PARIS (Reuters) - French company Vinci on Wednesday predicted a further rise in net profit and revenue this year, driven by its robust concessions and construction business.
Vinci, which is Europe's biggest construction and concessions group, made the forecast after posting 2018 earnings that were largely in line with forecasts, although anti-government protests weighed on traffic at its French motorway concessions in the final quarter of the year.
Net income rose 8.6 percent to 2.983 billion euros (£2.6 billion) in 2018, while operating profit grew 8.5 percent to 4.997 billion. Revenues rose 8.1 percent to 43.519 billion.
This compared with analyst expectations for 2.981 billion euros in net income, 4.950 billion in operating profit and 43.114 billion in revenue, in an Infront Data poll for Reuters.
Vinci said its proposed dividend would rise to 2.67 euros per share from the 2.45 euros paid out in 2017.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
