Lleida, 18 September 2019 - Sorigué, a leading business group in the services, construction, materials, and water technology and engineering sectors, has closed 2018 with 531 million euros in consolidated sales and 33 million euros in EBITDA, with an operating income consistent with that of the last three years. The group, therefore, upholds its responsible economic growth strategy, following on and complying with the goals contained in its 2020 Strategic Plan.
 
These accounts, which are 20% up on the previous year – in 2017 the group recorded 442 million euros in turnover –, also reflect the group’s trend towards a management model based on innovation, digitisation, regional diversification and new circular-economy-based alternatives.
 
This sustained growth comes as a result of the group’s increased activity in all its business areas, and is part of a sound and stable financial situation, which has also been the case in recent years.
The group’s 2018 projects portfolio has been kept in place with respect to the previous year, highlighting the services with an approach intended for the city (urban maintenance, waste management, landscaping and gardening), the water cycle (water catchment, purification and distribution), as well as building, civil works and other specialised construction activities.
 
2018 saw the group invest around 20 million euros toward the renewal of fixed assets such as electric vehicles, technical facilities, equipment for maintenance activities and more.
 
Diversification through innovation and sustainability
 
With a view to growing responsibly, the company has fostered a strategy of differentiation through innovation and sustainability, which has been deployed through various specific projects and commitments.
 
Firstly, the sustainability policy comprises a framework of reference for Sorigué’s environmental management. This has enabled the group to invest in environment-linked projects, one of the company’s drivers of growth for the medium and long term. This policy lays down Sorigué’s commitment to allaying the effects of climate change, through the curtailing of waste generated and the sustainable use of resources, such as water, raw materials and energy. Furthermore, the company has joined several benchmark initiatives, such as the Program of Voluntary Agreements of the Catalan Office on Climate Change, and the 2018-2020 Circular Economy Pact.
 
In 2019, 84% of the group’s companies obtained the Social Responsibility certificate pursuant to the IQNet SR10 standard, the first international standard for the social responsibility management system, representing a differential milestone in the sector. Along these lines, since 2016 the group has had a Department of Social Responsibility and Compliance, which develops strategies to enable the group to grow sustainably, under the highest standards of quality, social responsibility, and environmental protection and improvement.
 
The group’s Construction Department is currently building its new residential buildings with a Triple-A energy efficiency rating. In the last two years its new headquarters in Madrid and Tarragona, along with two work centres in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), have obtained certificates of sustainable construction such as the as BREEAM In-Use and the 3-Leaves Green Seal. Along these lines, during 2019 the group has increased its fleet of fully-electrical vehicles for its urban services contracts in the province of Barcelona.
 
Sorigué’s commitment to innovation is linked to these objectives of sustainability and respect for the environment. Innovation implemented by the company is intended to design more efficient products and processes, reuse waste or by-products and to achieve a longer service life of products, among other aspects.
 
The development of a technology to turn tyre waste into water treatment filters is most noteworthy among the innovation projects currently being undertaken by the group. This new system will enable active carbon to be created from the rubber in discarded tyres and not from fossil-carbon, which has been the method used up to now. This new product will enable water filters to be created that are capable of absorbing heavy metals, contaminants, organic matter and bad odours in sewage purification plants.
 

Sorigué has also developed a technology which, when applied to large-sized pipelines, will eliminate the corrosion issue and reduce the amount of concrete used by 40%. This represents a considerable saving on cement and a reduction in CO2 emissions in the production of these prefabricated installations.
 
The group is also incorporating new technologies and big data for the control and efficiency of its urban services contracts. These include artificial intelligence cameras that optimise the security of the fleet of street cleaning vehicles and trolleys with 100% electric mobility and route tracking devices, which improve the service and occupational health of the team, in addition to other initiatives.
 
Within the framework of its innovation strategy, Sorigué has signed collaboration agreements with several institutions such as the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), with whom it is investigating the implementation of photonic technologies and materials in Sorigué’s production activities.  Similarly, in April of this year the group concluded framework collaboration agreements with the universities of Lleida (UdL) and Barcelona (UB) in order to promote innovation through the exchange of knowledge between the company and the universities.
 
Business diversification also includes the consolidation of the Sorigué group in Spain, both in Catalonia, where the group undertakes much of its activity, as well as in Madrid and Andalusia, in addition to other autonomous communities. Last November, Sorigué launched its new facility in the Community of Madrid, where the company has been present for over 30 years; and in 2019 it has renewed two work centres in its Landscaping and Environment, and Waste Management business lines in Barcelona.
 
Similarly, in 2019 and in line with Sorigué's commitment to stay ahead of the curve in the development of its services, the Group has presented its new logistics and land transport specialist company: Conexis – Land Transports, with the vocation of offering logistics and transport services for all kinds of materials in the Spanish market.
 
Lastly, talent loyalty and wealth generation through job creation are also noteworthy among its main lines of action. Sorigué’s average workforce amounted to 3,800 employees in 2018, 4% up on 2017, in keeping with the company’s personnel growth trend of recent years.
 
Featured projects
The following projects are noteworthy among the new contracts and works recently completed:
 
In the area of urban services, a framework agreement was awarded in 2019 by the Municipal Government of Madrid for the execution of works in public spaces (roads, squares and parks) in several municipal districts: Ciudad Lineal, Chamberí, Carabanchel and Tetuán, and the implementation at the end of 2018 of the new door-to-door selective waste collection service in 22 municipalities of Segrià, the largest service of its kind in Catalonia.
 
In the area of energy, the group is undertaking projects during 2019 including the industrial dismantling of coal-fired power stations, such as the Compostilla Electrical Plant (Groups I and II) in Ponferrada (León).
 
Noteworthy in the water cycle sector is the new contract to operate and maintain the La Llagosta sanitation system, which features the construction of a third secondary decanter in the La Llagosta WWTP, in Barcelona.
 
In the field of urban works, this year Sorigué is renovating Más Ravetllat in the Guinardó neighbourhood for Barcelona City Council, which will be transformed into a new park for the city.
 
Most noteworthy in terms of construction is the start of construction of 104 homes in Esplugues de Llobregat and the construction of a new loading and transportation terminal for salts at the Barcelona port.