Vinci improvement continues

A three-year decline in business activity totalling almost 20% for Vinci Construction appears to have levelled out with its first quarter figures confirming an improvement seen in the last quarter of 2016.

The construction division of the French giant Vinci posted consolidated revenue of €3.06 billion, which was down 0.3% on the same period last year, although Vinci said it was up 0.2% on a like-for-like basis.

In France, revenue was €1.54 billion, down 0.8%, or 1.0% like-for-like.

Outside France, revenue totalled €1.52 billion, up 0.2% or 1.4% like-for-like. Vinci said the growth at its Entrepose oil and gas infrastructure subsidiary, with the start-up of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, and in Asia-Pacific, offset the declines recorded by its Sogea-Satom in Africa’s oil-producing countries.

The business line’s order book at 31 March, 2017, stood at €17.3 billion, up 2% over 12 months or 9% since the beginning of the year. It represented over 15 months of Vinci Construction’s average business activity, it said.

Consolidated revenue at the group’s transport infrastructure construction and urban development company Eurovia in the first quarter was €1.39 billion – up 11.5% on the first quarter of 2016, said to be a rise of 11.6% like-for-like.

Vinci said that Eurovia’s revenue in the first quarter of this year benefited from mild weather conditions, which were more favourable than in 2016. However, it added that because of the seasonal nature of Eurovia’s business, which was said to be more pronounced than in other group business lines, its first-quarter performance could not be extrapolated to the full year.

In France, Eurovia’s revenue was €855 million, up 9.2% on last year on both an actual and like-for-like basis.

Outside France, revenue amounted to €531 million, up 15.2%, or 15.5% like-for-like. Vinci said this growth was attributable mainly to the US.

Eurovia’s order book at 31 March, 2017, stood at €6.0 billion, up 5% over 12 months or 6% since the beginning of the year. It was said to represent more than nine months of Eurovia’s average business activity.

Business activity for the Vinci Group in the first three months of 2017 was said to confirm an ongoing positive trend for Concessions as well as the upturn in Contracting’s business volumes and order intake.