Vinci Sa Act

Good afternoon. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Winchee 9-Month 2023 Revenue Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Grigoire Thibault, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Hello, everybody, for attending this conf call. I'm today with the investor relations team, Boris Vallée and Marie Echard. And as usual, we'll try to be brief to have more time for the Q&A. And because I know there are other conf calls this evening for some of you. So what are the key takeaways of this publication? First, a solid operating performance overall in Q3. strong business levels with Q3 revenue of 18.3 billion euros, up 9% year-on-year. This trend confirms the nihilism of Vinci's businesses, both in France and abroad. I will give you more granularity later in my presentation. In the first nine months of 2023, total revenue amounted to 50.6 billion euros, up 12% year-on-year and 10% like-for-like. International revenue made up a new record 57% of the group total. International revenue is up 18% and up 15% life-for-life. Changes in scope were boosted mostly by OMA in Mexico for energy imports and by the recent acquisition made by Vinci Energy, including Contron AG and Otera AS in Norway. Exchange rate movements had a slightly negative impact on revenue, because the euro rose against several currencies, of which the sterling and the dollars. Brent, 43% of the total revenue, was up 5% in nine months. Point number two. Groups ordering tech were well-oriented. 47.8 billion euros in the first nine months, plus 16% year-on-year, of which a robust plus 13% in Q3 23 versus Q3 22. This good momentum is due to strong flow business and several recent large contracts. In total, the order book of Vinci reached a new all-time high level of more than 63 billion euros at the end of September. This is plus 10% year-on-year, representing 14 months of average activity. International made up 68% of the order book. Such a large order boom gives good visibility, serenity, and enables Vinci to remain selective in terms of new business. Point number three, regarding the financial position, the net financial debt of Vinci at the end of September is under control. It amounted to 18.6 billion euros, down 1.5 billion euros year on year, and almost stable relative to the levels seen at the end of 2022, despite the acquisition completed during the period and despite the payments of the final dividend 2022. It means, in other words, that the cash generation was robust in Q3 and year-to-date. Vinci's liquidity remains substantial, with a managed net cash of €10.6 billion and €8 billion of RCF, As a result, with such a sound financial position, Vinci is well prepared to continue its developments. Last but not least, in view of its solid performance year-to-date, the group revised upwards its free cash flow guidance for 2023. The free cash flow is now expected to be of at least 4.5 billion euros. Let's now have a quick and closer look at the main division. Vinci Autoroute's nine-month revenue up 5% to 4.9 billion euros. In September 23 versus September 22, traffic was up 2.2%, including a 3% increase for light vehicles, fueled by exceptional summer-like weather conditions in France in September. As a result, Q3 23 traffic reached a high level, stable versus Q3 22. Overall, in the first nine months, traffic is up 1.3%, of which cars plus 1.7% despite high fuel prices. Truck traffic was slightly down, partly because of negative calendar effects with two fewer working days year-to-date compared to last year. Vinci Airport, nine-month revenue of 3 billion euros plus 49% on an actual basis, and plus 27% life-for-life. You have already seen the traffic figures published two weeks ago. They confirm the continued strong recovery in air traffic in Q3. Many airports achieve record passenger numbers in Portugal, Serbia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. In Japan, fax numbers continue to show a fear of recovery on international routes. Overall, passengers' numbers in 9 months, 23, equal 93% of the levels seen in 9 months, 19, before the sanitary crisis, of which 97% in Q3 and 99% in September. Vinci Energy, 9 months revenue of €13.9 billion, more than what was generated on the full year 2019. That remaining nine months' revenue was up 17% and 12% like for life. As a wrap-up for you to take away, after a very robust H1, Vinci Energy continued to deliver