The contracting business, consisting of Vinci Energies, Eurovia and Vinci Construction, posted revenue of €32.9bn (£24.4bn), down 3.2% in like-for-like terms.
In contracting, the margin for earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to 3.5% from 4.1% in 2013, mainly because of losses in UK construction activities.
Excluding this impact, margins held up at Vinci Construction, were stable at Vinci Energies and improved at Eurovia.
The group expects the contracting business EBIT margin to rise overall this year because of improved performance in loss-making operations, particularly in the UK.
Revenue outside France accounted for 38.2% of the group total.
Continued upturn in motorway traffic, a sharp increase in airport traffic and good momentum in activities outside Europe allowed the group to reduce the impacts of the declines elsewhere. Deterioration in the French economic environment affected the contracting business from the second quarter, in addition to the difficulties in UK construction activities. As a result, net income excluding non-recurring items amounted to €1.906bn, slightly up (+0.4%) compared to 2013.
Consolidated revenue totalled €38.7bn, representing a limited decline of 2% on a like-for-like basis.
The concessions business reported revenue of €5.8bn, up 4.5% like-for-like (+3.7% actual), thatnks to good performances at Vinci Autoroutes (+3.5%) and Vinci Airports (+13.8% like-for-like).
In contracting, several large projects were completed in 2014, including the new section of the Cairo metro’s Line 3 in Egypt, the Triptis Schleiz section of the A9 motorway in Germany, the Liefkenshoek tunnel in the port of Antwerp in Belgium, and the first section of the M11 motorway between Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia. Furthermore, the progress on the HSR Tours Bordeaux (SEA) project neared 80% at the end of 2014.
Several new contracts were added to the order book in 2014. They included the construction of a viaduct, a dam and an interchange for the new coastal highway on Reunion Island, a road maintenance contract for Milton Keynes Council in the UK, the North West Corridor project in Atlanta, USA, the construction of a waste processing centre in North Yorkshire, UK, and the construction of two metro stations and related tunnels in Singapore.
The order book stood at €27.9bn at 31 December 2014 and represented approximately 10 months of average contracting activity. Over 12 months, it is down 5%.
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