Applus Services SA

MAD:APPS

Earnings Call Transcript

[Operator]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Applus H1 2023 results presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised, today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Aston Swift. Please go ahead.

[Aston Swift, executive]

Thank you, Sarah, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the first half results presentation of Applus+. I'm Aston Swift, Investor Relations, and sitting alongside me are Mr. Joan Amigo, our CEO; and Mr. Julian De Unamuno, our CFO. We will follow the usual format for our first half results with Joan and Julian presenting the financials and operations of the business, which we expect to take just under half an hour, and this will be followed by a live Q&A session.

Please note, in connection with the tender offer for 100% of the share launched by a private equity firm, we would please ask you to refer to the publicly available information published through the regulatory channels, as we will be restricted in our answers to any questions related to this. And now I hand you over to our CEO, Joan Amigo.

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Thank you, Aston. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We reported our first half results this morning, which you would have seen were good with the strong financial performance we have had for the last 2.5 years continuing. And this has generated solid cash flow that we have used to fund our acquisition strategy. Increasing our returns and especially the margin has been a key focus and I'm pleased to see the 90 basis points come through in this first half.

The margin increase and these strong results are mainly due to the active portfolio strategy that we outlined in our Strategic Plan in 2021, and we have successfully executed, but also good performance across our business lines, where we are benefiting from the global megatrends of energy transition, electrification, and connectivity.

I'm also pleased to announce that we have won a new statutory vehicle inspection contract in Saudi Arabia. We bid for this in a competitive tender and won, not on price, but on the basis of our experience and know-how in this field.

And we continue to make progress on ESG, and we were pleased to see that in April, Sustainalytics improved their score for us. And finally, as you would have read this morning, we are raising our guidance for the year. Demand for our services continued to be strong, and we are also raising our prices. So we are confident we'll have high single-digit organic revenue growth for the second year in a row. The margin guidance we already raised in June following the closure of the divestment of our business in oil and gas in the United States. Despite the current distractions from the interest from private equity, we remain totally focused on continued strong execution. And in this first half period, you can clearly see we have delivered.

Moving now to financial highlights. Revenue was up 9% and adjusted operating profit 10%, and most of this was organic. Our headline margin is now 11%, back to where it was before COVID, and we'll work hard to continue increasing it. Cash flow is in line with this time last year, and leverage and liquidity remain comfortable, which Julian will go through in a few minutes. Earnings per share at EUR 0.46 was a 19% increase from last year with a strong net profit growth plus the accretion that comes with the 2 share buybacks.

I have a few additional introductory slides now to present before I hand over to Julian. The first 1 shows the progress we have made on the active portfolio management of the group , the purpose, of course, being to have a stronger mix of business lines that are less cyclical, faster growing, higher barriers to entry, and higher margins, and where there are good synergies within the group. We have been successful with both the acquisitions and disposal programs with 12 transactions highlighted here taking place since 2022. On top of this, we have bought a 20% minority interest in Inversiones Finisterre that runs the strategic vehicle inspection contract in Galicia.

In summary, we have invested EUR 144 million, being EUR 126 million on the 9 acquisitions plus a further EUR 18 million for the acquisition of Inversiones Finisterre. We have further received EUR 38 million of proceeds from the disposals. The target from the Strategic Plan was to invest between EUR 300 million and EUR 400 million over 3 years. And halfway through this period, we have invested almost half of the bottom end of the range, which we are pleased with. On the disposals, it's less than the original plan, but the margin accretion benefit has been as planned.

Our financials for this first half and for the rest of the year therefore show, on a continuing basis, completely excluding the disposed businesses and the number for last year that showed both, as reported and pro forma, which stripped out in December.

I would also like to highlight that we are continuing in our focus to improve our impact on environment and society through continued efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, our use of natural resources, and improve the management and care of our people and, where we can, society as a whole. The revenue we generate from sustainable services, where there is a positive impact on either the environment or society, continues to increase both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the group revenue. We'll update you on the actual numbers at the end of the year. So we were pleased to see these efforts do not go unrecognized, and only in April, Sustainalytics upgraded their score on us from 15.6, which was already very strong to 13.3, with the improvement from the recognition in our management of risk. The other scores are also very good and we feel properly recognized our progress area.

