The executive president of Ecorodovias, Marcello Guidotti, said this Thursday that the company’s offer for the concession of 92 kilometers of highways in the State of São Paulo will not put too much pressure on the group’s debt, after the company’s shares plummeted in the wake of the dispute .
The company earlier won an auction to manage for 30 years stretches of highways gathered in the “Nova Raposo” project, currently under the management of Via Oeste, with a fixed grant offer of 2.19 billion reais, a premium of 47,117.67% over the minimum grant value of 4.6 million reais.
“It is an asset that generates a lot of cash, so it is very financeable, it will not put too much pressure on the Ecorodovias group’s debt”, stated Guidotti in a press conference after the event, which also included the participation of CCR, EPR and Via Appia.
The Nova Raposo lot includes some of the main access roads to the metropolitan region of São Paulo, including the capital and the municipalities of Araçariguama, Barueri, Cotia, Itapevi, Jandira, Osasco, Santana de Parnaíba, Itapecerica da Serra and Embu das Artes. The concession covers the urban sections of the Castello Branco and Raposo Tavares highways.
The CEO highlighted that the cycle of works in the concession, which foresees investments of around R$8 billion throughout the contract, will be more intense in the years 2028, 2029 and 2030, when the cycle of works planned for Ecorodovias will already begin to “cool down”.
“So I think it’s a profile that fits well with Ecorodovias’ capex profile,” said the executive. The project foresees works to increase capacity and improve the road system, including additional lanes, duplications, marginal roads and cycle paths, among others.
READ MORE: EcoRodovias displaces CCR and will take over Raposo Tavares highway for R$ 2.19 billion
Guidotti added that the auction schedule ahead is extensive and that the company will continue to be selective “as it has been in the last two years”. “We will wait for another new opportunity, of the same quality as this asset”, he stated.
Asked about the market’s reaction to the result of the auction, the executive recalled the company’s purchase of the highways in the Noroeste Lot. “It was the same market reaction, and it is an asset that is doing very well, performing very well,” he said.
The company’s shares closed down 19.79% this Thursday, at 5.35 reais each, the session’s low.
The CEO also justified the drop with the more bitter market sentiment on the day, after frustration with the fiscal package announced by the federal government the night before, and said that “it is not only through auctions” that the company can grow.
Nova Raposo’s concession contract includes risk mitigation mechanisms, including sharing the demand risk, lower than 98% or higher than 108% of estimated demand; default compensation for 95% of toll evasion losses; compensation of up to 95% of costs above those expected for carrying out expropriations and evictions on SP-270; and rebalancing for possible capacity expansion investments necessary to maintain the highway’s service level, said Ecorodovias, later, in a relevant fact.
