Connect - Schneider Electric

MESSAGE FROM JEAN-PASCAL TRICOIRE
PRESIDENT AND CEO
> Message from
2011 was a defi ning year for Schneider Electric, a year characterised
by strong growth, reactivity to many unexpected external events, an
intense deployment of our strategy and the successful closing of the
One company programme.
First of all, 2011 was an incredibly busy and meaningful year from
an operational point of view. We generated robust organic growth,
at 8.3%, reported 14% total growth and changed size. For the fi rst
time, our sales exceeded the EUR 22 billion mark. This translated
into record profi ts and strong cash generation, particularly in the
second half, achieved despite unprecedented headwind of raw
material infl ation, major disruptions of our supply chain following the
tsunami in Japan, the welcomed but faster than expected take-off
of solutions in our business portfolio, and the weakening of Europe.
We reacted to those events swiftly, proved once again our pricing
power, the fl exibility and reactivity of our supply chain, the resilience
of our cash generation, while developing our S olution business in
an aggressive but controlled manner. 2011 performance allows
us to propose to our shareholders a dividend of EUR 1.70, which
represents a payout of 50% of net income.
2011 was also characterized by an intense deployment of our
strategy.
We realized strategic investments for organic growth in new
economies and solutions. As a result, our presence in new
economies grew to about 40% of sales and our solution business
to 37% of sales. These growth engines grew three times faster than
mature countries and two times faster than products respectively.
Our solutions business has been supported by the successful
launch of our integrated hardware and software architecture of
effi ciency, EcoStruxure. In 2012, we’ll leverage this key differentiator
by releasing our associated core software suite, StruxureWare.
This way, we shall provide our customers a radical innovation in
the way they design, commission and operate their business while
addressing their effi ciency issues. In new economies, the success
refl ects our continuous effort to grow our commercial presence
everywhere, to go deeper into the countries, to nurture partnerships
and develop offerings totally adapted to the needs of local markets.
2 2011 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Jean- Pascal Tricoire
PRESIDENT AND CEO
We also accelerated the deployment of our strategy by making
targeted acquisitions in line with our strategic priorities: develop
solutions, grow in new economies and secure market leadership. We
completed a few strategic acquisitions in new economies, allowing
us to double our size in India, gain signifi cant presence in Brazil
and expand our coverage in China. By business , we boosted our
expertise in solutions and services, especially with the acquisition of
Telvent. We have put in place dedicated teams to execute integration
with discipline, building on our proven capabilities to welcome new
people & technologies in our Group.
We fi nalized the construction of a new world leading business in
our portfolio, Infrastructure, by integrating the Distribution branch
of Areva into Schneider Electric medium voltage division and by
acquiring Telvent. Telvent marks a major step of our development
in energy management and brings needed capabilities in the fi eld of
smart cities, smart grid, critical infrastructure and software. Our new
infrastructure business is already a world leader in its fi eld, delivering
high synergies and very promising operating results in its fi rst year of
integration in Schneider Electric.
We also kept progressing on the development of solutions to
save energy and carbon, and to reinforce our Corporate Social
Responsibility commitment. We continued to promote the
principles of the UN Global Compact within our company and with
our suppliers. Our Planet & Society Barometer performance has
exceeded its three- year target. Our BipBop programme towards
access to energy has enabled us to connect a million households
to electricity and train 12,000 underprivileged people in energy
management related trades. In the frame of BipBop, we have also
launched an impact-investment fund to support local entrepreneurs
around energy activities. Our commitment has been recognised by
many awards and presence in large sustainability rankings. We were
honoured to receive such prestigious awards as the Gigaton Award,
the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the Human Capital Trophy. We
were also very pleased to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index World, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Top 100 most
sustainable companies in the world. We are very proud of these