The Board stated that it considered Mr. Pierre Breber, Mr. Aiman Ezzat and Mr. Bertrand Dumazy to be independent.
Concerning Mr. Thierry Peugeot, whose term of office as Director is due to expire at the close of the General Meeting of May 2021, the Board, in agreement with Mr. Peugeot who will total 16 years of office on the Board of Directors, agreed, as part of good governance practices, that the renewal of his office will not be proposed to the General Meeting. Mr Peugeot was very warmly thanked for his contribution to the work of the Board of Directors of which he has been a member since 2005, and to the work of Audit and Accounts Committee of which he has been a member since 2012.
At the close of the General Meeting of May 4, 2021, the Board of Directors would accordingly be composed of 15 members: 13 elected members (the vast majority of whom are independent (i.e. 92% of independent Directors), 6 of whom would be women (i.e. 46%) and 7 would be foreign members), and 2 Directors representing the employees.
Finally, the Board of Directors will submit for the vote of the General Meeting the elements of Mr. Benoît Potier's remuneration for 2020, in his capacity as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, together with the information relating to the remuneration of all the corporate officers. The General Meeting will also be asked to decide upon the remuneration policy for corporate officers applicable to Mr. Benoît Potier and to the Company's Directors.
______________________ (1) See reconciliation in Appendix
Table of Contents
PERFORMANCE 7 Key Figures 7 Income Statement 8 2020 Cash Flow and Balance Sheet 17 Environment and Society 19 INVESTMENT CYCLE AND FINANCING 20 Investments 20 2020 Financing 21 CLOSURE OF THE NEOS PROGRAM 24 2020 OUTLOOK 25 APPENDICES 26 Performance indicators 26 Calculation of performance indicators (Year) 27 Calculation of performance indicators (Quarter) 31 4th quarter 2020 revenue 31 Geographic and segment information 32 Consolidated income statement 32 Consolidated balance sheet 33 Consolidated cash flow statement 34
PERFORMANCE
Unless otherwise stated, all variations in revenue outlined below are on a comparable basis, excluding currency, energy (natural gas and electricity) and significant scope impacts.
Key Figures
2020/2019 2020/2019
(in millions of published comparable
euros) FY 2019 FY 2020 change change (a)
Total Revenue 21,920 20,485 -6.5% -1.3%
Of which Gas &
Services 21,040 19,656 -6.6% -1.2%
Operating Income
Recurring (OIR) 3,794 3,790 -0.1% +3.6%
Group OIR Margin 17.3% 18.5% +120 bps
Variation excluding
energy +80 bps
Other Non-Recurring
Operating Income and
Expenses (188) (140)
Net Profit (Group
Share) 2,242 2,435 +8.6%
Net Profit Recurring
(Group Share) (b) 2,307 2,341 +1.5%
Earnings per Share
(in euros) 4.76 5.16 +8.5%
Adjusted Net Dividend
per Share (in
euros) 2.70 2.75 +1.9%
Cash flow from
operating activities
before changes in
net working capital 4,859 4,932 +1.5%
Net Capital
Expenditure (c) 2,616 1,971
Net Debt EUR12.4 bn EUR10.6 bn
Net Debt to Equity
ratio 64.0% 55.8%
Return on Capital
Employed after tax -
ROCE 8.4% 9.0% +60 bps
Recurring ROCE (d) 8.6% 8.6% -
(a) Change excluding the currency, energy (natural gas and electricity) and
significant scope impacts, see reconciliation in appendix.
(b) Excluding exceptional and significant transactions that have no impact
on the operating income recurring, see reconciliation in appendix.
(c) Including transactions with minority shareholder.
(d) Based on the recurring net profit, see reconciliation in appendix.
