Oct 25 (Reuters) – Vinci on Tuesday reported a sharp rise in third-quarter revenue, citing continued recovery in airport passenger numbers and motorway traffic.
As coronavirus-related travel restrictions eased in parts of the world, motorway and airport traffic rebounded, pushing the group’s quarterly revenue to 16.70 billion euros, an increase of 26 % in real terms compared to the previous year.
Europe’s largest construction and concessions company said traffic levels on its motorways were higher than before the pandemic in 2019, despite rising fuel prices.
“In October, light vehicle traffic was impacted by the shortage of gasoline in France,” said Vinci’s head of investor relations Grégoire Thibault.
“But now the situation is, let’s say, resolved (..), so I don’t rule out a catch-up effect,” he added.
Vinci also benefited from an accelerated recovery in passenger numbers at nearly all of its airports, returning to levels at or above those reached in 2019.
“Q4 should also be well oriented,” said Grégoire Thibault, as Vinci Airports forecasts passenger numbers for 2022 representing around 70% of the 2019 level.
The group, however, pointed out that passenger growth was weaker in Asia, where travel restrictions were still in place in several countries, including China, at the end of the quarter.
The company recorded an order book of 57.4 billion euros at the end of September, allowing it to confirm its previous forecast of an annual net profit higher than that of 2019. (Report by Juliette Portala, French version Dina Kartit , edited by Bertrand Boucey)