AMJASA closes 2020 with a surplus of almost 800,000 euros

Monday 28th June 2021 – XÀBIA AL DÍA with Mike Smith

The municipal water company AMJASA has closed its 2020 accounts with an accounting balance of more than 9 million euros, ending the year with profits of 797,000 euros. As in recent years, this surplus will be used entirely for improvements to the water distribution network.

The company held its AGM on June 22nd to approve the budget and review the social measures and benefits to the community. In the first point, the management provided all the economic and technical data in detail, demonstrating that the evolution of AMJASA’s efficiency indices in recent years are more than evident, with almost 54,000 metres of pipework replaced in the last five years and a forecast that more than 11,500 metres will be replaced during 2021. This, together with the modernization of its energy and operating systems, means that the value of the company has doubled in the last ten years, from a net worth of 8.5 million euros to 17.2 million euros at the end of 2020.

The improvement in the network is also reflected in the volume of water that is being supplied and by eliminating leaks and seepage, a turnover similar to previous years has been maintained but much less water has been introduced into the network. The performance level has risen to 71.67%, 3.79 points more than 2019.

Regarding the objectives for 2021, the AMJASA management has set four main lines: continue to improve its yields and its commitment to solar energy (with the changes already made, the company has managed to lower the total consumption by 6% compared to the previous year); to improve the integral attention to the subscribers; to incorporate new networks of existing subscribers in the municipality; to give a boost to the integral water cycle to allow the reuse of treated water for irrigation purposes.

A separate and far-reaching challenge is the renewal of the contract for the operation of the desalination plant which expires in 2022 and for which the preliminary information gathering work has begun in order to study new clauses and improvements as well as open the debate on future exploitation of the plant.

At a social level, AMJASA reviewed the measures implement in 2020 both for providing assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic (through a social fund for discounts in the invoices for vulnerable people, SMEs and the self-employed( as well as donations made to local charities, launching campaigns for raising awareness that “the toilet is not a rubbish bin”, the installation of a free-use charging point for electric vehicles outside its offices, collaboration with events to reduce plastic waste, and the signing of energy contracts with guarantees or origin.

Mayor José Chulvi highlighted the transformation that AMJASA has undergone in the last decade, both at the work and social level and in economic and strategic management.