Bouygues announces 2023 net profit up 6,9%, despite the real estate crisis

Last year, the company recorded a net profit up 6,9% to 1,04 billion euros, for a turnover of 56 billion (+26,4%), driven in particular by integration of Equans, purchased from Engie in 2022.

“Bouygues has published very solid 2023 results for all its businesses, apart from Bouygues Immobilier which is facing very difficult market conditions in France,” commented its general director, Olivier Roussat, on Tuesday, for whom “the speed and quality of the integration of Equans as well as the first stages of the deployment of the strategic plan presented in February 2023 are a great cause for satisfaction.”

For 2024, "in an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment, and after a year of strong growth", the construction, media and telecoms group is targeting "slight growth in turnover and current operating income from activities compared to to 2023.

Construction generated revenue of 27,3 billion euros last year, up 2% year-on-year, driven by Bouygues Construction and Colas (public works, rail and road in particular).

The branch's order book “offers good visibility on future activity”. These include major contracts: Abidjan metro, Potomac River Tunnel in the United States, metro extension in Hong Kong... The order for roads is increasing in France, as in each "pre-electoral period", notes Mr. Roussat. Bouygues is also counting on the return to favor of nuclear power and its major civil engineering projects.

For its part, Equans, 100.000 employees, or half of Bouygue's workforce, provided more than 18,7 billion euros in revenue, in buoyant markets. Its future activity is driven by orders already signed (installation of battery factories, photovoltaic parks, data centers, etc.), but also recurring maintenance contracts for industrial sites and public buildings.

“Adapt the organization”

The context is less favorable, however, for Bouygues Immobilier, which suffered a net loss of 2023 million euros in 7 (compared to a profit of 18 million in 2022), for an income of 1,7 billion (-14,5 %).

The branch “continues to face a difficult market environment”, particularly in France, also with an order book down 32% compared to the end of 2022.

Reservations in the residential sector have fallen by 25% over one year, and in the tertiary sector, commercial activity remains at a standstill.

“In this context, Bouygues Immobilier is adapting its organization and postponing the launch of certain projects,” indicates the group.

“We adapt our costs and our structures to changes in the market,” Mr. Roussat told journalists who questioned him in particular about a possible social plan. “We have launched a “redeployment” plan for a certain number of Bouygues Immobilier employees within the group.” It is also a matter of “seeing if we can match” some with current recruitment needs, he added.

Real estate “remains an absolutely necessary sector but for the moment we do not see it starting again,” he notes.

Asked about the government's action to support housing, he underlines that "for the moment, objectively there is no explicit measure that has really been proposed. This is the reason why we do not foresee recovery in the short term (...) The need for housing is there, France is rather a country of owners but they have been desolvated with the rise in (interest) rates."

On its Telecoms side, Bouygues, on the other hand, announced increasing profitability, thanks to the conquest of new customers.

He announced on Thursday the signing of an exclusivity protocol to buy 100% of the virtual operator La Poste Telecom, 51% owned by La Poste and 49% by SFR, for an acquisition price of the shares set at 950 million euros.

Subject in particular to the approval of SFR, this acquisition must be finalized by the end of 2024 and in particular allow Bouygues to gain a foothold in rural areas, explained Mr. Roussat, adding that the migration of customers would begin in 2027.

As for the TF1 group, turnover stands at 2,3 billion euros in 2023, with advertising revenue down 4% but fueled in the second half by the return of certain advertisers.