Press release

2017 First-Half Results

Jul. 28 2017

Organic revenue growth confirmed in H1

FY 2017 outlook reaffirmed

Mid-term strategy on track with Growth Initiatives accelerating

Revenue of €2.36 billion in H1 2017, +6.2% vs. H1 2016

  • -    Organic growth of +1.3% in H1 2017
    •     o    All Businesses apart from Marine & Offshore on improving trends vs. FY 2016
    •     o    Certification (+6.1% year-on-year), Consumer Products (+5.2%) and Building & Infrastructure (+4.0%) performed the best
    •     o    All 5 Growth Initiatives gaining traction, + 7.1% year-on-year
    •     o    Adjusted for calendar effect, growth trends were similar in Q2 compared to Q1, despite Marine decline
    • -    External growth of +3.3%
      •     o    €100 million in annualized revenue with 4 strategic acquisitions completed YTD, supporting the Building & Infrastructure / Agri-Food /SmartWorld Growth Initiatives
  • -    Currency impact of +1.6%

Adjusted operating profit of €359.4 million, +2.5% year-on-year, delivering a 15.2% margin

Adjusted net profit of €187.6 million, broadly stable vs. H1 2016 at constant currency

Operating cash flow of €149.9 million, improvement in underlying FCF adjusted for one-off items

Chief Executive Officer Didier Michaud-Daniel commented:

“We are on track with our strategic journey to transform the Group. Since the beginning of the year we have further progressed on our Growth Initiatives, with an accelerated organic growth and four targeted acquisitions. Our commercial efforts, notably towards key accounts, are materializing in significant wins. Finally, in many of our activities, the Group’s digital transformation is now clearly visible for our people and customers. As a result, our organic revenue growth in the first-half is confirmed.

All our businesses are on improving trends, apart from Marine & Offshore, which is currently facing a market downturn. Consumer Products is accelerating, Certification remains robust and Agri-Food & Commodities is gradually improving. Industry, our largest business, is now close to stability as adverse conditions in the Oil & Gas markets are compensated by end market diversification. This encouraging momentum should continue to strengthen our performance.

The Group’s 2017 outlook is reaffirmed: we still anticipate a slightly positive organic revenue growth for the full- year with acceleration in the second-half confirmed. We also confirm our full-year objective of an adjusted operating margin of circa 16% as well as higher cash flow compared to 2016.

Bureau Veritas’ expansion strategy in targeted sectors and countries is paying off and is making the Group more resilient.”

 H1 2017 key figures

The Board of Directors of Bureau Veritas met yesterday and approved the financial statements for the first-half of 2017 (H1 2017). The main consolidated financial items are presented below:

 (millions of euros)

H1 2017

H1 2016 

  %Change  

CC(b)

Revenue

2,360.1

2,221.4

+6.2%

+4.6%

Adjusted operating profit(a)

359.4

350.5

+2.5%

+1.4%

Adjusted operating margin

15.2%

15.8%

(60bp)

(50bp)

Operating profit

286.2

303.5

(5.7%)

(6.4%)

Adjusted net profit(a)

187.6

193.9

(3.2%)

(0.9%)

Net profit

130.2

159.6

(18.4%)

(14.8%)

Adjusted EPS(a)

0.43

0.44

(3.0%)

(0.7%)

EPS

0.30

0.37

(18.2%)

(14.6%)

Operating cash flow(a)

149.9

161.2

(7.0%)

(6.5%)

Adjusted net financial debt(a)

2,270.6

2,184.0

+3.9%

 

 (a) Financial indicators not defined by IFRS accounting rules presented in Appendix 4

(b) Growth at constant currency