Final stretch to put the finishing touches to Indra’s new strategic plan with the future of Minsait and its segregation and defense consolidation in focus. Intense days in the executive leadership and noble offices of the technology company chaired by Marc Murtra and directed by José Vicente de los Mozos. The future of Minsait and the potential segregation of some assets to link it to the booming defense business and the consolidation of that business area remain in the focus of the Spanish technology company, which closed the year 2023 with a record of income and profits precisely due to The boost of military business.
For weeks now, the development of this strategic plan has generated various internal visions about Indra’s future. But for now all parties are holding their cards. At the analyst conference to present results, several questions were about Minsait’s future forecasts and growth. Neither the two executive directors nor Marc Murtra himself wanted to enter into the assessment at any time and they were referred to Capital Market Day on March 6.
Although, as reflected in the annual report of the consolidated income statements, the board of directors last Tuesday gave a first green light, the reality is that, according to several knowledgeable sources, the strategy is still being tied up with which aims to turn the company “into the Spanish multinational of reference in Defense, Aerospace and advanced digital technologies.” That final tagline, which refers mainly to the Minsait business, is not excluded.
According to knowledgeable sources, there have been intense debates in recent weeks about various relevant aspects of the company’s future strategy. The ‘hottest’ is Minsait. There is a part of the management leadership and the board that is committed to remaining entirely – or almost – within the perimeter of the company. There is another that is committed to segregating critical areas of dual-use or strategic technologies such as elections or air traffic to sell the rest and focus on the defense business. This could make the final version of the strategic plan presented on the 6th less precise in this regard.
This final stretch and, above all, the presentation to the market will have to be carried out without the figure of the financial manager. Borja García-Alarcón said goodbye to the analysts this Wednesday, as he is leaving the company to land at Celsa. The group is still looking for a profile but, predictably, they will arrive without a person in charge as the selection process continues. In this sense, the CEO himself, José Vicente de los Mozos, offered some insights into how the internal functioning will be organized while they find a person to replace him.
In this sense, De los Mozos insisted that the entire management team “will take their share of responsibility” at this time. Therefore, everything indicates that there will not be an immediate replacement. The one who is called to be the coordinator of this task in this “transition period” is Antonio Mora, who since 2015 – a period under the presidency of Abril-Martorell – has been the general director of Control, Organization and Processes (Chief Control official). He is in charge of reviewing compliance with business objectives.
At stake is an exponential growth in military and defense spending that Indra must capture to respond to the important expectations generated in the market – yesterday the stock rose more than 6% and in the last year it has appreciated 36% -. You just have to look at the figures that were achieved in 2023 with a 24% increase in turnover in the Defense and Transportation division. The pace will grow, but the company refused to give future forecasts for each of the divisions and it will be reflected in the plan. Only the Government of Spain expects a fairly significant increase in public spending in this area.
The clearest example is the European FCAS fighter aircraft program. It marked the strong growth in revenue on the defense side, up 24% in local currency. This contributed 130 million euros of business throughout last year. As pointed out by the company in the analyst presentation, it is expected that in 2024 the contribution to global turnover will exceed 200 million euros. “Defense trends in Europe indicate growth; investment and trends will grow even faster than a few months ago,” said the president, Marc Murtra, who insisted that they do not see there being a change “in one direction or another.” ” as far as consolidation with purchases and mergers of rivals in the European market is concerned.
