Welcome to the VINCI Conference Call. I will now hand over to Mr. Christian Raberi, CFO of VINCI. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes. Good afternoon or good evening, and thank you for attending this conference call. As usual, I am today with Maria Melia Forte, our Controller and the Investment Relations team, Gregor Thibault and Alexandre Bonazzelles. And I will be brief as usual to have more time for the Q and A. So what are the key takeaways Of the beginning of the year 2021 for VINCI.
We can start maybe with a quick organizational reminder. As announced last February, VINCI Construction and Eurovia have been placed under the leadership of Pierre Angelas, Who choose to be CEO of Eurovia and member of the Executive Committee of the group. And therefore, VINCI Construction and Eurovia will excuse me, VINCI will, from now on, report On this group of business under the name of VINCI Construction, which we'll include as a result of the Q1 revenue, as you saw it in the press release, came to €10,200,000,000 up 5% year on year and also 5% versus Q1 2019. France, which accounts for 57% of the total, was up 11% year on year. Bear in mind that in Q1 2020, business levels at Masi Energies, VINCI Construction and Concession in France have fallen sharply following the start of the first lockdown, which took place As of March 17.
International, accounting for 43% of the total, was down 2.3%, Minus 1.5 percent like on like, taking eliminating the currency variations. Unlike in France, business levels abroad generally held up well despite the pandemic last year At the same period, which is why the variation between 2021 and 2020 It's not as favorable as for France. Changes in scope were mainly related to the integration of VINCI Energies' most recent acquisitions, Which increased revenue by 1.3%. And exchange rate movements had a negative impact, as I mentioned it, of 2.2% Since most currencies, especially the dollar, U. S, fell under against the euro.
A very positive point is the order intake evolution. The order intake was dynamic, plus 8% on rolling 12 month basis, Of which, plus 16% abroad and minus 2% in France. And if we compare with the Q1 of 2020, the order intake was up in the Q1 of 2021, 19%. That growth reflects several large contracts wins at Vincis Construction, in particular, including a contract for The same terminal that will connect in the future, Germany and Denmark, which represents an amount of around €1,000,000,000 So as a result of that, the order book hit a new all time high of €45,800,000,000 Up 21% year on year, which represents almost 15 months of activity Of VINCI Energies plus VINCI Construction, the new VINCI Construction, which provide us with a good visibility and serenity For the future. International business accounts for 61% of the order book versus 57% At the end of March 2020.
In terms of financial position, VINCI Continues to maintain its liquidity at a very high level, more than €18,000,000,000 €18,400,000,000 exactly, At the end of March 2021, which comprises managed net cash of €8,800,000,000 9,800,000,000 excuse me, €600,000,000 of commercial paper and also an unused confirmed syndicated bank facility of €8,000,000,000 Which is due to mature in November 2025 for almost all of this amount. So as a result, VINCI is well prepared to continue dealing with the unexpected and also continue its development. So let's now have A look a closer look at the main divisions. Verses concessions. Q1 sales of €1,300,000,000 down twenty Asset to route, which is rather a good news, stability of the revenue at €1,100,000,000 Despite travel restrictions in France and in the rest of Europe, Traffic on our motorways saw only a limited decline of 2.8% compared to Q1 2020.
Light vehicle traffic fell by 4.5%, while heavy vehicle traffic rose 4.8%, Thanks to a firm economic activity and growth in the e commerce. Compared to Q1 2019, Traffic levels were still down 11%. Heavy vehicle traffic up 1.7% was robust, Unlike light vehicle traffic down 13.8% versus Q1 2019. Now VINCI Airports. VINCI Airports revenue of only €150,000,000 down 70%.
Like the world's air transport sector as a whole, revenue of VINCI Airports continued to suffer badly from the COVID-nineteen pandemic And the resulting travel restrictions continuing the trend seen in late 2020. You have already seen the traffic figures published last week. Overall, passenger numbers in Q1 2021 were down 78% versus Q1 2020 and down 82% versus Q1 2019. Let's talk now about the Energy business. VINCI Energies, with sales of €3,500,000,000 Started the 2021 year, well, with revenue rising 7% with Q1 2020, 6% like for like And 13% compared to Q1 twenty nineteen.
