Hello, everybody, and thank you for attending this conference call. I am not in the office. I am currently traveling, and therefore, the connection on my side may be bad. So excuse me in advance in case of difficult connection, and Grégoire and the team will be in backup if necessary. As usual, I will try to be brief in order to have more time for the Q&A session. So first, what are the key takeaways for this publication? First, we can say that it's a solid operating performance overall in the first nine months of the year, particularly with the dynamic business level in the concessions business line and the energy services business line.
The nine-month 2024 total revenue stands at EUR 52.3 billion, up 3.3% actual, and 2.5% like-for-like. International revenue, 57% of the total, is up 3.8% and up 2.7% like-for-like. Changes in scope mainly come from the integration of Edinburgh Airport by VINCI Airports since first of July, with a contribution of EUR 123 million in the Q3 revenue. We should also mention the recent acquisitions made by VINCI Energies, which boosted the revenue by around EUR 135 million in the first nine months, and also by VINCI Construction, with four acquisitions in North America, contributing for almost EUR 90 million in the nine months revenue. On the other hand, exchange rate variations had a very marginal impact on the figures.
Now, France. France, which represents 43% of the total, was up 2.6%. And I will come back more in detail on the trends for each business line later. Second, group order intake were slightly up to EUR 48.4 billion for the nine months, supported by a good momentum in flow businesses, particularly in Europe. As a result, the order book of VINCI maintain a high level of almost EUR 67 billion at the end of September, up 6% year on year. Actually, France is + 5.5%, international, + 5.7%. So the order book represents almost 14 months of average activity overall. International made up 68% of the total order book, which is a stable figure since several quarters.
Such a robust order book gives good visibility to VINCI and enables the group to remain selective in terms of new business. Regarding the financial position, the net financial debt of VINCI at the end of September is well under control. It amounted to a net amount of EUR 22.2 billion, up EUR 6.1 billion versus the end of last year. As obviously the increase is mainly due to the numerous and significant acquisitions that we completed since the beginning of the year. VINCI's liquidity remains substantial, with a managed net cash position of EUR 10.1 billion at the end of September, and in addition, we have EUR 6.5 billion unused credit facilities at the VINCI SA level.
As a result of such a sound financial position, the group is well prepared to continue its development with serenity. Let's now have a closer look at the main divisions. First, VINCI Autoroutes. VINCI Autoroutes Q3 traffic was stable versus Q3 last year. As a consequence, in the first nine months, overall traffic was only slightly down, - 0.6%, despite the negative impact of the farmers' blockades, which took place in the first half of the year. So despite the fact that this traffic is slightly down, the revenue is up by almost 4% to EUR 5 billion , and this is obviously thanks to the toll increases implemented in February. VINCI Airports revenue, EUR 3.5 billion , +15% on actual basis, +11% like-for-like.
You have already seen the Q3 traffic figures, which we published 10 days ago, boosted by strong summer demand and high aircraft load factors. Keep in mind that tourism and visit friends and relatives account for the majority of our actual activity in most of our airports under management. In addition to the outperformance, Portugal, ANA, and the Belgrade Airport in Serbia, where passenger numbers continue to break records, it is worth noting that, one, a strong growth at recently acquired platforms, Edinburgh, Budapest, Cape Verde . Second, passenger numbers in the U.K. rose above their pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020. And finally, the fast recovery of Japan, driven in particular by connection with China. So overall, in the nine months, VINCI Airports welcomed 240 million passengers, +9% versus 2023, +2% versus 2019 pre-pandemic.
Now, VINCI Energies. VINCI Energies revenue EUR 14.5 billion, up 5% actual, 3.5% like-for-like. The takeaway business trends in Q3 were broadly similar to those seen in H1, both in France and international. VINCI Energies revenue in Q3 rose by 4.5% versus Q3 2023, so no deceleration. Nine months order intake remains strong, + 7% for the first nine months versus last year, and even accelerated in Q3, + 14% versus Q3 2023, hitting a new rolling 12-month record of EUR 22 billion. As a result, VINCI Energies order book at the end of September amounted to EUR 16.7 billion, + 14% year on year, which represent 10 months of average activity of VINCI Energies.
