Construction group Eiffage eyes further profit rise in 2017

PARIS (Reuters) - Eiffage reported higher profits for 2016 on Wednesday, helped by cost control, a robust concessions business and an improvement in its construction business in the fourth quarter. Eiffage, which is France's third-largest construction and concessions company behind Vinci and Bouygues , said it expected its results to improve further this year on the back of slightly higher sales. Operating profit reached 1.597 billion euros(1.37 billion pounds) last year, up 11.6 percent year-on-year, while net profit jumped 33.3 percent to 148 million euros. Eiffage, which built the Millau Viaduct in France and the Sydney Opera House, generates roughly 85 percent of its revenue from contracting operations - which include construction and public works - and the rest from operating concessions, mainly motorways but also prisons and hospitals. Operating profit rose 11.8 percent in the concessions business, which benefited from a sharp increase in motorway traffic and cost control, while it rose 10.2 percent in contracting. In the fourth quarter alone group revenue rose 4.8 percent to 3.946 billion euros, including a 9.1 percent rise in construction. Eiffage said its order book stood at 12 billion euros, up 5.1 percent from the previous year. Rival Vinci earlier this month forecast higher revenue and profits this year on the strength of a French construction market upturn and a robust concessions business. ($1 = 0.9488 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Elaine Hardcastle)