FCC Group Reports Q3 Earnings; Details Hurricane Response Efforts

Madrid, Spain-based FCC Group reported net attributable profit amounting to €153.5 million ($178.7 million) in the first nine months of 2017, contrasting with the loss of €179.4 million ($208.8 million) in the same period of 2016, which included an adjustment of goodwill in the cement business. Profit accelerated in the third quarter, to €97 million ($112.9 million), almost double the €56.5 million ($65.77( booked in the first half.

FCC Group's consolidated revenues amounted to €4.3 billion ($4.9 billion) in the first nine months of 2017, a 2.8 percent decline year-on-year. FCC attributed this to the deconsolidation of the U.S. cement business in November 2016 and, to a lesser extent, the depreciation of certain currencies against the euro. Adjusting for both effects, consolidated revenues would have increased by 2.3 percent with respect to the same period of 2016.

In terms of the business areas, Water reported €181.6 million in EBITDA ($211.4 million), a 6.3 percent increase year-on-year, while Construction reported €50.5 million ($58.8 million) in EBITDA, 48.5 percent more than in the same period of 2016. The Environmental Services area obtained €306 million ($356.2 million), a 3.8 percent decline, mainly due to the depreciation of both the pound sterling and the Egyptian pound, and to higher energy costs.

Among its highlights in the quarter, in September FCC’s board of directors voted unanimously to appoint Pablo Colio as Group CEO in place of Carlos Jarque, who stepped down as CEO on 12 September and continues as a proprietary director.

In the U.S., the division, which is concentrated in the states of Texas and Florida, stepped up its activities in order to help offset the impact of the hurricanes in those two states. In Houston it doubled the size of the fleet in service to help combat flooding, while in Polk County, Fla., it voluntarily commenced waste collection services earlier than scheduled in order to lessen the effect of another hurricane.

In its environmental services business, the company started up its ninth energy-from-waste plant, serving Worcestershire and Herefordshire, in the United Kingdom. The complex was designed, developed and built by Mercia Waste Management, a company owned 50 percent by FCC.

It also obtained a number of contracts in Spain, for municipal solid waste collection and treatment and for street cleaning, worth over €230 million ($267.7 million) in total.