Registration Document 2011 - Schneider Electric
Registration Document 2011 - Schneider Electric
Registration Document 2011 - Schneider Electric
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MESSAGE FROM JEAN-PASCAL TRICOIRE<br />
PRESIDENT AND CEO<br />
><br />
Message from<br />
Jean-Pascal Tricoire<br />
PRESIDENT AND CEO<br />
<strong>2011</strong> was a defi ning year for <strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong>, a year characterised<br />
by strong growth, reactivity to many unexpected external events, an<br />
intense deployment of our strategy and the successful closing of the<br />
One company programme.<br />
First of all, <strong>2011</strong> was an incredibly busy and meaningful year from<br />
an operational point of view. We generated robust organic growth,<br />
at 8.3%, reported 14% total growth and changed size. For the fi rst<br />
time, our sales exceeded the EUR 22 billion mark. This translated<br />
into record profi ts and strong cash generation, particularly in the<br />
second half, achieved despite unprecedented headwind of raw<br />
material infl ation, major disruptions of our supply chain following the<br />
tsunami in Japan, the welcomed but faster than expected take-off<br />
of solutions in our business portfolio, and the weakening of Europe.<br />
We reacted to those events swiftly, proved once again our pricing<br />
power, the fl exibility and reactivity of our supply chain, the resilience<br />
of our cash generation, while developing our S olution business in<br />
an aggressive but controlled manner. <strong>2011</strong> performance allows<br />
us to propose to our shareholders a dividend of EUR 1.70, which<br />
represents a payout of 50% of net income.<br />
<strong>2011</strong> was also characterized by an intense deployment of our<br />
strategy.<br />
We realized strategic investments for organic growth in new<br />
economies and solutions. As a result, our presence in new<br />
economies grew to about 40% of sales and our solution business<br />
to 37% of sales. These growth engines grew three times faster than<br />
mature countries and two times faster than products respectively.<br />
Our solutions business has been supported by the successful<br />
launch of our integrated hardware and software architecture of<br />
effi ciency, EcoStruxure. In 2012, we’ll leverage this key differentiator<br />
by releasing our associated core software suite, StruxureWare.<br />
This way, we shall provide our customers a radical innovation in<br />
the way they design, commission and operate their business while<br />
addressing their effi ciency issues. In new economies, the success<br />
refl ects our continuous effort to grow our commercial presence<br />
everywhere, to go deeper into the countries, to nurture partnerships<br />
and develop offerings totally adapted to the needs of local markets.<br />
We also accelerated the deployment of our strategy by making<br />
targeted acquisitions in line with our strategic priorities: develop<br />
solutions, grow in new economies and secure market leadership. We<br />
completed a few strategic acquisitions in new economies, allowing<br />
us to double our size in India, gain signifi cant presence in Brazil<br />
and expand our coverage in China. By business , we boosted our<br />
expertise in solutions and services, especially with the acquisition of<br />
Telvent. We have put in place dedicated teams to execute integration<br />
with discipline, building on our proven capabilities to welcome new<br />
people & technologies in our Group.<br />
We fi nalized the construction of a new world leading business in<br />
our portfolio, Infrastructure, by integrating the Distribution branch<br />
of Areva into <strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong> medium voltage division and by<br />
acquiring Telvent. Telvent marks a major step of our development<br />
in energy management and brings needed capabilities in the fi eld of<br />
smart cities, smart grid, critical infrastructure and software. Our new<br />
infrastructure business is already a world leader in its fi eld, delivering<br />
high synergies and very promising operating results in its fi rst year of<br />
integration in <strong>Schneider</strong> <strong>Electric</strong>.<br />
We also kept progressing on the development of solutions to<br />
save energy and carbon, and to reinforce our Corporate Social<br />
Responsibility commitment. We continued to promote the<br />
principles of the UN Global Compact within our company and with<br />
our suppliers. Our Planet & Society Barometer performance has<br />
exceeded its three- year target. Our BipBop programme towards<br />
access to energy has enabled us to connect a million households<br />
to electricity and train 12,000 underprivileged people in energy<br />
management related trades. In the frame of BipBop, we have also<br />
launched an impact-investment fund to support local entrepreneurs<br />
around energy activities. Our commitment has been recognised by<br />
many awards and presence in large sustainability rankings. We were<br />
honoured to receive such prestigious awards as the Gigaton Award,<br />
the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the Human Capital Trophy. We<br />
were also very pleased to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability<br />
Index World, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Top 100 most<br />
sustainable companies in the world. We are very proud of these<br />
2 <strong>2011</strong> REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC