Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thanks for joining us for the presentation of VINCI's full-year results. You'll see, you'll have noticed, that our performance is once again outstanding. Today I'm joined by Christian Labeyrie, CFO, Deputy Chief Executive, other members of the Executive Committee, several changes of late, the appointment of Thierry Merville as Deputy CFO, who will follow on from Christian during the course of the year. We're also with the Investor Relations team, whom you know well and will be available to answer your questions. First of all, on this first photograph, we're heading for the Bay of Biscay, where VINCI Energies, Cobra, and VINCI Construction are working together on the new electricity interconnection project between France and Spain, the INELFE project, set to be completed by 2028. It's the largest DC interconnector line between France and Spain, the 400K submarine cable, with two conversion plants.
It's a fine example in Europe and elsewhere, future exponential investments in power grids. Electrical infrastructure, we first of all think of production infrastructure, nuclear power as well as renewable power, and equally essential infrastructures, which are the power transmission and distribution grids that require as much investment, if not more. These electrical infrastructure projects are key components of the energy transition, but to a growing extent of energy security and sovereignty, a powerful driver, possibly the most powerful driver for VINCI's business developments. Other photographs now in the Concessions business, on the left, London Gatwick Airport, managed by VINCI Airports; a major milestone reached last autumn was the final approval by the U.K. government of the transformation plan of the northern runway to allow for dual use with the main runway.
This will increase the airport's capacity by 20 million passengers at the turn of the decade, increasing it to 80 million. Through this decision, the British, always pragmatic, are implementing the key role of air traffic in the country's economic development as well as its capital. On the right, in Brazil, Entrevias Highway, 600 km crossing the state of São Paulo. We own 55% of Entrevias, now fully consolidated. In early March 2025, we resumed operations on the highway BR-040, 600 km long on the Belo Horizonte, Brazil route, managing over 1,200 km of highway. It's our largest highway network outside France. In Brazil, to give you an order of magnitude, 1,200 km, slightly longer than the Cofiroute network that we manage in France.
Energy Solutions, now on the left, a fine shot of the Cádiz Yard, from the North Sea in Germany, of the offshore wind plant, BorWin5, 900 MW for TenneT. The second such platform installed successfully by Cobra. It's a feat of engineering, not always easy to implement. Cobra, teaming up with Siemens Energy, constitutes an unparalleled tandem in the world. Cobra has eight other contracts in its order book for a cumulative capacity of 14 GW, gives us visibility on the activity and profitability through to the next decade. These offshore converter platforms are strategic also for Germany's energy transition and sovereignty, and more broadly that of Europe, as was reminded recently last week in Hamburg, the joint declaration of 10 European countries that want to make the North Sea the largest hub of offshore wind, targeting 300 GW by 2050.
Back to Germany, the second largest VINCI market internationally, and will become a leading international market this year through acquisitions by VINCI Energies in that country and growth opportunities in infrastructure. VINCI Energies isn't just expanding in Germany. On the right, EnergoBit, that's a company acquired by VINCI Energies at the end of last year in Romania. This acquisition fits fully with our plan to strengthen our leadership in electrical infrastructure. For construction on the left, this is Auckland, the City Rail Link, the first underground rail link of the economic capital of the country. Work began in 2019. This design-build project will be delivered in 2026 by VINCI Construction. It's a powerful lever for social integration and also sustainable development as a rail infrastructure for Auckland.
Staying in New Zealand, let me remind you that Vinci Construction announced a fortnight ago that it signed an agreement with a view to acquiring Fletcher Construction with an annual revenue of over EUR 600 million. Next, HEB Construction. This acquisition will allow Vinci Construction to strengthen its position on the very dynamic infrastructure market in New Zealand and to increase the group's annual revenue to about EUR 1.5 billion in that country. We can say that as rugby fans, we've always converted our tries in that country, both in Vinci Energies and Vinci Construction, and we hope that will continue for the current Highway PPP project being looked at by the teams of Vinci Concessions and Vinci Construction. Right back to France, heading to Nantes. Shown here is the construction of the new university hospital center by Vinci Construction and of Vinci Energies.
This worksite is the largest hospital construction project in Europe. VINCI Construction is deploying ultra-low carbon concrete, and this worksite illustrates one of the many hospital worksites currently being executed by the group. There are some 12 such projects at VINCI Construction, France, Monaco, another 10 in the U.K., and 6 in Poland. VINCI Energies, many technical work packages in hospitals, and not forgetting all the contracts in the healthcare sector for the pharma industry. Both these projects are fine illustrations of vital infrastructure with megatrends, the environmental transition with rail or health generating countless opportunities for VINCI Construction worldwide, and I'll return to that in greater detail when I discuss the group's exposure to major megatrends.
Moving to the results proper, the takeaway of 2025 for Vinci, as I said, outstanding performance in line with previous years, outstanding performance in spite of the macroeconomic and global geopolitical context that you know of. The highlights. Next slide. Revenue growth driven by concessions and energy solutions. Revenue growth with an increase in EBITDA and operating income across all our businesses. That's what counts for us more than volume growth. What counts for us is profitable growth. Net income is up, and that in spite of a very significant increase in taxation in France in 2025. Free cash flow reaches another all-time high at EUR 7 billion. We'll return to that in due course. For 2026, we're banking on a further increase of activity and the group's results. And lastly, the board proposed a dividend in respect of FY 2025 of EUR 5 per share.
That's an increase in excess of 5% over 2024. This outstanding performance indicates that the group's decentralized and multilocal organization of the group has demonstrated its relevance once again. It reflects the group's culture, unique culture. More about that later. On this slide, the main financial indicators. Christian will return to that in detail. At constant taxation, the net income group share would have grown 10% at EUR 5.4 billion, and free cash flow would have reached EUR 7.4 billion. On this slide, you see that our share of revenue international outside France is close to 60%. That proportion increases year after year. It's not that revenue in France is declining. On the contrary, activity in the country has grown 2%. It's international that's growing faster.
You see also that five countries accounted for total revenue: France, U.K., Germany, of course, which tomorrow, as I said, will be our leading international market, as well as Spain and the United States. You'll have noted that our net income is achieved over 50% outside France. This internationalization strategy, we've been rolling it out consistently for some 15 years now, and we'll continue to do so. Some key figures by business in concessions. Revenue growth is 5% + 4% like-for-like. EBITDA margin comes in at 66.9, up 10 basis points over 2024, driven by solid tariff increases both in airports as well as highways, both in France and international, driven by the successful integration of our recent developments. Well done to our teams led by Nicolas. Concessions accounted for 60% of the group's EBITDA this year. In greater detail, for VINCI Airports, the momentum is sustained.
VINCI Airports passenger traffic continued to grow across almost all 14 countries of the network. That's down to several factors. The increased capacity of low-cost carriers, the development of long-haul routes in several airports, and more generally stemming from customer demand that remains robust, even if the post-COVID rebound is dwindling, the demand for mobility is a vital need. In total, 334 million passengers used our airports, an increase of 5% over last year. In particular, remarkable progress achieved in Japan, notably a consequence of the World Expo in Osaka last year, and recently acquired airports: Budapest, Edinburgh, the OMA Airports in Mexico, Cape Verde. All this demonstrates the discipline with which M&A is undertaken, our serious analysis, as well as the momentum that we can impart to the new airports.
