Cuộc họp công bố kết quả kinh doanh quý 2/2026 của CAAP: Doanh thu tăng 8%, cổ tức 150 triệu USD

Nội dung chính

• Doanh thu không bao gồm IFRIC 12 tăng 8% so với cùng kỳ năm trước, vượt qua tốc độ tăng trưởng lượng hành khách nhìn chung ổn định. Doanh thu trên mỗi hành khách tăng gần 9% lên 22,9 USD.
• EBITDA điều chỉnh không bao gồm IFRIC 12 giảm 4,5% xuống 160 triệu USD. Sự sụt giảm tập trung ở Argentina và Uruguay, trong khi 4 thị trường hoạt động còn lại đạt mức tăng trưởng hai chữ số.
• Khoảng 21 triệu hành khách đã sử dụng các sân bay của CAAP trong quý. Lượng hành khách quốc tế tăng gần 6%, trong khi lượng hành khách nội địa giảm khoảng 8%, chủ yếu do công suất hãng hàng không bị hạn chế tại Argentina.
• Doanh thu thương mại tăng 13%, nhờ phòng chờ VIP, cho thuê mặt bằng, dịch vụ ăn uống và hoạt động kinh doanh miễn thuế. Nếu không tính mảng hàng hóa của Argentina, ban lãnh đạo cho biết doanh thu thương mại tăng 26%.
• Thanh khoản cuối quý đạt 861 triệu USD, trong khi nợ ròng giảm xuống 381 triệu USD và tỷ lệ đòn bẩy ròng ở mức 0,5x.
• Hội đồng quản trị đã phê duyệt 150 triệu USD cổ tức bằng tiền mặt chi trả vào năm 2026, tương đương khoảng 0,91 USD mỗi cổ phiếu.

Dữ liệu tài chính chính

Tất cả các số liệu doanh thu, chi phí và EBITDA điều chỉnh dưới đây đều không bao gồm IFRIC 12 trừ khi có chỉ dẫn khác.

Kết quả kinh doanh và hoạt động

Lượng hành khách nhìn chung không đổi ở mức khoảng 21 triệu. Lượng hành khách quốc tế tăng gần 6%, với sự đóng góp tích cực trên toàn bộ danh mục đầu tư, trong khi lượng hành khách nội địa giảm khoảng 8%.

Argentina tiếp tục là điểm áp lực chính. Tổng lượng hành khách giảm khoảng 6% do mức tăng 4% của khách quốc tế bị áp đảo bởi mức giảm gần 12% của khách nội địa. Ban lãnh đạo cho rằng sự suy yếu nội địa chủ yếu do việc giảm đội bay của Flybondi và giá nhiên liệu tăng cao thay vì do nhu cầu. EBITDA điều chỉnh của Argentina giảm 21% và biên lợi nhuận thu hẹp 6,2 điểm phần trăm.

Doanh thu hàng hóa của Argentina cũng đối mặt với mức nền so sánh cao bất thường. Sự gián đoạn lao động tại hải quan trong quý 2/2025 đã kéo dài thời gian lưu kho và tạo ra doanh thu lưu kho cao đặc biệt. Hoạt động hải quan bình thường hơn và thông quan nhanh hơn đã làm giảm doanh thu lưu kho trong quý 2/2026.

Ở những nơi khác, lượng hành khách của Ý tăng hơn 5%, dẫn đầu là hành khách quốc tế. EBITDA điều chỉnh tăng 19%, hoặc 11% nếu không tính dịch vụ xây dựng, trong khi biên lợi nhuận mở rộng 3,1 điểm phần trăm.

Lượng hành khách tại Brazil tăng khoảng 4%, bao gồm mức tăng trưởng 14% ở hành khách quá cảnh. EBITDA điều chỉnh của Sân bay Brasília tăng 32%, với biên lợi nhuận mở rộng 2,3 điểm phần trăm nhờ sự tăng trưởng hành khách và doanh thu phòng chờ VIP, cho thuê mặt bằng cùng dịch vụ ăn uống mạnh mẽ hơn.

