Ence achieves €200 million EBITDA in 2015, in line with projections and sharply higher than the €58 million in 2014

 

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  • The extension of the concession for the Pontevedra plant and the award of 40 MW in capacity at the most recent biomass energy auction mark the first steps towards achieving the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan.
  • The Board will propose to the Annual Meeting a gross final dividend of €0.10 per share. Added to the interim dividend paid in October, it represents a total payment of €0.144 gross per share, 44% higher than in 2014 and a dividend yield of 4.7%.

February 12, 2016.- Ence – Energía y Celulosa recorded a net profit of €50 million in 2015, against a loss of €141 million in 2014. Adjusted EBITDA came to €200 million last year, an increase of 241% over the year before. The strong improvement in results was driven by the impact of the company’s competitiveness improvement plan and positive price trends for pulp. A key factor also was a reduction in production costs, which dropped to €355/tonne in the final quarter of the year, giving an average of €359/tonne in 2015, 11% lower than in 2014.

Ignacio de Colmenares, CEO of Ence, said: “we have met the ambitious target we set for 2015 in achieving €200 million in adjusted EBITDA thanks, amongst other aspects, to the measures we have implemented.”

“The renewal of the concession for Ence’s plant in Pontevedra, in which we will invest €61 million, and the recent award of a 40 MW plant in the auction for biomass generation, are important steps towards meeting the objectives set by Ence in its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan,” he added.

Rising pulp prices, as a consequence of a sustained increase in demand, have had a highly positive impact in the strong results for 2015, as well as a favourable euro/dollar exchange rate. The company completed dollar hedging for the next 18 months at between $1.07/€1 and $1.15/€1, covering approximately 50% of pulp sales.

In 2015 Ence continued to improve its capacity to generate operating cash flow. Recurrent free cash flow came to €110 million, which enabled the company to reduce debt by €43 million, assign €34 million to investments and €36 million to pay dividends.

The Board of Ence has agreed to propose to the next Annual Shareholders Meeting the distribution of a final cash dividend of €0.10 gross per share against 2015 results. Added to the interim dividend paid in October, this means a total payment to shareholders of €0.144 per share, a rise of 44% over the €0.1 paid in 2014. This payment represents a dividend yield of 4.78% against the average share price in 2015.