Financial Highlights

  • Operational net profit EUR 138 million, +16% year on year; nominal net profit EUR 128 million, +20%
  • Cash flow from operating activities of EUR 1.1 billion last twelve months up EUR +352 million year on year
  • Net cash position shows underlying year-on-year improvement of EUR 714 million
  • Strong growth in new orders of approximately 30%, EUR 2 billion, to EUR 8.5 billion
  • Guidance FY 2023: operational net profit of EUR 510-550 million

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FURTHER INFORMATION

HOCHTIEF Group

3M 2023 Financial Highlights

Operational net profit EUR 138 million, +16% year on year; nominal net profit EUR 128 million, +20%

  • Strong performance with sales up 16% year on year at
    EUR 6.2 billion (+14% f/x-adj.), driven by HOCHTIEF Americas and Asia Pacific divisions
  • Stable operational net profit margin of 2.2% and operational PBT margin of 3.3%
  • All divisions contributed to Group's operational net profit growth

Cash flow from operating activities1 of EUR 1.1 billion last twelve months up EUR +352 million year on year

  • Q1 outflow reflects characteristic Q1 cash flow seasonality with year-on-year variation driven by strong sales growth and following an outstanding Q4 2022 net working capital performance
  • Net operating capex ramped up to EUR 50 million mainly due to increased purchases of job-costed tunneling equipment

Net cash position shows underlying year-on-year improvement of EUR 714 million

  • EUR 390 million net debt position at a similar level to Q1 2022 after several non-operating effects LTM, including
    • M&A (CIMIC minority buyout, HOT capital increase, MACA acquisition, partial Ventia divestment),
    • HOCHTIEF dividend distribution,
    • Other non-operating effects (payments CCPP and Chilean project, Ventia stake)

Strong growth in new orders of approximately 30%,

EUR 2.0 billion, to EUR 8.5 billion

  • Several important new high-tech infrastructure projects secured
  • New orders represent 1.1x work done last twelve months
  • Order backlog of EUR 51.8 billion up 6% year on year, or 3% year to date, both f/x-adjusted
  • Proportion of lower-risk order book has significantly increased over last 5 years to over 80%

Guidance FY 2023: operational net profit of EUR 510-550 million

  • Consolidating core market positions and developing presence in the structural growth areas of high-tech,energy transition and sustainable infrastructure
  • Capital allocation to support diversification, simplification, growth and high-tech infrastructure expertise
  • Dividend of EUR 4.00 per HOCHTIEF share approved at recent Annual General Meeting (vs. EUR 1.91 for 2021)

LTM = last twelve months; yoy = year on year

1 Cash flow figures pre-factoring, and underlying, i.e. excluding extraordinary payments; continuing activities only

HOCHTIEF Quarterly Report | January to March 2023

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TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FURTHER INFORMATION

Dear Shareholders,

Juan Santamaría Cases

Chairman of the Executive Board

HOCHTIEF has delivered a positive start to 2023 with solid growth in sales, profits and new orders during the first quarter.

This is a consequence of the hard work of our 37,000 qualified and motivated professionals who are committed to delivering high-quality projects at our well positioned businesses with their long-standing local presence in developed markets and with the support of our clients, subcontractors and suppliers.

Sales increased by 16% during the period to EUR 6.2 billion. HOCHTIEF's operational net profits rose by 16% to EUR 138 million with all divisions contributing to the increase. Nominal net profit of EUR 128 million was 20% higher year on year.

The cash flow performance for the period reflects the characteristic seasonal movement seen during the first quarter of the year with the year-on-year variation driven mainly by our strong sales growth. Looking at the last twelve months, to adjust for the impact of seasonality, cash flow from operating activities stands at a strong level of EUR 1.1 billion, an increase of more than EUR 352 million year on year.

HOCHTIEF ended the period with the balance sheet showing net debt of EUR 390 million at a similar level to March 2022. This is after net M&A investments, during the previous twelve months, of EUR 534 million including the acquisition of CIMIC minorities and Australian natural resources company MACA as well as EUR 130 million in dividend payments to HOCHTIEF shareholders. Adjusting for these impacts and other non-operational items, net cash would show an increase of EUR 714 million year on year.