Furthermore, please note that VINCI Energies remains active on the M&A front, having completed 21 acquisition in the first nine months, which represent a cumulative annual revenue of around EUR 480 million, of which EUR 450 million outside of France. The most significant acquisition, which was completed in September, was the Fernao , which expected revenue of around EUR 260 million, is a leading provider of cybersecurity services in Germany and Switzerland. In a nutshell, again, a very strong print of VINCI Energies, and this achievement confirms the excellent position of VINCI Energies companies in the very buoyant energy transition and the digital transformation markets. VINCI Energies' decentralized organization and its M&A-driven development model are enabling it to make the most of these major trends.
And we will tell you obviously more about that during our upcoming Capital Markets Day on November 22. Then Cobra IS. Cobra IS revenue amounted to EUR 4.9 billion , at 4.5% actual, 3.9% like-for-like. Trends varied between regions, with a strong growth in Europe, but declined in some countries in Latin America. In Spain, which represent 50% of the total, the revenue was up 12%, which reflects a firm momentum in the Spanish economy at present. Outside Spain, revenue was slightly down, -2% on a natural basis, -1% on a like-for-like basis, essentially after correction of the currency variations.
Apart from the impact of Cobra IS selective policy that we already mentioned in the third quarter, the slight decrease was due to the phasing of several large EPC projects in Brazil, with the completion of certain works on electricity transmission line, while new contracts are in a start-up phase. Conversely, business levels in Europe, outside of Spain, rose sharply, driven by the Dragados Offshore subsidiary, which, as you know, build offshore wind farm energy converter platform for German operators. Order intake fell, but to put things into context, remember that the level reached last year was outstanding, and that decline was due, in particular, among other EPC projects, to the timing of entry into the order book of various new offshore energy converter platforms, which were won recently.
Around EUR 3.7 billion of such entered the order book in the first nine months, as opposed to EUR 2.5 billion this year. So excuse me, around EUR 3.7 billion of such contracts entered the order book last year in the first nine months, as opposed to EUR 2.5 billion this year. But it's worth mentioning that the EUR 1.7 billion contract with 50Hertz, which was announced in mid-July, has not yet been added to the order book. The momentum remains very well oriented in flow business. The order book at the end of September amounted for Cobra IS to EUR 16.4 billion, up 10% year on year, and represent nearly 2.5 years of Cobra IS average business activity. Finally, VINCI Construction.
VINCI Construction revenue fell slightly in Q3, mainly due to the phasing of certain large projects, both in France and outside of France. I'm thinking, for instance, in France, we were recently awarded a very large contract for the Grand Paris Express, Line 15. And I'm also thinking of several large contracts in Americas and in Oceania. But it's worth also mentioning the lower business levels in Africa, because of geopolitical instability in several countries of the continent, like Mali, Niger, just to name a few. So despite that, nine months revenue stabilized at a high level. VINCI Construction revenue stabilized at a high level of EUR 23.5 billion, up 1%.
A bit of color by geography, so we have to mention, outside France, business levels were buoyant in the U.K., in the Americas, and also for Soletanche Bachy, our specialty networks division. In France, business levels remained firm in roadworks and networks, which means hydraulic and rail works, offsetting the decline in some civil engineering activities caused by the phasing of works, in particular on the Grand Paris Express. In the building sector, business was driven by rehabilitation projects and by the construction of public buildings, particularly hospitals. Overall, order intake rose by 4% compared with last year. It increased in the U.K., Oceania, North America, and also Soletanche Bachy. In France, order intake rose in roadworks and networks, but fell in the building sector.
In addition, like for Cobra IS, please note that some projects won and announced recently are not yet in the order book, of which a significant contract infrastructure project in the United States and some roads and rail contracts in Australia. The order book at the end of September amounted to EUR 33.7 billion. It's stable year on year. I'm talking of the VINCI Construction order book, stable year on year and represent 13 months of activity. Finally, VINCI Immobilier . VINCI Immobilier revenue declined -11%, but the number of housing units reserved increased by 29% to 3,247 compared to last year. This improvement was driven by bulk sales to social housing providers. Maybe it's too early to open champagne, but it's a welcome positive inflation, though, especially considering the recent decrease of interest rates.