This dynamism of passenger traffic in VINCI Airports is due to our own capacity, thanks to the network effect, our unique network of airports to offer new routes, offer new routes to airlines in 2025. And I can't resist the pleasure of just an invitation to travel to mention a few: Porto, Montreal, Gatwick, Bangkok, Edinburgh, Boston, Budapest, Nantes, and from Mexico, Monterrey, Paris. Once again, we have collectively demonstrated that this portfolio of unique airport assets achieved many operational, technical, and commercial successes throughout 2025. Autoroutes, highways in France. VINCI Autoroutes traffic posted a growth of close on 1%. VINCI Highways EBITDA continues to grow while remains penalized by the tax on transportation infrastructure since 2024.
We continue to challenge that before the courts, but we've renewed constructive and calmer engagement with the state, as illustrated by the Escota works program to ensure the good maintenance of the structures between now and the end of the concession contract in 2032. That program was approved by the government early 2025. We just signed a new planning contract for Cofiroute. More about that later. For VINCI Highways in Denver, United States, we're doing what we said we wouldn't faster than expected. A year ahead of time, we put in place the toll modulation system with tariffs that vary depending on the time of day. That has a positive upside on revenues. In Brazil, we resumed operations of the Rota dos Cristais , and we now fully consolidate the Entrevias accounts in our group accounts.
As you know, we are the leading private airport manager worldwide, and henceforth we're the leading private highway manager in the world with 8,200 kilometers of network. It gives us great pride, and it's a fine responsibility. Energy solutions, remaining very dynamic. Revenue of energy solutions at VINCI. Okay, let's round it off. Let's say EUR 30 billion. That's an increase of some 8% at actual structure, plus 6% like-for-like. Strong momentum in Q4. This revenue is driven by international business that represents over 60% of the revenue. This growth is accompanied by further progress in margins over 20 basis points at 7.6% positions. That's once again, and without challenge, one of the most efficient players of the industry globally. Well done to VINCI Energy and Cobra. Energy solutions represent almost a quarter of our EBIT.
This year confirms the excellent positioning of energy solutions, very dynamic markets driven by the energy transition, the digital transformation, as well as by defense and sovereignty issues. In greater detail, you can see top right that the four areas of activity of VINCI Energies that represent an unparalleled range of expertise are all posting revenue growth. You can see that VINCI Energies continues its crop in terms of external growth with about 30 a year. That's one acquisition every fortnight internationally. VINCI Energies revenue is up 8%, notably in Germany, the leading market, the Netherlands, and also in Belgium and in France. Growth comes in at 3.4%. That's way above GDP growth.
Turning to Cobra. Flow of business activities remain well-oriented, particularly in key markets such as Spain, Portugal, and Brazil. Overall, this segment grew by nearly 5%. In large EPC projects, which happens to be Cobra's area of excellence, the strong increase in activity, +24%, was driven by the construction in Germany of offshore electrical converter platforms for the North Sea. Also in Germany, the development of an LNG regasification terminal. In Brazil, high-voltage power transmission lines. Of course, we talked about that very much in July, the launch of the major PPP project in Australia. These are all strategic projects that contribute to the energy sovereignty of the regions concerned. In the construction business, revenue increased slightly. As you know, selectivity is our guiding principle in this business. The lower revenue observed on a like-for-like basis is evidence that this selectivity policy is effectively being implemented.
However, our teams successfully improved profitability by nearly 30 basis points compared with last year. So once again, excellent work from the VINCI Construction and VINCI Immobilier teams. At VINCI Construction, revenue increased by 1.1% to EUR 32.1 billion, despite a significantly negative forex impact, minus 1.5%. Market conditions vary across regions and business segments. Activity in major projects declined, reflecting the phasing of progress on a number of large infrastructure projects. Core flow business activities remained at a solid level, both internationally and in France, where activity increased thanks to sustained demand for road, rail, and hydraulic works, as well as building refurbishment projects. Specialty activities at Soletanche Freyssinet also remained at a good level, particularly in the nuclear sector.
Let me also remind you, as you can see the pie chart on the screen, that the vast majority of VINCI Construction's revenue is generated from smaller-scale projects delivered for recurring local customers, what we call our core flow business activities. And that is unusual among our top competitors. In other words, the share of major projects in our overall activity is deliberately limited, representing around 10%. In the property development sector in France, market conditions remain extremely challenging. VINCI Immobilier's teams are demonstrating our ability to stay the course despite headwinds, as illustrated by the return to positive earnings in 2025. Order intake reached a high level in 2025, EUR 63 billion.
Our key takeaways include flow business activities, which account for the vast majority of revenue in energy services, solutions, and construction. That remains well-oriented, increasing by 3%. So order intake overall remains higher than revenue, particularly in energy solutions. This means that the backlog continues to grow. I will now hand over to Christian Labeyrie, who will present the group's financial performance for the year in detail.
Thank you, Pierre. As Pierre explained, our three businesses delivered very different growth rates, +8% for energy services or solutions, +5% for concessions, +1% for construction, resulting in overall group revenue growth of +4%. These trends reflect differing market dynamics and geographic mixes across our businesses. This is not by chance. It's the outcome of a longstanding diversification strategy designed to reduce the group's exposure to economic cycles and geopolitical risks. This strategy enables us to grow in a sustainable manner, delivering solid results and steadily increasing cash flows year after year. To achieve this, M&A growth is a key pillar of our strategy.
In 2025, changes in scope contributed +2.5% to group revenue growth. For international operations, the contribution was higher at 4.1% as most acquisitions were completed outside France. This represents close to EUR 2 billion in additional revenue. Full-year impact of 2024 acquisitions, EUR 700 million, including over EUR 400 million for VINCI Energies and the consolidation of Edinburgh Airport mid-2024 to the tune of EUR 162 million. The 2025 acquisitions contributed EUR 1.2 billion euros, actually, including FM FM Conway, EUR 664 million, VINCI Energies, EUR 278 million, and VINCI Highways, EUR 93 million euros, so nearly EUR 100 million. By contrast, forex impact had a negative effect on group revenue of -1% or EUR 686 million with a significant share, EUR 462 million or -1.5% attributable to VINCI Construction.
The euro appreciated year on year against several currencies, including the U.S. dollar, 4.4%, the Canadian dollar, +6.5%, Australian dollar, 6.9%, New Zealand dollar, +8.6%, the Brazilian real, 8.3%, and sterling, +1.2%. On a like-for-like forex basis, group revenue growth would have exceeded 5%, while international revenue growth would have reached +7.4%. Now, the geographic breakdown, France accounts for 41% of total revenue, which means a 2% increase in line with domestic growth and inflation. Europe, excluding France, 38% of total revenue, up 9% or +3.7% on an organic basis. The U.K., 10% of total revenue, up 10%, organic growth of 1.2%. Germany, close to 9% of total revenue, so EUR 6.5 billion in revenue, up 17% or +11% on an organic basis. Spain, 5% of total revenue, broadly stable. The Americas, EUR 10 billion, 13% of total revenue, organic growth, +2.2%.
The US, EUR 3.4 million, up 4.6%, but up 7.2% on an organic basis. Canada, EUR 2 million. Latin America, EUR 4 billion, up 6%. Brazil, EUR 1.8 billion, plus 18% or plus 13.6% organically. Australia, New Zealand, over EUR 2 million but down 10% due to an unfavorable forex impact. And Africa is back to growth, EUR 1.8 million, up 14%. If we look at operating profit from ordinary activities, 2025, EUR 9.558 billion, representing 12.8% of revenue. So plus 6.2%, that's an increase of 6.2% exceeding revenue growth of plus 4.2%. Now, comments on margin trends of VINCI Concessions. There's an impact from higher depreciation charges at VINCI Autoroutes, mainly reflecting the commissioning of the A57 widening project in the Toulon area. So for VINCI Airports, there's a mixed effect between the different platforms with the end of the Phnom Penh concession.
