The OHL Group increased its recurring distributable net profit by 4% in 2013
February 27, 2014
The OHL Group obtained satisfactory results in 2013, with a 4.0% growth in its recurring distributable net profit over the previous financial year, to reach 270.4 million euros.
This progress in the recurring net profit has come after an increase of 15.4% in EBITDA and of 24.3% in the recurring EBIT, and an 8.6% fall in sales to stand at 3,684.2 million euros.
The OHL Group’s international activity continues to be very significant, representing 75% of sales and 92% of EBITDA.
The geographic distribution of the Group’s sales in 2013 is as follows:
- Central and South America 29,2%
- Spain 25,3%
- USA and Canada 16,7%
- Middle East and North Africa 14,3%
- Central and Eastern Europe 13,4%
- Other 1,1%
Progress by activities
The OHL Concessions division ended 2013 with an 8.7% increase in sales in its concessionaire activity, due to good development in traffic growth. However, its total business figure fell 20.0%, due to both lower construction activity (its own and outsourced) in Mexico compared to the previous period and to the change in the consolidation method (from proportional to the equity method) for the Poetas freeway.
The growing contribution of Mexico’s highways has provided a 27.0% increase in the EBITDA of OHL Concessions, which contributed 78.3% of the OHL Group’s total EBITDA in 2013.
On April 2, 2013, OHL Concessions was awarded the contract for the construction and operation of the new terminal 2 at the Port of Valparaíso, in Chile, and closed the financial year with a portfolio of 16 main concessions, including 10 toll highways, with a total of 790 km, an airport, three ports and two railroad concessions.
For its part, the OHL Construction division registered a slight fall of 2.5% in sales. The 9.0% increase in foreign business did not offset the fall in activity in Spain, where sales fell by 34.2%. Its EBITDA remained practically unchanged from 2012.
This division ended the year with a works portfolio of 8,059.7 million euros, with major international contracts, including the Ural-Polar rail line in Russia, the CHUM hospital in Montreal, Canada, the Marmaray rail project in Turkey, and the high speed Mecca-Medina railroad in Saudi Arabia. The foreign construction portfolio now represents 81.5% of the total.
In 2013, OHL Construction was awarded works for a total of 3,048.6 million euros, including the following: contracts for line 3 of the Santiago subway, in Chile; the Mushaireb & Education City stations on the Doha subway, in Qatar; the 72nd Street station of the New York subway; a section of highway between Hubová and Ivachnová in the Slovak Republic, and the Gustavo Fricke Hospital, in Viña del Mar, and terminal 2 of the Port of Valparaíso, both in Chile. These works are for a total of 1,047.3 million euros.
Stake in Abertis and financial operations
Other significant events in the financial year: in March, the OHL Group, through OHL Concessions, acquired 3% of Abertis from La Caixa, raising its stake in the company to 18.93% and consolidating it as the second shareholder and underlining its intention to maintain this shareholding interest.
In the financial section, as part of the policy of optimizing its financial policy, the OHL Group made several operations in 2013, demonstrating its prestige in the international capital markets.
In April, OHL Concessions, through its subsidiary OHL Investments, made an issue of bonds exchangeable for shares in OHL Mexico, for an amount of 300 million euros. This issue was expanded by a further EUR 100 million in October. This brings the total amount issued to 400 million euros, secured by 16.99% of OHL Mexico.
Also in April, OHL recorded on the Irish Stock Exchange a commercial paper program to issue short-term securities for a maximum amount of 300 million euros. Finally, in September, OHL Concessions signed a three year loan denominated in pesos, equivalent to EUR 300 million, with the guarantee of 21.9% of the shares of OHL Mexico.
2013 has also been a year of changes for OHL Mexico, with major operations in the financial sphere. In June, a 100% primary capital increase was completed successfully, which involved the issuance of 239,397,167 new shares for a total amount of 6,942.5 million Mexican pesos. This operation strengthened the balance sheet and provided financial flexibility to OHL Mexico at a key moment for its activity, with the current positive outlook for investment in transport infrastructure in Mexico.
In December, comprehensive refinancing was completed of the Mexican Concessionaire (Conmex) – the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense Highway, OHL Mexico’s most important asset -, worth some 17,300 million Mexican pesos, through a combination of various financial instruments (capital markets and bank financing), which were executed in a single act with a 100% guarantee from Goldman Sachs. This refinancing increases the average life from 5 to 23 years and substantially improves the financial cost. This operation transforms ConMex into an investment grade asset and a major cash generator for OHL Mexico.