Legrand Confirms 2014 Targets Following First Half Results

The Tip Desk · June 30, 2014 · 1 min read

The electrical equipment maker maintains its organic sales and operating margin goals for the year.

Legrand confirms its objectives for 2014 based on results from the first half of the year. The company expects organic sales evolution to be between 0% and +3%. It also targets an adjusted operating margin, before acquisitions, between 19.8% and 20.2% of sales.

Investment in growth continued through the acquisition of new entities. The company acquired a 51% stake in Neat, a Spanish autonomy assistance provider with annual sales exceeding 15 million euros. Legrand also acquired SJ Manufacturing, a Singapore-based provider of datacenter racks and cabinets with annual sales of nearly 10 million euros. Total acquisitions of subsidiaries and minority interests reached 115.5 million euros during the first half of 2014.

Financial stability is supported by a net financial debt of 1,263.1 million euros as of June 30, 2014. The company said this debt is fully funded by financing lines maturing between 2017 and 2025. The average maturity of the gross debt is 6 years. Standard & Poor’s maintains an A- rating with a stable perspective for the group.

Currency fluctuations present a potential impact on performance. The company estimates that a 10% increase in the euro against all other currencies would reduce sales by approximately 112.6 million euros and operating results by approximately 17.3 million euros. Conversely, a 10% decrease would increase sales by approximately 123.9 million euros and operating results by approximately 19.1 million euros.

Legrand will continue its value-creating acquisition strategy.