Highways, you're not seeing the impact on this slide, but we're seeing a strong increase in roadpath of VINCI Highways due to the consolidation of Entrevias and Denver. For energy, VINCI Energies is seeing a margin that's up 20 basis points. You've got to understand that this margin rate is rather homogeneous between the different divisions and business lines of VINCI Energies. It's also true for Cobra. We're seeing an improvement of 20 basis points, so 8% margin. Margin levels are broadly comparable between flow business activities and EPC projects. VINCI Construction, margin up 10 basis points to 4.2% again. The impact is quite clustered. We're seeing that the UK is back in the lead. The UK's profit margin is close to 4%, and this has never happened before. This is in part due to FM Conway being consolidated.
Now, in real estate, this business was making losses last year due to restructuring and impairments for commercial housing projects. Now, we're seeing an increase in the IFRS 2 expense, and this reflects the impact of the PEG employee shareholding project and an increase in employee subscription. Because the share price has increased, this has led to an impact that was higher than in 2024. This is offset by the improved contribution from the equity-accounted affiliates as well as the airports in Japan. Also, Cobra's stakeholding in electrical transmission lines in Brazil, recurring operating income, 6.2%. But we're seeing differences from one segment to another, plus 5% for concessions, plus 1%. And if we look at the breakdown, we find that there are three equivalent blocks. Vinci Airports and other concessions, 31%, and energy solutions and concessions, 35%.
Now, if we look at the situation that prevailed several years ago, we were highly dependent on French motorways. Now, there's a much better balance between the different contributions of the different segments to the group's financial performance. Previous slide, please. Now, if we look at non-recurring items that are positive impacts of disposals in 2025, particularly the pullout from our Russian autoroute activities and also our participation in ACS and also divestments for Cobra, including a pullout from offshore wind farm development. Now, there's an increase in net financial expense because we paid over EUR 7 billion for new acquisitions in 2024, but the impact is rather limited. It's much lower than expected because of the volume impact due to the growth in debt because of the acquisitions has been offset by cash flow better than expected.
We've enjoyed a favorable forex impact in particular thanks to a strategy of partially floating-rate debt. So we've been able to curb the increase in financial expense. Now, if we look at our P&L, this comes as no surprise, but tax is up significantly, plus EUR 560 million, including EUR 449 million related to the surtax on large corporate profits introduced in France in 2025 and extended to 2026. As a result, we're seeing an effective tax rate of close to 35% versus 29% in 2024. If we restate for that, the effective tax rate would have been 29%, broadly in line with 2024. The corporate tax rate in France decreased from 25.83%-36%. Net income for EUR 9 billion, despite the higher tax burden in France, most likely above the 2024 level, which came to EUR 4.86 billion.
Earnings per share increased by 2.6%, reflecting share buybacks that reduced the number of shares outstanding. The number of shares outstanding decreased from 562.4 million to 556 million at the end of 2025. That's a 1.1% reduction. This continued through 2026. As you can see, we have a new share buyback program, which will cover Q1 2026. On a constant tax basis, net income would have reached EUR 5.35 billion. That's a 10% increase. Earnings per share would have reached EUR 9.44 per share, so up 12%. Now, if we look at the cash flow statement and analysis of the changing debt net during the year, consolidated net financial debt decreased in 2025 from EUR 20.4 billion to EUR 19.1 billion at the end of 2025. Why? Well, first of all, because our EBITDA improved by EUR 800 million, increased more than revenue, so up 6.4% also.
A positive change in working capital requirements and current provisions are causing contribution in cash of EUR 2.5 billion, which is higher than the already very strong 2024 level, EUR 2.3 billion. What we can say is that over two years, thanks to strong control of working capital in 2024, we're talking plus. We're looking at +EUR 1.8 billion, which is comparable with 2024. Also, we have a prudent provisioning policy. +EUR 0.7 billion versus EUR 0.5 billion in 2024. The group generated an additional EUR 4.8 billion in cash. Contrary to what some of you expected, this remains a strength for the group. This reflected sustained efforts across all divisions, particularly at VINCI Construction, to structurally improve our collection process for customer receivables and also our billing process, which delivered results beyond our expectations. You've got to understand that VINCI's business is 90% flow business.
I'm talking about construction, of course, and energy. So contingencies pertaining to major projects have much less of an impact than they used to when it comes to changes in working capital requirements. Now, I'm not going to go back to tax. Taxes up, for financial expense is up. CapEx remained broadly stable year-on-year, EUR 4.9 billion, although there are different trends across divisions. Concessions, EUR 1.3 billion versus EUR 1.4 billion last year. Energy, EUR 2.3 billion versus EUR 2.2 billion last year. In construction, EUR 1.3 billion. Same as last year. Financial investments made in 2025 amounted to nearly EUR 1.8 billion. That's the difference between disposals and acquisitions. But there's a sharp decrease compared with the EUR 7 billion in 2024 when we consolidated Edinburgh, Budapest, and also the Denver Highway project. This year, what are we seeing?
Well, we're seeing the consolidation of FM FM Conway, EUR 0.5 billion, VINCI Energies' acquisitions, so about EUR 400 million. This includes three important affiliates in Germany. We dealt with ACS to finalize the EUR 300 million project and also integration of Entrevias. We have a 55% stake in this project in São Paulo, in Brazil, which didn't used to be fully consolidated. Following renegotiations on governance, we're now going to integrate the debt for this project. Now, the divestments amounted to EUR 300 million-EUR 400 million following the disposal of a corporate stake, in particular, in this project in Brazil, offshore activities in Brazil, the sale of access, and also the sale of VINCI Highways' Russian assets.
So cash return to shareholders is significant, EUR 3.8 billion, including EUR 2.7 billion in dividends paid to VINCI SA shareholders and also the dividends paid by Gatwick, Edinburgh, and OMA to minority shareholders. Now, we bought Edinburgh over one year ago. This is the first year that we've been able to extract cash from that entity. Share buybacks, I talked about that, EUR 2 billion. Share issuances, EUR 0.8 billion, representing 7.5 million shares at and we need to look at the difference between gross debt and net cash. This is increasing over a year. Seasonality of free cash flow, that's the next slide. Nothing new under the sun.
Vinci's businesses are characterized by strong seasonality. In contracting activities, business volumes are lower during the winter months. I'm stating the obvious here. In concessions, activity is particularly strong during the summer period. Fixed costs, however, remain largely stable throughout the year. Most of the group's cash flow is generated in H2, particularly the last quarter of the year, as illustrated by the charts. This is why it's difficult to have a reliable forecast. We did go out on the limb this year, but we're dragging our feet for that very reason previously. An additional challenge in producing reliable full-year free cash flow forecasting is from the group's highly decentralized organization.
So over 4,000 business units, over 3,000 businesses consolidated. Our BUMs, business unit managers, who are at the core of our business, usually adopt a cautious approach when communicating the forecast. That prudence is understandable. But the cumulative effect can result in significant variances at year-end as layers of conservatism add up. Now, ten-year trend in free cash flow and net income cash conversion, we're seeing that we generated close to EUR 50 billion over 10 years, including over EUR 30 billion over the last five years. This illustrates the effectiveness of the group's business model and the relevance of its and the power of its decentralized management organization.
