MILAN (ITALPRESS) – A record-breaking 2024 for Webuild, which closed last year’s budget by exceeding the challenging targets set for the year and revising upward guidance for 2025.
Double-digit growth, with revenues amounting to 12 billion euros, up +20% on 2023 and compared to guidance that projected them to be over 11 billion euros, one year ahead of business plan targets for 2025. EBITDA amounted to 967 million (+18% and guidance over 900 million), corresponding to a margin of 8.1%.
The financial structure was further strengthened by maintaining a net cash position for the fourth consecutive year, which stands at 1.44 billion euros in 2024 (compared to guidance over 400 million).
Leverage was reduced to 2.9x, standing at a level better than the leading international players in the industry. In the wake of these achievements, the consolidated positioning in a fast-growing market, and the robust platform built over time, Webuild has revised upward the 2025 targets set out in the “Roadmap to 2025 – The Future is Now” plan, which already included ambitious goals.
The new guidance calls for 2025 revenues of 12.5 billion euros higher than the previous target of 10.5-11 billion, EBITDA of 1.1 billion higher than a previous target of 990-1,050 million, and solid net cash of more than 700 million, compared to the indication of positive net cash.
The milestones achieved represent the outcome of a journey that began in 2012, guided by a clear and consistent strategy. The strengthening of the business model has made it possible to create a solid and innovative platform on which to leverage the Group’s future development, capitalizing on the trends of a market of extraordinary size.
“The infrastructure market is, in fact, increasingly emerging as an engine for economic growth and global sustainability, with a strong increase in demand for investment in low-carbon infrastructure for transportation, energy security, and for the management of critical resources, such as water,” Webuild stresses in a note. “In this dynamic context, Webuild has been able to seize opportunities by creating a solid track record and confirming itself as a trusted partner of its clients. Indeed, the solid trend of acquiring new orders continues with a total of 13 billion euros in 2024″.
This achievement resulted in reaching more than 100% of the planned order target for the three-year period 2023-2025. More than 95 percent of new projects acquired in 2024 are from low-risk geographies. The construction order backlog is at record levels for the industry average, at 54 billion euros, of which about 90 percent related to projects related to the advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Among the 10 works completed and delivered in 2024, strategic interventions for sustainable mobility in Italy and abroad stand out: line 4 of the Milan Metro, the San Pasquale station of Line 6 in Naples, line 3 of the Riyadh Metro, and the first metro line in Thessaloniki. The Group’s expansion has fostered employment growth, with more than 13 thousand new hires by 2024, about 50 percent of whom are under 35 years old. Over the past four years, an average of 13,600 people have been hired.
In parallel, Webuild has expanded its production capacity by continuing to invest in innovation with the inauguration of the Roboplant 2 plant in Puglia, Italy, a state-of-the-art precast ashlar production hub that integrates advanced automation, robotics and Artificial Intelligence for safe and sustainable production.
On the sustainability front, the Group received recognition from CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) as a “global leader in climate change action” for the third consecutive year and a “Gold” rating from EcoVadis for ESG best practices.
Finally, in the capital market, the Group successfully placed two new bonds for 1 billion with maturities of 2029 and 2030, optimizing the debt structure. Confirming the financial market’s confidence in the Group’s soundness, the agencies Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings upgraded the rating outlook from Stable to Positive.
Growth is driven by business development in Italy (Milan-Genoa and Verona-Padua High Speed/High Capacity railways, Naples-Bari High Speed railways and Palermo-Catania-Messina), Australia (Snowy Hydro 2.0, SSTOM Sydney Metro, Perdaman and Melbourne’s North East Link) and Saudi Arabia (Trojena Dams and Connector South).
The Group continued to consolidate its leadership in Italy and major international markets, including Europe, Australia, the United States, and the Middle East, which contributed more than 90 percent of revenues in 2024, confirming its continued commitment to its de-risking policy.
The 2024 results were achieved through a high-quality order book, including projects acquired with the best technical bids, a selective bidding process, the adoption of innovative contract solutions introduced in previous years that reduce operational risk, and operational cost optimization initiatives.
Adjusted Net Income is 247 million euros, up from 236 million in 2023.
Net financial position from continuing operations as of December 31, 2024 is positive at 1,445 million euros (1,431 million euros as of December 31, 2023), registering a higher-than-expected result.
Gross debt, net of the temporary debt-increasing effect related to the October 2024 liability management transaction, stood at 2,765 million euros (2,609 million in 2023), with a Gross Debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.9x, down from the figure of 3.2x as of December 31, 2023.
In 2024, the total order backlog is €63.2 billion, of which €54.3 billion relates to construction and €8.9 billion relates to concessions and operation & maintenance. The construction backlog remains among the highest compared to major European peers in the construction segment.
About 90 percent of the Group’s construction backlog relates to projects related to the advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In terms of geography, the order backlog is mainly distributed among Italy, Central and Northern European countries, the United States, the Middle East and Australia-primarily in segments related to sustainable mobility such as high-speed rail, rail and road sector-bringing projects in these geographies to almost 90 percent of the construction backlog.
– Webuild press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
