Vinci made a second consecutive loss in the UK last year, despite its turnover jumping to £2.29bn.
The French construction and property giant recorded a pre-tax loss of £6.4m across its UK operations in the year to 31 December, according to financial accounts for a newly consolidated holding company that incorporates Eurovia, Ringway, Taylor Woodrow, Vinci Building and Vinci Facilities.
Vinci’s losses have increased slightly since 2022, when its holding company would have lost £5.1m when calculated on a like-for-like basis. However, the company said it expected to have a profit margin of 2 per cent in 2024.
Scott Wardrop, chief executive of Vinci Construction Holding, said the group’s loss was due to the effects of inflation, as well as “significant provisions” put aside in its Vinci Building and Vinci Facilities businesses.
“Our UK group has had to operate in a sustained volatile business environment, with an unprecedented period of global uncertainty coming out of the pandemic affecting global supply chains and more recently the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said in a statement accompanying the results.
Wardrop said provisions were made for “potential risks emanating from the government’s Fire Safety Act [2021]”, as well as losses made on two large fixed-price construction projects – for University College London and Hospital Corporation of America in Birmingham – and a “toxic” healthcare PFI agreement in Coventry.
The group employed an average of 6,502 staff during 2023, down from 6,844 the year before.
The firm also announced the appointment of Emmanuel Costes as its new managing director. This is a new position and, according to the firm, Costes was chosen “following his successful tenure as area director in Birmingham for the HS2 project”.
In August, the company announced it had started work on a £90m town centre regeneration in St Helen’s near Liverpool.
Construction News revealed in July that Vinci was the fifth-biggest construction supplier to the Ministry of Justice, with work for 2023/24 totalling £54.7m.
