Mungia (Bizkaia), 25 de abril de 2024.- Arteche, a global leader in equipment, components and solutions for the energy sector, held its General Shareholders' Meeting this Friday in Mungia. On the agenda, among other matters, the group's audited annual accounts for the 2023 financial year were approved, as well as the management of the Board of Directors. Likewise, the Board proposed to the Shareholders' Meeting the distribution of a dividend against the 2023 results in the amount of 6.03 million euros, equivalent to a pay-out of 50%, which was approved during the meeting, thus fulfilling its commitment to shareholder remuneration and following the line initiated in 2021.
Before the shareholders, the company's managers presented last year's results, including an all-time record in sales, which exceeded 400 million euros, representing a growth of 16%. In addition, the company also achieved a record net profit of 12.1 million euros, representing an increase of 56.9% over the previous year. Gross operating profit (EBITDA) for 2023 also grew by 35.1% to 40.7 million euros, showing a substantial margin improvement of 1.5 percentage points over the previous year. The direct margin in absolute terms grew by 29.7% to 133.6 million euros, while operating cash flow generation amounted to 39% of EBITDA as of December 2023.
In addition, the Board has received authorization to proceed with the derivative acquisition of treasury stock, either directly or through group companies, within a maximum period of 5 years from the date of the Meeting, in accordance with Articles 146 and 509 of the Capital Companies Act and in compliance with the rules and customs of the stock market. The shares acquired may be allocated in part or in full to workers, employees or directors of the company when there is a recognized right or those who hold option rights, as well as being made available to the liquidity provider in accordance with the rules established for the trading of shares in the BME Growth segment of BME MTF Equity. The Meeting also authorized the Board of Directors to proceed, if necessary, with the execution of the resolution to reduce the share capital in order to redeem the treasury shares that may be held on its balance sheet, charged against profits or free reserves and up to the maximum number of treasury shares existing at any given time.
During the meeting, Alex Artetxe, Chairman and CEO of the company, highlighted that:
"We have closed 2023, meeting the essential objectives of our 20-23 Strategic Plan and demonstrating the soundness of our business model. We are living in a time of great investment and with great opportunities derived from the need for a radical transformation of the energy system. A context that we have kept in mind when drawing up our Strategic Plan to 2026, the new roadmap that will guide Arteche's trajectory in the coming years".
He also thanked the shareholders for their confidence and their contribution to the success of Arteche's strategy.
Re-election of proprietary directors
In addition to the aforementioned points, the Meeting approved the re-election of Ziskua Ber, S.L. and Gestión de Capital Riesgo del País Vasco, SGEIC, S.A. as members of the Board of Directors of the company, with the category of proprietary director, for a period of four years. Likewise, the maximum amount of the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors has been set for the current fiscal year 2024 and the auditors of the Company and its consolidated group have been re-elected.
Fulfillment of the environmental, social and corporate commitment
The Board has also submitted its Sustainability Report (Statement of Non-Financial Information) for the 2023 fiscal year for consideration and approval by the Meeting, which is publicly available on its website.
In terms of its impact on the environment, during the past year, Arteche continued to make progress on its objectives for 2030 around two main axes: climate change mitigation and the circular economy. Thus, the Group managed to reduce emissions 1 and 2 by 39.3% compared to 2021. The consumption of energy generated from renewable sources has increased from 15% in 2022 to 34% in 2023; a progression aligned with the objective of achieving 100% renewable consumption by 2030. The percentage of recycled waste rose by 8% to 57.8%. It should also be noted that the 2023 fiscal year ended without any environmental incidents.
With regard to the social dimension, the percentage of women in the workforce continued to increase and now represents 26%, as does the percentage of women in management positions, which currently stands at 28.1%. Arteche is determined to boost equality and diversity in its workforce to achieve a percentage of women in management and top-level technical positions of 40% by 2030. In addition, the Group has increased training hours per person by 19% to 26.14 hours in 2023. In health and safety, progress continued to be made in the prevention of occupational accidents, with a 30% reduction in the accident frequency rate and a 21% reduction in the severity rate.
Finally, with regard to corporate governance criteria, we have continued with the project to implement the ICFR (Internal Control over Financial Reporting System) and the Criminal Risk Management System (CRMS). The Group continues to reinforce its commitment to the development of a Compliance culture defined by training, transparency and Arteche's values.
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About Arteche Group
Founded in 1946, the Arteche Group's activity is framed within the electrical sector, from generation to distribution, specializing in the electrical equipment, components and solutions industry. Within this framework, the Arteche Group is in the TOP 3 of the world leaders in the instrument transformer market, and is number 1 in the auxiliary relays market, and maintains a regional leadership position in the rest of the products especially aimed at highly demanding and value-added markets, such as renewable generation and the railway sector.
The Arteche Group's business is focused on enabling the transmission and distribution of electrical energy from any generation plant to the end user with efficiency, quality and reliability. That is why the company invests recurrently in R&D&I, with the intention of improving the quality and efficiency of its products, innovating in the development of new products and offering the customer a differential added value. Arteche is currently present in more than 175 countries with commercial distribution capabilities; it has 13 factories in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania, including 7 research centers; and it has more than 2,800 employees worldwide.
