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SINERGIA 39

› How did the invitation to go to Peru arise and how has such challenge been coming along?

I’mno longer sure. I believe it came up during some casual talk with António Mota over one of the Christmas lunches or at some board meeting. The total availability to support the Group made the process run quite swiftly. Peru, Peruvian professionals and the company I met when I got there were a very pleasant surprise for me.

The main challenge has been positioning Mota-Engil Peru in its rightful place within the Peruvian market. This means to grow at a sustainable level, associated to a degree of diversifcation equal to the one that the Mota-Engil Group has in Portugal.

› You’ve worked in diferent business areas in the Group. In what way has such knowledge contributed toward developing the company’s diversifcation?

One of the competitive advantages of the Mota-Engil Group is its diversifcation both in the several engineering and construction areas and in the environment and services area. It’s not always easy, within the same economic group, to maintain an objective alignment for its several areas, namely when in terms of operation there might be diferent goals.

The 5 years I’ve worked for the Company and the 13 years at the highways concessionnaire of the Group, not only did they make it easier to align such objectives, but it was also essential to develop projects which are interrelated and make use of the synergies from diferent business areas where the Group operates today.

› In which business areas does Mota-Engil Peru operate today?

Mota-Engil Peru today has a large number of private mining customers, as well as public road customers. In addition, it also operates in the areas of real estate and construction, in the ports area, asphalts and concretes area, as well as in the geotechnics area.

› What position does Mota-Engil Peru currently assume in the local construction sector?

In Peru there are two construction companies which stand out: the market leader, Grana Y Monteiro, and Odebrecht. Then we have the other group of companies where Cosapi, JJC, SanMartim, Abengoa, Hidalgo &Hidalgo and Mota-Engil Peru are included. This is also the group that includes companies with a yearly turnover of close to USD 200 million .

› Mota-Engil Peru has increased signifcantly its turnover in the last few years. Which factors do you feel mostly contributed toward this growth?

The most relevant factor for growth was the strong desire of our employees to do more and better. A wise business action associated to strong investment in equipment and human resources generated a virtuous cycle encouraged also by the strong momentum of economic growth of Peru which we have witnessed for a decade.

› Whilst presenting the 2010 results the Group’s CEO assumed that Peru was the star market in 2011. Could you make a Balance of 2011?

Our turnover increased from Euro 60 million in 2010 to 160 million in 2011. Still in 2011 we provided around USD 500 million of contracted work and 320 million are planned for 2012. These fgures are quite relevant if we think that in three years the turnover increased by 10 times the turnover for 2009.

› What are the expectations for the coming years?

We believe we are going to continue growing at a fast rhythm, supported by the strong diversifcation which we have been promoting over the last two years. We consider that Mota-Engil Peru, with the long market experience and the technological support of the mother house, has all the conditions to jump into the forefront of Peruvian building companies.

We are going to grow in the railway area, in airports, in the metal and industrial construction area, in the concessions of roads and water and urban solid waste treatment services. We are also going to take a step into energy (hydroelectric plants) and we are studying three mining projects of iron, gold and copper.

› The issue of exports and the internationalisation of Portuguese companies is on the agenda. In the context of the Peruvian economy, would you recommend the country to Portuguese entrepreneurs? Under what form of action?

Peru is in a phase of high economic growth. There is a need for infrastructures, which is similar situation to that of Portugal 15 years ago. Politically speaking, it is quite stable and there is a good environment for business. The fnancial market has capacity to serve new projects, but will only do so against collateral in Peru. A best way to enter Peru is by purchasing a company already operating there. To create a company from scratch can be complicated because it’s not easy to fnd skilled labour at a fair price. A middle class is growing at a steady pace, domestic consumption will increase in parallel. On the other hand the banks start to lower interest rates for mortgage and are already accepting periods of more than 10 years. All of us have already experienced this some years ago in Portugal. We have to make use of this wave of economic growth which we estimate for the next 20 years.

Rui Guimarães has been in Peru since 2009, but he has been working for the Mota-Engil Group for over 20 years, starting as an intern in the planning area of Mota & C.ª. He recalls several people from that time, namely Mário Barros, his supervisor in the training period, as well as Victor Pais and Mr. Abílio, general foreman, with whom “he spent every daily minute.” After fve years at the company, he was invited to compri-se the Board of Special Projects, “an extra-ordinary experience”. Added to the period he worked for Aenor/Ascendi, there is a 13-year dedication to the area of highway concession.

Over the last three years, Mota-Engil Peru has increased its invoicing in nearly ten times. According to the interview given to SINERGIA, one realizes that the ambi-tion of the company does not stop there. We’ve challenged him to tell us about the challenges and the perspective he has in relation to the company he leads.

Rui Guimarães

Chairman of Mota-Engil Peru