ACS now controls more than 39 percent in Hochtief, while Qatar has upped its stake to more than 10 percent from around nine percent, the German builder said.
Earlier, the Essen, Germany-based company posted full-year pretax profit of 756.6 million euros ($1.08 billion), a 27 percent rise from the year earlier, beating the 11 percent rise forecast in a Reuters poll.
“2010 results came in well above our and consensus estimates,” analysts at Equinet wrote in a note, echoing the views of analysts at WestLB and DZ Bank.
The group also proposed increasing its dividend to 2.00 euros from 1.50 euros in the previous year, more than the 1.72 euros expected by analysts.
It said it expects 2011 earnings to be boosted by the sale of its Concessions unit, and the sale of its 50-percent stake in former Deutsche Bahn subsidiary aurelis Real Estate.
It reaffirmed its earnings targets for 2011 and 2012, adding the disposal of Concessions this year would contribute to achieving pretax profit of around 1 billion euros.
In February, ACS passed the 30 percent threshold with its stake in the German builder, allowing it to raise its holding further without another mandatory bid. The two groups had been embroiled in a takeover battle since September.
ACS, headed by Real Madrid soccer club president Florentino Perez, said in February that it aims to raise its stake in Hochtief to more than 50 percent in the coming months.
ACS wants Hochtief to help it diversify away from Spain’s struggling construction sector.
Hochtief’s strong balance sheet and contracts would help ACS compensate for its domestic exposure and relieve pressure from its 8 billion euro debt pile.
The Spanish group previously missed forecasts with a 33 percent fall in 2010 net profit as a prolonged domestic construction downturn and lower one-time gains hit its bottom line.
German cement and brick maker HeidelbergCement last week said it expected to aid in the reconstruction of Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.
Hochtief CEO Herbert Luetkestratkoetter, however, he did not expect the Japanese government to rush to award reconstruction contracts to foreign firms.
Data from Thomson Reuters StarMine shows Hochtief trading at 14.9 times its 12-month forward earnings, roughly in line with Austrian peer Strabag but above Bilfinger Berger, Vinci, Saint-Gobain and ACS.
