The holding company of basic sanitation concessionaires hosted Aegea Day to present the performance of its operations and discuss industry topics
São Paulo, April 25 – On Thursday (25), Aegea hosted its annual event for financial analysts and investors. The panels conducted at Aegea Day by senior executives presented to the audience the company’s growth and the regulatory aspects of the basic sanitation industry.
CFO Flávio Crivellari presented the company’s strong growth in recent years, with average annual EBITDA growth of 30.2% since 2006, which was driven by acquisitions, success in government bid processes and the successful turnaround of the assets acquired, with operational efficiency gains and expansion in water and sewage coverage.
The latest development was the acquisition of Águas de Manaus, the company’s largest acquisition to date, which was incorporated into the group’s concessionaire portfolio in mid-2018 and already accounts for 20% of the holding’s revenue. The acquisition was supported by a R$550 million injection by the non-controlling shareholders that, since their entry into the Company, have contributed around R$1 billion, which has supported Aegea’s solid credit fundamentals and consequently resulted in successive upgrades in its credit rating even as it consolidated the industry.
At the concessionaire Águas de Manaus, Aegea has been implementing strategies that involve proactive contact with the public, with 3,000 new households already connected to the network and 13,000 connections normalized, which has reduced the operation’s default rate and, most importantly, strengthened relations with users. CEO Hamilton Amadeo notes that each operation is working to build lasting relations with the community. “The concept of Social License to Operate figures prominently at companies seeking sustainable growth in the long term.”
Other highlights include consolidation actions and efficiency gains at Águas de Teresina, in operation since 2017, which include a program to improve service quality and expand services, which has helped improve the problems with water scarcity that typically occur between September and December. Popularly known as BR-Ó-BRO, these months historically register very high temperatures and very dry weather.
The effort shows how the company has been striving to combine profitability with direct social impact for the market and its investors. The company’s current shareholders are the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC (27.56%), the International Finance Corporation – IFC (7.14%), IFC Asset Management Company (6.56%) and Equipav (58.74%).
Rogério Tavares, Corporate Relations Vice-President, presented the industry’s regulatory aspects and the key points of the Provisional Presidential Decree for the sanitation industry that currently is being discussed. Tavares’ presentation demonstrated the urgency of the changes to stimulate investments in the sector and to achieve the targets for universal access to water and basic sanitation services.
Today, Aegea operates in 49 cities in 11 Brazilian states and serves 7.6 million Brazilians. This number should expand once negotiations are concluded for the acquisition of a new operation, a basic sanitation public-private partnership (PPP) in Guarulhos, in which 9.1 million users will be served, which would lead Aegea to account for 36.4% of Brazil’s private sanitation operations.
Click here to access the presentation.
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