PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript November 22, 2022

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. misses on earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $1.25 EPS, expectations were $1.26.

Operator: Good evening. My name is Victoria, and I will be your conference operator today. Welcome to PagBank PagSeguro’s webcast results for the Third Quarter 2022. At this time, all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. This event is also being broadcast live via webcast and may be accessed through PagBank PagSeguro’s website at investors.pagseguro.com. Participants may view the slides in any order they wish. Today’s conference is being recorded and will be available after the event is concluded. I would now like turn the call over to your host, Eric Oliveira, Investor Relations and ESG Director. Please go ahead.

Eric Oliveira: Hi everyone. Thanks for joining our third quarter 2022 earnings call. Today, we have with us Ricardo Dutra, CEO of UOL Group and Board Member of PagBank PagSeguro; Alexandre Magnani, our CEO; and Artur Schunck, CFO. After the speaker’s remarks there will be a question-and-answer session. Before proceeding, let me mention that any forward-statements included in the presentation or mentioned on this conference call are based on currently available information and PagBank PagSeguro’s current assumptions expectations and projections about future events. While PagBank PagSeguro believes that the assumptions, expectations and projections are reasonable in view of currently available information, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Actual results may differ materially from those included in PagBank’s PagSeguro’s presentation or discussed on this conference call for a variety of reasons, including those described in the forward-looking statements and Risk Factor sections of PagBank PagSeguro’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on PagBank PagSeguro’s Investor Relations website. Finally, I would like to remind you that during this conference call, the company may discuss some non-GAAP measures, including those disclosed in the presentation. We present non-GAAP measures when we believe that the additional information is useful and meaningful to investors. The presentation of this non-GAAP financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered separately from or as a substitute for our financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB.

For more details the foregoing non-GAAP measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures are presented in the last page of this webcast presentation and our earnings release. With that, let me turn the call over Ricardo. Thank you.

Ricardo Dutra: Good evening from Sao Paulo and thank you, Eric. Going to slide three, I would like to begin our presentation with the main message for Q3 2022. We reported the highest EPS impact history for third quarters achieving BRL1.16, up 20% versus the same period of 2021. PagSeguro TPV reached BRL90.3 billion, growing 35% year-over-year and one more quarter outpacing by far the industry growth. Our successful repricing led to a net decrease 24 bps higher than Q1 2022. PagBank deposits reached BRL19.4 billion, 171% higher than the same period of 2021. PagBank net ads accounted for 1.1 million new clients leading to almost 26 million clients we are firming PagBank’s position as the second largest digital bank in Brazil in number of clients.

CapEx to revenue ratio was 12.4% lower 230 bps, when compared to second quarter 2022 and trending down moving forward. Going to slide four, once again, our success with strategy on democratizing the access of financial services and payment solutions in Brazil resulted in record numbers in all main KPIs this quarter. In payments platform, TPV was BRL90.3 billion and our revenues reached BRL3.7 billion growing faster than TPV and reaching almost 50% growth-year-over year. Monthly TPV per merchant grew 39% reaching BRL4.1 thousand and our gross profit reached BRL1.3 billion. In financial services, PagBank TPV outpaced acquiring TPV for the first time totaling BRL105 billion with BRL339 million in revenues. Our gross profit was BRL76 billion, increasing BRL35 million in comparison to the last quarter due to our cautious approach in credit underwriting given the macro uncertainties.

In Q3, 2022, a 100% of credit underwriting was secured, which helps the company to balance the asset quality at the same time explore a safe entry point in lower for consumers. Our deposits reached an impressive number of almost BRL20 billion, 171% growth year-over-year. Overall, at the center of the slide, total revenue and income reached BRL4.04 billion, 45% higher than Q3 2021. Net income on a non-GAAP basis reached BRL411 million, while the GAAP net income reached BRL380 million, 18% higher than the same period of 2021 and the highest net income of PAGS history for third quarters. Now I’ll pass the word to Alexandre to share some views about our business units. Thank you.

