Orona: Growth in difficult times

Orona's sales in 2021 increased by 4.1% year-on-year €832 million. The cooperative's order intake grew for the fourth year in a row. This numbers were presented during Oronas annual Partners’ Meeting, held in person in the Anoeta velodrome.

Revenue increased despite the complexity implied by the lingering social and economic effects of the pandemic, coupled with supply chain friction, which has sent commodity, energy, logistics and chip prices soaring, stressed the cooperative. Against that challenging backdrop, Orona posted Ebitda of €139 million, marking growth from previous years.

Capital expenditure amounted to €26.6 million in 2021, up 63% from 2020. Orona ended the year with 5,507 employees, marking the fourth consecutive year of headcount growth, despite the crisis.

Orona EU 2030 project

Photo: © Orona

Aitor Azkarate, the entity’s managing director, referring to the entity’s earnings performance, Orona’s top executive described it "as very positive, as we managed to lift our revenue and order intake in a year as extraordinary as 2021, marked by the challenging health situation in year two of the pandemic, and supply chain friction in the wake of the economic rebound".

In 2021 Orona had acquired the Elco elevator group in Spain and Lift Rzeszów in Poland. Orona’s reach now extends to 13 countries. Those new additions fall under the scope of the Orona EU 2030 project which aims to build revenue to €1.3 billion within that time horizon, providing employment to 7,500 people across the European region.

Corporate responsibility

In July, Orona endorsed the Climate Ambition Accelerator initiative led by the United Nations Global Compact, so pledging to cut its total emissions by half by 2030 and to bring its net emissions to zero by 2050. The company, which has been ratifying the Global Compact’s 10 principles year after year since 2006, is therefore "advancing along its roadmap for contributing to delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) laid down in the 2030 Agenda", said the cooperative.

As part of its commitment to social cohesion, the Orona Foundation continues to work to embrace people at risk of exclusion. Examples of that effort include the donation made to help fund the production of the Aita Mari documentary which tells the story of SMH, the Basque maritime search and rescue operation, and Orona’s support for the women’s rugby team, Hernani Rugby Elkartea, which welcomes all players irrespective of their gender, age or skills.

At the beginning of 2022, the Foundation received the fifth Baserritarron Laguna Prize awarded by the farming association, ENBA, for its work to encourage consumers to embrace sustainable and healthy foods.

Orona is Europe’s fifth-largest player in vertical passenger mobility solutions and headquartered in Hernani (Spain).

More information: orona.es