Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bouygues' First Quarter 2021 Results Conference Call. I now hand over to Carine Adote-Crosone, Head of Bouygues Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to remind everyone that you can find on the company website at www.bouygues.com the earnings press release, the presentation we will be commenting on during this conference call, an Excel file with historical key figures for the group and each business, and the company financial statements. Statements made on this call are forward-looking statements.
Such statements reflect objectives that are based on management's current expectations or estimates and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual figures to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Olivier Roussat, CEO of Bouygues.
Thank you, Carine. Good morning to all of you, and thank you for joining us to discuss Bouygues' first quarter 2021 results. With me in the room today are Pascal Grangé, Deputy CEO and CFO of Bouygues, and Christian Lecoq, CFO of Bouygues Telecom. Following our comments, we will be answering your questions. Let's begin with slide four. Q1 2021 results reflected a solid start to the year with a sharp improvement compared to the Q1 2020.
The Q1 2020 was negatively impacted by the beginning of the pandemic. As usual, given the nature of our activities, especially the road activity, Q1 was impacted by seasonality. Let me stress the main highlights for this quarter. First, we experienced a significant growth in group sales compared to Q1 2020. Second, the group current operating results and margin were close to Q1 2019.
Net profit attributable to the group was positive, which is quite unusual considering the seasonality of the business. Our financial structure remains very robust. Lastly, based on Q1 results, Bouygues Telecom is able to revise upwards its EBITDA absolute target for the full year. In conclusion, in an environment still uncertain and affected by the pandemic, the group confirmed its outlook.
Let's turn now to the group key figures on slide five to review more in detail this performance. Group sales were EUR 7.7 billion, up 7% year-on-year. The good news for the first quarter is that all our business segments delivered growth compared to Q1 2020, thanks to solid commercial activities. The growth was particularly strong in France, as last year activity was impacted by a strict lockdown from mid-March 2020.
In international markets, sales were affected by an unfavorable exchange rate effect like for like, and at a constant exchange rate, volume was down by only 3%. Current operating results improved by EUR 165 million compared to one year ago. At - EUR 77 million, results were close to Q1 2019 levels, which is a good performance.
Finally, it reflects, first, a favorable base effect as Q1 2020 was negatively impacted by the beginning of the lockdown, and second, the positive results of ongoing strategic plans and the operational action led by the business segments. Therefore, Q1 2021 current operating margin, sorry, was close to Q1 2019 levels. Operating results improved strongly, benefiting from the solid operational performance and EUR 60 million of non-recurring income at Bouygues Telecom essentially related to the disposal of data centers. Finally, at EUR 21 million, net profit attributable to the group was positive.
It includes a EUR 120 million contribution from Alstom, which was detailed in our press release published last week. Let's turn to slide six that highlights the group's strong financial position. I now give the floor to Pascal.
Thank you, Olivier. At end March 2021, available cash was at the high level of EUR 11.5 billion compared to EUR 10.3 billion one year ago. It included EUR 3.6 billion in cash and EUR 7.9 billion of undrawn medium and long-term facilities, of which EUR 7.5 billion were without covenants. As you can see, the debt maturity schedule is well-balanced, with no debt wall.
Moving to slide seven, net debt was EUR 2.6 billion at the end of March 2021. It is the lowest level for a first quarter in 15 years. Compared to end March last year, net debt was down EUR 946 million, a significant reduction. The strong cash generated by operations of EUR 1.5 billion covered both the payment of dividends and the acquisition of EIT, which has been renamed Bouygues Telecom Business Distribution and is now referred to as BTBD.
Moreover, net debt benefited from the positive impact of the disposal of Alstom's share capital in November 2020 and March 2021, for a total of EUR 0.9 billion. Net gearing decreased by nine points over the same period to 22%. Compared to end December 2020, the increase in net debt is moderate, EUR 662 million, as the usual seasonality effects were partially offset by an improvement in operations.
The group relies on a particularly strong financial position, which remains a major asset to strengthen its business segments and accelerate their growth over the next few years. Let's now turn to slide eight to see the net debt evolution between end December 2020 and end March 2021. You can observe that the moderate increase in net debt since the end of last year is mostly explained by the two following items.
