Vinci sees smaller growth, eyes renewable energy projects in 2023

French infrastructure group Vinci, the operator of London’s Gatwick Airport among others, does not expect full air traffic recovery this year as demand in Asia is still lagging, it said on Thursday, as it beat annual net profit forecasts. Europe’s biggest construction and concessions company, which operates airports and motorways across the globe, has seen travel rebound this year as pandemic-related travel curbs eased, but restrictions have remained in China until recently. “With a delayed return to normal in Asia ... it is possible that in 2023 we will still be slightly below the traffic seen in 2019,” Chairman and CEO Xavier Huillard told journalists on a call. Vinci’s airport traffic more than doubled compared to 2021, reaching 72.5% of pre-pandemic levels. The body representing European airports, ACI Europe, pushed back the expected full recovery in airline passenger volumes in Europe to 2025 from 2024. Vinci’s full-year net profit of E4.26b) rose 64% from a year earlier, boosted by air and motorway traffic recovery which lifted concessions revenue by 30%. Construction, the group’s biggest earner, generated E29.3b of revenue, an 8% like-for-like gain. Analysts had forecast E4.13b net profit in a Refinitiv poll.<br/>