How has 2021 been with Elecnor? What aspects do you consider to have been the highlights of the year?
We can say that the year has been good for the Elecnor Group. We have managed to reach a profit almost 10% higher than last year, reaching 86 million euros.
We have continued with a solid generation of cash, mainly from our ordinary activity, exceeding 200 million euros and also exceeding the general cash in 2020.
As for the businesses carried out by the group, the traditional business has managed to increase its activity by 26% thanks, among other things, to the start of large projects in the field of renewable energies and electricity and the increase in our activities most linked to services that we provide to large operators, mainly energy and telecommunications, normally in Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States.
Likewise, we have definitively consolidated our business in countries where our presence is relatively stable with the United States and Australia.
As for the concession business, which we operate through our subsidiary Enerfín and Celeo, where we maintain a 51% stake after our alliance with APG, it has performed positively, reaching double-digit growth rates in both EBITDA and net income. With which, we can conclude that the year has been positive for the Group.
To what extent has the pandemic impacted Elecnor’s activity?
The impacts of the pandemic, even in 2020, were relatively limited, we will not say that it did not have, but they were limited in the last year.
The type of services provided by the Elecnor group, in most of the countries in which it operates, were considered essential services and large infrastructure works are usually considered strategic in the different countries in which they are being carried out.
In any case, during the first weeks of March-April 2020 we did have a period of uncertainty, although little by little they were recovering a certain normality and already in 2020 we were able to reach figures for both sales and profits very much in line with what that the group’s businesses achieved in 2019, which was also a very positive year for the group.
In addition, 2020 was a year of solid cash generation that allowed us to continue on the path of debt reduction that we started years ago and we were able to maintain the dividend for our shareholders.
As for 2021, in group activity, I would dare to say that everything related to the crisis caused by the pandemic has not had a very significant impact and, once again, significant growth has been achieved, supported by the investment effort of our traditional clients and at the beginning of the execution of large projects that last year had to face a small delay in those weeks. In addition to the good behavior of the concession business.
For yet another year, they have reduced their corporate net financial debt by 8.1%, which, together with the 10.6% growth in EBITDA, places the coverage of this type of debt at very solid levels (0.72 times EBITDA with recourse). What balance do you make of this situation?
For us, having an exhaustive control of cash generation is absolutely essential. The services and projects business requires this control and this cash generation indicates how solid the foundations of this growth are.
In this sense, keeping these ratios under control and fully monitored is essential, in any case, the corporate debt held by the company, which is below 120 million, with that ratio of 0.72 times EBITDA, in addition to The recurring cash that the Services and Projects business is capable of generating is also backed by the fair value of our concession business and the dividends that this business is capable of generating on a recurring basis.
Last Friday they announced that they have started a process to search for a financial partner for their subsidiary Enerfín Sociedad de Energía. Is this an operation similar to the one they carried out in their day together with the Dutch fund APG in the subsidiary Celeo? What is the objective of this possible incorporation and what type of financial investor are you looking for?
We have started a process of searching for a partner whose fundamental objective is to facilitate the growth of Enerfín, which currently has an important portfolio of renewable assets in different phases of development, around 8 gigawatts whose development and in order to preserve stability For us, maintaining a controlled corporate debt is absolutely essential for the group’s financial position, so we understand that this development makes sense to do it accompanied by a partner.
In addition, the experience we have had with our partner APG in Celeo Concesiones, which began in 2014 and was extended in 2019, has favored deepening that same strategy in Enerfín.
Regarding the profile of this financial partner, we are looking for a partner who wants to share the exciting project that we have in Enerfín and who wants to do it in the long term.
How do you face this year 2022 from the point of view of international expansion and by areas of activity?
We want to continue on the path of growth in results that we began a decade ago. What we understand are going to boost the group’s businesses are four factors: On the one hand, electrification and energy efficiency, renewable energies, digitization and connectivity, and the group’s ability to provide comprehensive services in urban environments.
In addition, the Group maintains a leadership position in many of the activities that we understand can be the engine of growth and that will concentrate part of the stimulus measures that are being promoted, especially by the European Union and the United States.
All these issues together with our extensive international presence, let’s not forget that we are present in more than 50 countries. Based on all this, we face 2022 with the hope of continuing on that growth path.
What is your future dividend policy, taking into account your recent path of average growth of 5% per year?
The dividend proposal, which will be proposed for approval at the General Shareholders’ Meeting, includes the proposal for a dividend of 6.5% higher than last year. The Group’s policy in all these years has been to maintain stability of this magnitude in recent years, these dividends have always been agreed in cash.
Looking to the future, the generation of cash and the evolution of results will condition the dividends for the coming years. In this aspect, transmit that stability that the group maintains in this magnitude.
