Benoît Coquart, the general director of Legrand, sets the scene bluntly: “
In a building market that is down over the year, Legrand's 2023 results, both financial and extra-financial, are very satisfactory
.”
The Frenchman, world number one in its sector, achieved a turnover of 8.4 billion, up 0.9% over one year, and generated net income up 14.9% to 1.14 billion euros.
In a market which offers little prospect of improvement in the coming months, Legrand is banking on buoyant segments and a targeted acquisition policy to continue to grow.
The group, best known to the general public for its electrical outlets and thermostats, has significantly accelerated in equipment for data storage centers.
Between 2015 and 2023, the turnover of this sector jumped from 200 million to 1.2 billion.
It now represents 15% of the group's overall revenues compared to 4% in 2015. “
In Europe and the United States, our revenues in data centers are on average higher than those of new residential properties,”
adds Benoît Coquart, determined to continue to progress in this market
.
All specialists agree that with generative AI, things will accelerate further, with a growing need for solutions for energy management
.”
Thus, in July 2022 the group bought the British USystems, which specializes in server cooling, via a system installed directly in the cabinet doors.
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Even more energy efficiency
Energy efficiency represents 24% of the group's turnover.
Each sector has its flagship product: connected thermostat in residential homes, automatic lighting control in tertiary real estate and tool for measuring and optimizing energy consumption (PDU) in data storage centers.
Residential renovation is one of the collateral victims of inflation.
“
Households have shown themselves to spend less in DIY supermarkets
,” notes Benoît Coquart, convinced that there is still a lot of progress to be made in the field: energy management systems in the home, optimization of production electricity with photovoltaic panels, its storage and load shedding measures, to optimize consumption.
“
Intelligence in the home is still very little used, while the return on investment is even more obvious when energy is expensive,”
adds the boss of Legrand who deplores that these products are not integrated into the DPE
.
However, when homes are better insulated, we consume more because we are less careful.
To have a positive impact on energy consumption, the building must be insulated and effective management systems must be put in place
.”
Business buyouts are another growth vector dear to Legrand.
With cash generation (Free cash flow) of 1.6 billion euros in 2023, it is continuing its strategy.
This year, Legrand made five acquisitions, which totaled a turnover of 190 million.
The Limoges group has acquired companies in New Zealand, Chile, Brazil and the United States.
“
We target leading companies in their field of activity, positioned in rapidly expanding sectors, such as data centers and energy efficiency
,” adds Benoît Coquart, who intends to continue this acquisition policy with more than 350 targets in line of sight.
Selective in these choices, Legrand will only select half a dozen per year.
Finally, the group does not forget its shareholders.
“
Since its IPO in 1970, Legrand's dividend has never fallen and this will be the case again this year, with an increase of 10%.
Our priority is dividend payments and acquisitions before share buybacks
,” adds Benoît Coquart, whose group spent 400 million last year on share buybacks.
At the same time, this year it is launching its first international employee shareholding plan, “
a small event to involve employees in the development of Legrand
”, adds the boss.