First, the positive impact of EUR 492 million of proceeds, net of fees, from the sale of 12 million Alstom shares in March. Second, an outflow of EUR 1.1 billion from operations decreasing by EUR 189 million year-on-year. That I will explain on the next slide. Turning to the breakdown of operations for the first quarter 2021 on slide nine, you can observe that.
First, net cash flow, including lease expenses, increased by EUR 179 million year-on-year, a significant improvement reflecting the increase in activity in all businesses. This level is even better than in Q1 2019. Second, net CapEx was down EUR 110 million, mainly due to higher disposals in the first quarter at Bouygues Telecom related to data centers.
Third, you can see on the chart that working capital requirements relating to operating activities increased by around EUR 80 million compared to the same period of last year. I would like to stress that the management of working capital by the business segments in 2020 was remarkable. We started the year with the working capital requirement already optimized and with a stronger activity than one year ago. To date, we do not observe any slippage. I will now turn to the review of operations, starting with the construction businesses.
Let's begin with the backlog in the construction businesses on slide 12. At EUR 33.4 billion, the overall backlog at end March 2021 was up 2% at constant exchange rates and excluding the main disposals and acquisitions compared to the same period of last year. It also remained at a high level compared to the last six years.
The share of order book in international markets is stable year-on-year, representing 62% of the backlog at Bouygues Construction and Colas. Let's now look at the backlogs by geography on slide 13. As you can see, the international markets remain dynamic with a 4% increase in backlog at end March year-on-year at constant exchange rates and excluding the main disposals and acquisitions. Colas has notably won significant contracts in the road sector in West Africa and Eastern Europe.
In the greater London region, Bouygues Energies & Services was chosen by the operator Virtus to design and build its mega data center in Hayes. In France, the backlog was down slightly year-on-year at end March 2021. Bouygues Construction's backlog was up 3%, driven by a good commercial dynamic in medium-sized projects. The decrease of Colas backlog reflected delays in public orders due to the pandemic.
In roads, orders resumed, and in rail, new orders are expected in the second half of the year. Colas already responded to tenders for the Grand Paris projects, whose results are expected in the coming months. At Bouygues Immobilier, reservations in residential rose by 15% compared to last year, reflecting solid customer demand. However, delays in obtaining building permits are still very long due to the pandemic and municipalities agents working from home. We therefore have a lower supply of units available.
Regarding commercial activities, clients are in a wait-and-see mode. The backlog was down 12% year-on-year. Let's now look at the construction activities key figures on slide 14. The construction businesses started 2021 on a strong note. Activity was up 6% like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, driven by all business segments. In France, revenue was up 16%, partly reflecting a favorable comparison effect as the lockdown, which began mid-March last year, led to the closure of most of our worksites.
We benefited from a steady demand in residential and a good activity in roads in March. This level of activity is close to the one we had in first quarter 2019. Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, international sales were down only 3%. The last activity, particularly in Continental Europe and in the U.S., was impacted by unfavorable weather conditions in the first quarter.
The profitability improved significantly compared to Q1 2020. Current operating results increased by EUR 155 million, and current operating margin was -3.5% at the level of Q1 2019. This was led by, first, an increase in margin at Bouygues Energies & Services compared to Q1 2019. Second, better progress at worksites at Bouygues Immobilier. Third, an earlier start of Colas activity in Canada and the positive results of the ongoing strategic plan, including notably the organization in France and the optimization of industrial activities.
Please remember that like every year, Q1 earnings are not indicative of first half and full year results due to the usual effect of the seasonality. Looking ahead, our construction businesses have promising growth prospects as the essential needs of housing, energy, and transportation remain intact. Moreover, our businesses will benefit from the stimulus plans announced in the countries in which they operate.
Let's have a brief look at those plans across the world on slide 15. We have already shown you this map, which represents the percentage of sales of our construction businesses by region in 2020 and the underlying stimulus plans that have been announced for each of them. We updated the chart with the $2.3 trillion plan recently announced in the United States by President Joe Biden.
This new plan would incorporate $621 billion for transportation infrastructure, notably including the modernization of bridges, highways, roads, and public transportation, airport renovation, rail upgrade, and ports and waterways improvements. This plan will be financed over 15 years. It is too early to know precisely what will be approved by Congress, but this plan should bring good opportunities for Colas in the U.S.
Bouygues Construction could also benefit from good prospects in building activities and public works as they are developing in the region. The Pawtucket Tunnel in the state of Rhode Island illustrates this potential. In Europe, and particularly in France, while there may be some delays, we still expect to see the positive outcomes in H2 2021. Now, let's talk briefly about TF1 as results were released at the end of April.