strong revenue growth in Q3, plus 15% versus Q3 22. International growth even accelerated relative to the Q2, both on an actual basis and like for life. Order intake of Vinci Energy also remained very strong, hitting a new record on a rolling 12-month basis of more than €20 billion. In the first nine months, order intake of Vinci Energy were up 19%, of which plus 17% in Q3. Vinci Energy order book amounted to €14.7 billion, plus 16% share on-year, representing more than nine months of average activity. This outstanding overall performance reflects the very solid position of Vinci Energy's companies, perfectly fitted to the energy and digital transition megatrends, both in France and abroad. Finally, please note that Vinci Energy remained active on the M&A front, having completed 25 acquisitions in the first nine months of 2013. representing a cumulative annual revenue of around €350 million. Cobra IS. Nine-month revenue of €4.7 billion, up 14%, with 46% coming from Spain and 32% from Latin America. In Spain, revenue was up 16%. Outside Spain, revenue was up 13%. As a wrap-up, please note that Cobra 8 increased its revenue sharply in the Q3 with growth of 13%, beating its Q2 growth figure of 9%. This momentum is being driven by its strong performance in most of its geographies, both in slow business and in EPC projects. Order intake for Cobra 8 in nine months rose 31% here on air, running at record levels due in particular to large contracts related to energy transition. In particular, the first of the three offshore wind energy converter platforms, or TENEX, the contract which had been announced in April 2023. So the first platform is now in the order book. Order book amounted to 14.9 billion euros, plus 33% year-on-year, representing a record two years and a half of average activity. About renewable energy production, in addition to the 0.6 GW Belmonte solar farm in Brazil, which started generating electricity in late July this year, works began in Q3 on new solar projects in Brazil and Spain with total capacity of 0.6 and 0.2 GW respectively. Thus, at the end of September, The capacity in operation or under construction in Cobra IS portfolio totaled 1.4 gigawatts. Finally, remember that we will organize a CMT dedicated to Cobra IS next 12th December in Madrid. Welcome. Vinci Construction, nine months revenue of 23.4 billion euros, up 9% and 10% life on life. In a nutshell, Vinci Construction business levels were robust, driven by civil engineering and public works activities. Growth remains very strong in the Q3 outside France, with international revenue up 12% like for life, compared to Q3 22. While in France, the revenue stabilized at a high level. Vinci Construction also achieved a high level of new orders, plus 10% in nine months 23. due to good performance in slow business across its main geographical strongholds, along with several recent large contracts, such as the section of Line 15 West of the Grand Paris Express alongside Vinci Energy. Vinci Construction Order Book emptied the cross of stables year on year at a high level of almost €34 billion, representing 13 months of average activity. Vinci Immobilier, probably the only snag of Vinci, even if figures are small for the Vinci Group. Vinci Immobilier nine-month revenue amounted to 836 million euros, down 24%. As already mentioned previously, the significant decline in Vinci Immobilier revenue and number of housing units in France, minus 46% in nine months, are the result of very difficult conditions in the French property development sector, which is suffering in particular from high interest rates. In conclusion, the group confirmed that for 2023, it expects a further increase, assumed more limited than in 2022, in revenue and operating income. It expects, as well, a net income slightly higher than the level achieved in 2022. despite a substantial increase in financial costs. The outlook for the free cash flow, as I told you in introduction, has been revised upwards. It should now be of at least 4.5 billion euros in 2023. In addition, forecasts for concession traffic have been updated. Vinci Autoroutes now expects traffic levels in 2023 to be slightly higher than in 2022. Vinci Airports, is forecasting a further recovery in passengers' numbers, which should be close in the Q4-23 to the level seen in the Q4-19. We would like to thank you for your attention, and we are now ready to take your questions.

