Brisa Looks for India, Turkey Highway Chances After Brazil Exit

Brisa-Auto Estradas de Portugal SA, Portugal’s biggest toll-road company, is looking for opportunities to expand in India and Turkey after selling its stake in Cia. de Concessoes Rodoviarias SA, Brazil’s biggest toll-road operator.

“After selling CCR, Brisa’s portfolio is very unbalanced,” Chief Executive Officer Vasco de Mello said at a presentation to investors, according to a regulatory filing posted on the website of the country’s securities markets watchdog. “Too much concentrated in Portugal.”

The company, based near Lisbon, plans to bid for a contract to operate and manage a highway in Mumbai, and sees opportunities in the privatization of motorways and Bosphorus bridges in Turkey. Brisa has already sold 9.4 percent of CCR and plans to sell the remaining 7 percent by the end of the year.

Brisa is facing sluggish growth in Portugal as the country’s austerity measures to curb the budget deficit choke consumer demand. The company predicts higher toll revenue next year as drivers must now pay to use some competing highways that were formerly toll-free, and Brisa’s own tolls rising 0.6 percent.

The company expects to invest between 200 million euros ($273 million) and 300 million euros in new business opportunities, according to the filing. Average annual capital spending on Portuguese highway projects for 2011 through 2015 will be 95 million euros, dropping to 65 million euros from 2016, it said.

Toll Machines

Brisa predicts operating costs will be unchanged in 2011, after dropping 4 percent this year, more than the 3 percent initially forecast. The company expects additional costs from the opening of new highways to be offset by savings from the introduction of cash and card toll machines on Portuguese highways, forecast to total 3.5 million euros from 2011.

The company will complete its corporate reorganization by the end of the year, creating a holding company that will control its three business areas. Brisa said it will finish this year with net debt of 2.3 billion euros and has “no major short-term” refinancing needs.

Brisa plans to pay a 31 euro-cent dividend to shareholders for the next five years and is considering a share buyback to bring its holding up to 10 percent, including 4 percent the company already owns.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anabela Reis in Lisbon at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at [email protected]

via Brisa Looks for India, Turkey Highway Chances After Brazil Exit – Bloomberg.