million in interim dividends during the fourth quarter of 2025 with this payment simply reflecting the final remain. This consistent cash generation remains one of the LATAM's key pillars, providing the financial flexibility to continue investing in the business, strengthening the balance sheet and executing the group's long-term strategy. Moving on to Slide 9, see how this translates into continuing strengthening the balance sheet and level of liquidity. The group closed the quarter with liquidity of more than $4.2 billion, equivalent to 26.2% of last 12 months revenues. On the leverage side, adjusted net leverage remained at 1.5x, comfortably below the company's financial policy target and consistent with the planned capital management that has characterized LATAM over the last several years. This liquidity and net leverage position, together with management's perception that the stock is undervalued at the current prices, supported the Board's decisions to propose a new share repurchase program, which was approved by shareholders early this week. The new program contemplates a duration of no more than 5 years and allows for the repurchase of up to 5% of the company's total subscribed and paid shares. With these, shareholders have delegated to the Board of Directors the authority to determine the terms of the program's execution, including its time, mechanisms, pricing and other relevant conditions. With this, we remain confident that the strength and fundamentals of LATAM business model, the commercial strategy and execution capacity, both commercially and operationally, combined with the strength of the capital structure, maintain the solid foundations of the aspiration contained in the financial policy. The policy which considers the preservation of liquidity ratios between 21% and 25% and a net leverage below 2x, allow us to continue on the path of improving LATAM's credit ratings. Now let's move to the Slide #10. Following the second quarter and as also -- as Roberto mentioned, we see a more constructive outlook for jet fuel prices over the remainder of the year. LATAM is updating its full year guidance for 2026, reincorporating the full set of metrics, including capacity with year-over-year growth between 9% and 10% and revenue projections between $17.3 billion and $17.7 billion, among others. The updated guidance reflects a more constructive backdrop for the remainder of the year than the one anticipated when the prior guidance was issued, particularly with respect to fuel prices. Based on the assumptions incorporated today, LATAM expected the second quarter to have represented the most challenged operating environment of the year. As the group enters a seasonally stronger second half of the year under more favorable fuel assumptions, the updated outlook also incorporates what LATAM demonstrated during the quarter, its ability to execute with discipline and deliver solid results even under challenging conditions. Turning first to the assumptions behind the updated guidance. In the prior guidance, LATAM assumed an average fuel price of $170 per barrel for the third quarter and $150 for the fourth quarter. Today, reflecting the evolution of the market, the company now expects average fuel prices of $147 per barrel in the third quarter and $130 per barrel in the fourth quarter. Based on these updated assumptions, LATAM now expect adjusted EBITDA between $4.1 billion and $4.4 billion, improving the midpoint of the prior guidance by $250 million. Passenger CASK ex fuel is expected to remain in line with the prior guidance between $0.045 and $0.047 as the assumption of BRL exchange rate stayed at the same level of BRL 5.15 per dollar. In terms of the balance sheet, liquidity is expected to end the year of at least $4.7 billion, while adjusted net leverage is projected to be equal to or below 1.6x. Overall, the updated guidance reflects a business that has multiple levers to deliver results, and that's now supported by a more constructive macroeconomic backdrop despite the level of uncertainty and the fuel price volatility. Lastly, let's move on to Slide 11 for a few closing remarks. First, the second quarter did not change our strategy. It validated. In one of the most challenging operating environments in recent years, LATAM once again demonstrated that the business has built and planned to perform across different macro and market conditions with now even more solid and tested foundations. Second, the group showed that it has multiple levers to deliver results. Effective execution, commercial flexibility and the group diversified ecosystem allowed LATAM to preserve profitability, increase unit revenues and mitigate a substantial portion of the fuel shock. Third, the high level of trust from customers and the quality of the group's revenues base continued to be among LATAM's key elements. Premium customers in LATAM Pass ecosystem once again supported by a more resilient demand profile, allowing the group to preserve revenue quality even at significantly higher fare environment, holding a profitable growth strategy, combining capacity increase with healthy load factor levels. And finally, LATAM is updating its full year guidance for 2026 to reflect a more constructive outlook for the remainder of the year, having demonstrated the ability to deliver solid results during what we expect to have been the most challenging quarter of the year, the group now enters a more favorable operating backdrop while remaining focused on disciplined execution, risk and revenue management. Thank you, and let's open the line for the questions.