By Cecilia Butini

Vinci SA said Friday that it now expects a worse decline in 2020 motorway traffic than it had forecast due to the restrictions put in place to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

The French construction and infrastructure company said it has revised its forecast for motorway traffic, anticipating a decrease in traffic of between 20% and 25%, having previously forecast a 15%-20% contraction.

The company said the restrictions on movement, which were put in place in France at the end of October, would affect its operations in the final months of 2020. Vinci already experienced a slump in traffic as a result of restrictions on movement in France, and said traffic fell 48% in the week between Nov 2 and Nov 8.

It also said, however, that it is difficult to reliably quantify the effect of restrictions on its operations until the end of 2020, due to unknown health and economic factors, including the duration of the lockdown in France.

Nonetheless, the company expects traffic to return to normative levels quickly as soon as the restrictions are lifted.

Vinci said it maintains its previously given outlook on airports and contracting businesses.

Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-13-20 0245ET