Ferrovial obtains net profit of Ptas 18.505 billion in 1999, a 30% increase

Ferrovial has successfully reached the end of a year marked by its flotation, the integration of its construction businesses and the contract awarded for the H407 Highway in Canada, which definitively consolidates its position as world leader in transport infrastructure concessions; a year when it obtained net profit attributable to the controlling company of Ptas 18.505 billion (Euros 111.2m), an increase of 30% on the Ptas 14.201 billion recorded in 1998. Without the extraordinary expenses deriving from the merger of the construction businesses, net profit would have grown by 68%. The positive performance of the results of the Ferrovial Groups business is also reflected in the 59% increase in operating profit, which rose to Ptas 32.357 billion (Euros 194.5m). With a 60% share in operating profit, businesses other than construction are gaining weight. Ordinary profit totaled Ptas 34.459 billion (Euros 207.1m), up 95.4%. Profit before tax amounted to Ptas 32.423 billion (Euros 194.9m), 72.4% more than in 1998. In 1999 consolidated sales amounted to Ptas 440.118 billion (Euros 2,645.2m), 11% more than the previous year, as is consistent with the growth registered in all the business divisions: sales grew by 3% in construction, by 45% in the real estate division, by 133% in infrastructure concessions and by 30% in services. The merger process, completed In 1999 the rapid process of integrating the construction businesses in the new Ferrovial Agromán produced Ptas 5.3 billion (Euros 31.9m) in non-recurrent extraordinary expenses and implies that all of the merger costs have already been posted. The economies deriving from the merger will amount to some Ptas 5 billion (Euros 30m), the whole of which will be obtained as from the year 2000. In 1999 the savings to be obtained are estimated at over Ptas 1.7 billion (Euros 10.5m). In 1999, the Ferrovial Group made a large volume of investments, amounting to Ptas 116 billion (Euros 697.9m) at the end of the year. By business, 66% of investment went to infrastructure concessions, i.e. some Ptas 76 billion, while Ptas 25 billion was put into the purchase of land for the real estate business. Sharp increase in sales Last year sales increased substantially in all the business divisions: construction, with Ptas 368.047 billion (Euros 2,212.0m), was up by 3% on the previous year. As of 31 December 1999, the backlog in construction totaled Ptas 669.235 billion (Euros 4,022.2m), with a 6% increase on the 1998 figure. The foreign backlog amounts to Ptas 160.68 billion (Euros 966m) and mainly corresponds to work in Portugal, Italy, Chile and Canada. Notable amongst the work contracted in 1999 is the Zaragoza-Lleida high-speed rail link, sub-stretch II-A; the prolongation of Line 8 of the Madrid Metro; the extension of the Port of Bilbao; the Campo de las Naciones Business Center (Madrid) and the Cervelló By-pass (Barcelona). Amongst our projects abroad are the Milan-Naples motorway (Italy); the Sistema Torca hydraulic works (Colombia); the new Puente Duarte (Dominican Republic); the Macedo de Cavaleiros highway (Portugal) and the extension of the Toronto H407 (Canada). In the real estate business, sales amounted to Ptas 40.69 billion (Euros 244.5m), up 45.8% on the previous year. Sales commitments amounted to Ptas 71.523 billion (Euros 429.9m), 40% more than in 1998. In the infrastructure concession business, conducted through Cintra, sales totaled Ptas 29.882 billion (Euros 179.2m) as of 31 December 1999, an increase of 133%. Amongst the major contracts won are the concessions for the Canadian highway H407 in Toronto, which represents an investment of over Ptas 400 billion, and the Estepona-Guadiaro motorway in the province of Malaga. In addition, the contracts in the car park division push up the number of spaces managed in Spain and Portugal to over 117,000. Sales in the services division rose sharply to Ptas 15.192 billion (Euros 91.3m), up 30% on the 1998 figure. The backlog of services totals Ptas 97.5 billion (Euros 586m), 23.2% more than in December 1998. Amongst the most important contracts won are the extension of the A Coruña concession, the contract for selective waste collection and cleaning at Mercamadrid, and the construction and running of the recycling, composting and waste collection plants belonging to the Almanzora-Levante Consortium in Almeria. In telecommunications, Ferrovial maintained its franchise in the fixed telephony and cable businesses, through Uni2 and Ono (Cableuropa), respectively, and has presented a bid for one of the UMTS multimedia mobile telephony licences in the Movi2 consortium.