In conclusion, you will see we have fine-tuned our guidance for 2024, and we gave also an indication regarding a possible change in taxation applicable to large groups in France, according to the French finance bill for 2025. Article 11 of the bill provides for an exceptional levy on the profits of large companies generated in France. Initial analysis suggests that if the bill were passed in its current form, this exceptional levy would represent for us an additional tax charge of around EUR 400 million, which obviously would impact negatively our net income. But this additional tax would be paid in 2025. So thank you for your attention, and I am now ready with my team to answer your questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. We will take our first question. Your first question comes from the line of Luis Prieto . Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Good evening, Christian. Thanks a lot for your introduction. I had two questions, very brief ones. The first one is, at Cobra IS, should we expect a revenue catch-up in the fourth quarter after the completion of projects and new contract start-up phase that you mentioned in Brazil? Or should we expect that to happen more into next year? And the second question is regarding, the report in the French Senate that we have seen about the future of French toll roads, in which various views on the length and duration of new concessions of regular or even regulated returns. And reading through it, it seems to leave the door open to even higher shares of concession revenues contributing to investments in public assets or transport, services.
Should we pay much attention to this, or regard it as mere noise of little significance at this stage, so many years away from the event? Thank you.
Well, okay. Thank you, Luis. For the first question, it's very clear. We, I think when we made the Capital Markets Day in December last year for Cobra IS, we announced a target of, a revenue target for this year, which was something around, if I remember, EUR 7 billion. We have no reason to change this objective. So, the revenue evolution is Q3, it does not jeopardize this objective. It's very clear, and also, it doesn't jeopardize the forecast for next year. I think we announced also during the Capital Markets Day, possible revenue of around EUR 7.5 billion next year. Okay. For the second question, I must say it's quite a positive. I don't know if everybody read the Les Echos, because the article was published this morning.
It's quite a positive sign. It's not obviously the end of the story, it's maybe just the beginning. But the Senator, the member of the Senate, which are people which are much more reasonable and more looking into the future than sometimes the members of the Assemblée nationale , the Parliament, have made some analysis of the situation of the toll road in France and try to imagine what could be things to be done at the end of the contract. The first positive thing is that they recognize that the contract in force have to be applied until the end. That's all. This is still something which is positive. Second, they say that it would be stupid not to continue operating those motorways with a toll.
It's because if you don't put a toll, like it's, I think it's the case in some countries next door, at the end of the contract, it means that the user wouldn't pay anymore, which is not good. So the principle of user paying rather than taxpayer paying seems to be privileged, which I think is also a good news. And then, what they say is that they could imagine, at the end of the contract, we could imagine to organize a tender for operating, maybe not so large network as it is the case now. For instance, it's managing, if I remember well, nearly 3,000 km. They would contemplate smaller networks, around 1,000 km or something like that, 1,500, for shorter duration, 10 or 15 years.
Whereas at present, we are managing contract which started a long time ago, so all that is obviously not the end of the story, but at least they put it. They saw some principles that are, I think, wise, and it's quite positive. Now, again, we have a long way until the end of our existing contracts, but the reason is getting wrong. I think, at least we can hope that, so it's rather positive, but it's not the end. It's not the end of the story.
Super clear. Thanks, Christian.
Thank you. We will take our next question. Your next question comes from the line of Elodie Rall. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hi, thank you. Can I just come back to those questions? First of all, on Cobra, were you surprised by the decline in activity in Q3? I mean, I know you said it was due to the phasing some large EPC projects, but when we talked to you at H1 results, we didn't really have the feeling that we were gonna have a big drop in activity. So were you surprised? And how would you, how would you quantify now the normalized growth to expect at Cobra going forward? Is H1 still something you could achieve again, or was it just exceptionally high? My second question is on construction. Again, you're blaming the phasing of some very large projects, but what kind of normalized growth would you expect in this division going forward?