Thank you. This is the conference operator. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on their touch-tone telephone. To remove your staff from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question is from Jean-Christophe Lefebvre-Moulin with CIC. Please go ahead. Hello.

I have only two questions. The first one, could we have a flavor on the motorway traffic in October first? And secondly, if we have a closer look On Vinci Construction, we have a stabilization of the order book. Is that due to France or to foreign subsidiaries? Order intake is up by 10%. That means that we could have, let's say, a good year 2024 in the contracting.

Yes, excuse me. I was speaking, but I wasn't used. So for the traffic in October, no flavor yet because we will publish the monthly traffic when is it due? I think mid-November, 15th of November. Okay. 14th of November. So you will have the the traffic for the route and for the port for the month of October.

OK.

Regarding construction, as I told in the introduction, the order intake is still well-oriented. Actually, you saw for the intake an acceleration in Q3. The order intake were flat in Q2 for Vinci construction versus Q2-22. And now they are strongly up in Q323 versus Q322. And that's true in France. And that's notably true to this big project of Line 15 west. But on the other hand, the flow business remains very solid. So it's pretty reassuring. We don't see any sign of deceleration. That said, it's too early. to give you some more colors regarding the activity of 2024.

The next question is from Luis Prieto with Kepler. Please go ahead.

Good evening. Thanks for taking my questions. Greg, I would like to ask if you could provide us with an idea of the potential working capital performance for the year in the context of your updated cash flow guidance. And the second one, more philosophical has the regulation change in mexican airports altered the way or in any way the company's approach to project selection in emerging markets and in general thank you i wish but yes probably one of the moving parts of a free cash flow is a walking calf

And the working cap change at the end of September, of course, is still negative, which is totally normal at this stage of the year, but less negative than at the end of June, which is pretty normal as well. But that's better. The situation is better compared to the situation last year at the same period, and probably a bit better than what we could have expected. So it means we are a bit in advance compared to our budget. So it's one of the reasons why we decided to be a bit more precise, accurate on free cash flow. I hope it answers your question. Second question, yes, there's a bit of news flow in Mexico since two or three weeks, because you perfectly know that the Mexican government I sought to amend one of the appendix of the concession contract of the free private airport operator in this country in order to specify and to redefine, let's say, the applicable regulation. Since then, a constructive dialogue really took place since two weeks with them to discuss the desired amendments. And that clarified certain points. So, at the end of the day, let's say, I would say that these amendments do not significantly change the regulation for OMA. And so OMA is deciding not to challenge these amendments. I cannot go more specifically, let's say, into details, because OMA will publish next week, next Monday, OMA is a listed company, both on the Mexican stock exchange and on the U.S. one. So let's say I prefer to let the lead today in terms of regulation, stock exchange regulation this time.

But Greg, you said that they are not going to challenge the final form of the amendment, given that there's been more constructive dialogue. Is that what I did? I understand correctly.

Yes, yes, we don't intend to challenge that. You know, Omar, we are very happy of this investment. To be frank, traffic has been stellar since Omar joined Vinci Airports at the end of 2022. Traffic was much higher than expected. The outlook is very well oriented in Mexico. So all in all, let's say we are pretty... I'd say satisfied with the current situation.

Very clear. Thank you.

It's true that the stock exchange reaction two or three weeks ago was pretty scary for some of you, but was probably a bit excessive in excessive and sensitive markets currently.

Understood.

Thank you.

The next question is from Elodie Rahl with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening. Thanks, Craig. Maybe just one question on the French tax, if you could give us a recap of where we are, the impact expected, the next steps, et cetera. Thank you.

Hello, hello. Hello. I'm just going more or less to repeat what we wrote at the end of September. You remember, we did a press release to explain that Vinci is contesting these plans, which go against both the letter and the spirit of the concession contract, and particularly of the contract signed between the French state as a granddaughter and the motorway concession company. These contracts, and you know that by heart, include tax neutrality clauses, and so we intend to use all available avenues of appeal. You remember as well that the opinion of Conseil d'Etat, which was not made public until mid-September, showed that the government path to apply such a new clause is probably narrower and much more complicated than the government and press had been suggesting for several months. That said, higher taxes inevitably mean higher tolls, as provided by Article 32 of the contract. And taxes already make up 40% of tolls. Have that in mind. And so, increasing again this proportion will not only mean that the French state, as Concession granted, would be breaking its word, but would also make No sense at a time when urgent investments are required to decarbonize road transport, which accounts more or less for 90% of the total flows in our country of passengers and freight. I cannot say more than that. It's currently being discussed at the Senate, so it will know more by the end. But we are combative. We will defend our contracts. That's our only asset for Motorway.

Okay, thanks. The next question is from Ashish Ketan with Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Hello. Thanks for taking my question. I just have a couple of questions. First, I wanted some clarity on the reason for increasing guidance for free cash flow. Is it due to better working capital or lower CAPEXs? The second thing I wanted to check, what is driving the growth in international revenues? Which are the regions where you are expecting higher growth? Thank you.

