OHLA, a global infrastructure company, closed the 2024 year with solid growth in its main operating and financial figures, once again achieving and surpassing all of the targets announced to the market. This achievement is all the more significant given that it was achieved while the company was successfully undertaking its recapitalization.

In this way, the Group closes a year in which it has made clear and sustainable progress and in which the soundness of the company’s short- and long-term strategy has been reflected. The main challenge, once this financial reinforcement has been secured, will be not only to drive growth but also to boost the company’s profitability.

At the operating level, OHLA has far exceeded the forecasts offered to the market a year ago. Sales reached 4.172 billion euros, which represents an increase of 16% compared to 2023 and 9.8% more than estimated. EBITDA also exceeded expectations, improving by 5.2% over forecast and reaching 152.6 million euros, 11.3% more than the previous year. It is also worth highlighting the progressive improvement of the EBITDA margin in Construction, which closed the year at 4.7%, compared to 3.4% in the first quarter.

The Group has also generated a positive cash flow of 98.8 million euros, consolidating its capacity to generate liquidity for the second consecutive year.

On the other hand, contracting grew by 14% compared to 2023 and by 25% compared to what was announced, reflecting a very positive result on all operational fronts. In total, order intake in 2024 amounted to 5,124.9 million euros, representing a book-to-bill of 1.2x, ensuring balanced and diversified growth both in terms of geography and project type.
In this context, it is worth noting that OHLA’s total portfolio has reached 9,224.5 million euros, which represents a historical record for the company and ensures coverage of 23.7 months of sales. This remarkable growth evidences the solid evolution of this magnitude since 2021, when the portfolio stood at €5.8 billion. This sustained increase not only underscores the company’s ability to capture large-scale projects for the company, but also its solid position in the global market.

Financial Control

On February 13, OHLA successfully completed its Recapitalization Operation with the objective of strengthening the Group’s financial structure.

Once this process has been completed, which has allowed the Group to cancel debt for more than 190 million (payment of the coupon, cancellation of bonds and repayment of the ICO loan), it should be noted that the company’s leverage ratio currently stands at 2.2 times, a more than substantial improvement if we take into account that the indicator reached 11.3 times in 2019.

In this context, it is worth mentioning that the Group, for the first time in years, is already at levels comparable to the sector. The company’s commitment will be to continue to reduce this figure, and financial discipline will continue to accompany OHLA’s strategy over the coming years.

As a result of this process, which was closed at the maximum levels announced and with an over-demand from all the actors involved, it should be recalled that 107.8 million euros of pledged cash have been released and a commitment has been obtained from the financial institutions to continue providing guarantees. This represents a turning point in the relationship with the financial institutions and is a sign of confidence in the company.

In addition, the resounding success of the capital increase subscribed at its maximum amount of 150 million has allowed the arrival of new investors to OHLA’s capital and has contributed to strengthening its financial and corporate position.

The aforementioned milestones, together with the extension of the maturity of the remaining debt in bonds until December 31, 2029 (no partial maturities and lower exit coupon), the relaxation of certain terms and conditions, and the support in guarantees for the Group’s Business Plan, contribute to improving the Company’s positioning to meet its future challenges.

Regarding this operation, it is key to point out the broad support that OHLA has had in all phases of the process, having reached agreements with Bondholders, Banks, Shareholders and New Investors. Their support is a clear reflection of the support of all our stakeholders for the Business Plan and the company’s future prospects.