(Reuters) – Bouygues on Thursday presented prospects deemed favorable for its subsidiary Equans, acquired in 2022 from Engie, and which now represents the group’s main business, despite stable turnover expected at group level this year.
The Bouygues title took 2.9% to 32.32 euros at 09:04 GMT on the Paris Stock Exchange, the third largest increase in the CAC 40 which took 0.3% at the same time.
The construction, media and telecoms group said it is aiming for a current operating margin of 5% for Equans in 2027.
“Bouygues had said it expected a 5% margin in the medium term, but this is the first time that it has set a specific date,” note Credit Suisse analysts, who point out that given their initial forecast of a margin of about 4% in 2026, “this seems positive and suggests room for multi-year expansion”.
Equans is targeting modest revenue growth in 2023 and 2024 and an acceleration in 2025 “which is strong”, JP Morgan analysts say, “as the market has forecast a significant drop in revenue in the next one to two years. coming”.
Bouygues finalized last October the acquisition of Equans, then a subsidiary of the French energy company Engie, in order to create “a major global player in multi-technical services, anchored in France”.
FIRST PROFESSION
Equans brings together a wide range of services in electricity, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, mechanics and robotics, digital technology and general services (facility management).
“With a proforma turnover of 17.7 billion euros in 2022 and with its 90,000 employees, Equans becomes the first business of the group after its merger with Bouygues Energies & Services”, indicated the conglomerate in a press release.
At group level, Bouygues posted a turnover of 44.32 billion euros in 2022, against 37.59 billion the previous year, in line with its expectations.
Bouygues had said that when it published its previous results it was aiming for a further increase in its turnover and its current operating profit.
For 2023, Bouygues anticipates sales close to that of 2022 and an increase in current operating profit from its activities.
Current operating income from activities in 2022 reached 2.02 billion euros, compared to 1.73 billion the previous year.
(Written by Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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