This, in spite of the fact that we weathered, as many others, a lot of extraneous crises during that period, thanks to the diversity of our activities and our geographical footprint and a prudent financial policy, we've been able to deliver, year after year, solid results. We've improved them as well as free cash flow generation. It's the fruit of the work of our business units, our thousands of BUs, all efficient companies, very customer-focused, responsive, fleet-footed to take account of market changes to end our financial policy. It's not revolutionary, what I'm going to say. I tend to repeat myself every time. Financial policy rests on several pillars. Firstly, it's key for us to have considerable liquidity. It's the price of liquidity, EUR 15 billion cash.
That's a EUR 2.4 billion increase. A credit line, EUR 6.5 billion by our banks. Maturity extended to January 2031. In spite of the cyclical variations in market conditions, at all times, we can generate resources to continue to invest in our businesses, seize development opportunities that form part of our strategic plan, and return to our shareholders. We have to manage significant debt, EUR 34.5 billion that is actively managed. It must be refinanced regularly, and its cost must be optimized. Two-thirds of the debt are housed in infrastructures that we managed. For long-term contracts, that's about EUR 10 billion for ASF and Cofiroute and as much on our airports.
So debt service with the concessionaire debt service is insured by cash flow generated by projects to calibrate fully our capital injections and optimize return on investment. Debt housed on projects is fixed rate, whereas corporate debt has a variable rate. At the end of 2025, fixed-rate debt accounted for 46% fixed-rate debt and 54% variable debt. We've been able to reduce the average cost of our debt by 60 basis points in 2025, bringing it down to around 4.3% in spite of the fact that 60% of the debt is not denominated in euros. The euro, where we arrive at very low rates, is not the case when we borrow in real, Colombian currencies, dollar, or sterling.
Lastly, we're preserving our excellent credit ratings. As you know, A-3 S&P Moody's, they're periodically reviewed, but they're confirmed year after year. Thanks to all that, we're able to issue in 2025 EUR 5.7 billion additional debt to refinance EUR 4.2 billion. Excellent conditions, our signatures widely appreciated by bond investors, as we demonstrated successfully in January with a new ASF issue, EUR 500 million over eight years at a cost below 3.5%. Thank you.
Thank you, Christian, for those very clear explanations. In terms of outlook now, our outlook reflects our value creation strategy in both our long-term and short-term activities. Long-term activities, mobility, infrastructure. This year, VINCI has signed with competent authorities major agreements that strengthen visibility and offer promising growth prospects. In airports, I'd like to emphasize the expansion potential of the airports that we operate, in addition to our M&A growth. In this complex world, one of the great strengths of VINCI is to forge relations based on trust throughout the world. Thanks to this constructive dialogue, several major agreements were signed these past few months. A few examples: London Gatwick, as I mentioned, we obtained the approval of the Northern Runway in Lisbon, Portugal. Our teams in January 2025 at the request of Portuguese authorities began to study the development of a new airport at Alcochete near Lisbon.
A major milestone was reached after consultation of the stakeholders with the receipt of a favorable response from the grantor regarding the launch of the preliminary design phase. Let's cross the Atlantic. In Mexico, OMA subsidiary signed at the end of December a new five-year economic regulation contract defines investments over the period around EUR 800 million, as well as the associated tariff increase. In Cape Verde, further investments in excess of EUR 140 million over and above those already launched early 2026 increase the airports of the island state to boost air traffic, but above all, to maintain the economic and tourist dynamism of the country. We can mention the start of the work launched by VINCI Airports in close conjunction with VINCI Construction, VINCI Energies, the new terminal of the Santo Domingo Airport in the Dominican Republic.
In France, following a constructive and confident dialogue with the state, VINCI has just signed a new rider to the concession contract for Cofiroute. Through a moderate tariff increase, it allows the application of the court decision on the composition of the increase on the regional development plan and an investment of some EUR 350 million on the network. These are essentially shared mobility investments, regional development, and use of electric vehicles for electromobility. 100% of the VINCI service areas have charging stations, as well as some 40 service areas, making it the best equipped highway network in the country. For 2,400 charging points, that's 54 every 100 km. Thanks to that, the number of charging stations could double. Through all these examples, our infrastructure is vital, but also changing, evolving, being renewed.
These developments are many opportunities for value creation by VINCI for VINCI, both in our airports and the highways that we manage. In terms of energy infrastructure, long-term, in 2025, the group decided to combine the energy production activities, essentially PV, developed by Cobra Zero-E. That's the dedicated subsidiary to better nurture performance, to optimize financing arrangements and asset rotations, if need be. Zero-E has a total capability for renewable power production of five gigawatts, 1.2 in operation, and 4.2 under construction, already to build to date. Cobra has invested EUR 2.3 billion in that portfolio. This investment policy is selective, targeted on a limited number of geographies: Spain, Brazil, the United States, and also Australia. We plan to strengthen the value of these assets with battery projects.
On the basis of this current portfolio, we're banking for this activity by 2030 on an EBITDA in excess of EUR 400 million. Furthermore, still in long-term energy assets, Cobra benefits, as does VINCI Energies, of longstanding expertise to implement construction and maintenance projects for high-voltage power lines. Cobra is currently in charge of 4 PPPs for over 200 kilometers of lines in Brazil and Australia. This is the beginning of an asset portfolio in the field of energy transmission lines, where opportunities are numerous in Brazil. They're developing in Australia. And we believe that they will also expand elsewhere, notably in the United States. Short-term activities, all our businesses are driven by the world's megatrends. On this slide, we're presenting a selection of 6 megatrends that we view as dynamic, both short and long-term.
For electrical infrastructure, the group generates over EUR 10 billion revenue, with a backlog of close on EUR 20 billion. We're one of the world leaders, if not the world's largest utility rail works, EUR 6 billion, with a backlog of EUR 11 billion, defense and sovereignty, EUR 2 billion in revenue, and EUR 3 billion by way of backlog. Water infrastructure, EUR 3 billion revenue, with a similar backlog. Digital infrastructure, we assess our revenue at EUR 7 billion, backlog EUR 6 billion. Healthcare, EUR 2 billion in revenue, an equivalent backlog. All these vital assets are already reflected in our figures, account for half of the revenue and two-thirds of our order intake in energy solutions. That's set to continue to grow. Our order continues to grow, reaching an all-time high of some EUR 70 billion. That's over 14 months of activities. Offers us visibility.
We can view the future with confidence without departing from our selectivity policy margin over volume. On the right, the share of France: 29%, Germany: 20% share, and the rest of the world: 51%. Shown here is our guidance 2026 by business. VINCI Airports' passenger traffic should continue to increase overall in line with global economic growth, with various situations across regions. For VINCI Autoroutes in France, traffic growth should follow French economic output and that of its neighbors, including Spain and Italy. Energy solutions are expected to see their revenue grow in a mid to high single-digit range. Expected improvement of the operating margin, already at the highest level in the sector. Total capacity of Zero-E in operation and construction, ready to build, could go from 5 GW currently to about 6 GW at the end of 2026.
Construction revenue, excluding forex impact, is likely to be broadly similar to the 2025 level, with at least the same operating margin. Based on these expected developments, assuming no change in taxation, similar corporate tax rate as in 2025, VINCI will deliver further growth in its revenue in 2026, increase in its operating earnings, and further increase in its net income, and as initial estimate, a free cash flow, which could reach EUR 6 billion. The dividend on the basis of the remarkable performance in 2025, the free cash flow generated, and confident in the prospects, the board will propose at the upcoming shareholders' meeting a dividend of EUR 5 per share. EUR 1.05 has already been paid as an interim dividend. This would be an increase of 5% over 2024, and that would be a payout ratio of 58%.
