Context: How Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador works, and what it makes issuers disclose · El Salvador on the LatAm Power Map
El Salvador sits on one of the world’s most productive geothermal belts, and one company — LaGEO — holds the only licences to tap it. That makes it the country’s indispensable clean-power provider, a monopoly by geology as much as by law.
| Full name | LaGeo, S.A. de C.V. |
| Ticker / exchange | LAGEO.SV — Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador (debt issuer; programme PBLAGEO01) |
| Headquarters | Santa Tecla, La Libertad, El Salvador |
| Sector | Geothermal electricity generation |
| Employees | Not published: the Bolsa de Valores issuer page and the Feller Rate / Moody’s Local rating reports — the primary public sources — do not disclose a headcount; El Salvador’s securities law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) does not mandate employee disclosure in periodic filings. |
| Market value (equity) | Not applicable: LaGEO is listed solely as a bond issuer; no shares trade on any exchange. |
| Yearly revenue (FY 2024) | $154.7 million |
| Operating cash profit (EBITDA, FY 2024) | $95.6 million |
| EBITDA margin (FY 2024) | 61.8% |
| Net profit | Not published: audited statements are filed with the BVES but the full income-statement figures (below EBITDA) are not reproduced in the public rating reports; the equity section grew 6.9% year-on-year per Moody’s Local (March 2025). |
| Financial debt (end-2024) | $217.4 million |
| Net debt (our calculation) | $197.3 million ($217.4m debt minus $20.1m cash) |
| Price-to-earnings / dividend yield | Not applicable (no listed equity) |
| Credit ratings | EAA / AA- / AA- (Feller Rate / Moody’s Local / Zumma Ratings); outlook Stable |
| Website | www.lageo.com.sv |
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What it is
LaGEO is a subsidiary of Inversiones Energéticas, S.A. de C.V. (INE), which is itself a subsidiary of the state-owned Comisión Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa (CEL).
The company was incorporated on 31 July 1998 as Geotérmica Salvadoreña, S.A. de C.V., began operations on 1 November 1999, and adopted the LaGEO name in June 2003.
LaGEO holds exclusive geothermal concessions over El Salvador’s two producing fields — Ahuachapán (95 MW) and Berlín (109.4 MW) — giving it a legal monopoly on the country’s geothermal resources, with a combined installed capacity of 204.4 MW.
Who owns it
LaGEO is an El Salvador state company, controlled by the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL), incorporated to produce electricity from the country’s geothermal resources. CEL’s group includes four subsidiaries: LaGEO (geothermal), ETESAL (transmission), INE (investments), and CECSA (conventional generation).
LaGEO has no publicly traded shares — it accesses capital markets exclusively through debt, issuing securitised bonds backed by its electricity sales revenues. Its credit ratings explicitly account for its close link to the Salvadoran state.
Who runs it
The board is chaired by Mynor José Gil Arévalo (Presidente), with Sigfredo Edgardo Figueroa Cruz as Secretary and David Alejandro Vásquez Reyes as First Director.
Not published: a named CEO or CFO distinct from the board chair is not identified in the Bolsa de Valores issuer listing, the Feller Rate report, or the Moody’s Local report — the three primary public sources consulted.
The money, in plain words
In 2024, LaGEO collected $154.7 million in total revenue, up 4.2% from $148.5 million in 2023. For every dollar of sales, it kept roughly 62 cents as operating cash profit before interest, tax and depreciation — an EBITDA margin of 61.8%, slightly below its five-year average of around 64%, but still robust for its category.
Total financial debt stood at $217.4 million at the end of 2024, down from $241.5 million in 2023, in line with scheduled repayments on its two securitisation programmes. Net debt — what is owed after netting off the $20.1 million cash balance — was $197.3 million (our calculation), equal to about 2.1 times annual EBITDA, a conservative load for a monopoly utility with predictable revenues.
Over the past five years, LaGEO’s ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA has averaged 2.1x, and its ability to cover interest costs from operating cash (EBITDA-to-interest coverage) has averaged 6.2x; at end-2024 those ratios stood at 2.1x and 5.7x respectively.
What it is doing now
By the third quarter of 2024, LaGEO completed the merger-by-absorption of a related entity, San Vicente 7 Inc. (SV7), a deal approved back in July 2022 that had been working through Salvadoran legal process since then. The absorption caused LaGEO’s fixed infrastructure assets to jump 85.7%, because SV7 had been the entity responsible for geothermal development and exploration activities.
Feller Rate expects future large investments in geothermal plants to be backed by long-term supply contracts (power purchase agreements) and financed through a conservative mix of debt and equity, with a gradual disbursement schedule.
What to watch
- Spot-price exposure. In the first half of 2024, the spot electricity price averaged $108.4/MWh, driven higher by El Niño drought conditions that forced greater reliance on thermal generation; prices normalised to $82.5/MWh in the second half. LaGEO’s revenues swing with spot prices when it sells outside long-term contracts.
- Expansion funding. Moody’s Local notes that taking on more debt to fund expansion projects, or an extension of deferred electricity payments from state-related clients, could pressure LaGEO’s cash flow.
- Related-party concentration. Even after absorbing SV7, Moody’s Local flags that the concentration of receivables from related entities remains significant, and those loans could be subject to slower repayment if an affiliate faces financial stress.
- State policy. LaGEO is exposed to potential tariff adjustments and shifts in the Salvadoran government’s energy policies — a risk that comes with the same state ownership that underpins its top-tier credit rating.
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Sources
- Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador — LaGEO issuer directory page: bolsadevalores.com.sv
- Feller Rate Clasificadora de Riesgo — LaGEO S.A. rating report (June 2025, based on audited financials 31/12/2024): feller-rate.com
- Moody’s Local El Salvador — LaGEO S.A. de C.V. rating report (31 March 2025): moodyslocal.com.sv
- Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador — LaGEO audited financial statements 2021 (PDF, primary filing): bolsadevalores.com.sv
- LaGEO corporate website: lageo.com.sv
- Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero — Emisores de Valores registry: ssf.gob.sv
- Market data: EODHD.
This is news, not investment advice.
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