Aguakan Posts Strong Profits Amid Legal Battle With Quintana Roo

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Aguakan, the water utility serving northern Quintana Roo, continued to post strong financial results in the first half of 2026 even as it battles the state government’s attempt to cancel its concession.

The company invoiced 975.3 million pesos for water, sewerage and sanitation services in the second quarter, a 9 percent increase from 895 million pesos in the same period a year earlier. For the first six months, service revenue totaled 1.93 billion pesos, up 10.9 percent.

Net profit for the second quarter came in at 114.8 million pesos, down 34.9 percent from 176.2 million pesos in the second quarter of 2025. Cumulative net profit for the first half reached 278.3 million pesos, a 5.6 percent decline from 294.8 million pesos a year earlier.

Revenue growth was driven by a 1.7 percent increase in billed cubic meters, higher fees for liters-per-second rights and other commercial charges, according to the company’s financial statements.

Administrative expenses jumped 32 percent to 605 million pesos in the first half, up from 458.3 million pesos. Aguakan said the increase was mainly due to higher personnel costs, additional reserves for uncollectible accounts, and a 114.2 million peso rise in legal fees related to its dispute with the state government.

Operating cash flow, measured by EBITDA, totaled 590.8 million pesos in the first half, down 4.4 percent year-over-year. Infrastructure investment reached 212.9 million pesos, an 82.5 percent increase.

Aguakan holds the water and sewerage concession for Benito Juárez, which includes Cancún, as well as Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen. State authorities have been seeking to terminate the contract early, triggering a web of litigation, appeals and arbitration proceedings that remain unresolved.

Credit rating agencies have recently revised Aguakan’s outlook downward, citing the risk that the concession could end before its original term rather than any weakness in its ability to generate revenue.

In a separate legal development, Mexico’s Supreme Court has agreed to review arrest warrants issued against Aguakan’s owners for money laundering.

The court voted unanimously Tuesday to take up the case, which stems from an amparo appeal filed by Jorge Eduardo Ballesteros Franco, other partners in Desarrollos Hidráulicos de Cancún — the company behind the Aguakan brand — and the firm’s director, Paul Andrew Rangel Markley.

The plaintiffs argue that the money laundering complaint filed by Quintana Roo’s Legal Counsel should have been initiated by the Federal Treasury Department instead. The Supreme Court’s decision puts the case on hold for several months while a justice is assigned. If the amparo is denied, federal prosecutors could proceed with the arrests.