At the opening of his general meeting of shareholders, the Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, reminded shareholders “ his pleasure to find them in person after two years of distanciel “. He obviously returned to the historic performance of the electrical equipment supplier last year. The President called the exercise ” reference, because reaching all-time highs”, with a turnover of 29 billion euros and a net result which has doubled.
Expected on this subject by the shareholders, the manager expressed his vision of the instability which characterizes the current context. The first subject of concern is obviously the war in Ukraine, for which Mr. Tricoire wanted to be reassuring. He assured ” support the 500 employees associated with the group”, with more than 2.5 million euros deployed to protect them. He also recalled the objective of restore energy supply in the country ”, which logically faces complications since the beginning of the war. In Russia, the company’s priority is to ” transfer operations [dans le pays] to the local management team “, implying a depreciation of 300 million euros in its accounts. The president also returned to supply shortages, particularly for components. On this point, the group intends to adopt a more regional strategy, by deepening relations with its suppliers, because ” when there are logistical difficulties, it is easier to manage them locally “.
China was clearly a concern for shareholders. A question was asked about Schneider’s short and medium-term prospects in this region, particularly with regard to the planned containment in Beijing, and the restrictions in Shanghai. Jean-Philippe Tricoire recalled that the geographical area was very important ” since it is the second country of the company in terms of business behind the United States “. He underlined the sanitary reductions which should take place in Shanghai during the month of May. Schneider Electric should take advantage of these relaxations ” since the group is on the white list of the authorities, therefore enjoys a good reputation, and can thus be among the first to restart its factories “. The quarter will be negative there, but the Chairman and CEO is counting on “ a growing China in 2022 “. In addition to the health subject, the decline in Chinese demography was also discussed for the longer term, to which Mr. Tricoire replied: “ The country has a middle class which is growing very rapidly, and half of the Chinese population still has not had access to the development that began in the 1980s. This represents a phenomenal potential for Schneider, which largely compensates for the demographic problems. “.
Sustainable growth
The difficult context today does not affect the growth ambitions of the electrical equipment manufacturer, always in accordance with its environmental commitments. The leader specifies that it is necessary to go three times faster and three times stronger if we want to achieve the environmental objective of 1.5 degrees of warming.
The group thus intends to make its contribution to the building of environmental transition, by focusing its response on three factors. First, the acceleration of digital renovation, then the elimination of combustion by ” electrification multiplied by three », and finally the decarbonization of energy and the use of renewables such as hydroelectricity or wind power. Questioned on this subject, the president also affirmed that, in the current context of rising energy prices, ” this electrification was no longer a choice, and the current crisis acts as a just accelerator of what we should have done a long time ago “.
Confirmed goals
This meeting was an opportunity to discuss the group’s forecasts, after a very good start to the year. Growth in business volume was 10%, to 7.6 billion euros at the end of March. CFO Hillary Maxson also predicts increased demand in 2022 for both lines of business.
For the rest, the forecasts established previously are confirmed. Schneider Electric still expects, between 2022 and 2024, growth in the volume of activity within a range of 5% to 8% per year. The company is also considering an increase in gross operating surplus (Ebitda) of between 30 and 70 basis points per year. In the longer term, the financial director reminded an increase in objectives thanks to the mix of activities and operational leverage”, which would bring growth to more than 5% per year.
Place for the results of the vote, which are now revealed. The dividend of 2.90 euros was voted by 99.83%. The ex-post compensation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for 2021 was adopted with 84.81% of the votes. The ex-ante remuneration, for the following years, was voted with a slightly higher score of 89.81% of the votes.