Mota-Engil posts record profits of €92 million until September. Orders guarantee “strong and profitable growth”
The construction company's profits increased by 20% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2024. EBITDA rose by 15% year-on-year.
Mota-Engil ended the first nine months of 2025 with a record net profit of €92 million, representing a 20% increase on the profits reported in the same period last year. The order book once again reached unprecedented levels, ensuring “visibility for several years” and “strong and profitable growth in the future”.
“The Mota-Engil Group announces that it has today published its trading update with the main indicators for the third quarter of 2025, a period characterised by the maintenance of production levels at historic levels for the Group”, the company explained in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).
Turnover remained above four billion euros – standing at 4.09 million euros – slightly below the 4.146 million achieved in the same period last year. EBITDA grew by 15% year-on-year to 699 million euros.
In terms of the performance of the various business areas, the construction company highlights the 57% growth in turnover in Africa to €1.616 million, with EBITDA growing 62% to €405 million (margin of 25%), “driven by the doubling of activity in the Industrial Engineering segment, which currently makes Mota-Engil the largest Contract Mining operator on the entire African continent”.
In Europe, turnover reached €334 million, 27% less than the €457 million recorded a year earlier, “influenced by delays in tenders and the awarding of important projects in Portugal due to unexpected legislative elections”, with the northern group anticipating that “activity will gain traction in 2026” — and by the sale of operations in Poland (€123 million in the first nine months of 2024).
In Latin America, a region where Mexico is the largest foreign market, the group led by Carlos Mota Santos achieved a turnover of €1.561 billion, a year-on-year drop of 29%.
Order book hits new record
As in recent earnings reports, the order book once again set new records, reaching €15.7 billion. This is €1 billion more than at the end of June, with Angola (19%), Mexico (17%), Portugal (12%) and Nigeria (11%) as the markets with the highest volume of engineering and construction projects.
Despite the record figures, the group points out that “the order book does not include projects recently awarded (after September) in Brazil, such as the Santos-Guarujá tunnel concession (€1.255 billion), work on the Duque de Caxias refinery (€700 million, with Mota-Engil holding a 33% stake) and the extension of the submarine storage contract (€35 million), as well as in Mexico with €1.02 billion in infrastructure, including the second section of the Querétaro–Irapuato line in Mexico (€820 million)”.
“The record-level order book, which is well diversified and anchored in high value-added projects in core markets, ensures visibility for several years and supports strong and profitable growth in the future”, the company said in the same note to investors.
In terms of outlook, the company anticipates a consolidation of the EBITDA margin at 17% this year, “reinforcing the Group’s strong focus on profitability and cash generation, contributing to the improvement of the net margin”.
Turnover is expected to be impacted “by a mid-single digit adjustment (which is expected to fully recover in 2026) reflecting the temporary effects of contract awards and the start of crucial projects in Portugal and Mexico, while other core operations continue to show solid and resilient performance”.
The company led by Carlos Mota dos Santos also expects to maintain disciplined capital allocation, with investment amounting to approximately 7% of turnover, supporting strategic growth and preserving financial balance and flexibility.
As for debt, the group is committed to a net debt/EBITDA ratio of less than 2x and gross debt/EBITDA below 4x.
Even before the company’s results were known, shares closed down 3.75% at €5.52, pressured by a new negative bet on capital, with the Portuguese construction company remaining on the radar of investors seeking to profit from the fall in securities.
On Monday, Square Circle IA LP reported to the CMVM a short position equivalent to 0.61% of Mota-Engil’s capital, the largest among the three funds currently betting against the shares of the company led by Carlos Mota dos Santos.
