Vinci Sa Act

gentlemen, welcome to the Vansi Q1 Revenue 2025 Conference Call. I now hand over to Gregoire Thibault, Head of Investor Relations of Vansi. Sir, please go ahead.

Thank you, Heidi. Hello and thanks for attending this conference call. I'm today with the Investor Relations team and Marie-Amélia Faulk, the Group Controller. As usual, I will be brief to have more time for the Q&A and because I know there are other publications. And of course, for you this evening. What are the key takeaways of this Q1 publication? First, a solid performance overall to start the year, with total revenue up 4% to 16.3 billion euros, mainly driven by international, which is up 6%. And international represents more than 56% of our total revenue. Point number two, for Q1, please keep in mind that for concession, traffic is up year on year on motorways and on airports. For the energy solution business, made up of Vinci Energy and Cobra S, a dynamic international momentum and a good order intake in flow business. For construction, stabilization of revenue, as expected, at a high level while order intake of Vinci construction are up. I will give you more granularity later. Point number three, the group's order intake are down 2 billion euros versus Q124, but no worries, that's due to high comps at Cobra S. Indeed, recall that the order intake in Q124 included two offshore wind farm energy converter platforms worth 2.5 billion euros. Adjusted For this order, order intakes are up by almost 4% this quarter, with a buoyant flow business level. As a result, the order book of Vinci reached a new all-time high of 72 billion euros at the end of March, up 8% year-on-year and up 4% versus December 24. It represents more than 14 months of average activity, 14.5 months to be exact and to be fair, and that's a record visibility, giving the group serenity and enabling it to remain selective. Point number four, regarding the financial position, we are serene as well. The net financial debt of Vinci at the end of March amounted to 21.3 billion euros. This is a quite limited increase, of a bit more than 800 million euros since the end of December 2024, despite the traditional increase in working capital requirements at the beginning of the year, as you know, which is in line with the normal seasonality this year. Limited increase of the debt, despite the M&A spending this quarter, in particular for FM Conway in the UK, acquired by Vinci Construction late January 2025. Vinci's liquidity remains substantial, with a managed net cash of 11.8 billion euros and 6.5 billion euros of RCF. As a result, with such a sound financial position, Vinci is well prepared to go through the current economic uncertainties in the world and ready to continue to deploy its capital allocation strategy, whose pillars are investing in existing assets to extract more value, M&A and development under three capital disciplines. And of course, an appealing and recurring cash return to shareholders through dividends and shares buyback. Let's now have a closer look at the main businesses. For concession, revenues up 8% to 2.5 billion euros, of which Vinci Autoroutes, 1.4 billion euros, up 4%. Traffic in Q1 was up 2.1%, of which light vehicles plus 2.2% and trucks plus 1.6%. That growth reflects easy comps, traffic having been disrupted last year by the farmer's blockade, and on the other hand, negative calendar effects in Q1-25. For Vinci Airport, Revenue slightly below 1 billion euros, plus 12% and plus 9% like for life. You have already seen the traffic figures, which confirm the continuous rise in passenger numbers in almost all of the network's 14 countries. Many airports, for example those in Portugal, Mexico, Edinburgh or Budapest, achieved record passenger numbers. In Japan, passenger numbers continued to recover above their pre-COVID levels due to accelerating growth in travel with China. Overall, Vinci Airport's tax numbers were up 6% in 2025 versus 2024. Energy solution. Made up of Vinci Energy and Cobias, the revenue totaled 6.6 billion euros, plus 6% on an actual basis, and plus 3% like for like. That growth was driven by business outside France, which grew by 7.5% on an actual basis and by 4% like for like. This start to the year confirms that companies of Vinci Energy and Cobayes have strong positions in the dynamic market driven by the energy transition and digital transformation. On top of these beneficial trends, there is a positive effect of the recurring flow of acquisition made by Vinci Energy to strengthen its geographical coverage and bolster its expertise, and which can be seen as quasi-organic growth. Vinci Energy, in a nutshell, Q1 revenue, 4.8 billion euros, plus 5% actual, plus 2% like for like. All four business lines, that's infrastructure, industry, building solution and ICT, contributed to this growth. Outside France, that's 57% of the