And now just quickly to show you how the portfolio of our key businesses looks like today compared to 2019 before COVID, so you can see the impact of the active portfolio strategy. Labs is the business that we have been investing heavily, both organically and through acquisitions, and we see good growth, margin and return on capital here, and you can see how it has increased in size from 5% of the group revenue in 2019 to 12% today, and in adjusted operating profit from 5% to 14% of the group.

Renewables, Power and Infrastructure, which is part of Energy & Industry, has grown from 26% of group revenue to 28%, and this is where we are seeing a lot of demand for new power generation and distribution projects coming from the energy transition megatrend, as well as civil infrastructure growth, which is coming from a step-up in government and private investment, especially for more energy-efficient transportation networks and buildings.

Oil and gas has reduced from 34% to 24%, and it was much higher than in years before 2019. We are still committed to this business, but we are focused on being only in the areas which are more long term and resilient and where there is higher value, so we can generate returns. The most cyclical part of oil and gas, the CapEx-oriented part, has reduced from 9% to just 5% of the group revenue and is less than 4% in profit. Automotive has reduced following the disposals and the ending of the contracts in Costa Rica and Alicante.

And now I will hand over to our CFO, Julian De Unamuno.

[Julian Jose De Unamuno Moreno, executive]

Thank you, Joan. And now I will present the financial slides before handing back to Joan for the divisions. Following the 3 disposals, we are presenting our 2023 numbers on a continuing basis. So that means totally excluding the results of the 3 discontinued businesses. And the prior year comparatives, we show both reported and pro forma to give you the full picture.

So starting with the revenue bridge. First, on the left-hand side, you can see the impact from the disposals, reducing the actual reported revenue first half of last year by almost EUR 69 million or around 7%, to give a pro forma in the first half '22 revenue of basically EUR 918.4 million. As you can see that the strong revenue growth trend we had in the first quarter was maintained in the second quarter, giving a total revenue growth of 9% for the half year, of which 8.8% was organic. Same as first quarter, 1.7% from acquisitions, but with 1.5% currency headwind from a number of currencies like those in Latin America, Canada, Australia and Sweden with the U.S. dollar a slight tailwind.

Price inflation continues to support our revenue, and we estimate this was around 3.5% in the first half. We made 9 acquisitions in 2022 and 2023. The largest contributors being K2 in Colombia that does environmental testing and measurement and Riportico that was bought in January and inspects infrastructure projects like motorways and railways depots. These acquisitions are all performing well. And in the second half, we expect a similar level of inorganic growth with the recent acquisition of Rescoll in France within the Laboratories Division in the [indiscernible].

Now moving on to the adjusted operating profit growth bridge. The total adjusted operating profit margin reached 11%, an increase of 19 basis points from the reported numbers last year of 10.1%. This is largely due to the active portfolio strategy the group has been executing since last year. On a pro forma basis, margin has increased by 10 basis points from 10.9% to 11%, thanks to the margin increase in 3 out of the 4 divisions, with the Automotive division, of course, having a lower margin due to the ending of the contracts in Costa Rica and Alicante, which Joan will show you in a minute. Should those contracts have been excluded, Auto margin would have also increased. And please note, we are showing the margins with IDIADA accelerated depreciation, which is our headline margin and the way we are reporting and guiding this year.

Income statement. As I advised in the beginning of this presentation, we are presenting the P&L on a continuous operation basis, being the impact of divestments in the discontinued operations line. Starting at the top, we have already covered revenue. We show here as well the margin of 11%, excluding the IDIADA accelerated depreciation that amounts to EUR 4.3 million in the first half, EUR 1.7 million higher than the previous year. As you know, this contract is currently due to end in September 2024 and is subject to return. We are depreciating all the existing assets plus the annual CapEx until September 2024.

For the full year, we expect, as we guided before, this figure to be around EUR 10 million compared to EUR 5.8 million in 2022. Below the adjusted operating profit line, we have the PPA amortization of EUR 31 million, slightly lower than last year due to the businesses disposed no longer being included. Other results of EUR 4.6 million, which are mainly one-off costs related to the restructuring and the operational excellence plan and the costs associated with the M&A.

