Eiffage, Vinci shares fall as France plans to raise motorway, airport tax

Eiffage and Vinci shares experienced a sharp decline on Tuesday following the French government's announcement of a potential tax increase on motorway concessions and major airports, causing concern about the impact on the companies' concession earnings. Eiffage shares dropped by 3.4% to €102.35, while Vinci shares fell by 2.8% to €108, both stocks trading near their 52-week lows. In contrast, the broader French market, the CAC 40, only saw a minor decline on Monday, trading around 8,100 on Tuesday.

The French government is set to raise the tax on long-distance transport infrastructure, known as TEITLD, to as high as 12.2% from the current 4.6%, potentially generating an additional €800 million in annual revenue, bringing the total to approximately €1.4 billion from around €600 million currently. The proposed measure would apply a progressive rate based on the profitability of operators, targeting companies generating over €120 million in infrastructure revenue with average profitability above 10%.

The tax increase is particularly relevant to Vinci Autoroutes and Eiffage's motorway concession business, as their APRR and AREA networks generated €1.46 billion in toll revenue in the first half of 2026. Vinci Autoroutes and Eiffage's French motorway concessions are a significant part of their concessions business. The government plans to include this proposal in its 2027 budget proposal.

The tax is already impacting concession margins, with Eiffage reporting an EBITDA margin of around 72% for its APRR and AREA networks in its H1 2026 presentation, explicitly noting the tax's effect. The government stated that it would prevent motorway operators from passing the higher tax onto toll prices, limiting their ability to offset the additional burden through higher tariffs.

For airports, operators have more flexibility to adjust customer pricing to reflect the tax. The additional tax revenue aims to fund a new "Ambition transports" fund for maintaining, modernizing, and adapting existing transport infrastructure, as part of the 2027 budget.