And lastly, on the motorways topic, are you actually having some discussion with anyone at the government at the moment? Thank you.
Excuse me, Elodie, can you repeat the last one?
Just to know if you are actually having some discussion with anyone at the government, since maybe now there is a transport minister that could be willing to have discussion with VINCI at this stage, and given the articles that you've just mentioned?
No, no, on the last question, I'm sorry, it's no. We have no discussion with the government regarding the items which were published in the article of Les Echos this morning. So now on question one and two, we—you can talk about normalized revenue when it's time to talk about flow business, and that's true for Cobra, but that's true also for VINCI Construction. What is—When it's time to talk about large project activities, by definition and by nature, you cannot talk about normalized level of activity, because the activity depends on the contract that might have been signed a long time ago. Like for instance, in the U.K., we have HS2, which is a contract we entered in the order book in 2020. It's true also for the Grand Paris.
In the meantime, we have signed new contract, but we're trying a steady phase. You cannot , m aybe it's a bit frustrating for you, but we cannot talk about normalized revenue for this type of activity. You know that Cobra, approximately, 40%, but in the past it was less. It was 1/3 or 30% when we acquired Cobra in 2021. The EPC part can vary from one year to the other. It's quite sensitive, you know, for Cobra. It's even more sensitive for Cobra than it is for VINCI Construction, because VINCI Construction has also large project activity. But in relative terms, it represents much less for VINCI Construction compared to the share that the EPC project represents for Cobra.
What is important is for Cobra to highlight the fact that the flow business activities are doing very well and are increasing, specifically in Europe and in Spain, and for VINCI Construction, it's worthwhile mentioning that the international operations, excluding large project, is also performing well. Overall, obviously, you can have some variation from one area to the other, and particularly Africa is down at present for obvious reasons, but overall is doing well, and in France depends on the type of activity. Building is obviously suffering, considering the real estate situation. The roadwork business, the railwork business, and the network business is doing well, so there's a variety of activities which can perform differently, depending on the economic conditions.
But overall, I must say that we are in a good shape in overall, but with some pluses and some minus. So nothing which would worry us, compared to what we could say when we published the H1 figures. I don't know if Grégoire, Maria, Amelia, or Christophe want to add something?
No, it's clear.
Okay. Another question?
Thank you.
Thank you. We will take our next question. Your question comes from the line of Gregor Kuglitsch. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Oh, hi, good evening. So a couple of questions, please. I wanted to get some help to disentangle the movement of net debt in Q3. I guess, specifically, if you could tell us how much M&A spend there was in the quarter, and I guess any other buybacks and the likes. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is the cash flow performance, basically underlying, and maybe it's simpler if you could just give us a sense of what Q3 cash flow was, and where you're trending, I guess, at this stage. I appreciate Q4 is always very volatile with working capital. And then, on energy, so you flagged, I think in your introductory remarks, an acceleration in order intake in Q3. Was there anything specific, anything going on?
Does that point to an acceleration in organic growth in the future, or do you think it's premature to call that out? Thank you.
No, I think it's premature because, you know, we are just talking of one quarter. So it's a positive sign, but I wouldn't draw a definitive conclusion about VINCI Energies, except the long-term trends, which remain the same, and which are really positive. Regarding cash flow, we don't disclose neither the EBIT results, nor the cash flows in the interim quarters. You have, I think, all the necessary, most important information to try to draw your conclusion yourself. But if you do with what you have, which are the disclosures we made about acquisitions, we made some very significant acquisitions since the beginning of the year, not so many in the third quarter. But overall, the main figures are known.
The same for share buyback, because we publish, I think, every week or every month, I don't remember. Christophe, I think it's every week, the share buyback we make, and the amount are quite significant. We, you know, also the dividend payment, so you have the main items which permit you to try to figure out what was the cash flow generations in the beginning of the year. Well, to help you a little bit about that, I would just say that we are quite close to what to the situation we were last year at the same period of the year.
It doesn't mean that it would be the same at the end of the year, because you know that the last part, the major part of the cash flow of VINCI is generated in December, and sometimes even in the last week of the year. But the signs so far are positive, are good, since we are very close to the level of cash flow of last year at the end of September, but the year is not completed.
