MESSAGE
FROM MARTIN BOUYGUES

In 2023, as in 2022, Bouygues faced a complex and unstable economic environment marked by inflation, rising interest rates and currency volatility.

On the geopolitical front, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the new Israeli-Palestinian conflict had major implications for energy and commodity prices.

Turning to the climate, weather events such as storms, cyclones, fires and floods are regrettably becoming more extreme.

Despite these challenging and uncertain conditions, all of Bouygues’ business segments reported solid results with the exception of Bouygues Immobilier, which had to contend with a challenging housing market and a commercial property sector at a standstill in France.

Bouygues Construction, Colas and Equans all have strong backlogs, providing good visibility on future business in 2024. The delisting of Colas at end-2023, combined with the change in governance at Colas and Bouygues Immobilier – which has a new Chief Executive Officer following the separation of the functions of Chairman and CEO – will help raise the bar for operational efficiency in these two Group business segments.

The integration of Equans, a major player in energies and services which we acquired in October 2022, is progressing very well – and more efficiently than we expected. In 2023, Equans achieved its financial targets, which are geared towards significantly improving its profitability and free cash flow.

In 2023, TF1 focused on reinventing its business model. It has developed the new TF1+ platform to adapt content to new viewing behaviour and address the continuing decline in linear television, which is facing competition from the major international streaming platforms.

Last but not least, Bouygues Telecom continues to grow and recruit new mobile and fixed customers.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a key priority for our Group. We regard CSR not as a constraint, but as an opportunity to transform our business and to set us apart from our competitors. The Group has published quantified decarbonisation targets for 2030, and we are tracking our progress towards these targets with the help of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an international body that objectively assesses the efforts of our business segments on this front. Five Bouygues business segments have had their targets endorsed by the SBTi, while Equans embarked on this same process following its acquisition by the Group.

For the past 70 years and more, Bouygues has been driven by strong values and a unique corporate culture founded on four values: respect, trust, imparting expertise and creativity. These solid fundamentals, coupled with our people’s professionalism and excellent mindset, leave our Group well-placed to rise to the challenges of 2024.