LISBON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest construction company, Mota-Engil MOTA.LS, said on Tuesday its nine-month net profit rose 20%, driven by growth in its African unit, while its global order backlog hit a record high.
The builder, which operates in more than 20 countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America, posted a net profit of 90 million euros ($104 million) in the period, up from 77 million euros last year.
Despite a 1.4% drop to 4.1 billion euros in total sales, revenue from the African unit rose 57% to 1.6 billion euros, "boosted by a doubling activity" in industrial engineering, including work in the mining sector.
Sales in Latin America fell 29% to 1.6 billion euros in a "transition period" after two consecutive years of significant growth, and European sales dropped 27% to 334 million euros after the sale of its Polish operations in September.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 15% to 699 million euros, with the EBITDA margin increasing to 17% from 15% a year ago. The African unit's EBITDA jumped 62% to 405 million euros, with a margin of 25%.
Mota-Engil, which is 40%-owned by the Mota family and 32.41% by China Communications Construction Company 601800.SS, said its order backlog reached a record of 15.7 billion euros, up from 14.7 billion in June, bolstered by large projects mainly in Angola, Mexico, Nigeria and Portugal.
It said the backlog did not include major contracts signed after September, especially in Brazil and Mexico, which "guarantees visibility for several years and supports strong and profitable growth in the future."
($1 = 0.8637 euros)
(reporting by Sergio Goncalves. Editing by Mark Potter)
((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters Messaging: sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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