(News Bulletin 247) – The three infrastructure operators are clearly in decline on the Paris Stock Exchange this Friday, October 24 while an amendment to the 2026 budget proposed to increase the tax on infrastructure managers introduced by the 2024 finance law.

Infrastructure managers are struggling on the stock market this Friday, October 24. The construction and concessions groups Vinci and Eiffage lost 3.05% and 3.5% respectively at the end of the morning, while the airport operator ADP lost 3.2%.

Vinci has certainly delivered its third quarter turnover, but this publication is judged to be “positive” by Barclays, in a note published Thursday evening.

A financial intermediary points to another explanation: a PS amendment to the finance bill for 2026 which was adopted by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly.

Let us point out from the outset that the “revenue” section of the draft budget for 2026 was rejected in its entirety in committee. The deputies will examine in session the government’s initial text without the modifications.

But the adoption of the amendments during the session gives an idea of ​​the political risks facing the text and therefore potentially of the integration of new measures at the end of the parliamentary debate. And the amendment can be re-submitted in session.

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Legal challenge

The amendment tabled by the Socialist Party proposes to increase the “tax on the operation of long-distance transport infrastructure”, introduced in the 2024 Finance Law. This contribution concerns Eiffage and Vinci as managers of motorway concessions, and ADP as operator of Paris airports.

Currently the tax is levied on operating revenues above a threshold of 120 million euros. The rate applied stands at 4.6% and the PS amendment plans to increase it to 10%.

The text of the amendment argues that motorway companies (airport operators are not mentioned) have made cumulative profits of 4 billion euros in 2024 and that it is therefore “legitimate for the State to recover part of these exceptional profits, in a context where there is a massive need for public investment in the ecological transition and the decarbonization of our modes of transport”.

As a reminder, motorways represent a significant part of the profitability of Eiffage and Vinci. For Eiffage, concessions (ultra-dominated by motorways) represent 67% of current operating income, while at Vinci, they represent just under 40% of gross operating income.

Vinci had estimated the impact of the tax on infrastructure at 284 million euros in 2024, Eiffage had indicated that this contribution had burdened its current operating profit to the tune of 123 million euros while, for ADP, the figure stood at 131 million euros in 2024.

Infrastructure groups have decided to challenge this tax in court. In September 2024, the Constitutional Council, however, judged this contribution to be in conformity with the constitution. “The litigation targeting this tax continues before the administrative courts,” Vinci indicated in its universal registration document.