That upturn was driven by France, Where revenue was up 14% in Q1 2021 versus Q1 2020, which had been hit by the start of 1st lockdown last year. Outside France, where business levels remained firm last year despite the pandemic, Revenue was up only 2% on an actual basis and stable like for like year on year. This performance is one more time VANSI's Energies resilience and diversity in terms of geographical exposure, Business segments and expertise. Acquisition also contributed by around €60,000,000 to the Q1 revenue increase. Order intake of VINCI Energies was more or less stable compared to Q1 2020, even though VANSI Energies won several major contracts in early 2020.
Now let's talk about the new VINCI Construction, which includes OREA. So VINCI Construction with sales of EUR 5,300,000,000 The Q1 of this year continued the positive inflection we saw in the second half of last year Since the revenue rose 10% versus Q1 last year and 11% like for like 6% versus Q1 2019. In France, where business levels were badly affected last year by the near shutdown of worksites For almost 2 months starting in mid March 2020, growth was firm. Revenues were up 12% in Q1 2021 year on year, with a sharp increase in revenue from Public Works and Civil Engineering, Supported in particular by the Grand Paris Express Projects and also from Road, Rail and Groundworks, All that for France. Business levels in the Building segment were supported by several major developments in the Paris area.
So now outside of France, the growth of the revenue of VINCI Construction in the Q1 was 8%, Driven by the major project division, VINCI Confucion major project, with the ramp up of several large projects, Last contracts which were won recently, particularly the HS2 in the UK, which We entered into the order book, if I remember well, in Q2 last year, while revenue was stable in Road and Rail Works despite a negative currency effect. VINCI Construction order intake rose 34% year on year in Q1 2021. And now last but not least, VINCI Immobilier, our property development activity. So the revenue of VINCI Immobilier rose 34.5 percent with €320,000,000 in Q1 2021 after the integration of Urbat Promotions, Which is a small developer in the southeast of France, which we acquired 100% in January this year. Like for like, the revenue of VINCI Immobilier in the Q1 rose 24 point percent versus Q1 last year, when you remember probably business levels were hit By worksite shutdowns from mid March onwards and also by a lower number of projects entering into the construction phase Because of the pandemic, the number of homes reserved in France by VINCI BOUBLIER rose 46% to 15 25 units for eValu, which is up 64% because the average value per unit has Increase also.
In conclusion, with these good figures, overall, we maintain our T21 outlook, which we already explained and disclosed in the previous communications. At VINCI Construction and VINCI Energies, the group is aiming barring exceptional events, obviously, He's aiming to increase revenue very close to the 2019 level and also To improve operating margins compared with 2020, operating margins for the 2 Divisions, Vancis Construction and Rancis Energy, should return to level similar to those seen in 2019, but probably slightly Better or slightly higher in the case, particularly of construction activities. In concession, Visibility still remains very limited, and business levels continue to depend on restrictions Arising from the COVID-nineteen situation in France and abroad. As a result, it is not possible at Staged to offer reliable forecast regarding neither VINCI Autoroute traffic levels More VINCI Airport Passenger Numbers for the next few quarters. But for VINCI Autohoo, traffic levels can be expected To return to normal relatively quickly, as this was seen in summer last year, as soon as travel restrictions The ticket in France, and maybe the good news will be the next announcement by the government for a new Opening of travel within the country in May.
Given these uncertainties and the weight of the concession business for the group's overall performance, VINCI, obviously, cannot provide, at this stage, reliable earnings forecast for 2021. In any event, earnings will not recover to 2019 levels in 2021. But although it remains unclear how the pandemic will unfold, VINCI has strength That will enable it to get back onto a trajectory of consistent growth once the COVID-nineteen crisis has been overcome. Thank you for your attention, and we all are now ready to take your questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this We have a first question from Chetan Lynch from Deutsche Bank. Madam, please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. Thank you very much for taking my questions and congratulations on a great set of results. Maybe 3 from me, if possible. The first, Could you give us a bit of an update on how public sector contracts within France are progressing in terms of the order book? Obviously, we had the municipal elections last year and there's always some dip in activity.
But are we kind of past that now? And our kind of confidence levels from the public sector So improving in terms of spending. My second question is just on Lisbon and the Montejo Airport project there. I know that there were some Court rulings in the last month or so against the project. Is there anything you could update in terms of that situation?
And then just finally, Maybe a bit of a broad question, but how are you thinking about the benefits for, I guess, Eurovia and Vansu Construction From the possible U. S. Infrastructure spending plan. I know you made an acquisition there a couple of years ago with Lane Construction. Just anything you could give on that would be super.
Thank you.
