(AOF) – Despite the increase in its sales of 5.5% to 1.93 billion Swiss francs in the first half of 2022, the Swiss manufacturer of sanitary equipment Geberit was shaken by soaring costs: +24.4 % to 628.6 million Swiss francs. This was reflected in its net profit which fell by 12.5% to 402 against 460 million Swiss francs a year ago. Its earnings per share are also down. It fell from 12.94 to 11.56 Swiss francs.
Operating cash flow (Ebitda) decreased by 10.4% to 561 million Swiss francs, corresponding to a margin of 29.0%, compared to 34.2% the previous year. Adjusted for the negative effects of currencies, the decline in EBITDA was 4.6%. Operating profit fell by 11.6% to 483 million Swiss francs, which equates to an Ebit margin of 25.0% compared to 29.8% last year.
In its press release, the group underlines that the last three months have been marked by a new surge in inflationary pressure compared to the first quarter of 2022. Commodities have experienced massive price increases (+25% in data adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations) compared to the same period of the previous year. compared to the same period of the previous year), energy (+104%) and transport (+13%).
However, the group management remains convinced that the Geberit group is very well equipped and positioned to meet the current challenges. For 2022 as a whole, it expects strong net revenue growth in local currencies and an ebitda margin of around 28%.
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The French beauty and hygiene market continues to decline
In recent years, the French have simplified their beauty routines, which has resulted in lower spending. According to Kantar, the weight of personal care and beauty in spending on consumer products has steadily decreased over the past five years, dropping below 10%. Thus in 2021, health and beauty expenditure accounted for 8.5%. For the NielsenIQ panelist, the development of telework penalizes the sector because teleworkers reduce their health and beauty purchases twice as quickly as the average French person. This trend is likely to continue in 2022. To this is added another negative factor: with inflation and the loss of purchasing power, the French will certainly carry out arbitrations in their spending, which could be at the expense of the hygiene-beauty.
CSR permeates the sector
Unicem created a CSR label in 2018, which met with some success: in concrete, nearly 700 sites, i.e. half of the activity in France, have committed to the approach, as well as 400 sites constituting almost 30% of the turnover of French quarries. This approach encompasses several initiatives such as reducing the carbon footprint of products or improving relations with suppliers. Great efforts have been made in terms of recycling, which now reaches 70% in the sector, compared to about 50% ten years ago, and while it was almost non-existent thirty years ago. However, Unicem would like the public authorities to strengthen their support for this CSR approach through the use of labeled companies.
Great prospects with green hydrogen for the electricity sector
The French hydrogen plan of 7 billion euros, which has been increased to 9 billion, aims to develop an industrial sector for the production of low-carbon hydrogen. Gimélec, the group of companies in the digital electronics sector in France, has identified strong benefits for manufacturers of electrical equipment. For its members, the economic benefits are estimated at 10 billion euros by 2030, then an additional 20 billion for the period 2030 to 2040, mainly for the sector of manufacturers of digital electronic equipment (from transformers to control systems ). This will lead to massive recruitment, in particular in the territories where the hydrogen development efforts will be concentrated, in the Mediterranean and in the Seine Valley.