Libra foresees investing US$ 434.8 million in terminals in the next five years
Gazeta Mercantil 04/07/2009
After an administrative restructuring, Grupo Libra hsould invest nearly R$ 1 billion (US$ 434.8 million) in the next five years. From such amount, R$ 400 million (US$ 173.9 million) will be aimed at increasing the operating capacity of containers in the terminals they operate. The CEO of the group, Marcelo Araujo, said the investment plan has not been concluded yet, but that the biggest investments will be made in the area of terminals of the group. "In this restructuring, we divided the group into three areas, Libra Terminais, Libra Logística, which gathers the areas of transports and the inland terminals, the so-called dry ports, and Libra Participações. But our main business is terminals. For that reason, we decided to invest most of the funds in this segment - regardless of the moment of world economic crisis", explained Araujo.
Last year, Grupo Libra had earnings of nearly R$ 850 million (US$ 464.5 million) and a cash flow of R$ 250 million (US$ 136.6 million). In the Port of Santos, where the group has two container terminals, R$ 250 million (US$ 108.7 million) will be invested between 2009 and 2010, in order to double the terminal capacity. Last year, terminals T35 and T37 handled 900 thousand TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). "Regardless of the unfavorable situation, we are keeping our plans, even because investments in infrastructure are long term projects. We have to be prepared for the resumption of the demand", said Araujo. According to him, in the last quarter of last year, at the peak of the economic crisis, the operation of containers in both terminals managed by Libra fell between 25% and 30%. "But even with such scenario ahead, we are keeping our investments in the terminals managed by the group", emphasized Araujo.