Net financial expense of EUR 18.3 million is EUR 5.7 million higher than last year, mainly due to the higher average net debt plus higher interest rates and this increase is in line with what we guided. The average real net cash interest rate on net debt was around 3.8% in the year compared to around 2.2% last year. For the second half, we should expect an even slight increase in the interest charge should the Euribor stays at these levels of around 3.5% to 4%.

The tax charge is EUR 16 million, a rate of 30% of the profit before tax of the statutory results. But the most significant effective corporate tax rate on adjusted profit before tax stays at 25%, slightly lower than last year due to the disposals having a higher tax rate. Noncontrolling interest or minorities were EUR 5.7 million, EUR 3 million lower, mainly to the acquisition of 20% of Auto Galicia and the ending of the Costa Rica country cash.

And then we have a line on the discontinued operations, which is the net loss after taxes and everything related to the business sold. Most important, our final adjusted net profit of EUR 60 million was up 12.6%. The adjusted EPS was up by EUR 19.4 to EUR 0.46 per share. That includes the accretion that is 6.8% from share buybacks. The first 5% share buyback was started and completed last year, and the second 5% share buyback started in November and finished in May, and all the shares have been canceled. Overall, a strong set of numbers.

Regarding cash flow, cash flow was very solid with an adjusted operating cash flow right over EUR 100 million. The net working capital outflow of EUR 38.6 million was a bit higher than in the first half of last year, which is in line with higher revenue with the working capital to sales figures of 4%, at a similar level to the previous year. CapEx of EUR 25 million was at a similar level to last year and also like last year, we're likely to have an increase in the second half. Full year CapEx to revenue is usually between 3% to 3.5%.

Interest increase, as I have already commented, and the adjusted free cash flow was pretty flat with last year due to the step-up in the interest cost. The dividends paid to minority share interest increased due to timing of the final dividend due to the profit made last year related to the minorities [indiscernible] being paid first half.

Acquisition. Cash outflow of EUR 60.7 million related to payments made to the acquirer of the 3 acquisitions in 2023, plus the 20% of Inversiones Finisterre. Total cash invested in the share buyback program of EUR 36 million is the remainder investment this year for the second 5%. Overall, a solid half year of cash flow generation, and this is allowing us to invest in the business and is encouraging us to grow.

I think we have a solid and stable balance sheet that allows us to cover the financial needs of the business. The leverage ratio net debt/EBITDA was the same as the end of last year position of 2.6%, perfectly manageable by the business and well below 3x level we set up in the Strategic Plan. Our total net debt at the end of the period was EUR 730 million, which was EUR 60 million above last year at the year-end position and due to the investment made. Our debt maturity profile is good with no significant maturities until the middle of '23. We monitor continuously the market issues, and we will decide the appropriate time to roll over some of the maturities. We also have plenty of liquidity available, totaling EUR 425 million of cash and enrolled facilities, which give us ample room over the liquidity needs of the business.

So in conclusion, good cash generation with comfortable leverage and liquidity. And now I hand you back to Joan.

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Thank you, Julian. And now I will go on to present the key financials and operational highlights in the 4 businesses, starting with the largest business, Energy & Industry. We had a very good performance in this division with double-digit organic revenue growth in both Q1 and Q2, and this was similarly strong growth rate of 10% in Q1, Q2 last year. The total profit increase was EUR 6.5 million in the 6 months or 18% growth compared to the reported profit last year, and more than half of this profit growth was organic. On a pro forma basis, it grew 14%. .

The margin is now 8.1% and moving up, and decrease of 115 basis points from the reported figures last year is, of course, mainly due to the disposal of the loss-making oil and gas business in the U.S. But we also had an increase in the margin on a pro forma basis by 19 basis points. This strong growth in the division is broad-based and continues with positive growth in all regions from higher demand for our services and pricing. We measured that 25% of the revenue last year came from sustainability services like for renewables, energy efficiency, environmental, and this is increasing in absolute terms and as a percentage of the division. And we are continuing to roll out the use of technology to perform and record inspections as part of our operational excellence program, which make us more efficient and demanded by customers.

As I mentioned it earlier, Renewables, Power, Infrastructure and Diversified Industries is getting bigger and growing in the high single digits. The margin for this part is increasing and close to 9%. Oil and gas had double-digit revenue growth coming from the OpEx part of oil and gas, and the CapEx part has come down compared to last year, which was a very strong comparable year following the release from COVID . The oil and gas margin is lower than the division average, and now, since the disposal of U.S., is around 7%. And finally, the 2 resin acquisitions we have made that are included within organic are performing well.

