The General Intervention of the State demonstrates the good financial status of the entity with a new favorable report without reservations for the closing of last year's accounts, an event that occurred for the first time in 2023
The delegate Fran González has presented to the highest body of the Consortium the individual and consolidated annual accounts that show a positive result after 13 years of losses, “showing the solidity of the administrative and financial procedures.”
The business figure also recorded a remarkable recovery that was reflected in the turnover of 2024, 9% greater than that of 2019
The good financial situation allows us to face with optimism the multi-annual action plan for the period 2026-2029, which foresees investments of more than 56 million euros
The State delegate in the Cádiz Free Zone, Fran González, presented this morning to the Plenary the results for 2024, which confirm the solidity and positive evolution of the Institution as a result of the management strategy implemented, which has achieved profits in the individual accounts (of the Consortium) of 1.9 million euros and 2.4 million euros in the consolidated accounts (Consortium and companies), after a period of 13 years of losses.
The presentation of the accounts before the highest body of the Cádiz Free Zone shows that the entity has been growing and recovering its solvency and liquidity with a marked positive financial evolution that has made it possible for the General State Intervention to issue a favorable report without qualifications in its audit for the second consecutive year, after carrying it out in 2023 for the first time in the history of the Cádiz Consortium since audits have been carried out.
It is important to note that the absence of qualifications demonstrates the correct application of accounting principles and the soundness of administrative and financial procedures, which reinforces and strengthens confidence in the Institution and its ability to continue promoting strategic projects for the province of Cádiz.
As a result of the 2020-2025 Viability Plan self-imposed by the current delegate, the Cádiz Consortium has achieved a positive operating result in 2024 both in the Consortium and in the group, reaching 5.3 and 5.7 million euros respectively, an important indicator of the activity of the entire group of companies in the Cádiz Free Zone, which has registered a continued increase in turnover, exceeding by 9% 2019 billing.
The great boom in commercial activity with the consequent increase in established companies and their turnover has led to a notable growth in income from corporate tax for the Consortium, which in 2024 reached 7.4 million euros, a figure that is triple the average income in the last five years and that allows the Free Zone to plan greater investment in its infrastructure.
Another important piece of information in the 2024 accounts was the efficient management of financial expenses, thanks to the restructuring of the total debt (Reindus and financial). The reduction in financial expenses reached 46%, going from 6.8 million euros in 2019 to 3.7 million in 2024.
The accounts presented to the Plenary reflect that the solid financial management has also been seen in the net assets of the Cádiz Free Zone, which has doubled in the period between 2019 and 2024, going from 72 million euros in 2019 to 144 million euros in 2024, which gives the entity the capacity to face long-term financial obligations.
Another notable milestone is the liquidity position of the Cádiz Institution, which has gone from a large financial imbalance with a negative working capital of 3.3 million euros in 2019 to reaching a positive figure of 26 million euros in 2024.
Budgets
The financial solvency obtained in the analyzed period provides the Gaditano Consortium in investment capacity and the possibility of undertaking in progress and futures with slack, to which is added the confidence that Europe has deposited in the entity with the new FEDER aid for the ZF Blue Core project, a nursery of companies 4.0 that will complement the work developed by Incubazul.
The budgets for 2026 and the multi-annual action plan for the period 2027-2029 have been carefully designed under the principle of budgetary stability with the aim of ensuring a solid balance, without forgetting the new opportunities and needs of the market, constituting a total amount for that entire period of 56.6 million euros.
In this way, the total investments planned for 2026 are 23 million euros, with the maximum amount corresponding to the interior area (10.7 million) and the exterior polygon (8.3 million). For the period 2027-2029, investment stabilizes with a minimum of 11.2 million euros annually, maintaining the main focus on the interior area and the exterior polygon.
The delegate of the Free Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, has shown his satisfaction with this evolution of the Consortium and because the presentation to the Plenary shows that "we can assert that the economic situation of the Free Zone of Cádiz is fortunately very far from what it was in the past and there are many figures that support it and above all they do so in 2024 whose consolidated accounts we present today to the Plenary."
"We are very proud that once again the IGAE report has been favorable without reservations, repeating the milestone achieved in 2023 for the first time in the history of the Consortium. This whole situation allows us to face the coming years with optimism and, although with caution, prepare new projects," said Fran González.
"These figures link each and every one of the pieces of the economic situation that as a final result - and this data is truly significant - we give benefits both in the accounts of the Consortium and in those of our group of companies for the first time in the last 13 years. We have turned the economic situation around, thanks also obviously to the efforts of the workers of the Cádiz Free Trade Zone itself," said Fran González.
The head of the Cádiz Consortium has insisted on his satisfaction "not only because it speaks of the management that the management team and staff are doing, but also because it shows that it is a viable entity and that it produces economic, social and innovative results, if the vocation for which it was created is maintained."
The viability plan, which has already been fulfilled, will now give way to a strategic plan for the 2026-2030 period, currently in elaboration, aimed at positioning the Free Zone of Cádiz as a reference in blue economy, sustainability and technological innovation, with the promotion and impulse of projects linked to industry 4.0, the blue economy and blue carbon.