Hello. I will answer to Louis regarding the free cash flow. It's capex. We increase capex as we go for our ports, for renewable energy developments. So one of the drivers of the free cash flow, one of the moving parts, is working cap. And working cap is probably a bit better at this stage than what we expected. Okay. So my point, international is very dynamic, very dynamic for the airport, very dynamic for Vinci Energy. For Vinci Energy, most of the Vinci Energy is present in, like, between 50 and 60 countries. And in most of their geographies, the activity is very strong. That's true in Germany, that's true in . So for Vinci Construction, activity is well oriented as well in the nine main countries of Vinci Energy. with a flow business well-oriented, and with the ongoing large projects, like ISP2 in the UK, like the between Denmark and Germany, like some motorway projects in Australia, some railway projects in New Zealand, some motorway and railway projects in North America. So all in all, the activity is good, and the deal flow is good. And Cobra, of course, is based on Latin America. It says Spain was up 16%. So, all in all, we don't see any, let's say, material sign of slowdown.

Great. Thanks.

The next question is from Martin Voital with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Yes. Thank you so much. So, a couple of questions. Firstly, Could you confirm that you expect your tariff increase on the French motorways for 2024 to be in line with the usual formula of 70% of inflation? Is there perhaps any discussion right now between you and the ground around this topic? And number two, could you comment on your order backlog trends? Obviously, the backlog has been growing, but If I look at the divisional split, at least in the last two quarters, all of the growth is driven by Cobra IS and backlog is actually flattish in the last two quarters in Vinci energies and construction. So what is actually driving that and would you say there is maybe some sort of flatlining of demand in those two important segments?

Hello, Marcine. Regarding the total increase for February 2024, it's contractual. So I don't know what will be the level of inflation at the end of October. It will be calculated soon. We will plug that in the formula of the contract. And there is no reason to say we could not increase the total by 70% of the inflation at the end of October. Second point, I don't see exactly what you refer to, because if I look at the order intake, Vinci Energy is up in nine months 16%. of which 17% in Q3. So there is no deceleration. It remains quite a very appealing growth. And so at the end of September, order intake is up 16%. For Vinci construction, order intake is up 10% in nine months, of which 17% as well in Q3. And so order book is flat, but because at the same time, the level of activity was very strong, notably in international. And Cobra IS, order book reached a record high level. It has been boosted, notably, by several very large projects. Even in flow business, we are well-oriented. So order book of Cobra IS is up 33%. And nine months of the intake of Covax are up 31%. So for me, there is no, let's say, deceleration.

Very good. Thank you.

The next question is from Graham Hunt with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Good evening, and thank you for letting me take the questions. Just two from me. Firstly, maybe could you give us a little bit of color across your airport portfolio, what you're expecting in terms of pricing across the main platforms next year? And then second question on COBRA, how should we think about margins for this year and I suppose going forward, particularly with such strong growth and with the converter platforms coming in, which I think have quite attractive margin profiles alone, just something around that would be helpful. Thanks.

Hello. First, Cobra S margin. In general, for this kind of revenue call, we don't speak of profitability and margin. So maybe you should keep this question for next month and a half for the CMP of Cobra. Okay, so that's the answer. Other thing, Regarding the airports, we don't, at this stage of the year, we did some proposals to the grantors, depending on the country, depending on the regulation, et cetera. We cannot really comment. Just have in mind that out of our airports, our portfolio, I mean, we are lucky enough to have almost 90% of the aeronautical revenue, which are, let's say, index directly to CPI. It can be sometimes a European CPI, sometimes a local CPI, et cetera. But so all in all, let's say, the tariff zero-scale feed increase for next year should mirror the CPI. In Portugal, that's currently in discussion for ANA with a European CPI of almost 10%. For Gatwick, you remember the CNC, the Contract and Commitment Framework, authorized the airport to increase the aeronautical feed by RPI. So RPI is currently in the UK more than 10%. So that's it. No, that's... Again, airport, autoroutes, and Vinci in general is a good vehicle to fight inflation.

Thanks very much.

The next question is from Luis Prieto with Kepler. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi again. I had a follow-up question. Just out of curiosity, has there been any progress in the strategic review of Polo Karmopolis that I understand was expected to take place this year?

It's ongoing. But the same you should ask during the CMB of Kola. The strategic review is ongoing.

Excellent. Thank you.

The next question is from Gregor Kudlich with UBS. Please go ahead.

