Bersi disarms amid billions of euros in profits from motorway companies

There is no doubt: the highway concessionaires, in 2022, were goose eggs for their owners, the Vinci Group, Eiffage or the Spanish Abertis. Their profitability is exceptional and magnifies the results of these infrastructure and construction giants. Parliamentarians, who see billions of euros in profit from these groups (2.2 billion euros for Vinci highways, 1 billion for APRR-AREA of Eifag), keep asking themselves questions.

When the state privatized these highway companies, didn’t they sell them? And, above all, because they are so profitable, there will be no way to remove some of the revenue to better finance the infrastructure that needs it so much: rail, freight, canals… or other government spending. ? Vincent Delahaye, Senator (Association of Democrats and Independents) from Eason, has made it his hobby in the Senate. Deputies of the National Rally are asking the authorities many questions on this topic.

And Eric Cockerell, President of the National Assembly’s Finance Committee (New People’s Ecological and Social Union), asked Jean-Marc Zulles, President of the Sustainable Development and Regional Planning Committee (Renaissance) to hear ministers on the subject. Bruno Le Maire (Economy) and Clement Bonn (Transport Manager), Wednesday 22 March at 5pm. True, on 1^Eh Tax rates increased by 4.75% in February.

Higher than expected profitability

The topic of profits of these companies has returned to the agenda A chained duckwhich revealed in the January 25 edition the content of the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and the General Council for Environment Protection and Sustainable Development, presented in February 2021 to Bruno Le Maire, Gérald Darmanin (then Minister). responsible for the budget) and Jean-Baptiste Jebari (then delegate of the Minister of Transport).

It is mandated so that the state can defend itself against land development tax preferential companies, this report “Economic model of highway concession companies” Their profitability should be assessed.

There is a classic method for this, which is included in two inspection reports and documented by the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART), an independent body, in another report published on 26 January. It consists of calculating the internal rate of return per project. To do this, we look at the balance between receipts (revenues from taxes) and disbursements (investment in roads and their maintenance costs) over the entire duration of the concession agreement and calculate an average annual rate of return.