Alexandre Magnani: Hello, everyone, and thank you Ricardo for the initial remarks. Moving to slide five, we compare our performance relative to cards TPV market, and I’m proud to say that we have been able to keep growing with profitability, which reinforce our successful repricing initiatives and unique value proposition for our clients. The chart on the left, we are the TPV market share gain winner in this quarter, when compared to Q4 ’21, growing 92 basis points considering the Brazilian card association criteria for TPV market share. As we can see in the second chart, although every player has been increasing prices, our repricing initiatives were the most successful. By focusing on creating a strong relationship with our clients and having a unique value proposition we were able to increase our net take rate much more than our peers over this year.

Finally in the chart on the right to compare profitability in a fair and easy way to understand, when we look at how much profit each company can extract in net income over TPV, we can see that PAGS is 3 times to 5 times more profitable than peers. Moving to slide six, I will start the segment highlights with PagSeguro’s overview during the quarter. PagSeguro’s total revenue and income grew 49% year-over-year, reaching BRL3.7 billion, faster than TPV, thanks to the successful repricing process over the year that resulted in an increase of 24 basis points on PagSeguro’s net take rate since Q1 €˜22. TPV grew 35% year-over-year totaling BRL90.3 billion, negatively impacted by deflation during the quarter. With each our market sharing payments reached almost 11% from 8% in Q3 €˜20.

On the next slide, we have been prioritizing recurrency and profitability versus merchant cross addition. We have been more selective in our acquisition strategy during 2022, reducing subsidies and focusing on the best sales channels to improve new merchants acquisition quality. As a result, we grew the new merchants average TPV by 36% through online channel and we also increased it by 39%, the overall average TPV per merchant on a year-over-year basis. Our number of active merchants, excluding Moip, reached 7.2 million in September 2022. This strategy results in a higher activation of POS device, higher TPV per merchant and higher upselling and cross-selling opportunities for PagBank. Consequently, the positive results to be expected are lower CapEx to revenue ratio, lower POS depreciation per sales and higher LTV over CAC ratio for the new merchant cohorts, which you contribute to margins rebound and cash flow generation in the future.

Moving to slide eight, I would like to update you all regarding our business diversification initiatives. HUBs reached 31% of PagSeguro TPV in the third quarter, maintaining a strong growth as our operation covers approximately 90% of the Brazilian GDP. This accelerated growth is explained by our unique value proposition that combines banking and payments experienced through a single app and customer care operation provides faster POS delivery, instant settlement and a complete value-added service offering as presented in the right side of the slide. As we see a growth opportunity in the online payment segment, we have been improving our operation and completing our set of solutions for our clients. We always focus on omnichannel sales, integrating different payments in the physical and online channel, also adding payment options beyond cards such as PIX.

I would also like to update you that our cross-border operation previously called BoaCompra, was rebranded during the third quarter and now is also recognized as PagSeguro. This is an important step since PagSeguro brand awareness is very strong and as a result, it should reinforce our cross-border payment business. On slide nine, I’ll give you some updates about PagBank operation. PagBank reached 25.9 million clients, being almost 16 million active clients, which around 58% are consumer clients. Moving to the bottom of the chart, primary bank choice keep increasing for both publics, consumers and merchants reaching around 60% for consumers and 50% for merchants. PagBank cash-in totaled BRL41.9 billion in 3Q ’22, an increase of more than BRL10 billion, compared to Q2 ’22 and most of the cash-in was driven by PIX transactions.

I am happy to share that our market share over PIX transactions has been increasing and reached 9.5% during the quarter. Deposits totaled BRL19.4 billion, an increase of 171% versus the same period of 2021 and almost BRL4 billion increase versus Q2. This increase is really important for our business, since it helps us to be more competitive by lowering funding costs. Moving to slide 10, I would like to do an update regarding our credit products. Total credit portfolio reached BRL2.7 billion, up 71% year-over-year, mainly driven by the increase of payroll loan and FGTS early prepayment, which are consumer focused products, representing now 31% of the portfolio. Asset quality remains a priority for our company, and since last quarter, we decided to increase our exposure to secured products, balancing our portfolio mix.

Doing so, secured products reached 35% of the credit portfolio, up from 5% in Q3 €˜21. Also as Ricardo mentioned, we just launched our secured credit card package by PagBank balance account and have been vocal on advertising this product as it addresses consumer and merchant needs. We expect to keep growing our portfolio gradually, while making important investments to improve our models and the overall credit cycle pillars. These are top to one priority and we have been seen NPL trending down since July €˜22, and we expect to keep this downtrend for the coming quarters. In addition, we are also making important progress in our collection processes to decrease delinquency rate. On slide 11, we see how PagBank total revenue grew 31% year-over-year, ending the quarter at BRL339 million, stable versus Q2, mainly explained it by our focus on secured loans.

