OHLA boosts its operating business and closes 2022 with an ebitda of 114.1 million euros, an increase of 25.1%
February 28, 2023
Achievement of targets. The company exceeds its 2022 sales, order intake and ebitda targets and strengthens from a business perspective.
Record order intake and order book. OHLA reaches an eight-year order intake record with nearly 4.3 billion euros awarded in 2022. The total order book exceeds 7.0 billion, the best figure since 2015.
Boost of Concessions. Reinforcement of this line of business following the award in 2022 of two new assets in Colombia and Spain.
Strategic decision: New boost to the reduction of debt. The company has taken the strategic decision to give a new boost to the reduction of the financial debt in response to the global financial scenario marked by a more aggressive monetary policy. The objective, in the short and medium term, is to reduce gross financial debt to below 2.5x ebitda by continuing the Group’s divestment plan. The company will proactively analyze the divestment of assets or companies that are not strategic or not linked to its core business of Construction and Concessions. This deleveraging will improve the credit rating and will also allow the achievement of financial and operational stability, the partial release of cash collateral and an increase in working capital financing lines.
2023 Objectives. The company expects to achieve sales of around 3.4 billion euros, EBITDA of more than 125 million euros and order intake of more than 3.6 billion euros by 2023.
Fiscal 2022 was a year of good operating results for OHLA. The company has exceeded its targets in terms of sales, ebitda and order intake. It has also strengthened its concessions order book, with two new awards in Colombia and Spain. In terms of deleveraging, the company has made significant progress, reaching 3.8x ebitda after completing another bond tender offer of 33.5 million euros on February 20th, 2023. It is also important to note that the company is very close to positive operating cash flow generation before investments and divestments.
With regard to the main economic parameters in the 2022 financial year, sales reached €3.3 billion, up 17.3% compared to 2021. The 70.6% of the turnover has been achieved abroad. In the distribution of sales in the company’s three geographical areas of reference, Europe represents 47.3%, North America 35.4% and Latin America 16.4%. On the other hand, the ebitda has increased by 25.1% to 114.1 million euros, reflecting the good evolution of the business.
The improvement in the income statement is also reflected in the evolution of EBIT, which has almost doubled, ending 2022 at 45.8 million compared to 24.5 million in 2021, representing a growth of 86.9%.
The company closes 2022 with an attributable net income of -96.8 million euros. This parameter has been affected by one-off impacts such as the effect of the fair value of the bonds, exchange rate differences and the adjustment in the value at Canalejas.
Record order intake and order book
OHLA closed 2022 with total short-term order intake of 4.3 billion, 15.6% more than in 2021, the highest record since 2014.
The company’s total order book stands at 7.0 billion, diversified by geography, type and project. This amount, the best record since 2015, represents a growth of 21.1% compared to 2021. OHLA has added, in 2022, the road concession Accesos Norte 2, in Colombia, and the expansion of the Niño Jesús Hospital, in Spain. In fiscal year 2023, the company was recently awarded the concession for the National Cancer Institute in Chile. The Construction division’s order book amounted to 5.8 billion euros, a 21.1% increase. This division performed well in 2022, with sales growing by 21.3%, EBITDA increasing by 28.7% and its margin improving to 4.8%.
Debt reduction
OHLA ended 2022 with a total recourse liquidity position of nearly €700 million.
With regard to debt reduction, in 2022, OHLA cancelled the ICO loan (54.5 million) and carried out a partial bond tender offer (44.6 million). In addition, on February 20, 2023, the company formalized another tender offer of the nominal amount of the bonds for an amount of 33.5 million, following the receipt of the funds from the deferred collections of the Old War Office project. This brings its leverage to 3.8x ebitda.
