ISS adjusts plans for the Brazilian market

The brakes on the economy makes the Danish company ISS Facility Services put on the back burner the procurement plans and back to double-digit expansion in Brazil, but the world CEO Jeff Gravenhorst still sees room for progress in specific segments. "There are many opportunities to grow," he says, citing as an example the hospital area, in which the company closed new contracts this year.
Beyond the health sector, another focus of expansion is the area of technology, especially the segment focused on the financial market.
The ISS provides services in support of the corporate market, such as cleaning and building maintenance, and is controlled by Goldman Sachs and private equity fund EQT Partners. With operations in 50 countries, won 74.1 billion Danish kroner in 2014 (about US $ 11 billion). In Brazil, the revenue was r $ 664 million.
Gravenhorst says that even in the industrial segment, which has suffered more from the scene of retraction, the ISS can win contracts by offering multiple integrated services-an option, he said, less costly for customers than hiring multiple vendors for different tasks.
In an interview with a little over a year ago, the CEO showed the intention to acquire a collective meals company in the country. The company operates in this segment globally, but not here. The point still stands, but the process should walk more slowly due to the deterioration of the Economic Outlook. "The focus now is to retain customers," says Gravenhorst. The acquisitions should go back to the schedule next year.
The prospect for 2015 is to achieve a modest organic growth in Brazil, in line with the projection of world increase, between 2% and 4%. Globally, the company returned to profit in 2014 (the net gain was 1 billion Danish kroner, about $ 150 million), after a restructuring that included the sale of non-core businesses and closure of unprofitable contracts.
The ISS does not reveal the net result by country. But reports that there was an increase of 19% in operating profit in Latin America-the Brazilian market represents 44% of businesses in the region-and the operating margin rose to 4.8% last year (was 3.9% in 2013). But the reorganization process was reflected in the reduction of the number of employees. In Brazil, rose from 17.4 million people in 2013 for 16 mil last year