SAAM Seeks Further Growth in Towage Business
At SAAM’s annual general meeting last week, Chairman Óscar Hasbún outlined the objectives for the company's new phase, following the sale of the port terminals and inland logistics division.
"SAAM has robust solvency and liquidity indicators and a solid capital structure for this new cycle where our objective is clear: to become a leading global operator in the towage business and a regional leader in airport logistics. We are already a benchmark in both businesses and have developed a unique operating model, which has had positive results," said Hasbún.
He added that SAAM will continue to seek growth opportunities "beyond the borders within which we operate, continuing the role of consolidator that we have played to date." He recalled that in the last five years alone, the company has completed more than US$600 million in mergers and acquisitions of companies and assets and has shifted from a predominantly investor role to an operator with controlling positions in critical infrastructure services industries in the maritime and air logistics chains.
He also highlighted the company's positive growth, evidenced by the evolution of EBITDA from continuing operations from US$69 million in 2019 to US$160.3 million in 2023.
Progress has also been made in environmental matters. The company’s first two electric tugs will operate in Canada thanks to an alliance with Teck Resources and Neptune, and a project is underway to bring Latin America’s first electric, zero-emission tug to Chile through an agreement with ENAP.
The company forecasts investments of close to US$110 million by 2024 to strengthen its organic growth in SAAM Towage and Aerosan.
At the meeting, shareholders approved a final dividend of US$ 125.4 million, in addition to the interim dividend distributed in January 2024, bringing the total to US$ 250.4 million. In total, the two dividends are equivalent to 50% of net income for the year and make up the largest dividend distributed in the company's history.
A new board of directors was also elected, consisting of Óscar Hasbún, Jean-Paul Luksic, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, Pablo Granifo, Francisco Gutiérrez and independent directors Jorge Gutiérrez and Rafael Fernández.