We will discuss the proposed merger at the completion of the Q1 2021 results presentation. First, TF1 released a good set of results as highlighted on slide 17. The improvement in sales and current operating profit was driven by all three business segments. In Q1 2021, TF1's audience share among key targets improved compared to Q1 2020, highlighting the attractiveness of the group's TV channels. First quarter advertising revenues were up 1% year-on-year at EUR 358 million.
We saw the return of advertising spending in several sectors, such as food and retail. As a whole, sales were up 3% year-on-year. Performance at studios and entertainment was also very good, driven by Newen, which saw revenue boosted by some catch-up in productions originally planned in 2020.
Current operating profit showed significant improvement, reaching EUR 57 million in the first quarter, thanks to the good control of broadcasting schedule costs amounting to EUR 211 million, which remained almost stable compared to the first quarter of last year. As a result, current operating margin was up 2.7 points to 11.2%. In this context, TF1 confirms its full-year outlook, as you can see on slide 18. As recently announced and in line with its strategy, Newen recently took a controlling stake in iZen, a leading player in Spanish production.
This strategic move is consistent with Newen's ambition to grow its activity in international markets by generating a significant part of its 2021 sales outside France, and by increasing its backlog with pure player platforms. TF1 expects United to increase its sales and achieve a positive current operating margin in 2021. Please note that this outlook is based on information known to date and excludes any further deterioration due to the pandemic. Let me turn the call over to Christian Lecoq.
Thank you, Pascal. Good morning, everyone. I hope you are all fine and in good health. Starting with slide 20, you can see that we've achieved a significant state in mobile in the first quarter. At end March 2021, Bouygues Telecom had 14.3 million mobile plan customers, including M2M, following the integration of 2.1 million B2B customers. Commercial activity remained dynamic during the quarter, despite the closure of around 220 stores due to the health crisis considerations.
As a result, Bouygues Telecom won 141,000 new plan customers in Q1. Thanks to this performance, Bouygues Telecom only achieved 54% of its Ambition 2026 target to win four million additional mobile customers, excluding M2M. We are therefore confident in our ability to meet the target. My presentation will also show you that mobile ARPU continued to grow. At the same time, we expanded our customer base.
Now, let us turn our attention to our fixed customer base on slide 21. As you can see, we had 4.3 million fixed customers at end March 2021, including 98,000 won in the first quarter. In FTTH, net adds continued to grow as 190,000 customers joined us during the first quarter. With a total of 1.8 million subscribers, FTTH customers represented 42% of our fixed customer base, compared to 28% one year ago.
Having achieved 6% of our Ambition 2026 target in one quarter, we are on track to deliver our goal of 3 million additional FTTH customers. Once again, I would like to stress that this increase in volume is not detrimental to ARPU. Indeed, as shown on slide 22, our more-for-more strategy is bearing fruit. Please do keep in mind that the ARPU figures on this slide do not include the B2B.
Mobile ARPU and fixed ARPU were up year-over-year in the first quarter of 2021. Mobile ARPU increased by EUR 0.6- EUR 20.2 with the fixed for the roaming impact, and fixed ARPU increased by EUR 1.1- EUR 28.2. This growth in both volume and ARPU resulted in solid top-line growth in the first quarter 2021, as illustrated on slide 23. Total sales were strong and up 17% year-over-year in the first quarter 2021.
Cellphone services were up 13% over the period, or 4% excluding B2B. This performance was achieved both through mobile volume, which was up 15% including B2B, and through fixed volume, which grew by 9%. Other sales increased by 35%, a strong performance reflecting the acceleration of FTTH connection and the growth in digital revenues. EBITDA after leases for the first quarter was up 10% year-over-year at EUR 330 million.
Performance is better than what we expect for the full year 2021. Please remember that in Q2, we have an unfavorable comparison effect on EBITDA after leases coming from two items. First, EUR 17 million of capital gain from the disposal of FTTH premises to SDAIF and second, EUR 20 million of renewable savings related to the 2020 lockdown. The EBITDA margin was down as expected, reflecting first the dilutive impact from the BTBD integration.