I want to remind you of our capital allocation strategy, consistent strategy for the shareholder on the right. The dividend with a payout ratio target 60% of net income and share buybacks over and above the prime aim to offset dilution brought about by the issuance of shares to employees. The group will undertake opportunistic share buybacks based on our financials we're taking into account M&A and the share price performance while seeking to maintain, as Christian said, solid financial structure to maintain the excellent financial ratings. In terms of development, on the left, we'll continue to invest in long-term infrastructure concessions, be it autoroutes or airports, through M&A or investing in our existing assets, as well as in long-term assets for the production of renewable power, storage, and transmission lines. Short-term activities, the group strategy is to go all out.
Energy solutions for 20 years now, we've demonstrated our know-how when it comes to acquiring and integrating successfully new companies. The group remains open in the construction sphere to opportunistic acquisitions. Shown here is a summary of our capital allocation strategy over the past three years. Free cash flow total, some EUR 32 billion, three broadly similar segments, EUR 11 billion, EUR 2.7 billion for developing energy assets and PPP transmission lines, EUR 10 billion in M&A to prepare confidently our future. There are main deals over the three years, the equity IRR, and EUR 12 billion in dividends and share buybacks. Shown here is a recap of the major acquisitions in 2025 already discussed. I'd like to emphasize what Christian said. We regularly undertake disposals so as to optimize our ROE and improve clarity.
The portfolio reviews are regularly undertaken, leading possibly to an increase in investments in some assets or disposals in others. With Christian, we've just presented VINCI's financial performance for the year. It's remarkable. This ability to generate long-term value rests on a very strong VINCI culture that is shared by all, that makes VINCI unique. This culture shown on screen is the long-term mindset, the quest for all-round performance. We consider that both financial and non-financial performance are inextricably linked. That's the all-round performance. Our group's culture is decentralized, multi-local, agile organization, which is particularly relevant in this polarizing world. Our culture is its trusted management with common principles across its 1,400 BUs, unmatched execution policy, focus on cash generation, and great discipline in cash allocation. This culture characterizes VINCI in all its businesses, in all its geographies, and characterizes all its global assets.
It's this synergy, the shared values, that make VINCI a rare, precious value. At least for us, it's the only way of continuing to create value long-term, as we once again demonstrated in 2025 and as we'll continue to demonstrate. Thank you for listening. I'd also like to warmly thank Christian today with some emotion. Christian, you've been group CFO, if I'm not mistaken, since January 1999. It means that VINCI, duration and long-term, is also present in its executives and management. And if I'm not mistaken, you've just presented for the 28th time the group's financials. Since you were appointed, I haven't taken into account the share price performance today. 1,100% and over 3,000% with the dividends. That's an average of 14% a year on behalf of the almost 300,000 employees of the group, the majority of whom are shareholders. Thank you. Well done.
Vous allez faire aussi bien, même mieux. You can do just as well, even better. Let's go with the bank. Together with Christian and the rest of the executive board, we are on hand to answer any questions you may have.
Hello. Éric Lemarié, CIC. I have three questions, for starters, if I may. Question number one. Future potential calls for tender as part of renewing concession contracts in France. What about the timetable following the presidential elections? The press talked about 2028. Do you have additional information on that? Question number two, the rewrite to the Cofiroute contract. Could you please give us some color regarding how things worked out? Who approached whom?
We often bear in mind the political risks, but maybe those risks are lower than what we'd expect. Could we expect similar amendments to Escota contracts or ASF contracts? Do you intend to proceed similarly? Also the EUR 300 million in CapEx. Could you give us the sequencing year-on-year and also the return on capital employed for this particular plan? And one last question regarding free cash flow. The guidance stands at EUR 6 billion. So what are your assumptions when it comes to working capital requirement fluctuations?
Regarding the first two questions, I'm going to hand over to Pierre Anjolras .
Now, on a more short-term basis, the investment program contract for Cofiroute and also prospects for investments in France. Xavier rightly said what's important when it comes to concessions, particularly when there are legal contract disputes. Always maintain dialogue. And that's what we did. And we now have a constructive dialogue. So what is this agreement all about? It's about transferring investments. You know, in the life of a contract, a certain type of investments were not being made. So mechanically, we were able to transfer them to new types of investments, particularly for decarbonizing motorways, multimodal exchanges, reserved lanes, etc. So one important factor, compensation.
The Court of Appeals issued a ruling in 2025. So the increase in the TAT regional development tax, which was specific to motorways, was supposed to be offset for Cofiroute. Since May 2025, the government owed us for the past increase in tax and also for the future increase in tax. And this generated additional investments. As a result, the court ruling in May 2025, plus our partnership-driven approach, meant that we were able to find common ground. So you also referenced other companies. We have submitted a new joint project together with the government regarding Escota. So that's work in progress. The investigation is underway. And of course, we're not ruling anything out when it comes to ASF.
It'll be a different approach. As Pierre rightly said, we have completed stage one when it comes to the end of the concession contract because seven years ahead of time, concession contracts require an agreement when it comes to residual investments to be made. That's what we did for Escota for future competitive bidding. You know that the government believes in dialogue as part of the France transport ambition. They've recognized the merits of infrastructure concession contracts and also tolling for the future. Because when a country such as ours is heavily in debt, you've got to understand that 20%-25% of tolling proceeds come from international operations. Spain's economic growth outperforms the European average. As you know, VINCI Autoroutes highways are connected to Spanish highways. So Parliament will be discussing that.
We'll be discussing a framework legislation to prepare for future contracts now that once the current contract lapses around 2030. So we lay in the groundwork for 2028, 2029. And of course, we will continue to be selective and disciplined. We will look at the terms and conditions of these contracts and see to what extent we can take part in those efforts. But we will look at the terms and conditions of those contracts in a couple of years. Now, the CapEx sequencing between 2027 and 2030. In the meantime, there's still CapEx underway when it comes to networks. I'm talking about new contracts. We're talking an additional EUR 350 million in CapEx. Could you please repeat the question? Into your microphone, please.
Well, you can do the math easily enough. That's the difference between the EUR 6 billion and the slight increase in revenue. Now, that assumption is worth whatever it's worth. But there's a breakdown between working capital requirement on the one hand and recurring provisions. As you know, we externalize our results, but we do it cautiously. There are 4,000 business units. Everybody provisions for risks that may or may not materialize. And it's a structural thing as far as we're concerned. So that's where part of the gap comes from. And working capital requirement is managed as close to the field as possible by our operations teams and our administrative managers. And that's been a strong focus in a number of years.
And the COVID period served to reveal the issue because we used to choose the path of least resistance. Then we started rolling up our sleeves. And now it's paying off. It's been five years now. We're still reaping the benefits of those efforts, maybe not along the same proportions of the past two years because there was a catch-up effect. This means that the EUR 6 billion estimated assumption is pretty reasonable considering the other parameters that we discussed in the press release.
Yes, this affects Cobra, Construction, and VINCI Energies. This was particularly true for the construction business this year because construction was lagging behind the other businesses when it comes to improving its customer receivable collection processes and billing processes. Now, from an operational point of view, because the global environment is fraught with increasing uncertainty, this means that our managers and business unit managers are much more cautious when it comes to cash predictions. We usually estimate cash projections throughout the project. From the get-go, we try to be in a cash-plus, in a cash-positive situation from the get-go. Because of the growing uncertainty of the global environment, irrespective of the contracts or the relationship with the customer, by definition, the customer is always smarter when their cash is already in our pockets.
