(Adds comments from ACS CEO from paragraph 5)
Spanish construction group ACS ACS.MC expects its annual net profit to rise between 9% and 28% by 2026 from last year's levels, and revenues, which come largely from its North American operations that include toll roads, to jump by 20%-34%.
ACS told investors on Wednesday during a capital markets day that its net profit should reach between 850 million and 1 billion euros ($905 million-$1.06 billion) by 2026, while it forecast revenues of 43 billion-48 billion euros by then.
Last year, ACS reported net profit of 780 million euros on revenues of 35.7 billion euros. ACS' activities in North America accounted for 62% of total revenues in 2023.
ACS said it intended to expand its services in North America and Europe to provide engineering solutions for energy, digital and hi-tech projects while continuing to focus on its core business of infrastructure such as toll roads.
Chief Executive Juan Santamaria told investors that ACS expects to pay out more than 2 billion euros in dividends between 2024 and 2026.
"We expect to double our value by 2030", Santamaria said, projecting an equity valuation of around 14 billion euros.
ACS also plans to invest 1.3 billion euros in infrastructure opportunities, while it has a further 1.2 billion euros to spend on future potential deals until 2026.
The CEO said ACS would seek to enter into discussions with the government of Texas which had decided to terminate a number of toll road projects. If it cannot find another solution, ACS will receive around $1.7 billion in cash compensation, he said. ($1 = 0.9394 euros)
