In terms of financials, Suez UK posted a gross fall in revenue in the first six months of 2018 of 5.3% compared to the same period in 2017. Revenues in January to June this year reduced to 432 million Euros, approx £383m; (H1 2017: 456m Euros).
The UK was the only European region of Suez’ European recycling and recovery divisions to show a fall in revenues. France in contrast was a standout performer for the French-owned business with a 19.3% leap in turnover in the first half of the year from 1.5 billion Euros last year to 1.6 billion Euros this year.
Suez’s Recycling & Recovery Europe division reported EBIT of 141 million Euros, representing organic growth of 5 million Euros (+3.6%) with total revenues of 3.1 billion Euros.
No details of the construction issues which have affected performance at Suez in the UK were given in the Paris statement. Suez noted: ” -3.5% in the United Kingdom due to an adverse construction effect unrelated to the volume trend”. Suez UK currently has a number of new projects in the pipeline.
Commodities
In terms of commodity markets a sharp decrease in the value of paper and cardboard because of the quality measures in China and a 24% increase in the oil price hitting collection activities was offset by a rise in the value of scrap metals. Suez said that metals had increased in value by an average of 19%.
‘Momentum’
Jean-Louis Chaussade, chief executive officer of SUEZ, said: “The year has started off well. The Group’s growth momentum is intensifying, notably with the significant contribution from Water, Technologies and Solutions, which exceeded our expectations at the end of the first half of the year.”
Mr Chaussade continued: “Growth was also robust in the International and the Recycling & Recovery Europe divisions, with a strong commercial performance in all geographies. The Water Europe division continued to be negatively affected by the absence of inflation in France and Spain and by disappointing weather conditions during the first half of the year. The Group’s profitability is improving, driven by growth in revenue and by the first impacts of our action plan on operational performance. The results for the first half of the year therefore give us a great deal of confidence in our ability to meet our full-year targets.”
[picture updated 27 July]
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