Coming now to automotive. This is the highest margin division in the group accounting for only 20% of group revenue, but 35% of profit. Revenue and profit are down on the first half of the year, which I think has been well flagged, and you must have been expecting. The ending of the contract in Costa Rica in July of last year and the end of the Alicante contract in February of this year has impacted the numbers. The pro forma figures for last year have the revenue and profit for the Finland and U.S. business that were sold removed, but they include Costa Rica and Alicante.

The other contracts have performed exceptionally well. In total, we have had a higher number of inspections performed and we have got inflationary price increases in most of our contracts. Excluding the disposals and excluding Costa Rica and Alicante, the revenue growth would have been in the mid-single digits with Spain and Ireland being the main growth drivers in the first half also for profit growth. In terms of margin, we are reporting an absolute margin of 21.3%, which is 55 basis points above the reported margin last year, but more than 100 basis points down on a pro forma basis with this decrease, of course, being due to Costa Rica and Alicante.

And finally, the new statutory vehicle inspection contract that we have been aware in Saudi Arabia is for 10 years and have been won, thanks to using all of our resources from our global market-leading position in Auto. There are going to be 4 operators in the country, of which we are the only non-Saudi company, and we expect we'll generate somewhere in the mid-teens millions of euros of revenue per year once it's fully ramped up, which could take a couple of years.

So we expect to generate good margins and return on investment. It's certainly a good sign to see developing countries tender for these contracts. We have always said and we expect there will be more opportunities to come.

Laboratories, we have seen this business double in size every 3 years, and the division is now a significant contributor to the group at 12% of the group revenue and 14% of the group profit. Very strong results in this first half with revenue growth of 19% and profit growth of 36%, of which most of this was organic. The margin is now back above 15%, after a weak margin last year following the lockdown in China. Despite the soft comparable margin, the underlying margin is also improving with this coming from operational gearing, better mix of business and the higher margin of acquisitions.

The global megatrends we discussed in detail at the strategic update are supporting this business, especially for the electrical and electronics and cybersecurity services, and also aerospace, which is performing well. So far this year, we have made 3 acquisitions, with the largest being the 1 in France called Rescoll, which we closed only just last month. It comes with EUR 21 million of revenue, focused on material testing using chemical analysis and mechanical testing and has a good position in European medical devices, which is a sector that we have targeted for growth and also a strong position in aerospace, which nicely complements our own aerospace business. It's early days for this business, but it looks like they are already performing well and should have a good year.

And the last division, IDIADA, which is 16% of group revenue and profit. This division just continues to have outstanding performance. Testing for combustion engines continues and is only falling slowly, while we are benefiting from very fast growth from electric and hybrid vehicles and all the associated components and the batteries that come with them. But also testing for the new electronic systems like autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems continues to be very strong.

We have had 20% organic revenue growth rates supported by a large one-off project from an ASEAN manufacturer, which is now slowing down. So please expect to see the effect of this in the coming quarters where we expect to report lower levels of growth. In the meantime, this high level of growth, but also the needs of customers towards new players that require higher levels of services has helped with the margin improvement.

With regards to the tender for the business, we cannot be certain on timing. The good news is that the Catalan government have made progress in this regard, and they are in the process of appointing consultants to support them with the deal. Our position remains the same, and we are confident that we are very well positioned to win.

This brings us to my final slide before we turn to the Q&A. We had a strong overall financial performance with good results for the first half, including a jump in the margin to 11%, solid cash flow, comfortable balance sheet, and we are well-placed to continue good results now that we have a stronger and more diversified portfolio of businesses. We were really pleased to win the Saudi Auto contract, and we are expecting more to come. And we remain fully committed to enhancing shareholder returns, which we have demonstrated with our 2 share buyback programs while increasing our dividend payments.

So on the back of these strong results and visibility into the second half, we have the confidence to raise the guidance for 2023, and we now expect organic revenue to grow at high single digits, where previously we were expecting it to be mid- to high-single digits. The margin guidance we already raised only last month after the last disposal was closed. So to be clear, based on the reported margin last year of 10.1%, which is before IDIADA accelerated depreciation, we are guiding to an increase from this in excess of 60 basis points.

