(AOF) – Bouygues now owns Equans, a multi-technical services player bringing together electrical engineering, climate engineering, mechanical engineering and robotics, information and telecommunications systems, facilities management (facility management) , as well as the smart city. This acquisition enables Bouygues to position itself as a global player in this market whose activities are at the heart of environmental, industrial and digital transitions.
Composed of Equans and the Energies & Services division of Bouygues, the new group will represent approximately 17 billion euros in turnover. It will bring together around 97,000 employees in more than 20 countries to design and deploy sustainable and innovative offers.
Through this operation, the Bouygues group’s total turnover will increase from 38 to nearly 51 billion euros and the workforce will reach around 200,000 employees in more than 80 countries.
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Key points
– Industrial holding created in 1952 with global positions, historically in construction, diversified in television and telecoms;
– Three business segments (€37.6 billion) on different economic cycles: construction and roads with world leaders Bouygues Construction and Colas (75% of revenue), telephony with Bouygues Télécom (18 %) and the media with TF1, 43.7% owned (6%);
– Strong presence in France for 59%, in the rest of Europe for 18%, in the Americas for 12% and in Asia for 8%;
– Business model aimed at strengthening the place of world player in construction, energy and transport infrastructure, maintaining leadership in the media in France and supporting the development of digital uses in telecoms, through the through control of the value chain, offers with high added value and a targeted international presence;
– Capital held at 22.4% by the founding family (29.5% of the voting rights) and by the employees (20.3% and 27.4%), Martin Bouygues being chairman of the board of directors of 14 members and Olivier Roussat Managing Director;
– Very healthy balance sheet with net debt increased to €8.7 billion after the takeover of Equans but rated A and with a debt ratio of 29%.
Challenges
– 4-point strategy: strengthen resilient businesses (Telecom and Energy & Services), develop Colas internationally and quarries & bitumen, continue the transformation of TF1 and Bouygues Immobilier, accelerate digital transformation;
– Innovation strategy: based on the deployment of 4 technologies: artificial intelligence for decision support and interactions between stakeholders, the Internet of Things coupled with big data, virtual and augmented reality for design or insertion of advertisements in content and the blockchain to secure transactions / organized in an open international ecosystem: research partnerships, funds dedicated to start-ups, presence in platforms (Futura Mobility, Impact AI, etc.) ;
– Environmental strategy aimed at achieving 3 objectives: carbon neutrality in 2050, response to the needs of the value chain and transformation of climate constraints into a commercial opportunity: differentiated according to the trades: low-carbon concrete, better intensity of use, biodiversity for the construction, pre-emption, recycling and upgrading of equipment for telecoms and reduction of the carbon impact of digital activities for television / envelope of €2 billion in investments 2022-2024 in the reduction of the carbon footprint / validation by the SBTI of all non-telecom activities;
– Realization of the Ambition 2026 plan for Bouygues Telecom intended to become the 2
th
French mobile network thanks to the merger with the EIT and BTBD networks, with the objective of €7 billion in revenue, an operating margin of 35% and free cash flow of €600 million;
– Construction visibility with an order book of €35.1 billion.
Challenges
– Disparities in operating margins and high share of France in revenues;
– After the blocking by the regulatory authorities of the merger with M6, questions about the ability to maintain TF1’s market share at Netflix or Prime Amazon;
– Integration of Equans by the end of 2022 which will place the group in multi-technical services for digital and energy transitions;
– After a 6% increase in revenue but a 64% decline in net profit, 2022 objectives, confirmed, of growth in turnover and current operating profit, including, for Bouygues Telecom, an increase of +5 % of revenue and +8% of operating profit;
– 2021 dividend of €1.8.
Concern and caution
La Capeb wants to be cautious in its forecasts for the whole year. It expects business growth of between 1.5 and 2.5% in 2022 due to economic uncertainties and rising prices. For its part, the French Building Federation (FFB) is expressing its concerns about the fall in sales of new housing for 2023. It also calls for measuring the impact of the ecological and digital transition on the sector. The RE2020 standard would thus generate additional costs of 5 to 12%. She would like to see a “National Construction Council” set up, recalling that the sector created more than 8,000 jobs during the first quarter.