Hi, good evening. A couple of questions, please. So I read, I think it was a few days ago, that you were selected preferred bidder, I believe, for an airport in Poland. If you care to comment what the quantum of that is, I think there was a number mentioned, at least from the from the grantor's side. So you just tell us what the economics are there. And then maybe broadly, I mean, it seems like you're involved in quite a lot of bids, seeing something potentially in Australia, I think maybe in Hungary. There was also, I think, a press article on a sort of renewables business in Spain. Can you just give us a sense, like, what's going on and whether these are sort of all true or, like, maybe it's just a comment on pipeline on things that you're looking at? Maybe then a question on the actual revenue. So you did 11% organic growth in energy, which I thought was quite strong against the kind of harder comp. Is there any reason why that slows in the short term? Or does it just sort of ever get harder given the comparison basis? So those are my two questions. Thank you.

Hello, Greg. So true that the deal flow in terms of M&A is not so thin. let's say as a general rule you know we never provide information on this kind of business procedure or this kind of noise so i will not uh my answer will be a bit frustrating for you i guess regarding poland specifically it's even more difficult to comment since the government has changed last weekend so i prefer not to tell that because we don't command information, especially not in a kind of political change like that.

Makes sense. And energies?

Yes, sorry, because I forgot your second question. I would say that in reality, the only limiting factor will be probably the availability of human resources. But thanks to the organization of Vinci Energy, which is very decentralized with many companies, you know, 2,000 business units, with our M&A Firepower, which finally enabled you to buy as well some man-powered, I would say that we are well-positioned. So can you – that's what's in your reason to see a slow, honestly, with – difficult to know. Okay. Maybe – But again, we are very at the beginning of a very long growth cycle.

Okay. And then maybe – sorry, a final question. You mentioned, I think, on the renewables that you're at 1.4 giga now. Can't quite remember where that was at the end of – but maybe you can remind me, and you're saying 2 gigawatts by the end of the year. So which projects are actually kind of being launched, or which projects did you press the go button on?

Yes, we are, at the end of July, you remember, we opened, we commissioned the Belmonte solar project in Brazil. It's a big milestone for us. It was our biggest ever renewable asset producer. That's in operation. In the last month, the last two months, work started on another 0.6 gigawatts of solar project in Brazil. So it pushes up our capacity to 1.2. Plus, work started again in Spain on a certain number of projects, accumulating 0.2 gigawatts. So we have 0.6 of Belmonte plus, let's say, in construction 0.6 in Brazil plus in construction 0.2 in Spain. So in total, at the end of September, our portfolio is made up of a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts. And you're right, by the end, we aim at reaching 2 gigawatts of assets in operation or under construction.

Thank you.

The next question is from Atish Sivakumar with Citi Group. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thanks again. This is Atish Sivakumar from Citi. I've got two questions here, both in the airport space. Firstly, on Portugal, where we are actually in terms of expansion of the airport given the capacity limitation and also What does it mean for you in terms of TAP being divested or privatized? So what is it in terms of expansion as such? How does the capacity allocation come through? And then the second is actually across your portfolio, can you give any color on what are you seeing in terms of retail spend at the airports? Are you still seeing, like, steady increase, or are you starting to see some normalization there? Thank you.

Hello, Dan. So, regarding retail for airports, we are not seeing, let's say, big change in the consumption habits of passengers. Retail revenue per pass, in fact, is up. And especially if we exclude Japan, you know, where the Chinese passengers numbers are not yet significant. They are not yet fully back in Japan. So, if we exclude Japan from this analysis, but the spend per pack is up and higher than in 2019. That's due to inflation that the retail outlets have been able to pass through the ground. That's true as well to our initiative. Like we do, you know, we open some new stores, we reorganize the stores, we make the stores more dense, more... We do a good job as well in business, and that's particularly true in food and beverage, by the way. Okay? So regarding this burn, I know the news at this stage, and the news, we are waiting, you know, for the strategic assessment. which is ongoing since a bit more than two years now. So we expect this strategic environmental assessment to be released in H1 2024. And then we'll be very happy to see, let's say, a final decision to develop a new airport capacity in Lisbon, because you're totally right. The Lisbon airport is already congested. So for the country, for Portugal, in order to be able to keep on absorbing flows of tourists, it would be good to go ahead soon. And we are ready, anyway, to keep on playing our role shoulder to shoulder with the Portuguese governments for this country.

