The fall in the production of electric vehicles in Europe and the United States has led to a withdrawal of the structure of Wallbox, a charger manufacturer from Barcelona and a benchmark in the startup ecosystem in Catalonia.
The company, listed in New York, announced yesterday that half a year ago it closed the Sant Andreu de la Barca plant, where Wallbox began its activity in 2015. “In recent months, the center only operated as a warehouse, since the activity “The factory moved to the center of the Free Trade Zone at the beginning of 2023,” said Enric Asunción, CEO and co-founder with Eduard Castañeda.
The employees who were left in the three warehouses in Sant Andreu de la Barca six months ago were transferred to the factory in the Free Trade Zone. The company does not detail the number of people affected, although it assures that "they are very few."
The definitive closure of the Sant Andreu de la Barca plant is part of a cutback plan that was carried out during 2023 and that has involved reducing expenses by 60 million euros. As part of this plan, the firm has also closed several offices, in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia. According to its website, Wallbox has 21 offices in nine countries. In addition to operational closures, the company also applied an ERE to 15% of the workforce (96 people) at the beginning of last year.
“Of the 60 million euros cut, only 8 million come from labor costs. The remaining 52 million are operating costs,” he said. Currently, the workforce is made up of 1,350 people, a figure lower than the 1,400 last year and which includes the 291 jobs from the absorption of the German group ABL.
This year, the company rules out significant cuts although it plans to improve “efficiency” in some departments, so the trickle of layoffs could continue. “We are focused on achieving profitability as soon as possible. We want 2024 to be the year of positive ebitda,” said the financial director, Jordi Lainz, who did not specify when Wallbox will have net profit.
The 2023 results reflect how turnover remained stable at 143.7 million euros, a figure slightly below the 144.1 million in 2022 and which the company justifies due to the global stagnation of the sector. The audit has revised downwards the figure of 147 million for 2022 that Wallbox announced last year. Regarding losses (ebitda), they were reduced from -89 to -74 million.
Despite all this, the stock is practically at its lowest, at a price of approximately $1.50, 85% less than the day it made its stock market debut three years ago.
