Prysmian Group 2017 results:

increased profitability

PRYSMIAN

“Financial year 2017 has closed in line with expectations,” states Valerio Battista, Prysmian Group CEO, reporting stable organic sales with an improvement in the fourth quarter. Profitability is up, with Adjusted EBITDA rising to €733 million and  significant improvement in margins for the higher value-added businesses of Energy Projects and Telecom.”

Valerio Battista

PRYSMIAN GROUP CEO

Several large projects have been won in energy and the Telecom business continues to see strong growth in demand for optical cables. Sales of Telecom cables and systems to third parties amounted to €1,258 million, with organic growth of +5.3% on 2016, benefiting from investments made to improve fibre manufacturing efficiency, volume growth and the contribution of YOFC.

 

The optical cable business recorded double-digit organic growth in 2017, underpinned by favourable market conditions, particularly in North America and Europe, where strong demand was supported by investment expenditure on broadband and preparations for the introduction of 5G technology.

 

“The tightness of the fibre supply we have faced during 2017 will continue throughout 2018, because the global market continues to grow,” explains Toni Bosch, Vice President Telecom Solutions. “This growth is boosted by 3 main drivers: deeper fibre penetration in the fixed networks (FTTx), fibre densification in mobile networks to support the transition from 4G to 5G and higher fibre count to increase the capacity of Hyperscale Data Center interconnections.”

 

In North America, Prysmian signed a three-year agreement to supply optical fibre cables to major US operator Verizon starting January 2018. The Group will increase production capacity of its North American plants to support this growth. The high value-added optical connectivity accessories business performed well thanks to new FTTx networks in Europe. A recent tender issued by China Mobile for the procurement of optical cables confirms the sustainability of market growth in 2018.

 

Battista: “These combined positive performances have allowed us to achieve our guidance targets once again in 2017. Looking to the future, we reiterate our satisfaction for the General Cable shareholders’ approval of our acquisition proposal.”

  • Stable organic growth throughout year (-0.1%)
  • Marked improvement 4Q (+2.9%) reflecting strong optical cable sales and gradual recovery for E&I and Industrial & Network Components businesses.
  • Higher margins for energy projects (17.8%) and telecom (17.0%)
  • Net financial debt improves to €436m (€537m at the end of 2016)
  • Proposed dividend €0.43 per share
  • €500m capital increase proposed

Group Sales:  €7,901 million, posting an organic variation of -0.1% assuming the same group perimeter and excluding metal price variation and exchange rate effects.

 

Net Profit: €223 million (€227 million attributable to owners of the parent) compared with €262 million in 2016 (€246 million attributable to owners of the parent).

 

Adjusted EBITDA: €733 million from €711 million in 2016 (+3.1%), despite adverse exchange rate effects of €11 million versus 2016.

 

EBITDA: €657 million compared with €645 million in 2016 (+1.9%), including net expenses for business reorganisation, net non-recurring expenses, other net non-operating expenses and General Cable acquisition-related costs totalling €76 million (€66 million in 2016).

© Copyright Prysmian Group.

All rights reserved.

© Copyright Prysmian Group.

All rights reserved.