Celsa returns to profits: "We have achieved it"

BarcelonaThe president, Rafael Villaseca, and the CEO of the Catalan steel group Celsa, Jordi Cazorla, have delivered the headline they had been pursuing since creditors took control of the company in September 2023. Celsa has become profitable this first quarter, reporting a net result of 18 million euros. The group is leaving behind its red numbers after the debt refinancing at the end of last year, thus completing the transformation process that allowed the company to close the 2025 fiscal year with 70% less debt —1.145 million— than before the 2023 restructuring, when it passed from the Rubiralta family to the creditors by judicial decision. "We have achieved it," Villaseca emphasized at a press conference. He argued that the company "is functioning normally, it has its ups and downs, but it fulfills its social and economic function." The 13 million in losses from the first quarter of 2025 and the 52 million in the red from the same period two years ago are now behind them.

However, there are still open legal proceedings against the former owners of the company. "It is our obligation to defend the company's interests and recover what we can of what we believe was missing from the balance sheet," Villaseca reiterated. On the other hand, he opined that the search for an industrial partner for 20% to comply with the Spanish government's impositions is "an issue that remains forgotten." As he explained, Celsa has not found "any interesting alternative" to the entry of Criteria

, the investment company of the La Caixa Foundation, which last June definitively ruled out entering the steel group's capital.

The president of Celsa expressed optimism about the company's future because the results "are not a flash in the pan," despite the context of international instability. Cazorla explained that the war in Iran does not have a "significant impact" on the steel company's activity: "This March, in the midst of the war, we grew by 13%," he exemplified. They also downplayed the repercussions on energy costs, which last year only represented 10% of turnover. In parallel, he assured that the new European regulation on steel and metal will have a positive effect on its activity because it will reduce imports and boost European production.

2025 Results

Celsa closed 2025 with losses of 143 million euros, 49% less than the previous year, when red numbers reached 281 million. "We already knew it would be like this until we could refinance the debt," said Cazorla, who, despite this, boasted that EBITDA —operating profit before deducting interest and taxes— grew by 44%, to 396 million. "These are very positive results and are in line with what we had predicted; our transformation plan has achieved what we wanted," he celebrated.

Two and a half years ago, commercial court 2 of Barcelona considered that the company had a debt greater than its value, and ordered it to cease being the property of the Rubiralta family to pass into the hands of creditors. The restructuring plan involved the capitalization of 1,418 million euros, which it supplemented with a subsequent write-down of more than 1,300 million.

Finally, in December of last year, it completed the group's refinancing for an amount of about 2,000 million, with the disbursement of the 1,200 million corresponding to the bond issuance announced that same month and the receipt of cash contributions from shareholders for an amount of 800 million euros (600 in the form of subordinated debt and another 200 million in capital).