Aqualia, FCC's water subsidiary, consolidated its position and expanded in the first half of 2012, as evidenced by the new contracts obtained in the period, which amount to 580 million euro. As a result, Aqualia's backlog stands at 13.4 billion euro, equivalent to 15 years' revenues.

Among the advantages of Aqualia's pre-existing backlog and the new contracts is their medium-long duration, the fact that they are contra-cyclical, the low level of bad debts since revenues are collected directly from users, and the consequent assurance of a sound financial position for the contract duration.

Administrations that have entrusted their municipal water service to FCC's subsidiary include the Spanish cities of Vigo (Pontevedra), Piedrahita (Ávila) and Barbate (Cádiz). Further afield, Aqualia was awarded a 7-year contract to manage the sewage system in eastern Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), a network that is 2,400 kilometres long and includes 68 wastewater pumping stations and 19 sewage farms. This is the first time that a Spanish company has been awarded a water management contract in the United Arab Emirates.

In Spain, Aqualia provides water services to over 800 municipalities of all sizes. Its large number of long-term contracts nationwide (25-30 years) provides considerable synergies and scale economies.

In addition to its strong position in its domestic market, as the largest Spanish-owned water company, Aqualia has one-third of its backlog in other countries and is in the process of bidding for projects worth over 700 million euro in Europe (Romania, Macedonia and Montenegro), North Africa (Algeria and Morocco) and the Americas (notably Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay).

Driving international expansion
The company's medium-term strategy is to continue expanding abroad, focusing on large-scale projects. Target countries and regions include Bulgaria, India and also the Middle East (e.g. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar), where Aqualia's position has been strengthened by the contracts obtained in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

The company is currently studying or bidding for projects in 20 countries on four continents (Europe, Africa, America and Asia), supported by agreements to establish investment vehicles with the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and the World Bank, which enable it to bid for water projects in the areas where those multilateral agencies operate.

In addition to contributing to the development of the societies which it serves, Aqualia focuses constantly on caring for the environment. FCC, the Citizen Services company, applies information and communication technologies throughout the water cycle in order to consume just as much as is needed, generate clean energy and care for nature, returning treated water to the environment in perfect conditions.

As a specialist in managing water, Aqualia attaches great importance to R&D and innovation, which are fundamental for improving the end-to-end water management cycle, optimising resource use and increasing citizens' living standards, all under the basic premise of sustainable development. Aqualia has a complete management system based on information technology which makes public services more efficient.

Global Water Intelligence magazine (GWI) ranks Aqualia third among the world's water management companies, since it serves over 28 million people worldwide (over 13.5 million in Spain), i.e. 848,000 more than last year. Aqualia has over 7,000 employees working in 1,100 municipalities scattered over 17 countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Montenegro, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Algeria, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and China.