Okay. So the first question relates to the order intake for the public sector in France in contracting. Okay. I would say very simply, so far so good. Maybe you remember that we were a little bit worried at the end of last year about the risk of Having a sharp deterioration of the situation at the beginning of this year, So far, so good.
It hasn't happened. So overall, both for Aurovia, we are talking of relatively small Orders in terms of size, average size. And also, I'm thinking of VINCI Confucion France, there the average size is a bit Hi, yes. But more for those 2 main activities, which depend from the public Ordering, we are more or less stable, I would say. So nothing Too bad has happened so far.
So maybe we were a little bit too pessimistic when we communicated on this matter last year. Now I don't know what will be the evolution in the coming months, but so far so good. For Montijo in Portugal. Considering the situation of the traffic at present, Clearly, Montijon is no longer a short term priority, neither for VINCI Airport No, for the Portuguese authorities. It will probably become Priority in the future when the traffic recovers.
But for the time being, we are still, I would say, in a sort of standby situation. Also because some local governments, municipalities around The site of Montijo has clearly stated that they were not in favor of this project. So there were some political debates In Portugal, between the central government and some local governments, which mean that the project Could take more time than expected to go ahead, but I think at the very end, it will go ahead. And honestly, if it takes A few more more on sort of our year. This is not really a main issue considering the level of traffic at this moment in Portugal.
It will have to be done, but it will be done on time, I think. And these difficulties, these punctual difficulty political difficulties, I'm sure we'll be overcome in the future. Now your last question is about the Biden Announcement in the U. S, I think it's very good news, obviously, but it would be even better news if these announcements Transform into facts and acts. But on the other side, we are at present are not a very big player in the state, as Since we make around €2,000,000,000 of revenue annually, mainly in the Rovia, so the roadwork, Well, construction activities and also a little bit in the energy work and engineering and work.
So we should benefit, at least in the areas where in the states where we are present, which are essentially On the East Coast of the country, should this plan transform into actual Investments by the authorities. So it's a good news, but in the past, all the presidents have made also very nice announcement about the necessity for the US to invest in their infrastructure, and we have not seen much also because there were some conflicts Between the federal and the state authorities. So there as well, good news, but wait and see. And in any case, we are not a very big player, but we might increase our presence in the U. S.
Also because we have won in the recent past Several projects, especially one which is quite big, around $1,000,000,000 to build an infrastructure in Virginia. It's a tunnel and a bridge. So we are more and more active in the U. S, but we do that at our own pace, so progressively because it's a big market Well, you need to understand the rules of the game, have a nice partner locally, etcetera. So it will it takes a bit of time, but We are now more present than what we were a few years ago, and we might grow even more in the future.
Okay, CFO.
Okay.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. And next question from Jean Christophe Lefebvre Moulin from CIC. Sir, please go ahead.
Good evening. I have three questions, if you allow me. First, follow-up question on Anna. I think Anna, you On 100% of this airport, so maybe could you confirm us that ADNA Had positive EBITDA last year. 2nd issue on Vanciautta Route.
You have I was impressed by your performance. Only 2.8% decline in traffic, so much better than Same if, then Same if. Why is this different? We have Maybe an explanation of this good performance regarding versus your peers. And also This resilience of traffic is mainly driven by Isef.
There is, It's 300 basis points on the traffic decline between IFS and CosiRoutes. Do we have also an explanation? And last question on Eurovia legacy, maybe Could we have the sales valuation over the Q1? Many thanks.
Okay, Jean Christophe. As usual, you are asking very Detailed and precise question. I am not sure I can provide all the detailed answer, but let's try. So Alain, it's not an airport. It's a group of airports, which we operate, as I remind you, all the airports of the country, Mainland and the islands.
Obviously, Lisbon is by far the biggest Platform, but we also operate Porto, Faroe plus all the airports of Viasor and Madair and also Beijon, which is a small mainland airport. I can't and we own 100%, and we are very proud and satisfied of owning 100% of this Very nice company, which we acquired in 2030. It was our first major development in the airport business, And we won an open tender organized by the Portuguese government. I confirm that in 2020, even if it was not Very significant. I confirm that the EBITDA of Anna was positive, but I suppose the accounts of Anna are public, If I remember correctly.
So you should find all the details in the releases of ANA, which are made locally. As for the motorways, I was expecting your question because ARP RR released its figures A few days before. What about Abertis? I don't remember. Probably the difference this time is in our favor.
It wasn't always the case. You could have asked me the question a few years ago, why are we worse than Happy Dessert? This time, we are better. Probably because it was a bit more complicated this year to ski in the Alps. And you know that in the Q1, usually Aperdabler benefits from the travel for to ski in the Alps.
