We are FCC - Nº6

sive opportunities for expanding the municipal services backlog. In the Water area, the Group achieve a high renewal rate and service level. The company is confident that govern- ment clients will make increasing use of public-private partnerships, in which it can apply its expertise and best practices to optimise service delivery and guarantee the supply and quality of this vital resource that is becoming increasingly scarce in many coun- tries, including Spain. In this context, the agreement in March for a financial partner to buy into Aqualia offers major support to the strategy of selective pro- fitable growth in this area. As for the businesses related to infras- tructure, Construction and Cement, the pursuit of efficiency and adapta- tion to the bottom of the investment cycle were the key features, with a structure that is now more appropria- te to the level of demand. Supported by its design and technology capabili- ties, Construction focused on unique civil engineering contracts such as railways, and it is working on subway systems in six capital cities throughout the world. In Cement, the search for alternative markets via exports cou- pled with greater operating efficiency in the production plants enabled this business to be very competitive in order to cater for projected demand growth. The Group also has a large portfolio of transport infrastructure concessions (17 in five countries), of which 15 are operational, and a range of real estate assets for development with a book value of over 300 million euro at 2017 year-end, plus the 36.9% stake in Realia (worth more than 250 million euro at market prices). Overall, the 2017 results presented at the Annual General Meeting reflect a new cycle for a renewed FCC Group, which is financially strong and posi- tioned to face the future thanks to its efficiency and operating profitability combined with its more distinctive and traditional values and strengths. Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, chairman of FCC. International expansion is a vital goal for FCC Group’s business areas. F C C G R O U P 7 F C C G R O U P