Accounts for Eurovia UK, part of France’s Vinci group, show consolidated revenue up by 6.2% to £592m (2019: £557m) and pre-tax profit up 11% at £21.3m (2019: £19.2m).
The margin improved from 3.4% to 3.6%.
Total group revenue, including share of joint ventures, was up 3.8% to £782m. The order book at year-end was unchanged on £1.2bn. Cash at bank and in hand stood at £131.8m.
Eurovia UK continued highway maintenance activities during the pandemic and paused only briefly larger infrastructure schemes in the first lockdown to develop new operating procedures in accordance with industry guidelines.
The Isle of Wight contract continues to be loss making. Ringway Island Roads Ltd maintains the roads under a private finance initiative contract for Vinci Concessions. The contract started in 2013 and was troubled from the start, for various reasons, mostly island politics.
“The contract has run with significant losses for many years,” chief executive Scott Wardrop admitted. It made a loss of £11.9m in 2020.
In the annual report, chief executive Scott Wardrop writes: “When looking back at the last decade (2010-19), we can see the in-depth transformation of our UK businesses. Revenue grew at an average pace of 3% per annum but, more importantly, profitability shifted from regular low margin to steady reference levels in our industry. We managed this performance, in the context of UK austerity, thanks to our strong management culture, our continuing investment in self-delivery and our discipline to focus on our domains of excellence in the highways sector.
“The next decade looks like a land of new challenges, and we feel confident in our ability as a team offering multiple specialisms in highways, to address them. Our focus will no move to supporting our clients as they manage the burden of public debt issued during the crisis and the government’s Autumn Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR 2021).”
Eurovia UK includes the Ringway highway maintenance business and the Eurovia roads and airfields contracting business. Joint ventures include Bear Scotland, with materials supplier Breedon and consulting engineer Jacobs, and Ringway Jacobs.
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