Agadir Desalination Plant Delivers Positive Financial Results
The Agadir desalination facility has achieved a remarkable operating profit of €14.2 million in the first half of 2026, marking a 5% increase compared to the previous year. These results were disclosed on Tuesday, July 28, by Cox Infrastructure Group (Cox). The Moroccan installation's revenues are reported at €27.7 million, reflecting a 5% decline. With the capacity to process 275,000 cubic meters of water daily, the plant has maintained a gross operating margin close to 51%, despite the decrease in revenue. Cox has deemed this performance as "in line with forecasts" and anticipates a stronger second half of the year, attributing the initial months' less favorable seasonality as a contributing factor.
The Moroccan plant accounts for an impressive 82.1% of Cox's total desalination capacity of 335,000 cubic meters per day. The remaining 60,000 cubic meters are attributed to the Accra facility in Ghana, which has been inactive during the semester due to ongoing negotiations with the Ghanaian government. This unit has not generated any revenue and has reported a negative operating profit of €4.9 million.
Agadir stands out as the only historical hydraulic asset currently operating for the group, showcasing a positive gross result. Cox categorizes the facility among those whose accounts have developed favorably, associating its operations with a portfolio based on long-term contracts, strong financial visibility, and recurring cash flows. Notably, the presentation does not mention any other assets, new projects, or investments in Morocco, nor does it provide any updates regarding the expansion timeline for the Agadir plant, which has retained its capacity from the first half of 2025.
Cox Infrastructure Group's Financial Overview
On a broader scale, Cox reported a substantial revenue of €894 million for the first half of the year, up from €498 million a year prior, representing an impressive 80% growth. The adjusted gross operating profit rose from €82 million to €94 million, reflecting a 15% increase, while the margin decreased from 16% to 11%. The pro forma data, which simulate the integration of Cox Asset Mexico since January 1, 2026, indicates that revenues have soared to €1.243 billion, 2.5 times the figure recorded in the first half of 2025. The adjusted gross operating profit stands at €245 million, three times the amount from a year ago, with a margin of 20%. These figures, which are unaudited and presented for illustrative purposes, exclude a $111 million adjustment that does not affect cash flow.
The adjusted pro forma operating profit reached €147 million, up from €51 million the previous year, while the adjusted net profit surged to €66 million, compared to €13 million a year prior—multiplying both indicators by 2.9 and 5.3, respectively. Cox's operational assets have increased from ten to 27, with the energy portfolio comprising 2.9 gigawatts owned and approximately 1.3 gigawatts under contract with third parties, a significant rise from the 297 megawatts registered a year ago. The water capacity remains stable at 335,000 cubic meters per day.
The segment dedicated to water and energy assets, deemed the "primary source of results and cash flows," generated pro forma revenues of €869 million and an adjusted gross operating profit of €289 million, yielding a margin of 33%. This segment recorded €113 million in revenues and a gross profit of €57 million a year earlier. In Mexico, Cox sold 10.2 terawatt-hours of electricity, an 8% increase, with revenues rising by 24% to $870 million and adjusted gross operating profit increasing by 7% to $302 million. Own production grew by 15% to 6.1 terawatt-hours, with plant availability at 94.1%. The contract renewal rate exceeded 99%, and the unpaid rates remained below 0.2%.
The Mexican production sector posted an adjusted gross operating profit of $220 million, a 25% rise. However, electricity supply revenues fell by 22% to $82 million due to reduced reference rates from the Federal Electricity Commission, which are used for approximately 30% of Cox Asset Mexico's contracts. The engineering, maintenance, and services segment experienced a 3% decline in revenues, from €385 million to €374 million, with gross operating profit shifting from a profit of €32 million to a loss of €15 million, attributed to project delays due to the Iranian conflict, cost inflation, and lower absorption of fixed costs. Cox estimates the challenges associated with the Guillena project at €13 million, with project overruns at Dewa amounting to €3.5 million and unabsorbed expenses related to its operations in the U.S. and Mexico at €3 million.
Despite these challenges, the order book for this segment has grown by 24%, from €2.698 billion to €3.346 billion. This order book is divided among energy production, with €1.737 billion and an estimated margin of 10%; electric transport infrastructure, with €1.029 billion and a margin of 9%; and water, with €580 million and a margin of 17%. The combined margin reaches 11%. The group’s adjusted pro forma cash flow amounted to €129 million, compared to €38 million in the first half of 2025, with the conversion rate of gross operating profit to cash increasing from 46% to 52%, as the group prioritizes debt reduction as a financial objective.
As of the end of June, gross debt totaled €3.714 billion, alongside €331 million in cash and liquid instruments. Net debt stands at €3.383 billion, or €3.299 billion excluding lease commitments, with a ratio of 4.9 times gross operating profit and an average maturity of 6.5 years. Cox has refinanced its acquisition of Mexican assets through a $2 billion bond issuance, divided between five and ten-year maturities, and a $733 million loan repayable in June 2031. The group asserts that this bond issuance, touted as "the largest inaugural issuance by a company in Latin America," attracted nearly $8 billion in demand.
As reported by barlamane.com.
