Mexican construction company Marhnos will invest in education and housing projects in Peru
The Mexican construction company Marhnos was awarded to develop three High Performance Schools (COAR) in Cusco, Huancavelica and Pasco through the Public-Private Partnerships (P3) mechanism. The company detailed to Management the progress of these projects, as well as the next steps in the country.
Currently, the company is developing the environmental and engineering studies of the three COARs, so it is estimated that construction will begin in the second quarter of 2024. The investment for these schools is estimated at S/ 300 million, already with inflationary adjustments.
Marhnos has a presence in Mexico, the United States, Guatemala and Peru, and is exploring opportunities in Colombia. The company sees a favorable outlook to continue investing through P3s in Peru.
“Interest rates have already begun to decline. It is good news to maintain return margins, although they are not so high in this business: if with a private project the profitability is 20%, in this business they are 10 percentage points less,” said Blanca Rodríguez, CFO of Marhnos.
This year, the company sees more competition for the award of education infrastructure projects. That is why the construction company will remain in this modality with private investments compared to other options such as Construction for Taxes.
“Right now, we are focused on P3s because whoever develops the infrastructure and whoever operates it have aligned interests. Marhnos and its subsidiary companies will invest a large part of the risk capital, so the tickets are not that big,” the executive added.
Future investments in Peru
In the short term, Marhnos will focus on social infrastructure (schools and hospitals). Apart from the COAR, the construction company is managing two other packages of 23 schools at risk. These would represent an additional investment of more than US$250 million.
“There is an important commitment in Peru with P3 models for education. In other countries in the region there is no such openness,” said Rodríguez.
Although tenders in Piura and Chimbote for hospital projects were delayed, they are still emerging as opportunities for the future. “We want to participate in public and private health projects. We are talking about an additional US$50 million to US$100 million. “We are still exploring the opportunities,” said the executive.
Marhnos plans to explore private businesses he has in other operations. For example, in Mexico it develops homes for sale. This product would be developed later in Peru.