Second, a negative volume impact of around EUR 20 million in the first quarter 2021 versus first quarter 2020. Third, a mix effect related to the EBITDA ramp-up, notably in dividends that have been earlier. Regarding current operating profit at EUR 76 million, I would like to say that it included EUR 6 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets acquired from BTBD, following the provisional purchase price allocation.
Lastly, operating profit was higher than in Q1 2020 at EUR 136 million, thanks to a non-current income of EUR 60 million, essentially related to the disposal of data centers. I now want to add a few words regarding our recent BTBD acquisition on slide 24. The integration started positively. Its employees are fully committed. A new senior management team has been put in place and the IT integration plan is on schedule.
BTBD launched its first commercial campaign in March and April, and it has been successful as BTBD sales performance was higher than one year ago. Meanwhile, the commercial trends remain dynamic for Bouygues Telecom. We initiated the first BTBD customer migration to Bouygues Telecom network during the quarter, and we are pleased to have no impact on churn rates. We will continue to migrate BTBD customers slowly and progressively to maintain good service quality.
The first switch of customers to Bouygues Telecom offers will begin by the end of 2021, 12 months earlier than planned. To summarize, the BTBD integration is well on track to success. Let me end with our outlook on slide 25. Thanks to the performance achieved in the first quarter, Bouygues Telecom raises its EBITDA target for the full year and is now expecting an increase of around 7%, including BTBD. Bouygues Telecom confirms its 2021 sales from services and net CapEx objectives. I'm pleased to hand over the floor to Pascal.
Thank you, Christian. I would like to briefly comment on the financial statements on slide 27. We have already discussed first quarter revenues and current operating profit at the beginning of this call. Other operating income and expenses were positive at EUR 56 million in the first quarter. It notably included non-current income of EUR 60 million at Bouygues Telecom, as Christian explained already, and a negative EUR 4 million at Bouygues Immobilier related to some adaptation measures. You can also note that cost of net debt decreased slightly year-over-year due to lower interest expense on our bonds, as we reimbursed a bond in July 2020 and issued a new one at a lower rate in April 2020.
Regarding the income tax line, the effective tax rate was 20% in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 28% last year, in line with a smaller accounting loss and a decrease in the French tax rate. The share of net profit of joint ventures and associates was EUR 105 million. It included the contribution from Alstom, as explained previously. We will now turn our attention to the group outlook on slide 29. Olivier, I give you the floor.
Thank you, Pascal. I'm on slide 29. In a macroeconomic and COVID-19 crisis context that remains uncertain, the group confirms its outlook already announced in February 2021. Obviously, this outlook is based on information known to date and excludes any new unfavorable changes due to the pandemic. To conclude this presentation, I'd like to come back to the Monday night announcement regarding the merger project between TF1 and M6. Slide 31.
As announced three days ago, Bouygues, RTL Group, TF1, and M6 have entered into exclusive negotiations to merge the activity of TF1 Group and Groupe M6 to create a major French media player. Bouygues seizes this unique opportunity to reinforce its position in the French media market, which offer long-term growth prospects. The new combined group will be strongly positioned to compete on the evolving global media landscape. Thanks, first, 360 degree multimedia presence in TV, radio, content production, and digital benefiting from strong brands.
Second, the combined entity will have pro forma sales of EUR 3.4 billion in 2020 and strong investment capacity in content and technology. This entity will strengthen the supply of French quality content and allow the acceleration of the development of a French streaming champion. The merged company will be a leading player in Europe. Third, this merger will provide an enriched experience for the general public, who will gain an enhanced premium and local content offer and a customized digital experience.
Furthermore, advertisers will be offered a wider range of choice, benefiting from cutting-edge technology in streaming and addressable TV advertising. Lastly, this transaction will result in strong value creation for all shareholders. The annual run rate EBITDA synergy has been estimated between EUR 350 million and EUR 360 million. The new entity would, therefore, be positioned as a benchmark for the sector.
On the slide 32, we highlight the main steps involved in this transaction. The first step will be a carve-out of the activity of Groupe M6 between those related to broadcasting authorization that we call on the slide M6 Éditions and the rest of the activities that we put in M6 Group. We do this due to the French regulation, because of the French regulation it's not possible to put in the same entity two channels with an audience which is over 8% at the nationwide point of view.