Armenia ghi nhận mức tăng trưởng hành khách mạnh nhất trong danh mục ở mức 13%, bất chấp các đợt hủy chuyến bay và hạn chế không phận khu vực liên quan đến xung đột Trung Đông. EBITDA điều chỉnh tăng 21%, mặc dù sự mở rộng của mảng kinh doanh nhiên liệu có biên lợi nhuận thấp hơn về mặt cấu trúc tiếp tục gây áp lực lên biên lợi nhuận.

Lượng hành khách tại Ecuador tăng khoảng 2%, với khách quốc tế tăng hơn 8%. EBITDA điều chỉnh tăng 17% và biên lợi nhuận mở rộng 2 điểm phần trăm. Lượng hành khách tại Uruguay tăng 2%, nhưng EBITDA điều chỉnh giảm 16% và biên lợi nhuận thu hẹp 8,4 điểm phần trăm do chi phí triển khai ILS và các chi phí bất thường khác.

Triển vọng từ Ban lãnh đạo

Ban lãnh đạo kỳ vọng các đường bay mới, tần suất bổ sung và nhu cầu đến tăng trưởng sẽ hỗ trợ lượng hành khách quốc tế tại Argentina trong nửa cuối năm 2026. Kết quả nội địa có thể tiếp tục bị hạn chế trong ngắn hạn do công suất hãng hàng không eo hẹp, mặc dù công ty dự kiến công suất bị cắt giảm bởi Flybondi sẽ dần được thay thế bởi các hãng vận chuyển khác.

Argentina cũng sẽ đối mặt với đợt bảo trì đường băng theo kế hoạch và một đợt so sánh doanh thu hàng hóa đầy thách thức khác. Ban lãnh đạo cho biết việc sửa chữa đường băng sẽ không có tác động lớn đến kết quả hợp nhất.

Tại Uruguay, hệ thống ILS mới đã bắt đầu tạo doanh thu vào tháng 8. Ban lãnh đạo dự kiến hệ thống này, phòng chờ VIP mới, khu vực miễn thuế rộng hơn, các sáng kiến mảng hàng hóa và xu hướng hành khách tích cực sẽ hỗ trợ tăng trưởng doanh thu.

Công ty cũng tiếp tục theo đuổi các cơ hội nhượng quyền sân bay tiềm năng trên khắp châu Mỹ, châu Phi và Trung Đông. Ban lãnh đạo không đưa ra mốc thời gian cho các giao dịch chưa đạt đến giai đoạn đủ chín muồi hoặc công khai.

Rủi ro và các điểm cần theo dõi

• Công suất hãng hàng không nội địa bị hạn chế ở Argentina có thể tiếp tục gây áp lực lên lượng hành khách trong ngắn hạn.
• Mảng kinh doanh hàng hóa của Argentina đối mặt với sự so sánh khó khăn với doanh thu lưu kho cao bất thường vào năm 2025.
• Hoạt động bảo trì đường băng theo kế hoạch tại Argentina có thể dịch chuyển hoặc làm giảm một phần lượng hành khách, mặc dù ban lãnh đạo không dự kiến tác động trọng yếu đến kết quả hợp nhất.
• Các đợt hủy chuyến và hạn chế không phận liên quan đến xung đột Trung Đông vẫn là yếu tố ảnh hưởng đối với Armenia, nơi các đường bay Trung Đông chiếm hơn 20% lượng hành khách.
• Mối lo ngại về an ninh và giá vé máy bay neo cao tiếp tục kìm hãm nhu cầu nội địa tại Ecuador.
• Biến động tỷ giá làm tăng chi phí báo cáo tại Argentina và Uruguay, trong khi sự mất giá của đồng peso Argentina làm giảm phí hành khách nội địa tính theo đồng USD.

Điểm nhấn phiên Hỏi & Đáp với Chuyên viên phân tích

Ban lãnh đạo cho biết các cuộc thảo luận nhằm tái cân bằng các điều khoản kinh tế của hợp đồng nhượng quyền tại Argentina đang tiến triển, nhưng nhấn mạnh rằng các báo cáo báo chí không đại diện cho một thỏa thuận ràng buộc. Công ty sẽ cung cấp thông tin cập nhật khi có tiến triển cụ thể và mang tính ràng buộc.

Tiến trình nhượng quyền tại Ý cũng đang tiến triển với các cơ quan chính phủ và cơ quan quản lý. Ban lãnh đạo kỳ vọng sớm có tuyên bố công nhận sáng kiến này là một dự án chiến lược trong tương lai gần và cho biết chưa thấy dấu hiệu cảnh báo nguy cơ nào ở giai đoạn này.

