2024 Universal Registration Document

General and financial elements

For all concession infrastructure under operation, provisions are taken to cover the cost of renovating installations – particularly motorway road surfaces and airport runways – as well as the cost of building maintenance, based on maintenance expense plans (see Note H.19.3 to the consolidated financial statements, pages 354 to 355)

Risk identification Risk management procedures
Risk identification

Design phase

  • Erroneous business plan
  • Poor estimate of required investment
  • Difficulties in finalising the financial structure
  • Constraints relating to the applicable regulation
  • Uncertainties affecting the contractual environment or geopolitical context
  • Poor estimate of the project’s environmental and social impacts
  • Legal or tax uncertainties

Possible consequences:

  • Cost overruns and delays
  • Late delivery, project deterioration
  • Unprofitable project
  • Challenges to contract by the concession grantor
  • Damage to the Group’s reputation

Risk management procedures
  • Presentation to the VINCI Risk Committee before a bid is submitted
  • Transaction structured as a special purpose vehicle (SPV): to limit the Group’s commitments and the amount it invests in the SPV, ownership of capital and control may be shared with one or more partners and a majority of the financing may be comprised of debt with no recourse or only limited recourse to shareholders
  • Inclusion in the offer of specific protection clauses covering potential legal or regulatory changes
  • Some risks may remain with the concession-granting authority, in particular in relation to making land available
  • Recourse to the expertise of the Group’s Construction and Energy businesses
  • Involvement of lenders from the preliminary phase
  • Use of outside consultants
  • Analysis of the project’s environmental and social impacts
Risk identification

Construction phase

  • Poor choice of contractors and other companies
  • Difficulties or unexpected events during construction
  • Disturbances caused by project opponents
  •  Adverse legal or political developments

Possible consequences:

  • Cost overruns and delays
  • Penalties
  • Late delivery, project deterioration
  • Unprofitable project

Risk management procedures
  • Special attention paid to the preparation phase and the management of relations with stakeholders, including the implementation of best practices in line with the

Cooperate initiative

  • Fixed-price construction contracts based on a back-to-back principle to the extent possible
Risk identification

Operating phase

  • Difficulties in concession management with the concession-granting authority, regulatory authorities and/or end users
  • Legislative or tax changes
  • International sanction(s) against a partner or a country in which the Group operates
  • Damage to infrastructure
  • Significant deterioration in financial markets
  • Climate change, extreme weather events
  • Strikes or toll disputes
  • Disruptions caused by fuel shortages and/or price increases
  • Health crises and armed conflicts limiting flights to and from the countries concerned
  • Terrorist attacks on landmark structures

Possible consequences:

  • Lower-than-expected motorway traffic levels or airport passenger numbers
  • Unprofitable project
  • Difficulty in refinancing the project at favorable terms
  • Unilateral decision by the concession-granting authority to challenge the terms of the contract
  •  Financial difficulties at airlines
  • Infrastructure unavailability that could cause loss of revenue and contractual penalties
  • Damage to the Group’s reputation

Risk management procedures
  • In-depth review of the wording of the initial contract at the preliminary phase and of the periodic economic regulation contracts
  • Quality of service to end users
  • Strict surveillance and maintenance procedures (in France, this relates to the review and implementation of the rules laid down in the set of official documents comprising the technical instructions for the monitoring and maintenance of civil engineering structures, known by its French acronym ITSEOA)
  • Analysis of airline credit risk
  • Legal action or arbitration
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

The Group’s property development activities are exposed to numerous administrative, technical, commercial, tax and economic uncertainties as well as to the potential business failure of partners or subcontractors (builders). The Group’s property development operations are carried out essentially in France by VINCI Immobilier. Some VINCI Construction subsidiaries may also participate in property transactions or property development programmes, with a limited assumption of risk. Any commitment exceeding defined thresholds must be authorised in advance by the VINCI Risk Committee. The Group’s policy is to undertake a new project only after it has reached a minimum pre-sale rate.

Risk identification Risk management procedures
Risk identification
  • Cyclical business
  • Risk of obtaining permits; recourse to third parties
  • Poor project and programme definition (number and size of residential units, quality category)
  • Poor choice of partner and subcontractor companies
  • Interest rate hikes, deterioration in the financial condition of investors and buyers, elimination of tax incentives for property investment
  • Less favorable lending terms
  • Defects in workmanship
  • Changes in applicable regulations, particularly those relating to taxes and the environment
  • Inflation-generated cost increases
  • Unavailability and delays in the supply chain
  • Overvaluation of land

Possible consequences:

  • Building permit not obtained
  • Programme not in line with market preferences
  • Buyers cannot obtain bank financing
  • Lack of demand
  • Insufficient occupancy (offices, residential)
  • Risk of unsold properties
  • Cost overruns, delays or abandonment of certain projects
  • Damage to the Group’s reputation

Risk management procedures
  • Presentation to the VINCI Risk Committee prior to acquisition of the land and/or launch of property development operations
  • Crash testing to assess the maximum risk in the event of a drastic turn of events affecting a property development programme
  • Agility and responsiveness of teams to manage market disruptions
  • Separation into three areas of expertise: residential property, commercial property, property services
  • Conditions precedent in land purchase contracts (obtaining building permit, pre-sale percentage, etc.)
  • Limiting transactions with no reservations; minimum pre-sale threshold required
  • Strengthening controls for assigning and tracking construction work
  • Developing a strategy to ensure that no reservations are raised at the handover for quality programmes
  • Securing materials and setting prices sufficiently upstream with subcontractors and suppliers
  • Precise assessment of land value given its location, the municipality’s economic potential, etc.