黑洞社区

Profit at Vinci Construction dropped by almost half over the 2014 calendar year, the firm鈥檚 annual report has revealed.

Vinci blamed the 44% fall in construction profit - measured as earnings before interest and tax - from 鈧�680m (拢505m) in 2013 to 鈧�380m (拢282m) last year, partly on 鈥淯K difficulties鈥� and a deteriorating French market.

Vinci Construction鈥檚 revenue also fell 8.1% from 鈧�16.8bn (拢12.5bn) in 2013 to 鈧�15.4bn (拢11.4bn) last year.

The Vinci group as a whole posted marginal declines in revenue and profit over 2014, with revenue down 2% from 鈧�40.4bn (拢30bn) to 鈧�38.7bn (拢28.7bn), while profit before interest and tax declined 0.8% from 鈧�3.7m (拢2.8m) to 鈧�3.6m (拢2.7m).

The 鈥淯K difficulties鈥� Vinci alluded to in its construction business are likely to include costs incurred from delays on the firm鈥檚 拢570m Nottingham tram project.

In a presentation to investors accompanying Vinci鈥檚 2014 report, the firm said: 鈥淰inci鈥檚 overall performance in 2014 was robust: the continued upturn in motorway traffic, the sharp increase in airport traffic and the good momentum in the group鈥檚 activities outside Europe allowed the group to reduce the impacts of the deterioration in the French economic environment that affected the contracting business from the second quarter as well as the difficulties in UK construction activities.鈥�

Vinci Construction鈥檚 UK civil engineering arm Taylor Woodrow confirmed to 黑洞社区 in November that the Nottingham project was the one 鈥渕ainly鈥� reponsible for losses at Vinci Construction UK in the first half of 2014.

In these half-year results to the end of June 2014, published in July, Vinci said: 鈥淭here were significant losses at Vinci Construction UK. They were mainly due to one project that proved more difficult than expected, leading to overspending and delays, and sufficient compensation for [this]has not been obtained at this stage.鈥�

Earlier this month Vinci鈥檚 stadium operations arm Vinci Stadium landed a prestigious contract to manage and operate London鈥檚 former Olympic stadium for a period of 25 years.

The stadium - which is currently being converted into a multi-use venue by Balfour Beatty - will host five matches of the Rugby World Cup 2015, before fully re-opening in 2016 as the home ground of West Ham United and the national competition venue for UK Athletics.