Về tính bền vững của doanh thu thương mại, ban lãnh đạo nhấn mạnh đà tăng trưởng tiếp tục ở mảng phòng chờ VIP, hàng miễn thuế, bãi đỗ xe, diện tích cho thuê và dịch vụ ăn uống. Các dự án mới tại Uruguay và các thị trường khác dự kiến sẽ tạo thêm động lực hỗ trợ.

Về cổ tức, ban lãnh đạo không coi khoản phân phối 150 triệu USD là mức định kỳ cố định. Các quyết định trong tương lai sẽ cân bằng giữa lợi nhuận cho cổ đông, các cân nhắc về cam kết tài chính và xếp hạng tín dụng, yêu cầu tài trợ của công ty con và thanh khoản cần thiết cho các cơ hội kinh doanh mới.

Toàn văn Biên bản Cuộc họp Báo cáo Kết quả Kinh doanh

Toàn văn cuộc gọi công bố kết quả kinh doanh

Phần trình bày của ban lãnh đạo

Operator

Thank you for joining us, and welcome to Corporación América Airports' Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand the conference over to Inaki Anola, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Patricio Esnaola

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Speaking during today's call will be Martin Eurnekian, our Chief Executive Officer; and Jorge Arruda, our Chief Financial Officer.

Before we proceed, I would like to make the following safe harbor statements. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements, and I refer you to the forward-looking statements section of our earnings release and reading filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or sentences. Please note that throughout this call, all references to revenues, cost, adjusted EBITDA and margin will refer to figures excluding IFRIC 12. Also, all comparisons discussed are year-over-year unless otherwise noted.

I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Martin Eurnekian.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Thank you, Inaki, and good morning to everyone joining us today. Our second quarter adjusted EBITDA ex IFRIC 12 was down 4.5%, primarily driven by our cargo business in Argentina, lower seat capacity in the domestic market in Argentina and non-recurring costs and expenses in Uruguay. Our Cargo business in Argentina was primarily affected by an extraordinary bad year-over-year comparison base. Labor disruptions at customs in April 2025 resulted in longer cargo storage periods and consequently, exceptionally high storage revenues. Seat capacity in Argentina was largely affected by Flybondi, significantly reduced operating fleet and higher fuel prices.

Non-recurring costs and expenses in Uruguay, including costs associated with the implementation of the new ILS system as well as maintenance and other expenses also weighted on adjusted EBITDA during the quarter. Despite these headwinds, our business remains strong and the diversification and quality of our portfolio continue to support our overall performance with 4 of our 6 segments delivering double-digit EBITDA growth. We observed healthy international demand and passenger growth across most of our markets in the second quarter.

We also continued to deliver strong revenue performance. Growth in both our aeronautical and commercial businesses enabled revenues to increase faster than passenger volumes. We were particularly pleased with the continued improvement in the revenue per passenger throughout the portfolio, including Argentina.

Our financial position remains strong, supported by healthy liquidity, continued cash generation and low leverage. This gives us the capacity to invest in our existing operations, pursue our acquisition strategy and return capital to shareholders while preserving financial flexibility. In that context, our Board approved a cash dividend distribution for 2026. This represents an important milestone in our capital allocation strategy, and I would like to discuss the dividend and its underlying principles in greater detail in my closing remarks. I would also like to highlight that our first half revenue and EBITDA remained ahead of the prior year period.

With that, let me turn to the traffic trends across our markets. Moving on to traffic on Slide 4. Approximately 21 million passengers traveled through our airports during the quarter, leaving total traffic broadly stable year-over-year. International traffic remained positive increasing nearly 6% with double-digit growth in Armenia and positive contributions across the board, including Argentina. Domestic traffic declined approximately 8%, primarily due to lower seed capacity in Argentina. Excluding Argentina, total passenger traffic increased across all of our markets.

Looking at the main markets. In Argentina, International traffic was up 4%, supported by strong seat capacity growth during April and May, while overall passenger traffic declined approximately 6% as growth in international travel was more than offset by weaker domestic volumes. In fact, Argentina recorded the strongest increase in international seat capacity among South American markets during the first half of the year, driven by several airlines announcing new routes and additional frequencies.