Thank you.
Thank you. We will take our next question. The next question comes from the line of Eric Lemarié. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Hi, good afternoon. I got three question, please. First one, you mentioned roadworks business in France. You said the business is firm, and I can see that the order intake are well oriented for roadworks. Do you expect an acceleration next year, so in 2025 in roadworks in France because of this local election we will have in 2026 ? Second question, regarding the building sector in France, you mentioned that order intakes are declining. When do you expect an improvement in the building cycle in France? And the last question, on a more long-term perspective, when do you think VINCI will benefit from the nuclear relaunch in France? Thank you.
Okay. So roadwork, I think it's premature to talk about acceleration, especially, you know, we have elections taking place at the local level in probably June 2026. What is sure is that 2026 should be a very good year for roadwork, because it will be just before, actually the beginning of the year, it will be just the election, and the Mayors don't like to have the sites work on their cities, in their cities at the time of the election. But normally, yes, the year before is generally quite a good year. Except that we are in a situation in France at present, which is not very favorable for spending more public money at any level of the organization, including at the local level.
So I wouldn't say that we can anticipate an acceleration of the order intake of roadwork business next year. I don't know, but it seems to me quite unlikely. Building, honestly, who knows when the real estate market and, including the office building market, the normalization market, will recover? Nobody knows. There is probably some mysteries, even if the commissions are more favorable in terms of interest rate, it takes time to get the permits, et cetera. So probably not before 2026, but I don't have a crystal ball, except maybe for the rehabilitation work, which as I said before, drives the activity at the moment. And finally, nuclear. Nuclear, I think, is a very long-term story.
Our order book, as you know, is at the high level at present in construction, like in other businesses of VINCI, so we don't really chase volume, to be honest. And if the nuclear business takes a little bit of time before being transformed into new orders, it would be good news for us. And I don't expect we should have something significant before 2026 or 2027. But again, I don't have any precise visibility on that for the time being. It's also a matter of financing. Even if the situation of EDF is improving quite significantly, we are talking of billions and billions of investment for EDF, and we cannot afford to spend the equivalent with several nuclear plant at the same time. They have to organize all the order intake all along the next 10 or 20 years.
So it will be a very long-term story, and that's good for us. We know that our colleagues are a bit more successful, our colleagues at Eiffage, all the better to them. For us, it will be maybe the disaster or after the disaster. So it's not a problem.
Okay, thank you, thank you.
Thank you. We will take our next question. Your next question comes from the line of Marcin Wojtal. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Yes, good afternoon. Firstly, I wanted to ask you about a new asset. You recently were awarded a new motorway in Brazil. Could you please say if you see Brazil as an interesting country for future capital allocation? We understand there will be numerous other assets coming up, so is your strategy to become even larger in Brazil and Latin America going forward, please? And my second question, if I may, it's on the outlook for construction in the context of the budget draft that was presented in October.
Are there any areas that you believe could see some spending cuts, whether it's from the central government or perhaps some reduction in transfers to municipalities? Is there any risk of, let's say, austerity measures that could impact your business in France in 2025?
Well, Marcin, for the second question, not really at the central government level, because it's not really our client. The Grand Paris, the client is not the central government, the client is Société du Grand Paris, which is a specific purpose vehicle, which benefit from specific financing resources. Maybe tomorrow, the Stade de France will have to be refurbished, it will be a concession. We are not really dealing with the central government. There are a few exceptions, but it's really marginal. The main bulk of the construction business in France comes from the local municipalities or the département or the regions, but all these guys, at the different level of the organization of France, administrative organization, they generally share the burden of financing projects.
So when you have, let's say, a road to be built or refurbished or whatever, it's generally a mix of financing between région, département and local cities. So for sure, these guys will be more under pressure considering what is happening in France at this moment. Their budgets might be flat or even decreasing, I don't know, it's not decided yet. Apparently, there's differences between what the people say and the actual facts, because when they talk, they all say we should decrease the spending, et cetera, but in reality, they don't really cut the spending. It will probably finally happen, but maybe not in 2025. I don't know. So if we are affected by the situation, it will be more likely at the local government level.