For this reason, we need to create two entities, one for M6 and the other entity for the rest of the group. The activity of M6 Group will merge with TF1 in exchange for new TF1 share based on a merger parity reflecting the overall economic exchange ratio of 2.1 TF1 share for one M6 share. Following this, Bouygues would acquire an 11% stake of the merged entity from RTL Group for EUR 641 million. Finally, RTL Group will contribute a 48% stake in M6 Éditions to the combined entity.
Following these steps, Bouygues will own around 70% of the merged entity and will have exclusive control over it, acting in concert with RTL Group as a strategic shareholder. Both Bouygues and RTL Group are committed to support the combined entity over the long term. The project was unanimously approved by the board of the four companies. Looking at the final slide, this operation will be accretive for Bouygues and bring significant value creation potential. Slide 33.
As a matter of fact, as you can see on this slide, thanks to the M6 Group's high profitability, the current operating margin of the merged entity will have been 30.7% in 2020 on a pro forma basis, higher than the TF1 margin, which was 9.1% in 2020. This transaction will also increase earnings per share.
This transaction will have a limited EUR 600 million impact on the net debt before consolidating M6 net debt or sale at closing, it will not affect our ability to consider other opportunities to reinforce Bouygues in other business segments. The value creation potential will be significant thanks to the annual EBITDA synergy. The project is very attractive for Bouygues from both the industrial and financial sides. Third, slide 34.
The transaction is subject to the usual condition precedents, and more specifically, the approval of the French antitrust authority and the media regulator. Its completion is expected by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, neither TF1 nor M6 will be at risk during this period because it will be business as usual and competition as usual for each entity. Like all industrial and synergistic operations, this transaction is more complex than a simple financial deal.
We are very confident in the outcome of the discussion we will have with the antitrust authority and the media regulators that will allow this operation to be completed under satisfactory conditions for all stakeholders. This concludes our presentation. Thank you for your attention. Operator, please open the floor for questions.
Of course. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. As a reminder for our participants, please limit yourself to two questions, please. The first question comes from the line of Mr. Nicolas Cote-Colisson from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you. I start with a question on telecoms. I'm interested in your views on equipment supply constraints, if any, and also how you take the decision from Iliad to eventually enter the premium market, because both of you are now having high ambitions to become a long-term leader behind Orange.
I'm interested in your views on the risks of a resurgence of a price war after almost two years of, I would say, relative peace. On the construction side, back to your slide 15 on the stimulus plan. Can you help us on the phasing? I was wondering if you could tell us if there are any regions that could materially impact your business as of year 2021. Thank you.
I can answer about your first question. I think it's mainly about the trend we saw today on chipset supplies. Today, this difficulties on chipset supply doesn't have any impact for us on a regulatory equipment or in general network equipment, I will say, like the concept. What we see is that we have more difficulties for set-top boxes and set-top boxes with two impact.
The first one is a bit higher pricing for these equipments, but very small impact for us, less than EUR 10 million for the year, for example. The second impact is that we have to anticipate our supply so as to be secure. Today I think that we have already ordered all our set-top boxes for the next coming year, so from now to mid next year. We are very confident on this point. No big deal for us. The first point.
The second point was about the price war, possibility of price war in France. That's why that we saw, I would say, more promotions in the Q1 of this year. I think it was mainly because the shops were closed, we have to attract the customers to the digital channel. I imagine two things.
The first one is that Bouygues Telecom didn't put in place the first set of promotions during Q1. It was mainly SFR, we decided to follow as usual. This is the first point. The second point is that this is very limited promotions limited to the similarly bundled offers. No big impact for us. Today our shops have been reopened today, so today or yesterday.
I think that the Q2 will be much better for this point. About Iliad on the subsidy market. Well, no comment. They are used to do that for now two years or three years with refurbished handset. You saw that in our figures. No big impact on our volume neither.
Thank you.
As far as stimulus plans are concerned in the construction businesses, I would say that probably in the U.S. it will be next year, but we could expect in Europe and especially in France, first effect during H2 2021. In particular for Colas projects, small rail projects and probably some cycling roads and so on and so forth.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mr. Jakob Bluestone from Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. I had two questions, please. Firstly, I'd be interested if you could comment a little bit about your thinking on the balance sheet on the back post the TF1-M6 transaction. I appreciate it's quite a late closing, but do you think there's still balance sheet capacity for further acquisition, assuming the deal goes through, or do you still have a sort of slightly unlevered balance sheet or is this essentially done?
