OHLA cuts its losses by 35% in the first quarter, up to 7.8 million, and increases its Ebitda by 40%

Group sales amounted to 637.5 million euros, 16% more, of which 76.1% come from abroad

OHLA registered net losses of 7.8 million euros in the first quarter of the year, a figure 35% lower than the negative result of 12 million euros that it obtained in the same period of 2022, as reported this Thursday by the company to the National Stock Market Commission (CNMV).

Group sources have explained to Europa Press that its first quarter results are in line with the consolidation of margins and sales expected by the company and have attributed the reduction in losses to business growth, better margins and cost control. carried out by OHLA.

The infrastructure group has explained that its financial information for the first quarter considers the Services activity as an interrupted activity after its decision to divest from this line of business, as announced last February. According to sources from the group, this divestment is expected to be completed this year.

OHLA's gross operating result (Ebitda) improved by 39.9% between January and March compared to the same period in 2022, reaching 20 million euros, while its net operating result (Ebit) fell by 64 .8%, up to 6.3 million euros.

Group sales amounted to 637.5 million euros in the first three months of the year, 16% more than those registered between January and March 2022.

Of the total sales, 76.1% come from OHLA's activity abroad. Specifically, by geographical areas, Europe represented 44.3% of the company's sales; North America accounted for 38%; Spain concentrated 23.9% of the turnover and Latin America, 17.4%.

OHLA has highlighted that its first quarter results highlight the progress of the business and confirm "the good trend" of the Ebitda margin on sales which, in the case of the construction division, reached 4.5% in the first quarter. For its part, the group's Ebitda margin exceeded 3% at the end of March.

OHLA has ended the first quarter of 2023 with a liquidity position with recourse of 581.1 million euros and a negative net debt of 122.5 million euros, that is, a treasury position above debt.

CONTRACTS AND PROJECT PORTFOLIO

OHLA's total short-term contracting stood at 598.3 million euros until March, a figure similar to the pro forma contracting for the same period of 2022.

For its part, the group's total portfolio at the end of the first quarter reached 6,381.1 million euros, a figure "very similar" to the existing pro forma portfolio at the end of 2022, according to the company.

One of the main objectives of the group is to reduce its indebtedness. Specifically, its medium-term objective is to reduce gross financial debt to below 2.5x Ebitda, giving continuity to the company's divestment plan.

As part of its strategy to promote the reduction of its leverage, on February 20, OHLA formalized another partial repurchase of the face value of the bonds for an amount of 33.5 million, after receiving the funds from the deferred collections of the project 'Old War Office'.

At the end of March, OHLA had a recourse liquidity position of 581.1 million euros. The management, control and monitoring of working capital continue to be a "priority" for the group.

SALES IN CONSTRUCTION RISE 14.9%

The sales of the OHLA construction division reached 602.2 million euros up to March, a figure 14.9% higher than that of the same period of 2022, thanks to the commissioning of the largest contract obtained in the United States and Europe.

Construction activity sales, 79.5% of which are carried out abroad, accounted for 94.5% of the group's total sales. The Ebitda of this division grew by 17.9% in the first quarter, up to 27 million euros.

For its part, OHLA's industrial division recorded sales of 28.3 million euros in the first three months of the year thanks to renewable projects.