So from an operational point of view, money talks. And working capital requirement talks as well. And so our entire reporting structure has been made aware of that. Now, we went through a period of low interest rates. Remember, in Italy, there were zero interest rates, sometimes even negative interest rates. And so good habits were taken back then to collect as quickly as possible. But when it comes to our vendors, the best thing we can do is pay them in due course. So it's a good thing. It's a good thing that those good habits have continued to prevail. And this explains in part the improvement in working capital requirement. To our minds, that is a structural thing to a great extent.
Thank you. Je vous souhaite une excellente année. Congratulations for your excellent results. Thank you, Christian, for your contribution. I have a couple of questions. Number 1, regarding ANA, the ANA airport. Could you give us some idea of the CapEx and also the phasing of the initial investments into the Alcochete airport? If you have some idea already. Question number 2. Pierre, you talked about the handover between Thierry and Christian. Sometime this year, maybe at the beginning of next year, maybe you'll be willing to share your vision, your 10-year vision of the group, maybe during a CMD, Capital Markets Day. Won't that be an opportunity to add color?
Nicolas, would you like to take this question on ANA?
It's a little early to give you an economic guidance. Now, there are contract milestones. We are crossing those milestones, and it's proceeding at pace. We have an order of magnitude, EUR 8.5 billion. That's been published. Now, we're going through an important phase, and that's the environmental assessment. As you know, in all Western European countries, the period during which we secure that environmental authorization is an important one. So that's phase one. That's the environmental phase. And meanwhile, we're working on the final design of the airport so we can optimize it, considering renewed air traffic constraints, which are different now than they were a couple of years ago.
And we are also looking at financial mechanisms. So the figure I'm giving regarding Portugal is already one year old, and it will shift further based on how we optimize the projects and also based on the outcome of the environmental assessment. But it's not going to start right away. This is a project that will take several years to achieve. The order of magnitude for this airport in Portugal is EUR 8.5 billion, as I said. Now, in terms of financial reporting, that's something we pay close attention to because it is important. That's why we're all gathered here today. If we look at the timetable and the content of the Capital Markets Day, we don't have a clear guidance yet, but we've put our heads together. I can't make any promises as to the outcome. Other questions?
I have a couple of questions, more anecdotal questions. You talked about BESS. Battery energy storage systems. Are you thinking of signing a similar contract between Cobra and Tesla, for example, regarding the EUR 6.4 billion? You gave us some idea regarding EBITDA. You gave us the figure during the presentation. But the EUR 2.3 billion, when it comes to current operations, is that generating EBITDA? And when it comes to M&A, you talked about the Fletcher acquisition in New Zealand, I think, and also FM FM Conway.
Now, in terms of mergers and acquisitions, I have in mind VINCI Energies. VINCI Construction is also making acquisitions. What should we expect? Should we expect regular acquisitions internationally from VINCI Construction? Or do you have countries that you prefer when making acquisitions? And also, you talked about the EUR 7 billion in revenue for digital infrastructure. So how much? What's the share of data centers out of the EUR 7 billion?
Regarding BESS, battery energy storage systems, your question is twofold. First of all, you're asking about our design and build contracting activities. VINCI Energies and Cobra are doing that. Arnaud can tell you more.
José María can tell you more.
And then, there are investments being made in terms of long-term assets. And we're planning to invest into battery energy storage systems so as to further enhance the value of our solar PV facilities. Arnaud, anything you'd like to add?
Yes, it's true. For a number of years, we've seen a ramp-up in those BESS installations or facilities for various customers in Europe. So we have an EPC positioning. We don't have a framework agreement with any battery provider or even Tesla. But most of those batteries are Chinese batteries. China is a major provider of battery technology. So it's up to the developer and it's up to the investor to decide what kind of battery they want. José María?
We are going to invest only for supply our projects. We are not going to do or invest in stand-alone capacity. We expected to invest at least 5 gigawatt-hours for our own projects in the next three years. This allows us to increase our equity IR in around 200 basis points.
To add to that, we are considering, as I said in the presentation, a new investment on renewable plants in Australia. Actually, an investment in a plant includes the investment in BESS. Sur la construction. Now, in terms of construction, as we said before, our investment policy is an opportunistic one, usually designed to strengthen our existing strong positions where we're already feeling comfortable. Now, as it happens, two years in a row, we had an opportunity to make the FM Conway acquisition in the London area. Back to back, there was another opportunity for another acquisition, Fletcher. Before that, the latest significant acquisition by VINCI Construction was back in 2018, Lane.
So just because we make 2 major acquisitions back to back in 2025, 2026 means that we will do the same in 2027. It all depends on opportunities. If the opportunity arises, we'll go for it. Otherwise, we'll abstain. Now, VINCI Energies, however, is more of a continuum because we have a recurring bumper crop of 30 acquisitions per annum. We're talking hundreds of millions EUR in annual revenue thanks to M&A. And that's part of our modus operandi. And we do it so often that it's almost akin to organic growth. But like I said, it all depends on what opportunities arise, as indicated when I talked about our capital allocation policy. When it comes to digital infrastructure, I did emphasize the fact that regarding construction, a flow business accounts for 90%, and major projects remaining 10%. But we could be saying the exact same thing regarding energy solutions.
If you look at the share of EPC contracts for all energy solutions at Cobra, it's about 10%. For digital infrastructure, we have pretty much the same take. Now, I don't have the exact figure top of mind to try and answer the question you posed. But we have major projects, and there's a lot of visibility there. I'm talking data centers. And there's a lot of activity, a lot of business, around digital infrastructure, between anything that happens between the hyperscaler and your smartphones. We're talking a lot of networks, a lot of assets, a lot of installation and maintenance contracts, a lot of cybersecurity aspects. So we have to factor it all in into that EUR 7 billion figure.
Now, I said the flow business accounts for 90% of the mix. And that's much more recurring business than data centers. So, data centers we're talking major contracts, Cobra's EPC contracts. Whenever they do one such contract, there's a lot of visibility. It's easy to understand. But you've got to bear in mind the recurring, repeat flow business, which accounts for 86% of our contracting activities. I know, I believe that this is a major differentiating factor when it comes to construction for VINCI. This also explains the high quality of our results. But whatever's happening around the data centers is going to fuel our business throughout the digital infrastructure segment.
So yes, we do have a presence in data centers, but we mostly have a presence in the recurring multi-year flow business, what VINCI Energies calls Axians. I mean, that accounts for 25% of VINCI Energies. Digital infrastructure can also be found in energy solutions because you can find it within a building. That's what we call a smart building. You'll find that in electrical grids as well. That's what we call smart grids. Digital infrastructure is everywhere. Smart grids, smart buildings. Microphone, please. Alors, la contribution, en fait. Regarding the contribution. Elle est prévisible et puis elle est balbutiante. No forecast yet. C'est uniquement en 2026. We have tentative figures. Only in 2026, we will have over 1 gigawatt on a four-year basis when it comes to operations.
So I prefer not to give you a figure, first of all, because it wouldn't be significant, not even at Cobra scale, let alone at VINCI scale. But yeah, this will start to generate EBITDA as early as 2026. We started generating EBITDA in 2025, a little bit, because José María, correct me if I'm wrong, operations began in June, July, started generating earnings. But I don't know how significant that is. So that is why I prefer to wait until 2030 before I give you the guidance. That's how long it takes for the asset development pipeline to actually reach cruising speed.
