Vinci reports first quarter losses

Contractor Vinci has reported a 5.3% year-on-year decrease in first-quarter revenue to €8.2 billion, as the company’s contracting and concessions businesses suffered losses.

Vinci’s contracting revenue for the first quarter was down 4.8% to €6.96 billion – which included a 10.6% revenue drop in its construction business to €3.3 billion, and a 9.1% revenue decrease to €1.4 billion in its Eurovia transport infrastructure business.

Xavier Hulliard, chairman and CEO of Vinci, warned shareholders at its annual meeting this month that overall revenues would decline slightly in 2015, as a result of contrasting performances in its businesses.

Hulliard said contracting revenues for the year were expected to fall in France by up to 10%, based on project completions in the first quarter of 2015. Despite this forecast, he said that initiatives outside France could partly offset the impact of revenue losses.

The company said the quarter had seen several key construction contract gains. This included developing buildings at the Valduc Centre for Nuclear Studies, redevelopment of the Fontenoy-Segur complex in Paris, and construction work on Nice’s tram line 2 tunnel. It has also been named as part of a consortium awarded the redevelopment of Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile.

However, Vinci said that French contracting revenue for the quarter has fallen by 8.9% year-on-year, to €5.02 billion, with the fall in results being partly attributed to a decline in activity on the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed rail project.

The company reported that international contracting revenue for the quarter had increased by 1.1% to €3.15 billion.