Obrascón Huarte Lain, S.A. (OHLA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to OHLA's results presentation. The management of the company will run you through the presentation, which will be followed by a Q&A session via webcast platform. I will now hand over the call to the OHLA management team. Thank you.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tomás Ruiz, and I am the Chief Corporate Officer of OHLA Group. Together with me in the room are Mr. Jose María Sagardoy, CFO; and Mr. Pedro Arellano, Head of Investor Relations. I especially thank you for your attendance and interest in the performance of OHLA over the first half of the year, particularly since this is the first time that I lead a results presentation that formerly were commanded by Mr. Manuel Álvarez, who recently left the company. I take the opportunity to thank Manuel on behalf of the company for the excellent work he performed in OHLA during the last 3 years. These results also coincide with the recent rebranding to OHLA, with a partial renewal of the management team after the successful closing of the financial restructuring and capitalization along with the renewal of the shareholders' structure of our company. First of all, I hope you and your families are healthy and safe despite the severe pandemic. Before going through the operational results of this quarter by division in detail, I would like to share some points regarding the group's performance during this past semester when we had several extraordinary events. On July 6, OHL Group announced its new corporate brand becoming OHLA. I can state that OHLA is more than just a new brand or a new corporate identity. It means advancement, progress and openness. It implies a start of a new growth stage for this group. At operational level, OHLA sales amounted to EUR 1.3 billion, similar than in the same period of the previous year, slightly affected by the lower order intake of the unusual last year. However, it is important to point out that EBITDA stands at EUR 30.4 million, a 51.2% increase over the same period of the previous year, with the margin in the construction unit of 3.5% over sales, consolidating the group's upward trend since 2018. In that sense, I can confirm that we are in line with the business plan and the guidance shared with the market for the end of this financial year. Consolidated net operating profit reached EUR 2.9 million in contrast with the negative EUR 7.3 million in the first semester of 2020, affirming the change in trend. As a result of this change in trend in all divisions, the successful completion of the financial restructuring and the rotation of noncore assets, OHLA has returned to a net attributable profit of EUR 75.4 million. OHLA is now entering a new phase focused on growth, consolidating the upturn. Apart from the good performance at operational level, of importance are the figures achieved in the total order intake, which has a direct link with the future turnover as they are converting into future sales. In the first semester of the year, the order intake amounted to EUR 1.8 billion, which is nothing less than 64.3% above the same period in 2020. Therefore, we reiterate our confidence in meeting the internal order intake target set for the year. Besides, it can be confirmed that the noncore asset rotation strategy aforementioned has been successfully implemented. Let me remind you the transactions already announced. Firstly, on April, the sale of OHLA's stake in the New Toledo Hospital took place. The company received EUR 74.6 million with capital gains close to EUR 46 million. Then at the end of June, the sale of the 49% stake in the Old War Office project for a price equal to its book value was executed. Additionally, an agreement has been recently reached for the sale of the group's stake in Sociedad Concesionaria Aguas de Navarra, S.A., which closing is subject only to some administrative authorizations. To end up with this summary, OHLA ended the first half of this year with the successful completion of the financial restructuring and capitalization. On June 28, we announced that the process has been completed. With this transaction, OHLA achieved, among others, the following results: first, a reinforcement in the shareholders' equity up to EUR 205 million, thanks to the capital increases; second, the nominal amount of bond debt has been reduced by EUR 106 million; and following the internationally accepted accounting methodology, the total bond debt reduction increases to EUR 161 million; third, debt maturity extension for the bonds to March 2025 and March 2026 as well as a trigger extension of the facility partially guaranteed by the government commonly called ICO loan. These are only a few key points of the transaction and more detailed information is available at both the results report and interim annual accounts. All the above allowed OHLA to end up with a liquidity position of EUR 648 million which entails finalizing the semester with negative net debt of EUR 111 million. This means, in other words, that OHLA stands with a liquidity position of EUR 111 million over its financial liabilities compared to the negative EUR 83 million of net financial indebtedness at the end of last year. It may be concluded that following the successful restructuring transaction carried out by OHLA shareholders and stakeholders, a major step has been taken in the process of reducing the leverage of the group, resulting in the recapitalization of the company and enhancing its financial stability in the short and medium terms. We are, therefore, entering into a new phase that will allow a better compliance of OHLA's business plan and an improvement in its liquidity position, which should continue to be the main focus of all the group's actions. Before entering in detailing to the operational results, I would like to mention that the company, in line with the debt restructuring and in fulfillment of the cost control policy implemented since 2018, has decided to continue the collaboration solidly with Moody's as a rating company. Let's go now to the operational results of the first half of the year in detail, providing more explanations on the performance of the different divisions of the group. I'll start with the construction business. Sales of the construction division totaled EUR 1 billion, slightly below the figure reported for the same period of the previous year due to the reduction in productivity as a direct consequence of the impact of the pandemic in the new projects awarded last year. Sales in construction division represent an 80% of the total sales of the group. Construction EBITDA reached EUR 35.9 million or 3.5% margin over sales, consolidating the group's upward trend since 2018. This result comes as a consequence of the awards contracted lately with greater margins that contribute to the year's production. Construction order book totaled EUR 4.5 billion as of June 2021, a 12.1% increase compared to December 2020 and representing 20.2 months of sales. Order intake for the first semester amounted to EUR 1.6 million, representing a 79.2% increase of the same period of the previous year. Out of the total order intake, roughly 1/3 corresponds to U.S.A., another 1/3 to Latin America in countries such as Peru or Colombia, and the remaining 1/3 to Europe in countries such as Sweden and United Kingdom, among others. Related to the Industrial and Services division, the industrial division has registered sales for EUR 95.2 million, in line with the previous year. Of interest are the greater activity in renewable energy projects and the contribution of mining and cement projects. Our services division sales amounted to EUR 173.2 million, representing a 22.4 increase over the same period of the previous year, boosted by cleaning, urban and maintenance services. Altogether, the EBITDA figure in both divisions totaled EUR 10.5 million with a 3.2% and 4.3% margins, respectively. In the industrial division, the EBITDA margin is impacted by the slowdown in the execution of certain projects due to the pandemic, mainly in Chile. On the other hand, the margin decrease in the services division is caused by the lower margins at the final stages of some projects and launch of new ones that are expected to show higher margins throughout the year. Before starting the Q&A session, I would like to share a brief conclusion with you all. The successful restructuring and capitalization transaction carried out by OHLA is strengthening the shareholders' equity, along with the EBITDA margin consolidation confirming that the ordinary activity runs well, plus the excellent performance in order intake with direct impacts on the future P&Ls as well as the continuous implementation of the strategies established since 2018 confirmed the favorable position of OHLA for delivering its business plan and the improvement of his liquidity position as cornerstones of the group's actions. With this reinforced balance, OHLA is now entering a new phase focused on stability and growth. Consolidating the upturn by taking advantage of the worldwide expensive cycle in the infrastructure sector. Thank you all for your attention, and we can start now with the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions]

