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Market activity regained momentum during the second half of 2021 and has accelerated during the first four months of 2022, being already practically at pre-pandemic levels.
Fagor Arrasate has started 2022 with an excellent pace of new contracts in all the sectors in which it operates, having been awarded 26 new projects worth 102 million euros in the first four months of the year.
Outlook for 2022
According to Unai López Moñux, Managing Director of Fagor Arrasate, “the year 2022 started with better prospects than 2021, although not free of uncertainties due to the increase in risks for the global recovery, which is already expected to be weaker than expected and with large divergences between countries”.
Thus, to the marked deterioration of some economies due to the profound impact of the restrictions, depending on their productive fabric, is added the foreseeable impact of high inflation that puts the recovery of some economies at risk if it ceases to be a one-off post-restrictions episode and is prolonged over time due to its impact on the cost of raw materials and energy, and the feedback via wages.
In any case, “at Fagor Arrasate we are confident that the change in trend that began in 2021 and the good performance in the first four months of 2022 will be consolidated. Thus, for the financial year 2022 we expect to reach a figure for new orders of more than 190 million euros, 20% higher than in 2021”, concludes Unai López Moñux, the company’s general manager.
Recovery of activity
After a year 2020 in which the pandemic had a strong impact on investment activity in the sectors where Fagor Arrasate operates and slowed down the awarding processes, especially in the automotive sector, we closed an exciting financial year 2021 with new orders worth 160 million euros – 70% higher than in 2020 and 8.5% higher than the forecast for the year – and practically already at pre-pandemic levels.
Revenues for the financial year 2021 were EUR 126 million, still weighed down by the extraordinarily low level of activity in 2020, with an EBITDA of EUR 8.2 million.
By region, the NAFTA region performed particularly well in 2021, accounting for one third of the revenues. Also noteworthy is the performance of Turkey, a country that is concentrating significant production activity of manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive sector, and where Fagor Arrasate has won important contracts that consolidate its presence in the country. At the other end of the scale, the German market has maintained a low level of investment.
By areas of activity, the Metals-industry business unit has benefited in 2021 from the rise in raw material prices, which has led to a reactivation of the investment appetite of its customers in the steel and aluminum value chain.
In the Automotive business unit, there has also been a resurgence of investment initiatives, driven by the electrification of the sector, resulting in new needs (e.g. lightweight materials) and applications (e.g. batteries and derivatives), where Fagor Arrasate offers leading-edge solutions. In this respect, it should be noted that the facilities for processing and shaping composites now account for around 10% of the company’s new intake.
The performance of the Home Appliances business unit stands out very positively, driven by the high demand in the sector at a global level, derived from COVID-19. The business unit’s performance was excellent, recovering the order intake with respect to 2020 and also improving on the forecasts of the 2021 Management Plan.