Indra has just completed the change in the management leadership after the arrival of José Vicente de los Mozos as the new CEO. For this to happen, his predecessor, Ignacio Mataix, had to take a step back. He gave it in an agreed exit, after which the executive has received more than 4.6 million euros in compensation and the ‘non-competition agreement’. To this we must add the contract signed for strategic advice to the administration council that has a duration of two years.
As reflected in the company’s semi-annual report presented this Thursday before the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Indra terminated the contractual relationship with Ignacio Mataix by mutual agreement. However, as happened with Cristina Ruiz, the payment of relevant compensation was promised. In this case, 2.64 million euros were stolen compared to 1.8 million from the former CEO – today Santander’s board of directors. This figure is close to the 3.1 million that the former executive president, Fernando Abril-Martorell, received for this concept.
To this amount, Indra adds a figure also contemplated in the remuneration policy: the non-competition agreement. It is a clause that is usually included in the contracts of senior managers with the aim of preventing them from ending up in direct rival companies. The former CEO has received 1.98 million euros, slightly higher than the 1.8 million received by Ruiz. It must be taken into account that this compensation corresponds to 75% of the ‘total target remuneration’. Being the only chief executive, that amount is higher.
Indra’s report does not mention a novelty that the Mataix case has compared to its predecessors. It is an advisory contract to the strategic group that he built for the next two years. It is not specified what would be the amount that he would receive in that period. Despite the fact that the announcement became effective in March, the executive remained in the position until May, for which he received his part corresponding to the fixed remuneration.
The departure of Mataix, Ruiz and Abril-Martorell has meant the disbursement of more than 14 million between compensation and other concepts
In the relevant event signed at the beginning of March at the CNMV, where the departure of the executive was announced, the departure was justified in a “succession process linked to the definition of the next strategic plan that the company plans to define for the next years”. The dismissal of Mataix is the culmination of the changes carried out in the management team since the departure of Abril-Martorell in 2021. A year later, the previous CEO, Cristina Ruiz, and the financial manager left. The departures of the first three have meant a disbursement of more than 14 million euros.
New remuneration policy
Apart from this payment, the company succeeded in the last general meeting of shareholders two modifications of the remuneration policy that ends this year and the new roadmap for the next three years. Regarding the former, it is an advance payment of the bonus in shares for Mataix, Ruiz, Abril-Martorell and the current head of Minsait and executive director, Luis Abril, -who was criticized by one of the two main voting advisors -. In addition, there is also an increase in the cap on titles to be delivered in the medium-term incentive plan in the event that 150% of all objectives are overachieved.
There are no major changes in the new remuneration policy. The fixed remuneration of the new CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, is updated after being increased in 2022 when Mataix assumed the position of chief executive. The maximum weight of the qualitative objectives in the variable is reduced, increasing that of the quantitative ones. In addition, the weight of the social responsibility objectives is raised from 10 to 15%. The power of the board to modulate the result of the variable remuneration of executives is maintained, but it is limited to a maximum of 10% upwards or downwards.
new strategic plan
The company presented this Thursday the accounts corresponding to the first semester, with an increase in net profit of 35% to 90 million euros and an increase of 11.5% in income to exceed the barrier of 2,000 million. This led to an improvement in the financial objectives for the current year, placing them at 4,150 Million Revenues (Compared to the 4,000 Initial Millions) and 325 Million Operating Results (Compared to the 315 Million Initial Forecasts). Hiring in the Defense area has skyrocketed by 24%, which represents a “reflection of the moment the sector is going through”. These numbers have allowed the company to close Thursday with a rise in shares of 5.4%. So far this year, the shares of the company with public capital have increased in value by 22%, reaching a market capitalization of 2,300 million euros.
Of course, the chief executive warned that the short-term objective is to gain scale in Spain to resolve the “fragmentation” of the defense industry through acquisitions or strategic alliances. Of the latter, he has already carried out two relevant ones: Oesía and Navantia. But of the first there were no relevant ones in recent years. These weeks the entry into the shareholding (not the purchase) in the manufacturer of aircraft engines ITP Aero has been negotiated.
