Record revenue of €761 million in 2023, in line with target (>
€750 M)
08/02/2024
Record revenue of €761 million in
2023, in line with target (> €750
M)
Solid annual growth (+7.5%)
driven by all Group activities
Replacement of local management and
voluntarist action plan in response to the
lingering difficulties in North America
In Q4 2023, LACROIX revenue came to 193.8
million euros, up 1.3% on the same period in 2022. This increase
was achieved entirely through organic growth, and includes a
positive currency effect of €0.5 million. At constant exchange
rates (CER)(1), sales growth came to +1.0% in Q4.
Throughout the year, Group revenue came to
€761.2 million, in line with the announced revenue target exceeding
€750 million. Growth reached 7.5% in 2023 (+7.2% at CER), a solid
performance achieved despite a demanding basis for comparison:
fiscal 2022, already up 8.6% on a like-for-like basis, had indeed
benefited from significant rebilling to customers of increases in
electronic component procurement costs. All LACROIX activities
(Electronics, City and Environment) contributed to sales growth in
2023.
Revenue in millions euros |
2023 |
2022 |
Variation |
Total2023 |
Total2022 |
Variation |
Q1 |
194,8 |
165,1 |
+17,9% |
194,8 |
165,1 |
+17,9% |
Q2 |
193,0 |
173,2 |
+11,4% |
387,8 |
338,4 |
+14,6% |
Q3 |
179,7 |
178,1 |
+0,9% |
567,4 |
516,4 |
+9,9% |
Q4 |
193,8 |
191,3 |
+1,3% |
761,2 |
707,8 |
+7,5% |
Total LACROIX Group |
761,2 |
707,8 |
+7,5% |
761,2 |
707,8 |
+7,5% |
Sustained annual growth across all Group
activitiesAn uneven performance in Q4
Revenue in millions euros |
Q42023 |
Q42022 |
Variation |
Total2023 |
Total2022 |
Variation |
Electronics Activity |
136,1 |
138,7 |
-1,9% |
562,1 |
522,2 |
+7,6% |
City Activity |
34,4 |
33,3 |
+3,5% |
116,4 |
109,1 |
+6,7% |
Environment Activity |
23,2 |
19,4 |
+19,9% |
82,6 |
76,4 |
+8,1% |
Total LACROIX Group |
193,8 |
191,3 |
+1,3% |
761,2 |
707,8 |
+7,5% |
Electronics Activity (73.8% of 2023
revenue)
In Q4 2023, Electronics revenue was virtually
unchanged at €136.1m, with particularly contrasting performances by
market. In EMEA, the Industry and Avionics segments recorded very
strong growth rates (> 20%), while the Automotive and HBAS (Home
& Building Automation Systems) sectors declined. On the other
side of the Atlantic, LACROIX Electronics North America also
recorded a drop in revenue in the 4th quarter, due in particular to
postponed deliveries following a social movement among automakers.
Excluding LACROIX Electronics North America, growth for the quarter
would have reached +2.7%.
Over the year as a whole, Electronics posted
sustained growth of 7.6%, to €562.1 million. Against a backdrop of
a return to normal supply conditions, this growth was fuelled by a
number of new projects, particularly in the industrial segment. In
EMEA, double-digit growth was achieved in all segments except HBAS
- after years of rapid expansion; in North America, sales are also
up in 2023.
City Activity (15,4% of 2023
revenue)
The City business posted a revenue of €34.4
million in Q4, up 3.5%. Following on from trends in the 3rd
quarter, growth remained dynamic in the Road Signs and Traffic
segments, the latter benefiting from the execution of international
contracts (Morocco in particular). Over the period, Street Lighting
segment saw a pause after several quarters of hypergrowth.
Cumulative revenue for City in 2023 came to
€116.4 million, up 6.7%. All segments contributed to growth, with
Street Lighting (+15.1%) the main driver over the full year, driven
in particular by the contract to modernize road infrastructure in
Flanders.
In addition to these developments, the end of
the year was marked by the start of exclusive negotiations with the
American company AIAC, in preparation to the selling of the Road
Signs segment in Q1 2024.
