More than half of the profits come from motorways, or 2,2 billion euros (+15%), alongside the Construction and Energy divisions, all of which show marked increases, apart from Vinci Immobilier, which is down slightly.
In total, the group's turnover increased by 25%, to 61,675 billion.
"In a particularly disturbed geopolitical and macroeconomic context, Vinci achieved a high quality overall performance in 2022", commented its CEO, Xavier Huillard, quoted in the press release.
"The strong increase in turnover and results is accompanied by record free cash flow generation", he adds, noting that all his regions are doing well (and for the first time, Vinci is achieving more than half -- 55% -- of its business outside France).
For Antoine Fraysse-Soulier, market analyst at eToro, "Vinci is benefiting from the post-pandemic effects", with "like a good number of CAC40 companies, better than expected results".
Thus, the net profit from its infrastructure concessions almost doubled to 2,7 billion euros (i.e. +96,3%, compared to a negative post-Covid 2021 year for Vinci Airports).
The airport activity is indeed benefiting from a strong recovery in traffic, coming out of the red last year to garner more than 500 million euros: its sites welcomed twice as many passengers as in 2021, finding three quarters from their 2019 level.
On the motorway side, traffic is going up "slightly", in North America, Portugal, Great Britain... That of heavy goods vehicles in particular continues to progress due to e-commerce, according to the CEO, who notes a doubling of the number of warehouses along motorway corridors.
These results are published when the debate is relaunched in France on motorway concessions, awarded since 2006 to private companies including Vinci. The Ministry of the Economy, questioned on the increase in tolls and on the profitability of concessionaires, said on Wednesday that it was considering the possibility of shortening the duration of concessions.
Focus on energy
This subject "inspires me with a feeling of repetition", answered Thursday before the press the president of Vinci Autoroutes, Pierre Coppey, blaming more generally a "misunderstanding" of the economic model of the dealers.
Another growing activity, Vinci Energies, with 693 million euros in net profit (+25%), and for which 31 acquisitions were made last year.
This year notably marked the integration of Cobra IS, acquired from the Spanish ACS and which will, for example, enable it to do offshore wind power off the coast of Germany, or the installation of high voltage lines in Brazil. .
For Xavier Huillard, this energy division, which had "a very very good year", "with 22 billion euros in turnover, will continue to perform because it is at the heart of the powerful transformations linked to the energy transition and to the digital revolution".
On the side of Vinci Construction, the main pole of the group (half of the turnover), the net profit is at 680 million (+ 19%), with "a satisfactory renewal of the order books".
"Here we are not aiming for volumes but for operational excellence, the size of our order books gives us the necessary serenity to allow us to be selective", explains the CEO.
Among his projects, the new Toronto metro, or even part of the athletes' village for the Paris 2024 Olympics, which "we will be on time to deliver", he assured. In France, he notes that the public order is doing rather well, and foresees with satisfaction a possible new program of construction of nuclear reactors.
More complicated times, on the other hand, for Vinci Immobilier, with a drop in housing reservations and "a wait-and-see attitude" in construction.
Ultimately, for 2023, the group with 270.000 employees forecasts a "further increase in turnover" and a net result "slightly higher than its 2022 level".