CCR Group is reaching its 20-year anniversary with a trajectory marked by a pioneering spirit and its consistent growth. Today’s Brazil is, in many respects, different and more complex than it was in 1999, when our shareholders made the unprecedented decision to join the assets, they held in toll concessions to create a holding with well-defined plan for generating long-term value.
The decision to go public as the first company to enter the Novo Mercado, a recently-created at the time stock market segment that advocates for special corporate governance practices, was an important demonstration of the commitment to transparency and integrity within our business model. Unfortunately, we had problems that came to the public recently that required painful measures, but which are being addressed through appropriate agreements with the public agencies and that release the company to continue its development cycle based on the growth and diversification of the portfolio, internationalization and in the evolution of economic and financial results.
In the Brazil of 2019, governance at any company, regardless of size and industry, needs to consider three pillars: sustainability, innovation and compliance. These topics are found in all CCR Group activities and decision-making processes, reinforced by robust policies and processes.
We made even more advancements in compliance management in 2018, with the creation of the Office of the Vice President of Compliance and strengthened the Integrity and Compliance Program (ICP), implemented since 2015, which has been important to spreading a culture of compliance among all employees.
As a signatory to the Global Compact and other voluntary corporate commitments, CCR Group incorporates sustainability into strategy and investment decisions. We go beyond institutional support for these initiatives, placing actions of social and environmental responsibility alongside economic and financial assessment of investments in concessions. The consolidation and growth of CCR Institute, which will celebrate its five-year anniversary, alignment of management with Sustainable Development Goals, and employee and supplier engagement, among other actions, have made this purpose a reality.
Innovation drives generation of value and goes far beyond digitalization and new technologies. For us, innovating is changing and enhancing processes, testing and finding different and better ways of doing what we do, therefore adding more efficiency, quality and agility to the services we provide.
These are the CCR Group professionals that sustain the growth of business. The qualification of people and their ambition to overcome challenges have allowed the planning defined by shareholders 20 years ago to be successfully executed. The employees taking on new positions, mostly stemming from our own units, have the same determination to continue moving towards strategic goals.
In 2018, we showed our growth potential with the acquisition of two new concessions and the expansion of our participation in others that were already part of our portfolio. With ViaMobilidade, which manages the São Paulo metro's Line 5-Lilac and monorail's Line 17-Gold, and CCR ViaSul, which will hold the Rodovia de Integração do Sul concession for 30 years, we are showing how competitive we are. Along with the increased in participation in Aeris, the Costa Rica airport operator, and other movements made in 2018, we are strengthening CCR Group’s ability to generate value and maintain the long-term growth of business.
The country started off 2019 with an even greater need to invest in infrastructure, following a period of sluggish economic growth. Private initiative, in partnership with concession authorities, is a powerful vector for making solutions viable that will improve toll roads, airports and mobility systems to free major urban centers of gridlock. We are ready and fortified for new opportunities, both in Brazil and abroad.
Leonardo Couto Vianna
CCR Group CEO