This time, probably due to the shutdown, we benefited from the fact that many people living in the Paris area Drove to the Brittany or to the Southwest like my family, for instance, which is still in the BR8 at this moment, I will join them next Saturday. But I have only one in this case, so it's probably part of the explanation. What was the last question?
It's written in the press release. Actually, we said that the activity in roadwalls, railwaywalls and groundwalls in France was up 11%. And abroad, it was flat despite negative currency effect.
Okay. Thanks, Marci.
The worries we had last year were not about the projected level of revenue Starting the year was more about the evolution of the order intake. So not only the revenue because we knew Last year, we had a very high order book. And since the average duration of the project at the Rovia is relatively short, So we are not that surprised by the fact that the level of activity in Energia in France is good in this Q3. The good surprise, I can say, It's the fact that the order intake is better than expected. So far so good, as I said before.
Thank you. Next question from Elodie Raul from JPMorgan. Madam, please go ahead.
Hi, Christian. Thanks for taking my question. Can I start actually bouncing back with just your previous comments On the good news on order intake momentum generally and the fact that actually Revenues in Construction and Energy are up already meaningfully versus 2019 level? So Why keeping such a conservative guidance? Because your guidance actually implies trends to come down for the remaining of the year Versus 2019 overall, but you had such a good start.
And on top, the other group, the owner intake is so strong. Should we can't we not expect Actually, an increase versus 2019 of a little bit more realistic. And on the order book, do you have any Orders that are not in yet in the other books that you can comment on. And then just one question on airport, if I may, I'll turn your question on the relations with airlines. Now we've been in this crisis for about a year And of course, it's not traffic, but are you feeling some pressure from airlines at this point already or not with regard to tariff Going forward, how is the relationship?
About the prudent in our forecast, That's not really new. We've always been prudent, and I think we were right to be prudent last year, in particular. We are still in a very uncertain world. Many things can happen from now on until the end of the year. And remember that last year, the second half was really well sustained.
So yes, maybe we will be better than what we said, but there is no certainty whatsoever. The Q1 is also a relatively small quarter compared to the other ones, especially The Q1, which is very important in most of our businesses. So at this stage of the year, it's reasonable to be prudent. But we don't have any specific fact which make us that prudent because we by nature, we are prudent and we are only in April, And there are still 8 months to come. Pre backlog, what can I say about the pre backlog?
Or maybe Yes. Regarding the pre backlog, we could list
a number of projects which have been won but not yet in the backlog. The 2 most important that we announced already, that's the PPP in Kenya. It's almost €1,000,000,000 of works And motorway PPP in Czech Republic. It's more than €400,000,000 of work. Of course, we could list other projects, but which are not public, let's say.
So have in mind that the pre backlog remains quite robust With the 2 main contracts being Kenya and Czech Republic, which will be included in the backlog once these projects will be closed, Well, there will be the financial closing in the coming weeks or months.
As for the airlines, We don't generally provide details about commercial relationships with our clients. What can we say? We have different types of airlines with whom we work. First, there are the ones which are state owned or state controlled, like TAP in Portugal, like Air Serbia, like Air France, etcetera, Japan Airlines, they are not in a very good shape like Most airlines, but so far, they have been supported by their governments. So there is no major Anxiety about the evolution of their financial situation in the next month.
Obviously, it will depend on the At which traffic will recover. Then you have other customers like the low cost, Easyjet, which is our 1st customer or INR or Wizzer, these companies don't receive much Support from the government, but they are well run and financially not in the worst Situation compared to many other airlines. And there are a few airlines which are in difficulties, the one which are in a Chapter 11 situation, there are a few like LATAM in Latin America or Norwegian. So we're obviously looking very carefully at their financial situation and the evolution of their financial situation. And there's also TUI.
But TUI, it's a major trip organizer German organizer, but It's also an airline, which has received a strong support despite the fact that it's private. It has received a very strong support from the German government. So Still in a reasonably good financial situation. But obviously, it's We follow-up very carefully week after week, month after month, the way These companies, these airlines are facing the difficult market situation, which we are all facing.
Okay. So in general, they're not yet or they're not putting specific pressure on Tx, you would say?
No, I think their problem is not really the cost per passenger. It's really having more passengers, more customers. They have all the same answer. How to have more customer, which depends completely about the restrictions, which Implemented all over the world and in Europe in particular.
