Portuguese contractor Mota-Engil said yesterday that its pre-tax profit for the first half of the year rose 12% to €396m and its consolidated group profit rose 65% to €49m.

The company’s revenue to July rose 7% to €2.7bn. The main driver of this growth has been Latin America, where revenue increased 12% to €1.5bn.

Last month, the company signed a deal to build a $1.2bn fertiliser plant in Veracruz, Mexico, for national oil company Pemex.

In Europe, sales increased 2% to €297m, and in Africa they fell 3% to €659m.

This is a change in the company’s geographical focus. In the past, its main focus outside Portugal was sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in former Portuguese colonies like Angola, where it is rehabilitating the Luanda railway.

It also handled major projects elsewhere, such as Tanzania’s standard gauge railway and a motorway in Lagos.

The latest results continue a number of years of double-digit earnings growth, including a 60% year-on-year jump in 2022, and a 53% rise in 2023.

This pattern may continue, as the company’s order book hit a record €13.7bn.

Mota-Engil is 40% owned by the Mota family and 32% by China Communications, which acquired its stake in May 2022.

Mota-Engil said at the time that the deal would boost its financial capacity.