And with that, I now hand you back to the operator, who will manage the Q&A.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question. This is from the line of Afonso Osorio from Barclays.

[Afonso Osorio, analyst]

Two for me, please. The first 1 in Auto, in general. I appreciate Q2 should have been the weakest quarter for you. But in fact, that was in line with Q1, so minus 3% organic, despite being a quarter impacted by both Costa Rica and Alicante, as you said. So just trying to understand the moving parts within Auto in Q2 that outperformed Q1.

And secondly, can you provide a bit more color on the margin profile of this new Saudi Arabia contract? And if you expect that to fully offset the loss in the Alicante contract in the second half of this year?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Honestly -- thank you, Afonso. The reality is we don't really measure quarter-by-quarter. As far as I know, when you see the difference between Q1 and Q2, there's certain impact about Easter. But for me, it's not material considering that the performance in Auto has been outstanding. Obviously, it has been impacted by the losses of Costa Rica and Alicante. And remember that Alicante had the contract until the end of February. So this is something that was impacting in Q1 in comparison with the second quarter.

What I expect in the second semester? You know is that Costa Rica is more comparable with last year because last year, we didn't have Costa Rica in the second semester, but we still had Alicante. So it means on revenue, the impact would be slightly better in the second semester.

Regarding the margin for Saudi Arabia, what we are estimating is that would be slightly below the average of the division, but we are still working on that and very close to 20%, and I think the IRR that we are estimating in this contract is that it should be in the range of high teens.

[Operator]

We'll now take the next question. This is from the line of Pedro Alves from CaixaBank.

[Pedro Alves, analyst]

The first 1 on the margin bridge to your 2024 target. Just curious if you're still comfortable to the 12% operating margin target before the accelerated depreciation? And what will be the main driver from here considering that you still have a relevant jump in margins from '23 to '24 to reach these targets?

And then perhaps additional color on this new automotive contract in Saudi Arabia. When do you expect this to start? And when should this reach the full steady-state mode? And whether this contract requires building new stations from scratch, or it's just more project management style like you had in the U.S.? And also, what will be the base currency for this contract and the financing of the CapEx, if the CapEx is relevant?

[Julian Jose De Unamuno Moreno, executive]

Pedro, I mean, regarding the 12% margin, if you remember what we said on the operational excellence plan was that 1/3 of the savings we're going to achieve this year, and the full rate was going to be achieved in 2024. We maintain the same target. We remain confident that with the execution of the operational excellence plan, on which we are executing according to plan, we will deliver those as long as on the revenue growth and the margin accretion of the M&A were to result. So we feel confident that we will deliver on those.

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

And Pedro, so no doubt that we are fully committed to deliver this 12% of margin next year. And on top of that, regarding Saudi Arabia. So we are already working there. We already have 1 Spanish guy sat there working. And on top of that, we have another person from Denmark also monitoring all the performance of the project. What we expect is that most likely we should start having certain operations, I think, in the second semester 2024. So I think we should have all the ramp-up at the end of '24 and '25. So I would say that should be at full in 2016. The currency is the local currency, obviously, that is linked to the U.S. dollar. And obviously, there are certain investments, that most of the investment is related to the machinery and certain aspects regarding the construction of some stations, but we are still discussing with the administration. So I think it's a good contract and we have very good returns.

[Pedro Alves, analyst]

And just a follow-up. You mentioned that you are expecting high teens of IRR on this project, before leverage or after leverage?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

After leverage, all included.

[Operator]

We'll now take the next question. This is from the line of Alvaro Lenze from Alantra Equities.

[Alvaro Lenze Julia, analyst]

The first 1 is regarding the sales guidance upgrade that you have provided. I've seen that organic growth has been quite strong during H1, but I wanted to understand what's the main driver for upgrading the guidance? Is it the higher contribution than initially expected from the one-off IDIADA contract? Or is it just stronger overall structural growth in all the divisions.

