It is also committed to placing the Operating Result of around 300 million euros and being a zero emissions company in 2045
SAN SEBASTIAN, 10 (EUROPA PRESS)
CAF held a General Shareholders’ Meeting this Saturday in which its CEO, Javier Martínez Ojinaga, has set as objectives until 2026 “to grow above the market and reach total sales close to 4,800 million euros”.
In his speech, Ojinaga defended that the future of the company will be “determined” by the execution of the new Strategic Plan, “defined by 2026 with a 2030 horizon”, and has opted to develop CAF’s mission and vision “as a world benchmark in rail and bus mobility solutions”.
After pointing out that its railway commercial strategy pursues accessible and attractive markets of “large volume and recurring activity in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific”, it has stressed that there is “a good strategic fit in its offer of solutions, aspiring for them to be a source of close three-quarters of the Group’s sales.
“In buses, Solaris aspires to maintain European leadership in zero-emission mobility in the urban segment, expand its current portfolio to the interurban segment in Europe, and enter North America with an exclusive zero-emission value proposition,” he added.
In the same way, it has advocated applying efficiency programs in all activities to reinforce, with a recurring annual impact, the company’s competitiveness.
It has also placed innovation among the strategic axes. “We will advance in our decarbonization proposal by expanding the range of trains and buses with alternative, electric and hydrogen propulsion, in the automation of transport systems, and in the digitization of their processes, virtual validation and homologation environments or cybersecurity, among others,” he described.
Regarding Sustainability, Martínez Ojinaga has highlighted the transition of mobility solutions with the aim of reaching “zero net emissions in the year 2045”.
Pivoting on these strategic axes, CAF sets the first level objectives for 2026 to “grow above the market and achieve total sales of close to 4,800 million euros, placing the operating result in 2026 at around 300 million euros”. euros, distribute dividends in progression with the results, maintain financial stability, with a balanced Net Financial Debt / EBITDA ratio, as well as reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions up to 30%, and up to 40% in scope 3, with respect to the year 2019, with the ultimate goal of becoming a net zero emissions company by the year 2045.
“All of the above, the result of the organic evolution of the businesses, and complemented, when it makes sense, with the contribution that through acquisition or alliance we expect to generate during this new strategic period to expand the portfolio of products and services of the Group, as well as complement the current industrial and technological capacities in alignment with our international expansion”, he specified.
On the other hand, he recalled that last year it reached a level of contracting of more than 6,000 million euros, which is an all-time high. “This has allowed us to increase the portfolio by 37% compared to the previous year, reaching a record level of 13,250 million euros,” he added.
It has also highlighted that in the railway segment, CAF has reached a level of contracting in 2022 of more than 5,000 million euros, which represents a historical maximum, and has allowed the figure of the order book to rise to 12,000 million.
“Particularly noteworthy is the exceptional rise in the portfolio of rail vehicles to close to 8,000 million euros associated with volume projects and with well-known customers in the main accessible rail markets in the world,” he said.
In this context, it has valued the “high repeatability” of clients in such a way that 65% of the contracts signed are with already known clients. “In France, the transport service operator for the metropolitan area of Montpellier has formalized an order for 60 trams, and in Marseille, RTM, the company that manages the entire public transport network of the city, has entrusted CAF with the acquisition of 15 new tram units”, he assured.
He also recalled that in the first quarter of this year, CAF has closed contracts for the manufacture of 18 additional regional trains of the Coradia Polyvalent platform and in the German market it has been awarded a contract for the supply of up to 233 articulated units to lend service in the city of Hannover.
“Regarding the Spanish market, I must highlight that Renfe, during 2022, placed its trust in CAF for the renewal of the medium-distance service fleet, with a contract that can reach the supply of up to 70 units and the maintenance of a part of the units to be delivered over a period of 15 years”, he stated, while recalling that CAF was awarded the supply of 29 commuter trains last March. Likewise, Martínez Ojinaga has highlighted that both North America and the Middle East acquire “significant weight” as markets.
“We are the number one manufacturer in market share of zero emission vehicles from 2012 to date. If we talk about hydrogen, a technology in accelerated development and growth in urban buses, we have a 60% market share in 2022″, he detailed, to announce that by the end of 2023, CAF will have “close to 3,000 electric and hydrogen buses in operation, every day, in more than 20 countries in Europe”.
DIESEL VEHICLE
“Our plan is to further accelerate the removal of the diesel vehicle from our product portfolio. In this sense, the proposal of the European Commission for the zero emissions objective from 2030 for new urban buses is, without a doubt, an opportunity for which Solaris is 100% prepared”, he has argued.
However, it has recognized that the scope and speed of the commercial implementation of the hydrogen train will be conditioned “by the degree of progress of the hydrogen economy, the cost of its green generation, its transport and regulation”.
In his speech, he also recalled that the Group’s EBITDA last year was 232 million euros, 9% lower than the previous year, “mainly due to the effects of energy, labor and materials inflation, and instability in the supply chain, mainly in the bus segment, with the attributable net profit figure standing at 52 million euros, 39% lower than the previous year”.
“During 2023, however, we project the start of the recovery of Solaris and the profitability of the group in conditions of external economic context similar to the current ones. CAF is also beginning this new strategic cycle with financial solidity”, he indicated, adding that the net financial debt remains at 278 million euros. “In this sense, we will submit for your approval to allocate 29 million euros to dividend distribution, which represents a value of the dividend per share of 0.86 euros,” he continued.
Lastly, he recalled that a total of 14,500 people make up the Group and underlined his commitment to “quality, stable employment without gender, age or professional group gaps”.
For his part, the president of CAF, Andres Arizkorreta, highlighted the approval of the 2026 Strategic Plan, with which they aspire to increase sales and profitability, with a contained level of leverage and adequate remuneration for shareholders, and to grow from sustainably, until reaching zero net emissions in the year 2045.