Yes. Very clear. Okay. Thanks very much.
Thank you.
Some of our customers, in particular the British Airlines, Have already announced that they are receiving more reservation For the summer, from their own customers, following the announcement made by Boris Johnson about the reopening of the country. But this needs to be confirmed, obviously, in the coming weeks months.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you. Next question from Nabil Ahmed from Barclays. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes, good evening. Congratulations for the very strong numbers, both the revenues and the other intake. I had actually 3 small questions, if I may. 2 about motorways and one about contracting in general. First one on motorways.
Could you elaborate a bit, if you can, on what's going on with trucks? I mean, in the past, we were used to see Much more direct and quick correlation between GDP and the truck traffic. It looks like this time it's defying a little bit gravity. I think you alluded to the development of e commerce, but is there anything specific you want to share about the trend in trucks And whether you think that could be sustainable? The second question, I was wondering if you could update on The talks with the government over a potential plan, investment plan in motorways, I understand it's Probably not the priority of the government right now, but should we assume given the upcoming elections that it's more or less That until May next year or is there still a chance that something could happen?
And lastly, I mean, this is more general questions, but Given that you are both in property development and construction, I wanted to get your view on that. I mean, we're starting to see And possibly this is one of the consequence of the developing working from home landlord that are converting offices Into housing units, it's clear in Paris and in the big cities. Could you elaborate on what you think the consequences would be for VARCI, VARCI Immobilier and VARCI Construction? Thank you.
About trucks, I have no much to add apart from the fact that Since people are more and more at home and they are getting bored staying at home, they order many things From Amazon or from other people. And when I see my family, for instance, Almost every week, my wife orders 2 or 3 different things from Amazon. And 1 year ago, she ordered nothing. So I suppose if all the French people do that, at the very end, it creates a natural increase of truck traffic. It's probably a large part of the expansion is probably not the only one, but I suppose it's really a change in the way the consumers Confume.
Since they cannot go to the shops because it's forbidden, unless it's essential things to buy, They need to spend their money. The money they don't spare, they spend it on the e commerce. No, I'm just joking. I think it's really the case. Maybe there are other factors which I don't know.
You want to add something, Leberli?
There is a kind of Resilient activity economy, let's say. And don't forget that the frontier in Europe has never been closed to for the trucks, Neither in 2020, neither in 2021. So that's maybe another explanation, which explains the good revenue.
Even with the UK, Which is completely closed for individuals, but which continues to be open for truck drivers. After that sustainable, That's I think the type of people spend more money on the e commerce and also on Netflix and this type of thing will continue for sure. Okay. Then talks with the government, not with the central government because as you said, it's critical as a priority of the government. Talks with local governments, yes, in some cases.
We try to keep, Whatever the circumstances, a close dialogue with our local partners is very important. You cannot just discuss all the time with Paris. You have to keep a very close relationship with the mayors, with the Yes, locally, etcetera, etcetera. So we do that, and it pays off. But maybe one day, it will pay off.
But not now, but it doesn't matter. It's a long term investment. Office to homes, actually, we're exactly doing the opposite because As you probably know, we are one of the selected developers to build the future Olympic game Village for Paris 2024 in Saint Nie, north of Paris. And the order from the Authority is to build a village, so it's units housing units for the athletes, Which will be transformed after the Olympics into offices for maybe administration or whatever. So yes, physically, it will be possible to go from, let's say, Residential to non residential or I suppose the other one, which means some technical adaptation, as you can imagine, And probably some cost in fact, some cost overruns because it will cost more.
If you have to change the final use from office to house or from house to office, You will have to take that into account in the budget. So it will have a cost. But yes, more and more the developers will have to The imaginative about the final use of their products, I suppose. And there are also projects, I think, in Paris, in the center of Paris for transforming All of it will lead into the insurance units. So it's not that cost money.
So The politicians sometimes dream about those concepts because at the very end, it costs more. So the final user will have to pay for that, Which is a problem because on top of that, the cost of the land in the big cities is very high, especially in Paris. But yes, we are working on those concepts because it will be more and more developed in the future.
Okay. That's clear. Thanks.
Thank you. Next question from Gregor Kuglitsch from UBS. Sir, please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. I've got a few questions. So The first one is on cash and the sort of financial position.
I think if you look at the numbers, you're up Similar, you're sort of sequentially right from end of the year to Q1. So I want to see whether that tells us anything about Working capital, because obviously
it was very strong inflow
wise last year and it doesn't look like it's unwinding. I just want to confirm that that's the case. That's the first question. The second question is on your So the concession bid pipeline, I mean, you won, I think, a smallish concession in Brazil the other day. Perhaps you can comment on that.