Secondly, can you perhaps comment a little bit around the margins for Colas? Operating profit improved by almost EUR 100 million year-on-year. I think it was EUR 75 million COVID drag last year. It looks like there's sort of a fairly healthy ex-COVID development in Colas. Just interested in what are your expectations around margins for Colas? Do you still expect margins to sort of end up at the 2019 level for this year, or given the performance in Q1, do you think it could be a little bit better? Thank you.
Okay. For the first question, if you consider our balance sheet, we can consider that we have a very, very low level of debt end of last year, but also end of this year. I remind you that if you cover a one-year period, the operational inflows have covered first the dividend, and then the acquisition of EIT. The proceeds related to Alstom have improved our net debt.
For the same amount. It's a good achievement of our operational activities. You know that we have structured the TF1 and M6 operation in a way in which we will have a company after merger with a very, very low level of debt, and no impact for the consolidated debt of the group. We have to disburse EUR 644 million to buy to RTL Group 11% of their stake.
There is a very important room to develop our other businesses. I remind you that we have already said that we consider several fields for development. First, roads for Colas, and we have targeted three particular regions: Northern Europe, Germany, and the U.K. We have energy and services. The third region, sorry, Northern Europe and Germany and Northern America, and especially U.S.
We have also targeted energy and services, in which we consider that we have room for development and improvement in margins. We consider that our balance sheet is sufficiently strong to develop these different projects. The second question was related to Colas margin. You have seen that we have achieved a quite good performance during the first quarter of 2021, and we are very satisfied about that figure because if you consider the level of activity in 2021 compared to 2019, we are a bit lower, but we have maintained the level of margin, which is a very good news and which in fact illustrate the actions we are developing in Colas Group in order to optimize some activities, in particular quarries and bitumen activities, and the efforts which have been made to restructure French road activities. We are quite confident for the year.
Frankly speaking, it's very early to know precisely what will be the margin for the current year. We remain optimistic to be not far from the 2019 level. Probably not at the level of 2019, in fact, we have to wait one quarter to see how things develop.
If I can just ask a quick follow-up. Just on the M6 transaction, given you expect to retain exclusive control, can we assume that the accounting treatment of TF1 within the Bouygues group will remain unchanged, so you'll continue to consolidate it?
You are perfectly right. We will be integrating the whole group on the global level.
Brilliant. Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Mr. Eric Le Berrigaud from Bryan Garnier. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I've got two. First one regarding Bouygues Energies & Services. On the sales of Brite Energy in these sectors, do you expect any positive impact on market discipline in term of pricing after this separation will be done? 2nd question regarding the new workplace. There is a lot of talks currently, discussion around the new workplace, post-pandemic, I would say. Do you got some specific offers in the Bouygues group? I was thinking in particular of Bouygues Immobilier and Bouygues Energies & Services. It would be nice, if I may, if you can provide the revenue and margin of Bouygues Energies & Services if you want, please. Thank you.
First, considering Brite. In fact, we do not expect any impact on the market related to this operation. Let's say that, as you know, we have an important action plan in order to recover some better margin at the Bouygues Energies & Services level. And same, in fact, for Bouygues Energies & Services, because you consider that they are at a level which could be improved if you compare to their competitors, our competitors. But no market effect of this operation.
Okay.
Secondly, the margin improved. I don't compare the profitability of Q1 2021 to 2020. As you know, the lockdown last year impacted drastically the margin. We are on the way of improvement of the profitability of Bouygues Energies & Services from 1.2% in Q1 2019 to 2.2% at Q1 2021. We have set an action plan. It takes time to have the results of that, because as I mentioned in different circumstances, we need to change the organization of the company. We have to change the geographical mix of the company, and we have to change the activity mix of the company. We are doing so. We are quite satisfied about our action plan and the results we obtain. The margin is increasing. We intend to reach this year a level which will be comparable to the average level of margin on Bouygues Construction.
This is the first step, then we will have to reach the level of our competitors. Your third question was related to workplaces, and you were asking if we had some specific solution to propose to our clients. I have different things to say in that respect. First, we are sure that a lot of companies are actually in a wait-and-see period because they don't know. We are not in a normal situation, so people are working from home today, but it's due to the pandemic and is not a long-term policy.