There was, this morning, an article in the French press, since you are all reading the French press, which was a letter written by the President of the Civil Engineering Union, professional union, to the... I don't know if it was to Mr. Barnier or to the Minister of Transport or, and Equipment, drawing his attention about the importance of investing, not cutting the spendings for investment, because investment is really preparing the future, and it's also important for the companies involved in civil engineering. So I don't know what will happen. And your first question was, what was the other question? I think it's... Oh, yes, Brazil. Okay, Brazil. So Latin America, the continent, is not one country.
So Latin America, clearly, we have put more emphasis on Brazil and maybe less emphasis on other countries, because Brazil is by far the largest country. It's a country with a lot of resources and a lot of needs for more equipments, both in the power area, so electricity production and transport, and also in the mobility area. We started some years ago being present in Brazil through VINCI Energies. We acquired a company maybe 10 or 15 years ago in Brazil, in VINCI Energies businesses. Then we made some acquisition in the through tenders in the airport business, and we won, in reality, two concessions, one in Salvador de Bahia, the other one in Amazonas.
We have been quite selective because the prices may fluctuate quite a lot between one tender and the other, and more recently, we took a stake, a 50%, 55% stake in a company running two motorways near São Paulo. It was the first attempt we made in the toll road area. Since this experience was positive, we decided that we were capable of taking more risk, and we won recently, as you mentioned it, this new concession for refurbishing a nearly 600 km long section between Belo Horizonte and a city close to Brasília. It will be a story that will last for some time, because we have to invest in the refurbishment for almost six years.
We have to do some work, so we will finance partially this work out of the revenue, which, because it's an existing toll road, and I think it should be a good operation. And finally, obviously, through Cobra. Cobra has been present for a long time in Brazil, and very successful in the energy transport infrastructure area. They have built, I think 20,000 km, or something like that, long network, electricity networks in Brazil, and they continue from time to time to bid for new projects. And they are sometimes successful, some other times not successful, but overall, they have a very good and strong experience and knowledge of the market. That's why we are comfortable with taking maybe more risk in the future in Brazil.
It doesn't mean that we will do the same in all the Latin American country, because some of them might be of interest for us, and other are not. So the focus is on Brazil to large extent.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. We will take our next question, and the question comes from the line of José Arroyas. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Thank you. A couple of questions, please. First, on the dividend, you have adjusted the net income expectations today due to the likely change in the tax in France. Is the dividend going to be adjusted accordingly, or do you expect to increase the payout to make up for the higher tax? And my second question is on the latest highway acquisition in Brazil, and I wanted to understand why VINCI opted to bid directly for this highway instead of using Entrevias . Thank you.
Well, the second question is very simple. Entrevias was not interested to team with us, and I think we were comfortable enough with the experience we had acquired before with them to go on our own. You know, it's not because you have a partner, that you always join with him for any tender. GIP is a partner in Gatwick and in Edinburgh. It's also a partner in India. It's not a partner in Brazil. It's not a partner in other countries. So we try to set up the most efficient structure, legal structure and sharing structure, which give us more chances to win. For the first question, obviously, I will not answer.
I am not the Board of Directors of VINCI, and the decision about the dividend will be taken during the meeting, which will approve the figures of 2024 in February 2025. So I will not answer on behalf of my Directors. What can I say? We have a rule in VINCI, which is to pay 50%+ dividend on the net profit. Okay, in the past, it happened in exceptional situation. I remember the COVID, where the rate was much higher, because at that time, the profit was decreasing because of the COVID crisis. So we can on exceptional situation make some adjustment, but this will be a decision of the Board. Next question?
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone. We will take our next question, and the question comes from the line of Graham Hunt. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Good evening, gentlemen. Just two questions from me. First, going back to Cobra, is there, has there been any change in the risk parameters of the EPC projects that's making Cobra or VINCI more selective when it comes to these projects? And are you happy with around 30%, 40% exposure? And then second question, just on the investment in India, is that a region that VINCI is becoming more comfortable investing in, and should we expect to see more investment there going forward? Thanks.
