Paris, France — According to Suez` 2017 annual results, the Recycling and Recovery Europe division reported revenue of € 6,165m, an organic increase of 3.1 percent. Volumes treated were up 1.4 percent, improving from +0.4 percent at end-September. Performance was also driven by a substantial positive price effect on secondary raw materials, particularly scrap metals and paper, for which average prices increased by 42 percent and 7 percent, respectively, compared with 2016.
By geographic region, the organic change in revenue was +5.3 percent in France, +2.5 percent in the Benelux and Germany region, +1.6 percent in Sweden and -3.1 percent in the United Kingdom due to an adverse construction effect, unrelated to the volume trend. The Industrial Waste Specialties segment grew organically by +4.8 percent, thanks to good commercial momentum with large industrial customers.
The Recycling and Recovery Europe division reported EBIT of € 303m, representing organic growth of € 19m (+6.4 percent). This increase confirmed the improvement in operating momentum and was further enhanced by higher electricity prices compared with last year.
The International division reported revenue of € 3,952m in 2017, for organic growth of +0.9 percent (+€ 37m) as a result of the following trends:
- A stable Africa, Middle East and India region (+0.2 percent; +€ 2m); higher electricity revenues at Lydec in Morocco and the contribution from the construction of the extension of the Kelani Right Bank drinking water production plant near Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, were offset by the lower contribution from several construction contracts in the Middle East;
- Momentum in the Italy and Central Europe region, which grew by 13.0 percent (+€ 48m), with the commissioning of the waste-to-energy plant in Poznań and robust water and waste activities in Czech Republic;
- Growth in Australia of 3.2 percent (+€ 31m), driven in part by higher volumes of treated and collected waste (+3 percent) and also by an increase in the water volumes sold;
- A 4.6 percent decrease in North America (-€ 46m), due mainly to the decrease in the water volumes sold following highly unfavorable weather conditions (-4 percent) and the termination of the Indianapolis and Jackson contracts;
- A stable Asia region at 0.3 percent (+€ 1m), because of the termination of major equipment supply contracts last year;
EBIT for this division was € 557m, representing organic growth of +1.0 percent (+€ 6m), despite the costs linked to the decision to terminate two contracts services, in the Africa, Middle East and India region following operational difficulties.
Commenting on these results, Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO, said: „I want to highlight that 2018 will be a year of growth for SUEZ. Among the 4 growth engines of the Group, 3 of them, R&R Europe, International and WTS, are delivering high level of growth in growing markets.“
More information can be found in the 2017 annual results under suez.com.
Source: Suez
