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Strong organic revenue

growth in Q1 2021

Apr. 22 2021

Good start to the year with strong organic revenue growth in Q1 2021.

Q1 2021 KEY FIGURES1

  • Revenue of EUR 1.155 billion in Q1 2021, up 6.6% organically, up 6.2% at constant currency and up 1.3% year on year (on a reported basis)
  • 3 businesses delivered strong organic growth, Certification +21.6%, Consumer Products +18.7%, and Buildings & Infrastructure (B&I) +13.3%
  • Marine & Offshore maintained a solid 3.4% organic growth, against challenging comparables
  • Agri-Food & Commodities and Industry were down organically by 3.6% and 0.4%, respectively
  • The currency impact was negative by 4.9% mainly due to the depreciation of the USD and pegged currencies as well as some emerging countries’ currencies against the euro

Q1 2021 HIGHLIGHTS

  • 58% of the Group’s portfolio grew double-digit organically on average during the quarter
  • Continued strong rebound in the Certification business, benefiting from both catch-up of audits and strong momentum on CSR-related services across most geographies
  • Recovery of the Buildings & Infrastructure portfolio, primarily driven by the Chinese and the US platforms
  • Strong return to growth for Consumer Products fueled by Asia and helped by very favorable comparables
  • Solid growth in Marine & Offshore thanks to the Core In-service activity
  • Mixed environment for Agri-Food & Commodities (solid trends in Agri-Food and Metals & Minerals were largely offset by weak Oil markets) and Industry (where the dynamic Power & Utilities contracts were offset by subdued Oil & Gas Capex activities)
  • Acquisition of US-based Bradley Construction Management (EUR 11 million of annual revenue in 2020), accelerating growth in renewable energy market

2021 OUTLOOK CONFIRMED

The Group remains uniquely positioned with the diversity, the resilience of its portfolio and its numerous growth opportunities. Based on the current uncertainties around the Covid-19 pandemic and assuming no severe lockdowns in its main countries of operation, Bureau Veritas expects for the full year 2021 to:

  • Achieve solid organic revenue growth;
  • Improve the adjusted operating margin;
  • Generate sustained strong cash flow.

Didier Michaud-Daniel, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“Our first quarter performance demonstrated the strong recovery potential of our portfolio of activities, after five years of profound transformation that have led Bureau Veritas to become a more diverse company, perfectly positioned to take a new step forward in its development. Our 6.6% organic revenue was driven by an excellent performance in Certification, Consumer Products and Buildings & Infrastructure as well as a solid growth for Marine & Offshore.

In today’s world focusing more than ever before on health, safety, quality and environmental stewardship, the Group is uniquely positioned to support its clients from all sectors, thanks to the breadth of its expertise, network and capabilities. In the long run, the growth opportunities related to Sustainability are very strong and we will continue to seize them through our BV Green Line of services and solutions. Short term wise, we acknowledge that the current environment remains volatile. We reiterate our 2021 outlook.”

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE

  • Q1 2021 revenue will be presented on Thursday, April 22, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. (Paris time - CEST). A video conference will be webcast live. Please CONNECT
  • The presentation slides will be available HERE

1 Alternative performance indicators are presented, defined and reconciled with IFRS in appendix 2 of the press release.