Ferrovial third-quarter profit up 79% to 483 million euro

Ferrovial, world-leading infrastructure and services operator, obtained net profit of 483 million euro in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 79% year-on-year. EBITDA amounted to 815 million euro, up 16%, and revenues increased 11.5% to 7.233 billion euro. These results were underpinned by strong operating performance by the divisions, all of which registered double-digit growth, and by the main assets; strong performance by the company's operating currencies also contributed. International revenues increased by 16% to account for 72% of total revenues. Spain's economic improvement was reflected by growth in traffic and in Services. The company collected 278 million euro in dividends from the main assets in which it holds a stake. Highway 407 ETR contributed 174 million euro; HAH, 76 million euro,; and AGS (UK regional airports), 28 million euro. During the quarter, an agreement was reached to sell the stakes in Irish toll roads M4 and M3 to Dutch fund DIF for 61 million euro. In terms of operating performance, traffic increased at Ferrovial's toll roads and airports, in the US, Canada and Europe, including notably: 407 ETR (+3.4%) and Heathrow (+2.3%), NTE (+11%), Glasgow Airport (+13.6%), Ausol I (+11.8%) and Algarve (+10.6%). The total backlog remained high, 31.288 billion euro, of which 23.039 billion relate to Services and 8.249 billion to Construction. International exposure continued to rise in the quarter, supported by the currency effect, with the result that 74% of the backlog is located outside Spain (72% in the case of Services and 79% in Construction). Cintra was awarded two new projects in the quarter: the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing toll road in Australia, worth some 1.100 billion euro, and the Bucaramanga-Barrancabermeja-Yondó toll road in Colombia, worth 880 million euro. Ferrovial Agroman also heads the consortium that was awarded the contract to build the central section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in London, for 1.050 billion euro; this company is also involved in the aforementioned Cintra concessions. These three projects together will contribute about 900 million euro to the construction backlog. Services landed a number of contracts, including waste management on the Isle of Wight, for 306 million euro. Other new contracts obtained this year include the 407 East Extension Phase 2 in Canada, several sections of the S3 and S7 expressways in Poland, the connection to Northern Beaches Hospital (Australia), and the Trafford (UK) services contracts. This year has also seen financial closure of the 407 East Extension Phase 2 in Canada, the I-77 in North Carolina, and the Toowoomba highway in Australia, and refinancing of the A-66 Benavente-Zamora, in Spain. Greater flexibility and lower financial costs Ferrovial ended the third quarter of 2015 with a net cash position (excluding infrastructure project debt) of 1.199 billion euro. Consolidated net debt amounted to 6.491 billion euro. The company does not have significant debt maturities until 2018. As part of its funding strategy, Ferrovial expanded and extended its liquidity line from 22 banks to 1.250 billion euro for a term of 5 years with a possible 2-year extension, while the spread was reduced to 50 points. The main assets continued to perform well: The NTE in Texas, which opened last year, continues to improve. Revenues totalled 36.6 million dollars, up 17% compared with the previous quarter, and EBITDA was up by 19.5%. The road registered 5.5 million trips, an increase of 10.7% with respect to the period between April and June 2015. The LBJ, the second managed lanes project in Texas, was inaugurated on 10 September. The company's two other main assets—Highway 407 ETR and Heathrow Airport—maintained strong performance, with a notable increase in EBITDA. Traffic also continued to rise: by 3.4% on 407 ETR, which increased revenues by 13.5% and EBITDA by 14% in local currency terms. Heathrow registered 2.3% growth in traffic, to 57 million passengers, which yielded a 4.3% increase in revenues to 2.070 billion pounds. Business units Services maintained growth in all geographies and key figures. Revenues increased by 13% and EBITDA by 7.2%.Revenues in Spain increased by 5.9% due to new contracts obtained in the fourth quarter of 2014, which include waste collection and street lighting and traffic light maintenance for Madrid City Government, and street cleaning and waste collection in Huelva. Revenues in the UK increased by 16.5%. Including contracts recognised by the equity method, the backlog reached another record of 23.039 billion euro, i.e. a 3% increase, enhanced by the currency effect. Toll Roads experienced traffic growth on most assets, as performance improved in the third quarter with respect to the first half. The US, Spain and other European countries registered an improvement across the board. Revenues amounted to 389 million euro, up 19%, including a notable contribution from NTE. In addition to new awards in Canada, Australia and Colombia, the A66 in Spain opened to traffic this year. In Construction, profitability was maintained by a disciplined approach to bidding and through cost management. Revenues amounted to 3.233 billion euro, up 10%, while EBITDA increased by 15%. The backlog stands at 8.249 billion euro. International activity continued to gain in importance, due to the good performance by Budimex and contributions from new countries. The international business accounted for 80% of revenues and 79% of the backlog. Ferrovial Agroman experienced strong growth in revenues (+17%) and EBITDA (+42%). Budimex maintained its positive performance in revenues (+5.7%), EBITDA (+28%) and backlog (+23%). In Airports, HAH registered 4.3% revenue growth in local currency terms. Heathrow was named "Best Airport" by Skytrax and Airport Council International in a number of categories, ratifying the increase in the percentage of passengers who rate the airport as very good or excellent (81%). The regional airports (Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton) registered growth of 5.1% in revenues and 11% in EBITDA, in local currency terms. The number of passengers using those airports increased by 6.7%.