Good morning, all. This is Pedro Arellano from the IR department. Right now, we just received plenty of questions via webcast. I remind to you whatever questions that you have, please write it directly via the web page, or if not, we will be available after the call to reply all this needed. Having said that, we have the first question comes from Alejandro Vigil from Bestinver. First of all, Alejandro, we expect that you will recover shortly and all of our best wishes in this COVID situation. And the questions are: the '21 outlook, if we stick to the guidance that we gave for this year. Secondly, it's regarding Aguas de Navarra. If we can give any update or more details around this asset disposal. If there is any other asset disposal pending in the company, which is the expected net cash position or net debt position that we expect for the final year 2021? And if we can elaborate a little bit more regarding the investment in concessions or regarding the Senda division.

Okay. I will begin by referring to the 2021 outlook. And as I said, we are confident that we will achieve our market forecast, our forecast that we announced to the market since the order intake has been behaving and the new awards have been behaving in a very favorable manner. In fact, we not only have the EUR 1.8 billion of new contracts that we announced, but we also have been awarded already other projects that cannot be announced at this point, but that make us be very, very optimistic about achieving that outlook. The second question relating Aguas de Navarra, we, as I said, we are expecting just a couple of administrative authorizations in order to close this deal. And our forecast is that we would be selling this asset by the -- before the end of this year, of course, probably in the coming months at a price around EUR 25 million. The net cash position, I will ask Jose María, our CFO.

In relation to Aguas de Navarra, I would say that this is not a material asset or a material sale for this company, okay?

Correct.