The second question would be if you could please break down the EUR 61 million investment in acquisitions that you reported in the cash flow in the first half, just to understand whether there is some earnout from past investments? Or this is all related to the French acquisition in laboratories? And then last question, the restructuring costs have surprised me because they are so low. So you indicated that the cost saving plan is evolving as expected. So I wanted to know whether we should expect any acceleration in restructuring expenses during H2?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Thank you, Alvaro. So let me start with your first question regarding the revenue guidance. So the reality is that the momentum, I would say, in all the business is extremely positive. So what we expect is that the trend that we are having mainly in the Labs and Energy & Industry should continue. Maybe since last year, second semester, we were very strong, maybe slightly lower than this first semester, but anyway, it will be a very high level of growth. In the case of Auto, since we don't really have a comparable in the second semester with Costa Rica, this is something that should help us.

And on the other hand, you know what, it's real that's indicated of IDIADA. As I already mentioned, the level of growth that we are expecting in the second semester will be slightly lower than right now due to this one-off that we have mentioned. However, regarding this one-off, we don't really know. So this is something that is changing constantly, and they cannot even order more work. So overall, we feel comfortable that we should continue growing at this high single digit. And this is the reason why we have changed the guidance.

[Julian Jose De Unamuno Moreno, executive]

Thank you, Joan. And regarding the breakdown of the EUR 61 million, remember that we have the payment of the Auto Galicia, the 20% that we had acquired, and this was paid in the first quarter this year. So this is EUR 15 million. Then you have Riportico, which is around EUR 12 million. CLM is basically EUR 2 million. CFI, the Chinese company with Laboratories is EUR 4 million, being the remaining for Rescoll. If you want the specific details, we can also send it to you afterwards.

Regarding the execution of the operational excellence, we are quite advanced in the program. In the first half, we are executing according to plan, and this is quite proportional during the year. As you remember, what we said was that we're going to spend 2/3 of the cost this year. We are basically fulfilling that plan. We don't expect a major acceleration in the second half.

[Operator]

We'll now take the next question. This is from the line of Arthur Truslove from Citi.

[Arthur Truslove, analyst]

Arthur Truslove from Citi. So a few from me, if I may. First question, you mentioned that there's a further pipeline of Automotive contracts, which you could potentially win. I was just wondering if you could give us some color on some of the countries that may be in play and possibly when we might see another potentially meaningful contract win?

Question two, are you able to give us an idea of how much pricing has been in the first half? And also, what sort of level of wage growth that you've seen? And then thirdly, just in terms of the Energy & Industry Division, I mean, obviously, it's been very, very strong in the first half of the year. And obviously, things like the Inflation Reduction Act have come in. Are you expecting to see that demand continue to remain strong for the foreseeable future?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Thank you, Arthur. Regarding the potential new contracts in Automotive, we are working in different jurisdictions, so mainly in Asia and also Latin America. And I think that we are expecting that maybe we could gain new contracts in the coming future.

Regarding pricing, I would say that in this first semester, overall, at group level, more or less in the range of 3%, 3.5% -- quite close to, I would say, 3.5%, slightly below that. And in terms of wage inflation, between 4% and 4.5%. This is as an average. I would say that in terms of pricing, due to the carryover of some contracts, et cetera, maybe the impact in the second semester could be slightly above the impact that we are having this first semester.

And regarding your question about Energy & Industries, what I mentioned before, I think the trend should continue. I don't really expect significant changes in the growth in the second semester, but maybe slightly below the growth that we have had in this first semester. But overall, I think very good growth. So I feel comfortable that we should be in the high-single digit as well in the Energy & Industry.

[Arthur Truslove, analyst]

Just a follow-up on the wage question. Are you expecting it to be between 4% and 4.5% in the second half as well? Or do you think it will accelerate or indeed slightly slow down a bit as you see the comps?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Yes. No, I would say that in this regard the cost should be quite similar in the second semester than in the first one. No significant negotiations going on. Most of them has already done with...

[Operator]

We'll now take the next question. This is from the line of Enrique Yáguez from Bestinver Securities.

[Enrique Yáguez Avilés, analyst]

I have 2 questions. First of all, you have improved your outlook for this year, but you have kept unchanged your strategic targets for next year. Could you explain why you haven't improved your strategic targets for next year as you have improved this year's targets? And secondly, I know that you said that you don't have any visibility on IDIADA's tender process, but do you foresee at least the former tender process to be launched before year-end?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Thank you, Enrique. You are asking always for more and more. In our Strategic Plan, 1 of our key points were the divestments that we set, and at the beginning of this year, we said that the guidance was a stable margin. But the key point was that we were expecting to have a significant divestment in order to improve, as we said in the Strategic Plan, around 60, 70 basis points. And right now, what we have proved is that we have been able to do these divestments.

