San Sebastián, June 10 (EFE).- The company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) aspires in 2023 to achieve “growth in sales above the market and a progressive recovery of profitability” to advance in its strategic objective of reaching to 4,800 million euros in 2026.
The Chairman, Andrés Arizkorreta, and the CEO, Javier Martínez Ojinaga, have reviewed the evolution and prospects of the company in their speeches before the General Shareholders’ Meeting, meeting at the company’s headquarters in Beasain (Gipuzkoa).
Martínez Ojinaga has highlighted the “good moment” of the sector and has stated that “there is no doubt” that zero-emission train and bus mobility, CAF’s main activities, “has a tailwind”.
It has announced that in 2023 they foresee “the beginning of the recovery” of its Polish subsidiary Solaris and the “profitability of the group”, whose net profit fell by 38% last year, to 55 million euros, due to the rise in prices and the scarcity of materials.
Increase sales and profitability
As for the main figures for 2022, the CEO highlighted that CAF reached a contracting level of more than 6,000 million euros.
This represents an all-time high and allowed the portfolio to rise by 37% compared to the previous year, up to a record amount of 13,250 million euros.
In the railway segment, CAF achieved a contracting level of 5,000 million euros, which represents another record and also allowed the number of the order book to be increased to 12,000 million, with important projects in the main markets of the world.
Opposition to the Jerusalem train
Among these, they have cited the award to a consortium with the participation of CAF of the Jerusalem light rail project. This infrastructure is opposed by various social groups, including Amnesty International, which have gathered at the gates of the Junta to ask CAF to “withdraw”.
This issue has also been present within the shareholders’ meeting. The president of CAF has explained that, due to the tightening of international sanctions and the geopolitical context, the company has reinforced “vigilance” in projects of “potential risk”.
Arizkorreta has also specified that the Basque company commissioned an “independent expert” to produce a report on the social impacts of the Jerusalem project. As he has said, he confirms his “high level of compliance with international standards in corporate social responsibility and sustainability.”
CAF’s CEO has been in charge of reviewing the main contracts closed in 2022, both in the rail and bus parts.
Innovation and sustainability are other keys to the group’s activity and for this it employs 14,500 people.
hydrogen train
As regards hydrogen, CAF is the leader in the bus market and participates in the European consortium that is developing a new train with this technology. However, Martínez Ojinaga has warned that “the scope and speed of the commercial implementation of the hydrogen train will be conditioned. “For the progress of the hydrogen economy, the cost of its green generation and the infrastructures for its transport, in addition to its regulation.”
The Basque group maintains the objectives of its strategic plan, a “road map” that will mark the future of the company. Among other achievements, he wants to place exploitation at 300 million in 2026 and reach zero net emissions in 2045. EFE