Domestic traffic declined close to 12%, mainly reflecting lower airline capacity, while underlying demand remained resilient. Seat offer was largely affected by Flybondi significantly reduced operating fleet and higher fuel prices. July traffic showed a sequential improvement from June with domestic traffic declining 10% and international traffic growing 5% year-over-year. In Italy, traffic increased just over 5%, driven mainly by international passengers, which represented more than 80% of total traffic and grew 6.4%. Both [indiscernible] and France Airports contributed positively with domestic traffic also modestly higher. This positive trend continued into July with international passenger traffic increasing by more than 6% and while domestic traffic remained relatively stable.

In Brazil, traffic increased approximately 4%, reflecting continued year-over-year growth. Domestic traffic was slightly lower but this was more than offset by a 14% increase in transit passengers. Brazilia continued to benefit from its position as an important connected hub within Brazil's domestic network. Traffic in July remained solid, up 8% year-over-year. Passenger traffic in Uruguay increased 2% despite the calendar shift of the Easter holidays, supported by additional connectivity, including Sul's new service between Montevideo and Belerizonte. In July, traffic increased by 3% compared to the same month last year.

Armenia reported the strongest traffic growth of our -- in our portfolio, up 13%. This strong performance was achieved despite slight cancellations and regional aerospace restrictions related to the conflict in the Middle East. Strong demand from all other regions together with the [ Wiser ] based launch at [ Barnat ] late last year more than offset the disruptions caused by the complete in the Middle East. This positive momentum continued into July with traffic growing 17% year-over-year.

In Ecuador, traffic increased approximately 2% despite continued security concerns. International traffic grew more than 8%, supported by strong demand on routes to the United States, new services from [ Avianca, Jetblue and LatAm ] and additional frequencies from American Airlines. Domestic traffic remains softer as elevated airports continue to constrain demand. In July, traffic declined 1% year-over-year as strong international traffic growth was more than offset by a decline in domestic traffic.

In summary, international demand remained healthy, and broad-based during the quarter, helping to mitigate the concentrated pressure on domestic traffic in Argentina.

Moving on to Cargo on Slide 5. Cargo revenues declined primarily driven by Argentina. Such decline was caused by an extraordinary bad year-over-year comparison base. As I explained earlier, labor disruptions and customs in the second quarter of last year extended cargo [ 12 ] times and resulted in exceptionally high storage revenues. In addition, normalized customers operations and more efficient clearance processes this year reduce [ 12x ] and consequently, storage revenues. Various initiatives are already being implemented to enhance profitability in our cargo business in Argentina.

Let me now turn over to Jorge, who will review our financial results. Please, go ahead.

Jorge Arruda

Thank you, Martin, and good day, everyone. Starting with the top line on Slide 6. Total revenues, excluding IFRIC 12, grew 8% year-over-year once again outpacing traffic figures. Armenia and Brazil delivered another quarter of double-digit growth. Consolidated revenue per passenger rose nearly 9% to $22.9 from $21 in the same quarter last year, reflecting stronger commercial performance with increases across every country, including Argentina.

Aeronautical revenues increased 4%, supported by broad-based growth across the portfolio. Brazil, Italy, Armenia, Uruguay and Ecuador delivered strong results, more than offsetting a decline in Argentina. Tariff increases in Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador provided further support. In Argentina, the increase in aeronautical revenues from higher international traffic was more than offset by lower domestic traffic and lower domestic passenger fees in U.S. dollar terms following the depreciation of the Argentine peso during the period.

Commercial revenues were up 13%, well ahead of traffic performance, driven by growth across all countries of operation, except Argentina. Performance was led by a few related revenues in Armenia, together with broad-based growth in passenger treatment revenue streams, including VIP launches, space rentals, food and beverage and duty free. In Argentina, lower cargo, parking and duty-free revenues more than offset growth across all other commercial revenue streams.

Turning to Slide 7. Total cost and expenses, excluding IFRIC 12, increased 16% year-over-year, primarily driven by higher fuel costs in Armenia, non-recurring costs and expenses in Uruguay and the re-appreciation of local currency in Argentina and Uruguay against the U.S. dollars.

In Armenia, fuel cost increase, reflecting both higher costs and volumes associated with the growth of fuel-related revenues. Excluding the fuel business, total cost and expenses increased 9%.