In India, for sure, no, in contracting activities, for sure, no. We had a very bad experience some 10 years ago in roadwork, for many different reasons, especially the difficulty to understand how things are working on the field, and also some issues regarding governance and safety for workers. We don't have the same culture and the same rules. So no, in the infrastructure business, we are doing an attempt with this acquisition of an existing toll road near Hyderabad. I mentioned an existing toll road, because it wouldn't have been of interest for us to invest in a greenfield or even yellowfield project, due to the same reason as before, the contracting issues, which are not compatible with our way of working.
Now, the question is, maybe other infrastructure on this particular airport. Maybe. In the past we looked at one or two opportunities, but at the end, it didn't work. So I don't know what will happen in the future, but if we are having a good experience with this first attempt, we might be more positive on airport if opportunities arrive. And Cobra, we haven't changed. What we have changed is we apply to Cobra the same procedures in terms of risk-taking on new projects as for the rest of the group. We have clear rules within VINCI for reviewing the tenders above a certain level.
Obviously, there are different levels depending on the amounts, but at the highest level, the tenders have to go through the risk committee of VINCI at the holding level, headed by Xavier Huillard, Pierre Anjolras, myself, et cetera, and Cobra is exactly respecting this procedure. So, any new potential order in EPC, above a certain level, has to go through this risk committee process. That's the only thing we have changed. Then it's very clear that Cobra has a long-standing experience and very successful in large projects relating to energy production, transportation, which we don't have in VINCI, because VINCI, a construction major project, is essentially doing business in the infrastructure, civil engineering infrastructure, but not in the energy infrastructure. So clearly, Cobra brings us expertise that we didn't have.
But in terms of risk monitoring and risk-taking, we apply exactly the same procedure as for the rest of the group.
Thank you.
Thank you. We will take our next question, and the question comes from the line of Harry Goad. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Yes, hi, good evening. Just one from me, please. Just regarding the EUR 400 million tax levy that you referenced, should we think about that as a one-off event, or as an ongoing event over the next few years? I appreciate maybe you don't quite yet know, but any guidance around that would be helpful. Thank you.
The answer, it depends to whom you ask the question. If you ask the question to the left-wing parties of France, they will tell you it should be eternal, like for the individuals, which should pay more tax. If you ask the question to the right-wing, and to Mr. Barnier, the answer will be this year and next year, but next year, half of the amount. That's the project, the bill, which is put for discussion at this moment at the parliament, is for two years. The first year being the amount I mentioned, and next year would be half of this amount. That's the project. Now, what will be the outcome? I don't have a crystal ball, and I don't I am not a member of the parliament.
Okay.
If, you know, if France has to remain attractive, minimum attractive to investor, for investor, I don't think it would be a good idea to keep this tax forever. So I am optimistic, and I hope it will be not more than two years, and again, with a lower amount next year than this year.
Okay, that's very clear. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you. We will take our next question, and the question comes from the line of Nicolas Mora. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Yes. Hi, Christian. Two quick ones, please. Just on M&A, you've been super active year to date, as organic growth has slowed down, cash flow is still pretty high. Are you gonna keep spending at the same run rate, almost EUR 2 billion a quarter, or you're kind of running out of good ideas? That's the first one, and then second one, on VINCI Energies. There's no real slowdown so far. The order intake is re-accelerating. Was there anything there in the orders a bit peculiar, or you're just not seeing any industrial or construction-led slowdown in that business for now?
Okay. On, Nicolas, on the, M&A, you know that M&A, yeah, different things to consider. You need to have a clear strategy. You need to know what you want to do in the short, medium, and long- term, and we know that. We know exactly what we want to do. We want to invest large part of the cash flow generation, which comes to a large extent from the toll road business, until the end of the contract, in order to build a new portfolio of assets in the concession, infrastructure concession, airport, highways, et cetera.