Oui, bonjour, Pierre Rousseau. Pierre Rousseau, thanks for the presentation. Well done for your results. Just following up on Zero-E, 1 gig for this year. We report the figures separately as of 2026. Question on airports. We see slight margin erosion, traffic increase. Could you maybe just rehearse the reasons for that? And Gatwick specifically, could you give us some color and a time horizon? And final question, you mentioned a bit more portfolio rotation going forward. Could you enlighten us as to the criteria that will be applied? Thanks.
On the Zero-E figures, I won't answer immediately. When it becomes significant, we'll report. But there's no point giving overly small numbers that can be misread. I think we'll be still in that situation in 2026. So it's preferable for us to give you an indication. Once these assets are in operation, in reach cruising speed, it's far more significant.
Question on the airports. A couple of questions on the airports, Nicolas.
So your question on the airports. Well, firstly, we regularly make acquisitions that don't necessarily have the same EBITDA margins. The annual comparisons are not always like for like. Secondly, that we had some one-off items, EBITDA and EBIT in 2024 versus 2025, an EBITDA margin very high that's grown significantly. And final point mentioned in the presentation, I believe it was Christian. We're going to change the motor contract on Phnom Penh Airport through September. We were in full concession. We were compensated. That was a one-off of the earnings. But today, we have an operation contract for Phnom Penh Airport, which obviously doesn't have the same EBITDA or EBIT margin. Those are the prime reasons that justify this consolidation margin in VINCI Airports. Gatwick.
Oh, and color on Gatwick. Gatwick, as we said, we have a plan that we're now rolling out of CapEx, same too that's being developed, about GBP 2.2 billion for that, where the latest legal challenges are underway. The approval was given. But as I said, we have to follow the latest rulings. But without delay, we're launching the design works phase. 45 million is Gatwick's capacity. That will grow to 80 million passengers. So with that investment, we can up the capacity significantly. On portfolio revenues, just to reaffirm that we're doing that. And Christian has drawn up an inventory. I mean, there are a number of significant disposals. T hose are amounts in the P&L and cash.
Yes, we're active. We're developing, and we're active to focus. And we're doing that, what we've always done and will continue to do.
If there are no further questions in the room, we can take questions on the call. Questions in French first. Yes, if you wish to ask a question from your phone line, please press star one on your telephone keypad. If you wish to withdraw your question, press star two. Please make sure that you've activated your mic when you ask your question. First question, Patrick Creuset from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.
Christian, congratulations for the great numbers in your release. You mentioned a strategic review of the portfolio through your businesses with the goal of optimizing the return on capital. Could you tell us what type of asset will be involved? What will be the criteria, the potential scale of this review? And also, in terms of capital allocation, how you currently assess opportunities for M&A, business region, and also size. Thanks.
As I've just indicated, this principle of reviewing our portfolio concerns all our businesses, all our geographies. We do it. We'll continue to conduct that review. I'm incapable of saying today. But all depends what the ROE, asset by asset, how to improve the group's ROCE. That will guide us. But we're not saying that these are times where we're going to increase the capital, the volume. And ditto for M&A.
There's a pipeline of M&A at VINCI Airports, an M&A pipeline at VINCI Highways, at VINCI Energies, and VINCI Construction that remains active for opportunities. We do that across our businesses, and we remain open to all geographies as long as we're comfortable there. And with stronger reason, we're more comfortable in geographies where we're already present, where we're already strong to do the various deals that we've mentioned. But if we go back further, without being present in Japan, we had the smart idea, it was from Nicolas, to go to the Osaka and Kansai airports. And Christian mentioned that. So we remain very open and very opportunistic. And similarly, we have no M&A investment target per year. You've seen it's far lower this year than last year.
And on average, it's pretty much the same thing, three-year average. I presented that on the reflection over the past three years of M&A CapEx. But we're disciplined. When we need to be disciplined, that is, we don't do any old thing. And if there are three or four deals to be sealed, Christian has the wherewithal, the munitions, to strike a good deal or several good deals when we believe the time is ripe. What we could add on that, says Christian, that across our businesses, I mean, we're not an investment fund, so we're not in the business of buying assets for the pleasure of buying. When we buy something, it's to nurture it, manage it, to extract value through management. That is a position of control, even 100% in energy, Cobra, or VINCI Construction.
In concessions, to be in control or co-control, if it's just to be a passive partner, not really in terms of the revenue that we contribute extensively through our work. The idea is to have a hope of improving. Receipts, if it's a pure PPP with a fee paid linearly over the duration of the contract, it's a less interest. Cobra did in 2025 to cede its stake in a project acquired in Brazil for which there was no upside. On the traffic, it was purely a financial deal. Once the development and construction risk is behind it, it can make sense to sell the asset to a pure financial player, an investment fund, say. So be minority stakes that might be sold or disposed of as your portfolio rotation. It's possible. Look at the disposals of the year. They weren't just minority stakes or investments.
Okay, thanks. Next question. Élodie Rall. JP Morgan, over to you.
Yes, thanks. Sorry not to be with you this morning. Best wishes, Christian. Just to start, we sense that you're more ambitious regarding your return to shareholder policy. You mentioned opportunistic share buybacks. Up until what level could you go? And notably regarding the dividend 5%. I mean, that's a priority. So clearly that we're moving away from a payout policy. So everything's possible in terms of a dividend increase going forward, perhaps more dynamic than net income.
And maybe another question, if I may, would you have a comment on the German contract you're beginning to see the fruits of that? And also highway traffic year to date. Are you seeing an inflection on the French residential market that you lost at 25%? Do you see some green shoots of hope there? And I see in the portfolio review, you mentioned that at great length. But where does ADP feature in your thinking? Thanks.
On the dividends, I've spoken about that. Our goal down the roads, we're at 68%. I mean, if the payout ratio is to head to 60%. On the share buybacks, in fact, we're pretty much at the end of the catch-up of the dilution several years of generating new shares for the group savings scheme. So we're not ruling out the possibility of going beyond that. But once again, it'll be opportunistically, as I indicated, based on the capital that we have to allocate on expansion, be it M&A or developing existing assets and depending on the share price performance. So I can't give you more guidance than that. What we can say is that the dividend policy, we don't want to change it every other day.
But to give some guidance that we've always done on the share buybacks there, we can be more opportunistic. That's the first. Or you look at the Americans who massively buy back shares. When it suits them, depending on their CapEx plans, the GAFA is spending hundreds of billions in CapEx. Maybe they'll do a bit less share buybacks. That's part of the financial strategy, highly complementary dividends and share buybacks. We do both. In the CAC 40, same return of shareholders in terms of its market cap as VINCI today. Next, on highway autoroute traffic, they're significant. I mean, January is never significant. Month of January, not much to say or to draw from that. On residential housing construction, with the exception of VINCI Real Estate, that's a fine company, and the impact is limited on VINCI as a whole.
Notably, construction is not at all, very little, dependent on the building of new homes. It's a negligible share. And so the impact of residential property development, aside from VINCI Real Estate, has a little impact. And on the group's financials, what we can say, Virginie, what the market's challenging, the housing stimulus plan announced a fortnight ago. So that hasn't yet been placed on the statute book. So we won't really see the effects of that before the coming months and that we're in a year of local municipal elections that are never times that are propitious to the dynamic launch of new projects. But whatever, the housing stimulus plan is a good signal for the sector to kickstart the momentum after three years of crisis.
There's a question about Germany.
