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| FCC intends to reduce debt to recover its financial strength  FCC has held its first Annual General Meeting following last year's capital increase, which led to Control Empresarial de Capitales entering the Group's shareholding with 25.64% of the share capital. At the Meeting the shareholders approved the appointment, in representation of the Mexican conglomerate, of Carlos Slim, Juan Rodríguez Torres, Alejandro Aboumrad and Gerardo Kuri as directors, who belong to FCC's main governing body since last January.The Shareholders' Meeting, held in Madrid, and which henceforth will be held alternatively in Barcelona and in the Spanish capital, also authorised the possibility of further capital increases and the issuing of debt instruments, if the Group deems it necessary. Amongst the corporate resolutions passed, shareholders approved the possibility that representatives of Control Empresarial de Capitales in FCC carry out "activities that effectively compete" with those carried out by the company. The Citizen Services Group explained that "synergies with FCC will be generate future business opportunities, especially in America. It is likely that this will result in profits for the Group". With regard to the short-term strategy that was presented to shareholders, measures to delve further into cost reduction and organisational efficiency were mentioned. These included the setting of stricter requirements concerning profitability and risk control in international activities within construction, with a more rigorous process when it comes to selecting contracts, with special attention to countries where FCC is currently present. Further measures include reducing the cost of the financial structure, the optimisation of financing costs, taking advantage of the current liquidity conditions, and strengthening the generation of free cash flow. In her speech to shareholders, Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, Chairwoman of FCC, described the 2014 financial period as "historical", with major milestones like the refinancing of the debt and the largest capital increase in the company's history, which led to Carso entering the company's share capital as a partner of reference for the Citizen Services Group. Ms. Alcocer Koplowitz described 2014 "as the most difficult year of the most difficult crisis in more than one hundred years of history of our Group". "Despite the difficulties, –she added– we always had the necessary determination and were completely convinced that we made the decisions that needed to be made and that these were correct". Juan Béjar, FCC's Vice-chairman and CEO, explained that 2014 was "the end of a cycle" in which FCC has consolidated its restructuring process, placing its balance sheet, its financial structure and its Ebitda on sounder footing. Under these circumstances, the Group is already in a position to tackle the beginning of the economic recovery and handle growth, although "there is still a lot to do", warned Béjar. write your comments about the article :: © 2015 Construction News :: home page |