APC 2010 Annual Report Download - page 4

2010 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC2
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Message from
Jean-Pascal Tricoire
PRESIDENT AND CEO
2010 has been a turning point for Schneider Electric. All
its businesses and regions renewed with growth. Including
Areva Distribution on a full year, the pro forma sales exceeded
EUR20billion for the fi rst time.
In two years, we succeeded in transforming the crisis into
opportunity and acquired a new dimension. Schneider Electric
has become the global specialist in energy management. Our
businesses are facing a number of global challenges: in order to
respond to the growing world population and the development
of emerging countries, we must start by saving the increasingly
rare and expensive energy, and therefore propose solutions that
allow all of us to do more while using less. We must also provide
the underpriviledged population, in other words the 1.4 billion
people who today have no electricity, the access to energy and the
benefi ts that come with it.
New growth drivers
The world’s centre of gravity has shifted, with mature economies
seeing their supremacy questioned in favor of a new international
equilibrium. In 2010, China became the world’s second largest
economy. There is a growing concern in the new economies,
especially in Asia-Pacifi c, of the need to reconcile economic
development and preservation of the environment. This is why we
have made the development of our business in these countries a
key focus of our strategy.
Our presence in these new economies, such as China or India, is
broad based, from product development to commercial activity,
supported by local production. Our investments in R&D are tailored
to the needs of these countries. We work hand in hand here with a
multitude of local partners. Firmly anchored in these countries, we
are part of their everyday landscape.
Another growth driver is the rapid transformation of Schneider
Electric: as a product supplier in the past, we are now positioned
as a major player in energy management. We are offering our
customers the most integrated solutions in our markets, solutions
that provide safety, reliability, effi ciency, remote control and reduced
CO2 emissions. All our technologies can be incorporated into
applicative solutions compatible with all current standards. Today,
all over the world, we are offering our customers energy effi cient
solutions that are easy to implement, economic and guaranteed by
one brand - Schneider Electric.
In mature countries, our product and services portfolio also
responds to the change of the conventional grid: from what used
to be a concentrated power generation, the grid has developed
into an infi nitely more complex model. Today, this involves
integrating multiple renewable energy sources and managing
moving electricity consumption generated by recharging electric
vehicles, and users who want to control and adjust their electricity
consumption. All this requires a management of the grid in real
time. This is why we have designed our portfolio and developed
our skills in order to become a major architect of this new intelligent
network, the smart grid, and the leader in all applications related
to energy effi ciency.
Strategic acquisitions
2010 was also a year of strong external growth. We have made
acquisitions that were critical for the development of our presence
in the new economies and for our strategy in the solution business.
The acquisition of a 50% holding in Electroshield-TM Samara in
Russia is a perfect illustration. It strengthens Schneider Electric’s
position in medium voltage and extend its presence across Russia.
About ten acquisitions have been made in 2010 to improve our
solutions capacity and our presence in the new economies.
Areva Distribution remains the most signifi cant acquisition of 2010.
With 12,000new employees joining the Group, we are building the
global leader in the medium voltage segment. Areva Distribution
was integrated in the Group since 7 June 2010 and delivered
results exceeding our expectations. It will be merged with our
existing medium voltage business in2011 to form the fi fth business
of the company: Energy.
Our solid balance sheet and our strong cash generation put us in
a good position to seize new opportunities and to accelerate our
strategic deployment.
MESSAGE FROM JEAN-PASCAL TRICOIRE
PRESIDENT AND CEO