And Was there anything else that's in the works that you're looking at right now, be it in the U. S. Or elsewhere? And then the third question is maybe a little bit early, but I'm going to ask it anyways. It's have you Looked and analyzed the impact or I suppose the exposure, whichever way you want to call it, to the EU taxonomy rules or the sort of legislation that was published a few days ago, whether you could comment and to what extent You've analyzed what revenues are eligible under the taxonomy rules.
That will be helpful. Thank you.
Yes. Although the cash We had a consumption of cash of net cash in the Q1, which is normal. We had one as well last year at the Same time of the year, several EUR 100,000,000. It's a working capital evolution traditionally at this Time of the year because we have less collections than costs, which are most fixed. From a gross cash perspective, we have also reduced it because it costs money.
You know that when you are cash rich, It cost you between 40 50 negative basis points. So we decided, for instance, to Not to renew part of the commercial paper we had issued last year for safety For prudence reason, last year, we were a little bit in the dark. So we were we really don't Didn't know where we were going, so we decided to be to increase as much as possible the cash available. So since it's postponed, we decided to Reduce it a little bit. For the rest, no major change for the moment On the net cash, Citi Fund net debt situation, except that we have not made huge investments so far.
But you know that we are supposed to pay a little bit more than €4,000,000,000 maybe at the end of this year. So it's logical that we Save a little bit of money in the meantime. In terms of concession project in the pipe, apart from Manaus, We have submitted a bid on Toulouse Castres. It's a small greenfield motorway project in France, But we are not the only one. There are, I think, 2 competitors.
So we'll see who will be selected by the government. We have also submitted offers for 2 very small airports in France. For 1, it's public we have been selected. It's ANSI, but there are some opponents. So the deal for the moment is not confirmed.
And we also have submitted a bid for a small airport outside of France, but I cannot give you more details at this stage. So nothing very big really, nothing very big. As for the taxonomy, Honestly, it's a bit early to make a comment on it. We are obviously paying a lot of attention to this new Concept, for obvious reason. And from a pure financial A standpoint, I think it will be necessary for a company like ours to be able to Provide all the necessary information about not only our direct impact on the carbonization, But also give a detailed analysis of our activities in the different sectors, Especially for VINCI Energies, but not only.
What part of our revenue is directly linked 2 sectors business sectors which are which fits well with the taxonomy Concerned, but I will not dare giving any percentage. I think it's there are some information in our annual report, but It's a bit early to be more specific about this matter. Did I forget your question? No, okay.
No, that was it. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question from Louis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux. Sir, please go ahead.
Thanks a lot for taking my questions. I had two brief questions. The first one is you recently provided us with a commuter component in your road traffic. And along the same lines, I was wondering if you could give us an idea On how much of light traffic currently relates to leisure, visiting friends and family, whatever you want to call it, versus business And other drivers. And the second question, should we expect in 2021, 2022, VINCI taking any steps Towards gaining future exposure to the managed lanes segment in the U.
S. Infrastructure sector. Thank you.
Your first question relates to airport or more generally to motor, if I can say No.
It's toll roads. It's motorways. Trying to get a similar idea. Yes, to have an idea what would be lesser in
We can give you something here. But we are not allowed Due to legal regulation in France to make A close control about why our customer drive on our motorway is forbidden. So we can only make inquiries, but maybe Gregor wants to provide some information. Yes. What
We could call commuters would account for around 5% of the total light vehicle traffic. So it's finally pretty small. But you don't
give any information about will the people travel for Personal reasons?
No, no, no, no, no, no, contrary to the airport. I think you
understand the toll gate and ask you when you drive your car, are you going to see Your wife are doing business or both, maybe sometime. No, it's not possible. Now the last question about What was it? Manage Glen. Manage Glen, yes, the answer is obviously yes.
We would like to. We have hired Madame Marcos. She used to be the CEO of the subsidiary of Ferrovial in North America, and she had been appointed CEO of the Toronto Motorweb, which he finally preferred to join VINCI. So and we have now, as I said, More significant presence, at least in some states of the discourse through Arabia. So yes, we'd be more than To try to win a project, not too big because we know by experience that big projects, especially in the States, can be Risky and some colleagues, including Ferrovial, which has done a very good job.