In relation to the net cash or to the cash consumption, what I would say is that you will have seen that the performance during the year has been much more better than last year because last year, we had, in the first 6 months, a consumption in the activity of around EUR 200 million, EUR 205 million. And this year, this consumption has been reduced in up to EUR 127 million. You know that there is a seasonality effect in the cash consumption. Last year, that was the consumption in the first 6 months. But by year-end, the cash consumption was -- the total cash consumption was EUR 143 million. So if this year, we are in EUR 127 million up to now, I mean, you can imagine, of course, we will be below the, I would say, below EUR 80 million, we should be, but the exact amount is very difficult to forecast.

And finally, there was a question regarding the investment in concessions. I would say that the investment in concessions is one of the main drivers of this new phase of OHLA with the policy, as we have explained, not to invest more than a minor part of the equity required. And we have already been granted a very important concession in Chile, which is related to one of the main areas of expertise of OHLA, which is the [indiscernible] hospital, and we will be signing that contract probably in the next -- before the end of the year. And this is a very relevant project that will bring more than EUR 300 million of construction business for this group.

Okay. We move now to the next question that is not identified. It's more specific regarding the guidance. If we will achieve the more than EUR 80 million guidance at EBITDA figure and if we will achieve the rounded EUR 3 billion of new order intake for this 2021.

Yes. Yes, we think that we will be above this EUR 80 million EBITDA for the whole exercise 2021. However, probably, we will not be reaching the volume of sales that was expected. I mean what we forecast is to compensate an amount which could be a little bit below the expectation in relation to sales like we have seen in the first 6 months with better margin. So the answer is just in terms of EBITDA and a little bit below in terms of sales, total sales for the full year.

Okay. Thank you, Jose María. There is another question regarding Canalejas. When will be open, the full, I think, the shopping mall? And also how it's performing, Canalejas project?

Yes. I would say that we're expecting the shopping mall to begin operations by -- before the end of this year, partially with the full court beginning working probably by September, October. And then next year, by -- before the end of the fourth semester, we hope that the rest of the shopping mall will be open to the public. It is a fact that the opening of the shopping mall has been affected by the pandemic, but we're very optimistic because of the interest as shown and the contracts already signed by the best firms in the fashion and in the retail business that we have closed already. With respect to the hotel, we are performing very well. The results of the hotel in terms of ADR and all the numbers are better than expected. So we are really confident that the 4 Seasons is becoming an iconic hotel for luxury tourism in Madrid, which in fact has become also a very attractive destiny for the rest of Europe and the rest of the world.

Okay. Thank you, Tomás. There is another question from [ Feliz Disca ]. Are the projects in the order book hitting the expected margins when entered? He's referring to new ones. And I think that this question refers if we are contracting the order intake has the minimum required gross margins and profitability in the order book. And roughly, what is the -- I think, what is the normalized EBITDA that we expect to assume that the company is performing well in a normal situation.

I mean, the answer to the first part of the question is yes. I mean, we are consolidating the margins at which we are doing our -- we have -- we are awarded the project, okay? And in relation to the EBITDA margin that it's needed to maintain the volume of cash in the company. I mean we have always said -- I mean, it's not exactly -- there's not exactly a link between the cash and EBITDA, but there is an important relation. We have always said that this company should be in an EBITDA margin above 3%, around 4% and 5%. If you have seen the numbers, currently, we are at 2.3%, so we still need to improve in terms of EBITDA margin at the level of the company. But the good news are that in relation to the construction business, which is the most important in the company, currently, we are at 3.5%. This is a good ratio that, however, we need to increase up to, let's say, 4%, 4.5%. So we are near, but we still have to do some work at this respect. And we will -- and this will be done with the new awards that we are -- have been awarded during year '21. That will help.

Okay. Thank you, Jose María. Right now, there is a question or plenty of questions from Victor Torres. Victor, if something is pending, I will call you after the call because you made too much questions. But regarding the guidance and the different levels, we already covered that questions in the previous questions that we just received. Regarding the net cash position to the end of the year, I think that we already cover also that questions. The cash of Toledo and Old War Office, the cash of Toledo was already received and the account of hotel is the first question, I think, that we haven't covered and which will be the price of Aguas de Navarra, and which is the level pending of legacy. So I think it's 3 questions. The cash of Toledo whether if it's received. What will be the price in Aguas de Navarra? And which is the status of the legacy projects?

