Vinci feels Q3 strain

French contractor Vinci has announced a year-on-year decrease of 2% in its revenues for the first nine months of the year.

The company recorded group revenues of €27.63 billion, while its construction sector saw revenues of €9.78 billion, which represents a fall of 8.4% for the comparable period.

Vinci said its construction sector suffered due to the situation in the French construction market, while outside of France, low oil and gas prices affected the company’s subsidiaries such as Entrepose and Sogea-Satom.

Each of the company’s contracting sectors – Vinci Energies, Eurovia and Vinci Construction – recorded declines for the first nine month of the year, while its concessions sector – Vinci Autoroutes, Vinci Airports and other concessions – all saw increases.

Vinci’s net financial debt marginally improved, sitting at -€13 billion, compared with last year’s -€13.2 billion. The company’s order book, however, fell marginally to €27.9 billion, down from €28.5 billion for the first nine months of 2015.

Vinci said that the market in France was stabilising in contracting, but remained uncertain in various regions of the world depending on oil prices, while the competitive environment “remained tough”.

It added that it expected a slight revenues decrease for 2016, while its operating income should increase.