Saint-Gobain, driven by a favorable environment, wants to accelerate its development

Paris – The Saint-Gobain building materials group has signed a first half of sales and earnings growth, thanks to a sharp rebound of activity in the second quarter, and announced Thursday a "strategic acceleration" of His development.
  

Saint-Gobain's net profit jumped 61.7% to 1.2 billion euros in the first half, thanks in particular to the positive impact of its transaction with the Swiss group Sika, which contributed 781 million to the net result.

This is higher than the 600 million envisaged in May at the time of the agreement with the Swiss chemist who put an end to a long dispute between the two companies.

The net current result (excluding exceptional items and Sika result) amounted to 802 million euros, up 6.8%.

Observing the " good market trends ", the CEO of Saint-Gobain, Pierre-André de Chalendar judges that this environment is " very favorable to strengthen (the) positions " of the group.

" We are resolutely on the offensive to accelerate the implementation of our strategy ," he said in a conference call.

Sales for the six-month period reached € 20.8 billion, up 1.9% and 4.9% at constant scope and exchange rates.

In the second quarter, organic sales growth was 8% to 11 billion euros.

The increase in sales was driven by both higher volumes and price increases, reflecting higher raw material and energy costs.

Sales are distributed in the second quarter after a start of the year disturbed by bad weather in Europe. The level of sales is slightly higher than the consensus established by Bloomberg, but the operating result and the operating profitability (Ebitda) are a little below.

" All our activities are growing summarized the financial director Guillaume Texier, emphasizing the" return to the good tendencies in all (the) main markets ".

France thus continued to grow over the half-year, and should continue its momentum in the second half of the year. The trend is similar in other European countries, despite the uncertainties in the United Kingdom.

North America is also expected to grow in the second half, both in the construction and industrial sectors. Asia and emerging countries should maintain a good momentum.

– strategic acceleration –

In this context, the CEO of Saint-Gobain confirmed the annual objective of an increase in operating income on a comparable basis and anticipated a rise in the second half of the year " clearly superior "to that of the first, still in comparable data.

In the first half, the operating result was 1.47 billion euros, up 0.3% and 1.7% on a comparable basis.

The acceleration " strategic " announced Thursday by the CEO will result in a program of sales representing " at least 3 billion euros in turnover, before the end of 2019 ".

The objective is to have a positive effect on the operating margin of about 40 basis points.

As part of this program, " there will be a number of activities that (today) have performances well below the group average ," said the CEO. The disposal plan covers the years 2018 and 2019, he said.

The group wants at the same time to pursue its policy of acquisitions " at a steady pace ", for more than 500 million euros per year on average by 2020.

The group wants to develop geographically, in Asia and in emerging countries, which are high-potential markets. It also intends to strengthen in markets where it is already well established, and expand its range of technologies to offer a more comprehensive offer.

Saint-Gobain made 13 acquisitions in the first half of the year, and another three in July. In total, acquisitions amounted to € 356 million, excluding Sika, in the first half.

Finally, Mr. de Chalendar initiated a " review of the organization ", in particular to give greater priority to the regional dimension of construction activities and to accelerate the digital transformation.

The new organization of the group will be presented before the end of the year 2018.

Asked about American commercial policy, the CEO of Saint-Gobain said not to see any impact for the group, whose quasi -total products are " not concerned " because not exported from Asia or Europe to the United States.