Lisbon, Portugal, 01 Feb – The market capitalization of Brazilian highway company CCR has increased five-fold in the last four years after the company’s stock market listing, to 3.5 billion euros, Portuguese financial daily Jornal de Negócios reported.

The 18 percent stake acquired by Portugal’s Brisa in January 2001 for 130 million euros, has a current market value of 630 million euros, representing an increase in value of 384 percent, the paper said.

Market analysts have said that the stock’s performance is due to the Brazilian stock market going through a positive period, the future potential for Brazilian highway concession companies because of the country’s public investment plans, as well as the expected growth of Brazil’s highway network and CCR’s financial performance.

According to Jornal de Negócios, CCR has the potential to double the size of its concession network in the medium-term, to around 3,000 kilometers.

CCR expects to win at least one of the concessions to be launched by the Brazilian Federal government along the so-called “Mercosul Corridor,” the paper said.

The company is also looking into acquiring stakes in existing concessions in Brazil, and preparing to put forward proposals for concessions in countries such as Chile, Mexico, the United States and Canada. (macauhub)