Mota-Engil profits up 9% to €133 million in 2025 – book orders worth €16.2Bn
Mota-Engil posted profits of €133 million last year, 9% more than the €123 million recorded in 2024, making it “its best result ever”.
In the statement to the CMVM (Portuguese Securities Market Commission) presenting its annual accounts, the group led by Carlos Mota dos Santos states that turnover fell by 11%, from €5,951 million to €5,301 million. This decrease was “expected,” it says, and was due “mainly to delays in deliveries in Portugal, due to political changes resulting from electoral processes, as well as the political transition period that usually occurs in Mexico in the first year of a presidential term”.
Added to this was the impact compared to 2024 in the European region, which that year was impacted by the Polish market (€119 million in revenue), its in interests in Poland were sold in September of that year.
In 2025, EBITDA increased by 4% “to a record €979 million,” Mota-Engil also states, highlighting the “unprecedented margin of 18%.”
The order book reached a new record of €16.2 billion, with core markets representing 72% of the total, notably Mexico (22%), Angola (18%), Portugal (12%), and Nigeria (8%) as the markets with the largest volume of orders to be executed.
This order book does not yet include the contract signed (after December) in Brazil, relating to the concession of the Santos-Guarujá tunnel (€1.255Bn), nor the designation of Mota-Engil as the selected entity for the execution of a railway section in Portugal, between Contumil and Ermesinde (€115 million).
The net debt/EBITDA ratio remained below 2 times, “in line with the strategic objective established until 2026.” This was aided by the financial discipline of maintaining Capital Expenditure (Capex) at the level of the target set at the beginning of the year, which established a 7% Capex/turnover ratio, a goal that was largely achieved, according to the statement released.
Africa grows 22%, Latin America declines 33%
By business area, the group highlights the 22% growth in revenue in Africa to €2,129 million, a region where EBITDA grew 25% to €565 million (27% margin), “driven by the significant 73% growth in the Industrial Engineering segment, which places Mota-Engil in the world’s Top 5 of ‘contract maintenance’ companies.”
In Latin America, a region where the group is the second largest construction company and has its largest market in Mexico, the group recorded a turnover of €2,006 million, which translates to a decrease (expected in 2025) of 33%, maintaining an EBITDA margin of 11%, in line with the historical trend of a region that “will resume growth in 2026, considering the new railway contracts won in Mexico, as well as in Brazil, with ‘oil & gas’ projects and the Santos-Guarujá tunnel”.
In the Environment segment, the group achieved a 15% growth in turnover to €652 million, with an EBITDA margin of 23%.
In presenting its 2025 accounts, the group also states that for 2026 it estimates double-digit growth in business volume (10%–15%), driven “by the execution of a record portfolio and the acceleration of large-scale, long-cycle projects in core markets”;
The EBITDA margin is expected to remain at the level achieved in 2025, “supported by a rigorous selection of projects, a higher quality portfolio and a growing contribution from higher margin segments”.
The report also points to a sustained net profit margin of around 3%, a net debt/EBITDA ratio remaining below 2 times, and a gross debt/EBITDA ratio below 4 times.
The group also anticipates that investment (Capex) will remain stable at 7% of turnover this year and aims for “efficient management of the concessions portfolio, promoting the disciplined rotation of mature assets”.
The group will present its new Strategic Plan 2026-2030 in Lisbon on March 11 at its first Capital Markets Day.
Source: Negócios; Credit: Mota-Engil
