As a result of an aggressive cycle of expansion in recent years, the Odebrecht Group had net income of R$490.7 million in 2013, reversing a loss of R$1.5 billion in the previous year. The company also reached sales of R$96.9 billion - an increase of 16% -- which ranks the group as Brazil’s second largest non-financial private company, only behind Vale, with R$106.2 billion. 

This process, however, has also led to record debt and has forced the organization to meet the challenges and risks of new markets. For Odebrecht CFO Marcela Drehmer, 2013 marked the beginning of the consolidation of the company's new businesses, which so far had demanded investments and had little or no cash generation. "It was a year in which we could see that the strategy implemented moved in the right direction," the executive said.