LIMOGES, France — Legrand today reported 2023 Full-Year earnings results.
With building markets in retreat, Legrand turned in a very solid performance, meeting targets with sales up nearly 5% (organic growth and acquisitions), and record margins and free cash flow.
Outstanding 2023 performance
~ Sales: +0.9%, i.e. +4.7% excluding exchange rates and Russia
~ Adjusted operating margin: 21.0% of sales
~ Rise in net earnings per share: +15.6%
~ Free cash flow: €1.6 billion [USD 1.72bn], 18.8% of sales, up +53.0%
~ CSR roadmap achievement rate: 118% in 2023
Ongoing execution of strategic roadmap
~ 5 acquisitions over a year, of which 1 announced today
~ Powerful fundamentals (innovation, pricing power, productivity)
~ Targeted investments in growth and cost structure optimization
2024 full-year targets
~ Sales growth (organic and through acquisitions) slightly positive (in low single digits)
~ Adjusted operating margin before acquisitions: 20.0% to 20.8% of sales
Benoît Coquart, Legrand’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“With building markets that retreated during the year, we turned in another very satisfactory financial and extra-financial performance in 2023. This confirmed once again the relevance of Legrand’s growth and value creation model, along with our teams’ strong capacity to adapt and achieve results.
Sales growth, organic and through acquisitions, was nearly +5%, buoyed by:
- the outstanding showing of our faster expanding segments, including datacenters, energy efficiency solutions and connected products, as well as a rise in electrification around the world and increased use of electricity as a power source,
- deployment of numerous growth initiatives, including multiple new-product launches and commercial investments,
- the announcement of five new acquisitions during the year, including two in datacenters, a sector that now represents 15% of our total sales.
Our profitability indicators are at record highs—a showing unique in our industry—with adjusted operating margin at 21.0% of sales, free cash flow of €1.6 billion [USD 1.72bn] (or nearly 19% of sales), and net earnings per share up +16% over the year.
Our extra-financial performance was equally remarkable: in 2023, the second year of our three-year 2022- 2024 CSR roadmap, our achievement rate was 118%. For example, we reduced our direct carbon emissions (Scopes 1 & 2) by -39% over 2 years and increased the number of management positions filled by women to 29%.
Looking ahead to 2024, amid persistently difficult building markets and uncertain economic prospects, we are aiming for sales growth (excluding exchange rates and Russia). The Group will pursue growth and cost control initiatives whilst building on unchanged solid fundamentals that include innovative capacity, robust external growth, pricing power and cash generation.
Lastly, our next Capital Markets Day will take place on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.”
The full report can be found here.
Tagged with financial results, Legrand