OHLA increases its profit to 14.2 million and its ebitda rises by nearly 43% up to September
November 16, 2023
Improving margins and profitability. The company continues to boost its profitability by improving its margins. The EBITDA margin of the construction division reached 4.9% until September 2023, a record that has not been reached since 2014.
Strengthening the portfolio. OHLA’s total order book grew by more than 11% to 7,123.2 million thanks to the boost in concessions and new projects contracted under construction.
New awards in Europe and Latin America. The prestigious publication ENR has given OHLA three new awards. The EPC Ski project, part of the Follo Line, Norway’s most important transportation initiative, was named Best Project 2023. Hospital de Curicó (Chile) and Américo Vespucio Oriente, also in Chile, each received an Award of Merit.
Objectives 2023. The company is making progress in the execution of its Business Plan, meeting its objectives for the 2023 fiscal year: sales of around 3,500 million euros; EBITDA of more than 125 million euros and order intake of more than 3,600 million euros. These figures will be affected, where applicable, by the divestment of the Services division.
OHLA finished the first nine months of 2023 with a net attributable profit of 14.2 million euros, compared to a loss of 88.8 million euros in the same period of the previous year. The period ends with growth in all the main income statement figures and improved profitability.
Operationally, the company has achieved outstanding results up to September. Sales increased by nearly 10% to 2,256.3 million euros. Foreign sales accounted for 76.3% of the total.
Meanwhile, EBITDA grew by 42.7% to 84.2 million euros, reflecting the good performance of the Group.
Over the last few years, OHLA has increased contracting, diversifying the risk of its projects by size and geography and improving its margins. On this last point, it should be noted that the ebitda margin in the Construction division has reached 4.9% up to September 2023, a record not reached since 2014.
In the first nine months of 2023, the evolution of the ebitda and sales of both the Construction and Industrial divisions is noteworthy, with advances, in the case of the gross operating result of Construction, of more than 27.4%. On the other hand, Industrial sales doubled to 157.7 million euros compared to 80.7 million euros in the same period of the previous year.
Order book
The total order book at September 30, 2023 stood at 7,123.2 million euros, 11.1% higher than the order book at December 2022. The short-term order book at September 30, 2023, amounted to 6,126.2 million euros, representing an activity coverage of 24.0 months of sales.
The concessions division was boosted by the awarding of new assets in Chile (Biobío Hospital Network), Colombia (Accesos Norte 2 road corridor), and Spain (Expansion of the Hospital del Niño Jesús). In addition, the company was awarded a new concession contract in Chile in 2023, the National Cancer Institute, with an investment of more than 300 million euros.
Meanwhile, Construction strengthened its position with new projects in the three geographic areas in which it operates. In the United States, two new civil engineering projects to improve safety and promote sustainability in Los Angeles (California) were awarded nearly 180 million euros. In Latin America, the company added new contracts in Chile, and, in Europe, it reinforced its presence in Spain with new civil works and singular building projects and in the Czech Republic, where it has been awarded new railway contracts.
Cash control and management
The company continues to strengthen one of its strategic pillars: cash control and management. This management has resulted in a material reduction in the activity cash consumption, which compares very favorably with previous years. Specifically, in the third quarter of 2023, the OHLA Group’s activity has generated cash amounting to 23.8 million euros, compared to a cash consumption of 102.8 million euros in the same period in 2022.
Moreover, OHLA ended the first nine months of 2023 with a total liquidity position of 664.2 million euros.