And consequently, the margin has been up 0, 70 basis points, in line with what we set in the Strategic Plan. And this is the reason why we maintain that we are extremely in line with the guidance that we provided in the Strategic Plan and fully committed to achieve this 12% for us was very important, and we also already advised in the previous communications that these divestments were critical to achieve this 12% of margin.

And regarding IDIADA, the important thing is that a few weeks ago, the Catalan government launched a tender to hire an adviser to help them to prepare the tender. Important thing is that they published and they said that they were expecting to launch the tender before the end of February 2024, and they were expecting to know the new operator before September 9, 2024. So they are working on that, and it's very good news. So I think based on the calendar, we should achieve now the new operator before the end of the concession.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We'll now take our next question. Our next question is from the line of Pedro Alves from CaixaBank.

[Pedro Alves, analyst]

Just a follow-up on IDIADA, and I know how difficult it is to answer questions about time line. But just to try to figure out, considering that if there is a new player, the new player needs time to prepare the operations of IDIADA. So for this new player to start in September 2024, it needs to know in advance, I would say, at least a couple of months, if he has won the concession. So when the Catalan government says until September that we should know the results of the tender, it should be at least a couple of months, right? Just trying to think in practical terms, if it is possible for them to announce the results of the tender in September when the concession ends exactly in September.

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Pedro, difficult to answer. So the only thing that we know is that what the Catalan government has published that they want to launch a tender before the end of February. And they estimate to know the new operator already before September 9, 2024. How will they manage exactly the calendar in terms of what the date that all the bids have to be presented, et cetera, honestly, we cannot control that. I think they have enough time, but obviously, we cannot know exactly how it will be.

[Pedro Alves, analyst]

Okay. Just I'm not sure if you can answer this, but in a scenario where you lose the contract of IDIADA, can you give us an idea of the amount of debt or other liabilities that could be deconsolidated if there is something in IDIADA?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Sorry, Pedro, you mean liabilities in case that we lose? No, we should not have any liabilities. So the concept is a typical concession. So this is the reason why we have to do this accelerated depreciation. So the net book value will be 0. And in terms of the employees, should be moved to the new operators. So in this regard, we don't really expect any kind of liability.

[Pedro Alves, analyst]

I was asking in terms of net rate, if there is net rate allocated in IDIADA that could be eventually deconsolidated if it was...

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Not really. Not really. Should be [indiscernible].

[Operator]

We'll now take the next question. This is from the line of Geoffroy Michalet from ODDO.

[Geoffroy Michalet, analyst]

I have 2. The first 1 has to do with the bid from Apollo. In your experience, do you know what kind of delay has the government in order to approve foreign direct investments in Spain? Second question has to do with your cash flow. Could you maybe come back a bit on the line extraordinaries and other items at EUR 12.6 million, just to explain us a bit the increase, and what does it represent, and what can we expect for the end of the year?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Regarding your question about Apollo and the process and if there could be certain delay due to changes of the government, I think we would say no. So the government has the internal rules in order to continue working in this regard. So we don't really expect any significant delay due to the situation of the Spanish government.

[Julian Jose De Unamuno Moreno, executive]

And regarding the extraordinaries and others, in this line, we have, in the cash flow, basically the severances and the cost of the operational excellence plan as long as basically the M&A-related cost transactions and part of the costs related to the divestment of the U.S. oil and gas.

[Geoffroy Michalet, analyst]

So it should fade in H2 probably?

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

It depends on how it goes. On the comparison, those costs have been allocated in -- as I've explained before on the operational excellence plan. We are quite on plan. We are apportioning this in the second half as well. So we should see a slight increase in the second half, but not of the amount of this first half.

[Operator]

There are no further questions at this time. So I'll hand back to the speakers for any closing remarks.

[Joan Amigó I. Casas, executive]

Okay. So thank you, everyone. Thank you for attending. And obviously, very strong financial results and fully committed to continue delivering and to achieve our strategic plan. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. This does conclude the conference for today. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.