Second-Quarter & Half-Year 2017 Results
SEQUENTIAL IMPROVEMENT IN SAME-DAY SALES GROWTH IN Q2
IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTED EBITA IN H1
FULL-YEAR FINANCIAL TARGETS CONFIRMED
SALES OF €6,665.9M IN H1, UP 2.4% ON A REPORTED BASIS
- Organic growth of 2.4%, including a positive calendar effect of 0.7% and a favorable copper effect of 1.1%
- On a constant and same-day basis, sales up 1.7% of which:
- Europe: +2.4%, benefiting from accelerating growth in France at the end of H1
- North America: +1.6%, supported by an improving environment in Canada in recent months
- Asia-Pacific: -1.6%, as the solid growth in China was offset by a volume drop in South-East Asia
ADJUSTED EBITA AT €284.9M IN H1, UP 3.6% YEAR-ON-YEAR
- Improvement in gross margin, up 5bps at 24.5% of sales
- Improvement in adjusted EBITA margin, up 10bps at 4.3% of sales
- Operating leverage neutralized by investment to support growth in the US, volume drop in South-East Asia and temporary effects in France & the UK.
SOLID INCREASE IN REPORTED EBITA, UP 11.9%
FULL-YEAR FINANCIAL TARGETS CONFIRMED
Patrick BERARD, Chief Executive Officer, declared:
“Rexel’s performance in the second quarter and half-year is in line with our strategy: same-day sales growth accelerated in our key European countries and in North America over the first half. We are currently focusing on the action plan presented at the 2017 Capital Market Day and are already starting to see its benefits.
As expected, adjusted EBITA grew by 3.6% in the first-half of 2017, despite the impact of investments to boost top-line growth in the US, strong competition in French cable activity and cost inflation in the UK related to currency fluctuations.
We expect the second part of the year to be supported by further sales growth acceleration in our major countries where we are seeing signs of recovery, notably in France and in the US.
Our first-half performance and expectations for the remainder of the year allow us to confirm our financial targets for the full year, as announced on February 13.”