Civil engineering group Mota-Engil sees record €113M profit in 2023
The year 2023 was "characterised by a strong operating performance, achieving record levels of production in the Engineering and Construction (E&C) area", it stressed.
Portuguese civil engineering company Mota-Engil made a profit of €113 million in 2023, an increase of 120% compared to 2022, achieving “the best annual net result” in its history, the construction company has announced.
The group stressed in a statement, released on Monday evening, that the net profit of €113 million is the best in its history and combines “strong growth in activity with an improvement in the group’s net profitability”, thus realising “one of the most important priorities” that the group proposes to achieve in its Strategic Plan until 2026.
The year 2023 was “characterised by a strong operating performance, achieving record levels of production in the Engineering and Construction (E&C) area”, it stressed.
“It made it possible to exceed €5 billion in turnover for the first time in its history, reaching €5.552 billion, a growth of 46% compared to 2022, a year in which the Group’s previous high was recorded with €3.804 billion,” it said.
The Mota-Engil group emphasised that, for “solid growth”, the “core business of Engineering and Construction grew by 54% and significantly in all regions, with Latin America standing out, which, with growth of 81%, reached an unprecedented milestone in 2023 in a region where it is currently one of the five largest construction companies, while also highlighting the relevant dynamism in Africa (+28%) and Europe (+31%)”.
The construction company also recorded growth of 55% in EBITDA (earnings before taxes, fees and amortisation) to €837 million, with “one of the best margins in the sector internationally, which was reflected in the operating result (EBIT), an indicator that more than doubled to €516 million (a margin of 9% compared to the 6% recorded in 2022)”.
On a financial level, the group “accelerated the expansion of its investment (CAPEX of €513 million), emphasising that it is “mainly directed towards medium and long-term contracts, pursuing the strategy of careful and selective investment in core markets such as Portugal, Mexico, Angola and Nigeria”.
Mota-Engil also emphasised in the statement that “as a result of the strong operational and cash generation performance”, and despite the ” major investment made”, the group achieved “the best Net Debt/EBITDA ratio of the last 10 years (with 1.4x compared to 1.7x in 2022), and Gross Debt/EBITDA to 3.3x (a significant improvement compared to 4.5x in 2022), surpassing the objectives set out in the Strategic Plan (2022-2026)”.
“Alongside the operational and financial performance, the Group strengthened its order book to €13 billion in a year that was the second best ever with €6 billion in new contracts, demonstrating the ability to renew with improved quality, focused on core markets and reinforcing the prospects of maintaining the virtuous circle of sustainable growth in 2024 and beyond, in line with the growth and profitability objectives set out in the Strategic Plan until 2026,” it emphasised.