But we cannot, and this is clear, it doesn't change, now, the opportunities, we cannot invent them, so we are obviously monitoring the opportunities that might appear, and from time to time, we identify an opportunity which makes sense for us, and then it takes a certain time before we manage to win or to close the deals. So some of the deals which were closed in the first half of this year were initiated a long time ago. Edinburgh, we have been in discussion with GIP for a long time. Budapest, differently, because we were approached by the Hungarian government recently. So all that, we have no control on it, because it depends on what the seller wants to do, et cetera.
So last year, if you look at the figures, in 2023, the amount of M&A was something around EUR 1 billion. This year, we are close to EUR 7 billion. So, it's impossible in advance to know what will be the amount we spend next year. What I can tell you is that we are obviously studying certain number of opportunities, very unlikely that some significant one would be closed this year. I'm almost sure that it will not be the case. Now, next year, I don't know. Second question was... Can you re-remind me? What was the second? Ah, VINCI Energies. VINCI Energies, the model of VINCI Energies is a mix of organic and M&A. Why? Because... The main constraints we have, and we will explain that during the CMD, is the availability of technical labor.
The one way to cope with the opportunities offered by the market, and the market is really good, as I mentioned it before, they're really booming, is to acquire companies. If we want to have the labor force available, we need to acquire companies which provide us with more resources. That's why we have a mix of organic and M&A, and it is part of the long-standing story of VINCI Energies. Are we talking of an acceleration? Yes, it was a situation in Q3, but it doesn't mean it will be the same next quarter. We don't really know. What is sure is that in VINCI Energies, we permanently try to acquire more companies to join our network.
Sometimes, most of the time, small companies, family-owned, but from time to time, like recently, Fernao and the two companies we bought in the Netherlands, in the networks sector, larger ones. But it's not a new story. It has been like that for dozens of years. But we will provide you with more information during CMD. Next question?
There are no further questions at this time. I would like to hand back for closing remarks.
I don't have any closing remarks. Maybe Grégoire, you want to make a closing remark?
Yeah, I think there is another one. An analyst jumped, just jumped into the queue, so maybe give him the floor.
Yes.
For us.
Yes, please stand by. And the question comes from the line of Tobias Woerner. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hey, good afternoon, VINCI team, it is yeah. Just on, on-
Who are you? Who are you?
It's Tobias from Stifel. Hello.
Okay, Stifel, okay.
Yeah. Just, just a quick, sort of, more general question. When, when, when we look at inflation in France, it's really come down quite significantly.
Yes.
You know, you probably to an extent feel that in VINCI Energies and business generally. You know, given your experience over the years, how do you see this for your business overall, but also for VINCI Energies and the contracting businesses? You did quickly talk about labor still being difficult to
Yes
... to source. But you know, when you look at your businesses overall, what is the impact also from a margin perspective?
Well, when inflation was increasing dramatically after COVID, everybody was anxious about what will happen to us, because people thought that we would be unable to pass through inflation. It didn't happen. Actually, we were capable of passing through inflation of cost, labor, material, et cetera, to our clients. Now, inflation is decreasing. I think it's also good news for the people in general. But clearly it will have an impact on our revenue evolution. Our evolution is a mix of volume and inflation. Volume depend on the activity, which is following the GDP growth in general, especially for the traditional construction business. It's not exactly the same for energy services, which are running faster. The same for airport business. Motorways are more linked to GDP.
So, you know, with an inflation which would be, let's say at 1% or maybe less, at the end of October, it will be probably less than 1%. It means that the tariff for the total business next year will be less than 1%. That's life. I mean, we have to cope with it, and we have been in this type of situation some years ago without any major negative impact on our margins and net profits. After that, it's a matter of running the cost also, and we have to be careful about the labor costs, et cetera, et cetera. If inflation is less, salary increase are less.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Okay, thank you.
Thank-
So if there is no other question, I thank you for your interest in VINCI, and we are, and the team, at your disposal to give you more precise information if needed. And see you next time. Grégoire, anything to add?
No. Thank you, Christian. Thank you all, and we look forward to explaining you in more detail the beauty of VINCI Energies in a bit less than one month for the CMD, the 22 of November.
Okay.
In the meantime, take care and good luck for the vacation.
Have a good day.
Bye-bye.
Thank you. Thank you all. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.