A combination of the covid-19 pandemic and delays to HS2 works dented Vinci’s turnover in 2020 but the company remains upbeat, with an order book in excess of £2bn.
Vinci reported annual turnover for the year to 31 December 2020 of £858.5m, down from £909.2m the year before. Pre-tax profit also fell slightly to £16.2m, down from £17.1m.
Vinci’s building division saw turnover fall to £381m, down from £429m, mainly as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, with delays to ongoing works, delayed awards and two project cancellations.
The company said: "While the pandemic has undoubtedly had an effect on turnover this year, we have kept the large majority of our sites open at all times, and given the reduced productivity, we have achieved successful handovers of all student accommodation and education facilities to meet the September intake requirements.
"Hopefully we have now passed the worst of the pandemic issues and productivity on sites is now nearing 100%, we need to concentrate on ensuring delivery on time while achieving the requisite quality."
Its building division has 82% of next year’s turnover secured, with preferred bidder list of work totalling over £750m.
Meanwhile its civil engineering arm Taylor Woodrow had a revenue target of £201m in 2020 and achieved £172m. The 2020 decline was largely due to a delayed start to HS2.
HS2 is set to become Taylor Woodrow’s biggest customer by value in 2021 and for the next five years, it is targeting 50% of its civil engineering business to come from HS2 and 50% from other sources.
Commenting on the results, Gilles Godard, chief executive, said: “Despite the considerable challenges presented by the covid-19 pandemic, all of Vinci’s divisions continued operation on all sites with minimal or no disruption. While the pandemic has impacted our clients in the retail and accommodation and catering industries very hard, we have also been in a position to help our clients in the health sector and in particular the NHS to fight the battle against the virus.
"As a result our divisions have generated a positive margin in 2020. Overall, the business managed to achieve a net result of 1.8% and maintained its cash position above £250m. Bidding opportunities are strong and, as a result of the formal award of the HS2 N1 + N2 main civils works, our order book exceeds £2bn.”