In Argentina, cost on expenses increased only 6% despite a material increase in amortization representing a contained increase given the prevailing macro environment.

Moving on to profitability on Slide 8. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding IFRIC 12 was $160 million, down 4.5% with the decline concentrated in Argentina, Uruguay, every other country of operation delivered double-digit growth. Starting with Argentina, adjusted EBITDA declined 21% with the margin contracting 6.2 percentage points primarily reflecting lower domestic passenger traffic and the extraordinary bed comparison base for cargo revenues I mentioned earlier.

Italy posted a 19% increase or 11% when excluding construction service at [ Toscana reporting. ] And margin expanding 3.1 percentage points on passenger growth and higher duty free and VIP loan revenues.

Brasilia Airport delivered another strong quarter. with adjusted EBITDA up 32% and the margin expanding 2.3 percentage points, driven by strong passenger growth together with higher VIP launch, space rental and food and beverage revenues. This was further supported by the appreciation of the Brazilian real.

In Uruguay, adjusted EBITDA declined 16% and the margin contracted 8.4 percentage points, primarily reflecting costs associated with the implementation of the new ILS system ahead of the related revenue, which began only in August and the impact of nonrecurring events I mentioned earlier. These were partially offset by passenger growth and stronger VIP loans and duty-free revenues.

Armenia also delivered a strong quarter with adjusted EBITDA up 21%. As in recent quarters, margin contraction reflected the continued expansion of the fuel business, which structurally carries lower margin than core airport operations.

Ecuador delivered another solid quarter with adjusted EBITDA increasing 17% and margin expanding 2 percentage points supported by passenger growth and higher duty revenues.

Turning to Slide 9. Strong cash flow generation allowed us to continue building our cash position, and we ended the quarter with total liquidity of $861 million, up 20% from $750 million at the close of 2025. Importantly, nearly all operating subsidiaries generated positive operating cash flow during the first half of the year. The exceptions were Italy and Ecuador, where capital expenditure and concession fee payments, respectively, weighted on free cash flow generation.

Finally, cash used in financing activities primarily reflected $55 million in loan repayments, mainly in Argentina.

Moving on to the debt and maturity profile on Slide 10. Total debt at the quarter end stood at $1.1 billion, while net debt declined to $381 million from $502 million year-end 2025. Our net leverage ratio stood at 0.5x, reflecting stable debt levels and continued cash generation.

I will now hand the call back to Martin, who will provide closing remarks and discuss our view for the remainder of the year.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Thank you, Jorge. On Slide 12, I would like to leave you with a few key messages. Despite the headwinds mentioned earlier by both Jorge and myself, some related to bad year-over-year comparisons and others to non-recurring items, our business remains strong, and the diversification of our portfolio continues to support our overall performance. We are particularly pleased with the broad-based growth in international traffic.

The increase in revenue per passenger across every country in which we operate, including Argentina and the double-digit EBITDA growth delivered by other four markets. Our robust liquidity and low leverage provide a strong foundation to continue focusing on our strategic objectives, pursue growth opportunity and return capital to shareholders while maintaining financial strength.

We also continue to make progress on our key strategic initiatives across the portfolio, including advancing the concession rebalancing process in Argentina, efforts to obtain final approval of the [indiscernible] Airport Master plan, commercial expansion in Montevideo through a new VIP lounge and a larger duty-free area and actions to improve the profitability of our cargo business in Argentina. In parallel, we continue to work on potential new concession opportunities across the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.

Turning to the second half, new routes, additional frequencies and growing inbound demand should support international traffic in Argentina. At the same time, limited domestic airline capacity, planned runway maintenance and additional challenging comparison base for cargo revenues may continue to affect the country's near-term results. However, we expect [indiscernible] reduced operating capacity in Argentina to be gradually replaced by other airlines over time as we have observed in previous airline disruptions.

In Uruguay, the new instrument lending system began generating revenues in August. And together with the opening of the new VIP lounge, additional cargo initiatives and the healthy traffic trends are expected to support revenue growth.

Finally, as announced in today's earnings release, our Board approved cash dividends totaling $150 million payable this year, which is equivalent to approximately 0.91 per share. This approval was based primarily on the following key principles: Enhancing shareholder returns, maintaining our financial strength, reserving adequate cash balances at each operating company to support their strategic objectives and maintaining sufficient liquidity at [ GAAP ] to pursue further growth opportunities.

