Mitsui cuts CaetanoBus stake after €15m capital increase
Japan’s Mitsui did not join a €15 million capital increase at CaetanoBus, cutting its stake as the Portuguese bus maker restructures after major order cancellations.
CaetanoBus has raised €15 million to support investment in airport vehicles and urban mobility, but Japan’s Mitsui & Co did not take part, reducing its stake to 19.7%, ECOnews has learned from company documents. The move matters because it comes as the Portuguese bus maker reshapes its business after losses in tourism coaches and a sharp drop in orders.
The capital increase was subscribed only by parent company Toyota Caetano Portugal and Fundação Salvador Caetano, which became a new shareholder in the group’s bus business. After the operation, Toyota Caetano Portugal holds 61.94%, the foundation 18.37% and Mitsui 19.7%, down from about 38% at the end of 2024. CaetanoBus told ECOnews that this was “a decision by shareholder Mitsui & Co, taken in alignment with the majority shareholder”.
On the same day, the company also reduced its share capital to cover accumulated losses and used €20 million in supplementary capital previously provided in 2023 by Toyota Caetano Portugal and Mitsui. In 2025, CaetanoBus posted a net loss of €13.8 million, while revenue fell 12% to €118.3 million and consolidated EBITDA was negative €2.7 million, hit mainly by weaker tourism activity and a lower contribution from its in-house urban segment.
The shareholder change comes as CaetanoBus carries out a new collective redundancy process affecting 88 workers in Vila Nova de Gaia, expected to be completed in June and reducing headcount to around 500. According to information shared with investors and seen by ECOnews, Britain’s National Express cancelled 60% of its orders from October 2025, forcing the interruption of production on that line and contributing to a hit of more than €20 million to revenue.
CaetanoBus said its partnership with China’s CRRC will remain important this year to improve its technological and industrial competitiveness. In its annual report, the company also pointed to strong competitive pressure from Asian original equipment manufacturers and uncertainty over the pace of adoption of hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses in Europe.
Originally published at Eco.pt