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 Founded in 1929 to ensure the development of a new Cold Asphalt paving technique, Colas has become a leader in the construction and maintenance of transport, urban development and recreational infrastructure. Active in some 40 countries worldwide through over 1,400 profit centres, the group completes 115,000 projects all over the world each year. Colas has been a subsidiary of the Bouygues group since 1986, which holds 96.7% of its capital.
In 2007, Colas' consolidated sales amounted to €11.7 billion. The group share of net profit stood at €474 million.
Business
Roads account for over 80% of the group's business and can be broken down into two areas:
 Construction and maintenance of roads, motorways, airport runways and seaport, industrial and logistics platforms, car parks, reserved-lanes for public transport, cycle tracks, racing circuits, recreational facilities, etc.
 Upstream of these activities: major industrial production and recycling of building materials, which are used for its own projects or sold to third parties: 624 quarries and gravel pits, 158 emulsion plants and 621 asphalt plants respectively supplied 117 million tonnes of aggregates, 1.6 million tonnes of emulsion and 54 million tonnes of asphalt mix in the course of 2007.
Colas also operates in road-related fields: signs and signals, safety and traffic management; waterproofing, cladding and roofing; pipes, mains, drilling and civil engineering; building; railway works (rail and tram track); and services and concessions. The group is thus in a position to offer its public and private clients a vast range of products and services.
Geographical locations
The group's solid business platform in France has enabled Colas to expand into international markets, first Africa and the Indian Ocean in the 1930s, followed by North America at the beginning of the 1960s, then throughout most of Europe over the last 15 years.
In 2007, France accounted for 59,8% of business activity, North America for 17,9%, Europe (excluding France) for 16,7% and Africa/Indian Ocean/Asia for 5,6%.
Corporate strategy
Colas' development is based on:
- Technology and innovation: the prime concerns of R&D teams (1,000 researchers, engineers and technical staff) are quality, user comfort, road safety and respect for the environment (development of porous, ultra skid-resistant, noise-reducing, coloured surfacing; low-temperature asphalt mixes, plant-based binders and vegetable fluxing agents; and cold in situ recycling processes, etc.;
- A profitable and sustainable external growth strategy, based mainly on acquisitions and aimed at extending the international network, controlling aggregate resources and developing industrial activities;
- An organisational structure that is decentralised, flexible, responsive and adapted to market expectations. Profit centre supervisors are backed up by operational management teams in regional subsidiaries, who enjoy close relations with clients and contracting authorities;
- A culture of shared and unifying values: besides its stringent safety and quality requirements, Colas is strongly committed to a drive to enhance and protect the environment (environmental charter, ISO 14001 certifications) and to respect professional ethics (rules of conduct).
People
The group employs 67,800 people, almost half of whom work outside of mainland France.
The main thrusts of its human resources policy are recruitment (8,000 new employees were taken on in 2007), training (Colas Campus and Colas University) and safety (accident prevention on worksites and on the road).
Hervé Le Bouc has been Chairman and CEO of Colas since November 2007.
(Updated: February 2008)
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