Environment Activity (10,8% of 2023
revenue)
Environment revenue amounted to €23.2 million in
Q4, up 19.9%. This remarkable performance is the result of very
good momentum across all segments, in particular international
Water, which posted growth of over 50%, driven in particular by the
delivery of significant projects in Saudi Arabia.
Having accelerated throughout the year,
Environment sales rose by 8.1% in 2023, to €82.6 million. In
addition to international Water sales, the Smart Grids segment also
posted strong growth (+12.1%).
LACROIX Electronics North America :
an action plan designed to turn the company around by
2024
Despite achieving its sales target for 2023,
LACROIX expects to see its profitability penalized by
greater-than-expected difficulties in North America.
These difficulties, already mentioned by the
Group when it published its half-year results for 2023, can be
explained by the concomitance of several factors:
- A slowdown in automotive demand,
punctuated by the exceptionally long (six weeks) social movement at
three major American automakers, which ended in October;
- Rising wage costs fuelled by the
Mexican peso's sharp appreciation (+15% against the dollar). This
wage inflation was only partially passed on to 2023, while the peso
will be hedged more effectively in 2024;
- A loss of productivity resulting in
particular from the saturation of production capacity prior to the
opening of the new Juarez site, operational in early 2024, with a
gradual ramp-up expected in the 1st half of 2024.
In the second half of 2023, this saturation led
to industrial disorganization on the other side of the Atlantic,
the effects of which were felt in particular in inventory
management. Inventory discrepancies at LACROIX Electronics North
America will therefore be booked in 2023, with an estimated impact
of € -3.1 million on Group EBITDA.
Thus, for 2023, the EBITDA target of around 45
M€ communicated by LACROIX last November is now targeted excluding
the impact of these inventory discrepancies. Excluding LACROIX
Electronics North America, EBITDA margin should be in line with the
target of over 6.5% set at the beginning of the year.
For 2024, turning around operating and financial
performance in North America is a top priority for the Group. A new
General Manager, with over 20 years' top management experience in
major industrial companies (Faurecia, Visteon, Thales,
Celestica...), took over the reins of the subsidiary last November.
Backed by increased support from our European teams, he has
launched a two-pronged action plan:
- Revising the sales policy, by
stepping up price increases in line with inflation and wage rises,
and carrying out an in-depth review of the profitability of our
customer portfolio.
- Improving operational and financial
performance, by clarifying the local organization and taking
control of several key processes (project management, production
planning and inventory organization in particular), as well as
optimizing the cost structure (non-essential items, increased
automation, etc.).
LACROIX continues to deploy the strategic
pillars of its Leadership2025 plan and announced its CSR 2030
objectives in December 2023. As for the Group's financial targets,
as indicated last November, they remain achievable subject to the
turnaround of LACROIX Electronics North America and the evolution
of automotive demand.
Upcoming event2023
results : April 2nd, 2024 after market close
Find financial information in our
Investors
section https://www.lacroix-group.com/investors/
About LACROIX
Convinced that technology should contribute to
simple, sustainable, and safer environments, LACROIX supports its
customers in the construction and management of intelligent living
ecosystems, thanks to connected electronic equipment and
technologies. As a publicly listed family-owned mid-cap,
with a turnover of €708 million in 2022, LACROIX combines the
essential agility required to innovate in an ever-changing
technological sector with the ability to industrialize robust and
secure equipment, cutting-edge know-how in industrial IoT solutions
and electronic equipment for critical applications and the
long-term vision to invest and build for the
future.
LACROIX designs and manufactures its customers’
electronic equipment, as well as IoT (hardware, software, and
cloud) and AI solutions, for the automotive, industrial, smart home
and building, avionics and defense, and healthcare sectors. The
Group also provides connected and secure equipment and solutions to
optimize the management of critical infrastructures such as smart
roads (street lighting, traffic management, V2X and traffic signs)
and the remote control of water and energy
infrastructures. Drawing on its extensive experience and
expertise, LACROIX works with its customers and partners to build
the connection between the world of today and the world of
tomorrow. It helps them to create the industry of the future and to
make the most of the opportunities for innovation that surround
them, supplying them with the equipment and solutions for a smarter
world.
- 24 02-08 CP LAC CA annuel VDEF_EN
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