Latest numbers filed at Companies House show the firm plunged into the red from a £23.6m profit last time as turnover for the year to December 31 2022 ticked-up to £1.28bn from £1.17bn.

The biggest losses were at the building division which made a £37.3m pre-tax loss compared to an £11.7m profit in 2021.

The building losses were blamed on two fixed price jobs signed before the covid pandemic – a £100m new specialist hospital for private healthcare provider HCA UK in Birmingham and a £100m student accommodation job for UCL in east London.

Vinci said it is no longer taking on medium or long-term contracts “if they do not include fair price adjustment clauses.”

The company also suffered losses at its facilities management division where a problem PFI contract with the Coventry and Rugby Hospital led to a pre-tax loss of £31.9m from a £10.9m profit last time.

Chief executive Scott Wardrop said: “Our company has been impacted negatively by several legacy events which have necessitated posting significant provisions and losses in both Vinci Building and Vinci Facilities.

“2022 has been very difficult, but we face 2023 beyond with the full support of our shareholder Vinci Construction SAS.”

The Taylor Woodrow civil engineering division was the bright spot for Vinci  as pre-tax profits increased to £10.8m from £8.6m.