TUBACEX expects a significant improvement of results in 2013, a financial year that will be focused on generating cash, as Chairman Álvaro Videgain, and CEO Jesús Esmorís, have stated at the Shareholders’ Annual General Meeting, which gathered today in the company’s headquarters in Llodio, Álava.
The company is expecting this increase based on the improvement of the product mix, with a growing importan- ce of high value-added tubes for the oil and gas exploration
and extraction in global sales, in addition to the manage-ment changes that are being implemented in different plants of the Group, including the competitiveness and cost improvement plans and the expenditure and working capital reduction plans. The improvement of the product mix will be further reinforced thanks to the increase in the production capacity of OCTG tubes after completing the expansion of the facilities of the Amurrio plant, which will end this year.
In this sense, during the first quarter of 2013, TUBACEX has achieved a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of 14.37 million Euros, which is 38.6% higher than the same period of the previous year, and a net profit of 3.53 million Euros, which has trebled the results for 2012. During the first quarter, sales amounted to 145.51 million Euros, showing a growth of 7.6%.
Shareholders’ Meeting Agreements
The Shareholders’ Annual General Meeting has agreed in the meeting held today to ratify the interim dividend paid to the shareholders on 15 April of 0.0231 Euros per share (before tax) and approved a supplementary dividend of 0.0043 Euros per share (before tax), payable on 1 July. Considering both payments, TUBACEX will allocate 30% of the net profit of the year 2012 to dividends.
Moreover, the Board has approved the re-election of Álvaro Videgain as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and ratified the appointment of Jesús Esmorís as CEO. Both appointments have a term of six years, as established in the Articles of Incorporation.
New Strategic Plan 2013-2017
The CEO of TUBACEX, Jesús Esmorís, stated in his intervention before the shareholders that the company has finished the draft of the new Strategic Plan that will lead the Group’s initiatives from 2013 until the end of 2017.
This new Plan, which will be presented in the month of July, will have two distinctive phases. The first one, during the years 2013 and 2014, will focus on obtaining yields from the capital expenditure of the past years, on cash generation, on the reinforcement of the company’s financial position and on improvements in management. The second phase, running from 2015 to December 2017, will focus on the company’s growth and, consequently, on the increase of the share value.
2012 Financial Year
As regards the 2012 financial year, for which the annual accounts have been approved today at the General Meeting, the Chairman of the company, Álvaro Videgain, said that this year has showcased the continuous recovery of the tubes market that started back in 2011, in addition to the increase in demand and the results of the operational improvements implemented by the Group that have allowed for TUBACEX to increase its gross operating profit (EBITDA) by 68.3% and treble profits.
Order intake increased by 12% in comparison with 2011, with a special mention to orders for oil and gas exploration and extraction investment projects, as well as for refining and power generation. Consolidated sales for the year amounted to 532.42 million Euros, resulting in an increase of 9.4%.
The gross operating profit (EBITDA) stood at 45.78 million Euros, whereas the net profit amounted to 11.86 million Euros.
Capital expenditure of €33.50 M
Throughout 2012, TUBACEX invested in technical facilities and machinery for a value of 33.50 million Euros, particularly in those seeking to strengthen the strategic development of production capacity in those segments requiring a higher level of expertise and added value within the oil, gas and power generation sectors experiencing higher growth levels, such as the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in extreme conditions (offshore and deep water extraction) and power generation at state-of-the-art plants.
From 2008 to 2012, the company has invested 152.22 million Euros mainly on the development of the last Strate-gic Plan. It is important to highlight that this investment, with an annual average of 30.44 million Euros, has been made in the midst of the global economic crisis, which shows the company’s financial capacity.
Of the capital expenditure during the year, it is important to highlight the investment made to increase the capacity of the oil and gas extraction tubes (OCTG) manufacturing facilities at the TTI plant in Amurrio. The company’s goal is to increase the production capacity of these facilities, given
the good demand prospects for this type of high value-added products in the oil and gas sector.
At the end of the year, a new Pilger-type cold roller was installed and a new state-of-the-art finishing line for OCTG tubes will be operational during 2013. These new facilities will operate continuously and will be fully automated.
With these investments, along with other recent ones in the last financial years in different plants, TUBACEX aims to improve the product mix and increase the weight of high value-added products in total sales.
Moreover, the U.S. subsidiary Salem Tube is implementing a comprehensive investment plan to improve its industrial facilities, including a new finishing area, thus strengthening product quality assurance and improving the U.S. subsidiary’s position in high value-added niches, such as the aeronautics and nuclear industries.