(AOF) – Verallia has entered into an agreement with the Santaolalla group to acquire five of its cullet processing centers, both in the flat glass sector intended for industry and in that of hollow glass. In Spain and Portugal, Verallia has finalized the acquisition of three companies: Ecosan Ambiental, Ecolabora and Vidrologic. With the acquisition of Ecosan, the French group now has four additional cullet processing centers, one located in Quer (Guadalajara), two in Burgos and one in Torrelavega (Santander).
With the acquisition of Ecolabora, Verallia intends to invest even more within the glass recycling chain by becoming a player in the logistics of collecting used glass, a central stage of the
Finally, with Vidrologic, Verallia acquires another flat glass processing center, located in Anadia, Portugal.
“The main objective of these investments is to pursue Verallia’s ambition to maximize the use of cullet in its production process and to achieve its objective of reducing CO2 emissions, the first major milestone of which is a reduction of 46 % of emissions by 2030 compared to 2019,” explained the producer of glass packaging for drinks and food products.
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Key points
– Third in the world and first in Europe in glass packaging for drinks and food products, created in 1827;
– Turnover of 3.4 billion achieved 67% in Southern and Western Europe, 21% in Northern and Eastern Europe and 9% in Latin America;
– Portfolio distributed as follows: 33% for non-sparkling wines, 17% for food products, 13% for beers, the same for spirits, 12% for sparkling wines and the same for non-alcoholic drinks;
– “Glo-Cal” business model combining the strength of the international network and close relationships with customers;
– Capital controlled by the Brazilian BW with 26.55% of the capital and 25.56% of the voting rights, ahead of the Horizon fund (13.34% and 15.75%), BpiFrance (7.51% and 8.4 %) and employees (4.1%), Michel Giannuzzi chairing the board of directors of 13 members, the position of general director being held by Patrice Lucas;
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Solid balance sheet at the end of June: debt of €1.4 billion with a raised rating and giving a leverage effect of 1.3 and free self-financing of €248 million.
Challenges
– 2022-24 strategy with identified objectives:
– annual sales growth of 4 to 6% and investments of 10% of revenues,
– for 2024: operating margin of 28 to 30%, and earnings per share of around €3,
– growth in results and dividends greater than 10% per year and share buybacks;
– Innovation strategy led by 13 R&D centers (39 patents):
– co-construction of products with customers, combined with digital applications,
– “Selective line” for high-end products,
– optimization of heat exchanges in the ovens,
– securing information systems;
– Environmental strategy aiming for carbon neutrality in 2050 via 3 objectives:
– for 2025, maximization of the integration of cullet in its production processes to 59% compared to 55.7% today in order to reinforce the circular dimension of glass packaging and collection rate of 83% compared to 76% in Europe, with the launch in France of a pilot project for the viable reuse of glass bottles and jars,
– still for 2025, 3% reduction in the weight of bottles,
– for 2030, 46% reduction in CO2 emissions via €220 million in investments and planting of 100,000 trees per year,
– issue of 2 “sustainable” loans;
– Operational excellence, strategic partnership with Fives in the electrification of the Cognac site and launch in 2024 of a hybrid oven in Spain.
Challenges
– Cost of inflation of raw materials and energy costs (16% of sales) offset by the increase in sales prices;
– Spinoffs from industrial investments in Brazil and Italy;
– Integration of the British Allied Glass, local leader in premium glass, acquired for £315 million;
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After an increase of 31% in revenues and 79% in net profit, 2023 objectives set for growth of +20% in activity and an operating profit of €1 to €1.25 billion;
– Continuation of the share buyback program for €50 million until November 2023.
Learn more about the BTP/Construction sector
Double penalty for the sector
The French Building Federation (FFB) recently warned of the collapse of the new housing market. Over the first eight months of 2022, sales in the new home market in the diffuse sector collapsed by 26.8% year-on-year. As for sales of new homes in the grouped sector, sales to individuals fell by 17.3% year-on-year in the first half, while sales to institutions fell by 23%. The trend is the same for collective housing sales, down 9.8%.
These bad trends are accompanied by a decline in public investments, while PGE reimbursements begin. Due to a lack of visibility, local authorities prefer to put certain projects on hold. They also have to face a drop in their resources and a significant increase in energy and works costs. However, the largest investments are generally made during the third and fourth years of mandate of communities, that is to say in 2023 and 2024. This therefore represents a significant shortfall for the sector.