Colas

A world leader

Colas operates in over 50 countries worldwide through a network of 800 profit centres and 3,000 construction materials (aggregates, asphalt mixes, binders, bitumen, etc.) production and recycling units. Colas 58,000 women and men work in their local communities to bring people closer together and facilitate exchange for the world of today and tomorrow.

They share a common culture and the values of caring, sharing and daring. Colas completes over 60,000 projects every year, often small in size but also far bigger or technically more complex ones such as PPPs (public-private partnerships), concessions and long-term contracts that take account of the company’s CSR objectives. Colas generated sales of €15.5 billion in 2022, almost 60% of which on international markets.

58,000

EMPLOYEES
HEADCOUNT AT 31 DECEMBER 2022

Strategic priorities

Make optimum use of its industrial activities, especially quarries and bitumen

The control of essential road-building resources, such as aggregates and bitumen, has always been a strategic priority for Colas. Over the years, it has taken a strong position in aggregates by investing in its network of quarries, while also working to increase its bitumen storage and distribution capacity worldwide. Its aims are:

to better control the quality and availability of its supply of aggregates and bitumen, while improving safety and helping to preserve the environment at its industrial sites,
to strengthen its competitive position, and
to expand third-party sales in high-potential geographies.

Develop and implement low-carbon solutions

To combat climate change, Colas has launched an ambitious strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of its activities and to contribute to carbon neutrality, focusing on:

its production methods – solutions for energy savings, recycling, hydrogen-powered plant, etc., and
the products and services it develops for its customers and users – contract-based solutions (long-term contracts, road pavement monitoring, etc.), technical solutions (lower temperature asphalt mixes, bio-based binders, in-place recycling, etc.) and digital solutions (new digital technology- and data-enabled services).

Pursue targeted expansion abroad

Colas, which generates 60% of its sales outside France, is aiming to expand its worldwide activities through external growth operations in targeted regions and countries, mainly in the United States, Northern Europe and Germany. Its strategy is to carry out future acquisitions as a way to establish leading positions on local markets where it already operates. Colas has a proven track record of integrating companies of all shapes and sizes into its core businesses, in many parts of the world.

Step up its digital transformation

Colas has embarked on a sweeping digital transformation. This process, which is backed by new technologies and data, is reshaping every part of its business – processes, systems, facilities and ways of working – for the benefit of employees and customers. While helping to improve the quality of services, Colas’ competitiveness and the decarbonisation of its activities, and by opening up prospects for new services and business lines, digital technology is a major driver for strengthening its global reach and enhancing its collective intelligence.

Operational priorities

Complete the integration of Destia (a leading player in transport infrastructure in Finland, acquired in late 2021) and Hasselmann (a railway infrastructure construction firm in Germany, acquired in 2022).
Pursue ongoing transformation initiatives and operational excellence programmes for its industrial activities.

Continue the roll-out of the Act and Commit Together (ACT) project, which embodies Colas’ eight CSR pledges, with a particular focus on the SBTi-endorsed targets set out in the low-carbon roadmap: a 30% reduction in both its direct greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1 and 2) and its upstream indirect emissions (scope 3a).

Three main activities:

ROADS:

The core activity. Colas builds and maintains roads and motorways, airport runways, port and logistics hubs, external works and amenities, reserved-lane public transport (Bus Rapid Transit routes and tram lines) as well as recreational facilities and environmental projects. This activity also includes road safety & signalling as well as construction and civil engineering

Construction materials:

Colas has a significant presence in the production, distribution, sale and recycling of aggregates, emulsions, asphalt mixes, ready-mix concrete and bitumen.

The rail activity:

Comprises the design and engineering of complex, large-scale projects and the construction, renewal and maintenance of rail networks (conventional and high-speed lines, tram and metro systems).

Colas also has a water and energy transport activity, which involves the installation and maintenance of large- and small-diameter pipes and pipelines for conveying fluids (oil, gas and water) and for dry utilities (electricity, heating and telecommunications).

Innovation focused on responsible mobility:

Colas’ ambition is to be the world leader in innovative and responsible mobility solutions. It draws on its capacity for innovation and its R&D to invent, design, develop and offer its customers infrastructure and mobility solutions that are both useful to users and environmentally-friendly, that can be optimised and integrated into shared and secure public spaces, that are intelligent and connected as well as reversible and multi-modal, and are capable of addressing the challenges of climate change.

To fight climate change, Colas has launched a strategy to decarbonise its activities. It has set an ambitious target, compatible with the Paris agreement, to cut its direct greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 30% and its indirect upstream emissions (scope 3a) by 30%.

Colas develops and markets innovative solutions, such as:

– Mobility by Colas solutions for local authorities, that provide simplified, shared access to mobility services in their areas (Moov’hub digital solution), preventive management of their road networks (Anaïs), and planning and regulation of traffic flows around urban worksites (Qievo);

– the Flowell solution, for better sharing of public spaces and improved user safety;

– the Wattway Pack off-grid standalone energy supply solution, and Wattway photovoltaic road surfacing.