Apart from that in the U. S, have also experienced some difficulties Because of the fact that when you are in charge of a managed lending project or any concession project, You need to secure a fixed price contract with the contractor. And it's not always possible Because the contractor don't want to commit themselves on the fixed price for 1,000,000,000 of dollars, Especially in the States. So in such case, the concessionaire company is will have to take the risk. If not, it will be unable to finance the project on a nonrecourse basis with some Money provider.
So for all these reasons, you have to be careful. So yes, we're interested, but we should find and maybe it will be possible In the future, thanks to the buyback plan, to select some project of a reasonable size. When I say a reasonable size, it's Between, let's say, a €200,000,000 and maybe up to €1,000,000,000 or a bit more than €1,000,000,000, but not €4,000,000,000,000 or €5,000,000,000, dollars 6,000,000,000 It would be too big for us Considering our lack of experience of the U. S. Market.
I assume At our pace. Yes.
I assume it's too early to provide any visibility on targeted states or anything similar, right?
No, we follow-up. I never comment On prospects, but we are following up a few projects, which are not necessarily actual managed line. It can be Pongtual Infrastructure, Bridges or Tunnels Tall Tunnels or Tall Bridges, it can be that also, not necessarily the managed lane.
Okay, understood. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question from Laurent Vinacher from Exane AM.
Thank you. Very good results. Congratulations. I'd like to ask a question regarding VINCI Energies. To try to understand what is the underlying Real organic growth.
What could be your guesstimate for the comps When France went into lockdown, the first lockdown was very severe. So What's in your view is if we try to account for the impact Of the lockdown in 2020, in the Q1 of 2020, what would be your guesstimate of Of the real organic growth of the VINCI Energies division?
I don't have the information. I'm sorry. 1st quarter, the impact of the lockdown It was quite limited because the lockdown started actually 17th March. So 14 days out of 90 days for the quarter. And during those 14 days last year, It's a guess, but VINCI Energies in France probably was at something around 30%, 35% Of its normal level of activity, where Erosia and VINCI Construction of France during those 14 days were nearly at 0.
That's all I can say.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question from Jose Arriet from Santander. Sir, please go ahead.
Hey, good evening, gentlemen. I just had a couple of questions. First is on the contracting order backlog, Which is at a pleasant all time high. What assurance can you give us that the margin can improve, Especially on the back of the latest orders, the EUR 1,000,000,000 large order, bridge order in Germany. And I mean, basically, these orders are of high quality and that the margins can continue to improve as the guidance suggests.
And my second question is related to the ACSIS transaction you presented on a few days ago. I wanted to double check the indication you gave back then that this deal would generate mid- to high single digit EPS Christian from year 1. I wanted to check if there is no PPA amortization charges that we need to reflect on this deal that this is an all in EPS accretion. Thank you.
Honestly, and I'm talking under the control of Maria Media, which will be in charge of the PPA, But not now when we will be able to consolidate SAS, so maybe hopefully by the end of this year. So I have no idea whatsoever at this stage for being more specific about the Profit financing impact of assets, except that so far, they have been able to generate around and even a little bit more than 6% EBIT margin. Their financial situation was structurally positive. They were cash positive, But they had some financial expenses because they had issued a bond, a green bond. And this led to a net profit order of magnitude of, let's say, 4%, 5% of revenue, something like that.
This was the past, and hopefully, it will be at least The same for the future, but I cannot tell you more because we are not the owner of ACSIS. We have just signed an agreement with Mr. Perez. And now we have to go through the entire process of the antitrust clearance, investment control clearance, etcetera, etcetera. A very cumbersome and, I suppose, quite long process because there are a certain number of countries we have to go through Those processes and hopefully, all that will be completed by the end of the year.
And by then, we will have gone into more details For preparing the PPA, but I cannot tell you more at this stage. Now for the order book, I never comment on the margin In the other book because in contracting in construction, in particular, you have always risked in The only thing I can tell you is that the people in charge of those activities, both at So VINCI Conceptual in the different divisions and Rovia and obviously VINCI Energy, all these people are Really, we're focused on profit. They are not crazy people. They have to go through Risk Committee at the VAN C level with Xavier Villard heading it for the main project, for the biggest ones, and the Fernand is a good example. So we are not prepared to use money, and I don't think many people are prepared to use money.
