APC 2014 Annual Report Download - page 6

INTERVIEW WITH EMMANUEL BABEAU
DEPUTY CEO, IN CHARGE OF FINANCE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS
Interview with
Emmanuel Babeau
DEPUTY CEO, IN CHARGE OF FINANCE AND LEGAL
AFFAIRS
Schneider Electric has delivered on its 2014 targets, Schneider Electric launched its new company
what are the performance highlights? program, what are the ambitions of the program?
We achieved +6.6% growth and +1.4% organic growth in 2014 Schneider is On is building on the achievements of Connect and
thanks to the solid performance of Buildings & Partner and Industry aims to deliver more value to our customers and shareholders
through the year and the good H2 of our IT Business. Mature through five focused initiatives on growth, innovation, digitization,
countries accelerated in H2, taking the relay of new economies, simplification and employees development. We have also
which grew faster in H1. Services continued to perform strongly, as expressed our ambition to drive further improvement of our
we continued to invest. We also improved our Adjusted EBITA financial results. We target a 3% to 6% average organic growth for
margin by 40bps at constant FX and current scope, and Adjusted our revenues across the economic cycle. This growth should allow
EBITA reached €3.5 billion. Net profit was up 3%, c. 11% at us to generate an adjusted EBITA margin between 13% and 17%,
constant FX at €1.9 billion. Invensys also contributed strongly to depending on the global economic conditions. On top of this
the Group performance. This solid performance enabled us to financial performance, the quality of our cash generation and our
propose a €1.92 dividend per share, up 3% compared to last year. discipline in terms of industrial and financial investments should
allow us to improve our Return on Capital Employed(ROCE) in the
Invensys joined the Group in 2014, how was the
next 2/3 years and generate a ROCE between 11% and 15%
performance in the first year?
across the cycle.
Invensys performed strongly in its first year within the Group with
Could you highlight the key initiatives to deliver
revenues up 2% organically and adjusted EBITA margin up 5.5
attractive shareholder returns over the coming years?
points to 14.8%, driven by gross margin improvement and cost
synergies. This strong performance generated a double-digit We are focused on continuing to generate attractive returns to our
accretion to group EPS in 2014, highlighting how focused M&A shareholders. Over the coming years, we expect to grow our
can deliver value to our shareholders. Integration is progressing adjusted EBITA through top-line growth and efficiency
well and we are on track to deliver all synergies highlighted at the improvements. We target €1.4 to 1.5 billion efficiency savings as
time of the acquisition. highlighted in the new company program. This combined with a
€1.0 to 1.5 billion share buyback and possible value creating
bolt-on M&A will support our objective to grow EPS strongly in the
next years. We will continue to keep a very strong balance sheet
while having some flexibility to take advantage of the current low
financing conditions and we will review our portfolio for potential
disposals for non-core businesses. Last, as a reflection of our
confidence in our future growth, we have put in place a
progressive dividend policy with no year on year decline.
42014 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC