Speaking to the Shareholders’ Meeting, the chief executive championed a company that is “profitable, efficient and of value to our customers, to Asturias and to the industry”, focused on growing with discipline, through selective projects and with reduced exposure to risk.
He states that the industrial phase of the energy transition, where execution, installation and services are taking on greater strategic importance, represents an opportunity for the company.
The Prodi Group reinforces its commitment with a further injection of 10 million following its assumption of the company’s financial restructuring.
Duro Felguera held its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, just a few days after the court approved its Restructuring Plan. The chief executive, Eduardo Espinosa, delivered a message looking to the future, focusing on the new phase that this historic Asturian company is embarking upon following the favourable court ruling: less focus on sheer volume, greater discipline, and a company that, from now on, wishes to be judged “by what we do, project by project and financial year by financial year”.
“Duro Felguera is not resuming operations today, because it never stopped operating,” Espinosa told the shareholders. “What has changed is that it has been equipped with a more efficient structure, a more focused business model and a clearer vision of where it wants to and can grow.” That was the underlying theme of his speech: moving from a Duro Felguera marked by legal disputes and financial restructuring to one centred on industrial management, project delivery and operational discipline.
In this vein, the chief executive argued that the new Duro Felguera should not simply aim to regain its former size, but to be “profitable, efficient and of value to our clients, to Asturias and to the industry”. The priority will be to grow in an orderly manner, with financial discipline, rigorous project selection and reduced exposure to risk.
The company will focus its activities on four EPC sectors — Energy, Mining & Handling, Industry and Energy Storage — alongside the specialised industrial services provided by Mompresa and DFOM. Espinosa placed these capabilities within the context of what he termed the industrial phase of the energy transition: a stage in which it is no longer enough simply to announce targets, but rather to build, connect, store, integrate and operate actual infrastructure.
This approach opens up opportunities in energy, the modernisation of industrial assets, mining linked to critical minerals, bulk handling, storage, liquefied natural gas, electromechanical installations, turbines and other specialised services. For Espinosa, value is now shifting towards companies capable of resolving physical, technical and industrial bottlenecks.
The commercial strategy is also changing. Duro Felguera aims to move towards smaller-scale projects with lower exposure to execution risk and greater contractual discipline. Where necessary, the company will seek local or industrial partners to strengthen its position and reduce risks. “The new era in the energy sector will not reward those who promise the most, but those who execute best,” stated the chairman.
The role of the major shareholders also featured prominently in the presentation. Grupo Prodi is underwriting a capital increase of 10 million euros, to which 13.6 million euros from the sale of the head office will be added. The transaction provides 23.6 million euros of immediate liquidity at this stage and reinforces the majority shareholder’s commitment to the company’s continuity.
Espinosa also emphasised that the previous investment by Grupo Prodi and Mota-Engil México, amounting to 90 million euros in 2023, has been offset by the capital reduction required to restore the balance sheet to health. Despite this, Prodi is now making a further contribution, which the chairman presented as a sign of genuine industrial commitment to the future of Duro Felguera.
This new phase also maintains strong ties to Asturias. The return to La Felguera was highlighted in the speech as a link between the company’s origins and its future. Duro Felguera was founded in 1858 and has operated in mining, steelmaking, manufacturing, international engineering and industrial services; it now aims to remain an economic driving force in Asturias, adopting a more focused and sustainable approach.
The Board’s decision followed the approval of the Plan by Gijón Commercial Court No. 3, a ruling that provides legal protection for the measures set out and resolves the main historical liabilities that had been weighing on the company. The plan covers a total of over 1,000 million euros, including financial debt, contingent liabilities and litigation arising from previous projects such as Djelfa and Iernut.
Espinosa presented the 2025 accounts as the financial close of the previous period. At the end of the financial year, Duro Felguera had a negative consolidated net worth of 338 million euros, gross financial debt of 285 million and current provisions exceeding 68 million. The court’s approval alters this scenario, extinguishes virtually all the liabilities in question and enables the company to return to a path of operational viability.
The speech also provided significant insight into the current phase. The new executive management has had to tackle a situation that has built up over many years, characterised by failed projects, international litigation, financial imbalances and an operational structure that no longer reflected the actual size of the business. Without dwelling on the past, Espinosa sought to separate the new phase from the inherited problems in order to shift the focus towards future execution.
Espinosa’s message combines caution with high standards. The company is moving beyond its restructuring phase, but is not proposing a recovery based on promises, but on results. “I am not asking you to believe us on the basis of what we say today, but to judge us by what we do,” he told shareholders. That, in Espinosa’s view, should be the yardstick by which the new Duro Felguera is measured from now on.