total for Vinci Energy, revenue was up 7%. The trend was particularly positive in Germany, which is Vinci Energy's largest market, aside from France, contributing revenue of more than 3.4 billion euros in 2024, and 0.8 billion in Q1-25. That's 11% more than Q1-24. In France, revenue of Vinci Energy was up 2%. Order intake for Vinci Energy consisting mainly of small and medium-sized contracts this quarter, order intake was up 2% in Q1-25, with an impressive new record high of over 22 billion euros on a rolling 12-month basis. Order book amounted to 18 billion euros plus 11% year-on-year and representing more than 10 months of average business activity. Finally, please note that Vinci Energy, our acquisition and integration machine, remained active on the M&A front, having completed 11 acquisitions this quarter, representing a total annual revenue of around 80 million euros on mainly outside friends. For Cobra S, strong revenue growth of 8.5% to 1.7 billion euros on plan with our guidance. In Flow Business, that's 57% of the total. Revenue rose by 4%, and it rose in Spain, in Latin America, and in the rest of the world. In EPC Project, revenue increased by 15%, 1.5%. This trend is due in particular to the ramp-up in Germany of the HVDC converter platform project and the ramp-up of the construction of the first LNG terminal of Germany. Remember that these projects are absolutely strategic for Germany's energy independence and sovereignty. In addition to this positive trend of EPC, it should be noted as well the contribution of the project of high-voltage transmission lines in Brazil. Order intake for Cobra S. As I already told you, they fell due to high comps. Meanwhile, it's worth mentioning that order intake on flow business kept on increasing. This order book amounted to a very high level. above 17 billion euros for Cobra IS, that's plus 2% year-on-year. It's a very high level that represents more than two years of average activity. And those of you with a good memory will notice that this order book is more than twice its level when we acquired Cobra IS three years ago. Vinci Construction, Q1 revenue, 7.1 billion euros, plus 1%. Outside France, that's 53% of the total, Revenue rose 2% thanks to recent acquisitions in the UK and in North America. On a like-for-like basis, revenue contracted by 3%. In more detail, business levels rose in continental Europe, Africa and Oceania, but fell in other regions. As already mentioned in our previous press releases, revenue from large projects fell slightly due to phasing issues, with some projects being completed while others were only in the start-up phase. In France, activity was slightly down, minus 1% life-or-life. In details, we note the firm business levels in roadworks, hydraulic and railworks, which partially offset lower levels in civil engineering arising particularly from the phasing of work on Grand Paris Express and in the building sector. Order intake rose by 7% at Vinci Construction, increasing in specialty networks and major projects as well as in Africa, and remaining this order intake at a high level in the Americas, Oceania, and in world works in France. Vinci Construction order book ended a quarter of 9% at almost 37 billion euros, representing 14 months of average activity. Vinci Immobilier, you know that the modest impact for Vinci Group, Q1 revenue of €245 million, minus 5%. And the value of reservation fell by 8%. That's partly due to some postponement of several bulk sales transactions to the Q2 2025. In conclusion, in today's particularly troubled environment, Vinci's multi-local business model gives it agility, resilience, and the ability to adapt. On one hand, its activities are essentially based on local supply chains and workforce. On the other hand, its management model is based on a highly decentralized organization and a strong entrepreneurial culture. In a nutshell, Vinci seems to be a safe haven in today's paradigm, as some of you write. Vinci is therefore able to maintain the 2025 guidance presented last February. To wrap up, Vinci expects its total revenue and earnings to rise again in 2025 before factoring in the increase in corporate tax rate in France. And last but not least, I see this opportunity to remind you that from the 1st of May 2025, Xavier Villard will become Chairman of the Board of Directors and Pierre Angeloas will become Chief Executive Officer of INCI, following the footsteps of his predecessor to keep on benefiting on the bright and long-lasting megatrend led. We would like to thank you for your attention and we are now ready to take your questions.

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 1, 1 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. We will take our first question. And the question comes from the line of Elodie Rao. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi, good evening.