Income Statement
REVENUE
2020/2019 2020/2019
Revenue published comparable
(in millions of euros) FY 2019 FY 2020 change change
Gas & Services 21,040 19,656 -6.6% -1.2%
Engineering & Construction 328 250 -23.7% -23.0%
Global Markets &
Technologies 552 579 +5.0% +6.0%
TOTAL REVENUE 21,920 20,485 -6.5% -1.3%
Revenue by Quarter
(in millions of euros) Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020
Gas & Services 5,191 4,729 4,777 4,959
Engineering & Construction 52 52 60 86
Global Markets & Technologies 127 122 143 187
TOTAL REVENUE 5,370 4,903 4,980 5,232
2020/2019 Group published change -1.3% -11.0% -8.7% -5.1%
2020/2019 Group comparable change +0.6% -6.9% -0.9% +2.0%
2020/2019 Gas & Services
comparable change +1.1% -6.5% -0.9% +1.6%
Group
Group revenue for 2020 totaled 20,485 million euros, almost flat on a comparable basis compared with 2019, at -1.3%, in a context of global health and economic crisis. The business model thus demonstrated its robustness, supported by the Group's global presence and the diversity and balance of its portfolio between growth businesses and resilient sectors. Engineering & Construction consolidated revenue, which was down -23% over the year, enjoyed a strong +24.1% increase in the 4(th) quarter. Global Markets & Technologies was up +6.0%, with a dynamic momentum in biogas with the start-up of new units. Group revenue as published was down -6.5% due to negative currency (-2.0%), energy (-1.8%), and significant scope (-1.4%) impacts.
Gas & Services
Gas & Services revenue totaled 19,656 million euros, very close to 2019 on a comparable basis, at -1.2%. Healthcare and Electronics sales enjoyed growth during each quarter of 2020, despite the public health and economic crisis. Healthcare was fully committed to ensuring the supply of oxygen to hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients and posted significant growth of +8.5% for 2020. Electronics also recorded a very solid growth of +3.9% and +7.9% excluding Equipment & Installations sales. Large Industries sales remained stable at -0.1% despite the public health context, mainly driven by the contribution from the start-up and ramp-up of new production units, and the quick return to growth of certain developing economies including China. Industrial Merchant sales were down -6.3%, negatively impacted by the crisis but supported by solid pricing impacts of +2.6% and growth in developing economies including China and Eastern Europe. Sales as published were down -6.6% in 2020, affected by unfavorable currency (-2.1%), energy (-1.9%) and significant scope (-1.4%) impacts. The significant scope impact reflects mainly the disposal of Schülke in Healthcare and the reduction or disposal of the Group's stakes in several non-strategic distributors in Japan during the 2(nd) half of the year, as well as the disposal of Fujian Shenyuan units in September 2019.
Revenue by geography and 2020/2019 2020/2019 business line (in millions published comparable of euros) FY 2019 FY 2020 change change Americas 8,460 7,799 -7.8% -3.7% Europe 7,172 6,826 -4.8% +1.3% Asia-Pacific 4,794 4,467 -6.8% -0.1% Middle East & Africa 614 564 -8.2% -2.6% GAS & SERVICES REVENUE 21,040 19,656 -6.6% -1.2% Large Industries 5,629 4,972 -11.7% -0.1% Industrial Merchant 9,754 8,959 -8.2% -6.3% Healthcare 3,693 3,724 +0.8% +8.5% Electronics 1,964 2,001 +1.9% +3.9%
Americas
Gas & Services revenue in the Americas totaled 7,799 million euros in 2020, a decline of -3.7%. In North America, after being strongly hit by the pandemic during the 2(nd) quarter, sales started improving sequentially in the 3(rd) quarter but remained down compared with 2019. Sales were up markedly in Latin America in 2020, mainly driven by a start-up in Large Industries in Argentina and strong demand for medical oxygen. Large Industries revenue in the region was up +1.4%. Industrial Merchant saw a strong sequential recovery over the 2(nd) half of the year, but annual revenue remained down by -7.1%. Healthcare is still fully committed to the fight against the pandemic notably with the supply of medical oxygen, and posted annual sales growth of +7.7%. Electronics posted solid growth of +5.2%.
-- Large Industries revenue was up +1.4% over 2020. In the United States,
following a substantial decline during the 2nd quarter, air gas volumes
and, to a lesser extent, hydrogen volumes, saw a marked sequential
recovery starting in the 3rd quarter but closed 2020 at lower levels than
in 2019. Sales were up significantly in Latin America in 2020, mainly
driven by the start-up of a unit in Argentina and strong air gas demand
during the 4th quarter in Brazil and Argentina.
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