New orders during the first quarter of the year rose strongly to EUR 8.5 billion up approximately 30% year on year and include several important high-tech infrastructure projects. At the end of March 2023, the Group's order book stands at EUR 51.8 billion and is up by EUR 1.6 billion year on year, 6% on an f/x-adjusted basis.

HOCHTIEF's objective is to generate cash-backed profits driving an attractive level of shareholder remuneration which will facilitate us in creating value for all our stakeholders.

HOCHTIEF Quarterly Report | January to March 2023

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TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FURTHER INFORMATION

Following HOCHTIEF's strong operating and financial performance, our recent AGM approved a dividend for FY 2022 of EUR 4.00 per share, compared with EUR 1.91 per share for 2021. This represents an approximately 65% payout on the nominal net profit for the year or EUR 300 million in absolute terms.

To achieve our objectives our strategy is to further strengthen HOCHTIEF's position in its core markets whilst at the same time pursuing selective growth opportunities, particularly in the rapidly expanding areas of high-tech, energy transition and sustainable infrastructure markets.

Strong growth in these areas is being driven by several long-termmegatrends related to digitization, sustainability and decarbonization as well as urbanization, demographics and industrial reshoring. These trends are driving strong investment growth in specific areas where HOCHTIEF is well positioned as a key player and can deliver optimal solutions for our private and public-sector clients across the value chain.

Our strategic direction is underpinned by our continued focus on:

  • further derisking our order book, where lower-risk contracts now account for over 80% of the total.
  • enhancing our engineering competencies alongside the development of new innovative digital systems and strengthening our logistics know-how,
  • capital allocation to support diversification, simplification, growth and our high-tech infra expertise,
  • and supporting and implementing environmental, social and governance targets for a sustainable future and grasping the opportunities that these bring.

Backed by our engineering, services and project management know-how and long-standing local presence in our key developed markets, we will continue to manage the future of the company for the benefit of all its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders in a sustainable manner.

We have incorporated almost 5,000 new professionals over the last 12 months to support our growth strategy. In a period of labor shortages, this is reflection of the ability of our Group to attract talented individuals.

Environmental, social and governance, ESG, is a strategic priority for management. In 2021, HOCHTIEF made the commitment to be climate-neutral by 2045. Since 2022, we have created internal international working groups, which have been delivering on the commitments we made in our Sustainability Plan.

Our sustainability performance already puts us amongst the leading companies in our industry. HOCHTIEF subsidiary Turner has once again been recognized as the largest green builder in the United States whilst in Australia CIMIC is one of the leading providers of sustainable infrastructure projects. Overall the HOCHTIEF Group delivered EUR 11.8 billion of certified green projects last year.

In 2022, for the 17th year in a row, HOCHTIEF was included in the internationally recognized Dow Jones Sustainability Index and ranks positively with ESG rating agencies, such as Sustainalytics and MSCI. We plan to continue developing our position as a leader in environmental, social, and governance topics.

HOCHTIEF celebrates its 150th birthday this year. I am proud and grateful to lead a company with such a long and rich history. For a century and a half, we have been "building the world of tomorrow": constructing and adapting buildings and infrastructure to the challenges of changing times. The current period of transformation includes the energy transition, digitization and mobility concepts which are generating many opportunities for HOCHTIEF and we will continue to leverage our know-how and skills for the benefit of all our stakeholders.

HOCHTIEF Quarterly Report | January to March 2023

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TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT

INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FURTHER INFORMATION

Group Outlook

The global economy is currently facing significant macroeconomic challenges. HOCHTIEF is actively managing these challenges and is well positioned for the future based on its solid, long-standing local positions in its key developed markets, its geographical and currency diversification, and a significantly derisked and growing order book. The Group is achieving strong growth in several high-tech infrastructure areas, winning projects related to energy transition, new mobility concepts and digitization. Our guidance for 2023 is that we expect to achieve an operational net profit in the range of EUR 510−550 million subject to market conditions.

Juan Santamaría Cases

Chairman of the Executive Board

HOCHTIEF Quarterly Report | January to March 2023

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Hochtief AG published this content on 09 May 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 09 May 2023 12:17:13 UTC.