Total payment volume reached BRL105 billion, growing 79% year-over-year, as Ricardo said higher than the acquiring TPV for the first time, reinforcing the increasing engagement of our customers on PagBank account, resulting on strong deposits growth and the use of other futures such as bill payments and marketplace. Having said that, I pass the word to Artur, our CFO.

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Artur Schunck: Thanks, Alexandre, for the segment highlight. Hello, everyone, and thank you to joining us tonight. I will continue the presentation in the slide 12 with our Q3 €˜22 consolidated results. In the left side, total revenue and income reached a record of BRL4 billion, growing 45% year-over-year. Net take rate achieved 2.84% this quarter, increasing 9 basis points versus last quarter, as shown in the bottom right side of the slide. Important to say that this value excludes one-time effect related to adjustment in the amount of BRL53 million. On a GAAP basis, net take rates totaled 2.90%. Gross profit neutral of FX grew 7% year-over-year impacted by financial expenses growth and the higher chargebacks mainly related to additional provisions for credit losses.

The repricing in acquiring and credit products helped to offset those impacts, leading to higher PagBank gross profit in Q3 €˜22 in comparison to Q2 ’22. This quarter, again, our operating expenses grew less than total revenue and income growth showing the cost-driven approach of the company. Controlling costs and expenses is part of our future and the diligent way we work is a key component of our superior execution. Adjusted EBITDA closed at BRL770 million, up 4% in comparison to the same quarter of last year. Net income non-GAAP achieved BRL411 million, and net income gap increased 18% year-over-year, reaching the highest level for third quarters in our history, totaling BRL380 million. This represents earnings per share of real BRL1.16 in the quarter, BRL0.19 or 20% better than Q3 €˜21, as shown in the top chart of the right side.

PAGs continues to better balance growth and profitability, focusing on improving shareholders’ return. Moving to slide 13. In the first chart of the left side, operating expenses reached BRL615 million in Q3 ’22, up 11% year-over-year. This amount represents 15% of PAGs revenue versus 20% in the same period of last year and stable, compared to last quarter. The improvement efficiency has come from personnel and marketing expenses leverage even with more investments to advertise PagBank’s new products, as well as the contribution of PagBank and HUBs revenue growth. This amount excludes POS write-off and one-time effects related to softer disposals, write-off of our investment on BoletoFlex and payment agreement with our POS supplier related to PAG.

In the right chart, financial expenses closed at BRL921 million versus BRL210 million in Q3 ’21. Around 90% of this increase is explained by the hike of SELIC and the remaining portion of 10% was related to higher TPV volume, prepayment of receivables to merchants and credit card mix. These effects were partially offset by repricing in acquiring AP wise increase on credit underwriting and lower cost of funding through deposits growth combined to lower spreads negotiated with capital markets. We continue to focus on improving our funding process, diversifying sources and extending terms to leverage our banking license and support the company growth. Financial expenses was our biggest challenge during the past quarters. However, the Brazilian Central Bank has been keeping interest rates stable for a while.

The last interest rate increase was in August this year, in September and November meetings kept the country interest rates stable. In the next slide, CapEx to revenue ratio reached 12.4% this quarter versus 16.8% in 2021 and 14.7% in Q2 ’22. This decrease is driven by lower CapEx related to strategy of being more selective in merchant acquisition to leverage PagBank and the increase of HUB and PagBank’s revenue. We expect to keep this ongoing downtrend in CapEx to revenue ratio over the coming quarters. In the following chart, adjusted EBITDA minus CapEx reached a positive amount of BRL268 million, more than double of Q4 €˜21 and slightly better, compared to last quarter. It reflect PAGS’ focus on maximize LTV 2 cat ratio and improved cash earnings by reducing POS subsidies and adding more valuable merchants into our ecosystem.

