Holaluz is at the crossroads. The electricity marketer lost 26 million euros last year, a figure that represents five times the red numbers of a year before, according to the accounts deposited in BME Growth. This situation has opened a governance crisis in the company. The Axon Capital and Geroa Pentsioak funds have decided to reject the annual accounts.
The dissenting partners are currently a minority. Axon Capital has been an investor in Holaluz since 2016. Currently, it holds 16.8% of the capital and holds the vice presidency of the board, with Alfonso de León as representative. Geroa Pentsioak has 8.68% of the shares and has a member, Jordan Sáenz. The founders of Holaluz, Oriol Vila, Ferran Nogué and Carlota Pi have 14.66% each and occupy three seats in the highest governance body.
The Catalan company is currently negotiating a refinancing of 21 million euros. The delay in the talks has led the company’s management to consider the possibility of presenting the pre-bankruptcy process, as detailed in the management report. Holaluz will activate this route if the multi-party agreement is not finally closed with the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), Avançsa, and several Catalan family offices.
Net debt has increased 5% to 65.4 million. The company attributes the increase to the investment effort it is making to finance the self-consumption plate installation business.
The group’s turnover suffered a severe correction of 33%, to 614 million euros. The operating result stood at 33 million euros in negative compared to 6.5 million in the red a year before. The company points out that the decline in business is due to the bearish price environment.
The renewable energy sector is at a critical moment. Low electricity prices are having a devastating effect on many businesses. Without going any further, SolarProfit presented an Employment Regulation File (ERE) on Friday for 90% of the workforce because there is no longer demand for solar installations.
