Motiva Lifts Results by Removing Airports From the Books

Asset sale cleans up margins and boosts profit while debt and capex still weigh on cash flow.

Feb 9, 2026 8:31 PM

Motiva invest R$1 billion AI energy transition

By Brazil Stock Guide – Motiva (B3: MOTV3) reported a sharp profit increase in the fourth quarter of 2025 after stripping airports out of its consolidated results. Adjusted EBITDA rose 25.2% from a year earlier to R$ 2.53 billion ($510 million), while adjusted net income jumped 68.3% to R$ 606 million ($122 million). The improvement followed the November sale of the airport platform, a move that removed a capital-intensive and volatile segment from the income statement.

Excluding airports, the adjusted EBITDA margin climbed to 62.4%, up more than nine percentage points year on year. Highways and rail operations accounted for virtually all operating growth, supported by tariff adjustments, cost normalization and the reversal of provisions that had weighed on results in 2024. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA reached R$ 9.52 billion ($1.9 billion), a 15% increase.

Miguel Setas, the company’s chief executive officer, said the transaction unlocked value and simplified the portfolio by sharpening the focus on highways and rail assets with more predictable regulation and operating profiles.

Perimeter shift

The accounting reclassification of airports as discontinued operations made year-on-year comparisons look cleaner. Recurring costs, heavy investment needs and demand volatility disappeared from the consolidated margin. The effect was largely optical: the remaining business now reflects regulated assets indexed to tariffs, with structurally lower volatility.

Balance sheet remains

Cleaning up the income statement did not ease financial pressure. Net debt stood at R$ 34.1 billion ($6.9 billion) at the end of December, pushing leverage to 3.6 times adjusted EBITDA. Capital expenditure totaled R$ 8.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2025, the highest in the company’s history, driven by newly acquired assets that are still consuming cash and have yet to reach full operating maturity.

The quarter looks stronger because the perimeter changed. Motiva is now simpler and more predictable, but also more exposed to execution risk. Selling airports removed volatility from earnings, not from the balance sheet. The next test will not be accounting. It will be cash flow.