With that, we are ready to take your questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Gui Mendes with JPMorgan.

Phần hỏi đáp

Guilherme Mendes

My first question is on the contract renegotiations in Argentina and Italy, if you could provide an update on the latest discussions or an expectation in terms of timing for the conclusion. And the second is a follow-up on the commercial passengers. It was a pretty strong performance, I don't think, on a per passenger basis. Just wondering if this level of revenues per passenger should be assumed to be recurring going forward?

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Hello, Gui. Martin here. Thank you for your questions. I'll start on Argentina, and then pass it on to Jorge for the rest of your question. Regarding negotiation in Argentina, we -- the rebalancing in Argentina, as we have said before, we keep working with the regulator to move ahead on the rebalancing of the economic equilibrium of the concession. Many of you probably have seen a leak in the press regarding that negotiation. It should be taken as a leak. And I would only say that it indicates that we are working and moving ahead. But once we have something that is binding, we will come to you with the relevant information. As of today, none of that is actually valid or winding. So hopefully, soon enough, we'll come back with relevant and binding news regarding the Argentina contract. So thank you, and I'll pass it on to Jorge for the rest of the -- your question.

Jorge Arruda

Hi, Guilherme, thank you very much for your question and for all the report. So in connection with [ Toscana reported, ] the process is moving ahead as well. We continue to work with the relevant government authorities, in particular with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the regulator [ INAC, ] that expect -- that we expect that they will issue a statement in the very near future declaring this strategic project. It's part of the process. Thereafter, there's going to be a so-called confidential deserve. So in summary, as of today, we continue to make progress, and there are no red flags. And again, we will continue to keep the market fully updated on concrete developments. In connection with your second question, in our commercial revenues, the quarter posted very solid commercial revenues while the headline number is about 14%. If we exclude cargo in Argentina, which has an extremely bad comparison, commercial revenues actually increased 26%, so well ahead of passengers. This is driven by many reasons across the board. But what I would like to highlight is perhaps the VIP lounge business continued to perform very well, duty-free in most of the markets, parking rental space, for instance, in Brazil was phenomenal. So generally speaking, commercial revenues had a very good performance. And going ahead, we have projects in different countries that will continue to support the number. For instance, there's going to be a totally new VIP lounge in the [ multi-video ] airport, an expansion of the duty-free business in [indiscernible]. And moreover, when we do a double click in our numbers for the second quarter, for instance, again, if we exclude cargo, in Argentina and certain non-recurring expenses that we had in Uruguay, our EBITDA would have grown 5% instead of the drop of 4.5%. Revenues in Argentina, for instance, has grown 13% without cargo. Cost and expenses without amortization have in Argentina grew only 3.5%, 3.4% more precisely. So again, the headline number may not be the best one, but when we do a double click, we see very strong numbers in many business lines, and therefore, makes us very comfortable that the portfolio is performing very well.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Yao Len Sisar with Jefferies.

Unknown Analyst

This is Yao-Len on behalf of Alejandro Anibal Demichelis. I have one question, please. So how do you see the evolution of domestic traffic in Argentina through the end of 2026.

Jorge Arruda

This is Jorge again. Thank you for your question and for the reports as well. So domestic traffic was primarily affected by the reduction in the fleet of Flybondi, which we believe that sooner or later, are going to be replaced by other players in the market. As we've actually seen already, I mean, in July, for instance, both Aerolineas Argentinas and [indiscernible] its second best month in history in Argentina on domestic market. Flybondi is planned to increase in the next few months from 16 aircraft to 19 aircraft. And as I briefly mentioned, we've seen that over and over again in other markets like [ Puna ] in Uruguay, Avianca in Brazil, among a few other cases that in a matter of several months, this offer, if I can put it like that, is replaced because it's not a matter of demand. It's a matter of offer, it's a seat offer, seat capacity. So obviously, this will take some time in a couple of months. But over the short to medium term, we are positive.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Pablo Ricalde with Itau.

