Bouygues construction units post strong gains as orders rise

The Bouygues Construction logo displayed on the side of a building. (Image: Adobe Stock)

However, a one-off French tax surcharge weighed on net profit, which dipped slightly to €173 million (US$200 million).

The group also confirmed that long-serving CFO Pascal Grangé will retire at the end of the year, with Stéphane Stoll taking over from 1 August.

Construction drives group performance

The group’s current operating profit from activities (COPA) rose €49 million to €796 million, while sales climbed 1.3% year on year to €26.9 billion.

Bouygues credited its construction divisions for much of the improvement, with the segment turning in COPA of €26 million – a €47 million gain from the previous year – and revenue growth of 3%.

Bouygues Construction’s backlog rose 8% to €17.2 billion, supported by building and public works projects in France and internationally. Smaller contracts under €100 million accounted for 77% of the company’s order intake, but large wins were also reported in Switzerland, the UK, Cyprus, and France.

Boulogne-based road and rail construction engineering firm Colas recorded €7.5 billion in first-half orders and posted a 6% year-on-year backlog increase to €15 billion, driven by 12% growth in its rail unit and continued strength in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. At €33 billion, the subsidiary’s construction backlog stood 6% higher than a year earlier.

“We have more in the backlog than we had a year ago… clearly, this is a growth trend,” said Grangé.

Equans lifts margin, eyes long-term project pipeline

Equans – the group’s energy and services division, formed from the acquisition of Engie’s technical services unit – reported flat revenue of €9.2 billion in the first half but lifted its COPA by €64 million to €364 million, improving its margin from 3.2% to 3.9%.

Management upgraded its 2025 outlook for margin to “close to 4.2%,” up from a previous target of around 4%, and reiterated a 2027 goal of reaching 5%.

Although short-term activity was dampened by delays to data centre and gigafactory launches, the group signalled confidence in the long-term trajectory of both markets.

Olivier Roussat, Bouygues CEO, cited a temporary “wait-and-see” stance in industrial segments and explained that changing battery technologies and cooling requirements were delaying capital deployment.

“It’s not something we’re worried about… we expect this market to develop substantially,” he said. Equans has taken its first data centre order in the US and expects more as AI-driven demand increases. Data centre work currently accounts for about 5% of Equans’ business.

Roussat also noted that macro uncertainty – mentioning the recent re-election of Donald Trump as president – had caused some North American customers to pause investment decisions.

While not yet materially impacting performance, he acknowledged that Equans was closely monitoring the situation in the US.

Net profit dented by French tax surcharge

The group reported net profit of €173 million, compared with €186 million a year earlier.

Excluding a €47 million charge related to the French government’s exceptional tax on large companies, net profit attributable to the group would have been €220 million – an increase of €34 million year-on-year.

Roussat described the impact of the tax as distorting, saying it “significantly deforms the effective tax rate… more so in the first half due to the seasonality of our business.”

Bouygues confirmed it expects the full-year impact of the surcharge to be around €100 million.

Bouygues names new group CFO A longtime executive will join Bouygues’ Group Management Committee and be the next CFO on 1 August