Bouygues' energy, construction businesses drive better-than-expected earnings

By Michal Aleksandrowicz

(Reuters) -French construction-to-telecoms group Bouygues posted better-than-expected first-quarter core earnings on Wednesday, driven by strong performances of its energy arm Equans, construction and telecom units.

The company acquired Equans from French power group Engie in late 2022, as it sought to grow in the energy transition and services.

Bouygues reported quarterly current operating profit from activities (COPA) of 69 million euros ($77 million), substantially above a company-compiled consensus of 35 million euros.

Its shares were up 2.7% in early trade.

COPA margin at Equans rose 0.9 percentage point year-on-year to 3.8%, but quarterly sales were stable due to "some short-term wait-and-see stance in a few activities in France and Europe", the company said in a statement.

"The daily news coming out of the USA brings a level of uncertainty to the economic world that makes people hesitate before investing," CFO Pascal Grange said on a media call.

Asked about the impact of tariffs, Grange said during a separate analyst call the group was not concerned as it generally produces locally, adding that "in the U.S. we are quite local".

Quarterly sales of 12.59 billion euros came in line with consensus and included the first full-quarter contribution from La Poste Telecom.

Bouygues completed the acquisition of the telecom firm in mid-November 2024.

Quarterly sales at its road and rail-building Colas unit rose 3%, lifted by a 12% hike in the rail subdivision, benefiting from demand for soft-mobility infrastructure.

The construction division's sales rose 3%, driven by a 13% jump in the international building subunit.

The backlog at construction businesses at end-March 2025 was at a record high of 34.2 billion euros, it said.

The group confirmed its full-year outlook, despite “a very uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment”.

($1 = 0.8937 euros)

(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Janane Venkatraman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)