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The engineering company Passarelli reached at the beginning of this year a backlog of R$4 billion, seven times more than 10 years ago, at the peak of the construction industry in Brazil. “Our goal is to consolidate ourselves as a strong contractor,” CEO Paulo Bittar said.
The basic sanitation market, which accounts for 70% of the company’s operations, will remain the focus of the expansion plan. For now, there is no plan to compete for water and sewage concessions, as other engineering companies have been studying to do. But the idea is on the radar, the executive said.
“In the future, there will be more room for us to compete for concessions, especially in smaller cities. We believe that opportunities will open up for a new wave of auctions when this whole process of proving the economic and financial capacity of sanitation contracts is over. We will analyze, but we are not considering the projects for real now. Our focus is on engineering,” he said.
The construction company has already worked with concessions, including those of Centrovias (operator of São Paulo highways) and PEC Energia, in partnership with Engeform – which bought Passarelli’s stake in the joint venture later.
Besides basic sanitation, the airport market has been an important source of work, especially those under concession agreements.
The company is now prospecting opportunities in new segments, Mr. Bittar said. “Looking at the long term, we will no longer have large airport projects, for example, but we will have basic sanitation [works]. We will have to study other markets to continue expanding,” he said. One target is the oil and gas industry. “With privatizations, we seek to resume engineering contracts in the industry.”
In 2021, Passarelli grossed R$530.2 million, up 61% year over year, according to the company, which does not report earnings. In 2022, revenues are expected to reach R$1 billion, considering new contracts.
The company has substantially increased the share of the private sector in its portfolio, reaching 65% of the total. In 2012, the public sector represented 90%.
The family business founded 90 years ago already sees itself as a major construction company, considering the current market size. “We were one of the [medium-sized] companies that occupied part of the void left by Operation Car Wash,” Mr. Bittar said, citing the anti-corruption task force that uncovered wrongdoings involving construction companies before falling into disrepute.
For comparison purposes, at the end of 2021, OEC (Odebrecht) boasted a backlog of $3 billion, while Queiroz Galvão had R$3 billion. In the middle of last year, Andrade Gutierrez’s backlog totaled R$9 billion.
Source: Valor International