- Net income, including divestments, amounted to -92 million euro.
- The company's main assets proved resilient to the difficult economic situation in 2009: EBITDA expanded in like-for-like terms by 15.1% at BAA, 5.3% at Cintra, 12.7% at Swissport and 7.5% in the International Construction division.
- The Services backlog increased by 14.2% to 9.980 billion euro and the Construction backlog by 3.6% to 8.800 billion euro.
- Excluding infrastructure projects, net debt was reduced by 24.2% to 1.172 billion euro.La deuda corporativa, descontados los proyectos de infraestructuras, se reduce el 24,2%, hasta los 1.172 millones de euros.
- The Ferrovial-Cintra merger is complete and has provided for a simpler corporate structure.
Madrid, 23 February 2010. Ferrovial, a global transport infrastructure and services company, obtained net income of 246 million euro adjusted for divestments in 2009 (principally Gatwick and the car park division). EBITDA amounted to 2.540 billion euro in 2009, 8.9% more than 2008 in like-for-like terms. Against the backdrop of the international economic situation, Ferrovial improved its key financial figures, expanding cash flow, and reducing corporate debt by 24.2%. The third quarter of 2009 was especially positive for the company, as it completed the merger with Cintra and noted an improvement in traffic at its main assets. Net income in the year was -92.4 million euro, which includes divestments, compared with -811.8 million euro in 2008.
The income statement reflects the robustness of Ferrovial's businesses and the resilience of its main assets. EBITDA increased by 12.7% at Swissport and by 5.3% at Cintra, supported by a steady improvement in traffic on most of its toll roads in 2009. International Construction and Amey also reported solid growth. Growth in EBITDA was particularly notable at BAA (15.1%) and Heathrow (22%), both in local currency terms.
Ferrovial's EBIT rose 10.4% to 1.531 billion euro, while revenues declined 2.1% (excluding the currency effect) to 12.095 billion euro.
The Construction backlog expanded 3.6% to 8.800 billion euro, which includes a notable 30% increase in the international division, excluding the currency effect. The Services backlog grew 14.2% to 9.980 billion euro.
Excluding infrastructure projects, net debt was reduced by 24.2% to 1.172 billion euro. Excellent operating cash flow performance (749 million euro) in the Construction and Services areas, together with divestments, contributed to this decline. Ferrovial refinanced all of the parent company's debt in December via a three-year 3.300 billion euro loan, simplifying the financial structure and ensuring sufficient liquidity to advance its business plan. That debt amounted to 2.170 billion euro at 31 December 2009.
Including infrastructure projects, consolidated net debt totalled 22.271 billion euro (+5.2%).
Divestments, diversification and the merger with Cintra
As part of its plan to rotate mature assets, in 2009 the company divested Gatwick airport for 1.510 billion pounds (1.657 billion euro), sold Cintra Aparcamientos for 451 million euro, and agreed to sell 60% of its Chilean toll roads for 209 million euro (scheduled for completion in 2010), among other actions. Ferrovial's geographic and business diversification strategy has been maintained in recent years and is reflected in its income statement.
The international business accounted for 65% of revenues and 85% of EBITDA.
The Airports division contributed approximately 53% of EBITDA, Toll Roads 24%, Services 14% and Construction 9%. In December 2009, Ferrovial completed the merger with Cintra with a view to creating an integrated transport infrastructure and services company. This has simplified the corporate structure and provided for more efficient management of internal resources.
Services: An excellent year for Swissport
Ferrovial Services showed its resilience to the crisis in 2009. Despite the global situation, this Division attained 3.680 billion euro in revenues, barely 0.9% less than in 2008 excluding the currency effect. EBITDA was 366 million euro, up 1.4% in like-for-like terms, and the backlog expanded by 14.2% to 9.980 billion euro.
This division also reported its largest-ever operating cash flow: 343 million euro.
Swissport's EBITDA improved 12.7% to 81 million euro, and revenues totalled 1.124 billion euro. This improvement is due primarily to the contribution from new markets (Ukraine, Cyprus and Bulgaria) and significant progress in countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Spain.
