French building materials giant Saint-Gobain posted record annual sales on Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations, thanks to strong growth in all its regions and despite higher inflation and concerns over economic growth. Revenue was €51.197 billion, up 15.9% from 2021. A Refinitiv consensus from 21 analysts had forecast €50.76 billion for the period.
“This is the first time that we have crossed the 50 billion mark”said general manager Benoit Bazin in a phone call with reporters.
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Operating profit increased by 18.4% to reach a new record of 5.34 billion euros, the group said, while operating margin also reached a new record at 10.4% in 2022 against 10, 2% in 2021. The group attributed this solid performance to the strong momentum of all segments worldwide, despite a “unstable geopolitical, energy and macroeconomic environment in 2022.”
“Moderate” slowdown expected in 2023
For 2023, the group said it expects the operating margin to remain in a range between 9% and 11%. He predicts a moderate slowdown with a decline in new construction in some areas, but expects broader resilience for renovations in 2023.
Saint-Gobain said the sale of its UK distribution business to Stark Group for around 740 million pounds (839.17 million euros) would be finalized by the end of March 2023. “The group’s profile has been greatly optimized: a third of the scope has changed in four years and more than 60% of our results are now achieved in North America and emerging countries”says Benoît Bazin.
The French group has proposed a dividend of 2.0 euros per share, up 23% from last year, adding that it will allocate at least 400 million euros for share buybacks in 2023 in order to further reduce the number of its outstanding shares.
(Report Dina Kartit, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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