MADRID, Mar 1 (Reuters) - Spanish construction company ACS posted a 17% rise in net profit for 2023 on Thursday, above expectations, as it continued to benefit from its construction portfolio in the United States and Australia and toll road business.

It said it earned €780 million ($842 million), while revenue rose 6.3% year-on-year to €35.73 billion.

Analysts polled by LSEG had on average expected a 5.6% increase in revenue and a 2.3% rise in profit.

The road concession business generated 206 million euros in profit, up 5.7% from a year ago, as highway traffic exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels.

Abertis, the toll road concession company in which ACS holds a 50% stake, increased its contribution to the group's net profit by 25% to 179 million euros.

Thanks to the good results of construction activities also in its home country, the company said at the end of 2023 that it had begun to evaluate the possible sale of its Clece services unit, which operates mainly in Spain.

ACS is following the same strategy as its main domestic competitors, such as Ferrovial and Sacyr, which have sold their services businesses in recent years to focus on construction and concessions activities.

ACS's activities in North America accounted for 66% of total construction revenues, after the company was awarded projects to build new airport terminals, stadiums and highways, mainly in the United States.

(1 U.S. dollar = 0.9258 euros)

(Report by Corina Pons; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)