The company also said in a statement that it was not possible at this stage to estimate the impact of the health crisis on its financial statements given uncertainty about the duration and the scale of the pandemic.

Vinci expects a pronounced but time-limited decline in revenue.

In its highways business, the group added that lockdown measures in France have intensified a decline in traffic.

Vinci also said passenger traffic in its airports sites had fallen sharply in March.

"That decline has worsened in the last few days following containment measures and decisions taken by some countries to close their borders," the company said.

Vinci shares are down almost 30% this year.

(Reporting by by Matthieu Protard; editing by Jason Neely)