Legrand Group Announces 2010 First-Half Results

Friday, Aug 06, 2010

Strong growth in emerging markets
Continuing acquisitions
Target for 2010 adjusted operating margin raised again, to over 19%

Gilles Schnepp, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Legrand, comments:“In the first half of 2010, Legrand sales were up 5.4% to €1.9 billion, while the rise at constant scope of consolidation and exchange rates was 3.1%. Adjusted operating income rose 44% to €400 million.

Firm sales trends mainly reflected vigorous growth on emerging markets, where the first-half rise was 17.4%, combined with the success of new products, in particular Arteor, Nereya and LCS2 ranges, and sustained expansion in fast-growing business segments in particular energy efficiency. Sales performance also benefited from favorable calendar effects and a positive basis for comparison in a number of countries over the first six months of the year.

Adjusted operating margin of 20.9% of sales was underpinned in particular by good operating leverage from sales growth and the full impact of reorganization programs already deployed.

On this basis, and despite the seasonality of fourth-quarter margin and the impact of rises in raw-material costs, Legrand has raised its full-year 2010 target for adjusted operating margin again, to over 19% from over 18% previously.

In addition, Legrand is pursuing growth on emerging markets with its recent acquisitions of Inform, the leader for UPS in Turkey and of Indo Asian Switchgear , a key player in the Indian market for electrical protection devices. After these two operations, revenues in emerging countries will represent one third of total group sales on a full-year basis.
Altogether, the more than 20 acquisitions performed since 2005 reflect Legrand’s ongoing acquisition policy – an essential component of its business model.”

Presentation

Source: Legrand