Pablo Ricalde Martinez

I have two questions. The first one on the dividend you just announced, how should we think of dividends going forward? And should we think about like maybe this is a more normalized level, or this is more on the extraordinary side given how strong your balance sheet look. And the other one is if you have quantified the effect of the closure or the runway like maintenance in [indiscernible] in the third quarter results.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Thank you for your questions. So in connection with dividends, our decision-making process to propose and ultimately approve this dividend was a balance of a couple of points, primarily shareholders return, providing the proper return to shareholders, maintaining financial strength of our group up and its subsidiaries. And by that, I mean no impact in covenants, no impact in existing credit ratings among other things. Preserving an adequate cash balance at each of the operating companies to pursue their strategic objectives. So for instance, in Armenia, we are about to start a major CapEx program, as we previously announced, together with the extension of the concession agreement there. And obviously, the company will require some additional or increased working capital facility. So as we want to preserve that financial strength at the OpCo level as well. And finally, keep an adequate liquidity in [indiscernible] to pursue its new business activities. We've been very, very active pursuing new business. So obviously, we want to keep firepower to to make that possible. So we will take those things into consideration -- we took those things into consideration to define the amount and the actual payment. And we will take those things into consideration in the future whenever deciding whether or not to pay a dividend. Regarding maintenance of the runways in Aeropark and Acesa, which are planned for about two days in [ Europac ] and just more than 15 days in Acesa. There will be an impact some of the traffic from Acesa will migrate to Aeropark, some will be kept in Acesa. Some will not happen. But this is planned. This is obviously absolutely required for the security. And we -- on a consolidated basis, we do not see a major impact in our numbers.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Rojas with Bank of America.

Daniel Vielman

I just wanted to drill down on Armenia. We saw July traffic figures that they were very good. Armenia was up 17%. I just wanted to get some color from you on what's happening with Iran the conflict in the Middle East, and what we should look for in terms of potential traffic growth in the next few months? Anything you can give us.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

I'm sorry, your first question was traffic in Armenia. Your second question was?

Daniel Vielman

What do you expect in the second half of the year in terms of also of traffic and with everything that's happening.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Okay. Good. Thank you. So yes, Armenia has been performing extremely well. And you probably saw July figures of 17%. We are very pleased with these numbers. This is primarily driven by healthy traffic with Europe. New routes, generally speaking, in particular with airlines, and obviously, the establishment of the base of [indiscernible] lines in [indiscernible]. This more than offset the impact of traffic to Middle East, which was -- which accounts for about 20-plus percent of the traffic of the overall traffic and was impacted for obvious reasons. But again, more than offset by this -- the traffic with Europe on legacy carriers and with that are creating traffic. I mean they establish a base, they established several new routes, targeting primarily diaspora, but obviously, the whole market. So we -- for now, we continue to see a healthy trend in Armenia. And generally speaking, we will also see a healthy trend in the rest of our portfolio. In Uruguay, particularly that the quarter was not great, but we see better trends going forward. And in Argentina, we continue to see growth on the international and the domestic, as I mentioned earlier, for the next few months is going to continue to be impacted by domestic seat offer, seat capacity. Obviously, the runway maintenance of Acesa will have an impact in October to November, but again, not mature in the concept of [indiscernible] in the context of our portfolio.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] With no further questions, we have reached the end of the Q&A session. Forgive me, I see Gui Mendes is asking a follow-up question from JPMorgan.

Guilherme Mendes

Martin, you mentioned about opportunities in the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. If you don't mind exploring which are those -- which are these opportunities? And which stage each of them are currently?

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

Thank you for your question, Guilherme. As we usually do, we not talk about opportunities when they are not mature enough. You obviously heard years back on Nigeria once we were named the winner of the bid. Same thing with Angola. We were named -- were awarded winners of the bid, and we announced it. We are pursuing several new opportunities in the region in Africa, also Middle East. There is a public tender that was announced for Urgada Airport, where we were also publicly announced as one of the shortlisted bidders alongside a local partner for, again, [ Ogata ] Airport in Egypt. And in same thing for different opportunities we are working in the Middle East and the Americas. Ideally, we would come to the market when those processes become public or when our participation becomes public as we are pursuing many different initiatives that have very different stages of maturity.

Operator

We have now reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Martin for closing remarks.

Martin Francisco Eurnekian

I want to thank everybody for taking your time to participate today. I wish you a very nice week and remind you that our team is always available for any further questions or information regarding our company. Have a great day.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.