The companies in the HOCHTIEF Concessions division also contributed to the solid Group results. At HOCHTIEF AirPort, the airport holdings performed well. Through excellent management, we are realizing the airports' full potential, for example, by expanding non-aviation business. HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions had a very successful year. Among other things, the EUR 2.2 billion Elefsina-Patras-Tsakona toll road project in Greece with a concession term of 30 years reached financial close. A look at our concessions portfolio shows that our infrastructure projects largely held steady amid the current difficult market conditions. At EUR 1.47 billion, the net present value of the portfolio is a marginal 4.8 percent down on the previous year, mainly because of changes to the portfolio. We continue to see considerable opportunities for our company in the concessions business, particularly in the USA.
HOCHTIEF Europe showed once again that our Group is very well placed in the European market. We benefited in particular from growth in Eastern Europe and Russia – examples of current construction contracts include a production plant for glass manufacturer Euroglass Polska in Poland and a chocolate factory for the Ferrero Group in Russia. In Germany too, we have been successful on the new business front. We have restructured our building construction unit and will continue to scale back our construction work in this segment in Germany as planned. Our interest is in business where we can set ourselves apart from competitors on the basis of a fair distribution of risk, the high quality we offer and our partnership-based models. Our firm aim is for the HOCHTIEF Europe division to achieve a pretax return on sales of three percent in 2010.
In the HOCHTIEF Real Estate division, the quality provided by HOCHTIEF Property Management proved to be a winning proposition. Among other things, the company was awarded the contract to manage aurelis Real Estate's entire German portfolio. 2008 therefore saw us become Germany's largest property manager. At HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung, building started on a number of new projects, including in the growing segment for nursing
Our business in the HOCHTIEF Services division also performed well. HOCHTIEF Facility Management once again proved to be a successful outsourcing partner for public-sector and industrial partners, assuming responsibility for the operation of numerous Siemens sites for a further six years, for example. HOCHTIEF Energy Management's business is also becoming a driver of growth at a time when both energy prices and environmental awareness are on the increase. The company, which offers modern contracting models, booked numerous new orders.
Energy efficiency is of considerable importance to HOCHTIEF. The services we deliver as an international construction services provider play a part in exploiting alternative energies and realizing potential savings. In 2008, HOCHTIEF was rewarded for its commitment to sustainability by being listed once again in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes' for the third time in a row. We are proud of this accolade and continue to see sustainability as a major responsibility for our Group going forward. We would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little more about our commitment to energy efficiency: On the image pages in this Annual Report, you will find numerous examples of current projects in this area.
In what was a difficult year on the stock markets, we are delighted that you, our shareholders, remained loyal to our Group and trusted in its strategy. We intend to perform to your satisfaction again in fiscal year 2009 and now have 64,527 employees in all four corners of the globe working toward that goal. To all of them, we would like to express our sincere thanks.
Ahead of us lies a year paved with challenges. It will also be one of opportunities – partly because of the economic stimulus programs now being launched in a number of countries. HOCHTIEF is ready and waiting to capitalize on those opportunities. We invite you to join us on our journey!
Essen, February 23, 2009Sincerely yours,
Dr.Ing. Herbert Lütkestratkötter
