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