Okay, got it. Thank you. Just a quick follow-up, actually. So you said outside of Japan, the rest of the airports are still seeing good retail spend per price momentum, yeah? And the Japan is still lack of Chinese tourists coming back is what holding it, yeah?

Yes, the retail momentum is satisfactory, I would say, especially if we exclude the figures of Japan, right? where there is a distortion, you know, because when you have a lot of Chinese, it boosts, it's a, how do you say, a tailwind for the retail performance. So Japan is very exposed to Chinese passengers, or was very exposed before the 2019, in 2019, before the COVID crisis. So what I say is that Excluding Japan, which can clearly improve, there is room to improve, and it will be down mechanically when the Chinese will come back. But excluding Japan, clearly, our retail revenue per box is well-oriented. Okay, got it. Yes, thank you.

The next question is from Nicola Mora with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening, Grégoire. Just a quick one on the order intake. Can you help us understand a little bit what was included in the third quarter, especially for Cobra, because there's a fair amount of very large orders which can easily swing the order intake for the quarter. So, for example, did you include any share of the, what, $7 billion contract you had with Siemens Energy on the converter stations you won in April? And then bigger picture, I know you don't want to comment on M&A, but yeah, I'm going to give you the strike. Are you seeing a genuine pickup, especially in airports, opportunities following a pretty long crossing of the desert with not much, or this is just newspaper news flow? Thank you.

Yeah, but first you have a strange notion of deserts because we did OMA in Mexico, we bought seven airports in Amazonia, the Capo Verde airport. So finally, you know, we did quite a lot in the last year. But yes, there is a deal flow. Clearly, there is a deal flow and our M&A team is very busy. I cannot comment. What I said to Gregor is that I cannot comment more than that. But no, no, there is quite a deep flow. And again, we are opportunistic. We have our capital discipline. So we don't do, but we have a look at a lot, a lot, a lot of things. It doesn't mean that at the end of the day, we do a lot. But capital discipline. After regarding order intake, so for Cobra IS, We did a footnote, so we explained that in a footnote, but it may be normal if you didn't see that right now. For the TENET operation, you know, for the free electrical offshore converters, we included the first one, one of the three. Okay? So for covalent stake, it's a bit more than one million euros of order intake. Because you said, Nicolas, you're right, like the total bid was 7 billion euros, roughly 50% for Cobra IS, 50% for Siemens Energy. So it means roughly 3.5 billion euros. So we entered in the order book one-third of these 3.5 billion euros. Clear?

Perfect. Thank you. And just last one.

For Vinci Construction as well, Nicolas, we explained what has been entered in the backlog of Vinci Construction in Q3. So we have the first section, you know, blind 15 ways from Grand Paris, the path for Vinci Construction, for Vinci Energy as well. We entered as well the LNG storage tank in the Netherlands, the deal we announced a few weeks ago. We entered, as well, this electrical interconnection between France and Spain, same, for Vinci Construction and Vinci Energy. And we entered, as well, this northern bypass of the Kresov in Slovakia for Vinci Construction.

Perfect. And last one, if I may, just on Vinci Energy, because we were looking at tougher comps. It played out in Q2, didn't play out in Q3, despite some fears of cyclical slowdown. The order intake is still pretty solid. You've talked about the only limit being staff availability, but there is still no sign of client exhaustion, especially on short cycle orders and industrial orders.

No. No, in reality, I know it can be surprising, but as you wrap it, we were expecting, or these financial markets could have expected that in Q2. It was not the case. In Q3, it's clearly not the case. So now, again, at this stage, we don't see. Okay, in France, the pace of growth is lower than what it was, for example, in Q1, which was absolutely stellar. But in France, revenue in Q3 was up 8%, or a bit more than 8%. So it remains very, very, very dynamic. In international, as I told you, there was even an acceleration in the revenue pace of growth in Q3 compared to Q2. So now we don't see a material sign of slowdown, neither in the very short cycle project, neither in the industrial segments. Again, the energy transition, the digital transition behind that are a clear, clear support of the business. Will it stay like that, exactly like that for the next quarter? Who knows? But what we think is that it's only the beginning of a very powerful growth story. It's only the beginning. Thank you, Greg. No problem.

