The firm always suffers a seasonal roller coaster performance, but this time early year losses deepened by a further £72m compared to 2009.
Bouygues said sales slid 7% in the three months, with France down 6% and the rest of the business down by 10%.
Despite tough early trading Colas’ order book at the end of March remained high at £5.8bn, up 13% on the previous quarter.
For the year Colas is expected to achieve sales of £9.5bn.
Bouygues’ construction division also contributed less, with sales falling 6% to £1.8bn.
While first-quarter sales were stable internationally, Bouygues said, poor weather weighed in France, where sales declined by 10%.
The main construction business is expected to see sales fall 5% over the year to £7.5bn.