So when those projects are presented by The people in charge, we make sure that at least on the paper, on the with the policies which are factored in, It's reasonable to put the price we propose to the final customer. So in the case of the Feminine, I don't have the figure, but The Femme is a very technical project. We are teaming up with Deme. Deme is a dredging company Belonging to CFO, a Belgian company listed in Brussels, which we know very well because we are also It's minority shareholder of CFO, and I am the Board member of CFO. So it's a very strong team.
They make plus VINCI. I think we have also a local partner, a Danish partner. So we had a very strong joint venture, which and technically, it's quite It's not an easy work because we have to build a tunnel, which will be precast and located In the bottom of the sea, that is a technique that GTM, which used to be a component of the VINCI Group a long time ago, He's an expert in GTM, for instance, build a similar tunnel in the city of Amsterdam, which you can imagine It's not it was not so easy because building this type of tunnel in an urban organization is difficult. And they did it, I think, in other places. So they have the experience and the guys capable of taking There are not very many companies capable of doing that.
So there is consequences of all I have said Is that I suppose the price that they have proposed not only covers the risk incurred but also will permit To show a reasonable mark. And we have a good customer. The customer is the Danish government and the German government, and it's a fair customer.
Thank you. We have next question from Eric Lemarie from Bryan Garnier. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you
for taking my question. I've got 3, if I may. The first one regarding VINCI Construction. You mentioned In the press release, a good dynamic from the Grand Paris and the building activity in the Paris region. But what about the activity in the rest of France for fixed construction?
Could you make some maybe some comments there? That was my first question. I got a second question on digitalization. Do you think the pandemic do you think the crisis has Accelerated development of digital solutions in construction or on 3A. And the last Question on VINCI Energies.
You mentioned this acquisition for VINCI Energies. Should we expect further bolt on VINCI Energies going forward Despite this ACL deal
I repeat. So about VINCI Energies, the answer is yes. Is no reason why we should prevent that synergy to continue to make all turn acquisition because they do that very well, and it is really Fully part of their business model in order to complete Their expertise and geographical presence, including in France. But there is nothing big at present in the pipe as far as I know for this year in terms of acquisition for Vancinery. Last year, at the very end of the year, they closed the acquisition of the family in Quebec, in Montreal.
It was not easy because we were they couldn't travel. So they did hold that at the distance. That's finally the final agreement. So they have to digest this acquisition before contemplating further ones of a certain magnitude. It's not incompatible with the acquisition of ACSIS, providing, obviously, We are not talking of acquisition in a country where our CISIL is already very big, like Spain, for instance, or even Portugal, Well, probably we will have some discussion with the antitrust authorities.
Then digitization, No, I think the dijesization had a very significant impact in the head office Ways of working for this reason because we had to go home suddenly on 17th March. Most the people were on hold. And then in the course of April last year, operation people went back to the site. And we had to organize the flows of workers very carefully, considering the barriers of protections. But the digitization of the job itself has not been dramatically changed because of the pandemic.
It's a long term trend. It started before the pandemic and which will continue after. And what was the last question? There was another question? Yes.
I don't anybody has information about that. I know some regions better than others. I know, for instance, that in the West of France, the activity is quite sustained at this moment, but Doesn't mean it's the same everywhere. I think in Lyon as well. I don't know about the South.
The South was quite depressed in the recent years. There are probably differences between the regions, but honestly, I don't know what details to provide.
Okay. Thank you. May I ask a follow-up one?
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes, yes. Just last one. I know it's a good announcement about that, but Do you consider any risk on margins due to raw material inflation or any risk of Construction site disruption, as it was mentioned by the French Federation of Buildings?
It's obviously a critical issue. Well, the first answer is that the program is the same for everybody, not just for We are quite accustomed to this type of problem, and particularly at Eurovia Because Aurelia is probably the most industrial business of VINCI because of the Need to acquire oil products, aggregates, etcetera, etcetera, which the price of which fluctuate Regularly. So this is this problem is properly addressed in the way the contracts are written, Which permits either to push to the customer The changes in price or when it's not possible, make sure that in the pricing of the project, we have Factored in enough provisions in case. And this is also the way it works In most activities, especially in construction. So it's a serious issue.
But so far, I have not been informed of any material negative impact that we would have to face. And there are some big contracts like, for instance, HS2. In the Anglo Saxon world, it's quite It's classical that the prices take into account adjustments for Taking care of variation of material costs.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. There is no more question for the moment.
So maybe we can go home now and have a drink. And thank you for attending this meeting, and I hope to see you physically soon, while Mr. Macron and Mr. Castex will authorize us. Have a good evening.
Bye bye. Bye bye. See you soon.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes the conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.