The next question is from Tobias Werner with Stifel. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening, Greg. Thanks for taking my question. Two questions and both related to France, really, and slightly more sort of around sentiment. Number one, when you look into 24, and I don't expect you to give me any guidance on 24, but You've got a big event coming up in France. Your orders are looking up at the moment, also when you look at the FNTP. But do you expect that the end of that event to mark a big difference in context of infrastructure-related work, or is this much broader than the Olympics? The second question relates to you know, you're very small, immobilier business. I'd just like to get a sense of whether there have been any sort of signs of light at the end of the tunnel at all, or whether this is pretty still, you know, there's complete lack of visibility at this point in time. Thank you.

Hello, Tobias. So regarding Olympics in 2024, the activity and the or roads, for example, will still be well-oriented ahead of these events. But again, I'm not sure it has a very clear impact on the total revenue of Vichy Construction and Eurovia in France. You know, the Olympics were in Paris region, a bit in Marseille, but... So I don't imagine they say, oh, okay, there is an effect after the Olympics, finally. we are not particularly worried. And, you know, once the Olympics will be behind us, step by step, we will enter the positive electoral cycle. We will enter the positive side of the electoral cycle ahead of the next municipal election taking place in 2026. We don't see yet any effect on that, but maybe by year end 2024, early 2025, we should have this positive effect. Regarding Vinci Immobilier, right at the end of the tunnel, it's difficult to know. Clearly, the situation is very, very difficult because high interest rates. So it means that it mechanically reduces the affordability for individual buyers. The current macroeconomic momentum makes institutional investors a bit more Reluctance and hesitance. It's difficult to borrow money. The inflation has eroded the purchasing power of people. The local authorities remain reluctant to grant new building authorization. So all in all, let's say the planets are not very alive. So we do something in the meantime, but the crisis could last, probably. unless the government finally recognizes the extreme severity of the current crisis and adopts some measures. It can be a housing stimulus plan. It can be some fiscal measures, let's say, to help the sector. Because this is now a housing crisis, and tomorrow it will be a social crisis.

A fair point, actually, which leads me on to a follow-up question. In the UK, the opposition party, Labour, talks about building a significant amount of public housing or social housing. In Germany, the income threshold was just raised for the effectively 0% mortgage rates. Do you see something similar happening in France?

Actually, there was a new... which has been advertised by the French government last week. It's a bit technical, but it was to increase what we call the zero loan, the zero coupon loan. And as far as I know, it's the only, let's say, measure which has been taken so far by the French government. And probably it's far from being enough.

Understood. Sorry, I didn't hear it acoustically earlier. I'm not French, so I don't know. When are the municipal elections? Early 2025?

Spring 2026.

Okay, thank you. Thank you.

The next question is from Sonia Baldeira with Bloomberg Intelligence. Please go ahead.

Hello, good evening. Thank you, Greg, for getting my question. It's very simple. I would like, please, just to have a sense, how is the execution of the wind energy projects that you have? Mostly, I'm worried with offshore wind in terms of bottlenecks, if you see something happen, or if you just see the projects going on on a normal basis. and with no implications on margins in the future?

We are not in the best position to answer this offshore question, because with Cobra, yes, we developed some renewable energy projects, indeed, but it's mainly some solar projects. The 1.1 gigawatts I mentioned is only from solar. And we do onshore wind projects, but not offshore.

Thank you for answering that. In terms of your wind projects, do you see any kind of trouble or bottlenecks that could affect? This is just on the back of what just happened today in the market with Siemens. Everyone is worried about right now with the execution of wind projects. I just wonder if you could have a word on how things go on your side.

No, no. You cannot do any negative read-across regarding us and our different businesses compared to what some other groups announced.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Mr. Thibault, there are no more questions registered at this time. I turn the conference back to you for any closing remarks.

Thank you very much. Good luck for this again and again intense period of publication. And we are at your disposal with Boris and Marie to follow up. And we hope to... See most of you in Madrid on 12 December for the CMT Cobayes. Have a nice evening. Bye-bye.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over and you may disconnect your telephones.