13/03/2017

Strategic Plan 2017-2021. The CLH Group will invest 830 million euros between 2017 and 2021 to promote international expansion and operational excellence

The chairman and chief executive officer of the CLH Group, José Luis López de Silanes and Jorge Lanza, presented the company’s new Strategic Plan 2017-2021, which provides for investment of 829 million euros and aims to promote international expansion and maintain operational excellence, with a renewed focus on meeting new customer needs and developing new services.

During the presentation of the Plan, López de Silanes and Jorge Lanza pointed out that “the plan will lay a solid foundation for the company’s international expansion and will allow the CLH Group to become a major benchmark in the logistics sector”.

A significant part of the planned investments will be earmarked for the development of new international projects and the consolidation of those already existing, as well as for the improvement of infrastructures of the CLH Group in Spain and the development of new services for its customers.

The investment in new international projects that the company plans to carry out in forthcoming years will amount to 400 million euros, in addition to the direct investment of the CLH Group in existing international projects (United Kingdom, Ireland and Oman) which will exceed 130 million euros.

Furthermore, the CLH Group will invest nearly 300 million euros in the improvement of its infrastructures in Spain, particularly in operational and safety improvements and their automation, as well as the development of environmental protection projects to ensure the integrity of its logistics system, and to promote business growth in Spain.

López de Silanes stated that “during the strategic plan period, we expect moderate growth in oil product demand in Spain and the other countries where we operate as a result of the economic upturn, which will boost activity”.

Main Lines of Action

The main lines of action covered in the Plan focus on growth and the improvement of efficiency according to the CLH Group’s maturity in each of the countries where it is present, as well as the development of new international projects.

In Spain, three main lines of action have been defined to maintain operational excellence. In this regard, the company will focus on the development of new services that are more adapted to customer needs, especially in coastal areas. It will also continue to promote the incorporation of the latest technologies to continue improving the high level of efficiency achieved in recent years. Likewise, it will implement a profound cultural change to meet the needs of its customers with more flexibility and keep boosting the internationalisation process initiated during the previous strategic plan.

In this regard, the chief executive officer, Jorge Lanza, stated that “the plan will place more focus on the customer and will enable the reinforcement of the company’s operational excellence by promoting a working style that is more cooperative and adaptation to the company’s new international status”.

In the United Kingdom, where the CLH Group has been present since 2015 through CLH-PS, the strategic plan provides for the implementation of a new commercial model inspired by the operational system developed by CLH in Spain. This new commercial model will allow the Group to offer significant improvements in the provision of services to customers and greater operational efficiency, as well as an improvement in the return on investment made by the company in the country.

In Ireland, where the CLH Group started the operation of the facility at Dublin Airport in May 2016, through CLH Aviation Ireland, the main line of action set out in the strategic plan is the completion of the construction of the new facility that will increase the size of the current facilities sixfold and could start operating in May 2019, fourteen months ahead of the date agreed with the Dublin Airport Authority.

In Oman, the main line of action for the strategic plan 2017-2021 period is the completion of the construction and commissioning of a storage facility and a pipeline of nearly 300 kilometres in length at the end of 2017, and the start of operation of these infrastructures through Orpic Logistic Company, a joint venture set up by CLH together with the Omani company Orpic.

Furthermore, the new strategic plan aims to continue the promotion of the international expansion of the CLH Group during the 2017-2021 period, underpinned by the strengths of the model developed by the company throughout its 90 years of history.

The new Strategic Plan also highlights the commitment of the CLH Group to corporate social responsibility matters, with the purpose of creating sustainable value for the company’s different stakeholders through the actions provided for in the new CSR master plan, which is included within the strategic plan.

EBITDA Growth

As a result of the growth in activity and the development of the strategic lines covered in the plan, the CLH Group expects to increase EBITDA to 464 million euros in 2021, which represents an increase of 76 million euros compared to the 2016 year-end, half of which will be generated by new international projects.

Currently, the company has a healthy balance sheet and the strategic plan expects to maintain the Debt/EBITDA ratio at current levels throughout the plan period.

2016 Financial Results

During the presentation of the Strategic Plan 2017-2021, Jorge Lanza also reported on the key figures for the CLH Group for the financial year 2016.

Oil product deliveries from CLH facilities in Spain during 2016 amounted to 44 million cubic metres, which represents an increase of 4.6% over the previous year.

This increase in activity and some circumstantial effects, such as higher crude oil prices and the consolidation of the financial results of international subsidiaries (CLH-PS and CLH Aviation Ireland), resulted in operating income growth of 8.9% compared to 2015, reaching 711.4 million euros. On the other hand, operating expenses increased by 1.7 %.

As a result, EBITDA grew by 14.4 % compared to 2015, amounting to 388 million euros. The total profit after tax of the CLH Group stood at 218 million euros, 25% higher than the previous year.

Investments made in 2016 reached over 110 million euros, of which 57 million euros were allocated to maintenance and improvement projects for company facilities in Spain.

Moreover, during 2016 CLH reduced the price of its logistics and storage services in Spain by 0.6%, which enabled it to keep the average price of the company’s logistics service below one euro cent per litre, which represents approximately 0.8% of the end price for automotive diesel and 0.7% of the price for gasoline 95 paid by consumers.