Hochtief (ACS) commits at its board to an improvement in profit of up to 10% this year | Companies

The German arm of the ACS group, Hochtief, is preparing to increase its contribution to the Spanish company’s results in 2024 and in coming years. At the shareholders meeting held in Essen (Germany), CEO Juan Santamaría stated that the German company’s net operating profit this year should be between 560 and 610 million euros. The range represents an increase of up to 10% compared to 2023. The 553 million achieved at the end of last year already included an improvement of 6,…

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The German arm of the ACS group, Hochtief, is preparing to increase its contribution to the Spanish company’s results in 2024 and in coming years. At the shareholders meeting held in Essen (Germany), CEO Juan Santamaría stated that the German company’s net operating profit this year should be between 560 and 610 million euros. The range represents an increase of up to 10% compared to 2023. The 553 million achieved at the end of last year already included an improvement of 6.1%, while cash flow shot up almost 20%, to 1,448 million .

The dividend proposal approved against last year is 4.40 euros per share, which improves by 10% the 4 euros of the previous year. “Hochtief’s price closed the year at 100.3 euros. Including the dividend of 4 euros per share, the total return for shareholders stood at 98% in 2023. We continue to focus on attractive remuneration and given the good performance of the company, we propose a dividend of 4.40 euros per share, 10% more than the previous year and in line with our policy of distributing 65% of the net profit,” Santamaría explained to the shareholders. ACS controls the capital with a 75.7% stake.

The chief executive’s speech has been optimistic about the short and medium-term future of a company that also controls the Australian Cimic and the American Turner. As a basis for development, he has spoken of the expansion of the portfolio of projects related to new generation infrastructure, which includes data centers, component plants for electric vehicles, initiatives for the decarbonization of mining or transportation, or plants for the energy transition. “We see many market opportunities and we are very optimistic for 2024 and beyond,” said Florentino Pérez’s right-hand man.

The activity reserve of the ACS firm amounted to 55.3 billion as of December 31, after new projects for 36.7 billion were added to the portfolio. Of this last figure, 50% is part of the aforementioned new generation infrastructures.

Hochtief’s strategy involves reducing the risk profile of the contracted works; invest to increase its presence in the high-tech market (150 million in 2023); diversify into high-growth segments, and continue advancing in the 2025 sustainability plan. Hochtief, through the aforementioned Cimic, announced yesterday the investment of 320 million Australian dollars in the purchase of 10% of the Australian mining giant Thiess, in which it will scale up to 60% of the capital to proceed with the global integration of its results.

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