On slide 15, PAG’s net cash balance ended the third quarter at BRL9 billion, improving BRL400 million quarter-over-quarter. This was mainly driven by TPV growth, higher share of credit card transactions and larger penetration of same-day prepayment to merchants. At the same time, we have been improving our capital structure, ended this quarter with 74% of financing position followed by third-party capital. On top of that, PAGS diversifying funding sources to support volume growth, lowering funding costs to consolidate a strong balance sheet. To conclude our presentation, I will turn back to Alexandre for the final remarks.

Alexandre Magnani: Thanks, Artur. I would like to review our guidance for Q3 €˜22 and establish a ballpark for the full-year 2022 results. Total revenue in Q3 €˜22 was BRL4.04 billion, higher than the guidance low end. For 2022, we expect to reach between BRL15.36 billion to BRL15.46 billion. Net income, non-GAAP was higher than the guidance high-end, totaling BRL411 million. For 2022, we expect to deliver a net income non-GAAP between BRL1.57 billion to BRL1.6 billion. Net income GAAP reached BRL380 million. For 2022, we expect to reach between BRL1.45 billion to BRL1.48 billion, the highest of our history, mainly due to efficient capital on marketing and personnel expense in a year with high pressure over financial expenses due to the hike of Brazilian interest rate.

Before we move to Q&A, I would like to share our priorities for the coming year. Our focus is to keep the consistent execution of our strategy, balancing growth and profitability to deliver EPS growth while we keep the development of the capabilities that we will enable our banking and acquire businesses to capture even more value in the future. The key components of this consistent execution are very diligent cost and expense control to leverage OpEx and CapEx to revenue ratio, relevant chargebacks and loss reduction, consolidation of PagBank business by growing deposits, cards TPV, secured credit portfolio and usage increase in the merchant base, grow faster than the market in payments in a profitable way. Lastly, to reinforce our one-stop shop value proposition by merging banking and acquiring.

Now we ended our presentation, and we will open for the Q&A session. Operator, please?

Q&A Session

Operator: Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. Our first question comes from Mario Pierry with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Mario Pierry: Hi, everybody. Good evening. Congratulations on the results. Let me ask you two questions. One is how are you seeing the competitive environment in Brazil and your ability to continue to reprice your products? And then second is related to your guidance. We noticed you did not provide guidance for TPV growth, something that you normally do. And also, when we look at the net income in the fourth quarter implied on your guidance, we’re getting BRL385 million to BRL415 million, which would be down to flat versus the third quarter. So just wondering why would net income fall or remain flat in the fourth quarter. Thank you.

Ricardo Dutra: Hi, Mario, this is Ricardo. Thank you for the question. Good to hear you. Regarding the competitive environment, just sometimes we forget here to point out the accomplishment that we’ve been reaching in PagSeguro, which is the — summary is on slide five that we showed in the presentation, because I mean, with less than 40-days for the end of the year, this year is going to be the year that we’re going to have the highest net income for the company overall. If we look at the first nine months of the year compared to other listed companies such as Stone Ciel and GetNet, we are 3 times to 5 times more profitable than our peers. We have 3.2 times more clients than the second player. And even with that, we’ve been able to increase prices and with no additional churn.

So — and combined with that, we also were market share winner in the first two quarters, plus 92 bps. And I’m making this, let’s say, a little bit long answer to you here just to show how solid and resilient our business model is. And it’s very difficult to duplicate it. And having said that, the competitive environment is not different than what we’ve been seeing in the past quarters. I guess the competitive environment was even harder right after our IPO in 2018, 2019. But nowadays, we’ve been seeing that competition is not as tough as it used to be in the past. And we do have the ability to keep repricing if necessary. We think that repricing is an ongoing process depending on how it’s going to be the dynamics for the macroeconomic scenario next year.

If necessary, we will keep increasing and raising our prices, because we do believe we have a powerful combination that is acquiring plus banking, all developed propositions that we have that is very unique. So if necessary, we will keep repricing. Also important to say that to reach the net income that you have in Q3, if you look at the numbers, we had an increase of more than BRL700 million in financial expenses versus last year. And even with that, we were able to reprice our base. And if you do the math, financial income minus financial expenses, was even better than last year in absolute terms. So just to show that we are able to keep repricing if necessary, we will do it. Regarding the guidance, you are right. In the bottom of the guidance, the implicit net income, non-GAAP for Q4 is BRL385 million and the top of the guy is going to be BRL415 million.