We will have to wait. We will adapt our products in order at Bouygues Immobilier level to propose some new kind of offices. We have already our Wojo activity, which is related to co-working places. Obviously, they stopped their activity in large extent during the last 12 months, but we will consider that it will recover rapidly. You know that the Wojo company is a company which is a cooperation between Accor, a JV between Accor and Bouygues Immobilier.
Thank you. Thank you very much for the answers. Interesting.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mr. Jerry Dellis from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. First question relates to your construction activities. I'd be interested to understand how a more inflationary outlook might impact your cost base, various elements of your cost base, and what ability you think you might have to pass on higher inflation to customers.
Sorry. Please go ahead.
Okay, thank you. The second question was just on the telecom guidance. You've raised the EBITDA guidance, obviously, this morning. The revenue target is unchanged. The reasons behind the EBITDA upgrade would be very interesting, please. Just finally, on the RTL-M6 transaction, I'd be interested to understand, please, how RTL will be compensated for contributing the 48% stake of M6 Éditions into the merged entity. Thank you.
I will start with the inflation question in the construction businesses. Firstly, we have to separate two, the Bouygues Construction activity probably and Colas activity. Because in average, Colas activity are based on short-term contracts. When we submit our offer, we have not very long to wait before realizing the work. There is no very important inflation issues. When there is inflation on some raw materials and so on, we increase our offer price. There is no particular risk in that respect. At Bouygues Construction, the situation is a bit different because the period between the day we submit our offer to the day we are realizing the works, we have far longer to wait. There is in fact, two particular mechanism in order to conserve that risk.
First, to our clients with formulas, in some contracts, we have some formulas, price index, in order to cover that risk. Secondly, when we offer firm prices, we ask our suppliers firm offers for the equipment and the materials. This is our strategy. The remaining part of the risk remain more marginal. This is for the inflation. For inflation, we answer. Yes, for Bouygues Telecom EBITDA, the change of guidance means that we'll have EUR 30 million more EBITDA than expected before. The main impact is the fact that activity integration is better than expected. That means that we have a better level of synergies than we expected before. This is the main impact. The second impact is current in term of OpEx. We are spending a bit less on tax effect team, this is the second impact.
The third impact is we could have some small roaming revenue at the end of the year due to vaccination campaign. We expect that the COVID impact could be lower at the end of the year. That is the three main impact for EBITDA, but the main one is the B2B synergy. Your third question was related to the structure of the M6-TF1 deal and how RTL Group will be compensated for their 48% stake in M6 Éditions. That is quite clear. They will be remunerated with TF1 shares. When we mentioned the 16% stake of RTL Group, this includes the compensation for their 48% for their participation in M6 Éditions. Is it clear?
That is clearer. It's still not clear to me the basis on which M6 Éditions will be valued. Is it possible to shed light on that, please?
No. At that stage, it's too early to give you some details on that. Obviously all the mechanism has been designed in order to make sure that the level of valuation of M6 Éditions will be integrated in the termination of RTL Group.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mr. Mathieu Robilliard from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning. I start with the question on construction, could you give us a little bit of color in terms of the intake at Colas during the quarter? Also how you now view the quarter that has passed and the outlook compared to maybe your views at the end of last year where you were quite cautious. That would be the first question. Also, on construction, I saw there was some big order intake in France in the quarter. I may have missed comments on that during your scripted remarks, if you could give a bit of color there, that would be great.
Lastly, on telecoms, you were asked before about the competitive environment, your message is that it has deteriorated a bit on the very low end, I guess what you're saying is that it still is solid for the rest of the market. I wanted to know if you were able to continue to do more for more initiatives on your back book since the beginning of the year, you still think you can do during the rest of the year as you did in 2019 and 2020. Thank you.
Well, I will answer the first question on telecommunication. Yes, of course, we are going to continue our more for more strategy during the year and the year after, of course. We already did that during Q1, despite the fact that we had, of course, some commissions on the low-end market. We'll continue to do that.
As far as your first question is concerned, which is what is the color on commercial activity for Colas during Q1 2021, I said that we were obviously a bit anxious at the beginning of the quarter due to the fact that it's quite difficult for civil servants to organize competition and calls for tenders on home. We are quite satisfied about how the situation has evolved during the quarter. Calls for tenders increased in average by 15% in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 in 2020.
