OHL records a 10.5% increase in net profit in the first quarter of 2012

May 10, 2012

The OHL Group has registered very satisfactory results in the first quarter of 2012, closing the period with notable growth in key earnings figures. Over the same period of 2011, the growth rates are as follows:

  • Sales: +20.5%, with total sales of €1,173.8 million
  • EBITDA: +35.6%, reaching €312.4 million
  • EBIT: +42.3%, reaching €259.2 million
  • Attributable Net Profit: +10.5% reaching €41.2 million

The Group’s international activity in the first quarter of 2012 contributed 72.6% of sales and 93.0% of EBITDA.

The main driver of these results has been, once again, the Concessions activity, which has achieved 32.3% growth in quarterly sales, 39.4% in EBITDA, and 47.7% in EBIT . The good performance of traffic levels, the updating of the rates on the concessions in operation and the roll out of new highway sections and toll plazas in the last 12 months have boosted the profitability of this activity.

With this performance, OHL Concesiones has increased its total weight in group earnings, expanding to 39.0% of sales, 85.4% of EBITDA and 86.1% of EBIT.

Meanwhile, The Construction activity, which accounts for 50.1% of Group sales, also recorded growth over the first quarter of 2011: 2.9% in sales, 3.5% in EBITDA, and 5.9% in EBIT.

These increases are due to increased activity in Central and Eastern Europe, and the USA and Canada thanks to the start of some of the important awards in early 2011, mainly projects in Canada. Activity in Spain, meanwhile, fell by 19.4%, in line with the behavior of previous quarters.

Importantly, within this activity, the change of scale derived from major contracts awarded in 2011 is reflected in the remarkable construction backlog figure of €8,645.2 million, representing growth of 27.8 % and 21.2 months of sales and ensuring strong growth in this activity in the future.

Lastly, the sales figure for other activities amounted to €128.5 million, an increase of 123.5% over the same period of 2011, thanks to the significant momentum of OHL Industrial without Environment in this comparison following the sale of Inima in November 2011.

Bond issue

Other important events in this quarter include the bond issue in March for €300 million, which was very successfully placed among European investors, demonstrating the prestige gained by the Group in the international capital markets. This issue pays a coupon of 7.625% (significantly lower than the 2011 issue) and has a maturity of eight years (March 2020).

The goal was to partially pre-fund the 2015 maturity of the €700 million issue in 2010. The company made an offer to the holders of such bonds at 105.5% of par, with 25.2% accepting the deal for a total amount of €176.3 million.

OHL-Abertis Memorandum of Understanding

On April 24, OHL and Abertis signed a memorandum of understanding for a corporate reorganization by which Abertis will acquire OHL’s active concessions in Brazil and Chile and OHL will become a leading shareholder in Abertis. Under the agreement:

  • Abertis will receive the assets split from OHL, including 60% of OHL Brazil, and assuming €530 million in associated debt
  • In turn, OHL will receive a 10% stake in Abertis and the cancellation of the €530 million in liabilities, with the payment being assumed by Abertis
  • Additionally, OHL will sell Abertis its concession assets in Chile for a cash price of approximately €200 million
  • The operations referred to are pending various requirements and procedures typical of such procedures

Following this agreement, OHL has acquired an additional 4.94% of Abertis for to ACS, which means that OHL will end up with a total shareholding of 14.94%.

This operation will represent a major transformation in the OHL group, achieving:

    OHL will become a leading industrial partner of Abertis, the largest concession holder in the world after this operation, with a clear vocation of permanence

  • Realization of the value created in Brazil and Chile
  • A net profit of around €1,200 million, doubling the equity attributable to the parent company of the OHL Group
  • Strengthening the financial position of the Group through a significant deleveraging
  • Balanced portfolio of concessions, incorporating highly complementary assets that provide a significant flow of dividends

OHL Group in the first quarter of 2012