The French building materials giant Saint-Gobain achieved a year 2022 of “financial records”, aligning the highest figures in the history of the group “on all its financial lines”, indicated its general manager Benoit Bazin Thursday.
Turnover thus reached 51.19 billion euros, passing for the first time above the 50 billion mark, up 15.9%, while net profit stood at 3 billion euros. euros, up 19.1%, also for the first time at this level.
“I know that other groups have talked about Grand Slam, I don’t claim Grand Slam, but we have a record on all financial lines,” Bazin said during a press presentation. .
These good results, in line with analysts’ forecasts, “completely validate the strategic positioning of the group, which is the world leader in sustainable construction”, argued Mr. Bazin.
With plasterboard, glass or insulation such as glass or rock wool, and the demonstration made in 2022 by the group that these can be produced without emitting carbon, “we are rolling out solutions at the crossroads of the challenges climatic conditions, issues of purchasing power and issues of the energy crisis”, estimated the manager.
The group nevertheless admitted a 1.3% drop in sales in volume last year, illustrating the “settlement” of new construction in Europe, the United States and Brazil, under the effect of inflation. notably.
But the market for the energy renovation of buildings, launched almost everywhere in the world to reduce heating or air conditioning costs and respond to global warming, “is very resilient”, underlined the group’s financial director, Sreedhar N.
The group said it had cut all ties with its Russian activities, without selling them, which represent 0.5% of the group’s overall turnover. “We cut IT and froze investments,” Bazin said, “but we don’t sell for a rouble, because we don’t want to enrich the Russian government,” he said.
Saint-Gobain has also given the green light for investments in western Ukraine in 2023, “small factories on which we had projects before the war”, said Mr. Bazin, which will allow the group ” to be ready to speed up the reconstruction of Ukraine”, many of whose homes and public buildings are bombarded every day by the Russian army.