PROTEXA: 75 YEARS OF CONTRIBUTING TO MEXICO'S GREATNESS

May - June 2020

Grupo Protexa is a flagship industrial conglomerate in Mexico. May 23 marks 75 years since Mr. Humberto Lobo Villarreal began building this great history. Villarreal began building this great history. As part of this of this significant date, Transforma had the opportunity to talk to its CEO, Rodr Rodrigo Lobo Morales, son of Mr. Humberto Lobo and current president of the Humberto Lobo and current chairman of the board.

The Royal Spanish Academy defines resilience as "the capacity of a living being to adapt to a disturbing agent or an adverse state or situation". In a world world that is changing and transforming faster and faster, resilience is a value that takes on greater relevance for the future. for the future.

In the words of Rodrigo Lobo Morales, the head of Protexa Group since 2016, resilience is the quality that best describes them best describes them in their first three quarters of a century.

How could I describe the vision of don Humberto Lobo in 1945? 1945?

My father was an innovator. At that time there were only imported coatings and waterproofing products. He was dedicated to formulating the first high quality Mexican products, which gradually gained prestige for their good results. good results.

What inherited values remain in the industrial group?

Innovation and resilience are in our DNA. The former, to find market niches in different sectors, and the latter, to adapt to the challenges that we have encountered due to economic, political and health economic, political and health-related challenges, such as this pandemic.

What began in 1945 as a small Mexican waterproofing manufacturing workshop is today a group with a diversified business portfolio. Throughout its history, the company has achieved a series of milestones that have positioned it as a pioneer in different areas, including positioned the company as a pioneer in different areas, among them among which stand out:

- First waterproofing with Mexican technology.
- First and only tar and fiberglass processing plant in Mexico.
- Production of high density polyethylene.
- Increased production capacity of electrophoretic and electrostatic paint in Mexico.
- First to install an oil platform in the Campeche Sound.

Today, the Protexa Group is presented as a group with four divisions: the four divisions: Industries, Energy and Petroleum, Real Estate Development and Business Development.

The specialties are diverse, starting with the manufacture of waterproofing and paint, fiberglass, polyethylene and other industrial sector supplies (within the Industrial division). the Industrial division); passing through the Real Estate Development division, with distinctive projects such as Plaza Fiesta San Agustín or La Reserva residential complex (in García, N.L.), to continue with the operation of tourist condominiums, radio communication and geolocation, construction and infrastructure (Business Development division), to the well-known Energy and Petroleum division.

"IN OUR DNA ARE INNOVATION AND RESILIENCE. THE FIRST, TO FIND MARKET NICHES MARKET NICHES, AND THE SECOND, TO TO ADAPT TO THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED."

Protexa stands out in the oil world

Grupo Protexa has positioned itself as a pioneer in offshore pipeline laying. It has also "Mexicanized" vessels -which it acquired in Europe to put them at the service of the domestic oil the service of the national oil industry- and key processes in the drilling, platform construction and fluid recovery processes.

The Energy and Petroleum division has led the Protexa Group to become an important player in different latitudes of the world. the globe. In 1966 it obtained the first international contract for the Caldas pipeline in Colombia. From then on, it established a project route in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. By 1982, the offshore drilling project off the coast of Louisiana, United States, was developed, and between 1983 and 1986, another offshore drilling project was developed off the coast of Louisiana, United States. between 1983 and 1986, another drilling of more than 31,000 meters in the Bay of Bengal, India.

Protexa was one of the first Mexican companies to export products and technology in the 1960s, when the Mexican economy was closed to other markets. the sixties, when the national economy was closed to other markets, and thanks to former executives, partners and ex-collaborators, other companies in the oil sector have been founded, which is why it is considered a "seedbed" of suppliers. and ex-collaborators, other companies in the oil sector have been founded, which is why it is considered a "seedbed" for Mexican suppliers.

Between 2019 and 2022, this division of Grupo Protexa will develop drilling projects for 12 new wells, thus continuing to contribute to the advancement of this important industry.

Given the reforms and regime changes of the last 10 years in Mexico, how could you describe the present and future of the Energy and Petroleum division division of Protexa?

