Duro Felguera has carried out one of the most complicated shareholders’ meetings in its history due to its delicate financial situation. The industrial company assures that it is being strongly affected by the price situation, the tensions of raw materials and the war in Ukraine. Something to which the commercial blockade of Algeria to Spain due to the diplomatic crisis has been added. A paralysis that has left the completion of the Djelfa combined cycle plant in the air, a project for which they still have to receive 150 million euros, “although we hope to resume the dynamics with Algeria that we had a few months ago as soon as possible”, has expressed the CEO of Duro Felguera, Jaime Argüelles.
However, despite the contracting difficulties they are having “due to global uncertainty that delays investment decisions” the company trusts its viability to the entry of an industrial partner. Something that Argüelles assures that this exercise will happen. “We have great candidates. The process will be the broadest and most complete looking for the interest of investors, ”said the manager of the group based in Asturias.
The company is going through a very delicate situation. The rescue of 120 million from SEPI has not been enough to save the financial situation of the Asturian group, which has forced it to request a new line of financing, as it acknowledged last week to the CNMV. Specifically, “to deal with the impact of the war in Ukraine, the general rise in the prices of materials and energy or the current situation of conflict between Algeria and Spain.” All this, with a view to “dynamically promoting projects and undertaking investment decisions that allow compliance with its viability plan”.
«Duro Felguera, like other companies in the sector, is continually carrying out an assessment of the potential economic impact of certain unforeseen circumstances unrelated to the company, such as the war in Ukraine, the general rise in the prices of materials and energy or the current situation of conflict between Algeria and Spain, could have in their ordinary activity, in order to take the necessary corrective measures and anticipate future situations”, he told the CNMV in the same communication.
Over the next few years, the company will have to face the repayment of the 120 million provided by the SEPI rescue fund for strategic companies. Some aid that took time to arrive in its entirety, waiting for the company to adjust its viability plan to the requirements of the public holding company.
As the company itself breaks down on its corporate website, the destination of the Government funds has been to “prioritize” the continuity of the company’s activity “attending to boost the growth plan in contracting and in the execution of projects, aligning it with the transition energy and digital transformation. The majority of the ransom, 69%, was allocated to the continuity of Duro Felguera’s operations, while the remaining 31% went to reimbursements, taxes, social security, ecological and digital transition and financial expenses.