It remains lower than the average level of Q1 2019, but we had quite a satisfactory last month in March. We are considering new calls for bids from municipalities, which are the beginning of a new electoral cycle, and we consider that it will have a positive impact during Q2 and H2. Then we will have, in addition, the impact of the stimulus package. We are quite satisfied about this commercial activity. I'm very sorry that I have not get your second question.
Yeah. Sorry. It was about the order intake on construction in France. There seems to be a 35% increase. Maybe you explained it during the call before and I missed it, but if you could give us a little bit of color as to why it progressed so well in construction France, the order intake.
In fact, there is always a bit of volatility in our figures in France for new construction as we are considering major or medium-sized projects. Let's say that during the first quarter, we had two important projects, which are the real estate renovation project in Boulevard des Capucines, which is quite important, and we have been awarded also for some stations for the Grand Paris. In general, we can say that we are quite satisfied about the order book in France and the order intake related to medium-sized projects.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mr. Joseph Vijay from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hello, good morning. I have two questions, both on the TF1 and M6 deal, please. The first one is on the synergies, which are an important part of the deal. Could you help us understand the main areas where you expect the synergies and also the split between the merged entity and the pure channel M6, where most of those synergies will be? My second question is about what you mentioned early about this long-term commitment of RTL and, of course, yourselves to support the deal. Could you be more precise about what long-term does it mean? How long are they, I would say, engaged in supporting, I would say, this entity? Thank you.
Okay. Starting with your second question. Let's say that we have negotiated effectively a long-term cooperation agreement, so there is no date which is forecasted for them to leave. Obviously, they will see, and I think that Thomas Rabe, because it's mostly a question for Thomas Rabe, explained that in Le Figaro today, that he's at least committed for a few years, and then after, if the cooperation goes well, he intends to stay. He mentioned that Bertelsmann is a group, family-owned, which is committed on the long term, so they do not intend to leave. That is for your first question. Your second question was related to synergies.
Most of the synergies are cost synergies, which are related to optimization of stock, optimization of tools, and obviously all programs which are bought externally, and this is the main part, and there is a few revenue synergies, which are related to the way we can propose new offers to our clients and to advertisers.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Nour Christine from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much for taking my questions. I have two on Telecoms, please. Firstly, starting by B2B, following Iliad's launch in March through the SME market. Would love to know if you've seen any impacts at the moment and what you see generally in the marketplace. Have you seen any particular reactions triggered by this entrance? That's the first question.
My second question is linked to the subsidized offer. Seeing that in the digital and environment roadmap that the government published in February, they seem to mention this as a potential route to try to work on the carbon footprint coming from smartphones. It would be helpful to get your view on this. Do you see any potential risk coming from regulation in the subsidy market? Thank you very much.
Right. About your first question on the Iliad entry on the B2B segment. We do not see an impact on the market. As you know, Iliad offer targeted mainly what we call the pro segment, so the small office, home office, or very small business, and not the small and medium enterprise. We do not have an impact today.
We already have, at the Bouygues Telecom level, some offers for this pro segment at quite the same price as Iliad, which included in Iliad offers all what we have already in our offer, like for example, premium services and so on, and also the mobile line. No impact for us. I remind you that Iliad was probably already present in the pro segment via m ass market offers like us today. You have many proofs that, in fact, use normal B2C offers.
That is a confirm for that. About the subsidy, we do not consider that smartphone subsidies have an impact on the renewal rate of mobile. Today, I think that on the market, more than 75% of the customers can change their handsets today. Are free to change their handset, and they do not drop quickly, it seems. We do not think this has an impact. I remind you also that Bouygues Telecom have a big program in term of renewable the handset. We were the first operator to launch such a program many years ago now. We are very active in this business program.
The last point, we are quite surprised that at the same time, the government demands us a fast 5G network deployment or fast 5G network rollout, while trying at the same time to slow down the equipment of the customers in new 5G compatible handsets. Good to have a 5G network, but if people cannot get any 5G handset. Because 5G handset now, the price is more than EUR 1,000. It'll be difficult to equip everybody at such a price. Without subsidy, I don't think that we could have a big 5G effect in France.
That's helpful. Thank you. Thank you. We have no further questions, so I'll hand the call back to our speaker to conclude the call for today. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, thank you for joining us today. We'll be announcing first half 2021 sales and earnings on 26th of August 2021. Should you have any question, please contact our investor relations team. The contact information is on the press release on our website. Have a good day.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes Bouygues first quarter results conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.