Small rise in construction at Eiffage

Construction at French contractor Eiffage rose slightly in 2014 over the previous year, with a like-for-like increase of 0.6%, while public works showed a fall of 7.3%.

Sales for the group – which also includes motorway concessions, plus energy and metal divisions – came to €14.0 billion in 2014, a decrease of 1.9% year-on-year.

The group reported that activity had been brisk in the concessions division, up 5.2%, with an increase in motorway traffic. Activity in the contracting divisions was weaker, with a drop of 3.3%, which Eiffage said had been affected by a reduction in orders from the public sector, notably for road works in France. It added, however, that international operations had posted growth of 8.5%.

The group said that it had a strong order book which had increased to €11.8 billion, up by 0.2% – an increase of 6.4% excluding the Brittany-Loire high-speed rail line project – compared with 1 January, 2014, representing 12.2 months of activity from the contracting divisions.

In construction, Eiffage saw sales of €3.73 billion, up by 0.5% on a reported basis and by 0.6% like-for-like. In France, sales increased by 0.5% to €3.04 billion.

When it came to building activity, Eiffage said business had remained brisk in the Paris region, but added that the order book in the provinces had picked up at 1 January, 2015, with a rise of 3.6% compared with 1 January, 2014, and of 4.2% compared with 1 October, 2014.

Eiffage said sales had been stable in the rest of Europe, up by just 0.3% to €694 million. Activity weakened by 4.0% in the Benelux countries, but increased sharply in Poland, up 18.4%.

Public works saw sales of €3.96 billion, which was a decrease of 6.1% on a reported basis and 7.3% like-for-like. In France, sales decreased by 8.7% to €3.24 billion, particularly in road construction, as a consequence of lower public sector orders

In the rest of Europe, public works sales increased by 3.0% to €546 million. Eiffage said activity had stabilised in Spain thanks to a sharp recovery in the fourth quarter, while there had been a 4.3% increase in Germany.

In the rest of the world, sales were reported to have increased by 25.9% to €175 million, with €48 million contributed by Innovative Civil Constructors Inc (ICCI), a company acquired by Eiffage at the end of June 2014 that specialises in the construction and rehabilitation of civil engineering works in Canada.