Miquel y Costas resigns from PERTE due to delays in the Generalitat's authorizations.

BarcelonaThe paper mill Miquel y Costas & Miquel has had to renounce the aid it had been granted through the PERTE (Spanish Regional Government of Catalonia) due to the delay by the Generalitat (Catalan Government) in granting authorizations for a biomass plant in La Pobla de Claramunt, where it has one of its industrial facilities. The €1.9 million was supposed to be spent by spring of next year, but the company is finding it impossible to obtain the permits and build the plant on time.

"The time it takes to obtain permits is exasperating," explained the company's CEO, Jordi Mercader Barata, in a meeting with journalists before the shareholders' meeting held this Thursday in Barcelona. "We've been working on this project for five years," he explained. In fact, Miquel y Costas, in the decarbonization process, wants to replace gas as a heat source in its facilities with biomass. For this reason, it has three biomass plant projects, in Pobla de Claramunt, Barcelona, and Castellón. According to Mercader, the one in Pobla de Claramunt should have been the first, but given the delays in obtaining permits, the one in Castellón will likely be the first.

Miquel y Costas approved investments worth €45.7 million in 2024, as part of the investment plan for the 2024-2026 period, which totals €120 million. The investments are intended to improve production capacity and technology, and to advance the plan to have photovoltaic installations in all plants. Mercader has complained about the lack of attention from politicians to electro-intensive industries, which pay higher tolls than those in other European countries. This should have been resolved in the omnibus decree that the Spanish government failed to push through.

Regarding business, the president of Miquel y Costas emphasized that the intention is to grow in the industrial paper business and maintain its position in the tobacco sector. The company, with a solid financial position, has approximately €75 million in cash and continues to look for acquisition opportunities in Europe or the United States. Regarding the geopolitical situation, Mercader indicated that US customers are being affected by the 10% tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, but indicated that there is another 10% loss due to the depreciation of the dollar, which, if maintained, will impact the company's margins.

The board approved the 2024 figures, in which the group closed with a net profit of €48.7 million, 14% more than the previous year. Sales remained at €309 million. In the first quarter of 2025, sales grew by 10.1% to €90.9 million, and net profit rose to €12.9 million.