(AOF) – Vinci Airports announces that it has today finalized the financial closure of the acquisition of the seven airports in Cape Verde. In this context, the group has subscribed to financing of 60 million euros, with a maturity of 20 years, provided by three development banks: the World Bank-IFC, Proparco (France) and DEG (Germany). This financing benefits from the Sustainability Linked Financing (SLF) label. Vinci Airports will be in charge of the financing, operation, maintenance, extension and modernization of these platforms for the next 40 years.
With 2.2 million passengers welcomed in 2022, i.e. approximately 80% of its 2019 traffic level, Cape Verde has “solid” development potential.
The integration of Cape Verde airports allows Vinci Airports to consolidate its leadership as the world’s leading private operator, with 72 airports in operation in 13 countries.
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Key points
– World leader in construction, born in 2000 and involved in motorway and airport concessions;
– Revenues of €61.5 billion, of which 55% generated internationally, split between construction for 47%, energy for 27%, motorway and airport concessions for 15% and real estate;
– Economic model: “design, finance, build and manage infrastructure and equipment for mobility” with complementarity between concessions and contracting;
– Open capital (employees with 9.9% of the capital and Qatari Holding with 3.8%), the 15-member board of directors being chaired by Xavier Huillard, also managing director;
– Debt-free balance sheet, with €19.7 billion in cash and record free self-financing of €5.4 billion.
Challenges
– Growth strategy based on 3 pillars:
– in concessions, extension of the maturity of the portfolio and growth of the airport sector through external growth,
– in contracting, priority to Vinci Energy via acquisitions and to the specialized activities of Eurovia and Vinci Construction,
– synergy of concessions & contracting expertise in infrastructure projects;
– Innovation strategy organized by profession, with a budget of €50 million financing 50 programs from 12 research centers and focused on urban mobility and the sustainable city,
– partnerships with Paris-Tech (Research & Environment Lab), Fabrique de la Cité, etc.;
– “Ambition 2030” environmental strategy aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050:
– intermediate objective of reducing the carbon footprint by 20% in 2030 vs 2019;
– circular process systematizing recycling and reuse in each sector,
– “avoid, reduce, compensate” approach for “0 net loss” of biodiversity,
– launch of the 1st green loan,
– participation in the global decarbonized hydrogen infrastructure fund;
– Dynamism of Vinci Energies, supported by acquisitions, particularly in IT in Central Europe;
– Almost 70% of the order book dedicated to international markets.
Challenges
– Reduction of the disparity in margins between motorway concessions (2/3 of operating profit) and construction;
– Strong ambitions for Cobra IS, specialist in energy infrastructure for solar and wind energy -15 GW in the medium term of capacity, particularly in Latin America with commissioning in 2023 of the 1st photovoltaic project and construction of 1.4 GW renewable energy projects;
– Impact on profitability of the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Mexican airport OMA (23 million passengers in 2022);
– After a 25% increase in billings, 2023 objectives of a further increase in revenues and an operating profit slightly above the level of 2022:
– motorways: traffic of the same order as that of 2022;
– airports: passenger traffic lower than 2019 level and increase in operating income,
– VINCI Energies: new business growth and consolidated operating margin,
– VINCI Construction: selectivity of contract intake, stabilization of activity and further improvement in the operating margin;
– 2022 dividend of €4 after down payment and action plan.
Find out more about the BTP / Construction sector
Double punishment for the sector
The French Building Federation (FFB) recently warned of the collapse of the new housing market. Over the first eight months of 2022, sales of the new home market in the diffuse sector collapsed by 26.8% over one year. As for sales of new homes in the grouped sector, sales to individuals fell by 17.3% over one year in the first half, while sales to institutions fell by 23%. The trend is the same for the sale of collective housing, down 9.8%.
These bad trends are accompanied by a decline in public investment, while repayments of PGE begin. Due to a lack of visibility, local authorities prefer to suspend certain projects. They also have to face a drop in their resources and a significant increase in the cost of energy and works. However, the most significant investments are generally made during the third and fourth years of the local authorities’ mandate, that is to say in 2023 and 2024. This therefore represents a significant shortfall for the sector.