Well, in Germany, there are two major stimulus plans. There's one for defense and a stimulus package for infrastructure. From what our German teams tell us, and when we ask them, we need to question them several times to get a sense of what's happening between the EUR 500 billion at federal level and twice EUR 500 billion and how it percolates down to contracts. It's not easy to read, but the sense, it's beginning to be visible in defense. I remind you that in defense, VINCI Energies made an acquisition of a company, SAM, last year, that primarily works in German shipyards for the German Navy and has very sustained activity and growth prospects. And so that momentum is part and parcel of the defense stimulus package. So for the infrastructure stimulus, German teams have great difficulty in seeing a significant shift to date on that front. Arnaud, maybe?
Well, what we can say is that we indicated ahead of phase on energy infrastructure stimulus package. There are major needs, but they're not fast-track projects because of need authorizations. There are appeals, etc., a lot of design work. So it's positive over the long term, but they're not hyper growth rates. Short-term defense is production capacity. It's positive for one sector, but it's not hyperactivity either short or medium term. But what is, however, clear is that these announcements have generated a climate of confidence, and that weighs heavily in the economy of a country.
And the Germans are fortunate in that respect. That's why it's good to be in Germany. It's good to continue to expand in Germany. And as you saw these past few acquisitions, as you saw in the contracts, be it VINCI Energies, of course, but also Cobra, with the major Cobra projects in Germany, VINCI Construction there for a long time. Also, VINCI Highways, which is the leading operator of German highway PPPs. We ain't seen nothing yet in terms of project launch, but that could form part of the stimulus package. We're very well positioned to benefit from that.
Questions in English, if you want. You've got the translation headsets. Okay, let's have the first one.
Thank you very much. I refer you to the first question from the English conference. It's coming from Hari Sivakumaran of Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Best wishes, Christian. Thanks for taking my questions. I have a few. Maybe the first one would be around order inflows. When I look at your outlook for VINCI Energies, solid mid-single digits to high single digit growth. But until Q4, we have not seen inflows improve a lot. So does the outlook imply that you are expecting inflows to turn the corner pretty soon? The second one on the German side of things, any timeline by which that could overtake the UK? And lastly, on the working capital, I do see you referencing better customer payments and so on. But when we look at the balance sheet, it looks like trade receivables are broadly flat, whereas it's the payables that have increased significantly. So is it a question of delayed payments to vendors? And if that is the case, then is that structural? Thank you.
[Foreign language] . No. Quick answer to the second part of your question. The answer is no. It's been a long-standing policy for us to pay our vendors in due course. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but in France, the authorities pay close attention to that. And VINCI has never been named or shamed with that kind of thing. We don't artificially prolong paying our vendors.
As for the order intake, it's complicated to look at quarter by quarter. I think what you have to do is in the 12-month rolling. Another thing is the order intake of VINCI Energies was impacted also by a very large project in the past years. When you restate that of the very large project, over EUR 50 million, the order intake is still increasing. I think it's +4% this year. So yes, there's no worry. As the guidance is supported by what we see in the order intake.
We need to be very vigilant when it comes to analyzing the order inflow because VINCI has a lot of multi-year contracts, a lot of recurring business. So usually, we input the contracts at the beginning of the year. So during the year, we burn through the contracts that came in the year before, and we generate business for the year after. And this is true for VINCI Energies as well as other players. Now, regarding the question on Germany, these are our estimates. Next year, revenue for VINCI in Germany will be higher than VINCI's revenue in the U.K. I'm not saying that the U.K. revenue will go down, but we'll simply grow ours faster. In one year's time, things will have been reversed. Germany will be our second international contributor to revenue after France. That's our prediction. Next question.
Thank you. Our next question is from Rory Callingham of RBC. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yes. Good morning. Congrats on the result. One question on tax. So do you think the tax targeting large French corporates specifically needs to be exceptional, to be constitutional? Would you challenge this tax if it became an even more regular feature of French budgets? Yeah, and I'll leave it there. Thank you.
Don't ask me. Ask the government and ask parliamentarians. We can answer that question, particularly since last year, the surcharge was presented as a one-off thing that would apply just that year. We're almost at the end of the budget approval process because it's been through parliament. Without too much surprise, that surcharge, that surtax is going to be approved. This means that a promise was made to us last year, but they're not keeping it. I can't possibly tell you what will happen in a year's time. We do realize that for a while now, SME leaders and corporate leaders in France, major corporation CEOs are making statements to the effect that this goes on for too long. Tax-wise, France will be less competitive than the rest of the E.U. member states, and this could actually hurt the French economy.
I think it's the head of TotalEnergies who said that if corporations have a choice between two countries where the tax rate is 15% or 30%, what do you expect them to do? Where do you expect them to go? And there's also an impact on the surrounding ecosystem, the employees, the vendors, the suppliers, etc. So reason should prevail at some point. You can't continue to hurt the French economy's competitiveness compared with Spain, Italy, the U.K., Germany, etc. So we can't hope that eventually, reason will prevail. Who knows? Let's move on to the next question. Please bear with us.
We have a question from A question in French. Go ahead, sir.
Hello, gentlemen. Congratulations, Christian. I'm sure you're looking forward to retirement. I'm trying to sell shares here. No, profit margin. Let's start with that. Could you please give us an update on the upside for construction, Energies, Cobra IS? So 2025 went pretty well overall. Profit margin was driven by M&A in construction, and also profit margin for Cobra IS is being driven by renewables. So is that just medium-term thinking, or are you expecting that improvement to 20 basis points to continue year after year? Now, regarding airports, profit margin is under pressure, was under pressure in 2025. If we look at 2026 and 2027, what should we expect? We're seeing an increase in costs. Look at the UK business rates. Prices are being moderated. Now, the traffic situation is so-so. So do you think that profit margin is already past its peak?
Hello, Nicolas. Regarding our contracting business, there's still potential. But we've been saying it for a while now, and yet people struggle to believe us. This is true for construction as well. Thierry Mirville gave us a chart regarding the past 10 years showing a regular, steadfast increase in construction EBIT and also a cash conversion pattern that is as good as VINCI Energies and Cobra. So yes, those are value contributors, and the value should be assessed properly. Needless to say, VINCI Energies and Cobra, you heard this several times in the course of the presentation, is actually being supported by all customer requirements. There's so much to be done. So obviously, we're not going to double our profit margin, but there's still room for margin to continue to thrive. The guidance has been set accordingly.
Now, how long will that last?
It's hard to say. But yes, over the short term, we expect that trend to continue. When it comes to airports, that's slightly different. Nicolas can tell you more about that. We have a mixture of different platforms, and each platform has its own trajectory. Nicolas, I wanted to go ahead.
Hello. Sometimes it takes a while for the effect to be fully felt. Now, we have a new economic regulation contract in Mexico, as we said before. So we're talking 6%-7% above inflation over the five-year period, which is good enough already because usually our method is based on regular capitalization. Clearly, this platform has been outperforming the sector. Obviously, we've got London Gatwick, and we've got the Lisbon airport. There will be regulatory discussions as well. We haven't yet set a course in terms of tariffs, but we are aligned with inflation. Future expectations in terms of profit margins from airports have yet to reach their peak. But the situation is highly fragmented geographically, so is growth. But the recent news regarding Mexico is showing that these five-year contracts are helping us to renegotiate, so as to renew our profit margin prospects in the future.
Very well. If there's nothing further, if there are no other questions, over to you, Pierre, for the conclusion.
Well, thank you so much for attending. Enjoy the rest of the day. Enjoy the rest of the year, and see you all very soon.