We know how to adapt to the needs of the sector and, in particular, Pemex especially Pemex, to which we have been for Pemex, for which we have been a supplier for for 72 years. Today we provide service, but we are prepared to carry out projects in an integral manner, thanks to our experience and three important projects, thanks to our experience and three important factors: quality quality, timely completion of contracts, and competitive prices. competitive prices.

What is the vision that has driven the formation of such a diverse yet specialized portfolio as diverse and at the same time specialized as Protexa's? as Protexa's?

In short, innovation. We are now in a process of to consolidate corporate governance and analyze, together with independent directors, where the group should move to continue creating value. where the group should move in order to continue creating value.

Protexa's vision and values

The group's expansion is undoubtedly an important objective. But, for Rodrigo Lobo Morales, the most important thing is that each company has a higher purpose, a reason that makes it relevant regardless of the pace at which it is expanding. that each company has a higher purpose, a reason that makes it relevant regardless of the passing of the years and the changing of the years and the transformation of the conditions that surround it. surrounding it. In the case of the Protexa Group, it is defined on the basis of three principles. three principles:

- Focus: to contribute to the greatness of Mexico.
- Vision: to grow with its people.
- Values: integrity, quality, assertiveness and discretion.

This code has led Rodrigo Lobo to be an active entrepreneur in causes related to his vision of a more economically, socially and environmentally developed Mexico. economically, socially and environmentally developed Mexico. At 2019, a subsidiary of Grupo Protexa that is dedicated to offshore construction became the first company in the company in the industry to obtain the esr (Socially Responsible Company) award Responsible Company) awarded by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy. Concern for social development and environmental care has led Rodrigo Lobo Morales to participate as a board member of Caintra Nuevo León. There he shares his experience and time for the benefit of the industrial community.

In your opinion, what roles or functions should an entrepreneur of an industrial group play within the business community of Nuevo León? a businessman of an industrial group within the business community of Nuevo León?

The entrepreneur has the vision for the business, but he requires his employees to be solid and complete as human beings, so that they human beings, so that they give their best potential and help achieve the entrepreneur's vision. If this happens, many employees will also become entrepreneurs, which brings a benefit to the whole community. which brings a benefit to the whole community.

What is Protexa's vision as a driving force in Mexico's production chain? productive chain in Mexico, in which thousands of SMEs collaborate? SMEs?

We have sites in nine states in the country. In the southeast, we are testing a supplier development program to prepare and then contract small and medium-sized companies for the Energy and Petroleum division. companies for the Energy and Petroleum division.

His trajectory and social sense have led Rodrigo Lobo to be the first president of Caintra Nuevo Leon's Sustainability and Social Responsibility Commission. Lobo to be the first president of the Sustainability and Social Responsibility Commission of Caintra Nuevo Leon. It is a commission that gathers representatives of more than 40 more than 40 companies and that has acquired great relevance in these times, in which in these times, in which companies in Mexico and the world are facing new and the world are facing new challenges and responsibilities as agents of as agents of transformation of society and the environment.

Among the first actions and achievements of this commission is the signing of support for the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations Global Compact, with which companies in Nuevo León are committed to implementing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition, the commission chaired by Lobo Morales conducted, earlier this year, the first Survey of Responsibility and Sustainability in Nuevo León, which seeks to to measure the social footprint of business, identify the priority ods for the sector and diagnose the degree of social responsibility management. and diagnose the degree of social responsibility management.

Where should the social commitment of the Mexican business community be directed?

First, to ensure that their employees receive continuous training not only in technical issues, but also in areas that help them to develop better as people, mothers, fathers and siblings within their families. And second, to try to contribute, to the extent of the possibilities of each company, in the communities where they operate.

Undoubtedly, resilience has allowed Protexa to adapt to the most diverse to adapt to the most diverse circumstances and to be today a benchmark company not only in the industrial and economic not only in the industrial and economic spheres, but also in the social and environmental spheres, which, as has been the case for 75 years, contributes to Mexico's greatness. for 75 years, contributes to the greatness of Mexico.

by HÉCTOR VARELA
for TRANSFORMA, WITH INFORMATION FROM PROTEXA AND CAINTRA