Well, cash of Toledo has been received, as you have said. In relation to Old War Office, the price, there was an agreement in the price, and it will be received in the following 2 years in different payments. In relation to the cash of Aguas de Navarra, I mean, the transaction has been signed, but it is still pending from some condition precedent, so we will receive this cash during the second part of the year. In relation to the amount, I think Tomás explained that it was in the neighborhood of EUR 25 million, not a material asset. And in relation to the consumption of the legacy, you have the information in the prospectus provided today. And the guidance for this year was a cash consumption of EUR 70 million. What we expect is that we will be a little bit below that amount. It's difficult to forecast. I don't know if it would be at levels of 50, 40, and -- but this will not be -- we will not be saving the amount our best estimate would be that we would be delaying the difference for the following year.

Okay. Next question comes from again Bestinver, Alejandro Vigil. OHLA and real estate development business, plans for new investments?

Yes. Well, here, I would say that given the expertise of OHLA in this area, which has been shown, for instance, in Canalejas, which is an iconic project and development here in Madrid. We are looking into different opportunities for investing in this area in the future, but in the short term because this is something that is highly equity demanding. And our intention is to take advantage of OHLA's expertise, but keeping those equity investments in line with our capabilities, which means that we will always go in hand together with other investors who have the resources to invest in type of projects, and we'll take advantage of OHLA's know-how.

Okay. This is another question regarding Old War Office. If we can explain the waterfall or the cash collection when we expect it to be concluded and when is expected the different payments to receive.

I mean we cannot provide details on the exact payments that we will be receiving. What we can say at this respect is that we will be receiving those amounts in the following 2 years.

But the main price will be paid in the coming 12, 18 months. There is a confidentiality agreement that does not allow us to give more details because the buyer ask us not to do it.

And 90% of the amount pending to be received will be received in the following 12 months.

Yes, exactly.

Okay. Is any news flow coming from Cemonasa or trend from Navalcarnero?

We expect to receive the full claim.

Yes. Well, here, I would say that Cemonasa is a dispute in which we really believe we are going be able to recover the -- as a minimum, the EUR 200 million that this asset has in value in our book value. We are expecting in the short term, probably before the end of this year, the Comida Madrid, given the result of the litigation will pay a small amount, close to around EUR 18 million related to this litigation and the difference will be probably paid next year. But we are very, very optimistic about the result of this litigation.

Okay. We have other questions not regarding only the Cemonasa. Yes, regarding any other litigation that the company has opened if any update on that front?

I think that...

No news.

No news, and if something, we'll explain it via the interim annual accounts and the annual accounts. There is a specific paragraph that says litigations. So whatever any update, any news flow that comes from those specific issues, you will find every semester in those updates that we release publicly to the market.

There is another question from Giovanni Visentin. Are you expecting a new rating from Fitch on your new bonds?

The answer is yes. As you may know, Fitch said that they will be waiting for the result presentation of the company in order to update the rating. So yes, they will be providing the new rating, I would say, in the following 15 days.

Okay. Let me check the rest of the questions that we just received. There is another question saying that Hospital de Montreal, is any negotiation ongoing on that front hospital? I remember that Hospital de Montreal is the Champ Hospital.

I mean the answer is everybody knows that we will be selling the participation in the Hospital of Montreal. It is true that we have received some offers from different potential buyers. And the intention of the company is to sell that participation in the following, let's say, 12 months.

We have another question that says regarding I think that in terms of the new bonds in the need to apply the proceeds of the repayment to cancellation of debt. Giovanni, yes, regarding the new documentation of the bond, we have some. It's mandatory that 50% of the collections that we receive from any asset sale, assets rotation should be directly to repay debt, okay? So basically, with a room with savings for the company of 120 or more. So...

Just to specify, Pedro, this applies to the ICO loan, okay? This applies to the ICO loan. And in relation to the bondholders, what we have negotiated is that there is some room for the company to strengthen the cash. And once we are above that room, then we will be amortizing the bonds.

Yes, of course, basically is we will cancel the debt and the priority there that we have to cancel in the short term, it's ICO because it has more seniority. And after the bonds is what I'm referring. Okay. There is no more questions. I just make a last check, but there is no more questions. Thank you so much all for your attention, for your presence. Hope you enjoy your holiday in case you take your vacations now. And whatever is needed, please count to the Investor Relations team, and we will try to do our best to solving all your questions. Thank you so much, and have a nice day.