Mirandola (MO), 30 June 2018 - The General Assembly of CPL CONCORDIA was held today in Mirandola, in the presence of working members and grantors from all over Italy. Among the guests present were the President of Legacoop Nazionale Mauro Lusetti, of Legacoop Estense Andrea Benini and the Mayor of Concordia Luca Prandini.
After 3 years of losses, the cooperative's 2017 financial statements show a profit for the year of 3.7 million euros, which will also allow the payment of dividends to holders of Cooperative Participation Shares (APCs). The reclassified value of the cooperative's production amounted to €221 million (a slight decrease, -€1.6 million, compared to 2016), and a solid ratio to shareholders' equity of €124.3 million, which represents an important guarantee for the future.
From a financial point of view, there has been an improvement in the main indices, in particular the The ratio of financial debt to EBITDA (PNF/EBITDA) rose from 17.8x in 2015 to 7.99x in 2017, anticipating the expectations of the business plan which provided for the reduction of the index to 9.9x as a 2017 target.
"The positive trend of the 2017 financial year is confirmed by the results of the first half of 2018," said CPL Chairman Mauro Gori in its report on operations "and the contracts signed with Italgas, Open Fiber and Hera and the recent acquisitions, such as the Large Stations of Naples, Bari and Palermo, the management of the Aler thermal power plants in Milan, the Auditorium in Rome and others project their positive effects also on 2019. Today it is behind us, but the crisis of 2015 was a nightmare. The nightmare of a social disaster for the many people involved, of an economic disaster for the value that was going to be destroyed, of a reputational disaster for cooperation and for Legacoop. In three years," Gori continued, "CPL has gone from being a nightmare to an opportunity; A job opportunity - the employment balance in 2017 is positive by 33 units and another 50 were hired in 2018 -, an opportunity for orderly growth and respectful of the rules, an opportunity for cooperation, which can tell a virtuous story - certainly not the only one - among so many unfortunate events. I think we can be proud of that."
Despite the slight decrease in the amount of work, the Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA) confirms the positive trend with an absolute value of 17.4 million Euros (7.9% of Production Value): the result achieved in 2017 was higher than that envisaged in the Business Plan (€16.9 million, 6.9%) and 2016. The Operating Result recorded a significant increase, from €1.4 million in 2016 to 5.8 in 2017.
"CPL is outperforming compared to the business plan agreed with the banking sector," explained CPL's General Manager Pierluigi Capelli, "thanks to the operations carried out in the two-year period 2017-2018 - which made it possible to reduce debt and increase Ebitda to sales margin - and the significant resumption of acquisitions in the company's core businesses".
In fact, the cooperative's multi-year portfolio of works has exceeded 700 million euros: recent contracts include the trigeneration for the Genoa Aquarium, Global Services for the Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino and the Auditorium in Rome, the LNG regasification plant in Marghera, the relamping of the lighting towers at Linate SEA Airport, the laying of fibre networks in the cities of Lecce and Taranto.
As far as the Consolidated Financial Statements are concerned, the CPL Group reported a 2017 net profit after tax of €10.9 million, compared to a 2016 loss of €3.2 million. The Group's Value of Production amounted to €285.9 million, with a reduction of €7.9 million due, in particular, to the sale of the company Meter Italia Spa. EBITDAremained constant at €31.5 million in absolute terms, while in percentage terms it confirmed the positive trend of the last 2 years, rising from 9.1% in 2015 to 11.2% in 2017. The CPL Group's operating result for the year reached a value of 12.4 million Euros, practically doubling the 2016 value of 6.5 million Euros, while the Group's shareholders' equity rose to 123 million Euros.
In 2017, the number of members (workers and supporters) decreased by 64 to 578. The Share capital increased from €17.7 million in 2016 to €25.9 million at the end of 2017, mainly thanks to the subscription of APCs, which reached a value of 15.9 million euros: an important figure in relation to the debt restructuring agreement with the banking class and a sign of confidence that the Cooperative has received from the market.
The year under approval shows an increase in the cooperative's workforce with 1184 employees at the end of 2017 (+2.8%), a reversal of the trend compared to the decrease of 33 units in 2016. In 2017, the Cooperative continued to enhance the value of its staff in terms of skills and training, with over 23,300 hours provided, as well as the introduction of a rewarding welfare system linked to the company's economic results.
After the approval of the financial statements, elections were held for the renewal of the Board of Directors, which had the participation of 86% of those entitled. Dr. Mauro Gori, after taking over the presidency of CPL in 2015, at a particularly difficult time in the life of the cooperative, considered the mandate entrusted to him to bring the company back to profit and start a profound restructuring process to be over. The shareholders' meeting thanked the outgoing president for the important work carried out with self-sacrifice and professionalism.
Paolo Barbieri, a 33-year-old from Mirandola, until now vice-president in office, has been elected to preside over the cooperative in the next three-year period 2018-2021. "I would like to thank the shareholders and the new Board of Directors for the trust they have placed in me," said the new Chairman Barbieri. "Right from the start, we will get to work to consolidate the company's recovery, organizing the company's governance in the best possible way and strengthening the cooperative identity, starting with the members, who are called upon to rediscover enthusiasm and a sense of belonging."
The reappointment of Pierluigi Capelli in the role of General Manager is also a sign of continuity.
