Ferrovial revenues rise 5.5% in first nine-month on traffic recovery

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial SA said on Thursday its revenues rose 5.5% to 5.45 billion euros ($5.44 billion) between January and September 2022 as its investment in motorway and airport construction projects continued to pay off in profits from concessions.

The infrastructure builder and operator reported 521 million euros in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the first nine months of 2022, 11.8% more than in the same period a year ago.

The results "reflect the strong performance of the Toll Roads business", the company said.

Managed lanes in the United States increased its contributions as traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels, boosting its plans to continue investing in profitable North American markets, Ferrovial said.

Its construction order book reached 13.10 billion euros in the period, up 6.5% from a year ago.

Madrid-based Ferrovial said revenue from Heathrow, Britain's largest airport, increased threefold to 2.1 billion pounds ($2.43 billion) from the same period a year ago as international flights resumed and passenger traffic recovered.

However, Heathrow has forecast that total passenger numbers by 2022 would be between 60 million and 62 million, approximately 25% less than in 2019.

Sources told Reuters earlier this year that Ferrovial, the single largest investor in Heathrow, was considering selling its 25% stake after being there for 16 years.

The Spanish builder said in a call with analysts it is not considering any change in its approach to its investment in Heathrow in the short term. The company also said it is not considering divestment from any other business at the moment.

Ferrovial concluded the divestment of its services business this year and only retains its waste treatment business in Britain, along with road maintenance activities in the United States and an energy services unit in Spain.

The company plans to expand its presence in the renewable energy business in the coming years and will seek to participate in offshore wind energy projects in Poland and the United States, alone or with partners.

In Spain, Ferrovial has notified the government that it intends to vie for at least five new offshore wind projects in future licensing auctions, for which the government still has to define regulations and determine in which of its coastal areas these wind farms will be installed.

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(Reporting by Corina Pons; additional reporting by Charlie Devereux; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker)