Gypsum industry news
Saint-Gobain increases nine-month sales in 2021
04 November 2021France: Saint-Gobain’s consolidated sales in the first nine months of 2021 were Euro32.9bn, up by 18% year-on-year from Euro27.9bn in the corresponding period of 2020. During the period, the company’s North Europe region’s sales increased by 18% to Euro11.2bn from Euro9.49bn, its Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa sales increased by 18% to Euro10.6bn from Euro9bn, its Americas sales increased by 20% to Euro5.07bn from Euro4.22bn and its Asia-Pacific sales increased by 25% to Euro1.32bn from Euro1.06bn.
The group said that its strategic priorities are to accelerate its growth and impact and to continue profitability and performance-focused initiatives in order to maintain robust margins and strong free cash flow generation. In the full year of 2021, it is targeting record operating income and close-to-record second-half operating income.
France: Saint-Gobain has launched Grow & Impact, a new strategic plan to increase profitable growth. The plan consists of new annual financial targets for 2021-2025, including organic sales growth of 3 - 5%, an operating margin of 9 – 11%, a free cash flow conversion ratio above 50%, a return on capital employed of 12 - 15% and an annual dividend payout ratio representing 30-50% of recurring net income. The company also announced a Euro2bn share buyback programme for 2021 – 2025.
Saint-Gobain has forecast full-year energy and raw materials costs of Euro1.5bn, up by 36% from its previous estimate of Euro1.1bn. Euro1.1bn (73%) of the new estimate is forecast for the second half of 2021. The group said that it will need a positive price impact of around 6% over the full year and of 8% in the second half of 2021 in order to offset this. CEO Benoit Bazin said “The Group will build on the success of its new local organisation and its multinational culture driven by performance and by proximity to its customers, in order to benefit fully from strong growth on its underlying markets. By capitalising on innovation and the power of data to enrich our range of solutions, Grow & Impact will enable us to outperform our underlying markets and maximise our positive impact in numerous areas.” He added “Our vision is to become the worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction. In a world moving towards net-zero carbon, Saint-Gobain aims to provide a full range of solutions that address three major issues of our time: drastically reducing the 40% of CO2 emissions linked to construction, protecting natural resources and facing the challenge of rapid urbanisation in emerging countries.”
Saint-Gobain lobbies for higher 2030 emissions reduction targets
15 September 2020France: Saint-Gobain is among 157 businesses which signed a letter to European Union (EU) members’ governments urging the enactment of higher 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The letter calls on all EU leaders to target a reduction of 55% by 2030 in line with the European Green deal.
Chair and chief executive officer (CEO) Pierre-André de Chalendar said, “The right decisions now can help create and protect healthy, thriving and fair communities and secure a roadmap for a prosperous economy. From a business and investor perspective, clarity on the net zero transition pathway and timetables for each sector - as well as policy that enables substantial investments in carbon neutral solutions - is essential. This in turn would provide us with the confidence needed to invest decisively at the necessary pace and scale to reduce emissions, create decent green jobs, drive innovation, and accelerate the rebuilding of a resilient zero carbon economy."