Saint-Gobain canceled 8.9 million shares – 06/10/2022 at 18:12


(AOF) – This Friday, Saint-Gobain proceeded to the cancellation of approximately 8.9 million treasury shares purchased on the market. Following this operation, the total number of shares making up the capital amounts to 520 million shares and the number of shares in circulation is 516 million shares, compared to 521 million at the end of December 2021.

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Key points

– World leader in housing materials, created in 1665;

– Turnover of €44.2 billion divided into 5 branches, Northern Europe for 34%, Southern Europe & Africa (including France) for 32%, Americas for 13% and High performance for 15%;

– Activity 54% intended for renovation and infrastructure (52%), ahead of new residential (22%) or industrial (10%), mobility (7%) and other industries;

– Business model based on a complete portfolio of brands and a solution-based approach: productivity gains for construction professionals, well-being for the end user and tailor-made performance & innovation for the industrial customer;

– Split capital (8.3% for employees), Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairing the 14-member board of directors, Benoît Bazin as general manager;

– Solid balance sheet with net debt maintained at €7.3 billion (35% of equity) and €2.9 billion in free cash flow.

Challenges

– “Grow & Impact” strategic plan launched in October 2021: growth superior to the markets / offer of integrated, differentiated solutions for the decarbonization of construction / industrial investments around €1.5 billion;

– Innovation strategy with 3 principles, anticipation of standards, integration of digital in production and customer journeys and sustainable growth: structured by 20 platforms shared by industrial and construction customer businesses: smart materials, robotization, lightening of materials, reduction carbon footprint in manufacturing processes… / customer experience with 90% of sales covered by PIM, “digital pricing” accelerating sales / internally, Open program in the form of “Digital journey”, Datala, partnerships with start-ups led by NOVA… / externally, partnerships with research centres, participation in EAGLE, WOOL2LOOP or Optivind… projects, and co-development with customers;

– Environmental strategy integrated into the product offer, 72% of the portfolio contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions, aiming for total neutrality by 2050 and with 2030 objectives: 33% reduction in CO2 emissions vs 2017 via an envelope of €1 billion in industrial and R&D investments / circular economy avoiding the extraction of raw materials / research into solid oxygen fuel cells;

– After €2 billion in acquisitions and as many disposals in 2021, emergence of a group positioned in high-growth sectors, in particular construction chemicals;

– Integration of Chryso and Rockwool India and completion of the takeover bid on GPC Applied Technologies.

Challenges

– Cyclical character of the activity, 4/5

th

sales being made in the construction sector;

– Impact of inflation of raw materials and energy more than offset by the ability to have the increase in selling prices accepted (10.3% at the 4

th

quarter of 2021);

– Unknown on the total cost of repairs to the Genfell tower in London, to which the local subsidiary had provided coverings and insulating foam;

– After record financial performance in 2021, 2022 objective of sales growth exceeding that of the market, industrial investments of €1.8 billion and further growth in operating income;

– 2021 dividend of €1.63 and buyback of shares for €400 million.

Consolidation in construction chemistry

Construction chemistry makes it possible to decarbonise cement and concrete by dividing their carbon footprint by three or four. Saint-Gobain has therefore chosen to develop in this business, for which the world market is estimated at between 60 and 70 billion euros. It led two major acquisitions in 2021 in this field, thus competing with the world leader, Sika. After having taken over the French Chryso (additives for concrete and cement from the former Materis) for 1 billion euros, the world leader in building materials bought for 2 billion euros the American, listed on the Nasdaq, GCP Applied Technologies. As for the Swiss Sika, it acquired the MBCC group for an enterprise value of 5.2 billion euros. The latter is much bigger than GCP with a turnover of 2.7 billion euros, against 1 billion for the new American acquisition of Saint-Gobain.



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