Revenues at Amey increased 5.7% proforma to 915 million euro, while EBITDA expanded 3.3% to 78 million euro, excluding subsidiary Tube Lines. The backlog grew 19.4% to 4.475 billion pounds at year-end. Both revenues and EBITDA declined slightly in Spain, to 1.527 billion euro and 197.4 million euro, respectively. Backlog, however, saw strong growth: 9.9% to 4.896 billion euro.
Toll roads: Rebound in traffic, and new concessions
The Toll Roads division's revenues totalled 935 million euro, up 1.3% in like-for-like terms. EBITDA increased 5.3% to 615 million euro. This figures include six months of activity at Cintra Aparcamientos, which was divested in June for 451 million euro and generated gains of 50 million euro. Traffic performance in 2009 was affected by the global economic situation, which impacted heavy vehicle traffic in particular; however, there was a notable recovery in the second half of the year.
Canadian toll road 407 ETR, Cintra's largest asset, obtained revenues of 354 million euro (+1.4%) and EBITDA of 276 million euro (+7%) in like-for-like terms. Traffic on the road, in terms of vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT), declined 1.7%. However, VKT increased by 1.1% in the last quarter of 2009.
There was also notable growth in proforma terms on the Chicago Skyway (revenues +7.1%, EBITDA +8.5%), Indiana Toll Road (revenues +7.6%, EBITDA +10.8%) and Ionian Toll Road in Greece (revenues +16.3%, EBITDA +23.1%).
In the first quarter of the year, Cintra refinanced all of its debt maturing in 2009. 407 ETR issued two bonds for a total of 500 million Canadian dollars, and Radial 4 extended its current debt by two years. In the first quarter, Cintra was awarded two new concessions in the US (LBJ and North Tarrant), representing an investment of close to 4.700 billion dollars.
Construction: Budimex expanded
The Construction division registered 4.476 billion euro in revenues in 2009, a 9.7% decline in like-for-like terms. EBITDA amounted to 225 million euro, 14.6% less. Operating cash flow improved in 2009 (406 million euro). The backlog expanded by 3.6% in like-for-like terms, to 8.800 billion euro. That figure does not include the LBJ contract in the US, which will add 1.500 billion euro.
The international backlog grew by 29.6% to 4.617 billion euro, exceeding the backlog in Spain (4.184 billion euro) for the first time. Good performance by the international business partly offset the widespread decline in construction in Spain. International revenues amounted to 1.913 billion euro, 5.5% higher in proforma terms.
In Poland, Budimex obtained 724 million euro in revenues. EBITDA expanded by 29.8% to 41 million euro while the backlog grew by 49.9% to 1.283 billion euro. In the US, Webber's revenues increased by 6.9% in like-for-like terms to 413 million euro, while its EBITDA fell by 2.5% to 21.4 million euro.
The backlog expanded by 53.1% to 1.039 billion euro. Revenues in Spain amounted to 2.597 billion euro and EBITDA to 128 million euro. The decline in margins was offset by the policy applied in recent quarters of selecting businesses and focusing on profitability.
Airports: Heathrow's EBITDA expanded by 22%
BAA's revenues increased by 7.3% in local currency in 2009, to 2.724 billion pounds sterling (3.067 billion euro). EBITDA increased very significantly, by 15.1%, to 1.205 billion pounds (1.354 billion euro). Despite an 11.1% increase in depreciation charges, EBIT increased by 21.7% to 488 million pounds sterling (630 million euro).
The main operating factors behind this increase were the increase in fees on 1 April, the reduction of operating expenses and the improvement in retail revenues per passenger at Heathrow. The latter airport performed well in 2009, with traffic falling by 1.5% in the full year but expanding by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. These figures were better than those of the other international hub airports.
Heathrow's EBITDA increased by 22% (to 737.8 million pounds) on 1.645 billion pounds in revenues. Overall, BAA's traffic declined by 4.3% to 112.2 million passengers. Traffic performance improved significantly as the year advanced. In fact, passenger numbers were down only 0.8% in the fourth quarter.
