Bouygues (BOUY.PA), a French multinational specializing in construction and telecommunications, exceeded sales and nine-month core profit projections on Tuesday, primarily due to its energy division, Equans.
The outcomes caused Bouygues’ stock to rise 5.8% by 08:48 GMT. For January through September, the diverse firm revealed a current operating profit from activities of 1.62 billion euros ($1.72 billion), less than the 1.57 billion analysts surveyed by the business had predicted.
Equans, which Bouygues formed in October 2022 after acquiring Engie’s (ENGIE.PA) services division and merging it with its own energy and services division, accounted for about 34% of the group’s sales during the nine months.
With the acquisition last year, family-owned Bouygues—already active in media, communications, construction, and civil engineering—marked a strategic pivot in its pursuit of expansion in the energy transition and services sector.
The real estate unit Immobilier had a decline in sales, although Bouygues said that Equans’ substantial contribution helped to balance this. The property sector’s market climate remained challenging, with little chance of improvement.
According to the report, Immobilier was delaying the start of several projects since residential real estate reservations dropped 23% from the previous year and commercial real estate sales stagnated as investors put off making choices.
Immobilier’s sales decreased by about twenty percent in the first nine months of 2023. A 6% gain in Equans, a 6% expansion in the construction division, and a 2% increase in the road-building division Colas—all aided by significant contracts—all contributed to offset this.
Sales during the first nine months of the group were 40.89 billion euros, above experts’ projection of 40.83 billion euros.
Additionally, it reaffirmed its yearly projections for its business segments and the company. With Tuesday’s increase, Bouygues shares have increased by 20% this year.
