Our core strenghts
Our core strengths are:
Strategic location of our assets.
Our assets are located in strategic and economically developed regions in the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Tocantins. These states account for a large share of Brazil’s GDP and population. Our assets are positioned in the main export/import corridors of Brazil, close to major commercial hubs and ports that serve large production and consumption centers with busy circulation of goods and people, generating heavy passenger and cargo vehicle traffic. For example, the Anchieta-Imigrantes System, a set of highways managed by our concessionaire Ecovias dos Imigrantes, is Latin America’s biggest corridor for the transport of goods to both the import/export and domestic markets. Our highway concessions provide access to Brazil’s largest ports: Santos (the largest in Latin America), where Ecoporto Santos is located; São Sebastião, Vitória and Rio Grande. Moreover, one major differential of our concessions is that the busy commercial vehicle traffic is matched by the equally busy passenger and tourism vehicle traffic.
Concentration in infrastructure sectors with high growth potential
Our operations are concentrated in the highway concession sector that offers multiple growth opportunities and is closely linked to the growth of economic activity and trade flows in Brazil. The infrastructure sector in Brazil has a history of low investments, which resulted in the lack of an adequate infrastructure to support cargo and passenger transport and currently offers numerous investment opportunities.
Focus on creating value for shareholders through consistent cash generation and financial strength.
Since 1997, we have registered strong growth in revenue and operating cash flows. Highway concessions deliver internal rates of return that adequately remunerate the capital invested. Despite our significant growth rates, we distributed in the form of dividends and interest on equity, providing our shareholders with a stable cash flow.
Strong support from shareholders in evaluation of projects.
The Gavio Group and CR Almeida Group have vast experience in the infrastructure sector and can assist the Company in evaluating projects and also bring their know-how and competitive differential to the Company.
Seasoned management and shareholders with proven entrepreneurial and execution capacity.
We have a highly qualified and committed management team that is capable of executing the Company’s business plan while remaining focused on the strategies defined, on our growth, as well as on preserving our solid financial health, the profitability of our businesses and our sustainability. Combined with this team of professionals, we have experienced controlling shareholders that shares with us its knowledge of the highway concession sector. We believe this group of professionals and managers, and controlling shareholders have all the experience and expertise required to conduct our business and overcome the challenges facing the logistics infrastructure sector.
Commitment to best sustainability practices.
We are deeply committed to the best sustainability practices, which is exemplified by the effective reduction in the consumption of natural resources, the environmental education program instituted in public schools and reforestation practices using the seedlings of native species to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. Nine of our subsidiaries are certified for their good quality, environmental, health and safety practices (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001). In 2022, we were included for the twelfth consecutive year in the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) of the B3, an important recognition by the market of our efforts to include sustainability in our business strategy.
Our Strategies
Our goal is to be Brazil’s best sustainable highway infrastructure manager, integrating companies through their values and management and governance practices, thus creating value for our shareholders. To achieve our goal, we pursue the following strategies:
Expand our footprint in the highway concession sector in Brazil.
The infrastructure and transport concessions sector is constantly expanding and we are alert to new investment opportunities – in contractual amendments to our highway concessions, and in new toll road concessions. We seek concessions that offer a heavy volume of cargo transport or the potential to replicate our business model. It is worth mentioning that we analyze investment opportunities based on capital discipline, considering our financial capacity and the return on each project.
Maximize operating efficiency and return on invested capital.
As we gain scale, we increase our operating efficiency. Our initiatives include:
- Maintaining strict control over costs: We will maintain the same disciplined control over costs by employing the best management practices to seek alternatives to improve the efficiency and profitability of our businesses;
- Economies of scale: Our new business ventures will capitalize on our existing know-how and the centralization of administrative, management and technology practices, all of which will increase operating efficiency while reducing implementation times; and
- Capturing synergies: We plan to continue capturing the synergies resulting from the interconnection of the highways managed by us, which will enable better management of investments and increase our competitiveness in new business ventures.
Moreover, to optimize profitability and return on invested capital from new projects, we will use our competitive advantages, the synergies from our businesses and assets, the standardization of processes and sustainable alternatives to maximize our profitability. In our existing businesses, we will continue our austere approach to management, complying with our investment timetable and commitments, while at the same time continuing to pursue revenue growth. We will also explore the potential of new amendments to highway concession contracts in our portfolio.