SONDA´s Operational improvements drive margin growth, with EBITDA at 13.5% in the second quarter

In reporting currency, revenues decreased 5.4% YoY, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic during the second quarter of 2020.

On the other hand, EBITDA registered a decrease of 14.4% compared to the first half of 2019, explained mainly due to a lower level of both, revenues and commercial activity as a consequence of the pandemic and by the sale of interest of Transacciones Electrónicas Dos in September 2019. Nevertheless, stood out positively the better performance of the Brazilian operation during the second quarter, with an EBITDA 26.9% higher YoY.

Highlighted as well the operational improvements registered in the second quarter which boosted an increase of 240bp in EBITDA margin YoY reaching 13.5% in the period. These expansions were seen in all the markets where SONDA operates, with Chile registering a margin of 14.3% (+120 basis points), Brazil of 13.2% (+530 basis points), Mexico of 5.9% (+60 basis points) and OPLA of 13.8% (+90 basis points).

Net profit for the period reached $ 2,126 million (US$ 2.6 million), representing a decrease of 82.4% compared to 2019. The profit of the year was affected by extraordinary expenses of $ 12,138 million (US$ 14.8 million) in Other Expenses by Function.

In terms of commercial activity, business closed reached US$ 433.7 million which represent a decrease of 30.2%, compared to the previous year. 78% of closures come from new contracts while the remaining 22% where renewals. At regional level, Chile represented 47.2% of total business closed, Brazil 33.1%, Mexico 4.5% and OPLA 15.1%.

Pipeline of new opportunities reached historical levels of US$ 5,926 million, which represents an increase of 58.5% compared to December of 2019. Highlighted the increase of 103.1% in new business opportunities in Chile, 86.1% in Brazil and 9.6% in OPLA.

Referring to these results and to the context generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the General Manager of SONDA, José Orlandini, signaled that “this year we have faced big challenges driven by Coronavirus, having to adopt a set of health protection measures for our employees and clients, ensuring the operational continuity of the company and thus continue to provide services at a time where technology plays a transcendental role”. Likewise, he added that “despite the fact that the second quarter showed lower levels of revenues as a result of the negative impact on the economies of the region due to the sanitary measures implemented, we had substantial improvements in profitability, highlighting the EBITDA margin that reached 13.5%, with an increase of 240 basis points with respect to the same period of the previous year”. Finally, he mentioned that “we have put in place action plans to cope with this complex scenario – without neglecting the objectives of our Strategic Plan 2019 – 2021 -, readjusting our organization and processes, allowing us to look optimistically over the coming quarters, supporting our clients to improve and transform their businesses.”

About SONDA: SONDA is the main Latin-American service and IT solution network of the region, with revenues of US$1,131 million in 2019 and 14 thousand employees, with direct presence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panamá, Peru y Uruguay.

Contact: Patricio Garretón (Head of Financial Analysis and M&A and Investor Relations Officer), telephone +56 226575398, e-mail: [email protected]